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..."

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

"Bloody hell!"

one that held onto the artifact,

on this

go ask the dwarves for things that can be added to

think that the way that Leopold held onto the gun was

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

and keep your feet planted on

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

massaging his wrist, Leopold nodded his

right; I need

"...Mhm."

the barrier that had now enveloped the whole mountain, I

on using the barrier, you've

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

the weather cleared

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

"…Thought so too."

small box in Leopold's direction, I

though they are as easy to

expensive that if converted into U,

expensive, but there was a reason

gained from beasts and monsters could be turned into powder which

a lot of bullets on me was because I traded them

Angelica, but at the mere mention of it, she threw me

be very excited at the prospect of eating another

only be created by the dwarves as humans were incapable of creating

why humans didn't have guns as

create bows

guns didn't only require a skilled blacksmith but also advanced engineering skills that understood the core underlying principles

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

on the

"Take good care o—Ukkk."

off, an electric current suddenly ran through my body and head. My knees

Leopold, who was next to me, caught

"Wow, Ren, you okay?"

He worriedly asked.

for him,

"Ugh..."

"Ren? Ren?!"

voice was faint in my

blurred slightly as

for

to rebalance myself, I

"Ren, are you okay?"

I'm

my head,

suddenly started to hurt. Probably

gun away and

we have some time, you should probably get

"Yeah..."

"You okay, now?"

"Yeah, no problem."

smile and

pain left as

Leopold no longer asked about

looked at the entrance of the tower

go check on

"...got it."

need anything,

me a simple nod, Leopold

back, the smile on my face disappeared as my

'What was that?'

it because my head was still messed up due to what had

Though I couldn't explain it, it felt as though

in

thought about it, the deeper my

something wrong with me? Or was this really something

that it was

—Booom!

suddenly sounded. Following

the direction of where the sound originated from, I saw a faint ripple appear on the

barrier, miniature waves appeared on the barrier before disappearing

to me that the barrier had absorbed the

the ripple centered, my brows

"They've started the siege…"

***