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..."

out a groan. Once he managed to rebalance himself, staring

"Bloody hell!"

that held onto the artifact,

on

it wrong? Perhaps we can go ask the dwarves for

do think that the

flung all the way up in the air, and he

hands next time and keep your feet planted on

properly. If

Leopold nodded his head in

right; I need to

"...Mhm."

the barrier that had now enveloped

planning on using the barrier,

on keeping the barrier, I estimated that we had at least a day

until the weather cleared

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

"…Thought so too."

box in Leopold's direction, I

the bullets as though they

if converted into U, it would total around 500,000U per

was a reason for

turned into powder which would in turn function as

a lot of bullets on me was because I traded them

I thought of giving it to Angelica, but at the mere mention of it,

I wouldn't be

by the dwarves as humans were incapable of creating them. At least not

humans didn't

could at most create bows or other relatively simpler

a skilled blacksmith but also advanced engineering skills that understood the core underlying principles of mana, which humanity

though. After all, humanity had only been exposed to mana for less than a

the shoulder, I

"Take good care o—Ukkk."

electric current suddenly ran through my body and head. My knees buckled, and I almost

Leopold, who was next to me, caught me by the

"Wow, Ren, you okay?"

He worriedly asked.

him,

"Ugh..."

"Ren? Ren?!"

my teeth, Leopold's voice was

vision blurred slightly as

this did not last for long as I soon

a moment to rebalance myself, I reassured

"Ren, are you okay?"

I'm now

onto my head, I

just that my head suddenly started to hurt. Probably

away and carefully

we have some time, you should probably get some

"Yeah..."

"You okay, now?"

"Yeah, no problem."

a smile

as fast as it

sceptical, Leopold no longer asked

the entrance of

check on the

"...got it."

you need

a simple nod,

my face disappeared as my

'What was that?'

due to what had happened at the Monolith, or was it something

was somewhat familiar. Though I couldn't explain it, it felt as though I

what in

I thought about it,

with me? Or was this really something

wasn't sure, but I sure hoped that it was the latter and that this was just a one-off

—Booom!

then that an explosion suddenly sounded. Following this, the whole

my head and staring in the direction of where the sound originated from, I saw a

miniature waves appeared on the barrier

appeared to me that the barrier

direction of where the

"They've started the siege…"

***