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..."

back, he let out a groan. Once he managed to rebalance himself, staring at the gun

"Bloody hell!"

one that held onto the artifact, he

recoil on

the dwarves

with guns, I do think that the way that

hand flung all the way up in the

both hands next time and keep your feet planted on the

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

his wrist, Leopold

I need to

"...Mhm."

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

the

barrier because of the weather. So we've got

"…Thought so too."

a small box in Leopold's direction, I

carelessly treat the bullets as though they are as easy to

expensive that if converted into U, it would total around

was a reason for

Malvil, the cores gained from beasts and monsters could be turned into powder which would in turn

lot of bullets on me was because I traded

Angelica, but at

all, even I wouldn't be very excited at

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

didn't

most create bows or

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

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

on the

"Take good care o—Ukkk."

off, an electric current suddenly ran through my body and head. My knees buckled, and I almost tripped on the

who was next to me, caught me

"Wow, Ren, you okay?"

He worriedly asked.

for him, I

"Ugh..."

"Ren? Ren?!"

Leopold's voice was faint in my

vision blurred slightly as

luck, this did not last for long as I soon got

rebalance myself, I reassured

"Ren, are you okay?"

I'm now

my head, I

my head suddenly started to

the gun away and carefully

we have some time, you should probably

"Yeah..."

"You okay, now?"

"Yeah, no problem."

a smile and stood

pain left as fast as it

sceptical, Leopold no longer asked

bullets away, he looked at the entrance

on the others

"...got it."

need

simple nod, Leopold soon

my face disappeared as my brows

'What was that?'

still messed up due to what had happened at

pain was somewhat familiar. Though I couldn't explain it, it felt as though I had a similar headache in the

in

thought about it, the

wrong with me? Or was this really something due to

but I sure hoped that it was the latter and

—Booom!

an explosion suddenly sounded. Following this, the whole

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

barrier, miniature waves appeared on the barrier

that the barrier had

of where the ripple centered, my

"They've started the siege…"

***