Not an easy answer

“Oh I don’t know, how about a... what did they call it... a trench broom?” You say finally.

“Something like this?” He asks pulling out a pistol grip only pump action shotgun. “This you could afford, barely, but yes. Ammo gets expensive though, but for in your face firepower, this is very nice, and magic of course.”

You take it and quickly decide what he said about up close, and how heavy it is, that no that might be a bad choice. “No, I guess not. I don’t know. What do you recommend?”

“Well that depends. If you can cast spells I’d say something like a nice bolt action rifle for range, and a small pistol for up close backup. If not I’d say finding and maintaining a supply of ammo is hard so I’d go with black powder. Cheaper, you can cast your own lead balls, powder is easier to find than cased ammo. Technology on the prime is at best old west like in most areas. Shops that sell more advanced things are sold as oddities and prices vary a lot. So I guess first question, can you cast spells?”

The bind and hide item spells come to mind, plus a suggestion spell, ‘huh that wasn’t a spell before was it?’ You think to yourself. “I know a few spells, yes.”

“All right then, here, 50 gold.” He says handing you a scroll. “Study these two spells, if you can lock them in your mind and the paper burns up I have a few good ideas for you, if not, then we try something else. A sword and bow perhaps.”

You end up paying another 10 gold in food, plus spend two more nights sleeping on his bench seat by the time it happens but eventually the paper lights and burns up. When it does you are sure you now know two more spells. One is very simple but useful, it mends, cleans, and even lubricates something. The second transforms a pound of lead or similar metal into ammo, including a magical propellant, and casing that lasts till the shot is fired. “Cool. Do you have other spells?”

“Yes, but if you want a gun you can’t afford much. Judging by the time you spent learning those two you might need to learn more about what you know already till casting them is like second nature or you risk loosing one to keep the other. Then again it is your money.”