Baroness Artheim was next. She strode in with confidence. Her simple leather traveler attire somehow looked elegant and classy due to her charismatic charm.
She didn't wield the steamrune rifle this time. Instead, crackling blue lightning danced around her fingertips.
Once she reached the central part of the arena, the bats were released. They shot forward. Aggressive. Yet, moving in erratic manners.
The Baroness didn't aim for perfect accuracy. Instead, she decided to depend on her primal sorcery. She swept her hands. And three tiny birds of pure lightning formed.
They were launched almost randomly and charged towards the bats with an almost sentient behavior. These were not simple, straightforward projectiles. They were homing bolts of primal energy.
The bats tried to evade. But the lightning birds clung to their tails. Adjusting their trajectories. Each bird found its mark and struck a bat with a sickening sizzle.
The creatures fell. Twitching briefly. Their bodies were smoking. All three were down in under fifteen seconds. The baroness passed the round. Receiving a great applause for her distinctive power of sorcery.
Jack also gave applause. Admiring her skill. It was a powerful and flawless application of her primal magic.
Then came Aella. The little girl fixed her round glasses. She approached the center of the arena with a determined expression. Clutching her voidfire revolver tightly.
The audience murmured. A mix of curiosity and concern. Unlike the previous round, this time it involved monsters after all. Even if the monsters were technically weak critters, Bloodscaled Bats were still quite dangerous for normal people.
Then... tree bats were released. They immediately charged. Launching themselves into their chaotic flight patterns.
Aella stood her ground. Her sky-blue eyes narrowed with intense focus behind her glasses. She didn't just track the bats with her eyes alone. She seemed to sense their movements through hearing too.
Her head tilted slightly. Then, her small hand snapped up. The revolver barked. A single shot. Not done hurriedly. It was deliberately placed.
One bat was making a wide turn. About to attack the girl. But a blazing voidfire bullet suddenly struck its body mid-air. It plummeted down. Dead.
She didn't rush for the next. She reloaded. Injecting voidfire power into his revolver with a fluid, practiced motion. Then she waited.
The remaining two bats became more frantic. One swooped low. Attempting to brush past her head.
Aella ducked slightly. Then she fired at the bat. The voidfire bullet ripped through the bat's wing. Crippling it. It fell. Helplessly flapping its single wing, before hitting the ground.
The last bat moved like a desperate blur. Making plenty of erratic movements. Aella tracked it. Smirking mischievously.
She fired again. A quick, almost instinctive shot. The purple-black blazing bullet struck the bat squarely. It dropped to the ground. Lifeless. Another perfect score.
The arena erupted in cheers. Louder than for any other contestant so far. Aella, the youngest competitor, had once again defied expectations. She blew the muzzle of her revolver and bowed slightly before jogging off the stage.
Jack sighed at her theatrical antics and looked at Barnaby pointedly. The other crew members did the same.
Barnaby just grinned and whistled. Acting innocently.
After Aella, the remaining participants completed their turns. Many failed. Unable to match the speed and precision required for the stage. They only had a minute to end three bats after all.
As the round concluded, the announcer confirmed the numbers. "Round three is complete! Only fourteen participants will advance to the next stage!"
Jack watched the scoreboard updates. Reina, Aella, and Baroness Artheim were all still listed. Placing at the first, the sixth, and the fourth respectively. Likely arranged based on the speed they completed the challenge. Good.
The announcer continued. "Dear contestants... For the fourth round, you will face a challenge of precision and discernment. You must strike the hidden targets within a crowd of non-targets."
"A flock of mechanical birds will be released. Ninety seven grey birds and three black birds." He explained in more details. "Among them, only the black mechanical birds are valid targets. Striking three grey mechanical birds will result in disqualification. You have two minutes."
The stage was cleared. Before long, a new setup appeared. A large, open expanse, dotted with artificial trees and rocky outcroppings, filled the arena.
Then, with a series of whirring noises, the targets appeared. A hundred mechanical birds, predominantly grey, began to emerge from the foliage.
They flew in tight formations. Then they broke apart before reformed back. Creating a swirling, chaotic sight. Interspersed among them were three distinct black mechanical birds. Identical with the others in shape and size, save for their dark coloration.
The first contestant entered. A veteran archer. He raised his bow, took a deep breath, and loosed an arrow. It struck a grey bird.
A red light flashed on the bird. Signifying a wrong target. The crowd sighed. He had two more chances of failure.
He adjusted his aim, waited for a small group to separate, and fired again. This time, he hit a black one. A loud cheers erupted.
He needed two more black ones. But then, under pressure, he hit another grey. And another. Failed. He was disqualified.
The challenge was harder than it looked. The sheer number of grey birds made it difficult to isolate the black ones. Especially as they moved in such close proximity. Many contestants fell prey to the pressure. Hitting grey birds and being eliminated.
After the target being refreshed, Baroness Artheim stepped up. She narrowed her eyes. Surveying the swirling flock. She summoned a tiny lightning bird and launched it. Aiming at a black bird she had pinpointed.
The lightning bird struck true. One down. The crowd applauded.
She fired her lightning bird again. But then, as it was about to hit the black bird, a grey mechanical bird swerved to its trajectory. The lightning bird struck the grey bird instead. A red flash.
The baroness frowned. She fired again. But it hit another grey bird. Her homing magic attack was great to chase an evading target. But it didn't help much in this round. The main problem here was other objects, the grey birds, blocking the way after all.
She had one chance left. She took a deep breath, focused, and unleashed a straight lightning bolt. It hit the target. Two down. One to go.
She quickly launched straight lightning bolt again. But it missed the black bird she intended and clipped another grey one on the wing. Another red flash.
Three grey birds. She failed.
"Baroness Sapphire Artheim is disqualified!" The announcer's voice boomed. Confirming what the flashing red lights had already declared.
The baroness sighed. A slight flicker of frustration crossed her face. But then, she brushed it off. She was never a marksman after all. She walked off the stage with an air of dignified acceptance.
Jack nodded. He had already expected this. The baroness excelled in research and in battle against large number of enemies. Not in specialized 'assassination' type of battle like this.
Reina was next. She walked in confidently. Her two steamrune handguns were once again drawn.
She didn't waste time waiting for the flock of mechanical birds to separate. Instead, she looked directly through the flock's formation.
Her eyes locked onto the black mechanical birds with uncanny accuracy. She fired. Not in rapid succession. But with deliberate, well-spaced shots.
Each bullet found a black target. Bang! Bang! Bang! Three black birds fell. Their mechanisms sputtering. She hadn't hit a single grey one. And she completed it only in nine seconds.
The crowd exploded in cheers. Impressed by her cold efficiency.
Jack smiled with a sense of pride. That was his woman. But he was not that surprised with the result. Reina's shooting speed and accuracy had been tested in many battles more difficult than this one. Especially that one experience... the battle in the Trentree Sanctuary.
Aella followed Reina next. The little girl held her revolver steady. She didn't have Reina's experience. But she possessed an almost preternatural intuition.
She waited for the black birds to momentarily separate, then her revolver barked. Quick and sharp. Black-purple spark appeared. A black bird dropped.
She reloaded the revolver with his voidfire energy. Then, she waited. This time, a black bird zipped past another grey one, a perfect opportunity. She fired. Another black bird fell.
The crowd gasped in amazement.
For her final target, she took her time. Tracking a black bird as it moved through a dense cluster. As it was slightly out of the cluster, she fired.
The black bird spun and fell. It took her almost two minutes to complete the challenge. But she managed to complete it. Three hits. Zero misses. The arena went wild for the child prodigy.
When the round concluded, only five participants remained.
"Round four is complete." The announcer concluded. "Only five contestants have qualified for the final round of Marksmanship Mastery."
Reina and Aella were among them. Jack felt a surge of satisfaction. Rune emitted a brilliant golden light now. Pulsing excitedly. The other crew members were also grinning proudly.
"And now, for the final challenge!" The announcer's voice boomed. Raising the tension. "This is a test of pure speed and instinct. Three Blink Fireflies will be released, approximately eight hundred meters from the contestants."
"For anyone who has no idea of what Blink Fireflies are..." He continued. "These creatures are only as large as a baby's fist and possess the ability to teleport instantly when they sense danger. A nightmare target for any marksman."
"This time, the contestants won't take a turn." More information was shared. "This is a race! The first contestant to strike and neutralize one of these elusive targets will be crowned the Marksmanship Champion!"
The stage once again changed. The five remaining contestants were positioned at one end. Their weapons were already drawn. A mechanical cage was brought close to the other end.
Jack squinted, trying to discern the distant target area. Eight hundred meters was a significant distance. And Blink Fireflies were quite famous. Their teleportation ability and danger sense made them incredibly difficult to hit.
"Contestants, on my signal!" the announcer commanded.
A collective hush fell over the arena. Every eye was fixed on the distant mechanical cage. The release point. And on the five figures holding their weapons.
Reina stood calm. Both of her handguns were held loosely. Next to her, Aella gripped her revolver tightly. Concentrating seriously. Her lips were tight.
"Begin!"
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