As Ezra peeked around the corner and fixed his eyes on the monster, his system panel flickered into life, highlighting a new objective. [New shooting objective acquired: Kill the Heragore without taking any damage.] Ezra watched as the Heragore pinned the straw dummy to the ground and started ripping out its innards using its razor-sharp claws. The monster voraciously devoured the raw sausages stuffed inside the dummy, paying no heed to its surroundings. “It’s distracted. Now’s our chance!” Aurelia vaulted over the mining cart and fired her weapon. The magic bullet struck the Heragore in the head, putting out one of its eyes. As blood trickled down its wounded face, the Heragore shrieked in pain and backed away from the dummy. Ezra quickly sprung out of cover and fired at the monster before it could make a move. However, all the magic bullets fired from his Larkin and Hops five-shot revolver missed the target as his hand swayed from side to side. Ezra’s trembling fingers made it
Ezra breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed the grip on his revolver. Shoving his enchanted weapon back inside his jacket, he walked up to the Heragore to confirm it was actually dead. Suddenly, a floating blue disc appeared in front of Ezra, and the pupil of his left eye widened, allowing him to view a magnified version of the disc. [New magic skill unlocked:] [1. Eagle Eye (level 1) (passive): Whenever the user encounters any hostile creature, the Eagle Eye skill allows him to analyze the enemy and learn more about it. This skill does not drain magic power and can be used multiple times without any penalties.] “That seems like a useful skill to have. I guess I am finally unlocking my true potential as an E-level shooter,” Ezra spoke to himself, but Marlin could not help but overhear it. “A bit hard to believe, isn’t it?” the Gunsmith taunted. “Who would have thought you could take on a Heragore all by yourself?” “I didn’t do it alone. Now just go away.” Ezra rushed to Aurelia’s
Ramel had already returned home in the evening with a positive reply from the adventurers’ guild. And seeing that his siblings hadn’t come back yet, he had even insisted on going out to look for them, but Lord Sebastian had denied his request. This little victory had pleased Ramel immensely. He was now thoroughly under the impression that he was the best when it came to political negotiations and forging alliances. Lord Sebastian however, knew that nothing could be further from the truth. Having thanked his son, he had sent him off to his room so that he could spend the rest of the night freely. When Ezra and Aurelia finally returned it was already past nine. Lord Sebastian was pacing the hallway when he saw Aurelia entering with something hanging from her hand. “What took you so long? And what is that thing you’re—” Lord Sebastian stopped midway as Aurelia placed the Heragore’s severed head on the wooden table. “This one was hiding in the Kasari mine, so we decided to help the mi
Though Lord Sebastian was happy that his son had learned to move on, Ezra’s unusual request confused both Ramel and Aurelia. “You could have asked for anything, but you always make the stupidest of choices,” Ramel muttered under his breath. “What kind of a magic user needs a Gunsmithing workbench? It’s as if an idiot like you could ever craft anything useful.” Ramel knew that Gunsmithing was an incredibly difficult craft, and only a handful of people could manage to assemble a functioning firearm. In his mind, there was no way a cripple like Ezra could even repair a gun, let alone build one from scratch. Even Aurelia could not help but wonder what was going on in Ezra’s mind, but she was happy to support his decision even if wasn’t a conventional choice. *** After a light supper, Ezra went back to his room and immediately began treating his hands using the Eastern herbs the Arch Maester had prescribed. As Ezra dipped his hands into the sacred waters drawn from the fountain of E
Ezra was thrilled to level up so quickly. Not only had he advanced to a level E Gunsmith, but also acquired a new Gunsmithing skill. The enchanted six-shooter now looked a lot different from the one the Rodels had brought for him. The customized grip added a smoky white coloration to it and made it stand out from an ordinary revolver. Although the glyphs remained engraved on the revolver, they glowed much brighter than before. Even the mid-section of the gun looked different due to the addition of a new cylinder. “The notched ebony grip will make it easier for you to hold the weapon with trembling hands, and it will help you handle the recoil much better as well,” Marlin explained, while Ezra continued gazing at the modified revolver. “What about the cylinder?” he asked. “The swing-out cylinder will allow you to reload six bullets simultaneously into your revolver instead of restocking them one by one. This will cut down your reloading time in half,” Marlin replied. “These might
The town of Aranor was a melting pot of different cultures and traditions where non-humans existed peacefully with the humans. However, not everyone was happy to have dwarves and merfolk living alongside them. Most nobles and middle-class merchants were repulsed by the merfolk and viewed the dwarves as their inferiors. Due to this clash of mentalities, it was impossible to gather them at the same table for any kind of discussion. Lord Sebastian knew about these racial prejudices, and to avoid any kind of conflict, he had chosen to invite the dwarves to lunch while the merchants and adventurers were asked to join him for dinner. Since the Romanovs were one of the only families of nobles in Valaria to treat the dwarves as equals, it was easy for Lord Sebastian to win over the miners without any bargaining. Ivan readily agreed to support him in the next patriarchal election and even promised to cut all ties with the Rodels. The easy part was over, but the real challenge still lay ahea
Aurelia welcomed Yarpin with kind words and took him to the table where the maids and attendants had already laid the silverware and were waiting with towels and kerchiefs. The guild master of the adventurers’ guild walked up the stairs with a resolute air and greeted Lord Sebastian with a half-bow. “Welcome to our humble home, Black Viper,” Lord Sebastian said, greeting the adventurer with a firm handshake before pulling him into an embrace. “It’s good to see you haven’t let the years catch up to you, Lord Sebastian. And please, you may call me by my real name. Only the commoners and rookies call me Black Viper,” the man replied. “Very well, Lester,” Lord Sebastian replied with a polite smile. As Lester let go of Lord Sebastian’s hand, he immediately turned his gaze to Ezra. “I was there at the training arena. You tried well, boy. There’s no shame in failing.” Ezra did not understand whether Lester was trying to genuinely sympathize with him or further rub salt into his wounds.
Even Yarpin’s scheming mind had never expected such a proposal. Lord Sebastian already held the title of the Chief Patriarch of the Dragon Claw clan, and he had always seemed pleased to stay out of politics outside his own clan. “There is a chance that your cousin may be re-elected as mayor. Why would you want to nominate yourself in his stead?” the merchant asked. Lord Sebastian looked straight at him and replied, “Don’t get me wrong. I know my cousin has done a fine job as the mayor of Aranor. But he will be no match for Lord Wilhelm. If Lord Wilhelm decides to run for mayor, only I can hope to oppose him.” “Well, I can’t say that’s too far from the truth,” Lester pitched in, taking another swig from his cup. “Lord Sebastian is quite a popular figure in Aranor. But I can’t say the same about our current mayor, Lord Harwood. Most people only see him as a harmless puppet.” Yarpin ignored Lester’s remark and asked, “May I know why you are so averse to the idea of Lord Wilhelm becomi