Chapter 34.2: Some and Parts of Him and Us Again

Bang, bang, bang!

The sounds of gunfire echo through the property for all the workers to hear, and they land upon an ear, turning the head of its owner and piquing his interest. The feet of said head start to walk in the direction of the sounds, his hand holding his spear.

Stepping into an open area, Arcat approaches the pair. He sees Neo holding a pistol and shooting at a target range far away, and next to him is Adora.

Neo notices Arcat approaching and stops shooting, lowering his gun.

Arcat glances at the target range in use.

"You have some nice shots there," he remarks.

"Thanks! I borrowed one of Charlotte's pistols and Adora is helping me practice in case I ever have to use one. She actually told me that you can help me better than her at shooting,"

"He is the best shot there is," affirms Adora.

Arcat looks down, tapping the tip of his foot on the ground, "I don't use them anymore though. It's been so long, I am not sure I still go it,"

"Here, try it then," offers Neo, throwing the pistol and a magazine towards Arcat.

Arcat instinctively grabs the pistol and hits the magazine at an angle using the pistol, sending it flying right above him.

Moving his arm, he takes aim.

He starts shooting, landing shots on all of the marked areas, joints, and vital spots with deadly accuracy. The pistol runs out of ammo and Arcat flicks the barrel open, throwing the pistol in a clockwise rotation. The falling bullets land perfectly into the pistol as it is upside down.

The pistol continues to turn, and he grabs it again when it's upright, continuing to shoot.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Neo stares, in awe of all that he is witnessing.

Bang!

Arcat shifts his hand to the head of one of the targets, and rapidly fires the rest of the bullets.

Each bullet hole on the face of the target is perfectly right next to the other, as if he is chipping away at it with finesse. As he fires the last shot, he tosses the pistol back to Neo the instant it's out.

Neo catches it, "Doesn't seem like you lost anything. Why don't you use a gun more?"

Arcat stays quiet, a hint of sadness in his eyes as he looks at all the shots he landed.

"I don't want to. Also, almost no one in the Castle or other places has firearms. Even if they did, they can't overwhelm pilots. Actually, here. Let me show you," he says, facing Neo.

"I am going to rush you and attack you, stop me," he warns.

"What? Are you sure?" asks Neo in surprise.

"Yes, and don't hesitate," says Arcat as he starts sprinting towards Neo.

Neo reflexively takes aim and starts firing, the bullets find their target and land on Arcat, yet he doesn't stop and keeps moving forward.

Neo fires as much as he can, and a sense of panic rises in him as he sees that Arcat keeps getting closer and closer through the rain of bullets. As Arcat gets close enough, Neo discards the pistol and raises his hands, preparing for hand-to-hand combat. He throws a punch and Arcat swiftly dodges, tackling Neo down.

He locks Neo down with a hold.

"I give! I give!" shouts Neo, tapping the floor.

Arcat releases Neo from his grip and Neo stands up, moving his hand around in pain.

"How did you do that? What just happened?"

"High tier fighting pilots have fast regeneration. So even if bullets do land on them, their bodies remove the bullets out and regenerate very quickly. That is, if you land a bullet on them," explains Arcat, moving towards the pistol.

"So, if anyone ever tries to launch an attack or start a war on the pilots, these things are useless. Worst thing they can do is maybe use large groups to fire all at once to suppress a pilot and cause pain," he continues, picking up the pistol.

"That's all? Doesn't sound too bad, these things are useless th─"

Bang!

Neo hisses, falling. He realizes a gunshot has hit him.

It burns!

He collapses and finds himself unable to do anything at all as the pain intensifies. A sense of fear and dread clouds his mind as he looks at Arcat.

"I was talking about high tier pilots, not your average pilot or especially not your average person. Pain is not easy to overcome. I even made sure to shoot at you at a spot with the minimum amount of pain receptors," says Arcat, looking down at the pistol.

"When I rushed towards you, it's not that I didn't feel any pain, it's that people like me and Adora have trained ourselves on how to move and act along with pain. Even a lot of pilots have some basic pain tolerance training, the basic training is said to be torture and some labeled it to be the most difficult training they ever went through," he sighs, throwing the pistol on the ground towards Neo.

"So, you can only begin to imagine what the high tier fighters go through. Aside from that, if anyone ever has these weapons, they tend to use them on not-so-experienced pilots or civilians most of the time. Otherwise, it's just something bothersome for us to walk through," he shrugs, looking at Neo.

"There is more to tell you about, but I think I got a general idea across. Anyway, back to work for me. Keep it up and we have our usual schedule," nods Arcat, walking away.

Neo looks at Arcat walking away, and a new flame of determination ignites in his eyes.

I want him to teach me more.

. . .

Step, step, step, step.

Arcat glances up, looking at Charlotte who is standing up at a bridge, watching the whole thing.

"Pain in more than physical, I am ready to talk when you are," he says as he passes under the bridge.

Charlotte reaches into her pocket and takes out the vial of the pills . . . it has a set of another kind of pills hidden under the first.

Frowning, she looks at them.