Bab 94: 93. Five against one.
Dodge flying objects. Dodge ability, plus one.
Listen to the wind to avoid objects. Reaction time, plus one. Richard and others saw
Aiden's body running forward, but he moved like he had eyes in the back of his head.
He zigged and zagged, twisted, ducked, and jumped and managed to evade all the
bullets. They couldn't believe that not a single paintball hit him. Richard and others just
stood staring at Aiden disappeared around a corner.
What just happened? Richard asked. What are you doing? Go after him. Sarah yelled at
him as she stamped her foot in anger.
Richard was the first to give chase, coming back to his senses and following Aiden. The
others were just a moment behind him. Aiden's master level sprinting ability, however,
left everyone in the dust.
The sandbags were just 20 yards away. Aiden's goal was to hide in the bunker and use
its protection to launch his offensive against Richard. However, the unexpected
happened.
When Aiden was approaching the sandbag at top speed, five figures suddenly appeared
behind the sandbag. Five figures each with a rifle aimed at the running Aiden. Damn it,
there's a team that hasn't been eliminated, he realized.
But this small team had been lying behind the sandbags. Aiden's ears picked up the
sound of footsteps behind him as Richard's team began to catch up. It didn't get much
worse than this.
A siege in the front of him and another in pursuit behind him. Aiden's carelessness was
going to result in his elimination. Thinking of Amy's cheerful and pathetic appearance
when she asked him to help her, Aiden told himself that he must not let the girls down.
As it happened earlier in the day, in this moment of stress, Aiden's mind became calm. In
an instant, several strategies ran through his mind and he made a decision. He stepped
a little to the left and then towards the sandbag.
Is he crazy? He overheard someone ask. The team behind sandbags couldn't believe it.
Was Aiden suicidal? They certainly weren't going to let go of the prey delivered right to
their door.
Under the command of the captain, they immediately shot at Aiden. They opened fire
and sent paint pellets flying. But something incredible happened in front of them.
Aiden leaped in the air and dove over the bullets. Dodge ability plus one. Dodge ability
upgrade.
Current progress, 11 out of 100. Current level, proficient. At this moment, Aiden only felt
invincible.
His body twisted midair, dodging more bullets. It should not have been possible. The
team in front of him and Richard's team behind him stood with open mouths trying to
comprehend what was happening.
It's impossible, Richard screamed in anger. He was a trained soldier, but he had never
seen such defensive moves. This is inhuman, he thought.
His body defies physics and normal human body movement. And then to make matters
worse, in midair, Aiden smiled as he pulled out his rifle and fired aimed at the sandbag after the team members there.
Upside down in the air, Aiden examined the scene below him. His eyes
were laser focused.
In a split second, he shot out five paintballs, each expertly aimed at the five people
hiding behind the sandbags. Firing ability plus one. Current progress, one out of 10.
Current level, beginner. There was a soft thud as Aiden landed nimbly on his feet. The
five men behind the sandbag stood up and examined their clothing.
They were surprised to find that their camo was covered in paint. They looked around at
each other, stunned. They'd all been eliminated in a single blow.
The entire team. Aiden had pulled off this complex maneuver in the blink of an eye.
Richard had seen him land on the ground, but where was he now? Everything had
happened so fast.
By the time everyone had regained their bearings, Aiden had already jumped behind a
nearby sandbag and taken up a strong defensive position. Sarah and the rest of her
team scanned the horizon. Where was he? How had he gotten away so quickly? The
group grew anxious, looking swiftly left and right, bracing themselves for an impending
attack.
Aiden could spring out from anywhere. Sarah, who had been very confident up to this
point, asked in a trembling voice, What should we do, Richard? I don't see him. What
should we do? It was just them and Aiden left now, five against one.
Even though their entire team was intact, they were afraid. Richard clenched his jaw. He
could taste victory.
It was so close. They couldn't stop now. He laid out a plan.
He's got to be hiding in this area, he said. If we approach him from five different
directions, he'll be trapped. Sarah and the others listened intently.
He might be able to take out one or two of us, Richard continued, but not five. We only
need one of us to survive, and we win. The other four nodded.
They split up and scattered over the hillside, giving a wide berth to the sandbag area
where they believed Aiden was hiding. After walking a few hundred feet, they turned
around and made eye contact with each other. They now formed a circle around Aiden.
When everyone was ready, they began to slowly creep forward, tightening the circle
around their target. Behind a sandbag, Aiden closed his eyes, quieted his breathing, and
listened. Ding! Triggering enhanced listening.
Aiden's hearing was suddenly amplified. He could now hear distant sounds as if they
were inches away. Wind blowing through the leaves, birds in a nearby meadow, and
now, as the enemy approached, leaves crushing under boots and labored breathing.
He listened to their footfalls and focused in on their breathing. Five, he muttered to
himself. One person stood out.
Compared to the others, their breathing was long and steady, and their footsteps were
soft and deliberate. This must be Richard. Aiden tried to locate this figure in the terrain.
Thirty degrees south by southwest, Aiden thought. He remembered there was a bush in
that area that could be used for shelter. Aiden could guess what Richard was thinking.
This area would be a perfect position for him. If Aiden was distracted by the other four
team members, Richard would have a clear shot of him. Alternatively, if Aiden happened
to be looking straight toward him, Richard would be relatively protected by bush cover.
It's a good plan, Aiden thought, worthy of a soldier. Aiden closed his eyes and quickly
constructed a map of the terrain in his mind. He recalled everything he'd seen that day
and integrated it into a single mental image.
The details of the mental map were clear, and he could manipulate them with ease. He
could zoom in, zoom out, and rotate. He could alternate between a bird's-eye view of the
scene and various first-person viewpoints on the ground.
Recalling geographical environment, sensory memory ability, plus one. Current progress,
one out of ten. Current level, beginner.
Aiden listened carefully to determine where each member of
Richard's team was located.
Using this information, he placed each member in his mental map. According to his
calculations, Richard was approximately fifty feet southwest of him. Judging by the
sound of his breathing, he was probably standing near the left-hand side of the bush in
that area.
Aiden quickly made a few more calculations. The wind speed is about twelve miles per
hour, he thought. My shooting speed is 0.3 seconds.
Richard's reaction speed is... A stream of information flowed through his brain like data
on a computer screen. Complex calculus. Deduction ability, plus one.
Current progress, one out of ten. Current level, beginner. Aiden opened his eyes.
He was ready. He slowed his breathing and tensed the muscles in his arms. He was still
in a crouching position behind a sandbag.
Without standing up, he raised his rifle above his head. Richard saw the rifle appear
above the sandbag where Aiden was hiding. Got him, he thought.
He raised his rifle, braced it against his chest, and took aim. As soon as Aiden appeared,
he'd take him out. But Aiden didn't appear.
Only his rifle had poked up above the sandbag. Before Richard and the others could
comprehend what was going on, Aiden fired a shot and withdrew the rifle. He'd never
shown his face.
Did he really just take a blind shot? Sarah thought. She shook her head and laughed.
What did this boy expect? That he could just fire at random and actually hit someone?
What an idiot.
He'd just given away his position for nothing. Richard could see a paintball coming
toward him. He was about to dodge, but then realized that it was in no danger of hitting
him.
It was heading for a bush five feet away. He relaxed and returned his gaze to the
sandbag in the distance. What was Aiden thinking? Just as Richard fixed his eyes on the
sandbag, the paintball Aiden had fired hit a branch on the bush nearby.
The paintball then bounced back at an angle towards Richard. It all happened in an
instant. Richard looked down at the paint splatter on his camo jacket.
His eyes widened in disbelief. What? He said aloud. That's impossible.
He looked around at his startled team members. How had Aiden managed to hit him? He
must have got him by pure chance. What else could explain it? Crouching behind the
sandbag, Aiden could hear Richard's cry of alarm.
Gotcha, he thought to himself and smiled. Trick Shot Shooting Ability Plus One After
making a series of precise computations, Aiden had been able to eliminate the most
powerful and skilled member of the opposing team with a single shot. Now only the four
girls were left, and they posed much less of a threat.
When the girls saw that Richard had been eliminated, they quickly lost confidence and
scattered in all directions. In a matter of minutes, Aiden was able to shoot three of them.
Now only Sarah was left.
Where are you? She screamed in desperation. Come out! She was scared, but she
steadied her voice as best she could. Come out and face me! But no matter how much
Sarah screamed, Aiden didn't respond.
He stayed hidden behind the sandbags. The building anticipation of attack was torture
for Sarah. She felt like she was fighting a ghost.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone