A Gunslinger’s System in a World of Magic

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"Henry, you\'re not planning something, are you?" Eloise asked with her brows furrowed in suspicion.

"Nothing," Henry said quickly as he worked to wipe the smile he had off his face and keep his expression normal.

"Henry…" Eloise said with an imploring tone.

"You have nothing to worry about," Henry answered her while lightly tapping on the Repeater he had over his shoulder.

Throughout the rest of Eloise\'s stay, her brows never relaxed as her suspicion remained but Henry kept assuaging her suspicion while keeping his plans to himself. He had been attentive enough to have heard that her hands were tied so, at least for now, he wasn\'t going to involve her in what he planned to do now. He also wasn\'t going to give her a chance to try to talk him out of it.

When Eloise eventually stood up and said her goodbyes, Henry escorted her to the Elevator where she paused and turned around to give him one final glare to coax what he was hiding out of him but Henry kept his expression smooth.

"Henry, be careful," she eventually cautioned with a sigh.

Henry nodded,

"I will," he said and then paused before he added a request, "Could I have the map from earlier."

Eloise sighed and with a flick of her wrist, she retrieved it from her bracelet. She had explained before now that the bracelet was a storage item so Henry didn\'t bat an eye.

She handed Henry the rolled up Map and he received it with an expression of gratitude,

"Thank you," he told her earnestly, "And thank you for letting us stay here too."

With a nod and her expression colored with her suspicion, the Elevator door closed and Eloise was gone.

"We\'re going after the Caravan, aren\'t we?" Louis asked from behind.

They had declined to talk about it when Eloise was around because, even without Henry\'s indications, they knew to keep such matters to themselves for now.

"I am," Henry said as he turned around to face the two, "But you don\'t have to."

The two rolled their eyes.

"Please," Louis said, "Like we\'ll let you do it alone."

"So what\'s the plan, Boss?" Andor asked with an easy-going smile.

"I\'m not your Boss," Henry said equally with a smile as he stepped forward and unrolled the map onto the table but there was nothing more he could really say that had not been alluded to while Eloise pointed out areas on the map to them earlier.

"We have to get a lay of the land first," Henry said and he released the Map so that it snapped back into a roll,

"We can\'t do shit if we are not at least a little bit familiar with the paths. We\'ll talk more about it later."

He left the map on the table and turned toward his room.

"I\'ll be back soon," Henry said just before he closed the door behind himself and sealed it shut with his keycard. Next, he activated Elminster\'s brand and opened the oval portal that sucked him away into the old man\'s workshop.

"Welcome back," Elminster said, "Your Orders are ready. Hope you have my Gold."

Elminster wasn\'t working and as Henry walked forward and got closer to him, he noticed the gun across his shoulder.

"My word, is that \'Cudgel\'?" He asked and then laughed, "Haha, boy, when I start to think you\'re useless for the task, you bring one in."

Elminster stretched his hand for the gun and Henry paused,

"Hold on," he said, "I want it known that I want to keep this gun. Assuming it fires magical shots, of course."

Elminster paused and then snorted like Henry\'s request was expected. Next, he stroked his beard,

"Magical shots? It shoots about the same magical shots as that sawed-off shotgun you have."

"Like \'Violent Retort\'?" Henry asked with surprise coloring his voice.

"Disappointed?" Elminster asked and chuckled, "Thought it\'d blow folks up like \'The Hydra\'s Sting\', you psychopath?"

"I\'m not disappointed," Henry said and placed an almost possessive hand across the length of the Repeater.

Elminster snorted,

"Could have fooled me," he said and then stretched his hand out even further, "Hand it over now."

"I still want to keep it," Henry said.

"You do?" Elminster asked.

"It has range, doesn\'t it? I could use that," Henry said, "Plus, I\'ve always been a bit partial to Repeaters."

Elminster blinked and he seemed to suddenly zone out as he mumbled,

"That\'s just what she said."

"That\'s what \'who\' said?" Henry asked.

"The woman who had \'Cudgel\' commissioned. I suggested something heftier. Especially considering the sort of enchantment she wanted it to have but she said she preferred Repeaters. Some hero worshipping for Gunmen or something." Elminster explained with his stretched hand dropped to his side.

"So there

is

something it does," Henry said as that was the only part he had really caught and paid attention to in all that Elminster just said.

"Of course it does something," Elminster said and extended his hand again, "And you won\'t get to know what it is until you let me give it the tune-up it needs."

Henry hesitated,

"But I get to keep it afterward?"

"We\'ll see."

Realizing that was as much of a guarantee he would get, Henry held the Repeater out to Elminster who took it as easily as though it weighed nothing. But then, considering the craftsman arms, it probably did weigh nothing to him.

Elminster brought out his tools and in a second, he had the gun separated into various components that he started to treat with care and mend wherever and whenever needed which turned out to be everywhere and all the time till he was done.

As he worked, Elminster didn\'t mumble as to how much people on the outside had messed with his creation. He seemed to be able to tell that very few hands had touched the weapon because, unlike at Saint Claret and its environs where guns were still fairly common, Alvareen had no patience for such and Gunsmiths were far rarer. No one just cared enough to try.

Henry found a seat and watched Elminster work. He had seen Gunsmiths at work before. He had dabbled in it in his past life too but this was different. As he watched the Craftsman retrace already carved Arcane Symbols and imbue them with magical energy anew, Henry found himself feeling inspired.

And then Elminster was done.

The Repeater\'s components were snapped back together and the gun became whole again. It had a new-found luster and its gold gilding glinted in a magnificent way that made it almost dazzle.

Elminster inspected his work. Pulling back the hammer and pulling the trigger so it clicked back into place a few times. He closed one eye, looked across the gun\'s barrel, and pulled the trigger a few more times before he nodded, satisfied.

"Here," he said and handed the gun to Henry.

Henry was surprised he was getting the Gun back and hadn\'t even had to ask but he gathered himself and received it. This time, the Gun reacted to his touch and thrummed as though excited to serve him.

It was also far lighter than it had been before.

"Alright then," Elminster said, "Infuse it with your Mana."

"There are no bullets in it," Henry pointed out.

"There doesn\'t have to be," Elminster said with a strange twinkle in his eyes. .net

Henry looked confused at the old man and then looked at the Repeater in his hand. It was already pulling at his Mana so he didn\'t have to think hard to wonder how to infuse the weapon with Magical energy.

Mana flowed from Henry\'s hand into the gun, connecting them, and then suddenly, its weight skyrocketed.

The weight reached a height where Henry could not bear to keep the gun lifted. His eyes widened in shock and his arm sprained as the gun fell and hit its muzzle against the ground with a hard

Bang!