Bab 33: I Must be Crazy

Ah, they'd be playing dodge with bullets instead? Were they supposed to test the reloading speed and accuracy of the bullet trajectory?

Noah only shrugged as he agreed with no words. He had been training with Laquisha like this, and he had already broken something. He should at least help out now that the witches of Satan weren't doing anything in particular.

However, Luca was worried about this kind of exercise. He's a marksman, and he was now trained to be rather steady and still. Playing this kind of game would expose his broken agility. Then again, he didn't want to say no.

In the end, he agreed to come.

They were into a wide area where the guns were being tested. The agents were surprised to see them, but Howard was nonchalant and gave Luca and Noah instructions. Basically, they would be evading bullets like Luca feared.

"Don't worry, you won't get hit," Noah whispered as he realized Luca was not into this kind of training. Perhaps the training for marksmen was indeed very different. He should be the one shooting from the other end. "Even if you are, just write it down. We can get even by asking the elites to be trained some other day."

"Yes, yes, I should…" Luca only nodded.

Up until now, he still hadn't forgotten what he saw. For some reason, he wanted to ask; but he kept catching Noah at a very bad time.

What bad time? No one else was there but the two of them. It should be okay as long as he could keep his focus.

Luca cleared his throat at the same time the warning siren sounded. His first question seemed to be the cue for the first shot. "Noah, I have something to ask you."

The witch evaded the shot effortlessly. "One question per bullet you evade, only yes or no."

"What? Will you be able to count that?" Luca growled as Noah evaded another.

"They seemed to be talking with each other." Howard hummed and advised the agents to shoot once at Noah and then at Luca. From one person testing out the gun, there came three. "Don't be bothered by this. Look, they're even taking this lightly."

Noah only nodded at Luca before evading two, one after another. He then grinned at the man who shot at him twice.

A magic bullet pierced through the air, but it didn't even catch a strand of Luca's hair as he dodged. "That's one!" Noah also raised a finger to signify that he knew Luca evaded it. "Is that man your lover?"

Laughter came from Noah. This young master didn't even try beating around the bush and delivered the blow then and there. He answered, "No."

"Is his name really Mephy?"

"No."

"Is he… what was he doing to you earlier?!"

"That's not a yes-or-no question."

Luca was about to speak again, but he had to pull back his face. He was almost hit, and he could only throw a glare at the reloading agent. Turning his face back at Noah and watching him prancing around to avoid the bullets, Luca felt indignant. Not because he didn't answer his last question, but because he could simply avoid them all.

The young master had been training so hard ever since he got in the Order of Michael. However, he was very far from reaching Noah's level, the witch who could move at the speed of sound. Was there no way for him to catch up with this witch?

How could protect Noah if he couldn't even be in Noah's level?

Suddenly, Noah's hand glowed blue. He lunged towards Luca and caught a bullet that almost hit Luca's face. The hunter was shocked, but he only received a wink from Noah. His face reddened at the playfulness of this witch… even after he was caught letting another man on his body.

The agents thought the redness from the rage of almost being blasted at the face. However, they didn't slow down. Howard was forcing them to not feel anything while shooting at their own comrades.

After fifteen minutes that felt like an eternity, Luca was panting on his spot. He then used his sleeve to pat-dry the sweat dripping from the side of his defined jaw. His sharp eyes continued to glare at the agents who were feeling the heat of his gaze.

What kind of magic was he using, being able to burn through anything he glared at?

No one minded staring back at him though.

They were hopping around and surely expending energy evading, and so it was right to have Luca and Noah in their shirts and pants alone because of the uncomfortable temperature. The air conditioning was not turned up to cold, and the basement had poor ventilation for this kind of activity.

Therefore, it had gotten hot with all that forced movements. Not to mention the thermal energy caused by the magic bullets.

Such a setup was surely making Luca sweat so badly.

"So hot…" one of the female agents fanned herself, but she wasn't really talking about the wind in the firing range.

Who was Luca Allsworth? He was the young master of an outrageously wealthy family and one of the most sought-after bachelors of their business world. Right now, he was in his loose shirt and pants, being all sweaty. His shirt had stuck to his chest and back, the same with his hair.

The female agents were secretly keeping their blushes and fantasies as they suddenly felt like sadistic partners making their little boyfriend suffer.

"Are you exhausted? Want to take a break?" Noah laughed out as he scanned the image of the man, engraving it in his mind.

Halfway, Luca had stopped asking since he couldn't bring himself to ask vulgar questions. Not answering any WH question was very frustrating for this young master.

"Hmph, I won't be one-upped by a witch." The hunter huffed as he continued to catch his breath.

"Let's move on to the next phase," Howard spoke through the loudspeaker to let Noah and Luca hear him. "You're both allowed to destroy the bullets, but you can't move from your spots."

"Wait, what?!" Luca exclaimed, but he couldn't be heard from the other room of the firing range.

Before he could complain, the door opened. Theresa handed them a handgun each. She then pulled chains from the ground and chained the two men where they were standing. Theresa kept on murmuring apologies as she did so—apologies which purpose Luca didn't know.

Noah then looked at the gun. He had no idea if he could make use of this properly. Besides, he was scared of putting his hand on the trigger. Glancing at Luca who was checking out the gun and its obvious specifications, the witch thought of something… and so his lips curled in a fleeting smile.

When the warning siren sounded, Noah quickly tossed his gun at Luca. "You want to earn your answers?"

"Oh, but I'll ask you somewhere else. Promise me you'll be very truthful to me!" Luca felt the gun in each hand, waving both to gauge the speed he could move them.

"Impress me then." Noah shrugged and eyed the first bullet shot.

Bang! The bullet exploded as soon as Luca fired at it. The hunter smirked. "That's easy."

Howard didn't know what was happening between the two, but he was fascinated by their performance. Someone else was recording the agents' guns' performance, and so Howard was watching Noah and Luca.

Earlier, he saw Noah evade so readily and could even catch bullets that would otherwise hit Luca.

Now, he couldn't help but not blink as every bullet fired was being destroyed by Luca even before it could even leave three meters away from the shooters. That was a constant seven meters away from them.

"I must be crazy…" Howard coughed out as he moved to the side without anyone but Noah noticing. At one second, the range area was filled with lights. The next…

It was all gone!

"Oh, shit!" One of the agents exclaimed, but they were being urged to shoot nonetheless. What if they shot those two men dead? Wouldn't it be bad for them?

However, the bullets that would lighten up the dark… continued to blow up seven meters away from the shooter. It was as if Luca could still see things perfectly. The agents couldn't help but be impressed by his accuracy.

Actually, it was because this… was part of Luca's training. Shooting bullets or any projectiles in the dark was the hardest part. Any kind of sound produced by the projectiles would alert Luca where the bullet was.

As if knowing this, Noah was perfectly still; his heartbeat trying not to pound so loud in his chest. He could hear the bullets as well, with or without the light.

Earlier, Luca struggled not because he couldn't see the bullets… but because he couldn't move his body fast enough. Right now, the second phase was all Luca.

The only downside was that he couldn't see much of Luca's sweaty body if he just used his human eye.

In the end, Luca didn't miss any bullet. Thirteen minutes of darkness was nothing to a god of accuracy. When the exercise stopped and the lights were just starting to brighten the place, Luca brought a gun close to his lips. His gaze met with Noah's, and he blew on the imaginary smoke from the nozzle.

Noah only chuckled. This young master was learning quite fast.