"Choose your weapon!", comes the order from the female inspector behind us two males. My eyes flicker to the circular cardboard target ahead of me. I look down at the table displaying weapons right in front of me. The provided options are silver daggers, a pistol, a rifle, and a crossbow. Although I know many hunters master the art of dagger throwing to be able to shoot that far, I am definitely not one of them.
From my peripheral vision, I notice the male standing to my right pick a crossbow from his table and I find myself subconsciously copying his actions. "Aim!", she orders next. Moving my left foot behind my right one, I stand sideways and stretch my right arm to the side, holding the heavy weapon with only one hand.
Although the silver-haired male is now standing behind me, I know this is exactly how he is standing as well. All of his attacking styles, sitting postures, facial expressions, and manner of speaking are etched into my brain. Holding my breath, I aim at the center of the target.
"Shoot!"
I pull the trigger and my right arm jerks back and downward from the recoil. I let out the breath I have been holding onto and look at the silver bolt impaling the cardboard with a small frown. The clicking sounds of the female's high-heels echo behind me as she walks over, inspecting the result. "Third circle. You missed the center.", she speaks and I lower my arm before turning to my hunting partner. The inspector walks over to him before looking at his target. "Perfect shot.", the female hums with a smile and then turns around, trotting away.
Biting my lower lip, I move closer to the male and glance at his target. The silver bolt is piercing the center. He lowers his right arm before his leaden-blue orbs flicker to me. "Good shot, Logan.", I give him a small smile and he frowns.
"Sorry, Collen...", he mumbles.
I shake my head, "It's not like I want you to miss for me."
He looks at me for a moment before opening his mouth to say something when another male approaches us two. Noticing the male inspector, Logan and I turn to face him. "The results have made things quite clear. We can see now who is dragging your partnership down.", he crosses his arms and looks down at me. My gaze lowers down in shame.
"That's not true.", my partner speaks up for me, earning my attention and admiration once again. "Our victories and errors are shared. The mistakes made can't be blamed on a single hunter."
The older male narrows his eyes before gesturing at the targets behind us, "The series of tests we carried out do help us find the faultier." With that, he shakes his head, "Logan, you hold such potential, such promises. We believe you can and will, one day, achieve the platinum tag, maybe adamantium as well. But with the way you are losing your scores, that day might never come."
His words fill me with despair and I just glance at my partner. It's his desire to grow and achieve more. His dream is to be one of the greatest hunters on the field. His score and tags matter a lot to him. "We are only trying to get you where you belong, which is out in the forest with other platinum hunters.", the inspector concludes.
"What are you suggesting we should do then?", Logan asks and I struggle not to fidget."
"I can get you another partner. A partner that will compliment your skills, not drag you down.", the inspector answers, making my throat go dry.
"What?", the silver-haired male raises his eyebrows. Maybe, unlike me, he didn't see it coming. "What about Collen?"
The older male glances at me in slight disbelief, as if surprised that Logan still cares about what happens to me. In a way, so am I... "Well, we can partner you with one of the bronze hunters.", he tells me. As the root of all the problems, I don't find it in me to even object.
