Big Game Sniper

When Jared got back to his room, he was eager to begin crafting, only to come up short when he realized he had no idea where to even begin. Remembering what the girl at the Delvers’ Guild had said about mana crystals, he retrieved a few from Mimi and identified them.

Mana Crystal(Uncommon, Excellent) - These crystals are an impure form of mana that grow in mana-saturated areas, such as dungeons. The color of the glow indicates elemental impurities present within the mana. Useful as a light source and in many forms of crafting. Its quality has been slightly lowered from unskilled harvesting.

At the top right of the notification was a symbol of a hammer and scissors crossed over an anvil, and when he focused on it, a new screen came up, with three large empty boxes.

Crafting(Ammunition)

Please select a Primary Material

Please select a Secondary Material

Please select a Catalyst

Focusing on them, he got a short description of each, none of which were all that helpful.

The Primary Material is what the main body of the item you are crafting will be made from. For instance, if you are crafting a sword, this will be what the blade is made from. Can impart certain traits based on the Material. Examples: Claws, Teeth, Natural Armor, Metals, Wood

The Secondary Material is what smaller portions of the item you are crafting will be made from. For instance, if you are crafting a sword, this will be what the hilt is made from. Can impart certain traits based on the Material. Examples: Monster Organs, Metals, Plants, Wood

The Catalyst is a mana-rich material that is used to bind the Primary and Secondary Materials together. Can impart certain traits based on the Catalyst. Examples: Mana Crystals

Okay, it seems fairly straightforward. Let’s see what I’ve got to work with.

He had Mimi disgorge all of the materials he had harvested from the Shellback Prowler, which he had let her eat before they had left the farm. It was only then that he realized that he hadn’t offered any to Eleisa.

Oh well. If I don’t use it all, I’ll give her the rest. If I do, I’ll just pay her for them.

Next, he retrieved the materials from the afanc he wasn’t able to sell, the Rat King Core, and a bunch of differently colored mana crystals.

Alright, the primary material will probably be the core of the bullet. I’ll want something heavy and dense for stopping power and armor piercing, but not too heavy, or it will slow the bullet down.

Deciding to start with some of the afanc teeth, he moved on to the secondary material.

Gotta be soft, so that the rifling can deform it to completely fill the barrel.

Going over his materials, he didn’t see anything that seemed to fit. Then a thought struck him.

Gold is soft.

Pulling an Imperial from his pouch, he examined it, studying the faces. On one side was the image of an elaborate castle, reminiscent of Neuschwanstein in Germany. Along the border of the coin, a dragon was depicted circling the castle. The other face had an inscription in the same language as the signs he had seen.

As he studied the coin, he was surprised when an identify window appeared.

Evandrian Gold Imperial(Common, Excellent) - The highest tier of currency used by normal citizens of Evandria, it is worth the equivalent of 10 Silver Royals or 100 Copper Nobles. Useful in some forms of crafting.

Now that I think about it, silver and copper are both soft metals as well, and copper is even used for bullet casings and jackets on earth.

He grinned, dashing downstairs and going straight to the counter. There were a couple of people in line, leaving him to tap his foot impatiently as he awaited his turn. When he finally stepped up to the counter, Theresa, the same girl as before, smiled at him.

“Here to turn in your bounty? I was surprised when you went straight up to your room without doing so.”

Jared blinked. In his excitement to start experimenting with his crafting, he had completely forgotten that he and Eleisa had picked the Shellback Prowler from the job board, and would be paid for hunting it.

“Uh, yeah. Can I get my payment in silver and copper instead of gold?”

“Certainly. But if you are planning on using coins for crafting, I should let you know that the metals used are fairly soft and not suitable for things like swords and spears.”

Jared nodded, his grin never leaving his face. “That’s exactly why I want them.”

“Alright. The bounty for the Shellback Prowler is 20 Gold Imperials. Your party member already verified completion of the job, so you don’t have to worry about that. She also took her half of the bounty, leaving your reward at 10 Imperials. How would you like your pay divided?”

He thought for a moment. “Let’s do half and half. So 50 Royals and 500 Nobles. If you can do that.”

“Please wait one moment while I retrieve your payment. Do you have a spatial pouch?”

Jared nodded, proffering the requested item. Theresa took it and left it open on the counter.

She then reached beneath the counter, grabbing a couple of cloth pouches, and upended them over his, coins clinking as they poured from one bag into another.

When she finished, she cinched up Jared’s pouch and handed it back to him.

You have received Silver Royal x50 and Copper Noble x500

“Thank you kindly.” With that handled, he headed back up to his room.

Going with copper for his secondary material, he placed a few coins with the afanc teeth he had set aside previously.

That just leaves a catalyst. The only thing the system mentioned was the mana crystals, and I’ve got a bunch of those.

Retrieving a few crystals from Mimi, he placed them on the desk with his other materials and returned to the crafting screen. After a little experimentation, Jared found that all he needed to do to select a material for each slot was having it in front of him, and a slight application of intent.

Would you like to use these materials to begin crafting?

Primary: Afanc tooth

Secondary: Copper Noble

Catalyst: Mana Crystal(Earth-Aligned)

As soon as Jared confirmed his choice, one of each of the materials lifted into the air, slowly spinning around each other, a reddish glow suffusing the air. At the same time, Jared felt a tugging sensation in his gut, as if there was a ball of yarn in his stomach that was slowly unraveling.

The floating materials quickly gained speed, soon becoming nothing more than a blur in the air. Then, all at once, they slammed together with a pop. The clinking of metal on wood rang out as a few items fell to the desk. The first was the mana crystal, now about half its previous size. Next to it were five large, coppery bullets.

You have successfully created a new item! Please name your creation:

That was interesting and unexpected. He didn’t really think anyone had created firearms here, but he also didn’t really expect to be the first one to make a bullet. Thinking quickly, he selected a simple, straightforward name.

“I’ll call them Fang Bullets.”

Name: Fang Bullets accepted.

You have crafted Earth Fang Bullet(Obscure, Average) x5

You have gained EXP!

Level Up!

You gain 1 Projection.

You have free stat points to assign.

New GEAS Quest: Prove Your Metal

You have embarked on a path on which many begin, but few remain. Prove you have what it takes to hunt powerful beings without outside assistance.

Objective: Before your next Ascension, kill a creature at least one ascension above you while exclusively using ammunition you have created.

Rewards:

Primary Class-specific Skill

Auxiliary Class-specific Skill

Title

Penalty for failure: Your Create Ammunition Skill will be returned to (Unskilled I)

Accept/Refuse

Jared considered the quest. He didn’t know how powerful his new bullets were, or what level the next ascension would be. But it seemed the GEAS was pushing him to challenge himself, and in turn, was granting power for doing so.

It really is like a video game.

Then a thought struck him. Characters in video games were always guided by the hand of the player. If he was a video game character, was there some creature out there, guiding his movements, making sure he went down one path or another? It was a terrifying thought.

He shook his head, dismissing that line of thinking. If it was true, there wasn’t anything he could do about it right now. What he could do was gain power, and the system seemed to be offering him a way to do just that.

Making his decision, he accepted the quest.

Quest Accepted! Prove Your Metal.

With that taken care of, he assigned his free point to manipulation, since it seemed his class did more of that than evocation. Then he turned back to his crafting, identifying his first creation.

Earth Fang Bullet(Obscure, Average) - A form of ammunition crafted from a monster’s teeth and soft metal. The earth aligned mana crystal used as a catalyst has imbued it with minor petrification. Effects: Minor petrification, piercing

Grinning to himself, he started experimenting.

________________________________________________________

The first thing Eleisa did after collecting her bounty was collapse onto her bed. It had been a long day, and she was exhausted from everything that had happened. There was more she wanted to talk with Jared about, but she needed a nap first.

An hour later, she was up and walking down the hall to the room Jared had disappeared into almost immediately. She was curious why he hadn’t collected his payment for the job, but assumed he would do it later.

Remembering the proper human custom, she rapped three times on the door, then stood back to wait for him to open it. A slightly frazzled-looking Jared opened the door, grinning when he saw it was Eleisa. “You have perfect timing! Come here and tell me what you think of these.”

He ushered her into the room, waving at the desk, where some small metal objects had been lined up. She looked at him inquiringly, and he gestured to the items again.

Realizing she was not going to get anything else from the man, she identified the items.

Earth Fang Bullet(Obscure, Average)

Ice Fang Bullet(Obscure, Average)

Fire Fang Bullet(Obscure, Average)

Metal Fang Bullet(Obscure, Average)

Water Fang Bullet(Obscure, Average)

“I have never seen an item with the Obscure rarity, and even though the quality is just average, they are quite interesting. What are they, and where did you find them?”

Jared shook his head. “I made them, and they are ammunition for Mimi. I just need to test them out to see how they work. Is there a shooting range or something somewhere that we could use?”

Eleisa blinked. He created these? “I too am interested in witnessing the power of such a… unique item. The Guild has an archery range beneath the building that’s available to rent, as well as other practice facilities for Hunters to use.”

Jared gathered up his bullets and slung Mimi over his shoulder. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go test these out!”

Without waiting for a response, he brushed past Eleisa into the hallway, and headed downstairs. When Eleisa caught up to him, he was just finishing paying for using the range for an hour. Following the directions Theresa gave, they went through a side door, then down a long staircase. At the bottom, they emerged into an expansive cavern with targets along the far end.

Jared lowered himself to the ground, getting into position with Mimi pointed at the targets. Eleisa watched as he selected a bullet, placing it into a slot that was created as part of Mimi's form slid back.

That part slid forward again once the bullet was inside, and Jared looked through some sort of spyglass on top of the weapon. After a few moments, he let out a breath and an explosion shook the range.

Still looking through the spyglass, he grinned.

“Looks like I hit. Let's go survey the damage.”

They moved over to the target, which Jared walked around muttering to himself. “Good penetration, though not enough to get all the way through. The petrification didn't seem to affect it, but I didn't really expect it to." He examined the small hole in the target for a moment, before returning to Mimi.

Eleisa joined him, and before he could fire, she caught his attention.

“Jared, while you are testing your new bullets, can you teach me about being a spotter? I understand the concept, but I do not know any of the details.”

He looked at her, then slapped his face.

“That's a great idea, and I'm sorry I didn't think of it first.”

Before he started explaining, she activated her new skill.

Skill: Enhance Learning Active.

It would increase her rate of learning by an amount dependent on her mental ALA, as well as the Skill level. The only downside was it drained her mana fairly quickly. But that didn't matter much when she couldn’t cast external spells.

Immediately, she felt her mana flow through her body and into her head, and everything around her seemed to slow down.

When she indicated she was ready, Jared launched into an explanation of everything it took to be a spotter, the calculations required, and how to deal with wind and changes in elevation.

He tested her by having her estimate their distance to the targets, and coming up with a couple scenarios for if there was wind and an elevation change.

With the aid of her skill, which she had to deactivate a couple times when she ran out of mana, she picked everything up quickly, and by the time their hour was up, she had pretty much mastered the basics. She had even been rewarded with a skill, which grew at an almost frightening pace.

Skill Unlocked! Spotter's Eye(Unskilled I)

Skill Spotter's Eye has been upgraded from (Unskilled I) to (Unskilled VII)

Spotter's Eye(Unskilled VII) - You have been trained by an expert in the art of a sniper's spotter, and are starting to use your unique abilities to make it your own. You can more easily estimate the distance and size of targets. You are better at spotting hidden enemies and traps. These bonuses are increased per level of the Skill

Skill Enhance Learning upgraded from (Unskilled I) to (Unskilled III)

She couldn't help but stare blankly in astonishment. “This is… How is this even possible?”

Jared looked at her quizzically. “What's up?”

What has anything being above us to do with my confusion?

She shook her head, dismissing the distraction. It was probably just another of his human eccentricities.

“My new Skill enhances my learning, at the cost of mana. It also seems to hasten the growth of my Skills, including itself, although to a more limited degree.”

“So?”

She stared at him, not quite believing his lack of a reaction.

“So, I thought it would simply improve my retention of information. The GEAS granting anything that improves the speed of growth is unheard of.”

Jared smiled at her.

“Just as unheard of as someone with no Projection? I'm sure this is just the system's way of balancing it out.”

She nodded, pondering the possibilities. If it was increasing her learning speed this much at the Unskilled tier, her growth when it got to the higher tiers would be astronomical. She could see why Jared had said what he had about her potential. She was just now starting to see it herself.

“Now that you have tested your creations, and I have been taught how to be a spotter, there is one more subject we must address before going on another hunt.”

He quirked an eyebrow at her. “What's that?”

She smiled at him, and he seemed to put himself on guard.

“Teaching you close combat techniques.”

This was going to be fun.