"Prepare! Prepare! Start the incursion!" Musk announced.

  Several cadets began advang with the and, desding from the hill to the riverbanks. Some, more fearful, stayed further back, avoiding the front lines of the battle. Many still remembered how difficult it had been to retreat after advang too far.

  However, those who aimed to climb the rankings didn’t have time to waste.

  A boy with a rge shield sprio the front line. Without stopping, even in the mud, he barreled through several Crabits, tinuing to draw their attention. Oliver could tell that this cadet was definitely high in the rankings.

  Kyle and Katherine didn’t wait long to advaher. But uhe previous day, Astrid had ged her strategy. She was still attag multiple Crabits at oill, she avoided pushing too far into the ter of the hordes, allowio retreat quickly and reduce the number of oppos if necessary.

  The battle was in full swing, but one person in particur had yet to advance. Oliver khat diving into the middle of the hordes wouldn’t help him, so he decided to try a different approach. He sed the battlefield, the flow of the bat.

  The Crabits had their backs to the river, with a muddy field in front of them. The captains stood atop a low hill that gave them a clear view of the etle. To the north and south of the river, small trees along the banks prevehe troops from advang further.

  'Time to take the risk.' Oliver pondered.

  Instead of advang, Oliver returo the hill, searg for the proper position. He wanted a spot where he could get a side view of the battle but with higher ground.

  "Some pce, some… just like that," the boy muttered to himself, trying to calm down. He found a spot that allowed him to see the cadets advang against the Crabits side by side. Although it wasn’t as high as he had hoped, it provided a clear view.

  Gripping his Energy Pistol, he searched for targets. Some cadets faced multiple monsters simultaneously, while others struggled to keep up with evehe disparity in bat skills was gring. In cases where the students couldn’t handle more than one oppo, the monsters would try to take advantage by biting or scratg from the fnks.

  He waited when one of the Crabits was about to strike to shoot, redug their ces of dodging. His s ranged from actally hitting his allies to whether his targets were within his on’s range.

  [Observation] could help him track the flow of his oppos, but it wasn’t enough. It was time to use his other card.

  He ghoughtfully at the pistol in his hands, avoiding looking at any part of his armor.

  ‘[Insight]' Oliver activated.

  Just like the first time, Oliver felt a surge of information flood into his mind in a matter of seds, from how to adjust the pistol to the correct hand positioning or how to trol his shots. However, after mere milliseds, the flow of information stopped.

  The throbbing pain in his head persisted, but it hadn’t caused him to pass out or bleed.

  'There’s missing information. Maybe the level of [Insight] is too low, or I trol how muformation I e?' Oliver questioned. ‘Anyway, that will have to wait aime.’

  He hadn’t gained aails about how the on was created or how it appeared and disappeared. These weren’t pieces of information he needed right now, but it was clear that something was missing, like a book with pages torn out.

  His vision was still blurry, and he felt like the world inning, but the more he breathed, the better he felt. Oliver had heard the sound of a notification from his gau, but he hadn’t had the ce to check it yet. In the background, the boy could hear the sounds of battle tinuing.

  When he regained trol, Oliver noticed he was kneeling on the ground, using one hand to steady himself. The ground was still damp from the rain, a bit of relief with the breeze that blew across the hill. It was the first time he could feel the wind and uand how it could impact each shot he would take.

  Oliver took a deep breath auro his firing stance. He adjusted how he held the pistol, feelier supported in his right hand, with his left helping to trol the on.

  ‘Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…’ The boy repeated in his mind.

  He could nhe limits of his range and predict where the shot might deviate. He kept his focus on his target, a Crabit poised to strike. This time, he wouldn’t need as muergy. Oliver felt he could trol the output just enough to blow out the monster's side.

  "Thum!"

  The shot was thinner and faster than any he had fired before. The energy, sharp as a bde, shot across the hill and into the battlefield. Without hitting any cadet, the projectile tio accelerate until it hit the side of the Crabit. The monster never saw the shot ing—it hit, causing an instant explosion of its insides.

  The cadets he Crabit were showered with blood and pieces, but the projectile did the other side; the creature pletely absorbed it.

  From the top of the hill, Oliver watched it all. He could feel much more trol over his Ranger on. It was a new sensation that had appeared after using ‘Insight.’ He saw a notification on his gau in the er of his vision.

  [Skill Upgrade!]

  [Ranger on Handling - Pawn => Knight]

  A smile spread across his face. Oliver had theorized that this could be the oute, but it was still a risk he had taken. After a few seds, he resumed sing the battlefield, watg for every opportunity. Every mihe sound of his pistol firing echoed across the field.

  "Thum!"

  "Thum!"

  "Thum!"

  Some cadets were startled by the explosions, mainly due to the shower of guts and blood that followed each shot. As a result, several students tried to figure out what was happening. After a few more explosions, they realized it was Energy Pistol shots.

  “Where were they ing from?” A girl asked the recruits close to her.

  It didn’t take long for them to spot the young ‘sniper’ kneeling on the hill, waiting for the right moment to take out more Crabits.

  The cadets at the top of the rankings didn’t have time to notice what was happening, but Oliver could see them clearly from his vantage point. One was dragging multiple monsters with a massive shield, while another seemed to teleport between enemies, attag with daggers.

  However, the ones he reized most easily were Katherine and Kyle. Katherine ositioned near him but below the hill on the higher part of the river. Crabits surrounded her, but so far, she hadn’t had signifit problems. Her agility allowed her to dodge most of the attacks, and even when she was hit, her armor absorbed the gng blows.

  However, the battle was taking its toll. Her armor was cracked in several pces and stained with blood and mud. Her helmet had dents from the Crabit strikes, and the little hair visible through the gaps in her armor was caked with dirt, almost hiding the golden sheen of her hair.

  The people who had the luxury of being out of bat had the ce to witness Oliver's rategy. However, opinions were varied.

  Even among the captains, there was no sensus. Some believed that staying out of direbat roblematic, especially for cadets undergoing psychological testing. Others, however, thought that ing up with new solutions to bat recisely what was needed in a war that had already sted too long.

  Though a traditionalist, Captain Musk had given clear instrus about the o adapt. If this was the cadet's solution, he had doly what his superior aherefore, the captain would not interfere in the exercise.

  As for the students, some were impressed by the ability to hit fast-moving targets from such a distance, but most were intimidated. Especially those vying for the top rankings, now they had one more petitor, one who ermaly out of harm’s way.

  However, there was one person who was feeling the worst.

  Damian had the misfortune of being in the same pany as Oliver. Initially, he had hoped to finally see Oliver’s Boon in a and perhaps try to replicate his bat style to climb the rankings. But seeing him act as a sniper only added to the fusion.

  ‘Is his Booed to le shots?’ Damian pondered.

  He had never heard of such a thing, but anything ossible with tless Boons mapped. Still, this was a bad sign; there was nothing he could copy. Moreover, his bat style with a whip wasn’t optimized fhting with allies, and with his luck, he was likely to ieammate and lose points.

  Seeing this new development, Damian had to use what he had held back. ‘There’s still another option.’

  He might not like this tactic, but it would pletely ge the game.

  GCLopes