Upcoming Deadshot

--Carl's Perspective--

Running off with Fudo after the two siblings split, Charlie, Belle, and I were dumbfounded, following him toward a tall tower near the barracks. This was an extremely tall tower... but it was nothing compared to the one that stood on Orion's glacier.

"I know, you're probably used to my sister's annoyingly good attitude, but I'm sorry I can't deliver the same. Well, let's get straight to the point. I've heard things about Carl and Charlie, and I've witnessed what Belle was capable of. That being said, I'd like to say that I'm thoroughly impressed with your feats. Charlie, it was explained to me that you were the first one to bring bows to the group, and you expressed a proficiency with them as well, which is honorable in its own way." Fudo said.

As he explained, Fudo stepped up a few crates and snatched an extremely refined-looking bow, supported with what looked like barbed wire and a few spikes on the end.

"I'll have you train with this. This is the Barbed Titan, my old bow. Of course, you don't need to keep that name on it, but I go through with it and it never let me down. I'm hoping with your proficiency, you can bring some talents to our forces... on the other hand, Carl, it seems that you are proficient with gunpowder-based weaponry. I heard about what you did with that cannon... hitting a rock out of midair while predicting the trajectory of the cannon you were using? I hate to assume things, but I'm pretty sure you were using a very basic version of my eye." Fudo pointed to the weird eye he had in his head.

I couldn't really explain what prompted me to see the perfect time to light the cannon to destroy that rock... but I knew it was a feeling deep down in my body that prompted me to act when I did. If Fudo was right... then did I possess this... eye...?

"Last but not least... Belle. You were able to pinpoint exact locations with your ice during that fight and raise them out of the ground. Sure, it might not sound too impressive, but I'm amazed at your ability to perceive distances to the near millimeter. May I ask where you learned that from?" Fudo asked her.

Belle seemed to be a strange girl... but something about her reminded me of Red. Maybe it was the gaze in her eyes, ready to conquer any challenge. Red and Belle would've gotten along great.

"I didn't. One day, I just knew how to do it." She explained.

"Great, I would rather you have intuition than experience. Okay, so from here, I want you guys to point out the targets you can see at the farthest distance. Each has a letter on them, and don't say them out loud." Fudo said. He leaned back in a wooden chair and pulled out a clipboard from the side of the wall.

We all took a second to look at the targets in the distance, keeping our mouths shut as we analyzed the letters.

I looked as far as I could... but I soon realized that I could barely even see the first one! What the hell... and there are six more out?!

"Alright, go ahead, tell me the letter of the furthest one you could all see when I say go... ready, set, go." Fudo said.

"A."

"V."

"H."

I was the one who said H, and Charlie landed the V. Which meant that Belle saw an A, somewhere far out.

"Interesting results. Belle got it right, Charlie missed the letter, and Carl could only read the first one. The letter was U, Charlie." Fudo explained.

"Although, that interests me. So, it's obvious Belle can see the farthest with the naked eye, but Carl, you can't see past the first target?" Fudo asked just to make sure, and I nodded.

"I see... so, it looks like Carl might be the most accurate, but Belle can see the farthest. Charlie might be able to adapt both of these into an average balance... but, I want you all to get to Belle's level in distance at least. I haven't seen you shoot actual weapons, but Carl, I do have a prototype weapon for you that will work." Fudo said.

He went digging in a box for a moment and pulled out a weird device for Belle and Charlie.

Belle had a small gauntlet on her left hand that poked into her body, however, when it did, it pulled up some weird number on a display made of blue material, with the number '3' on it.

"Belle, that right there is a Projectile-Summon. There are other weapons like it that we Humans use, but it will take your strands and turn them into any projectile you can think of. I give you free range since you have the best intuition and range. Charlie, the same applies for you and this quiver, except it will create various arrowheads depending on what you want... and Carl... for you..." Fudo continued explaining while he was diving into the chest, and he eventually pulled out a weird weapon for me.

It had a scope on top, like a telescope, and a wooden frame with a trigger by the stock... could this be... a gun...?

"This right here is the LN-One Oh One. Or, as Alatus made me call it, the 'Ouchy'." Fudo said in a depressed tone.

"This looks... weird... what can it do?" I asked Fudo.

"Well, this gun is different than the others, as it doesn't take strands, but it can pretty easily go through an unsuspecting person. Most Essence Strands are able to defend against arrowheads and spears... but since you have the worst eyesight, that scope can let you hit people from a long distance, and do damage to them that they can't defend." Fudo explained.

"I see... so, this is like a telescope that can hurt people. I can understand that. So, can I shoot one of your targets?" I asked Fudo, to which he nodded.

Fudo explained to me how to use the gun and what the trigger did, along with the safety, and to never point it at anybody, and I immediately put it up against the stone guard-rail, and focused the scope onto the target far away, letting the cross in the middle overlap... but something about that didn't feel right.

The wind blew my hair to the right as I scoped in, and I was able to accurately understand.

I heard Sky talk about his various experiences with knowing things, and witnessed it within Charlie and the others as they obtained various skills that they shouldn't have known. Meanwhile, I felt like I knew nothing... until I picked up this weapon.

I could tell. The bullet that comes out of this thing is small and easily manipulatable. Even the wind could move it, but it is a force of nature if I can use it right.

I was able to deduce that I should aim upwards to account for the distance the bullet would drop and how the wind would affect it.

Then, I pulled the trigger.

It was completely silent, and a bullet came out of it at a location that seemed completely inaccurate to the target. Charlie cracked a laugh, but in six seconds worth of time, Belle gasped and squinted her eyes to look at the target.

It didn't go down? Dammit, did I miss?

"A direct hit... Carl hit it right in the middle!" Belle shouted out.