066

Ron didn't remember the school providing a shooting range. While the campus was gigantic, it was still a campus. They couldn't have built such a thing in there. Skeptical, he asked her back if there was one and she told him that there weren't as he expected. She told him however that it owned one outside the city, an hour away. If they wanted to, they could go there. To her, it was only a call away.

Ron didn't need to think much, he agreed to go. Learning how to use guns would be useful. It was practical and might be worth his time. No, scratch that, it would no doubts be worth his time. He did tell her that he needed to be back by 7 p.m.

She was not even curious about his reasons. She didn't to pry into his private life either. Well, aside from having under surveillance during school hours to make sure he didn't play hooky… But it was not for a personal interest or such. In any case, she did not care about why he wanted to be back by seven. That being said, she agreed without hesitation. She did not want to spend her Friday night at the shooting range either, and certainly not alone with this guy. She had no reasons and no plans to involve herself with him more than necessary. If what it took for her to graduate at the top was to get him to the shooting range, it was fine.

She made a call and moments later, a car arrived. Ron recognized it easily as one of the top cars of the moment. It was lean and immaculate, as if perfectly new. A bulky man in a suit exited the front left seat and opened the back doors for them to enter respectfully. Not a word was said until they entered the car.

Ron wondered if he should try to chat with Celine but seeing as she closed her eyes right away, he gave up. It was likely that she did not want to associate with him more than necessary. They were of the same mind on this. Still, to remain polite, he asked her: "Do you mind if I study while we travel?"

She opened her eyes and nodded slightly before closing them once more. Clearly, she did not give a fuck about what he did. While she was slightly rude, she wasn't too rude either. At least, she did not completely ignore him and still answered him.

He did not mind it though. She was wealthy and powerful so, yeah, he could understand that she did not want much interactions with him. They would likely not become friends but that was fine. He was still benefiting a lot from their actual relationship. He could only shamelessly grab onto everything he was given if he wanted even the slightest chance of making it out alive after the graduation.

He opened his wrist-com and continued to work.

Around an hour later, more or less, they arrived at a particularly big compound. There were all kinds of military men there. At the entrance, they were blocked by a few soldiers. Ron was quite surprised by this. Wasn't it supposed to be a place belonging to the university? Why was the army here?

He wanted to ask but there wasn't anyone he could ask. He didn't dare try the two silent bulky men at the front of the car and the lady kept her eyes closed as a show of her unwillingness to speak with him. He could only swallow his questions and let himself be swept by the waves.

They entered the complex and parked in the designated location. Celine opened her eyes and waited a few seconds for one of the men to go out and open the door for her before exiting. Ron hadn't waited and got out by himself. He did not see the need to wait for someone to open it for him.

As they got out, a soldier approached them and talked with Celine for a few moments before leading the two of them towards a shooting rang.

As they arrived, there were already many soldiers shooting at targets dozens to hundreds of meters away. In the end, he couldn't hold back and asked Celine: "Isn't this place part of the university?"

She nodded and stated: "The military is loaning it to the university and a few other universities around the city. Did you think this kind of weapons could be owned by everybody? Only the military is allowed to have weapons on the planet"

Ron nodded. He didn't know that. So, in the end, he would be a criminal if he moved around with a weapon? It made sense but he remained disappointed. However, as he saw the beam of lights that were shot by the soldiers, he swallowed his previous thoughts. Those things were too deadly! It was no wonder they were banned outside of the military…

The soldier led them through the range and dropped them off at a free alcove. This would be theirs for the day. There was a weapon rack on the side containing a dozen of guns.

Celine pointed towards the wall and stated: "Those are the ten standard guns used by the human alliance for war. We will focus on this one first since I'm sure you have never held a gun before"

Touché.

Still, he didn't quite appreciate the tone she used. But then again, he let it go. It didn't matter much. Instead, he focused on the gun she picked. It was a hand-held gun. Grey in color and with a rather small muzzle.

She began to introduce it: "Griffin ZPX-03. One of the best of its kind. Seven rounds, auto-charge in 3 seconds and photon-based. Try this one first. Let's set the target at ten meters and see what you can do"