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"I guess a picture is worth a thousand words.... See that rock over there, the one fifty metres or so from here that's the size of a person's head?" says Kaelion as he pulls his weapon from its holster.

"Yeah... what's up with it?" I say, putting myself on guard against a possible attack from the old orc.

It wouldn't make sense for him to decide to do so now that I'm watching him, but it's better to be cautious.

'After all, he's already tried to trick me once...'

"I'm going to shoot it, so you can see what I'm talking about," he says, as he begins to manipulate various parts of his weapon and points it in the direction of the rock.

"I could do the same with magic," I say, losing much of the interest I had initially felt.

"Really? I'd like to see that..." says Kaelion in a voice full of enthusiasm, but then he clears his throat and speaks again in a serious tone, "Well, find another similar rock and let's compare the damage of your magic and my rifle."

After a few seconds, I find another rock and tell the old orc I'm ready.

I'm still angry that he's been wasting my time for days, but for now, curiosity is winning out over my anger.

When we were ready we both shot, he with his rifle and I with a mana bullet, then we walk over to the rocks to compare the damage.

"Now do you see what I'm saying?" says the elderly orc grimly, with no trace of the smug smile he almost always has on his face.

As I compare the rocks, I see that, while the amplitude of the impact of his rifle bullet is smaller compared to the one generated by my mana bullet, the piercing capacity of his projectile is much greater than mine.

My mana bullet has made a small crater in the rock, but his shot has left a small hole that has cracked the whole rock.

In terms of damage, it is obvious that his shot is superior.

'It's like the capacity of a mana-piercing bullet.... No... It's even greater. And last time I checked, the maximum distance I can shoot with my magic is 50 meters, or 70 at best. Beyond that, the mana starts to dissolve... But if what he said about the range of his weapon is true as well...'

"Well, let's say you're right. But I still don't understand why I've never come across someone carrying one of those weapons until now," I say, pointing to the rifle in Kaelion's hands.

'If the soldiers who invaded our continent had been equipped with such a weapon, we would have been doomed'

"That's because, obviously, muskets sold to the masses are easy to produce and use, and while they are not a true example of how lethal firearms can be, they are weapons that soldiers with muscles for brains can use…." He answer in a mocking tone.

"....By contrast, the truly dangerous firearms are those possessed by engineers. But the empire forbids their sale to the masses because most people would not know how to maintain them or make the ammunition, and because they are seen as a less than honorable form of combat. Rifles, pistols, shotguns, or high-powered bombs? All these things are frowned upon by people who fight with swords and bows, because their use does not depend on the physical skills of the user but on his or her intelligence…."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Then…" I start to say something, but I am interrupted.

"....Let me finish! As I was saying… Still, soldiers use muskets because, at close range, they can do much more damage than a bow if both are used by untrained people. Anyway, I am not saying that there are no engineers among the empire's soldiers... Now imagine you become an empire criminal in the middle of the capital, and you have hundreds or thousands of people looking for you and chasing you. People equipped with weapons like this..."

'He may be right….'

"...Which is what will surely happen if you try to intimidate the wrong person in the same way you've done with me since we met. And this isn't even the most powerful type of firearm ever made. I'm barely a Level 47 engineer. Imagine how damaging a level 80 or 90 engineer's weapon can be... But don't worry, there are really very few engineers of that level that I know of, and I don't think many of them are soldiers." Kaelion says, and I slowly begin to see some sense in his words.

"Okay... I see your point. I know how complicated it can be to fight many enemies at once," I say, remembering the battle on the beach. "I was wrong about the danger posed by those weapons, especially if I were to face a large group of them"

"Well, that's one issue solved. Now back to the issue of your attitude.... I don't know why you do it, since you're usually pretty reasonable, but every now and then you make comments that make you look like the worst sort of scum. That's the main reason why I was delaying our arrival in the capital, because as you are now, you are a time bomb, and the explosion of that bomb is going to finish you off...."

'I know he is partly right, but…'

"... I'm telling you this because I like you and because I think you can do a lot of good for the people of this deranged empire if you let me guide you. You don't know how much you can alter people's minds if you start showing how powerful someone who isn't my race can be."

He's right that I've often acted aggressively towards him for no apparent reason, but there's a reason for that, even if I can't tell him.

It's the same reason why I try not to call him by his name, even though he's complained about it once before.

Anyway, it's true that I'm going to have to change tactics when I get to the capital.

"....but you're no use to anyone as you are now.... Not even yourself. Your vocabulary sucks. You can't go through life with such bravado, trying to intimidate those around you. I'm sure your parents would be very disappoin.... Agh!"

At the mention of my parents, everything I was thinking before disappears, and I throw the elder orc to the ground by pushing him to the ground with my body.

After which I rest a knee on his chest to keep him from getting up, draw my sword, and point it in the direction of his neck. "I'm sick of you talking about me as if you know me. You know nothing about me! I SWEAR, if you ever mention my parents again, I'll KILL you."

The giant black orc wolf begins to snarl at me as it sees that I am threatening his master's life, but Kaelion calms it with a wave of his hand.

'This old fucker doesn't know anything. If I say hurtful things to him and act the way I do, it's only to keep my curse from affecting him. But if he keeps pushing me like that, I'm going to have to stay away from him... even though he can still be of use to me'

"I can see it's a sensitive subject; I'm sorry... It's true that I know almost nothing about you. How about you tell me some things then?" He asks, ignoring my threat and the sword on his neck as he looks at me seriously.

"I don't want to! Just leave me alone." I say, irritated and surprised at how insistent he is about getting information out of me, even when his life is threatened.

"Ahh... Very good. Very mature of you…" he says, losing patience for a moment and inflicting himself a small wound on his neck with my sword as he moves, from which some drops of blood begin to trickle out.

Seeing this, I quickly withdrew the blade and re-sheathed it.

"... Then don't be angry if other people assume things about you, for the function of the intellect is to make us believe that we are in possession of the truth. And, like everything about me, my intellect is exceptional. So, if you don't want me to make assumptions, tell me what your reality is. And don't ever threaten to kill my Fenrir again, because then I'll go off on my own and leave you to kill yourself in any way you choose."

'Haa.... There he goes again with more of his nonsense, but.... maybe it's true I went a bit overboard with that threat'

"You're insufferable..." I say, withdrawing from on top of him and helping him up. "But I'm sorry about threatening your wolf's life.... It's true, I shouldn't have said that to you."

'Either way, it's rare that he gets much more upset about a threat to his pet's life than a threat to his own...'

"Okay, apology accepted." he says as he stands up and fixes his clothes. "See? It wasn't that hard, right? Now how about you tell me..."

"Don't push your luck, elder orc." I say, interrupting him as I form a mana bullet in the palm of my hand. "You may be able to shoot 20 bullets in quick succession with that thing of yours, but I can shoot hundreds of these things in a few seconds. And you saw what the rock looked like with one shot..."

"Haa… I really love chatting with young people. Haa… Anyway, one step at a time..." Kaelion says quietly, as if to himself, and makes no further comment.

'For now, I will continue to allow him to guide me.... I wouldn't want to have to travel alone again, and he's good entertainment.'