The Runaway Huntress
Chapter 80 - 79

Chapter 80: Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Melisca can feel the woman was still struggling in her grip. Daisy doesn’t want to yield, even if it was obvious to everyone that she wasn’t able to move anymore from her current position and the way she locked her limbs.

She can feel the heat in her body. Adrenaline was just starting to run in her system. Everyone around stilled and was waiting for the final surrender.

"Liz!" Lorna’s voice made her snap her head in the girl’s direction. Some people were shouting for the trainer’s name to still fight back.

There was something in Lorna’s eyes that made her uncomfortable. An uneasy feeling inside her tugged at her chest. She withdrew her gaze as she released a hard breath. Her lips formed a thin line, and she loosened her grip on Daisy’s ankle. She crouched down and pulled her foot from the woman’s back. She placed a knee instead as she lowered her body and whispered in her ear.

"Fight. Defeat me." She hissed through gritted teeth.

In an instant, the woman didn’t waste any second, as she gave her the chance to get free. Daisy got back up in all four and pushed Melisca on the ground by gripping her throat.

There was a loud thud as her back and head hit the solid platform. But Melisca didn’t grunt as much. She braced herself for it. The woman’s hand in her neck though wasn’t a joke at all. She was tempted to break her wrist, but instead, she tapped the ground for surrender.

Lawrenz came forward when the signal was committed. "Let go already, Daisy." Before he pulled the woman off Melisca, Daisy stood up and stormed out straight from the arena.

People just followed her by gaze.

Gea offered a hand to Melisca to help her get up. "That was humiliating." The easy air around her before was gone. "We all witnessed how you can easily take her down. Not just once." After helping her, she propped her hands behind her. "And why you took that last stance doesn’t matter to us. You have exceptional skills, Lorwey. That’s all that matters. But please refrain from humiliating anyone again."

"What? I—" She doesn’t exactly know what to say.

"--We’re not blind, Ms. Lorwey. We saw it crystal clear just from the first move." Josh chimed in beside Gea. "But I’m really curious why you let her take the false victory."

She glanced at Lorna. The girl had a blank expression.

"But anyway, we are moving fast to your next assessment." Lawrenz scanned her file again. It seems like even what’s inside her bag was being put into detail and documented. "Since you had a gun in one of your things. Let’s see how your skills in it. Follow Josh at Gun Point."

"You’re going to be senior in no time. How rare can this be?" Gea commented at the side.

"Wait. I—"

"—Come on." Josh called for her as he and Lawrenz were on their way out of the platform. Everyone wanted to follow, but Gea stopped them.

"No." She protested, but then Lorna stepped up in front of her and held her wrist.

"Let’s go, Liz." She dragged her to follow the two men.

"Wait, Lorna. I don’t want to be senior." She let her pull her out from the crowd.

"Well, too late for that. I wasn’t surprised anymore how you killed that wolf back then on your own. You are much more talented than I anticipated. And why don’t you want to? You had proven yourself already."

She can hear bitterness in the girl’s tone. Right. Why did she do that then? Why did she let Daisy win in the last second?

Melisca refrained from answering. She knew in herself that it was a ridiculous reason, and she doesn’t want to voice it out.

They finally entered the gun training room. There wasn’t much different from any other shooting center she had gone to before.

Josh pulled the blinds from the wide window. Anyone outside can see what’s happening then. She somehow hoped that Josh would get out of the room. She had an urge to point the gun to his head instead of the target point.

Lawrenz gave the safety equipment to her while Josh and Lorna put on their earmuffs. Melisca reached for the eyewear and the most thing she needed—earmuffs, of course. Otherwise, her eardrums might burst from the gunfire. Then she picked up the 45-caliber pistol on the table.

People started to gather outside the window. Wanting to witness another of her skills. She took a deep breath. She doesn’t really want this much attention or any at all. How she wished she let herself lose in the first act. Now she regretted it. But there’s no turning back now.

Lorna approached her before she stood on the line. "Liz." Melisca looked at her straight in the eyes. She was the reason why she let Daisy win. But it was a useless attempt. She had shown enough. "Even if you miss in shooting, that doesn’t make it any less that you’re not one of the best here already. Just show them how good you are."

Melisca was completely troubled in her thoughts. She felt that Lorna doesn’t want her to be senior so that she won’t be left behind. But then now she was acting supportive. "You don’t want me to be senior, right? Tell me honestly." She asked without holding back.

Lorna averted her gaze from her and nibbled at her lips. She did not move and waited for her answer, though.

The girl heaved a deep breath and looked at her again. "It’s up to you. You had your own purpose that’s why you joined. You could avenge your family much easier with added resources with you. And you can have access to that once you are a senior."

"How about you?" The question slipped off her mind before she can restrain herself. It seemed like she started to care about Lorna. Which she shouldn’t be.

Lorna’s face was in clear shock upon hearing that question from Liz. Had she somehow melted her cold persona? She felt a little warmth inside her. She blinked for a few seconds.

"Never mind." Melisca said in a hard tone and moved past Lorna. She did not let the girl answer and she doesn’t want to hear it either. She was starting to get distracted on her goal. Lorna was right. She had her own purpose so she had to stick to it. But for now, instead of the wolves outside, her priority was to hunt inside.

And being senior had its own perks of knowing their other chemical creations. That would be beneficial for her also to stay on alert if ever her identity was revealed. She had to know what can kill her and what she can tolerate.

With a gun at hand, she stood at the line and raised her arm to the target. She can see in her peripheral vision that people almost touched their faces through the glass. She bet it had to be bulletproof for everyone’s safety. There are different ranges. She chose the farthest target that was set up. She took a deep, calming breath, and aimed her gun. She pulled the trigger. It went through the center target smoothly. And she followed it up by two consecutive fires in the same center. The bullets went through where the first one hit. It was an absolute, perfect aim.

Behind her, the two trainers blinked in shock and slowly creaked their necks to look at one another. Their jaw was hanging.

"Let’s see." Lawrenz was the first one to recover and he moved to pull the target banner closer. They all took off their earmuffs. Melisca already put down the protective eyewear on the table and the gun at hand. She was tempted to shoot Josh when she turned around. So, before her fingers could move on their own volition, she let go of it. Shooting down a trainer was a disastrous scandal for the bigger picture in her goal.

As it reached in front of them, their faces remained astounded. And Josh even touched the bullet hole. Wanting to confirm if they were not imagining anything. "It was a precise shot at the same hole." He uttered in disbelief.

"What if I missed?" Melisca stated. Then the two trainers looked up at her.

"No." Josh shook his head. "The bullets ended in the same target." He pointed at the monitor above them, which Melisca did not notice before. There was no denying it then.

"It wasn’t that great." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Now, are you being arrogant or just ignorant of how skilled you are?" Lawrenz was the one to point that out.

Josh folded the banner and placed at the table.

"I’m not being arrogant. Anyone can do it in hard work." She answered him directly in his eyes.

The two trainers nodded their head in approval of what she said.

Lawrenz looked at Lorna then. "You brought a good friend, Loriena. Since you two seemed so close, try to learn from her, okay?"

Lorna held her head high. "Of course. That’s why I’m here." Her voice sounded too high for what Melisca usually hear from her. It clearly was a fake enthusiasm.

"Do you know archery as well?" Josh had a thrilled grin on his face.