Single shots

"Let's see what these new toys can do." Quill regretted those words almost immediately, wishing he could go back in time and punch himself.

Ophelia had invited him to the Eclipse dorm's advanced training ground.

Though the dorm's interior was smaller, housing only ten students, the level of detail and resources available was unmatched.

He stood opposite Ophelia, who wore her battle-ready training uniform, while he was still in his regular clothes.

For the past five minutes, he had been awkwardly swinging his new scythe around, trying to get a feel for it.

Luckily, Ophelia had been focused on her own preparation and hadn't paid much attention to him. 

They were alone in the training room, the silence only broken by the occasional clang of the scythe against the ground.

'...I'm going to get hurt, aren't I?'

In just those few minutes, Quill had already managed to accidentally press the scythe's button three times, forcing him to resize it repeatedly as he struggled to figure out how to wield it properly.

Though it felt good in his hands, he definitely needed more practice to handle it with confidence.

"Are you prepared?" Ophelia called out, aiming a small revolver adorned with intricate gears at him.

A small box on her waist stored her ammunition.

"Oh," she exclaimed, lowering her arm. "I have just realized that you may not be aware of my ability..."

"...And you know mine?" Quill asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Indeed, I do. I make it a point to stay well-informed about my competition."

'Of course she does...' Quill thought, rolling his eyes inwardly.

"...During an actual fight, the enemy won't describe their abilities, so I'll pass."

He said this with full knowledge of Ophelia's unique Gift.

For her to use her ability, she needed a firearm.

Without one, her Gift was essentially useless—a significant disadvantage. However, with a firearm, she became a formidable opponent.

The firearm itself didn't affect her Gift; it was the ammunition she fired.

Ophelia could manipulate the ammunition, transforming it into six different elements: water, fire, earth, air, gravity, and teleportation.

The most dangerous aspect was her ability to load any ammunition into her firearm and alter its power at will, making it a game of Russian roulette for her opponent.

One moment she could be firing a bullet of water, the next, one of fire. The unpredictability of her attacks made her exceptionally dangerous.

Ophelia looked quite pleased with Quill's answer. "Very well, but I request that you do not become a sore loser," she teased, her eyes glinting with mischief.

"I won't get the chance to be," Quill declared, positioning his scythe defensively. He tightened his grip, feeling the cool metal against his palms, and tried to focus.

'What's it going to be?' he wondered, his mind racing.

Quill watched as Ophelia raised her revolver, a confident grin spreading across her face.

*Peng*

The bullet shot out, leaving a trail of boulders in its wake, speeding toward Quill with deadly precision.

The air around the bullet shimmered with the power of her Gift, transforming the projectile into a torrent of earth and rock.

The ground rumbled, throwing Quill off balance, but he managed to dodge the bullet aimed at his arm just in time.

It wasn't the most graceful move, and he nearly stumbled as he twisted out of the way.

"Arrgh!" he grunted as one of the boulders' spikes grazed his arm, a sharp pain shooting through him.

'Damn, that was way too close! If not for being a Gift User, I would've been skewered...' he thought, feeling a trickle of blood from the shallow cut.

That was the problem.

He had avoided the attack more out of instinct than skill.

As a Gift User, his enhanced reflexes made the bullet seem slower than it would to a normal human.

It was still fast, but not impossible to dodge.

The spiked boulders, however, were too wide to evade, and since they moved as fast as the bullet, he couldn't adjust quickly enough.

"Should I make this easier for you?" Ophelia teased again, enjoying Quill's frantic movements. 

Quill grinned back, trying to mask his nervousness. "Should I?" he retorted, attempting to sound more confident than he felt.

Out of nowhere, her revolver was yanked from her hand, surprising her quite a bit. The threads from Quill's Gift had wrapped around it, disarming her in a split second.

"...You got me," she said, seeing her revolver lying meters away, too far to retrieve without risk. "Your threads are exceedingly difficult to discern... It appears I must concede defeat."

'...Enough with the nonsense, just shoot!'

Quill wasn't fooled by her act of surrender.

Ophelia Sunshower always had more than one firearm.

Even if someone thought they had disarmed her completely, she would always produce another hidden weapon.

Quill extended the end of his scythe in front of him, like a slim shield.

"Hmm, it looks like you're considering it's not over yet, perh—" Ophelia cut herself off with a loud crack from her revolver. 

*Peng*

Another shot rang out, quicker than Quill could fully register.

Ophelia had indeed drawn a second revolver, concealed beneath her uniform.

The bullet transformed into a blazing inferno, streaking toward Quill with intense heat.

Reacting on instinct, Quill swung the scythe, the blade intercepting the fiery projectile.

Sparks flew as the scythe's edge sliced through the flame, dissipating it into harmless embers.

'...I can't believe I hit that...?!'

"Nice try," Quill said, his voice steady despite the adrenaline surging through him.

*Peng*

Another bullet came flying, but instead of reaching Quill, it suddenly stopped in midair, transforming into a tiny purple orb.

"Dammit!" Quill muttered. 'Of course, she went with this one,' he thought as his body was pulled toward the orb with increasing force.

Throwing his scythe to the ground, he aimed his right hand to the side, clicked the button on his gauntlet, and did the same for his left hand, anchoring himself to any heavy gym equipment he could see.

The gauntlet's threads shot out, wrapping around a weight rack and a reinforced training dummy.

This helped him resist the gravity pull, but only barely. 

The gravitational force grew stronger, and Quill could hear the metallic groans of the machines as they strained against the pull.

The pressure was immense, and sweat began to bead on his forehead.

'Only a few more seconds!' he thought desperately.

He only needed to hold out for ten seconds; Ophelia's gravity bullets had a limited duration.

Each second felt like an eternity as he struggled against the force dragging him toward the orb.

His face contorted with effort as he glared at Ophelia, who stood calmly behind the purple orb.

Her serene expression was infuriating, clearly showing she wasn't even breaking a sweat.

'...This is really frustrating.'

He knew Ophelia was going easy on him, almost showing mercy.

She could have easily shot him while he struggled or fired another gravity bullet.

When the purple orb finally dissipated, Quill fell to his knees, his balance shattered. Yet he quickly stood back up, gripping his scythe.

"Impressed?" Ophelia asked innocently, a hint of a smirk playing on her lips.

Quill didn't reply. Instead, he hurled his scythe at her with all his might.

The distance between them was significant, causing the scythe to lose momentum mid-air.

"I don't believe that's going to hit m—" But suddenly, the scythe extended, forcing her to dodge, narrowly avoiding a tear in her uniform.

The scythe seemed to come alive, swinging back and forth, chasing Ophelia.

She realized Quill's hands were mimicking the scythe's movements. Squinting, she noticed fine threads connected to it, glinting subtly in the light.

While evading, she aimed her small revolver at the thread and—

*Peng*

The threads ignited, following the path back to Quill, forcing him to detach the thread from his gauntlet.

He lost control of the scythe, which crashed to the ground with a metallic clang.

"I must say, you are rather imaginative... Much different from the dull boy you once were."

There were still a few strategies Quill could employ, but this spar clearly showed the gap in experience and skill between him and someone of Ophelia's rank.

Her ease of adaptation and quick thinking were leagues ahead of his own.

He reattached a thread to his scythe, pulling it back to himself and catching it with his right hand.

"That was a fun spar!" Ophelia exclaimed, then glanced at her newly bought revolver on the ground. "Unfortunately, I couldn't manage more than one shot with that revolver." She sounded genuinely disappointed.

"Oh, my bad, I forgot the initial purpose of the spar... but I learned a lot. Thank you!" Quill said as Ophelia approached him.

Despite the strain and minor injuries, he felt grateful for the experience. Each moment of the spar had taught him something valuable.

"Why didn't you utilize your ice?"

'...?'

Though inwardly shocked by her statement, Quill kept his face stoic.

'No, she's unaware.' Knowing her character, it was more likely that she simply had a suspicion but no clarity.

She was likely just fishing for a reaction to analyze.

"My ice?" Quill asked, tilting his head in feigned confusion.

"Yes, the very one you used against the Spawn during the field trip."

"Field trip... Ah, you're talking about the Reaping Arctic!" His voice shot up in mock excitement, his mind cringing at the ridiculous nickname.

He forced a smile, hoping to throw her off.

"..."

Ophelia remained silent, her expression unreadable. She studied him with those piercing eyes, searching for any hint of deception.

"Wait..." Quill moved his hand to his mouth, stifling a laugh. "Pfff, you're suggesting I was the one? My family would love to hear I pulled something like that." He chuckled, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Well... I was just having a bit of fun at your expense. Frankly, you were quite underwhelming during the fight. You're too weak to have executed an attack of that size."

'Ouch.' The jab stung, but Quill forced himself to remain calm. "Ouch," he even said out loud, playing along with a rueful smile.

Unbeknownst to Quill, Ophelia had her own suspicions.

She had seen him taken by Weiss, and it hadn't looked friendly.

But she saw Quill running around the field afterward, as if nothing had happened.

She wasn't convinced by his act but couldn't investigate further during the chaos.

Given Quill's reaction now, he seemed genuine. The Quill Nocturne she knew would have boasted if he had done it.

Then again, time and time again, she had to conclude that this wasn't the same Quill. At least not the Quill she knew.

"Oh, please don't take it personally. With enough training, I'm confident you'll get better and be able to compete with me," she said, her tone shifting to a more encouraging one.

"If I were in your position, I'd be ashamed and take it to heart," a sudden male voice interrupted, a new figure appearing in the training ground.

Quill and Ophelia turned their attention to the intruder, a male student with red hair tied in a half ponytail.

'Red hair and living in this dorm... Sol,' Quill concluded.

"It's a pleasure to see you," Ophelia started, her voice high with politeness. The young man glanced at her briefly before focusing back on Quill, his gaze hard.

"For a firstborn Nocturne, that was quite disgraceful," he began, his tone dripping with disdain.

"Considering you're the son of the head, it's disgraceful to be this weak. And on top of it all, you're not even Sentinel-ranked, let alone an Eclipse."

Both Quill and Ophelia listened as the red-haired student continued, "Too bad Erisa is born into a family like yours. It's truly a loss for the world."

"..."

Quill didn't respond immediately. His face was heavy, making Ophelia think he would jump on the boy at any moment.

But the truth was, he was just trying to remember who this guy was.

It was almost comical how one could see the genuine cluelessness on his face.

'...Who the heck is this guy again? Red hair... has to be a Sol with all that talking... Nah, I can't remember.'

"...Remind me, who are you again?" he asked, genuinely meaning it. But to the student, it sounded like a deliberate insult.

Ophelia looked at Quill, astonished, until she couldn't hold her laughter back, drawing the attention of both males.

"Ahaha, I apologize, but that was quite a humorous display," Ophelia's laughter rang out.

If one could see veins popping like in cartoons, Quill was sure the Sol student would have them.

Actually, looking closely, he could swear he saw some smoke coming from Vincent's hands.

"That is Vincent Sol, Quill, a fellow Eclipse student," Ophelia introduced, taking on the role of mediator.

'...No, still don't remember.'

But Quill decided to show his manners and reached out his hand, only to hastily pull it back when Vincent was about to accept it.

The sudden movement caused Vincent's eyes to flare with anger.

"What the hell, are you joking at my expense?!" Vincent's voice rose in indignation, his fists clenching.

Declining a handshake was about the same as spitting in someone's face in their world, a severe insult.

"Your hand is literally smoking. Do you really expect me to touch that and risk getting burned?" Quill retorted, raising an eyebrow.

"Ha, you're more insightful than I anticipated," Vincent let out, stopping the heat radiating from his palm.

'This little— I gave him the benefit of the doubt, but he actually intended to burn me!' Quill's annoyance grew, yet he tried to maintain his composure.

"...Anyway," Quill turned his gaze to Ophelia, dismissing Vincent. "I appreciated the spar, but I have plans to meet someone today."

"But of course, I appreciate you indulging my pleasantries," Ophelia responded, giving a small bow, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

Quill walked away, acting as if Vincent Sol was completely invisible, which only added to Vincent's annoyance.

The Sol student's face reddened with anger, and his eyes followed Quill with a burning intensity.

"That bastard just outright ignored me, I swear I—"

"Vincent?" Ophelia intervened, Your voice annoys me. Please be quiet."

Vincent Sol looked at her with a perplexed expression, his mouth open as if to argue, but Ophelia's cold, unwavering gaze silenced him.

He watched as the elegant young woman also took her leave, her posture graceful and composed.

Left alone in the training ground, Vincent fumed silently.