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2024-10-29 19:42:56Ezra felt a tingling sensation in his right hand, and his thoughts immediately went back to that peculiar incident in his room. He quickly hid his right hand behind his back and then turned to Aurelia.
Normally, whenever a system panel flickered into life, it would be visible to all in the nearby area. But strangely enough, no one seemed to be bothered by Ezra’s Gunsmithing screen.
After staring at those present around him for a while, Ezra realized that they could not see his Gunsmithing system display, and the information floating in front of his eyes was only visible to him.
Suddenly, Ezra felt an unbearable pain shooting up his right arm, and he could tell something was squirming under his skin.
“Not again,” Ezra mumbled under his breath, his hands turning cold and his face rapidly losing color.
Aurelia wanted to talk to Ezra and comfort him, but he hurried back to his room without a single word.
Although Ezra was quite used to being ridiculed by those around him, things had gone way too far today with the two Rodel girls humiliating his whole family all because of his crippled hands.
However, Ezra did not think too much about the incident because he had another troubling matter occupying his mind. It wasn’t normal for a magic user to suddenly unlock the Gunsmithing talent, and he knew it had something to do with that mysterious eye.
As soon as Ezra entered his bedroom, he locked the door from inside and pulled up his sleeves. He walked right up to the mirror beside the bookshelf and lifted his right hand.
The strange eye popped up again, startling him.
“What on earth are you? Did someone hex me?” Ezra questioned his own reflection.
Suddenly, a small mouth opened under the eye, flashing a set of pearly whites and a thick red tongue.
“Greetings, Lord Loris! My name is Gremory Marlin. I was the king’s favorite Gunsmith when I was still alive. But those jealous mages conspired against me and cursed me to be trapped between life and death, chained to a rock inside a cave infested with ghouls. I did not expect to see the light of day again…but here I am, bound to your hand, young Lord.”
Ezra stumbled backward, and his mouth fell open. At first, he was too shocked to speak, but gradually got a hold of himself and asked in a firm voice, “And how exactly did you become bound to my hand?”
“No idea!” the mouth replied. “I suppose it had something to do with the curse the mages put on me, but I haven’t figured it out yet.”
“Go back to where you came from. This isn't normal! I don’t want you on my hand!” Ezra snapped back.
"I am afraid I cannot do that, Lord Ezra. You and I have developed a very deep connection. In fact, I'd go as far to say I have become an inseparable part of your arm now." The lips curled into a grin as Marlin uttered those words.
“I get it now! You are the reason I cannot open or close my fist properly. This is why my hand keeps trembling every time I try to hold something!”
The eye closed its lids, but the mouth continued speaking. “I knew you would suspect me, but I assure you, I had nothing to do with crippling your hands. It was due to the accident you keep talking about, so do not blame me, young Lord.”
“And I’m just supposed to trust you?” Ezra asked in a garrulous tone. He grabbed the knife from his table and prepared to stab the eye again.
“I would advise against that!” The eye opened once more and stared directly at Ezra. “You cannot get rid of me so easily. You have already tried once and failed.”
“Shut the hell up!” Ezra snapped at the Gunsmith and took a stab at the eye, but the knife’s blade cut his own skin, and the eye disappeared. He muffled his scream by gritting his teeth and pulled the knife out of his hand.
The eye reappeared just below the wound, its pupil glowing red. And then the mouth appeared, its lips curled into a devious grin. “You see what I was trying to tell you? If you want to be rid of me, you will probably need to slice off your arm. But even then, there are no guarantees in life, especially when it comes to mages and curses.”
“I don’t believe you! I am pretty darn sure you’re the one who’s been leeching on me like a parasite and crippling my hands!” Ezra tried to yank out the tongue, but once more, the eye and the mouth both disappeared before he could touch them.
As Ezra pulled his other arm away, the eye and the mouth popped open again. “I am not your enemy, Lord Ezra. If anything I’ve always been a well-wisher. If you do not believe me, I cannot help you.”
“Would you believe a creepy eye that suddenly popped open on your arm and started talking to you?” Ezra asked.
“I…would hesitate,” the Gunsmith replied. “But trust me, I did not choose you as my host. In fact, I never wanted a host. This has been equally unsettling for me as well. But since we are together now, we might as well become allies.”
“Why should I believe you? For all I know, you just want to feed on my magic.” Ezra stared at the eye and then added it as an afterthought. “Maybe that’s the reason why you chose me. I was a child prodigy with an E-level magic talent.”
“Let me repeat what I said for the third time. I did not choose you, Lord Ezra. You must have come into contact with some cursed object that bound me to your hand,” the Gunsmith replied. “Don’t you remember anything at all?”
The Gunsmith’s words refreshed Ezra's memory, and he faintly recalled having burned the tip of his right index finger when he tried to touch an ancient relic in a gun museum. He had passed out for a few seconds following that, and when he’d woken up the relic had turned rusty.
“I remember touching a hammer at a gun museum,” Ezra replied. His eyes widened as he recalled another detail. “The name G. H. Marlin was inscribed on the handle. And there was a placard with a date…1460.”
“It’s the year of my birth,” the Gunsmith replied.
“It’s 1650 now. Almost two hundred years! How can you be alive after all this time?” Ezra asked.
“I suppose it had something to do with the curse. But I’m not quite sure if this can be called being alive,” the Gunsmith replied. “But still…it’s better than being trapped in a cave.”
Ezra took a deep breath and calmly tied a bandage around his bleeding hand. Staring directly at the creepy eye, he asked, “What do you want from me?”
“Nothing,” the Gunsmith replied. “Your noble blood has already provided me with enough sustenance. And those healing herbs helped me awaken from my dormant state. I just plan on repaying the kindness by helping you achieve your goals.”
“How?” Ezra asked, ignoring everything else he just said.
At this, the lips on his hand curled into a wide grin. “I am no mere commoner. I was a Legendary Gunsmith back in my day. I can help you modify, repair, and create any gun you wish. With me by your side, you can unlock your true potential! All I ask is your cooperation. Together, we will be unstoppable!”
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Duke Carrington fired a round into the sky to celebrate his victory and turned to the crowd expecting a thunderous applause. But instead of being greeted with cheers and shouts of joy, he was met with a stern silence.“What’s wrong with you all? Are you not happy I vanquished that rookie and offered you a glimpse of my true powers?” he yelled at the top of his voice, staring at the mute spectators. “I am the Champion of Valaria, and I promise Magaravia will be safe in my care.”“So, what are we celebrating?” A voice questioned from behind, wiping the smile from Duke Carrington’s face.“Over there!”“He is alive!”The crowd went berserk with shouts and howls as they spied their favorite Gunner flying near the clouds, holding a sniper in his hand.Duke Carrington clenched his fist, digging his nails into his palms, and turned around to face his opponent.“How did you survive that?” He muttered, trying his best to restrain his rage.“I have been stabbed in the back plenty of times before
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Duke Carrington’s eyes widened as he heard the accusation. He could already tell his plans had been leaked, but he could not understand how a stranger could know about his ambitions.“Who are you?” he demanded, staring daggers at Ezra. “The dragon of Aranor,” Ezra replied, staring right back.Before either could speak again, a set of stone slabs and pillars shot up from the ground, redecorating the arena with obstacles and separating the two contestants.The crowd erupted with wild cheers as the brass bell was hammered in the commentary tower, declaring the start of the round.“I don’t care who you are, but that mask is coming off today!” Duke Carrington shouted with full-throated fury, unleashing a devastating volley of Disintegration Rounds from his Rapid-Firing Six-shooter.Ezra ran across the arena, moving from cover to cover as the stone slabs in front of him were punched full of holes. “There is no point running from me. You can’t survive!”Duke Carrington reloaded his second g
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The next day, Ezra put on his new attire: a fiery red coat with golden yellow stripes and two split tails. His old demonic mask was replaced with a new one sporting two large black horns and blazing red eyes. To complete the look, Ezra added a black bowtie over a clean white shirt and a pair of red trousers trimmed at the bottom, hanging taut over his jet-black boots.Although Ezra hadn’t cared much about his appearance during the other rounds, this time, he combed his hair back, put on a pair of spotless white gloves, and pinned the dragon brooch to his pocket.Holstering his single-shot flintlock on his right hip, Ezra walked up to the mirror and gazed at his reflection.Ezra still remembered staring at his trembling hands in the mirror in the Romanov Mansion. He was treated like a cripple back then and could not even shoot a target lying straight in front of him. But a lot had changed since then.Magaravia knew Ezra as the Red Devil: a formidable sharpshooter who had defeated the b
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Back at the Blackwell Mansion, Ezra was busy at his workbench, trying to craft a new kind of enchanted ammunition for his sniper rifle.So far, Ezra had experimented with all the common metal ingots and alloys and even tried infusing magic crystal shards and dragon scales into them, but to no avail.Each time Ezra tried to craft a new enchanted bullet for his weapon, he would end up with something so brittle and volatile that it would disintegrate as soon as he loaded it into the sniper rifle.“The Celestial Avenger is a Legendary weapon. You cannot load such low-quality ammunition in it and expect it to work just fine,” Marlin barked once more, grinding his teeth in frustration. “I already told you that you need rare metals to craft your round. Try titanium or refined zirconium.”Ezra loaded another newly crafted round into his weapon and watched it explode with a loud bang before finally relenting.“Damn it! I don’t have any rare metals at hand!”“Then perhaps you can ask your careta
