Chapter 976
Mira mimicked their salute, and the surrounding soldiers immediately broke into applause.
“Welcome to the team, Miss Mercer p>
“I’ll be relying on your guidance p>
Mira replied with a warm smile.
It was time to get down to business.
“Start with the largest target. Distance: thirty feet p>
York ordered the soldier managing the lane.
The soldier promptly set it up.
Inwardly, Mira couldn’t help but think that as a seasoned martial artist, she could easily sink a sewing needle into an opponent’s pressure point from thirty feet away.
A bullet was vastly larger than a needle. Did the target really need to be this close, and did it have to be the biggest one available?
However, when York handed her the pistol, a wave of nerves hit her.
“I didn’t expect a handgun to be this heavy p>
She weighed it in her hands, realizing it easily weighed over two pounds.
“Women naturally have less upper body strength. Let Miss Mercer shoot with both hands first p>
one of the soldiers suggested.
“Absolutely not. A two-handed stance can be too rigid. Do you think the enemy is going to stand perfectly still and let you shoot them p>
York barked sternly.
“Don’t worry, Miss Mercer is no delicate flower p>
Callum chimed in.
“Deep breath. Relax your shoulders. Focus on aligning the front and rear sights p>
York coached from her side.
Mira took a deep breath, trying to steady her racing pulse. Her knuckles turned white from gripping the weapon too tightly.
She narrowed her eyes, desperately trying to perfectly align her line of sight with the target.
But the harder she tried, the more misaligned everything seemed to get. Normally brimming with confidence, Mira felt like she was a disgrace to martial artists everywhere.
“Commence firing p>
Just as she was trying to calm her nerves, York’s command rang in her ears.
She wasn’t even sure if she had aimed properly, but the first step was always the hardest. She just had to take the shot.
*Bang!* The deafening explosion practically shattered her eardrums, far more violent than she had anticipated.
The gun bucked fiercely backward. The massive recoil sent a dull ache shooting through her shoulder, leaving her ears ringing.
She checked the target—a complete miss. The bullet didn’t even graze the board.
“Ah! I didn’t even score?
I had no idea shooting was this difficult p>
Clearly, she couldn’t underestimate any military weaponry.
At the same time, a wave of silent gratitude washed over her:
If Dominic hadn’t arranged this crash course, how on earth was she supposed to
handle a firearm against real enemies?
“That was a great first attempt p>
The soldier next to her was
obviously trying to be encouraging. She had completely missed the target-how could that be
considered ‘great’? fo
What would a bad attempt look like?
“Honestly, my vision went
completely black the first time I fired a gun if my buddy hadn’t caught, me would have passed out on the spot.”.
Mira glanced around and saw several other soldiers nodding in agreement.
Perhaps not wanting to crush her spirit, York didn’t critique her first shot directly. Instead, he pinpointed her technical flaws.
“You held your breath at the wrong moment, which caused your body to sway. And you didn’t brace your shoulder properly p>
For the subsequent rounds, Mira adjusted her stance, fighting against her own tension and tremors.
Gritting her teeth, she pulled the trigger again. *Bang p>
Thanks to her martial arts foundation, her second shot finally hit the board. It only scored a two, but at least she was on the board.
York and Callum offered a few more pointers before stepping back to let her practice.
Mira hadn’t set an impossibly high standard for herself. Her goal for the three-hour afternoon session was simply to get comfortable handling the weapon.
By the time the dinner whistle blew, she was consistently hitting within the fifth ring.