“What we got goin’ on over here boys?”

“Got ourselves a few talkers with tin here boss.”

“Really? Well, ain’t that a pleasant surprise.”

“Oh, yeah. They done-”

Jeremy Wilhup raised his hand and shook his head. With a smooth well practiced motion, he drew a silver-plated revolver. One of the lawmen’s eyes grew wide while the other’s continued to glare fire at him.

“No!”

*bang*

“You will rot in the hells of-”

*bang*

The two lawmen crumpled onto the ground with a fresh hole in each skull. Just how Jeremy preferred his lawmen. Looks like a few of his guys and gals had just lost half their cut for breaking the rules.

“How many times I gotta tell you, boys? Kill the lawmen, question the other folk.”

“Why is that boss?”

Jeremy stared at the younger member of his gang. The boy was pretty new, a ‘conscript’ from a little town called Buzzard’s Roost out west near Desert’s Rest. The young outlaw knew his place though and averted his gaze, even if he should have kept his mouth shut to begin with. The only reason he was there was that he chose to run with them rather than die.

Having him kill a few folk in Vicksby was just the handshake that sealed the deal. The kid would never be able to go to a lawman or anyone else without risking his neck being fitted for a well used deadman’s tie. It'd be a short drop and sudden stop for him. That's if he didn't take a round to the back of the head first.

Still, it didn’t mean Jeremy liked being questioned. He bobbed his head over at the young man and it took all of half a second before a fist was being driven into the bottom of his ribcage. From there it only got worse as boots and other fists joined in.

“Cause lawmen ain’t no dumb farmers. They’re educated men. Educated men know things. Like how to send off [Message] Spells. And that tin they’s wearin’… Well, let’s just say that there’s Skills out there that can mark a man if they kill a lawman in cold blood, even when the tin ain’t breathin’ anymore. They just gotta time it right… So no talkin’, no warnin’s, just walk up and feed them some lead when they ain’t lookin’.”

Jeremy knew that lawmen could have Skills like that. Not only did he have one similar, but he’d had to hold a [Doctor] that knew how to deal with curses at gunpoint more than once to have the damn thing removed. He still had one that was too powerful to remove without killing him. But he’d grown to like that one. It wasn’t every outlaw in the Federation that could say they killed a Teyryn Imperial Inquisitor.

As for the [Message] Spell? Well, if one of them had a Spell the fact the gang had attacked the caravan heading out from Davonshire would probably already be sent. But that didn’t mean he wanted another [Message] going out telling anyone about where they were going next. The survivors would eventually say but there was a difference in being chased by a posse and having one cut them off.

“Ai’ght that’s enough. Leave him a few ribs that ain’t cracked. What’d the tin stars say?”

“You know how we skipped that old minin’ town. Well, looks like little Jeb there were holdin’ back on us. Forgot a few things… That mine ain’t dry. It’s a dungeon. One spittin’ out silver monster bits.”

Jeremy’s eyes widened only slightly but a subtle grin graced his lips at the news. That WAS good information to have. But there was more to it than just the news of Silverstead’s newly refound wealth.

“Really? Might havta chase the boy down, see how far he made it on that horse we got him… Teach him it’s not good business to accept pay like that and not hold his end of the bargain.”

It was a simple deal and simple to break. Jebidiyah had gotten himself into a bit of trouble with the gang. The Landry boy had run down the dumb bastard that got greedy and tried to rob Deathbane ranch while chasing down some [Duelist] that had crossed him in the past. Jeremy had been fine with going after the [Duelist] for revenge, even offered to turn it into a hunting game for the gang. Just something to have a little fun. An offer that the fool had denied but he wasn’t going to fault the man for wanting to kill someone who crossed him personally. The problem was that neither Jeremy nor his brother had given the go ahead to rob the Landrys.

So they rode out and caught up with little Jeb before he could gun down the fool and they had a little chat before coming to a proper accord. Jeb would provide information on his family, which even Jeremy would admit was a minor threat if they ever rode at his gang in force, and they let Jeb keep breathing. A good deal in Jeremy’s eyes and Jeb was kind enough to agree.

A deal that got even better when little Jeb decided to give up a bit of information on the Landry’s annual auction. Enough where they felt confident they could hit it with a bit of preparation. In return, they made promises to not kill his parents and a few select cousins and would help his family put a certain matter to rest about a neighboring ranch. The act would probably end up with the Landrys buying the land and spreading out more, so it worked for the gang. Plus they stole a prize thoroughbred for him so that he could ride out and head to parts unknown without drawing as much attention as a bakarna. Nothing much in the grand scheme of things, at least not with what they were getting out of him.

But now little Jeb had made the mistake of leaving out information. They’d have to revisit whether or not to let him keep breathing.

Of course, after Jeremy took care of the loose end that was his gang member. He wasn't going to have the Landrys chasing him down over a worthless revolver. He also wasn't a fan of his gang members taking their own initiative like that.

“Now, that’s gonna be a problem. Ain’t it brother?” Darrel Wilhup said, walking up still getting his pants fixed up. Jeremy looked back to the caravan that the gang was still looting and saw a half dressed woman with her throat slit. A little old for Jeremy’s taste but he knew his twin wasn’t as picky.

“Oh, not really. He’s probably halfway to Springdale by now but, well, it wouldn’t be the first time we let the law do our biddin’. Get the right person to do it and they’ll even pay us a bit of bounty for the information. Gonna go up after the auction, probably get his own bounty set for helpin’ us when we let someone know he’s the one that made it all possible.”

And he was. Jeremy now knew exactly who to shoot first, where the Landrys kept their heavier weaponry and explosives. Where they locked up their tonics. Where they’d put [Sharpshooters] that made sure the auction was secure. Who would be patrolling on their big meat eating mounts and where. Hell, Jeremy even knew the combination to the safe in the main house because of Jeb and the boy was barely sweating when he gave up that information.

“Nah, I done meant the auction. Landry clan ain’t gonna be easy to take unawares like but if they got themselves a town full of Union folk, gonna be a lot harder.”

Jeremy laughed a bit at that. Adventurers were a lot like outlaws and bounty hunters. They didn’t do anything without getting paid and even then only if they thought they had a chance to survive it. Even then, some would turn down any bounty and only fight to defend themselves. Those were the ones that had no problem killing monsters but kept from killing people unless they absolutely had to. The ones Jeremy would want to survive because they’d need someone to go back down into the dungeon. Even if he wasn’t planning on hitting the same place twice, Jeremy didn’t see the point in leaving all that silver down there.

“Now, now, Darrel. What do you take me for? We’ve got time. If the silver’s flowin’ again we can probably afford to bring someone else in on this. I’ll have Jessup ride out to Papa and see if we can get him and some of his boys in on this. And we’s gonna want some information, ain’t we?” Jeremy pointed out some details of a plan already forming in his head. His eyes locked on a group of his outfit that was sitting on their horses to the side. Two men and two women. Not one of them doing anything to help the rest of the gang. Just like they were supposed to.

It was always a good thing to have a few ‘members’ of the gang that could look a lawman in the eye and say they were innocent, never committed a single crime more than a fist fight or takin’ a few dollars out of some fools wallet after pickin’ a fight. Things the law usually didn’t care about. Each of the four could honestly say they’ve never killed a person without a valid reason, never stolen so much as a dollar during an outlaw raid, never destroyed anything that wasn’t theirs, and never forced themselves on another person. They did consort with outlaws but that wasn’t a crime and Jeremy was sure to threaten to kill them on a regular basis if they didn’t talk with him. That way they could swear that their life was in jeopardy if it did come out that they’d spoken to him.

Jeremy whistled and got their attention.

“Get your Group to Davonshire and get set up as security for a caravan headin’ to Silverstead… Rest of you get finished up and kill the witnesses. Can’t be havin’ folks warnin’ Holland and the Landrys what’s comin’,” Jeremy grinned slightly as his gang moved out to finish their work, a brutal affair but he was glad to see they didn’t waste ammunition. Each going straight to knives.

Normally witnesses were a good thing. It showed that those that gave up would most likely survive. Gave his outfit a bit of a reputation of being brutal but would show a little mercy to those that kept their heads down. It made robbing people easier, but with the score that was the money at that auction growing even more with the silver from a dungeon... Well, couldn't have that.

Even with the gentle folk that had been with the caravan being round up too far away to hear the discussion he still wouldn’t risk any details getting back to the law about this. Just a few screams and one brave soul that tried to fight and it was over.

“Let’s get a move on outta here!” Jeremy said as he touched his hand to the breast pocket of his vest and felt the magic token still sitting there.

He didn’t dare pull it out and play with it because he didn’t want to activate it by accident but soon enough. One more big score and he could take his reset token and retire. It’d wipe away a lifetime of ill doing, at least where classes and Skills were concerned. Trade in the [Outlaw Boss] profession for something a little more peaceful, maybe a [Merchant] class or [Pub Owner]. Beyond that, it’d wipe away his utility Skills, some of which it would be a shame to lose, but he couldn’t really go around being with a level 4 [Torturer] Skill that provided him information on exactly how to get someone hurting, could he? Some Skills and artifacts could see that.

But the token would change that. It could even change his very name and while he’d be a little saddened to see the Wilhup name go, he was sort of keen on the James Holiday after giving it some thought. It had a nice ring to it and he couldn’t spend his fortune that easily as a wanted man, so it was a necessity.

“Almost there Mister Holiday,” he grinned to himself as he mounted his horse as the nearby wagons and carriages started to burn. It’d draw the locals' attention but he didn’t care. It would just make it easier for his four to find work in Davonshire.

–

Profession Class leveled! Arcane Artificer Level 5

Utility Skill Learned: [Draft Blueprint]-Passive

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Dexterity +2

Intelligence +2

Focus +1

Profession Class leveled! Arcane Artificer Level 6

Utility Skill Learned: [Focused Engraving]-Active

Will smiled as he got the notification. He’d grown two levels in a single day by working on his wands. Even though he’d only made four wands total. He figured it was largely because of the difference in how he had done the work.

In the past, he’d only been using the enchanting part of his class but with a little work, he was able to add in a small taste of the engineering part as well. Mainly with the wands. He now had two shower wands ready to go, one already promised to Silvia. But his third and fourth? Those he’d done a little differently. Will set one of them down on the desk before looking over his two new Skills.

Utility Skill Learned: [Draft Blueprint]-Passive

Level: 1

Exp: 0/100

Ability to draw a blueprint recognizable to self and others with appropriate classes. Blueprint can be studied by others and added to knowledge based Skills. While easily reproducible from memory for creator. Increased detail can be retained with increased Focus and Intelligence.

Increased levels increase number of blueprints that can be drawn exactly from memory.

Current remembered blueprints-4

Limit of remembered blueprints-5

Upgradeable!

[Focused Engraving]-Active

Level: 1

Exp: 0/100

Provides more than just a steady hand during the engraving processing. Allows for more precise control of depth, side angle of pathways, angle or curve of pathways.

Increased control with dexterity and intelligence.

Increased levels decreases mana cost.

Cost: 20 mana/minute of use

“Not too bad,” Will muttered while closing out the windows. He could see the benefit of both of them, unlike his combat related Skills. One would give him better quality products while the other would allow for him to mass produce products he’d already made a lot easier.

Considering of the four blueprints he had, two had some value to be mass produced, he was okay with that. The pressure washer wouldn’t sell that well en masse but the hydro-cut wand would probably be just as big of a seller as the others. If it didn’t also required cored wands to make, which he didn’t have. Will could try to make an uncored one but it would be limited to people that had a lot of mana to push through it.

Still, Will looked at his creations again. Besides the Shower wand, he now had a flashlight. Not just a light wand. He’d put in some work with both the runes and the more physical aspects of the wand. It was a jerry rigged mess but Will was still proud of it. Because of what he had designed the wand to do.

“I really should work on a way to attach this a bit better,” Will critiqued his own work. The wand wasn’t bent like he’d thought with the power washer but he’d tweaked the rune a bit to make the light come out as a cone pointing from the end of the wand and made it compatible with mana crystals. Then with some tinkering Will built a clunky contraption to hold the wand that also had straps to mount it to the side of a long gun. With the thumb of his left hand, he could simply press a small lever and the mana crystal would be moved into place and press against the wand itself, giving him a weapon mounted tactical flashlight… Although he would have to do some more work to get it more presentable.

Will had a full design on a much more streamlined looking device that could be mounted to a firearm where not only the crystal could be easily switched out, but so could the wand. It would mean that he could have a hydrocut wand or even some sort of flame thrower or fireball wand mounted in the same place. It would increase the versatility of his weapons and give him the chance to use magic at a moment's notice.

The issue of course was his setup.

Will had a severe lack of tools in his workshop. Basically, he only had his engineering kit that was similar to small blacksmith tools. Or more accurately almost identical to a jeweler's kit with a few larger tools thrown in. He had used some of them to make his contraption but it was lacking because he couldn’t exactly shape metal parts due to a lack of a furnace. And a lack of metal, skill, and information on how to forge something. So his flashlight's simple machine and mount were made from pieces of carved wood and leather straps.

“Hey, Will. Ya there?” Jakob’s voice called out from the front room and Will realized he had forgotten to lock the front door before going into the back. Not that it mattered much. The only thing to steal in the front was his stool behind the counter.

“Yup. In the back, Jakob,” Will answered and started cleaning up his desk a bit while he heard the telltale squeak of his saloon door at the counter from the deputy making his way back.

“Got somethin’ for ya. Sheriff told me to bring it over and let ya have a look being that you’re the only real [Bounty Hunter] around these parts… Thinkin’ he just wanted to let you take a shot at it ‘fore any of them adventurers go on and see it. There’s no Union Hall up yet, so the closest thing they got to adventurer contracts in bounties on the jail. Been drivin’ the sheriff up the wall with them comin’ in,” Jakob informed him and made it obvious that he thought the sheriff’s annoyance was funny. He held out the sheet and Will took it.

Bounty!

Nelson Whitley

$20

Wanted for murder of two in Belview

Last seen headed east towards Silverstead riding a silver mule,

Wearing a offwhite shirt, brown pants. Has scar down left side of face

Possibly armed.

Wanted alive for trial.

“Just got it in from a rider from Belview. Said the man done cut down his own wife after findin’ her rollin’ in the hay with another man. Stabbed ‘em with their pants down then run off,” Jakob explained a few more details.

Will wasn’t sure about hunting down single criminals. He didn’t have any experience in that. Everything he’d done was almost always a group. The few times he did go after a single person he was with his squad and it was always for a lot more than just a crime of passion. Acts of terrorism, not murdering a cheating wife. But the least he could do was keep an eye out, maybe go for a ride to the east of town and see if he could spot smoke from a campfire or something.

The man in question wasn’t likely an experienced criminal and Will knew that even experienced ones made that mistake.

“I’ll keep an eye out,” Will said and handed the bounty back to Jakob. The man looked at it for a second and shot Will a glance, so Will explained “I’m just one person. I can’t exactly search the entire valley. If someone else finds him first, fine.”

“If you say so,” Jakob shrugged and folded the paper back up, likely to keep it under wraps for a little bit longer. He knew the impression Teddy had about adventurers after all and if they were bugging him, he might take a moment to post that on the board. Although Will didn’t exactly approve of it he wouldn’t say anything as long as it wasn’t a dangerous individual on the loose. But in that case, Jakob would have probably been there to form up the posse.

“Whatcha workin’ on there?” Jakob asked after taking in Will’s desk filled with notes and wands with his shotgun leaning up next to it and some notes that clearly depicted the shotgun’s metal parts. He couldn’t enchant the wooden buttstock thanks to the inevitability of the enchantment destroying the wood. Still, he fully planned to enchant the rest of it but that would take some time.

It was just a durability enchantment that he had planned. It was to keep the shotgun in working order and reduce the wear on the parts as much as he could. Will also thought about adding a self cleaning function but quickly scrapped it when he realized it would do a lot more than just get rid of carbon build up. He didn’t want to have the enchantment removing the gun oil used to lube the moving parts.

He also didn’t want to have to put deep engravings into the barrel for the enchantment. Even with increased durability, it seemed like a really bad idea to weaken the barrel of a shotgun. The last thing he wanted to have happen was to have the barrel blow up in his face.

So that meant he was repeatedly back to the drawing board trying to map out a more intricate system where he could move around the mana using numerous smaller pathways that wouldn’t have to be as deeply engraved into the metal. And since he’d have a bunch of smaller ones it seemed like it’d be a good idea to make it into some sort of design while he was at it. It would make his work look higher quality but it would also take more time to plan and come with a greater risk of mana leakage. Still, he could almost feel that the work would pay dividends in just class experience when he was done.

But that would have to wait till later. Jakob had asked a question and Will was willing to answer. So he quickly mounted a flashlight wand to his shotgun and pointed it at the wall. With a press of his thumb, the flashlight engaged and a light shone on the wall of the dimly lit room.

“Oh, that’s clever ain’t it!” Jakob said while looking at the contraption, “Ain’t gotta try holdin’ a torch or lantern while shootin’ in the dark. Bet those adventurers will like that down in the mine.”

“That’s the idea!” Will said happily. Not just because of the compliments of his work, which he thought looked really crappy but also that the use was so obvious that Jakob had jumped straight to it despite never setting foot in the dungeon. It meant that anyone with experience of going down into those dark tunnels would see the value in his creation the moment they realized what it was for. Which of course was good for sales. He’d just have to find a decent price point for it. He knew a basic light wand sold for about $15 a piece but it wasn’t a simple light wand. Because of that, he figured $20 a piece, maybe $25 or $30 considering people would likely haggle…

Or just $20 and let them haggle down from there considering the wands were cracked and pitted scrap Silvia had found in an attic. It could be risky to piss off a bunch of people by charging them a high rate for a tool that could potentially break at any moment. He could raise the price more when he had decent wands to work with and again with a better working mount and trigger system.

Of course, he would also have to add that mana crystals were not included but didn’t see that being a major issue after demonstrating that he could swap them out and not use a single point of his own mana if he didn’t want to. It was also designed with a proper activation rune that his thumb could push against and be lit up that way but there was no reason to do that with the crystals. At least for him.

“Sheriff might wanna buy a few of those too if ya can make a few that can just be held in the hand. Been havin’ some trouble these last few days at night. Lotta drunk adventurers wanderin’ round town after the sun goes down,” Jakob said while accepting the shotgun to inspect the device.

Will had both noticed that and didn’t at the same time. After Silvia and Herald had arrived with the Groups that traveled with them it had grown a little louder at night but that was nothing compared to the sudden uproar of having even more adventurers, merchants, caravan guards, and hopeful entrepreneurs wandering around with the only place in town to have a drink and meal being right across the road. But at the same time, Will had been busy and hadn’t been to the saloon that much, especially not after buying the equipment needed to cook his own food. Maybe it was about time he took a break and stopped by. Having one or two wouldn’t hurt after all.

“It wouldn’t be too hard to get something like that made… Where’s Skunk at?” Will asked, he realized that Jakob was ‘on duty’, even if he was skirting his responsibilities by hiding out in Will’s back room for a moment. But that led to the question of where his partner was.

The question led to a mischievous smile on Jakob’s face that was joined by a short laugh, “Where do ya think?”

Will sighed, he knew. He’d pointed out that there would be more women moving into Silverstead to Skunk and the man had taken some solace with that. Then went and jumped at the first new woman in town that he’d met. Which was, of course, Silvia. It wasn’t really Will’s business but that wasn’t what he’d had in mind when giving the advice. He knew Silvia traveled all over and would one day be moving on from Silverstead to find something more challenging elsewhere.

Was it that hard for Skunk to wait until a new restaurant opened up and try his luck in asking out the owner’s daughter or something? Someone that would actually stick around for a while?

He just didn’t want to see the man getting hurt, he wasn’t really worried about the same with Silvia. She was cut from a different cloth. Nor did Will feel like getting pulled into drama that would come from one of his friends pursuing another friend. Ones that he worked with in different ways. Not to mention the different species thing… He wasn’t a bigot and could admit that Silvia was attractive in a very weird way, but at the same time, he wasn’t sure how that would even work.

“That’s going to be a headache…” Will muttered and decided a trip to the saloon wouldn’t be a bad idea. There were a few families setting up shop. Maybe he could be a wingman for Skunk with someone else, “You two going to the saloon tonight?”

Jakob perked up even more at that. Of course, he was and both deputies had tried to get Will to go out more than once but Will had turned them down repeatedly. Mainly because he had other things to do or was hurting for money. After spending days working on embroidery and enchanting, Will could use the break and he wasn’t exactly hurting financially anymore. He had cash in his pocket and a large pile of monster parts waiting to be melted down. Not to mention more maps coming and his first creations getting ready for sale.

In fact, a night out might be just what he needed before his business was fully up and running and he was going back down into the dungeon to collect more monster parts. Particularly the slimes. Their crystals could be used to make one time use enchanted items. Things that just needed a spark of mana to do what they needed. Like magical flares and simple grenades.

“I’ll swing over there tonight but I think I’ll go for a ride. I need to get Void out to stretch his legs anyways and I can keep an eye out for that bounty,” Will informed Jakob and started packing up his things. He had moved his desk into the actual office since it was in better shape than anything that had been there and it felt dumb not using his workspace.

It didn’t take him long before he was headed out the door and on his way to the stables. A scheming lawman swinging into the tailor shop next door to break the news to his partner that they’d be having company on their nightly routine of debauchery.