Chapter 217: Teaching Ethan the Ropes As they continued playing, Noah decided to satisfy his curiosity about yesterday’s magical experiment. "By the way, how are you feeling today? How was that bread I gave you?" "Oh man, that bread was incredible!" Ethan responded enthusiastically between rounds. "I’ve never tasted anything like it. Where did you get it? It was like... perfect. I couldn’t stop eating it once I started." "Really? That’s good? How’s your health been?" Noah asked casually. Ethan’s voice carried confusion at the seemingly random question. "My health? That’s... kind of a weird thing to ask, but I feel really good actually. Better than usual, if I’m being honest." Here comes the important part. "My glucose levels have been much more stable than normal," Ethan continued, his tone growing more thoughtful. "It’s actually kind of shocking. I ate that bread last night and completely forgot to take my insulin for the carbohydrates." A smile formed on Noah’s face, hearing what his cousin was revealing. "Usually that would send my blood sugar through the roof," Ethan explained, his voice carrying genuine puzzlement. "But the bread didn’t affect my glucose levels at all. It’s like my body processed it completely differently than normal food." The magical healing is actually addressing his diabetes. This is incredible. "That’s great to hear," Noah replied, fighting to keep his voice neutral despite his excitement. "Make sure you eat that second loaf I gave you." "Of course! I was planning to eat it later today," Ethan laughed. "Honestly, I might ask you where you got it so I can buy more. It was that good." As their gaming session continued, Ethan asked Noah if he could teach him some of his mechanics. He acknowledged the fact that Noah was better than him. So, Ethan wanted to learn from him as his first cousin. Noah accepted Ethan’s request and began teaching Ethan advanced mechanics and strategies that even professional players rarely mastered. "Try pre-aiming that corner at head level," Noah began, his tone calm but focused. "Then use sound cues like footsteps, utility usage, or reloads to time your peek perfectly. Now, you might be thinking, ’Everyone at the pro level already does this, so what makes this peek any different?’" Noah smiled as he noticed Ethan’s muttering along, clearly engaged. "The difference," Noah continued, "is in how you’re going to peek. Your movement will be a smooth, controlled tracking motion with no flicking involved. Flicking introduces inconsistencies. Humans are prone to error when sudden, jerky corrections are required. Muscle memory falters when too many variables are at play." He paused to let that sink in before elaborating further. "To counter that, we’ll train a precise process. First, you’ll start by practising on the most common peek spots. These are the choke points, the high-traffic angles where opposing teams most often encounter each other. Your initial focus will be simple: track the edge of the wall as you slice the pie. Keep your crosshair at head level and move it smoothly, without skipping or jerking." Ethan leaned in slightly towards his monitor in his room, his expression focused. "Once your tracking is consistent," Noah went on, "we’ll move to the second phase, which is memorisation. You’ll study the environment—pixel placements, shadows, edges—until every corner becomes familiar. Like recognising a face, you’ll know when something looks out of place." "Then comes the most critical part: training your reaction. Your body needs to fire instinctively the moment something in that frame changes. When you’re slicing the pie and you see even a single pixel that’s off, you won’t think. You won’t hesitate. You’ll shoot." "And based on the positioning we trained earlier," he added, "that shot will land as a guaranteed headshot." "Wait, what?" Ethan blinked, a mix of curiosity and disbelief on his face. "Is that even possible?" "Watch this," Noah said, moving Ethan to spectate mode before starting to initiate his own previous advice with confidence. He moved smoothly into position and executed the technique as if he had done it a thousand times before. His crosshair flowed with effortless control, tracing along the wall at perfect head level. As he peeked the angle, his movement and aim were completely in sync. There was no hesitation, no correction. It felt like he already knew exactly where the enemy would appear. Ethan froze, his mouth slightly open. "Noah...this is ridiculous," he said under his breath. He stared at the screen in disbelief, like he was witnessing something unnatural. "My team captain has been trying to teach us a flicking technique for weeks. We’ve been grinding it every day with replays and drills. And you just pulled off another technique that barely anyone pays attention to, with ease. I can definitely see this working against most pros, they wouldn’t expect such a peek, and they wouldn’t have the reaction time for it." Noah didn’t respond immediately. His expression stayed calm and focused, as though he had done something ordinary. His Level 3 gaming skill, combined with enhanced intelligence and sharpened reflexes, pushed him far beyond what any average player could achieve. Noah wasn’t too flattered by his cousin’s praise; it was just one of the many techniques that he had learnt from the level 3 skill. "Now try combining that with crosshair placement and movement prediction," Noah said in the same even tone. "Don’t just aim where they are. Understand where they’re going to be. Use their footsteps, their timing, their habits. People follow patterns even when they think they don’t." Ethan tried to copy the motion. His aim wavered. His peek felt forced and unstable. Every step looked like a lesser version of what Noah had just done. The gap between them was wider than skill. It felt like two different levels of playing...and it was. "This is insane," Ethan muttered, struggling to merely copy Noah’s moments."You’re teaching me things I’ve never seen before. Not in tournaments. Not in coaching sessions. Not even in pro-level breakdowns. This is beyond anything I thought was possible. I had always thought that those in the top leagues simply had better aim and positioning, but it seems like they do this technique themselves." --- Check Author Notes, IMPORTANT!