“So, what score do we need to get to?” Tyra asked.

“Let’s go with one hundred points,” I declared.

The shooting targets have certain parts where if you shoot one of the parts, you earn a certain point. The points go from seven to ten. The seven point is on the outer layer of the target while the ten point is at the center with an X on it. The first person that gets to one-hundred points first is the winner. That’s basically how this match was going to work.

“Alright, let’s do this,” Tyra smiles. “Don’t cry when I win and you owe me a favor, though.”

“We’ll see about that,” I taunted.

With both of us ready, we started the shooting match. Two holographic targets appeared on the other end, and we raised our weapons to shoot at them. Tyra had her revolver guns while I had my trusty finger gun gesture. Thanks to using this so much, I managed to get better at aiming than before. After a few moments, We both then fired our weapons to shoot our targets.

Unfortunately...

“Ha! Ten points!” Tyra gloats.

“…five points,” I said.

Yeah, this was to be expected...I knew my cursed Talent wasn't going to go easy on me. But...that doesn't mean I'm going to give up.

So, let's be stubborn...

“Alright, second shot!” The Revolver Gunslinger declares while pointing her gun at the new target that appeared after the first had disappeared.

I followed up and pointed my finger gun at the new target, ready to shoot again. This time though…

We started the second shot and we once again hit our targets. However…

“Ten points again!” Tyra informs me.

“…Ten points as well,” I said.

I managed to get ten points this time. Although I was still five points behind her, I had a plan to take care of that.

It was now 20 to 15. Since this was going to go up to one hundred points, this match should be over in no time.

And I plan on winning...

And so the match continued…

“Tch…five points.”

“Ten again…”

“Ha, nine points!”

“nine points as well.”

“Grr…! four points…”

“Same here…”

…

“…Looks like we're on the last shot,” Tyra said while we were adding up our points.

The score was currently 94 to 94. We were somehow able to have a tie right at the last round of our little match. I say “somehow”, but I actually made sure that we were tied, though. That and my cursed Talent was actually useful in this situation. Not only did it affect me, but also Tyra, so she was having a bit of trouble just like me. Thanks to that, I have a little bit of leeway in having a tie with her.

Anyway, with our match now in the final round, it was time to get serious. In order to win this match, we need to get one point over the other. Since we were tied, if we both got ten points, the match would actually be a draw, with no clear winner.

“Alright, let’s see who’s going to win this match then,” Tyra does some stretches before starting the match.

Now it was time for me to do the second part of my plan…

“You’re a pretty good marksman, Tyra,” I told her. “How long did you have to practice to get this good?”

“…” Tyra looked a bit hesitant to answer as she simply stared at her target.

Looking over at her, I noticed that she had a very gloomy expression as if she was reminded of something that she didn't want to. This expression was completely different from her confident and daring smile from before. And that was what I was hoping for…

Just then, Tyra spoke.

“I guess most of my life…” She muttered, glancing at her gun. “My talent isn’t exactly powerful on its own, so I had to find a way to utilize its ability the best way I could. I needed to…to prove that I wasn’t…”

Although Tyra faltered and didn’t say anything after this, I knew what she was going to say. She want to prove that she wasn’t a disgrace or a burden. Especially to her family.

Because she was considered an outcast, no one in her family ever really paid attention to her or even cared for her. Not her mother, her father, or even her siblings. It was like they didn’t even know her nor wanted to. And for the most part, this was true.

However, instead of accepting this, Tyra did her best to find a way to grow stronger. Although she had a defective Talent, that didn’t mean it was completely useless.

So, she studied and examined her Talent and tried to find a way to make use of it. And soon after she did, in the form of her signature weapon; the Gun Revolvers.

Since then, she’s been practicing her shooting skills in order to do one thing. To prove her worth in the family. To show that she can be strong without the Thorgard Talent.

That’s her entire reason for coming to this Academy. To make a name for herself and to show off her skills to everyone. Tyra shakes her head before glaring at the target…

“Let’s finish this round,” She said with a look of determination.

“Yeah…” I couldn’t help but faintly smile while saying this.

With both of us ready, we once again pointed our weapons at the targets. There was a tense silence while we aimed at the shooting targets. After a few moments of silence, two shots could be heard and the two targets before us were hit once again.

And…

“Heh! Ten points!”

“Ten points as well…”

Once Tyra heard that I also got ten points, her eyes widen in surprise as she looked over at both of our scores. Both of us and one-hundred and four points. It was a draw…

“Damn…looks like we have a tie.” Tyra mumbles while sighing.

“Should we just keep shooting until one of us gets one point over the other?” I suggested.

“Nah, that might just end with us getting the same points over and over. That’s too much of a pain…”

It was clear that Tyra didn’t want to continue the match. Although she wanted to break the tie, she also didn’t want us to keep going only for both of us to keep getting the same score. And she would be right to assume that…since I would make sure that’d be the case.

One of the features behind my [Arsenal] Talent is that I have complete control over the summoned weapon, meaning I can move it however I pleased. And since I summoned the bullet…I can move that however I wished as well.

So, thanks to [Arsenal], I’ve been able to secretly aim at certain target points so that I could get us to a tie. I didn’t choose to do this match because I was a good aim. I did this because I knew I could rely on my Talent to get to this point.

So, you could say I technically cheated…but hey, Tyra doesn’t know that, and I made sure to not make it so obvious that I cheated too, so I’m in the clear for the most part.

Then there's also [Absolute Misfortune] that kept activating and ruining both of our shots during the round. And I managed to counter this by using [Indomitable Will]. Although my cursed talent interfered with [Arsenal] like it usually did, [Indomitable Will] managed to keep me going despite that, letting me continue using the talent.

Of course, this was pretty straining since I keep fighting back the headaches in order to use [Arsenal]. Tyra got concerned a few times when I accidentally showed myself staining, but I managed to play it off.

And it was worth it. Now on to the last part of my plan…

“Then how about this? Since it’s a draw, how about we both owe a favor to one another? That sounds fair, right?”

It was pretty simple, really. Since we both won, technically, it would be only fair for both of us to get a favor. I’ve been aiming for this since this would be the only way for me to get what I want.

If I had just got one point over Tyra, then I would’ve been able to get my favor, but that’s not how I wanted things to go here.

“Hmm…”

Tyra pondered over this. Hopefully, she’ll accept since this was the only option aside from neither of us getting a favor, which I can’t accept.

“…Alright, let’s go with that. We both owe a favor!” Tyra then brings her hand out, ready to shake mine.

I returned the sentiment and shook her hand, finally settling the matter. And with that, both of us were declared the winner.

Now it was time for the favor…

“So, what kind of favor do you want from me?” I made the first move and asked.

“Hmm…how about, in the future, let’s do another match like this, but this time, we keep going until one of us actually wins.”

Heh…that’s so like Tyra to ask a favor like this. And that’s what I was hoping for as well…

“And what’s your favor, Monroe?” Tyra asks.

“Well, how about we trained like this every now and then? Using the Shooting Range to practice our marksmanship.”

Hearing this, Tyra looked a bit surprised. No doubt she thought I was going to use my favor for something else. Probably something like “Please go on a date with me” or something like that.

Yeah, I’m not going to do any of that cringy stuff. I’m here on a mission…

After being surprised for a few seconds, Tyra then starts laughing out loud while holding her stomach.

“Hahahaha! I didn’t expect something like that…!” Tyra continued laughing, making me somewhat embarrassed in the process.

“So, I’m assuming that’s a yes?”

“Yeah, yeah, I can do that. Let’s go with that. Every now and then, we’ll practice here. And, when we feel like we’re ready, we’ll go for one last match to finally see who’s the victor!”

“Sounds like a plan, then.”

Tyra and I once again shake hands, both of our favors now in motion. And with that, the match was over.

…

“That went smoother than I thought it would…” I muttered while walking down the hall of the Academy.

I just left the Shooting Range and Training Hall and was currently heading back to my dorm, feeling proud of my accomplishment.

I went to that Shooting Range with a lot of hope that I could run into Tyra, so I could go with my plan on that shooting match. And thankfully, things went really well and my plan was a success.

Now, I can hang out with Tyra and help her get stronger with her Marksmanship and Talent.

I’m really glad that I ran into Tyra instead of Thea. Both characters use the Shooting Range, but my plan would really only work on Tyra.

The reason why is because of Thea’s keen eye. With her Talent [Dead-Eye], she would’ve known right off the bat that I cheated, and that in itself would’ve been bad.

Thea hates being cheated or simply screwed over, and if she saw how I very slightly adjusted the path of my summoned bullet, it would’ve been over for me.

I might've had to rely on my cursed talent to keep messing with her and throwing her aim off. And even then I'd have slim chances of winning since the talent won't just leave me alone while going after Thea.

Thankfully, Tyra didn’t suspect anything, and it was because I tried to make it look as inconspicuous as possible.

If I had shown off even a little bit, no doubt Tyra would’ve noticed something and that would’ve been it for me as well. But, I think I played it off nicely and I got what I wanted, so it was a win-win for me.

Now it was time to head back to my dorm…

“…Huh?”

My cursed talent activated again...that's when I started to feel a very strong pressure engulf me.

It was a force that even dwarfed Isaac’s Talent [Pressure]. Yet, instead of just pushing me down...it felt like I was being consumed by it. Like I was getting swallowed by the entire ocean.

This presence…was something else.

“Mr. Monroe,” I then heard a deep feminine voice call out to me. “May I have a word with you?”

I soon turned to face the person that called out to me. Just as I did, my face turned pale and my heart sank.

The person before me was a really beautiful and sexy woman with short black hair, round glasses, and a music symbol on her neck. She wore a black turtle neck shirt and black dress pants with heels, along with a brown coat hanging over her shoulders. The very sight of her struck fear into me. Like I was about to get overwhelmed by this person's mere presence.

I knew who this person was…Her name was Sonare Melody, also known as Miss Melody. And she was the Headmaster of Agoge Academy…and one of the strongest Saviors in the world.

And this person…wanted to talk to me?

That couldn’t be good…

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