Chapter 80

Rebecca curiously looked at the handsome boy, who was completely immersed in focusing on targets as he held his pistol with steady hands.

It had been over ten minutes, and Keith had spent that time practising his marksmanship. At first, she could clearly see that he did not have too much of experience at target shooting, and it took him a while before he managed to hit close to the mark.

However, for someone like her, whose eyes and mind did not miss on even the minute of the details, his alarming progress was mesmerising.

She had never before seen an amateur hold the gun with such steady hands and gain control over their breathing after only firing a few rounds. To an untrained eye, it would appear as if Keith was getting the hang of things after not trying his hands at target shooting for a long while. But she could see it that he was only learning these things with every shot he fired.

"Times up." She announced when the fifteen minutes preparation period ended. "Let's start."

Keith withdrew his gun from the shooting posture, but kept his eyes on the body Target that was ridled with bullet holes. He stared at it for a good minute before he pressed the replacement button, and turned to smile brightly at the girl with the ocean blue eyes.

"Let's start." He said. "Rock, paper, scissors?"

"I will go first." She shook her head and took her position.

"Eight Targets at 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50 meters. Ten rounds each, with a total of 800 points. Okay?"

"I am fine with that." He nodded his head without much thought.

Rebecca entered the information on the Tablet at her booth, and soon a Screen over their heads displayed their names and the format of the competition.

There was also a Leader's Board displaying the names of the people who had scored the highest in this format, and unsurprisingly, the soldiers and military officials occupied almost all the top hundred spots.

However, there was Rebecca's name on the Leaderboard too, and she stood at 97th Spot with an impressive score of 688/800. She was tied on the points with the next seven spots, but fell behind them only because she took more time than them.

"Intimidated?" She smirked when she caught him looking at the Leader's Board.

"By you?" He chuckled. "I am Intimidated by the score of my Grandfather."

She inadvertently glanced at the name 'Raizer Demiliore' that stood proudly at the 3rd spot with an exceptional 778/800 Points.

"You should be." She nodded to herself and then put her earmuffs and safety goggles on.

"Ready?" He asked after he put on his earmuffs and picked up the tablet.

"Yes." She nodded to him, and Keith immediately pressed the start button displayed on the Tablet.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*.....

The sounds of gunshots resounded in the Alley, and the clock stopped as soon as all ten rounds had been fired at the first target.

Rebecca did not bother looking at the screen to see how many points she had earned and just focused on changing the magazine.

"Ready?" He asked when she was back in her shooting stance.

"Yes."

As soon as Keith pressed the start button, the lights turned green again and the gunshots responded once more.

The second target went down, then the third, and then the fourth.

It was timeout now as she needed to reload the magazines, and she finally glanced at the screen that displayed her score so far.

{Target 1: 98/100}

{Target 2: 94/100}

{Target 3: 91/100}

{Target 4: 88/100}

{Current Score: 371/400}

"Impressive." Keith sincerely said and smiled.

"It is still not perfect." She smiled and shook her head. "I am ready."

"Okay." Keith pressed the start again, and the gunshots sounded out in the Alley once again.

{Target 5: 84/100}

{Target 6: 78/100}

{Target 7: 74/100}

{Target 8: 73/100}

{Final Score: 680/800}

"Having second thoughts?" She chuckled when she caught him sighing.

"I am just disappointed that you are not at your best tonight." He lamented, and then smirked as he handed her the tablet.

"Let's see what you have got, Mister." She giggled as she watched him get ready to draw his gun at his targets.

Keith intently looked at the bullseye, and steadied his arms and breathing. He was an exceptional doctor, and his hands were naturally quite steady, it proved to be an advantage for him when he practised earlier, and right now, he recollected every feel of it.

"I am ready." He announced.

As soon as he pulled the trigger, the gunshots started sounding out one after the other. He kept hitting the bullseye for the first few shots, but then the 5th missed the bullseye and landed on the 9 Pointer. He could have gone on and kept shooting, but he took a few seconds to recompose himself before pulling the trigger again. However, he failed to hit the mark consecutively, and ended up gathering three more 9 Pointers.

{Target 1: 96/100}

Rebecca was not too amazed that he got such a sound result on the first target, since it was the easiest of all eight, however, she was still surprised by how talented he was at it.

"Ready?" She asked as soon as he changed the magazine and took the shooting stance.

"Yes!"

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*.....

A playful smirk adorned his lips when he fired all 10 shots.

{Target 2: 95/100}

"Impessive, eh?" He chuckled when he found Rebecca frowing at him.

"Not really." She denied. "Are you ready?"

"Give me a second." He shook his head and immediately changed the magazine before getting back into his position. "Ready."

The light turned green again, and Keith pulled the trigger once more.

{Bullseye, Bullseye, 9, 9, Bullseye, 9, Bullseye, 8, 9, 8.}

{Target 3: 92/100}

"Nice." The Golden Blonde lightly smiled when she saw the result, seemingly not too bothered by it now. "Ready?"

"Yes!"

He wasted no time and imemdiately got back into his stance.

{8,7, 9, Bullseye, 9, Bullseye, 8, 8, Bullseye, 9.}

{Target 4: 88/100}

{Current Score: 371/400}

"Now that's impressive." She admitted, acknowledging in her heart that he was probably inherently better than her at it, but she did not say it out loud.

"Thank you." He smiled at her as he reloaded his magazines. "I really want you to wear Purple on our date, Miss Grayson."

"We shall see." She simply said and waited for him to get ready.

"Ready!" He announced and the second session started.

{Target 5: 86/100}

{Target 6: 81/100}

{Target 7: 78/100}

{Target 8: 78/100}

{Total Score: 694.}

Keith had an an advantage over her as he was an Auror. He had more power in his body. His recoil control was simply much better than what Rebecca had displayed. But even though the result showed that he had won, the smile on his lips was very light.

"You don't seem too happy at the prospect of going out on a date with me." She smiled when she saw him looking at his name on the 89th Rank on the Leader's Board.

"I won, yes." He nodded to her. "But my heart is not content with it."

"Why?" She curiously asked.

"You did not take me seriously." He looked her right in her eyes. "Why?"

She frowned when she heard his words, and the uncomfortable feeling in her heart was back. However, she kept looking him into his eyes, and finally sighed before returning to her booth.

Keith did not say anything as she reset the Alley, and the put her earmuffs back on. This time, she did not put on the Goggles, and took on a rather relaxed stance.

The gunshots resounded once more in the Alley, and Keith intently looked at the scorecard.

{Target 1: 100/100}

{Target 2: 100/100}

{Target 3: 96/100}

{Target 4: 94/100}

{Target 5: 90/100}

{Tatget 6: 88/100}

{Target 7: 87/100}

{Target 8: 84/100}

{Total Score: 739/800}

Her name was on 41st spot after this display, but she immediately erased the data, and her name reappeared again at the 97th Spot with 688/800 Points.

"My personal best is 746. But my arms are a little sore now after all the stress." She said as she packed the gun back in the case along with the remaining rounds. "I underestimated you, Mr Demiliore. But a loss is a loss. I will give you the date that you so desire." She looked at him with a sincere smile.

"Thank you!" He chuckled and kept looking right into her eyes.

"What are you searching for?" She giggled and asked.

"Your pain that keep masking behind those gorgeous eyes of yours." He lightly said. "It is hard, isn't it?"

As soon as his words, Rebecca's eyes dangerously narrowed at him.

"Those sad moments always as fresh as ever in your mind. Every single emotion that you felt in your life, always there for you to recall." He faintly smiled.

"How do you know all this?" She sternly asked.

However, Keith did not answer her and instead approached her with calm steps. He stopped and stood right in front of her, and then leaned in a little, so that there eyes were closer to each other.

"Don't hold back in fear that it would hurt those that are close to you. People always envy the blessed. And they shall always envy the blessed." He seriously said. "Use your power to achieve what you truly desire. And don't worry, those who really care about you, will never turn their backs on you."

"What makes you so sure of it?" She asked as her eyes turned a little misty.

"Why don't you find out yourself?" He asked and then grabbed her soft hands in his, taking her off-guard.

She wanted to break free when she felt a soothing warmth creep into her arms, and soon the tiredness and soreness diminished, eventually vanishing.

Everything happened in under a minute, and when he finally let go of her hands, she curiously stretched her arms, testing them.

"How did you do it?" She asked as she looked back at him in his eyes.

"You are not the only one who's blessed, Miss Grayson." He chuckled. "I shall pick you up tomorrow morning at 6, and be ready by then. We have a flight to catch."

"Where are we going?"

"Come. And you shall see." He said and then walked out of the Alley, into the waiting room where Yingying, Qingyue, and Julian were waiting. They had watched everything that had transpired in the Alley and their little competition.

"Keith!" Juliun smiled when he entered the room.

"Julian!" He smiled back at the blonde-haired boy. "Your sister lost a bet against me."

"Did she?" He smirked. "But we all saw that she was going easy on you."

"Well, she admitted her loss." He shrugged. "Do you want to try your hands too?"

"No, thanks!" He simply shook his head. "Target Shooting isn't my forte. And you are too good at it."

"If you say so." He shrugged again and gently smiled at the grey-eyed girl, who was wearing a frown on her face. "Hungry?"

"Yes." She said and nodded, schooling her expresisons.

Qingyue felt very uneasy in her heart after witnessing how good Rebecca was at Target Shooting. She wasn't simply good, but she was brilliant at it. And by the looks of it, her and Keith had bonded over their little competition as they both seemed to share a similar interest.

"What was the bet?" She curiously asked.

"A date." He revealed to them, much to the irritation of the Blonde Haired girl who had just entered the room.

"Don't hold much hope, Keith. Rebecca has always called you a pretty boy, and I can assure you that it wasn't a compliment."

"Shut up!" Rebecca sternly said to her sibling and nudged her elbow in his ribs.

"Ow!" Julian groaned in pain but soon burst out in chuckles. "Someone finally managed to get one over you, eh? Are you sad?"

"No, I am not sad." She glared at her little brother. "Let's go! I am hungry."

"You are always hungry whenever you are sad." He pointed out.

"Julian!" She nearly shouted at him, but then just sighed and walked out of the room.

"Let's go! My treat for winning against my sister!" He happily said and invited them to follow after him.

"We will take you on that." Keith happily nodded and followed after him.