Chapter 110: A Single Bullet

Roderick gave a few instructions to his other soldiers, telling them to finish their preparations while he took the students to the facility.

"Let’s go. It’s not very far from here."

He turned around and started walking. Ethan and the others followed behind him, while the archer walked beside Roderick.

Garrick had already left to report the equipment situation to Kael’s father, so he was no longer with them.

After walking for a while, they finally arrived at the Ironclad Proving Grounds.

Roderick led them through the entrance and towards one of the training areas. There were several people using the different training systems, but he didn’t stop to explain anything and simply continued walking.

Soon, they arrived at an area where a large mechanical structure had been set up.

It was a huge metal structure with dozens of small openings across its surface. The entire structure was constantly spinning, making it difficult to see what was inside.

"This is where we’ll conduct the test," Roderick said.

He looked at Adrian and then continued.

"I won’t make things too difficult for you. We’ll use one of the basic accuracy tests."

He pointed towards the spinning structure.

"There are fifteen targets moving around inside. You’ll have to shoot them through those openings. The targets move at high speed, and the structure itself is constantly spinning, so you’ll need to time your shots properly."

He paused briefly before continuing.

"The goal is to destroy all fifteen targets using as few shots as possible. You’ll need at least fifteen shots to destroy them all, but every missed shot will count against you. Whoever uses fewer shots wins."

Lydia looked at the machine.

"That is considered simple?"

Roderick laughed.

"Of course. There are much harder training systems here. This one is mainly used by people who want to test their accuracy."

He turned towards his archer.

"Go ahead. Show them what you can do."

The archer smiled confidently.

"Make sure you watch closely. You might not get to see something like this again."

He walked towards the shooting position and collected a set of practice arrows from a nearby soldier. After placing them beside him, he stood in front of the machine and raised his bow.

However, he didn’t shoot immediately.

He remained in position for several seconds, carefully observing the spinning structure. His eyes followed the movements of the targets inside as he tried to find the right openings to shoot through.

The structure continued spinning, and the targets inside moved at high speed. Finding the right moment to shoot wasn’t easy, especially since he had to make sure his arrows could pass through the openings without hitting the metal parts.

After several seconds, he finally moved.

His fingers released the bowstring, and an arrow flew out.

It passed through one of the openings and struck two targets inside.

Before the first arrow had even finished moving, he had already taken another one and fired.

The second arrow also passed through an opening and destroyed two more targets.

He continued shooting, releasing one arrow after another. Each arrow passed through the openings and hit its targets.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of metal being struck rang out several times.

It didn’t take long before all the targets stopped moving.

A soldier standing beside the machine checked the result.

"All fifteen targets destroyed. Eight arrows used."

Several people watching couldn’t help but look surprised.

Using only eight arrows to destroy fifteen targets was an impressive result. He had managed to hit two targets with almost every shot.

The archer lowered his bow and looked towards the students.

"That wasn’t easy. It took me quite a long time to reach this level."

He placed his bow over his shoulder and continued.

"Being able to hit one target with each arrow is nothing special. The real difficulty is hitting two targets with a single shot while they’re moving at that speed."

He smiled proudly.

"It requires a lot of concentration and a good understanding of timing. Not everyone can do it."

"Alright, that’s enough boasting," Roderick said with a small laugh.

He then turned towards Adrian.

"Whenever you’re ready, you can take your position. There’s no need to rush."

"There’s no need."

Adrian replied calmly.

He raised his right hand and reached for the revolver hanging from his waist. After drawing it, he simply stood where he was.

Roderick looked at him in surprise.

""Wait. Don’t you plan to—"

Bang!

Before Roderick could finish speaking, a gunshot rang out.

Adrian had already pulled the trigger.

The bullet passed through one of the openings in the spinning structure and struck the first target.

However, instead of stopping, it unexpectedly changed direction and struck another target.

Then another.

The bullet continued moving between the targets, changing directions several times without touching the metal structure surrounding them.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Fifteen sounds of metal being struck rang out in quick succession.

A few seconds later, all fifteen targets had stopped moving.

Adrian lowered his revolver and returned it to his waist as if nothing had happened.

Roderick stood still, staring at him.

The archer was equally stunned. He quickly rushed towards the machine to check the results.

A few seconds later, he turned around with disbelief written all over his face.

"All fifteen targets have been destroyed!"

He paused before adding.

"With just one bullet!"

The surrounding soldiers were shocked.

Even Roderick couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed. The bullet had somehow managed to change directions repeatedly, using each target to take down the next without touching the spinning metal structure.

The Greatsword Warrior and Bran were equally shocked. Gareth also stared at Adrian in disbelief.

Lydia covered her mouth with one hand.

"That’s... so cool!"

Kael had expected Adrian to perform well, but even he hadn’t expected something like this.

The archer slowly looked at Adrian again like he was a monster.

He had spent years practicing to hit two targets with a single arrow, yet Adrian had just destroyed fifteen targets with a single bullet.

And he hadn’t even bothered to move to the shooting position.