Buzzards Dale is a huge city that started as the Farmol Production centre, supplying gangs and peacekeepers alike with reliable ammo made out of local resources. I've already heard of dozens of people moving to Buzzards Dale because of the security.
It apparently wasn't enough.
The furnaces stopped blowing grey smoke into the air, supply lines ground to a halt and carts full of ore, gunpowder and magitech stand in front of the building. A third of the City consists of the Scrapyard, hills of trash filling it. Private Security patrols the area, dashing from shadow to shadow, but none dare go inside, to pass through a dragon's territory.
I make my way into the city, passing by boarded-up buildings and empty saloons. The few people on the street speak in hushed tones and cower behind buildings.
I walk over the open road, hand on my revolver beneath my coat and ready to shoot what spooks them this much. Maybe it's just a bad neighbourhood or the Dragon prowls the streets.
It takes another minute of wandering for me to figure out that it's like this in the entire city, not just the area. I decide to approach two older men sitting on a veranda and whispering among themselves. "Hello, can you help me?"
"Kid, what are you doing out there in the open, do you want to get swooped up?" The old man on the left hisses at me.
I step beneath the veranda, next to the two. "I am sorry, I am new here. Why are you hiding?"
"Leave before it sees you. A Dragon took over the ol' Farmol factory and is claiming this city as its territory." He says with a fearful look towards the skies.
"Don't worry, I am here to slay that Dragon," I reassure them, which just earns me a disbelieving look. "Do you know where I can get .50 cal bullets?"
"At this point, try the scrapyard," The other man says, looking somewhat doubtful, "look for "Loonas Scrappie", They'll sell you ammo."
They seem to have a bad reputation but I assume the other shops are closed.
The other man Elbows him in the side. I grab a coin from my pouch and set it on the table. "Thanks for your help," I say before walking out on the open street.
I stroll through the streets with a hand on my revolver, keeping a cautious eye on the skies. Without anyone to block my way, it doesn't take long for me to reach the district called Scrapyard.
It was recognizable from miles away, mounds of trash with small workshops and forgeries in-between, it should be a [Tinkerer]'s dream.
That's before you consider the gangs and Psychos running around and demanding protection money.
Loonas Scrappie is almost hidden, if it weren't for the giant, crooked neon sign declaring its entrance with an arrow. The entrance itself is barely a hole in one of the trash mountains with a plate of metal covering it.
Opening the door, I am greeted by a crossbow pointed at my face as a Goblin tinkers on the other end of the room. They are wearing big overalls that look ridiculous on their small frame, hanging down and bunching up on the ground. They are currently welding a gun to another gun. "I told you to fuck off, this is my territory!"
I point the crossbow away from my face as I answer "I am here to buy, not fight."
They look up at me with their welder still in hand and turned on. "Oh, take a look around then." They gesture at the goods with their welder before continuing to weld the two guns together.
[Goblin Tinkerer-lvl 10]
I browse through their wares and see dozens of half-destroyed contraptions, bullets and explosives haphazardly thrown onto the shelves, barely anything useful. One grenade thrown into this shop could probably destroy half of the Scrapyard.
I don't see any .50 cal though so I turn to Loona, asking "Do you have any .50 cal?"
Loona turns to me before dropping their welder on the table and eyeing me suspiciously. "Why does a kid like you need a .50 calibre?" They ask before using [Identify] and tensing up, "[Bounty Hunter]? I told them I ain't paying them anything."
Loading my revolver beneath my coat, I try to defuse the situation "I am not here for you, only the Dragon who took over the Farmol factory."
They glare at me before putting the revolver down. I didn't even notice them grabbing it, it must have been a Skill at work. They muster me before teleporting a box of ammo into their hand and slamming it down onto the table, "500 coins."
"That's way too steep!" I argue.
They cross their arms and look up at me "Perhaps we can strike a deal, [Bounty Hunter]. You take me with you to slay that dragon and let me pillage the Factory before you turn in the bounty and I'll let you have the box for free."
They'll get a lot more than 500 coins from the loot of the Factory and they know it. "Let's say we both pillage the Factory and I get the first pick on one item," I haggle, knowing that most Goblins will jump at that deal.
They hold out a hand for me to shake, accepting my deal.
"I'll need the box to kill the dragon." I remind them as I shake their hand.
They nod and grab their monstrosity of a double-barrelled, tucking it away in a pouch. "When do we leave?"
"Give me an hour to test out the rifle and make some improvements."
----------------------------------------
[Congratulations, Magitech Tinkerer has reached level 3. Stats have been awarded.]
[You've gained the Class Skill: Element Infusion]
[Element Infusion: You've worked with naturally occurring Elemental Gems, with this skill you'll be able to infuse Items and create your own Gems to power contraptions. Output and Capacity of Gems scale with mana put into them upon creation.
Maximum Infusion duration:60+ 5×MP Seconds]
I got the level up during Tinkering and abandoned my previous plan, deciding to instead make a specialised rifle for infused bullets. The bullets I make with [Element Infusion] seem stable unless I use my full 180 seconds to infuse them.
I gained a basic understanding of the skill once I got it and from what my testing gathered, I can infuse [Light], [Dark], [Fire], [Water], [Air] and [Earth] in items and gems.
Additionally to the Enhancements, I cleaned up the rifle and made an actual strap to sling it across my back.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
"Not bad," Loona says as they examine the rifle before handing it back to me. "I doubt it'll be enough to puncture a Dragons scales but it's better than your measly revolver. "
I grab the rifle and sling it across my back before stuffing my backpack full of my tools. The box of infused ammunition goes into my coat pocket. "Do you have anything you need to do?"
Loona pats down their pockets before nodding to themself. "You still haven't told me your plan."
"Because you aren't going to like it."
----------------------------------------
"You are right, I don't like it," Loona grumbles as they sit in the middle of the street, exposed and seemingly vulnerable.
I am hidden in an alley, pushing [Sneaking] to its limits to hide the glare from my scope and keep an eye on the skies.
The Dragon should swoop down and attack Loona because of their open position the next time it patrols.
I can tag it with [Inevitable Death] and pull them away before it can deal a killing blow. [Inevitable Death] should allow me to follow it to its lair and wait for it to sleep before killing it.
The residents declared us insane and barricaded themselves inside the buildings, locking their doors.
Fair enough.
I've got 5 bullets Infused with 73 Mana each, one aligned to [Fire], which should allow them to pack an extra punch and maybe punch through the dragon's scales.
The last one is aligned to [Earth] and should allow me to push it back or alter its flight if I hit it.
A roar sounds out throughout the City, chilling me down to my bones, a way too familiar sensation for me. Although growing up in a Nightmare and around a Psychopath, forced to indulge his psychosis, is nothing I wish on anyone, it allows me to shake off the effects of the roar easily.
It's diving down from the skies, flying along the road and planning to bowl Loona over or impale them with its claws while they are still stunned.
[Steady Aim], [Death from afar], [Inevitable Death]
My Mana drains considerably but the Dragon doesn't notice my mark being applied to it.
It's about the size of a horse, with muddy scales covering every inch of its body with two curved horns sprouting from its head.
I take my first shot, a regular bullet, just as it passes the roofs, zooming through the street. It bounces off the scales and the Dragon doesn't even glance at me, confident in its scales.
[Rapid Reload]
My hands fly as I quickly reload and load the earth round into the chamber.
"Kid, you better have a plan!" Loona yells as they pull out their double-barrelled pistol and shoot the dragon, bullets harmlessly bouncing off its scales.
I crouch down onto the street, exposing myself and moving towards Loona, Rifle constantly pointed at the Dragon and waiting for it to cool down a bit.
The Dragon barrels towards us, wings half spread and claws extended.
Loona continues to empty their pistol into the Dragon, doing little to no damage.
When my Mana reaches 11 and the Dragon is only a few metres away from us, I press the trigger, activating [Reap Shot]. I deactivate [Death from afar].
The bullet hits the dragon on its left front leg at the joint, jolting it off-course. It crashes into where Loona was standing just after I rip them away, turning to shield them from the thrashing limbs of the Dragon.
Although Loona manages to avoid any harm, I get a gash along my back where the Dragons claws ripped through my cloak.
I roll to the side, getting dust into my wounds but getting out of the dragon's range.
The Dragon rolls further, thrashing and throwing up dust, blocking my sight.
[Inevitable Death] tells me exactly where it is as I reload, keeping the rifle pointed at the Dragon through the cloud of dust. It’s prowling, waiting to pounce at me.
It jumps through the cloud towards me and I press the trigger, blowing its right eye into red gore with the Fire Bullet just as [Steady Aim] drops.
The Bullet doesn't stop its momentum though, missing the punch that the [Elemental Infusion: Earth] gave the other bullet, and it rips through my shoulder, throwing me to the ground and pinning me under its weight.
Loona shoots at the Dragon again and this time I notice the small marks their bullets cause as the Dragon turns towards them, snarling.
"Run!" I yell before dropping my rifle and pulling out my revolver, unloading all six rounds into its chest.
Loona takes my advice and turns around, running away and shooting over their shoulder.
It moves to follow the low-level [Craftsman] before realising it'll cause me to be able to escape but that moment of hesitation was enough for me to use [Rapid Reload] with a speed loader and shoot my last round of bullets from my revolver, expending the last of my mana.
It stumbles back enough for me to roll out of the way with my rifle dragged behind me.
It looks a lot more threatening up close than from afar, blood flowing down its snout as it limbs around me, stalking me like prey.
I continue to point my empty rifle at it, gambling that it doesn't know it's empty while regenerating my Mana.
It only takes a few seconds for it to circle me enough to reach an alley and it dashes inside.
Is a Dragon running away from me?
Loona is gone but if it is already limping and running away, I should be able to deal with it.
I can't remember if Dragons could naturally regenerate, I always only heard tales of one's much larger and more threatening. I didn't Identify it either so I don't know whether or not it has a class for it.
I pick my lucky coin from my pouch and flip it.
Heads, I am going after it.
I know it is still standing in the alley, hoping for me to get close with my cover down, [Inevitable Death] making me aware of its position. I reload the rifle, catching the casing and putting it into my scrap pouch, before loading in another Fire round.
My Mana is three-quarters full but it might figure out that I am playing for time if I don't go after it now.
I point my rifle at the alley and after a second, I realise that the Dragon is calling my bluff.
I shoot and hit its wing, ripping through the joint at the top that holds the bones that keep the membranes together instead of its head. A pained roar escapes its throat as it whips around and limbs away.
I quickly bind my wounds with a scrap of cloth, using precious water to clean the wound before utilising [First-Aid] to make the impromptu bandages hold while I am moving.
Staggering after the Dragon, I feel it wait two alleys over, probably hiding in ambush.
I reload, putting the casing away for later, before using a ladder that's leaning against the building, I climb up and sneak towards the edge above the Dragon.
It's cowering behind a crate, shaking.
I take my time to aim, seeing it considerably calm down, before activating all my skills and putting a bullet through its head.
[You've killed a Dragon of the North-level 15]
[For terrifying a proud member of the Dragon Race, making it question its mortality, and literally bringing it down from the Heavens you've gained the Title: Dragon Butcherer]
[Dragon Butcherer: Not many can boast about bringing down a dragon and even fewer can boast about terrifying a dragon into soiling itself. Take this title and display your achievements for everyone to see.]
[You've gained Title Skill: Dragon Butcherer]
[Dragon Butcherer: You gain increased knowledge about Dragon Anatomy, +2 MP and +1MR]
[Congratulations, Death has reached level 6. Stats have been awarded.]
[Congratulations, Death has reached level 7. Stats have been awarded.]
[You've gained Class Skill: Reaping the Late Dead]
[Reaping the Late Dead: Take this skill and reap the souls of the long overdue Undead. Bonus damage to Undead and ability to bypass the [Undead Fortitude] Skill. -7 MR]
[Congratulations, Marksman has reached level 5. Stats have been awarded.]
[You've gained Class Skill: Rapid Shot]
[Rapid Shot: Unload the entire magazine of your weapon at twice the speed. -5 MR]
[Bounty: Dragon could not be completed due to unforeseen circumstances.]
Fuck.