The Author's POV

"I thought that it might come in handy to you."

After having witnessed the prowess of the dwarves with their gun-like artifacts, I thought that it would've been a perfect fit for Leopold, who usually always helped out from the back.

This way, he wouldn't need to join the fights when commanding the others directly.

Aiming the gun around, Leopold asked.

"What are the requirements for using this little thing?"

"Just inject some mana, and it'll work. It's a ranked artifact."

The artifact was something that only dwarves could create and essentially worked as a gun.

Upon injecting mana into the device, the artifact would activate, releasing the bullets that were loaded inside.

Well, that's how it should work. Never used it, so I didn't know.

"Take good care of it; it cost me quite a lot."

Aiming the gun towards the distance, Leopold put his finger on the trigger.

"Sounds easy enough."

"Well, I still think you need time to get used to it."

Just like any weapon, it needed time to be mastered, and although Leopold was already good with the sword, at the end of the day, his talent did not lay in swordsmanship but in commanding.

Plus, just because he was now using a gun, it didn't mean that he couldn't use a sword.

He could very well use it during short-range fights and then replace it when he's helping out from the back; after all, the gun would be more useful when he's commanding a lot of people at once.

Looking through the status of the gun, Leopold suddenly asked.

"How's the recoil on this thing?"

"…how about you try?"

I also was curious about this.

Raising his brow and looking around, Leopold picked his ear to ensure he didn't hear wrongly.

"Try? Here?"

"I don't think anyone would mind being honest. Just shoot the air."

We were in the open, and most likely, the sound that would come out from shooting the weapon would get drowned out by the sound of the rain.

Furthermore, I don't think the dwarfs would mind this.

"Guess you're right."

Leopold was a simple person. At my words, he stopped thinking too much and put a bullet inside of the gun-like artifact.

Chi Chak—

Loading the artifact, Leopold aimed towards the distance with one hand.

His semi-long hair was already wet from the rain.

Closing one of his eyes and aiming towards the barrier in the distance, he softly muttered.

"I'm going."

Looking at him and taken aback by the fact that he was only using one hand, I blurted out.

"Wait, why are you using only one hand?"

"...just cause."

As soon as his words faded, a gentle hue shrouded his hand, directly entering the artifact.

Click—!

Leopold then pressed on the trigger.

—Booom!

Accompanied by a thunderous sound, a blue ball of energy shot out from the gun, directly aiming for the barrier in the distance. Travelling at incredible speeds, the blue energy travelled through the air, splitting the rain apart.

Before long, it appeared right before the barrier.

However, right as the energy was about to hit the barrier, something miraculous happened; the blue ball stopped mid-air before suddenly disappearing out of thin hair.

On the other hand, while the energy ball shot out from the gun, Leopold, the one responsible for the shot, was sent a couple of steps back.

"Uukkk..."

pushed back, he let out a groan. Once he managed to rebalance himself, staring at the gun in his hand, he couldn't help but curse

"Bloody hell!"

the one that

on

ask the dwarves for things that can be added to

I wasn't an expert with guns, I do think that the way that Leopold held

shot, his hand flung all the way up in the air, and he was pushed away

both hands next time and keep your feet planted on the

looks of it, he still needed a lot of practice before using the gun properly. If

his wrist, Leopold nodded his head

need

"...Mhm."

the barrier that had now

the dwarfs are planning on using the barrier,

long the dwarves were planning on keeping the barrier,

the weather cleared

I'm not wrong, the dwarves have chosen to erect the barrier because of the weather. So we've got till

"…Thought so too."

a small box in

though they are as easy to get as water. They are

expensive that if converted into U, it would total around 500,000U

there was a

cores gained from beasts and monsters could be turned into powder which would in turn function as gunpowder. In fact, demon cores could

I had quite a lot of bullets on me was because I traded them for the core of the Baron ranked demon that I

thought of giving it to Angelica, but at the

though; after all, even I wouldn't be very excited at the prospect

only be created by the dwarves

why humans didn't

most create bows

such as guns didn't only require a skilled blacksmith but also advanced engineering skills that understood the core underlying principles of mana, which

though. After all, humanity had only

Leopold on the shoulder, I

"Take good care o—Ukkk."

suddenly ran through my body and head. My knees buckled, and I almost tripped on

who was next to

"Wow, Ren, you okay?"

He worriedly asked.

for him, I couldn't

"Ugh..."

"Ren? Ren?!"

voice was faint in my

vision blurred slightly as

not last for long as I soon

a moment to rebalance myself, I reassured Leopold

"Ren, are you okay?"

but I'm now

head, I painfully

my head suddenly started to hurt. Probably didn't have enough

put the gun away and

we have some time, you should probably

"Yeah..."

"You okay, now?"

"Yeah, no problem."

a smile and stood

as fast as it

sceptical, Leopold no longer asked

he looked at the entrance of the

on the others

"...got it."

you need

nod,

my face disappeared as my

'What was that?'

messed up due to what had happened at

I couldn't explain it, it felt as though

what in the

about it, the deeper my

something wrong with me? Or was this

sure, but I sure hoped that it was the latter and that this was just

—Booom!

an explosion suddenly sounded. Following this, the

sound originated from, I saw a faint ripple appear on the enormous barrier

appeared

the barrier had absorbed the

the direction of where the ripple centered, my

"They've started the siege…"

***