SHIRNA'S POV

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BANG! BANG!

BANG! CLANG! CLINK!

BANG!

"Woahhh..." I can't stop my complete amazement as I watch the people shoot the guns that I only see in mobees shown to us by Mateo.

And watching them work up close makes my heart beat with excitement.

"You like what you see?" Shiva asked as he pat me on the shoulder.

"Y-yes."

~~~~~~°~~~~~~

It's all started when I asked Mateo to bring me on Earth. It takes a lot of convincing on my part just to make Mateo agree on my sudden request. And with my gratitude on the forest, Mateo accepts with little suspicion.

And I'm on Mateo's home on Earth for one day now. I suddenly get hit by a roadblock - Where I should start.

If only I learn a little bit about the "enternet" like Claustrine as according to her, It contains a lot of knowledge on Earth. But the first time we stay in here, we just spent our time enjoying the new world.

But now I regret my decision. And I don't want to bother Mateo's family. The hospitality they give to me makes me a little bit ashamed on asking a little bit of their time to teach me.

I just stay on the kitchen, thinking a way on gaining any valuable information that would help me to achieve my agenda.

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CLANK... CLINK

The slightly familiar sound caught my attention. The clacking sound makes me remember something. And it only takes few seconds for me to realize where the sound came from.

"A gun!" I scream to myself as I now clearly remember a scene in one of the mobees. Where the main guy is disassembling a gun to clean it.

I quickly followed the sound. At first I expected that it must be coming from the "teebee" where mobees are also played but to my surprise. I see Shiva sitting in front of the table where a dismantled gun lies above it. He gently cleans the parts with unknown fluid.

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"Shirna? Are you interested on this?"

I'm snap back on reality once I heared Shiva's voice. And then I just found myself sitting in front of him, watching Shiva cleans the gun.

"A-ahmmm.... Y-yes.... Sir"

Shiva stops for a while as he chuckle.

"You're the Archer of Grand Ecstasy right?"

"Uhmmm... Y-yes."

Shiva looks on my elven ears.

"Hehe... Just like the common trope. No wonder you got fascinated on guns."

I didn't answer Shiva as I don't have any idea on what to say. We just in complete silence as I continue to watch Shiva to continue to clean the gun while humming a song. It takes 25 minutes for Shiva to complete the cleaning.

And with that time. I try my best to remember everything.

Shiva now puts the gun in his bag and then she stand up.

"Shirna."

"Y-yes sir?"

"Just call me Shiva. You're my brother's friend so stop the formalities. Also, you're probably older than me anyway."

"Ah I'm s-sorry Si- I mean Shiva."

"Good. So, do you want to go with me?"

"Where?"

"Let's go to the shooting range."

~~~~~~°~~~~~~

And now back to the present. Without Claustrine's magic, the way I and Shiva used to hide my ears is by taping a string in the both ends of my ears then tying it tighly above my nape so my ears bent backwards. After that, my long black hair do the rest by covering my ears completely.

I admit, it feels very irritating but this is just a minor sacrifice I willing to do.

Shiva brings me in front of a desk where a man is just casually reading a colorful book full of pictures.

"Hey Skomplong."

"Skomp-what?" I'm confused.

Shiva got the attention of the man and he look at us with a wide smile.

"Hey Shiv! And...." The man looks at me with intrigue.

"Should I call the police?" The man asked.

"Gago! don't view it on whatever sick thoughts you having now."

"Then who is she?"

Shiva sighs.

"First, He's a man. Second, He's a close friend of my brother and I just want to bring him on things that interest him. Third, he's a foreigner so he have difficult communicating and fourth. He's already an adult." Shiva explained quickly.

"K-Kamusta?" I try a tagalog greeting.

The man just looked at me with disbelief for a moment. Then he sighs and just believe Shiva.

"Fine Shiv I believe you. So, what brings you two here?"

"We want to do skydiving."

The man looks at us annoyed.

"C'mon! Of course you know we going to shoot some things. This is a shooting range afterall."

"Geez you got me. So, does she- I mean he needs an instructor?"

"Nah. I'm the one that's going to teach him. We just need a single pistol and 5 box of bullets."

The man nods and goes inside on the room behind him. After some time, she come back now holding a pistol and a box. He puts it in the table.

"Here, Glock 19. An excellent begginer pistol. Handle it with care. Also, heres your 5 box of 9mm. Each box have 20 rounds."

I looked on Shiva as he pulls out his wallet and picks 3 blue piece of decorated paper of what I assumed is the currency on this country.

"Thank you for your patronage. As for the safety gear, you can get them on the lockers. Enjoy."

"Thanks Skomplong."

Shiva gives me the gun and to my surprised, it's slightly heavy for its size. Shiva brings the boxes as we walk towards the locker room.

"What do you think?" Shiva asked.

"I'm very excited to try this." My hands is shaking with anticipation.

After wearing the safety gear which is pretty much just a cover for my eyes and a cover for my ears. We now go to the shooting range.

Shiva prepares everything for me. Putting the ammo on the rectangular shape tool which is turn out the ammo container that inserted to the gun called a maga-sin.

Before Shiva gives me the now loaded gun. He tolds me the important basics like the locking mechanism and trigger discipline. He also give me a rundown of do and don'ts.

All of them make sense. Gun is a deadly and efficient weapon which is accessable for everyone that wants it. If people wish to own one, is now up to them to have a courtesy of learning the disciplines Shiva told me.

Not learning or ignoring these simplistic gun etiquettes is not far from me being either stupid or a murderer.

"Do you need me assist you Shirna?"

"I-I think I'm fine. Still, thanks Shiva." I decline his offer as I really wish to try the pistol on my own.

"Ok then. Just remember what I teach to you."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Once I feel that Shiva moves few steps away from me to give me space, I watch the target stand moves away on me until it reached a far distance.

Then, I slowly aim the handgun on the target using both of my hands. Holding the gun tighlty, I aim the gun using the Iron sight Shiva explained to me.

"Calm down Shirna."

I caught off guard by Shiva's words and realize that my arms is slightly shaking. I take a deep breath and calm myself down.

"Sorry. I'm just too excited to try this since I saw it in moobees."

"Haha. I feel you."

I smile at Shiva and returns to what I should do. I proceed to aim the tiny piece of metal on the pistol to the head of the target and then...

BANG!

"!!!" The kickback of the pistol surprises me. For a compact weapon, it really packs a punch.

Such power put on a small piece of metal. I know that the bullet surely penetrates the plate armor worn by elite knights.

And unlike a bow, it's compact and base on what I see is capable of firing continuously.

I shakely put down the gun on table and watch my hand shakes with exhiliration.

"Ohhhh... Sorry but you miss."

I view the target only to see that the bullet didn't hit the target at all. I can tell that I'm blushing out of embarassment because after those precision training I did for decades, I still failed. Shiva laughs as he hold the gun I used.

"Don't be upset Shirna. Everyone also start from that."

"B-but... I'm supposed to be a... sharpshooter."

"Still. This is your first time using a gun. You can't just have mastery on something you just recently experienced right?"

I just shyly nods as I agree on Shiva's words. Shiva then proceeds to aim the gun and fire two shots. I see tiny holes opened on the paper target's shoulder.

"Why you didn't shoot it's head?" I asked as I'm confused on his target choice.

"Because I didn't need to."

I raised my eyebrow because of Shiva's reasoning.

"I don't understand."

Shiva chuckles joyfully as he reloads the gun, taking his time.

"I understand why you see it as confusing. There's a huge difference between our worlds and it makes sense why you find it unusual."

I watch Shiva as he aims the pistol again on the target. Shooting the target on non lethal way again.

"In your world, threats always exist in multiple forms. Monsters, bandits, criminals and wars so wielding weapon is a must and be prepared to kill for survival. But here on Earth. I can't really say that it's truly peaceful, few crimes still happen and few of them ends on death."

"I still don't understand."

"What I meant to say is we wield weapons like this gun to defend ourselves from those few threats. But we use it not to kill but as a warning that we can fight back and they should leave us alone. And if they still want to risk their life."

Shiva fires the pistol again and shot the dummy's heart and head. I was shocked on the sudden change of targets.

"Then I have no choice but to end their life before they end mine."

"B-but it must be difficult to always wield such deadly weapon just for self defense right?"

I asked as I thought of the implications of wielding such reliable weapon on a world with no magic or powers.

"Yes. Sadly, there's also cases of people wielding this weapon first as self defense but turns out used to kill someone because their emotions got the hold of them. That's why restraint should be a mandatory thing to practice if you want to wield any form of legal guns."

"I understand now. You must wield such weapon to protect the dearest to you."

Shiva nods on my answer.

"Yes Shirna. I know that my brother is now absurdly strong for this world but we can't really expect him to be always on our side so, I must fit his role as he continue his adventure on the other side."

"I understand now Shiva. But I believe the concept of wielding weapon to protect your love ones is not really different on my world afterall."

"You think so?"

Shiva laughs with hint of awkwardless.

"I guess all of these talking is really irrelevant." Shiva sigh.

"No. It me give good insights. Thank you." I said with reassurance.

"Thanks."

Shiva reloads the pistol and give it to me with a smile on his face.

"Ok. Let's continue our target practice."

I nod with excitement.

Me and Shiva spent the whole day just target shooting then we go home.

Unlike our first visit. Mateo's family prepares a room for us. According to Mrs. Ligaya, it used to be a storage room for unused stuffs then they clean them and buy beds and cabinets for all of us.

I lock the door and placed the papers and pencils Mrs. Ligaya bought for me on the store. She questions why I need them and I reasoned that I'm going to sketch some dungeon maps that I can sell.

Now finally free. I remove the tie that bent my ears backwards.

"Ouch! ouch!"

My ear hurts as it was strained from being bended for a long time.

After the pain fades away, I grab the pencils, sharpens it using the sharpener and then starts to sketch all the things I learned and observed for today.

~~~~~~°~~~~~~

BOOM

The shot I made leaves multiple holes on the paper target. I reload and see the empty shotgun cartridge falls to the ground.

BOOM

I shoot again and evicirate the paper target with ease.

After some time, I tried another gun. An automatic rifle which is capable of firing continuous bullets depending on the firing mode I set. But I only allowed to use Single fire and Burst mode.

1 week and 5 days ago, I still remember how Shiva insist on me to not set the mode to Automatic. I asked why and Shiva just point on the ceiling.

I'm looking on the same ceiling now and see the what seems to be bullet holes. Still, I don't understand them and just decide to follow Shiva out of respect at that time. But my curiousity and mission is killing me so I decide to try asking Shiva again.

"What?! Absolutely not!" Shiva instantly denies me.

"But I really really REALLY want to try it. Pleaseeeee?" I try my best to plea on Shiva.

"No!"

"Just once I promise! Pleaseee?" I do my best to appeal to Shiva.

I see Shiva hesistate and then sighs. On that, I knew that I win.

He looked at the surroundings and see that we are the only one in the shooting range at the time. Then he walks to the counter to talk to Skomplong which real name is Lucas.

"Skomplong."

"What is it?"

"Shirna wants to fire Automatic on the M16."

"What? You know that I have strict policy about that right?"

"I know I know but I feel bad if Shirna didn't experienced it. Besides, you see that he's not really a begginer anymore."

I watched the two reasoned to each other until Shiva finally wins. Skomplong look and see that we're the only clients at the moment. He leaves the counter and joins us.

"Just once. I repeat, ONCE."

"Yes! Thank you very much!" I accept with ethusiasm.

"Ok Shirna. Remember this. If you can't control the gun, release the trigger immediately ok?"

I see Shiva is serious about this so I nod.

Then I set the M16 to Automatic and aim it on the target. After breathing heavily to release some tension, I start to pull the trigger.

"!!!"

I already see how Automatic works on the movies but to experience it is completely different. I struggle to control the gun so I have no choice but to use my strenght to properly hold it in place.

"He's truly something else." I hear Skomplong said despite all the loud noises.

I managed to fire all the bullets. Some of the miss earlier due to my surprise but the rest sprayed the target.

I looked on the ceiling and finally realize why those bullet holes are there.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh...."

"So what do you think?" Shiva asked me.

"It's.... Exhilirating!"

It's true. I feel so thrilled after emptying the magazine. My hand still shaking due to excitement.

"Good for you. So don't forget that feeling because you're not allowed to do that again."

"But he handles it far more better than what I expected considering it's his first time firing automatic." Skomplong's opinion.

"So he's allowed to shot Automatic now?"

"No. But maybe next time."

"You confuse me."

"Anyway. Shirna, you seems so used on shooting ranged weaponry. Do you have prior experience of shooting guns." Skomplong asked me with curiousity.

"No. I'm an archer so I'm used on target shooting."

"Hmmm... Archer you say?"

I see the expression of curiosity on Skomplong then he returns to his desk and enters the locked room. After some time. He comes back now holding a bow and some arrows.

Yet the appearance of the bow is new to me.

"T-that's a bow and arrow right?" I asked.

"Yes, this is a compound bow that I also rent but people prefers guns anyway. Why you look so confused though?"

"S-sorry. It's just that... it is my first time to see such kind of bow."

And they can't blame me for looking confused. Not only the bow looks so bulky and metallic, it also have multiple strings and two wheels on each end of the bow where the strings are reeled in. Unlike the simplicity of regular bows that I used with, looking on the complex bow Skomplong hold makes my head hurt.

"Why you look so perplexed? You should be familiar on this if you practice archery right?"

"Skomplong. I believe he only practices traditional archery. You know, the classic curve wood and string type of archery."

"Ohh... I understand. Anyway, want to try this Shirna?"

"Y-yes..." I just agree as the weird bow piques my interest.

Skomplong gives me a short rundown on how to operate the bow and then she prepares the target. This time, it's a thick wooden plank with painted circles. I position myself, aim and pull the peculiar bow.

"!!!"

If I didn't control my pulling strenght immediately, I might damaged the bow as I didn't expect how easy it is to pull. My expection is lowered as I start to believe that it might have low power compared to the bow that I used.

But I was so wrong as the moment that I released the string. It makes audible swoosh sound and followed by a loud thud. The arrow flies fast and when I looked on the target, i can clearly see the arrow hitting the bullseye, lodged on the wood inch deep.

Learning that the bow have power on them.

"Ohhhh! Nice accuracy." Shiva speaks as he claps alongside Skomplong.

"Can you shoot more?"

I grant Skomplong's wish and draw another shot, allowing myself to get ingulfed in

And another,

And another one. All of the arrow I shot hits not only the bullseye, but every arrow destroys the arrow lodged on the the bullseye as I precisely aimed on them. The only remained arrow on the bullseye is the last one I released.

"You're... A monster." Skomplong said in awe as he look on the disintigrated arrows on the floor.

"Shirna. I think you overdid it." I hear Shirva scolds me for overperfoming.

"Ah... Sorry. I destroyed the arrows. Hehe."

"Sorry is acceptable. You need to pay for those arrows." Skomplong explains. I heared Shiva makes a deep sigh.

From what I can feel. The compound bow is really powerful and the most amazing thing is, the bow have a lower draw weight requirements yet the arrow still retains its full strenght. I guess the complex mechanism of the bow helps to lower its draw weight.

But I also noticed some flaws for me.

"Skomplong. Does this bow have some sort of adjuster?"

"Ohh yes. You can adjust it's draw strenght on your liking.",

"Does it have a limit?"

"Hmmm... I thinks it's about 120 kilos. But that's probably the reasonable limit. Even in 100 kilos, most people would find it difficult do pull on that weight.

"I see."

I knew it. The bow have some sort of limit on its power. Unlike the bows that I used who capable to penetrating thick skin and and scales of monsters.

"Thank you very much for letting me use this bow." I give the bow to Skomplong carefully.

"No. Thank you for showing me such archery skills." Skomplong says with awe.

"Hehe welcome."

"Shirna. It's time for us to go home."

"Awww..." My dissapointed reaction as I want to do more target practice.

After we say our farewell to Skomplong. We go outside and see the sun is already setting.

"You seems so engrossed on shooting guns Shirna."

"Because it is so fun!"

"Don't worry, we still have 2 days left and it's weekend so you can shoot as much as you can. And you can also try the final gun."

"Final gun?"

So far, I tried the Pistol, Shotgun, Sub-Matsingun, and Assault Riple. But when Shiva says that there's one more gun that I can try, my curiousity and excitement rises again.

"Yes. And it's a Sniper Rifle. I already feel that you would like this one." Shiva smiles proudly.

~~~~~~°~~~~~~

In the room I'm staying with. I am looking downwards on the floor where I lay out all of the sketches and written descriptions I made. The details and process of each gun and bullets are so meticulous that I used 100 pages of bond paper. Spending all night sketching and writing all of the finer details I can gather by just observing and shooting the guns while also watching people dismantle their guns if the opportunity calls.

Then I remember what Shiva said earlier.

"Sniper Rifle."

The final gun available that I'm going to test tommorow. If Shiva says it's going to be my favorite of all guns, then I really really excited to test it at all cost.

"Shirna. Dinner is ready."

Ligaya calling me gently for the dinner.

"I would follow later ma'am. Give me a moment."

"Ok. Be sure to eat first before going to sleep."

"Yes ma'am."

I quickly pick all the papers and put it on my normal bag I bring with me and hide it on one of the drawers. I go outside, smelling the delicious dinner already.

But my mind is more focused on anticipation for tommorow.