The Author's POV

"I thought that it might come in handy to you."

After having witnessed the prowess of the dwarves with their gun-like artifacts, I thought that it would've been a perfect fit for Leopold, who usually always helped out from the back.

This way, he wouldn't need to join the fights when commanding the others directly.

Aiming the gun around, Leopold asked.

"What are the requirements for using this little thing?"

"Just inject some mana, and it'll work. It's a <D> ranked artifact."

The artifact was something that only dwarves could create and essentially worked as a gun.

Upon injecting mana into the device, the artifact would activate, releasing the bullets that were loaded inside.

Well, that's how it should work. Never used it, so I didn't know.

"Take good care of it; it cost me quite a lot."

Aiming the gun towards the distance, Leopold put his finger on the trigger.

"Sounds easy enough."

"Well, I still think you need time to get used to it."

Just like any weapon, it needed time to be mastered, and although Leopold was already good with the sword, at the end of the day, his talent did not lay in swordsmanship but in commanding.

Plus, just because he was now using a gun, it didn't mean that he couldn't use a sword.

He could very well use it during short-range fights and then replace it when he's helping out from the back; after all, the gun would be more useful when he's commanding a lot of people at once.

Looking through the status of the gun, Leopold suddenly asked.

"How's the recoil on this thing?"

"…how about you try?"

I also was curious about this.

Raising his brow and looking around, Leopold picked his ear to ensure he didn't hear wrongly.

"Try? Here?"

"I don't think anyone would mind being honest. Just shoot the air."

We were in the open, and most likely, the sound that would come out from shooting the weapon would get drowned out by the sound of the rain.

Furthermore, I don't think the dwarfs would mind this.

"Guess you're right."

Leopold was a simple person. At my words, he stopped thinking too much and put a bullet inside of the gun-like artifact.

Chi Chak—

Loading the artifact, Leopold aimed towards the distance with one hand.

His semi-long hair was already wet from the rain.

Closing one of his eyes and aiming towards the barrier in the distance, he softly muttered.

"I'm going."

Looking at him and taken aback by the fact that he was only using one hand, I blurted out.

"Wait, why are you using only one hand?"

"...just cause."

As soon as his words faded, a gentle hue shrouded his hand, directly entering the artifact.

Click—!

Leopold then pressed on the trigger.

—Booom!

Accompanied by a thunderous sound, a blue ball of energy shot out from the gun, directly aiming for the barrier in the distance. Travelling at incredible speeds, the blue energy travelled through the air, splitting the rain apart.

Before long, it appeared right before the barrier.

However, right as the energy was about to hit the barrier, something miraculous happened; the blue ball stopped mid-air before suddenly disappearing out of thin hair.

On the other hand, while the energy ball shot out from the gun, Leopold, the one responsible for the shot, was sent a couple of steps back.

"Uukkk..."

As he was pushed back, he let out a groan. Once he managed to rebalance himself, staring at the gun in his hand, he couldn't help but curse out loud.

"Bloody hell!"

Massaging his right wrist, the one that held onto the artifact, he softly muttered.

"The recoil on this thing…"

"Maybe you held it wrong? Perhaps we can go ask the dwarves for things that can be added to reduce the recoil?"

Although I wasn't an expert with guns, I do think that the way that Leopold held onto the gun was wrong.

Right as he took a shot, his hand flung all the way up in the air, and he was pushed away quite far.

"Maybe try using both hands next time and keep your feet planted on the ground."

From the looks of it, he still needed a lot of practice before using the gun properly. If every time he shot this happened, there was no use in him keeping the artifact.

Still massaging his wrist, Leopold nodded his head in agreement.

"You're right; I need to practice more."

"...Mhm."

Turning my head and glancing at the barrier that had now enveloped the whole mountain, I muttered.

"Since the dwarfs are planning on using the barrier, you've got some time to practice."

Depending on how long the dwarves were planning on keeping the barrier, I estimated that we had at least a day to ourselves.

Right until the weather cleared up.

"If I'm not wrong, the dwarves have chosen to erect the barrier because of the weather. So we've got till it stops raining to get prepared."

"…Thought so too."

Tossing a small box in Leopold's direction, I reminded.

"If you're planning on practicing, please don't carelessly treat the bullets as though they are as easy to get as water. They are actually quite expensive."

So expensive that if converted into U, it would total around 500,000U per bullet.

Sounded expensive, but there was a reason for this.

According to Malvil, the cores gained from beasts and monsters could be turned into powder which would in turn function as gunpowder. In fact, demon cores could also do this.

The reason why I had quite a lot of bullets on me was because I traded them for the core of the Baron ranked demon that I killed.

At first, I thought of giving it to Angelica, but at the mere mention of it, she threw me a disgusted look.

Fair enough, though; after all, even I wouldn't be very excited at the prospect of eating another human.

On another note, the bullets could only be created by the dwarves as humans were incapable of creating them. At least not yet.

This was also why humans didn't have guns as of yet.

Humans could at most create bows or other relatively simpler weapons.

Things such as guns didn't only require a skilled blacksmith but also advanced engineering skills that understood the core underlying principles of mana, which humanity severely lacked.

This was understandable, though. After all, humanity had only been exposed to mana for less than a century.

Patting Leopold on the shoulder, I spoke.

"Take good care o—Ukkk."

Cutting me off, an electric current suddenly ran through my body and head. My knees buckled, and I almost tripped on the ground.

Fortunately, Leopold, who was next to me, caught me by the arm.

"Wow, Ren, you okay?"

He worriedly asked.

Unfortunately for him, I couldn't respond.

"Ugh..."

"Ren? Ren?!"

Clenching my teeth, Leopold's voice was faint in my ears.

My vision blurred slightly as well.

To my luck, this did not last for long as I soon got myself together.

Taking a moment to rebalance myself, I reassured Leopold that I was fine.

"Ren, are you okay?"

"Haaa...Haa...Thanks, but I'm now fine."

Holding onto my head, I painfully muttered.

"It's just that my head suddenly started to hurt. Probably didn't have enough sleep."

Leopold put the gun away and carefully looked at me.

"Since we have some time, you should probably get some rest."

"Yeah..."

"You okay, now?"

"Yeah, no problem."

I forced a smile and stood up straight.

The pain left as fast as it came.

Though sceptical, Leopold no longer asked about my condition.

Putting the bullets away, he looked at the entrance of the tower in the distance.

"I'll go check on the others now."

"...got it."

"If you need anything, tell me."

Giving me a simple nod, Leopold soon walked away.

Staring at Leopold's back, the smile on my face disappeared as my brows knit tightly.

'What was that?'

Was it because my head was still messed up due to what had happened at the Monolith, or was it something else entirely?

The pain was somewhat familiar. Though I couldn't explain it, it felt as though I had a similar headache in the past...

'...just what in the world."

The more I thought about it, the deeper my frown grew.

Was there something wrong with me? Or was this really something due to my tiredness?

For now, I wasn't sure, but I sure hoped that it was the latter and that this was just a one-off occasion.

—Booom!

It was then that an explosion suddenly sounded. Following this, the whole city shook.

Turning my head and staring in the direction of where the sound originated from, I saw a faint ripple appear on the enormous barrier enveloping the entire mountain.

Spreading throughout the whole barrier, miniature waves appeared on the barrier before disappearing not long after.

It appeared to me that the barrier had absorbed the attack from before.

Gazing in the direction of where the ripple centered, my brows furrowed tightly.

"They've started the siege…"

***

[Lock, Leviathan building.]

Ci Click—!

"Haaa..."

Entering his apartment, Kevin let out an exhausted sigh.

He had trouble walking at the moment, and if not for the fact that he had consumed a potion, he wouldn't have made it back to his dorm room.

"…she could've gone easier on me."

Kevin muttered underneath his breath as he entered the bathroom.

Donna's training as the years progressed did not become easier but became even more arduous than before.

"Ugh, it stinks."

Taking off his clothes, Kevin's face grimaced slightly.

He was currently wearing his training clothes; as such, having sweated the whole day, they stunk.

Shhhh—

Taking a step into the shower and turning on the shower valve, water soon started dropping towards his body.

Taking the shampoo resting on the right side of the shower room, Kevin began to wash his hair.

As he was showering, he couldn't help but think about what had happened to him in the past year.

It's been over a year since Ren's death, and a lot has changed.

He was now almost a third year, and during the past two years, he did nothing but train.

Originally, he was supposed to go to an exchange during the second year, but it was cancelled because of the Lock incident.

As such, he was stuck at the Lock.

It was probably for the best, though; he could feel himself improving every day with Donna overlooking his training.

On another note, Jin had now also joined the training sessions, and both of them had been growing at astonishing speeds.

But.

'Still not enough...'

Kevin was not satisfied.

Tightening his grip on the showerhead, Kevin bit his lips.

A certain memory flashed, and his face darkened considerably.

'How's your friend doing?'

Aaron muttered in a mocking tone not too long ago, during the second year inter academy exchange.

As expected, he was the one responsible for killing Ren.

His mocking words still resonated across Kevin's ears to this day.

—Bang!

Punching the side of the wall, the sound of Kevin's teeth grinding up together was drowned out by the sound of the water hitting the bottom of the shower.

Tik.Tik.Tik.

'I'll definitely....'

Kevin swore to himself as he clenched his fists tightly.

—Chik

"Huuu..."

Calming down and turning off the shower valve, Kevin exited the shower and dried his hair with a towel.

Taking another towel and tying it around his waist, droplets of water trickled down his chiselled body.

Walking out of the bathroom, Kevin ruffled his hair and threw the towel on top of a chair.

"Huaaamm…it's already quite late."

Yawning, Kevin checked the time.

10:30 P.M

Entering his bedroom, Kevin changed into more comfortable clothes and decided to go to sleep.

However.

Just as he was about to go to bed, he noticed something strange.

Turning his head, Kevin tilted his head in confusion. Before long, his eyes became sharp, and he cautiously looked towards his surroundings.

After making sure that no one was present, he turned his attention back towards his bed, where a red book he had never seen before rested.

"What is...."