We stood there as a group with Hannah taking shots at the weaker wolves and the rest of us mentally preparing for the next wave to attack. I was getting antsy as it had already been a few minutes since the attacks against the fence had forced it to bend to almost a 90 Degree angle, which was when the wolves were supposed to jump over. But for some reason they kept up the attacks only to keep the fence bent. Until something odd stood out to me and I turned to Alex.
"Hey so I got a question? Why don't the wolves use their magic attacks like artillery strikes? I mean they learned to bend the fence and that's the strategy they stuck with this whole time? Something isn't adding up when they can control wind, why don't they summon like mini tornados or something?"
The group look at each other as if that idea just clicked in their head at which point they looked even more seriously towards the woods. We couldn't really take the offense to them as the only long range attacker was Hannah and she was doing all she could even now.
"Hey Alex? Do you have any long range weapons around here? Maybe I could help Hannah take out some more of the wolves and thin the horde quicker."
"I'm sorry Jimbo, I'm not a long range guy, I mean hell the only gun we have on the property is..... Hey now that you mention it... Hold on." Alex smiled as he ran off back to the house and came back a few seconds later carrying the shotgun that Kelly always had handy just in case. Even though Alex said it would barely knock the dust off an E ranked wolves fur...
"Take this up to Hannah real quick and see what she can do with it. She's a pretty good Technomancer and this should have everything she needs to make you a rifle." Alex said as he handed it over to me.
"But... I can't just take Kelly's gun and have it turned into something else! I'd feel horrible if something happened and she could have used this!"
"Bah, take it boy, Our anniversaries' coming up and I was gonna take her shopping for something new that would actually work anyways. Plus we could use it now versus maybe not ever in the future." Alex said as he smiled before pushing me off in the direction of the barn.
As quickly as I could I got up to Hannah and filled her in before handing her the shotgun. "Hmmm, I don't know exactly what I could make that would be good for long range out of a shotgun? The shells still wouldn't be good for long range, maybe if I added something that would keep the shells intact like a mini grenade? Hmmmmmm." Hannah seemed to get lost in thought but she blinked before handing me her sniper rifle and pointed at the woods.
"While I'm busy with this, you take over shooting." She said without even looking up at me.
"Wha-What the hell did you say! You want me to take over shooting!? But I've never shot a sniper rifle before, let alone this monster of one! This thing is taller than me and I could only imagine the kickback this thing does." I was shocked at how nonchalantly she just gave me the gun and told me to take over just like that! No thinking about it, no hesitation. Just here start blasting away.
"Oh, yea don't worry about that, I made it to where the rifle doesn't recoil or do anything like that. I remodeled it to be entirely dependent on energy and magnets. Basically just a railgun. But yea like I said no kickback. No recoil. Just aim and shoot." She waved her hand at like she was shooing a fly as she started to mumble something while picking up the shotgun and started examining it like some lost artifact and she was Indianapolis Jones.
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I tried to get her attention again but nothing worked.... I looked down at the rifle than towards the woodline.... Ok, let's give this a go.
I laid down and aimed the barrel towards the wolves before looking into the scope. I was stunned at just how many of the bodies were laying down while some were being eaten by the survivors. I looked and saw as the same 6 Alphas Hannah had told us about were still just sitting there and looking towards the fence area... That was until they all simultaneously turned their heads and looked right at me!
"Oh Fuck that! I about shit my pants just from the pressure I felt from their piercing gaze alone, You mean to tell me those things are Ranked C! Was there really such a power gap between D and C that I felt like my heart was going to explode?!" I yelled out as I started to stumble back from the rifle that had dropped from my hands. I knew I was new to this whole thing but holy hell this was a slap in the face of the reality I knew!
"Calm down James! It's fine, I'm right here and Alex and Jack and Claire are nearby. We can do this, I just need you to continue taking shots at the weaker wolves while I make up the new gun ok? Please can you do that for me?" Hannah said as she stopped me from falling off from the loft and then sat me down with her hands on mine to help steady me. It worked surprisingly as her warm hands covered mine. Her smiling face showed concern but that smile made me feel better even still......
"Huhhhh.... Ok, I got this.... Thank you Hannah. I'll try my best." I sighed heavily again before turning around and picking up the rifle and aiming down the scope. I did my best to avoid looking in the area I knew the Alphas would be in and instead focused my attention to the very wood line and after a few deep breaths I slowly pulled the trigger.
BOOOOM
The a bullet exploded out of the barrel but like Hannah said there was no recoil, nothing.... Unfortunately after I looked back through the scope after flinching in expectation, I saw as a giant hole was gouged out of the earth where I had hit nothing but dirt....
"It's alright, try again. You got the breathing part down and the trigger pull. Just keep your eyes focused." Hannah said but she was still looking down at the gun that was now disassembled and floating in the air with some kind of static electricity sparking between the pieces.
I nodded before breathing deeply again and after locking onto a wolf that was sitting there I slowly pulled the trigger again.
BOOOOM
Another bullet sent flying and I was rewarded the sight of a headless wolf that also lacked a good portion of their upper body..... I felt like hurling slightly but I kept it in and kept aiming for targets.
It was after my tenth kill that I felt some kind of weird energy surge through me that made me stop and start to shiver. It was almost like I was in the middle of having a fever and had the chills as every cell in my body was in overdrive.
"Ah I see you just reached your first milestone as a Gifted, The tenth kill is when our system fully becomes operational as you show your commitment to actually hunting and not just trying to take advantage of being stronger than your average human." Hannah got up with a smile as she handed me a gun that looked like a cross between a pump shotgun and a single shot rifle.
"I made this with your taming ability in mind. The pump is actually the switch that changes ammunition to a net for capturing animals." Before I could ask how I was supposed to get the bullets and nets for it she stopped me with by putting up her hand. "Before you ask, It has an internal micro printer that generates the ammunition for you." She then pointed towards a slide along the base of the gun that could be pulled back like any ammunition slot would look like.
"This here is where you would put in normal ammo, but for this gun, all you have to do is this." She then smiles as she leans over and picks up a handful of hay before placing the hay into the slot. "The micro printer runs off of biological material, so grass or hay or even leftover monster parts that are small enough could easily be fed into the gun and voila! New ammunition ready for any occasion. Now word of warning. This is a first model prototype just for you, I don't know the ends of what it can do nor if there is any hidden properties. This was an on the fly kind of deal."
She gave me a few more tips on how to use it but mostly it acted as a rifle for most situations unless I was using the net and then it would be like a shotgun. By now I was just to excited by the mix of the still overdriven cells and now a huge gift like this? Oh man I was feeling awesome. I smiled at Hannah as me and her both started taking shots at the wolves. She mentions something about taking a look at my system when I had a chance but not right now since we were in the middle of something important.
It took us another 30 minutes worth of pot shots and destroyed wolves before Hannah stopped me and told me to run to Alex.
"They are moving. Get ready." She muttered before she returned to shooting but this time she didn't take her time for each shot and I got to see just how skilled she was as every second was another boom as bullets exploded out of the barrel and each one I'm positive was the end for a wolf or two. I ran down to Alex and told him and the others that the Alphas were making a move and the mood went from calm to serious and on edge in .2 seconds flat.
Alex had already called over Bjornson and Bobba, The twin to my Bubba, and now everyone was getting ready and prepared as the energy of the place was shifting..... Here's hoping my luck continues....