Katja led the way, and we entered the forest. We walked for a couple minutes until we arrived at a small, semi-open building with a long, open straight of dirt behind it staring at an incline. So this is the shooting range… I think I’ve passed by here a few times before.

We entered through a door and into a cluttered yet tidy room. For something this out of the way, there was less dust here than in the room Hecate and I were cleaning. Katja explained this room was an armory and that we could get to the shooting range by exiting through the door at the other end.

I always thought an armory would have all its walls filled with guns, but there were only two or three guns out in the open. Instead, there were lots of boxes, tools, and other gadgets. It’s still very impressive… Even with just a few guns, it’s a shock to see things I’ve only ever seen in games right in front of me.

“Come on, follow me.” Katja didn’t give me much time to look around, and we left for the shooting range after she grabbed a pistol from a locker. She’s in a hurry, huh? The outside consisted of a waist-high wall with the open straight beyond it and a simple roof overhead. This is a bit more familiar. There are some bullseye targets out in the distance, just like the shooting ranges I’ve seen in games.

“Okay… What now, Katja?” I would’ve liked a few more explanations, but whatever. It’s not rocket science. We’re in a shooting range, there’s an armory inside, and that’s pretty much it.

“Hmmm… Is it safe to assume that you know the basics?” Katja was holding the pistol with one of her hands and touching her chin with the other. She then held the pistol like she was showcasing it. “This is a pistol, there are targets over there. The goal is to shoot as close to the center as possible… I don’t really need to start here, do I?” Katja loosely pointed in the target’s direction with a dumb smile on her face.

“Huhh…?” What’s going on in her head? “What are you talking about? You can skip all that. Isn’t that just common sense? I know what a gun is… I just don’t know how to use it properly. There’s a trigger that fires the gun when you pull it, but you have to disable the safety first sometimes… I don’t really know, but that’s where I’m at.”

“Whew… That’s a relief… I should have known. You’re not the type who needs the absolute basics taught to them. If that’s the case, I guess I can start with a demonstration.” Katja slid in a magazine through the bottom of the grip.

“Oh! You’re gonna shoot? I thought you were only going to explain the theory today.”

“That’s the plan. I just think that it will be easier for you to understand after you see how it’s done.” Katja turned to the targets and entered into a firing position. “Pay attention to my legs and how I hold the gun.” She first grabbed the pistol with both hands, but then shifted them around to grab it only with her left. “This is probably gonna be more useful for you. If you’re gonna be using a sword at the same time, you’ll want to learn how to shoot with your off-hand. Okay, ready?” Katja looked at me for one last confirmation.

I nodded my head and… *Bang!* The sudden thunderous noise sent a shock down my spine. *Bang bang bang bang!* “Holy shit!” She didn’t say she was gonna dump the whole mag! *Bang bang! Click click.* Ahahaha… Wow! That got me good. The dry sound of the trigger being pulled without results signaled the end of the demonstration.

“Did you get all that?” Katja turned back to me with a slight smile. She’s completely unfazed.

“I don’t know… That was a bit too much… I wasn’t expecting it to be that loud.”

“Ahahaha, well, it’s fine if you didn’t understand everything. I’ll explain everything you need to know. Let’s go over some things now.” Katja stepped away from the range and approached me, beginning her explanation.

Long story short, she told me how all the mechanical parts worked, how to reload, and all safety rules. I’m not sure how effective the demonstration was, but one thing is for sure, it piqued my interest. Her explanation wasn’t exactly fun, but since I was so curious about it, I picked up everything rather quickly.

“Here.” Katja said as she passed the pistol to my hands. “Try holding it and getting a feel for it.”

“Ehhh…” Wow… This is pretty cool… I can already tell this gun thing is going to be pretty useful once I learn how to use it. I had to rely on Ririna to deal with flying monsters back in the valley, but now I’ll be fine on my own. Or at least a little better. I bet it would have helped against the mermaid too. I could have used it to interrupt her ice magic or something. And the loud noise would have caused the fish to panic even harder! Oh… It’s gonna be nice… “How was it that you held it? Was it like this?” I turned to the targets and tried replicating Katja’s pose.

“Oh! You’re not too far off.” Katja crouched next to me. “Let me give you a hand.” Her hands suddenly squeezed my left thigh, going just a little under my skirt.

“Hm!?” She moves my leg gently, causing it to bend ever so slightly.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Good… Can you hold that position?” I’m not sure! I think I’ve just learned I’m sensitive there! Her gentle touch on my soft parts made my very core tingle. At least give me a warning first! And then she has the gall of asking me to hold my position… Do you have any idea how hard that is when you make me weak in the knees?!

“Yeah… I- I think I can manage… Thanks, Katja. I think I got it!” After a moment of standing still, I bring my legs together and shift my weight around to relieve the tension. This girl… She really is clueless, isn’t she? How would she like it if I retaliated and started squeezing her thighs? I need to take my mind off this fast! “Hey, Katja, I know what you said earlier, but… Can I shoot? Just once?”

“What?! No!” Katja was quick to reject my idea, but that’s just because she was worried. “No, you can’t, Iroha. Don’t even think about it. You’re still hurt, and to make things worse, you’d be shooting with your left hand. I can’t let you do that, you’ll reopen the wound on your shoulder with the recoil.”

“You say that, but haven’t you seen that I’m fine? Want me to do push-ups? Handstand push-ups? I’ll prove it to you.” I’ve never tried to do handstand push-ups before, but my strength stat is 109 right now. 10 times more than when I got the VISS Driver. Strength-wise, I could probably do it, but I bet I’d lose balance first and fall.

“No, I don’t- *Sigh…*” Katja gave up her opposition and loosened her shoulders. “Fine… Do whatever you want. I know you won’t be satisfied no matter what I say… Just promise me you won’t tell Hecate about this…”

“Really? You’ll let me shoot? Yes! Oh, and don’t worry about Hecate. This will be our little secret…” I approached Katja with a grin, and she responded with a disparaging look. She handed me a magazine and stood by my side in the shooting range. Hehehe… This is gonna be so fun!

…

No way! How could this be? Every single shot fucking missed! How? Maybe I have no talent for this… I’m just talentless scum… No no no no! That can’t be it! It’s my left hand! I would have done much better if I was using my right! Yep, that has to be it!

“Why did you fire the whole magazine!? Didn’t you say it was only going to be one shot?” As soon as I stopped shooting, Katja chimed in. Shouldn’t have given me the whole magazine then. “Seriously, you can’t be doing that. You’re gonna get hurt.”

“Well… Let’s not sweat the little things…” I might have gotten carried away… “Just… What did I do wrong? How did I miss every single shot? Is this gun working properly? Is the gun mad at me?”

Katja saw me eager to improve, and she couldn’t resist teaching me. “The gun is fine… It doesn’t miss because it’s upset… You were pulling the trigger too hard, and that knocked your aim off target.”

“No, I didn’t… I pulled it smoothly. Just like you told me!”

“Trust me, you were pulling too hard. You would start pulling smoothly, but right before shooting, you’d twitch and ruin the shot.” Katja put a hand on my shoulder and smiled reassuringly. “It’s a common problem for beginners, so don’t be too harsh on yourself. You’re still scared of guns, and that’s perfectly normal. They’re loud and startling. It’s natural to react with fear.”

Katja tapped my shoulder again, then wandered into booth next to mine. “It also doesn’t help that you’re shooting with your left hand. Or that you were shooting at the 100-meter target. Maybe you should’ve stuck with a closer one.”

“No… That’s not good enough. You hit this one, so I want to hit it too! Give me another magazine. I’ll get it this time.” I stuck my hand forward, asking for more bullets.

“You can hit next time. Sorry, but let’s stop here for today.” Katja shook her head. She pushed my empty hand down, trying to dismiss my request.

“Don’t be like that! I’m fine! I can keep going? When’s next time gonna be? I don’t have time for that!” I shook my hand off in protest and looked straight at her.

“You’ve recovered surprisingly well, but I still don’t know if it’s a good idea for you to keep going.”

“Please, Katja… Let me try again. You have to… Like, if I go back to the house looking depressed, Hecate might pick up on it… right? I don’t wanna cause you trouble, Katja…” I really don’t have talent for this type of trickery, but Katja seemed convinced. She winced at the thought and let out a sigh.

“Okay, okay… I’ll let you try again, but only because you look like you’re in good condition. If your shoulder starts hurting, you’ll immediately stop, okay?” In the end, the only thing that’s undeniable is that Katja is really nice. She really wants to teach me more, but she’s also concerned about me.

“Of course, I don’t wanna cause any trouble… More than I already have…” I showed Katja a wry smile, and she responded in the same way.

Katja stepped in the armory for a second, and she came back not with one magazine, but an entire box of bullets. “Here you go. If you’re that eager to land a shot, I’ll do everything I can to help.”

“Wow! Ahahahaha! Thanks, Katja!” I grabbed a magazine and ran back to the booth. Katja followed closely behind and helped me adjust my position before firing. With these many bullets, I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to hit it one way or the other…

*Bang bang bang!* Between each shot, Katja offered words of advice and encouragement. *Bang bang bang!* She adjusted my positioning, and helped me relax, so I wouldn’t be scared.

*Bang bang bang!* Reload. *Bang bang bang!* Reload.

Come on… Come on… Hit! Come on!

*Bang bang bang! Bang bang bang!* Reload Reload Reload…

[New skill available.]

[Gunslinger – Pistol Mastery (Cost: 10 Skill Points)]

*Bang bang bang!*

[Skill – Pistol Mastery acquired.]

*Bang!*

“Hm?” Katja’s eyes opened with surprise. “That one hit!”

“Really?” The targets were made of cardboard or something, so the sound it made wasn’t that different. “You’re right! I think I can see a hole.” Truth be told, I was half expecting this. The game doesn’t have a lot of guns, but with how VISS Driver works, I figured it would give me a skill if I just kept trying.

How good of a decision it, I’m not sure. But I’ve been considering it since Katja offered to teach me how to shoot, and I think it will come in handy. If I can get some nice pistol skills, I think I’ll become much stronger. But I’ll still need to raise Pistol Proficiency’s level before I can start relying on a gun. At level 1, I don’t think I’ll be landing many shots…

Now 5 out of my 6 skill trees have been locked in. With only one left, I’ll have to be extra careful about what kind of skills I pick up from now on. I have a skill tree for a melee weapon, one for my ranged weapon, so the only thing missing is magic. I should try learning how to use magic next. I just have no clue how to start… Heh, looks like me and Carol are in the same boat right now.

“Congratulations! Are you satisfied now?” Katja congratulated me, patting my head as she did.

“Yeah… I think this is good for now. We can go back. Thanks, Katja. Sorry for forcing this on you.” I feel a little bad… I may have acted a bit too selfishly.

“Well, how’s your shoulder doing? You ended up shooting a lot, so are you still good?” She took a step back and looked at me from head to toe.

“Nothing’s hurting.”

“Everything’s fine then. You don’t need to apologize. Your training progressed much faster than expected thanks to your persistence.” Good… She’s not mad… I have a feeling the same wouldn’t have happened if I tried this last week. I tried to hand her the gun back, but she stopped me.

“Katja?”

“A gun that small isn’t that hard to conceal, so you should keep it with you. You never know when a portal’s going to appear. It might appear somewhere near you when you don’t have your sword, so take it. Once again, guns are not that effective against monsters, and you should always use your sword first if you can. But if you don’t have anything else, it’s fine as a last resort. Might buy you enough time to get to safety.” Katja grabbed my hand, closing my grip on the gun. I looked at her, completely perplexed, and saw a grin on her face. She put a finger over her lips and continued. “Just make sure no one finds out, okay? The girls and Shinji can know, but otherwise, keep it a secret.”

“Ehh…?” Wait… If I’m allowed to keep it, that means that tomorrow… “Alright, thanks, Katja. I’ll take good care of it. It will be our second little secret.”