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..."

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

"Bloody hell!"

wrist, the one that held onto

on this

we can go ask the dwarves for things that can be added to reduce

guns, I do think that the way that Leopold held onto the

the way up in

try using both hands next time and keep your

a lot of practice before using the gun properly. If every time he shot this happened, there was no use in him

Leopold

right; I need to practice

"...Mhm."

that had now enveloped the

the dwarfs are planning on using the barrier, you've got some time to

the barrier,

the weather cleared

chosen to erect the barrier because of

"…Thought so too."

in

as though they are as easy to

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

there was a reason for

beasts and monsters could be turned into powder which would in turn function as

quite a lot of bullets on me was because I traded

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

even I wouldn't be very excited at

be created by the dwarves as humans were incapable

also why humans didn't have

could at most create bows or other

blacksmith but also advanced engineering skills

though. After all, humanity had only

the shoulder,

"Take good care o—Ukkk."

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

was next to me, caught me by

"Wow, Ren, you okay?"

He worriedly asked.

him,

"Ugh..."

"Ren? Ren?!"

my teeth, Leopold's voice was

blurred

not last for long as I soon

myself, I reassured Leopold

"Ren, are you okay?"

I'm now

head,

started to hurt. Probably didn't

gun away and

have some time, you should probably get some

"Yeah..."

"You okay, now?"

"Yeah, no problem."

forced a smile and stood

left as fast as it

sceptical, Leopold no longer asked about my

looked at the entrance

on the

"...got it."

you need anything,

nod, Leopold soon walked

back, the smile on my face

'What was that?'

my head was still messed up due to what had happened at the Monolith, or was

it felt

what in

it,

was this

sure hoped that it

—Booom!

an explosion suddenly

head and staring in the direction of where the sound originated from, I saw a faint ripple appear on the enormous barrier enveloping

waves appeared on the barrier

barrier had absorbed the attack from

direction of where the ripple centered, my brows

"They've started the siege…"

***