“Those revolvers were his presents for his 25th birthday. My…final attempt to be a good father to him. He took the guns, but he never heeded me. Those guns are far more practical than a distant father,” said Francois.

“Jacq always told me that he had no family,” said Raine. “I never thought….”

“In a way, he had no one left after Edith was gone. She passed away when Jacques was five. Regretfully, I was consumed by grief, and I chose to focus on my projects while neglecting him. It’s all my fault that Jacques lost his life. I should have insisted on him staying instead of becoming an adventurer. Now…I lost both.”

Francois turned his attention to the revolver in his hand. “But then, ironically, one of my creations returned to me, and it’s not of flesh. Funny how irony works, isn’t it? You wished for your neglected son to come home, and the one that did come home was instead a weapon you spent most of your time with, even if it’s only half the pair."

“Yeah. I get that a lot,” said Raine. His occupation as a mayor was one of those ironic circumstances.

“And even more ironic, this is the first time I have ever seen someone use the gun properly, and it’s not my son. You see, Raine, this gun, and its pair, are made from a special metal called orichalcum. Artificers of ancient times used these metals for their mana attunement and durability, which made it even more valuable than gold and silver. Gold and silver can be transmuted, even though it was illegal for economical stability reasons. Since you have used the gun, you know what I mean.”

“Yeah. The gun’s very reactive to mana. That burst stream came out after I attempted to create a condensed light beam.”

“And then you felt your mana was drained considerably.”

“Yes.”

“When Jacques took the guns, I had not perfected its conversion rate. It’s basically how much mana output is released after a certain amount of input. Guns are different from swords for this reason, especially a gun that convert mana into energy-based projectiles. For swords, it will simply coat the metal blade with the mana property give to it. For guns, it shot out converted mana, which could potentially be hard to control. Only someone with fine control of mana flow can properly used the gun, or any weapons that requires mana feed into it. Of course, I can just replace the grip with a dedicated magicite acting as a magazine, so you don’t need to manually flow mana into it.”

“What’s the drawback?”

“You’d lose versatility in combat. No more burst stream, just plain old shots of mana bullets.”

“I’ll keep this gun the way it is, then. You know, I wonder why you don’t just make automatic pistols instead.”

“Are you kidding me? Those things have more components than a revolver! And I just told you about versatility! The upgrade I suggested would turn this gun into an automatic pistol, but with a little twist perfect for mages.”

“Ah…right, right,” said Raine, though he preferred something easier to use.

Raine listened to Francois’s explanation on orichalcum’s properties and its history, while also becoming intrigued on being a gun mage in addition to being a swordsman. Both the gun’s versatile use, and his unusual and versatile use of combat spells, could give him an edge in battles. He became convinced on learning how to properly use the revolver in creative ways when Francois confirmed that the gun could easily complement elemental spells so that instead of shooting pure energy, it could be converted to shoot condensed fireballs, or even fire-based spread shot that was not chemical-based, something that was rare with the state of the present-day world.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Francois began repairing the grip without modifying it, while Raine waited and mentally prepared himself for the next phase of the mission. While waiting anxiously for an update, Hima, who couldn’t rest properly herself, walked towards him and sat beside the human-Felinar. She found that she did not want to wait in silence. It made the situation rather awkward for her.

“Raine,” said Hima.

“Hey, Hima,” said Raine.

There was an awkward silence between the two, at least until Hima said, “What have you been up to lately? You seem to be close to that old gunsmith.”

“It’s a happy coincidence, really. He’s my late friend’s father.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“Thanks. It’s…well, I don’t know if he ever considered me a friend. I bet he thought of me as a nuisance. But we certainly had quite a battle. He was the first guy who could keep up with the techniques your father taught me.”

“Or maybe you’re just being sloppy.”

Raine chuckled. “I did, didn’t I? Well, despite all that, I’m glad to have made his acquaintance, and also Narati and Karkas.”

“I heard that name a lot. Narati.”

“The reason why I’m here and not back in town. Jacques and I saved him and sympathized with his plight. When I met the Fa’ar, his vocal cord was damaged, and it was hard to understand what he was trying to say. I didn’t understand his erratic gestures, so I'm glad that he regained his voice, even if his voice sounds raspy. You should meet him when this is all over. He’s a good kid, very friendly. Unless, of course, you can’t stand Fa’ars.”

“Fa’ars are fine. It’s their attitude I’m not fine with.”

“Then Nara’s not going to be your problem. We’ve…been through a lot, even when we only know each other for almost a year. To me, Nara earned his rest in the Valley after what he had been through back in the desert. It’s the least I can do for him…for Jacques.”

“Is that why you didn’t bother coming back to Cavilen?”

“I also happened to be the mayor of a fledgling town, so I am pretty busy.”

“You? A mayor? Somehow, I have a hard time believing that.”

“Really? I have the face for it, don’t you think?”

“Oh, shut up!”

The two laughed, with Hima playfully pushing Raine away. After the two finished laughing, they continued the conversation.

“I screwed up, didn’t I?” said Raine. “Leaving you like that?”

“Yeah. You did,” said Hima. “We could’ve had a life together, Raine. You may not like it, but life’s too short for screwing around in a dangerous place where survival’s the only law.”

“Easy to say for a practically divine race,” commented Raine.

“Divine, huh? If we’re so divine, why am I risking my life trying to free a member of my kind from slavery? We’re just a different kind of Vulpin, that’s all.”

“Not in this form, you don’t. Why don’t you go full foxy?”

“I thought I told you not to call it that,” reprimanded Hima.

“What else should I call it? This…not quite human form of yours is cool, but shouldn’t you go wild instead? This isn’t a sparring situation, you know.”

“I’ll do it when I need it,” said Hima. “And not quite human? I can say the same thing to you, mister cat-ears!”

“Hey!”

They both laughed again.

“It’s been a while since we can laugh together like this,” said Raine once they stopped. “It…feels like forever.”

“We grew up,” said Hima. “And we faced reality.”

“Yeah, we do.”

Before Hima could say anything else, Belak came out of the cellar in a hurry. Her actions, and the urgency of the matter, immediately alerted Hima, Raine, and Aranis that something went wrong.

“What happened?” asked Raine.

“We found our sisters, but we must go! Now!” exclaimed Belak. “The others have already stalled the sacrificial rites, but they reported that the ritual has begun! We need your help, elf friend!”

“Right,” said Aranis, who was already entering the cellar. “Lead the way, your majesty!”

Belak immediately returned to the darkness of the cellar. Aranis and Hima, both casting magelight spell, followed them. Raine was going, too, when Francois grabbed his arm and said, “Don’t forget your gun, young man!”

“Oh, right,” said Raine, receiving the fixed and possibly upgraded gun. “Oh, and while we’re at it…do you have a sword I can use?”

Francois silently threw a rather unusual sword, one that Raine could identify as a falchion based on how it looked and the fact that it was a single-edged sword. There was nothing special about the sword except the fact that the blade was made out of steel, a rare metal in Raine’s time.

“Don’t break it,” warned Francois. “Orichalcum’s another matter, but steel’s also hard to come by.”

“I won’t. Thanks, Francois,” said Raine.

“And be careful down there!”

“I will!”

Raine disappeared into the cellars, leaving Francois alone in his workshop, contemplating the events that happened a couple of minutes ago. He did not expect to get the gun back again, especially after he lost his son.

He was so sure that he would never finish the gun, but now he did, he wanted to see how a proficient mage like Raine would handle it. Maybe when everything’s over, he could upgrade the other half.

He hoped they’d survive whatever’s waiting for them.