Chapter 182 - 182. Bouncy Balls

"Wait, so what is the goal of this game?" Jane had tried to jump at the next bouncy ball and was easily beat by Jim, who slapped it away and managed to knock it in to one of the buttons on the wall. 

There was a mechanical buzz and another pone of the barrels clicked in to place. "The goal is to reach the highest level possible. We hit the balls and try to make sure they hit the targets. You don't know the speed or where they will be aimed so it is up to your instincts and reflexes. On top of that, you need to control them so that they will hit one of the buttons on the walls. Once that is done the difficulty will rise. The highest I have made it is four barrels but the most I have seen is nine."

"Didn't you jus-" Asher was responding but the white bouncy ball had been fired right at him. He was just barely able to slap it down and make it roll away.

"Don't get distracted now." Jim stepped back leaving Jane and Asher on level two right off the bat. The two of them just watched him walk away as the barrel of the machine clicked back in to place. 

"Asher watch out!" Jane jumped in and swatted the next ball toward the wall. It missed a button but had a nice rebound compared to the one Asher had randomly swatted at.

"This thing is trying to get me!" Asher looked at the machine with tearful eyes waiting for the next attack. He had a feeling that it was going to be the constant trend, and almost to prove this the click of the barrel sent another bouncy ball heading toward his chest. "I was ready this time!" 

Asher swatted out with his hand and perfectly hit the ball. The bouncy ball flew off his hand and went toward the wall. There was a click as it slammed in to the button triggering the difficulty to rise. His face went from victorious to worried. 

"Asher, you and I aren't even used to this level yet." Jane sounded like she had just realized she was in a room with a ghost. Asher also felt the intensity in the air as the third barrel made a click and now two balls were fired out at different times.

If Jane had not been there one ball would have been shot away without any chance of hitting it. She managed to swat one and knocking back at the wall narrowly missing another button. The one that ASsher had focused on managed to bounce off of Asher's wrist. It didn't go far but was still a hit.

"Keep it up you two! You're getting the hang of it." Jim was very entertained by this because he rarely has anyone that was able to come and play with him but for the other staff or the counselors themselves. "I think this is one of the best training machines here for the fact that you can play this game for hours." 

Asher and Jane bother could not imagine playing this for hours. If they needed to do so they would fall in to defeat almost instantly. They were only on the third level and were already completely outmatched. They could not imagine the chaos of what the ninth level was like. 

This game continued on for many minutes with very few hits. The two were able to sometimes deflect the bouncy balls but could not take any control over their aiming of them. "I think this is impossible." Asher had just managed to hit another one of the bouncy balls back and found that it went very high in to the air without even hitting the wall. 

"Just keep trying. I refuse to give up before we get to level four." Jane had made herself this promise. She wanted to be able to react to any attacks on her with the most speed her body could muster. The more hits she missed the more determined she had become. This was the opposite of Asher who was finding his heart losing spirit. 

"Then let's get it this time. Right now!" Asher shouted with the last of his adrenalin as the barrels clicked in to place. The first of the three bouncy balls that were fired in succession whizzed by his ear. The speed had been too fast for him to register. However, the second and third were slower and heading toward him and Jane.

Jane wound up to slap one while Asher stepped away and wound up to hit the other. The two had moved so that they would not collide without even looking at each other. It was like they had a telepathic connection to move in this way. Jim smiled seeing this because he knew that this only came from those who trained many times together. 

The two made contact with their bouncy balls at the same time and they flew forward. The walls were easily reached but just as they were going to come in to contact both of their faces dropped. Asher and Jane had realized that they had both hit the bouncy ball in a way that the two would collide with each other.

The two were about to look away and curse their luck when the two bouncy balls collided and shot at the walls. They both landed on a button at the same time making the machine click a few times. "Oh wow! You two made a double hit. You jump to level five now." Jim sounded like he was speaking some terrible curse instead of some praise.

The clicking intensified and the two looked up just as five bouncy balls were fired at them. They had no chance to did or even deflect them. The results were the rubber thudding sound as they found their targets and the reaction of sharp breathing. The two found themselves laying on the floor wincing at the new bruises starting to form.