Chapter 19: The Gun Training
“As you all know, there was a worldwide announcement yesterday by the [System]. Humans were finally able to conquer the [Immortal Tier] dungeon world, [Cyvish], and the world system has been upgraded. Finally, Sykerion has unlocked one of the more basic systems known as the [Duel System], something that all other worlds obtained a long time ago.” Avin says. The students are fairly hyped about this new system, but most of them already knew how it worked.
“Based on what we know, the system allows us to challenge others to a duel, and if they accept, you will both be able to battle without restraint. This is because of the safety measure provided by the [System], which is obviously extremely reliable. The battle goes on until either opponent hits 1 health, and is then healed instantly when the battle is over. In group combat, when your health hits 1, you will be put into an unconscious state until the battle’s over.”
This system, is way too convenient and useful. That means in duels, anyone can go all out without restraint, and with the reliable [System] securing our safety, we won’t die in the middle of the duel.
“Of course, you can’t duel at any given time. First, the two opposing forces must be in an area recognized as a [Duel Zone] by the [System]. In this school, that is the [Arena] in the [Generalized Zone], and the [War Field] in the [Combat Zone]. In order to propose a duel between two forces, one side must give a request through the [Duel System] that appears when recited in the mind, and the other side must accept. This will be demonstrated in your combat classes, so don’t bother with it now.”
“So the tournament next week will now be using this [System]?” A student asks.
“Yes, this way, the tournament will be much more interesting, no?” The class topic begins turning towards the tournament event, but I stopped listening already.
I completely forgot about this event that’s coming around. I saw people setting up the event, but I didn’t realize that it was for the tournament. Apparently, the host of this year’s two tournaments is our school, so we have to make sure the [Arena] is in good condition, and clean it up to make it look nice and such.
Now, there’s a bit of a problem on my side. This tournament, I made a promise to a certain someone that I’d join it. And there’s no way I’m able to decline it, because it’s that person. So, I have no choice but to enter it and fight freshmen from other [Adventurer’s School], including Thoth.
I should probably hold back, in an attempt to not attract attention. But if I do that, I’ll probably be scolded by Thoth for doing such a thing. I can’t fight with all my strength either, that’ll pretty much expose me. Then, I’ll just do the same thing I did in the [Kazaric Ravines]. I’ll disguise my identity and fight like that. That way, if they want to search for me who may or may not be the victor, they will be chasing a ghost again. Wait, but then who will I change my appearance to be? Can I be someone outside of the school, joining the tournament? I tried to think about how I should go about with this, when a student suddenly says;
“Who’s allowed to join this tournament exactly?”
“Why, anyone as long as they’re a first year at any of the [Adventurer’s Schools].”
“So if I register with a name that’s not my own, I’ll be allowed in as long as I confirm that I’m a first year student here?”
“That’s right, but first, in order to confirm your status as a first year student, you need to give your real name beforehand. They’ll look it up in the student database to confirm your name and appearance. After that, you can rename yourself.”
“Yes! Guys, the legend of the [Black Enigma]’s gonna start here!” He says to his friends excitingly.
And there’s my answer. I’ll enter the tournament with a false name, and hide my appearance so no one will be able to figure out who I am. But I can’t exactly register in person, because if I’m seen at the registration area, that alone will be attention-seeking. In this case, I have no one to turn to. Perhaps I should just go there in disguise, and just register like that. I can’t confirm my identity as a first year student if I do that, though, so that’s out.
My thoughts are interrupted by the bell ringing, and the class ends. I decide to clear my head for now, and head towards my next class. By the time the day ended, I still couldn’t think of a solution. Instead, I just recall the events of what happened today. It was probably the most unusual day I’ve had in this lifetime.
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The second day at school, and I believe I’m attracting attention in a way that I don’t want to; some sort of symbol of fear. When I walk through the school gates, they all clear a path for me and no one crossed my path. Whenever I made eye contact with someone, they’d turn away immediately and act as if they weren’t staring at me. In class, when handouts were given out, mine was usually the last and they’d run after they handed it to me. During group projects, I was alone no matter what, and no one dared to approach me if they could avoid it.
Even though they’re treating me this way, they all continued to watch my actions with a strange expression. It looked like they were admiring me, but they were treating me distant for some reason. Not that I mind, because I prefer to be alone like this. The problem is that I’m still attracting attention onto myself somehow, even though I’m isolated from the other students. I can’t think of a way to avoid it, if I don’t even know the cause of this. Maybe it’s my appearance? I don’t think I look like something to fear though. Honestly, I do think that I am quite pretty myself, but I guess the other students sees it differently.
The student council kept their promise of allowing me to be alone, so they weren’t at the roof of the school building today. Though, I don’t think I can actually help them out as they requested. I’m supposed to be a hidden member that blends in normally with the students, but clearly that isn’t working if I’m being isolated like this. Not that I care that much, but it really ruins their plan of having me help them out in the shadows. Or perhaps that was an excuse for me to just be a member in secret? Or just for me to somehow be a part of their group?
I decide not to think much about it, and just continue eating my lunch. After the bell rings, as Avern instructed, I went to the [Marksman’s Zone] and head towards the firing range. I got strange looks from some of the students, because I was a new face appearing in the area, but just like everyone else in the [Generalized Zone], no one approached me. I walk to the building near the firing range, and knock on the door.
“Who is it?” I hear the voice of the man who talked with Avern yesterday.
“…Aria.” I say quietly.
“Say that again? I didn’t hear you.” His voice replies behind the door.
“…Aria.” I repeat, a bit louder. After a bit, I hear a clicking sound behind the doorway, but he didn’t open the door. So I let myself in, instead.
I enter through the entrance way, and look for the man that was supposed to be my new teacher. Last time I came in here, I wasn’t able to actually look around due to the sudden attack on me, but this time, I had a chance to examine the room. The walls were full of [Magic Guns] being hung on the wall, and there were several display cases with guns inside of them. The guns ranged from small pistols to large missile launchers, and there were also smaller devices that I believe were [Grenades]. The man from yesterday was putting a large gun into one of the cases, and says to me;
“Although we just added this zone recently, I believe our school has quite the collection of guns, don’t you think?” After closing and locking the case with magic, he turns to me with a smile on his face.
“This, girl, is the gun armory. We have lockers full of these babies in the back of the building, and a firing range to test some of them. I’m the man taking care of this place, Jiriko. I’m sure Avern has told you about why you’re here, so we’ll get started. Come with me to the back.” He enters a door at the back of the room, and I follow behind him.
In this new room we enter, just as he said, there were lockers full of the guns being displayed at the front. Hundreds, and if not thousands of lockers.
“Your eyes are sparkling there, little girl. Reminds me of Hana when she first saw the castle’s gun armory.” He says. I immediately turn to him upon hearing my mother’s name.
“…mother’s…acquaintance?” I ask.
“I was one of your mother’s teachers. She didn’t learn how to use every weapon naturally, you know? I was the one who taught her how to fire the rifles, and there were three other teachers for her as well. I’ll tell you now, she was a walking ball of energy, we could never keep her calm. Always over excited by everything, and trying her hardest all the time.” He laughs to himself, most likely recalling past memories.
“Anyway, I’m surprised she gave birth to someone like you. Not only are you a girl who has even more potential than her, but your personality seems to be the total opposite. Tell me, have you ever spoken more than 5 words?” He asks me.
“…four.” He laughs as soon as he hears this.
“Man, I seriously can’t believe you’re her daughter! Oh wow, this is great. Well then, let’s not waste any more time. Pick a gun that you like.”
I tilt my head as soon as I hear this. Am I just supposed to pick whatever I want?
“Confused, little girl? Well, to start training in [Gun Magic], you need a gun. And you can’t just use the same magic for every type of gun. For example, you can’t use magic for [Magic Rifles] with [Launchers]. Nor can you use magic for [Physical Guns] for [Magical Guns]. So, we’ll just start based on what you like.” I still didn’t quite understand, but I decide to pick one anyway. I search for a locker that contains a very specific weapon, and find it. A locker full of [Magnums].
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“Little girl, those small guns are a lot more powerful than they seem. It takes quite a lot to handle them. You think you got what it takes?” He warns me of their power, and I was already fully aware of it, so I nod in reply.
I look through the [Magnums], and took the one I believed was the weakest. I saw the [HNTR] in the arsenal, but if he were to learn that I was able to use such a monstrous weapon, it’d lead to unwanted results. I mean, he already knew I was fast enough to catch bullets, albeit from a weak pistol, but being able to even do so is quite a feat. I don’t want give him more reason to call me a little monster.
After picking my gun, we enter through another door on the opposite side of the first room. Inside, was a wide firing range and a table that held several more guns.
“This range is for the purpose of testing weapons, not practicing. So basically, think of it as your own personal range.” He tells me. I walk into one of the bays, and look down the range. There was a blue target about 15 meters away, in the shape of the human body. There was also some goggles and ear muffs on the table, and some sort of metal sheet on the wall with a hand print in it. Under the sheet was screen of some sort. I see a blue dot in the center of it.
“Let me explain something first. In order to set up a target in a firing range, all you have to do is put your hand on that metal sheet, and pour mana into it. The target will be created using your mana, and you can move its position using that screen under the sheet. You can add more than one target if you want. Next, always have eye and ear protection. Even though it’s not a battlefield or arena, the range is still an extremely dangerous place. You can damage your hearing from being inside of one.” He continues on with several rules about the range, but I listen to them properly.
Always walk around with a gun case, any kind would be fine. Always, always have the safety on before carrying the gun around. Always keep your gun aimed down the range no matter what. Always listen to the [Range Officer]. After going through the rules with me several times, I’m finally allowed to put on the equipment and training will begin.
“Okay then, first off, let’s see how well you can fire the gun. Just fire at the target at the center of the range.” I nod, and put on the equipment provided. He wears them as well, and stands behind me. I pull the safety switch on the [Magnum], and raise it to eye level.
“Stop there for a second.” Jiriko suddenly says, and corrects my stance by telling me which body part to move. After he gave me the okay, my body felt a bit strange from the position I was standing in. Ignoring the awkward feeling, I pull the trigger of the [Magnum], which makes a loud bang that I could hear through the ear muffs, and hits the target in the shoulder.
“…position…no good…” I say.
“You think a more comfortable position will help your aim? You can try if you want, and if it works, we’ll go with it.” He says.
Being given permission to do so, I stop with the awkward stance and bounce side to side for a bit to relax my muscles. Then, I step forward, my right leg in front of my left. I rotate my chest left, raised the [Magnum] with my right arm, and kept my left arm bent back. The recoil of this gun wasn’t as strong as the [HNTR], I can tell that I can handle firing it with one arm.
After changing my stance to a strange one, I fire the [Magnum] three times consecutively. I hit the head, chest and stomach all three shots. A still target was a lot easier to hit than a moving target, and with the combat experience I obtained in the [Kazaric Ravines], my aim was slightly above average. Firing at extremely fast ice cats and really small bats really helped me learn, you know?
“…so her kid is even more unbelievable than her.” I hear Jiriko mutter behind me. I turn to face him, and he was pinching his forehead while looking down. Perhaps he was irritated from seeing such a thing?
“Ah, whatever. Like mother, like daughter, huh? Your mother did the same thing when she started off, but it took her about a month to actually get a stance that worked better for her. It’s the exact same one as yours.” He tells me. It kind of surprised me, hearing that I’m using the exact same firing stance as my mother.
“Of course she didn’t use that for the weapons, but I bet you’ll copy her in those areas too. Anyway, now that I know that you can fire a gun properly, we’ll get to the magic.” He grabs one of the pistols on the table, and raises it to the target in the range. The target has already repaired the damage from my earlier shots. How convenient, having a self-regenerating target.
He takes the stance that he tried to make me use earlier, and fires the pistol. A red light comes from the nozzle as the bullet flies out, and hits the chest of the target. Flames burst around the area it hits, and engulfs the entire figure. Eventually, the entire target is burnt and evaporates into magic particles.
“[Basic Gun Magic], mostly affects the projectile rather than the gun itself. Right now, I just fired a [Fire Bullet], which burns the area it hits as you can see. Just like normal magic, there are higher tiers of this kind of magic, the strongest known [Fire Projectile] being [Napalm Bullet]. When you reach [Advanced Gun Magic], you will learn spells that affect the gun rather than the projectile, and there’s even a special set of skills made specifically for [Gun Knights] that helps with close combat.” He gives me a quick run down of [Gun Magic], and I was excited to learn it, although my expression didn’t show it. At least, I think it didn’t.
“Well then, sparkly eyes, let’s start training.” He was already able to read my expressions so quickly.
For the rest of the time, he teaches me how to change the properties of the bullet being fired, and I learn the basics of [Gun Projectile Magic], able to use a bullet of each of the basic elements.
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“Well then, little girl. That’s all the time we have here, but you sure learnt the basics real fast. You definitely have the makings of a mage, learning magic just like that and being able to fire a high-mana cost gun like that several times. You’re seriously much more of a genius at this than your mother was, hahaha!” He laughs out loud, before sending me off.
I head towards my next class, feeling quite happy. I finally have someone who can actually teach me how to use [Gun Magic], a completely enigmatic set of magic that I’m very curious about. During that entire time, though, I failed to notice the third presence in that firing range, watching over me.
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Third Person Perspective:
“So, how is she?” Someone says to Jiriko from within the armory.
“An [Immortal Tier] monster in guise of a child. Perhaps even beyond that.” He replies to the shadow behind him.
“I see. I was worried for her before, but now I can see that she is far stronger than she seems. I can be at ease, letting her attend here.” The shadow lets out a sigh of relief.
“Are you sure about this though? Having her attend the two tournaments this year?” Jiriko asks worryingly.
“Are you worried about her facing against ‘Pyrion’?”
“He’s in his first year as well, right? Most likely, they’ll meet in the tournament and battle each other. I know Aria’s a monster, but she seems quite docile. I don’t think she has what it takes to fight him. Besides, based on what you’ve seen, she’s trying to avoid attention, right? So how are you going to even get her into these tournaments?” He glares at the person standing behind the counter in the armory.
“Don’t worry, I know a way to get her into the tournament with my authority. And I’m well aware that she’s trying to avoid attention, in fear of exposing the monster within her. Quite the smart child, she is. Sometimes, it makes me wonder if she’s really 8 years old.” He begins to go slightly off-topic, but Jiriko quickly stops him.
“Quit changing the flow of the conversation and answer me.”
“How impatient. Fine then, I shall explain it. What she fears, is not attention, but complications in the future. If it’s known that she’s far more powerful than a [Mortal Tier] adventurer before she’s even hit puberty, she will surely be scouted by kingdoms for military use, and she wishes to avoid this. She wants to become an adventurer, and explore these dungeons without worry, heading into the [Immortal] and [God] worlds.” The man pulls out a small dagger and plays with it in his hands.
“Then how does attending the tournaments help her?” He says, eying the dagger.
“I, too, wish to see a Human accomplish this, so I want to help train her by giving her competition and rivals within these tournaments. If I help remove these complications that she wishes to avoid, then she’ll be able to fight freely and without restraint.”
“How do you plan to do that, then?”
“Did you forget who I am, Jiriko? I can do whatever I want within this kingdom, and no one can do about it.” He says, and slams the dagger into the counter.
“I have no need to have her support me, so instead, I’ll be the one supporting her from the shadows. Think of it as a pastime for me.” He says, and heads to the exit of the armory. Jiriko steps out of the way, and lets him leave.
“Just so you know, she’s under my watch right now. If you try anything funny, I won’t forgive you.” He says.
“Quite the overprotective one, aren’t you? Don’t worry, I won’t try anything. I wouldn’t want to anger you, but I especially don’t want to anger Hana. After all, we were all part of her harem for a while, you know? I still have lingering feelings, but I’ve moved on already. Right now, just like you and Avern, I’m doing this to repay her.” The shadow replies as he walks away. Eventually, he fades into the light, and disappears completely.
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Chapter 20 coming right up, just wait a bit for it!