His Core Skill was called Gun? Just Gun? Well, this was going to be interesting. As long as Mr. Flintlock over here doesn't miss and end up turning Alwin into Swiss cheese. Now that he thought about it for half a second, this seemed like a fight that he should really pay attention to.

"Fight!" announced Milvus.

The match had begun as usual, it started with a stare-down contest. Each contestant sized the other up, eyes locked, neither one wanting to make the first move.

"I'm gonna give you one chance to surrender, sweetheart. If not, I can't guarantee you'll live," said Flintlock.

"Surrender? You must have a couple of screws loose. I'm here to show Bion that I'm strong enough to be with him. Ain't that right, Bion?" Brie turned around, shooting a wink towards Bion.

Maybe Bion and Uchronia were a match made in some sarcastic heaven. Bion's eye roll was almost a mirror image of Uchronia's.

"Ain't he just the most charming guy," sighed Brie.

"Whatever sweetheart. But you best not turn your back on me," said Flintlock.

"Gun!" he yelled. In an instant, the air crackled as a musket materialized, hovering right above him, its barrel gleaming under the classroom light.

The musket hung in the air, a relic of a bygone era brought into the present moment. Yet, its metal shimmering with a lustrous sheen untouched by time or wear. Its stock, crafted from polished wood, bore no blemishes, its surface smooth to the touch.

Out of all the skills displayed today, this was the one where Alwin drew a line. What kind of line he couldn't really say. It was definitely a straight line drawn using a pencil in case he wanted to erase the line, but what the line represented Alwin couldn't exactly phrase it into words. The guy just summoned a gun, for Pete's sake. And seriously, who's Pete and why should he give two flying craps about his sake.

Now, Mr. Gun over here was talking like some sort of cowboy from the Old Wild West. Another thing Alwin wanted to highlight was the fact that whoever was in charge of the info download thought it was okay to give him information about ancient human civilization that dated thousands of years old, but not give him any information about that Small Healing Pill Milvus was giving out like candy. Was there a Medium Healing Pill? A large one? Alwin didn't know, because he was stuck with useless information about the Wild West and muskets.

Brie turned around, the steely coldness in her eyes a stark contrast to the loving gaze she was showing towards Bion. "Give me your best shot," she said.

"Always do."

With a flash, the muzzle of the musket erupted, flames licking the tip of the barrel. A deafening blast followed, and a thick cloud of smoke swallowed Alwin's vision. The acrid smell of gunpowder filled his nostrils—or whatever the slime equivalent was—stinging and pungent.

In the time it took for the sound to echo and dissipate, the cloud of smoke began to clear. Alwin saw a single red dot, right in the middle of Brie's forehead. A thin trail of blood dripped out from the tiny wound as her body froze in shock. A split second later, her body slumped to the ground like a puppet that had its strings severed.

In the span of a mere five seconds, the duel was decided. Alwin wanted to applaud, but his lack of hands made it impossible. Instead, he did a flurry of rapid hops to do a horrible imitation of an applause. It was so horrible, that Gus had to ask him if he had to go pee.

"What did you do? You said you would step in if something goes wrong!" shouted Uchronia.

She hopped over to where Brie lay, her body slack and lifeless. A crimson pool of blood was spreading like a dark stain beneath Brie's form. The metallic scent of blood hung heavy in the air, reminding Alwin that he was hung up on the wrong issue.

"The fight isn't over yet, so I suggest you go back to the wall, Uchronia," said Milvus.

"Over? She's dead!" shouted Uchronia.

"I don't mean to be rude teach, but I did put a bullet through her head," said Flintlock.

"And you, I'll have a talk with you after class. Now Uchronia, please move back or else you'll have to stay behind after class too," said Milvus.

Uchronia shot a glare that could freeze hell, bring it to a boil like soup, and then freeze it again for leftovers before stomping back to Alwin. The room was silent, the entire class was stunned speechless. Then, Brie's body twitched once.

Stolen story; please report.

"There’s a reason why I set you up against Brie," said Milvus.

A yellow ring of light glowed around her body, the light illuminating her fallen figure. Tiny dots of light twirled around her corpse, converging at the hole in her forehead. The musket ball was squeezed out like a pimple and dropped to the floor with a plop. In an instant, the hole disappeared along with the light show, leaving Brie good as new.

"Oh, man. You made me use up a Revive already," said Brie.

Right... Revival. It made sense why Milvus didn't do anything when Flintlock shot her. No need to worry about your student getting hurt when she can revive herself as if nothing ever happened.

"Oh, crap. I still need to reload," said Flintlock.

A small paper cartridge that contained gunpowder and a musket ball materialized next to the floating gun. With a swift turn, he tore the cartridge with his teeth, but before he could even think about pouring the gunpowder into the musket, he was tackled by the charging Brie.

"Static Pounce!" she exclaimed.

Electric arcs crackled in between the thick strands of fur. She slammed into Flintlock, knocking him backwards. The impact sent the cartridge of gunpowder exploding from Flintlock's grasp, scattering into the air like a storm of dark confetti. Even the musket came along for the ride too, flying backwards with Flintlock, like a balloon attached by an invisible string.

"No, you didn't!" he grunted.

"Oh, I did. What are you going to do about it, hotshot?"

Flintlock let out a deep sigh before shouting, "This!"

Using the butt of the musket, he jammed it straight into her face. Her head snapped backwards as blood sprayed out from her nostrils like a sprinkler.

"You son of a —"

"Language, Brie," said Milvus.

She turned around and shot Milvus a glare that could rival Uchronia's.

"Now, what did I say bout turning your back on me, sweetheart," said Flintlock.

Brie snapped her body to face Flintlock again. Not a moment too soon, as the barrel of the musket was an inch away from her furry face.

"WAIT!" she shouted.

"What's the problem? Thought you can't die." Flintlock winked.

"Wait, wait, wait. I-l-l-look behind me. There's a guy right there. If you shoot and miss you'll kill him too," said Brie.

Flintlock tilted his body to the side. Indeed, right behind her stood Alwin, with the same placid look as always. For once, Alwin was actually paying attention and noticed Flintlock looking his way. This was awkward, and Alwin didn't know how to react. So he just gave a big smile and wiggled his eyebrows.

"Listen, sweetheart. I don't miss. Now do you surrender?" asked Flintlock.

"And make a fool out of myself in front of Bion? Never!" shouted Brie.

"If that's the way you want it to be."

He cocked the hammer of the musket back into position.

"WAIT!" yelled Brie again.

"Again, sweetheart? What is it this time?"

"W-w-w-what if you do hit me, but the bullet goes through my body and hits the guy behind me?"

Flintlock shifted his body again and made eye contact with Alwin. He still didn't know how to react, so he gave a big toothy smile and wiggled his non-existent eyebrows even harder, like a snake having a seizure.

"Yo, pardner. Mind scooching over to the side a bit?" asked Flintlock.

Was he talking to him? He was definitely looking his way, but Alwin didn't want to respond only to find out that he wasn't even talking to him. That would be so embarrassing. He looked to his left and right only to find Uchronia and Gus giving him a quizzical look. Then, he turned around to see if there was anyone behind him, but there wasn't. Simply because the only thing behind him was a wall. Now, unless someone here could phase through walls, it was safe to say that the message was intended for Alwin.

"Yes, you Dark Slime," said Flintlock.

"Oh, ok," said Alwin.

Well, that was really embarrassing. Alwin scurried on over to Gus' side, a part of him hoping that everyone would forget the last twenty seconds.

"Much appreciated. I owe you one," said Flintlock. "Now where were we, sweetheart?"

"Why don't we call this match a draw," suggested Brie.

"Not a chance. You're going down, sweetheart."

"Or-or-or what if we talk this out like civilized monsters."

"Cut the chit-chat, sweetheart. All your yapping is ruining the moment. Now you ready to zip it?"

"WAIT! WAIT! WAIT!" shouted Brie.

"Oh come on. What is it?"

"I surrender. I surrender. I don't want to die."

"Isn't your Core Skill called Revival? Coming back to life should be as easy pie for you."

"I can't do it twice in one day. Now put that gun away before you shoot me."

"If that's what you want, sweetheart." Flintlock winked, and the musket floating in front of him dematerialized into thin air.

"Oh… Bion is gonna think I'm a wimp now," she sighed.

"Cheer up, sweetheart. I don't think that Bion guy of yours could last as long as you did." winked Flintlock.

"Thanks," she whispered.

The two combatants separated and went back to their respective spots in the classroom. Brie walked over to Bion before she started apologizing profusely for surrendering. At least, that's what Alwin was guessing she was saying, he didn't have super hearing. While Flintlock went over to chat with Clavis and another unnamed Leafling.

Four rounds down, two more to go. Maybe the next round would be the one where Alwin got to participate. Hopefully not.