Magnum Bullets

“Now you’re getting it!” Abigail knocked his oncoming punch away and was about to land an uppercut when he turned with her, bringing up a roundhouse kick. It swept through her body harmlessly, but it was a point for him nonetheless. “Hey! You won one!”

Gun-Kata Level 6! Skill Unlocked: Grit Points

“It was bound to happen eventually,” John replied, slowly exhaling. “Let’s take a break for now. I just unlocked a new skill!”

“What’s it do?” the ever-curious brunette asked, leaning over his shoulder and looking at the empty space he tapped with his fingers.

New Style Skill: Grit Points, Hybrid, Level 1
A pool of points which allow the user to perform various actions. The maximum number is equal to (Skill Level)+(Style Level). Grit points are recovered whenever the user scores a critical hit or a killing blow with a Gun-Kata or a firearm. Killing passive entities or entities less than half your level provides no grit points. Resting restores one grit point per hour, for a maximum of eight. Grit points gained over maximum decay at a rate of one point per (Skill Level) seconds. At each level, new actions are unlocked. (Level 1 Actions), (Level 2 Actions).

He opened his character sheet to find that he now had a new bar labelled ‘Grit’ and that all the points therein were available. He tapped the ‘Level 1 Actions’ and ‘Level 2 Actions’, prompting two windows to open side by side.

Level 1 Actions
Deadeye: As long as the user has at least one grit point, aiming, shooting, and Gun-Kata are done as though the user had (Agility Score)+(Style Level)+(Skill Level) Agility.
Armor Piercer: At the cost of two grit points, the next bullet fired ignores physical defenses (does not ignore magical defenses such as wards or enchantments).
Staunch Wound: At the cost of two grit points, the user is able to hold the hot barrel of their gun to a wound acquired in the last minute, cauterizing it and recovering ((Skill Level)+(Style Level))x5% HP damage suffered from the wound.

Level 2 Actions
Armor Piercer II: As Armor Piercer, but the cost is reduced to one grit point. Cannot be used with Arcane Armor Piercer.
Arcane Armor Piercer: At the cost of two grit points, the next bullet fired ignores magical defenses (does not bypass enchanted/magical armor, but does ignore the magical qualities).
Ricochet: At the cost of two grit points, the next spell or bullet fired ricochets (Style Level)+(Skill Level) times, losing none of its speed or destructive power.

John whistled, falling onto his back. I’m going to have to learn how to be a better shot if I want to make good use of that last one.

“What is it!?” Abigail asked, bending over him and looking at the empty space curiously.

He invited her to his party, and this prompted another pop-up.

Training Session Complete!
Details
Length: 3:32:54
Partner(s): Abigail Firenzia (Level 26)
Results
Skills: +1 Gun-Kata, +1 Intercepting Fist, +1 Grit Points
Stats: +1 Strength, +2 Agility, +2 Endurance

Achievement Unlocked: A Journey of a Thousand Miles
Earn stat points through traditional training. All that hard work is finally starting to pay off.
Reward: Training Session Summaries at the end of each session

That’s new too, John thought as he looked at the results of his training. The fruits of my labor. I didn’t know training sessions could pay off like this. Not as time-efficient as grinding for experience for stats, but it does allow me to target specific skills faster. I’m happy to get anything.

“So you’re going to be faster now?” Abigail asked, her finger poking through the description of Deadeye. She sat down next to him cross legged, reading the rest of the windows.

Would have been nice to unlock that before Jarako. Then again, I was so outmatched there that it probably wouldn’t have made a difference, John mused, rolling over to face Abigail. “Not by much. About a level’s worth. Don’t worry, you can still trounce me.”

“That’s not the goal, John!” Abigail jumped up, pulling him along with her. “Sparring with you reminds me of home. You remind me of me. Not so good at fighting. But eventually you’ll be better than me! And then I have a training partner who’s my best friend and stronger than me. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

“Given how much you lord your incredible power over me, you have a funny way of showing it,” John joked, slowly shaking his head. “I think that’s enough training for the day. I still have to talk to the secretary and we still have to decide what mission we’re going to do tonight.”

“My duster was destroyed in the last contract?” Dread washed over him as the loss of his favorite (and best) piece of armor was realized. “Can’t you just buy another one?”

“I’m afraid not, Mr. Newman. The Midnight Snakes from which your duster was made have been hunted to extinction. If anyone else in our ranks wore something similar, we could perhaps duplicate the material, but even that is beyond the paygrade of the reparations you are owed. While we misjudged the nature of your contract, it is not the fault of our organization that you were careless with rare armor,” The Secretary replied, taking his offered guild card.

“What am I getting then?” John asked, knowing it was pointless to argue with the woman in front of him. She’s just the messenger.

“You will be allowed to take a singular piece of equipment from our armory, of a ten of wands masterwork quality or lower, and you can work with a Wand member of your choosing to create or improve existing equipment you have, using a credit of $250,000. You also have something left for you by your sponsor, The Hermit. It seems to be an elemental potion. It exposes your soul to the elemental realms, allowing those who share your affinity to seek you out and request a contract with you. Worthless if you have an elemental already though…” She typed at her computer for a few more moments before swiping his card through a reader and handing it back to him. “It will be waiting for you on sublevel fifteen, along with your guide to the armory, Ms. Buildwell. You two should be familiar.”

“You going back up to the dorm?” John asked, turning to his sparring partner. Abigail shrugged in response, looking from him to the secretary.

“Yes, you may accompany him. Do not take anything though, we’ll know,” The Secretary chided, turning her attention away from the pair.

The elevator wasn’t a long wait, a common trend which seemed odd for the building, massively populated as it was. They rode down together, encountering Olivia near the exit to the sublevel. Her attire was mostly the same as before, with the addition of a leather satchel.

“John! Good to see you again. Sorry to hear your contract went a little haywire. Did the sniper help you out?” Olivia asked, waving over her shoulder for them to follow as she set off down the hallway.

“It did. There was a man clad in high-tech titanium alloy armor. Once his energy shields were down, your bullets went right through. Compatible with my non-lethal enchanted item too.” She glowed at the approval of her most recent creation, beaming at him as she stopped in front of a door.

“Glad to hear it! You seem to be rising in the ranks pretty fast, just remember who designed your first guild-issued weapon.” With a wink she pressed the button and the door opened, revealing the cavernous room within. As they stepped through, a robotic female voice called their names.

“Steamy Gunsmith, cleared. The Gamer, cleared. Cherufe, cleared.” John paid it little heed, accustomed to its intrusions in their training room. Instead he was focused on the bevy of armors and armaments around him.

“The right side is dedicated to weapons, the left side is dedicated to armor and accessories,” Olivia explained, tapping the screen of her smart bracer. “I assume you’re going to be looking at the armor since you lost your jacket. Shame too, it suited you.”

“Thanks,” John replied, scanning the room. “How are these sorted? Does it get better the deeper in we go?”

“That’s right! It says here you’re allowed to take one item of masterwork quality from a ten of wands. That’s pretty rare! We have a few of those in stock…” Olivia explained, walking further into the armory. Robes hung on hooks, armor held up by stands, tables with accessories held up in slanted rows, rings, earrings, belts. The amount of items gradually rose until they reached the fifth room.

Its sign showed the RW insignia, except where usually there was a single sword, wand, cup, or coin in each fourth of the shield, there were six here. “So these rooms each relate to a certain tier of member?”

“That’s correct. They’ll get less crowded soon, there’s a steep dropoff in guild population after six, and items get rarer.” The door to the next room was open, and John saw immediately that she was correct. There was less than half the amount of equipment in this room compared to the last.

“What does that mean? How many high ranking members are there?” John inquired as they passed the threshold to the last open room, the door to the next closed.

“About sixty percent of the guild’s population is ranked six or lower in their respective fields, last I checked. They’re kind of seen as expendable for that reason. You’re lucky to get as much as you’re getting. I have a feeling you’re getting special treatment because of your sponsor. You’re obviously more powerful than a four of swords should be, though. I’ve worked with sixes and sevens weaker than you.” Olivia gestured with a sweeping motion to the room around them. “This is it. If you don’t find anything you like in here, I suggest checking the previous room.”

“Most of the stuff in here is heavier armor. That doesn’t really fit my style,” John commented, looking around the room. About a dozen mismatched sets of plate armor made of different materials stood on armor stands. He used Advanced Spy on each one just in case they were somehow lightweight, but they were all built for defense, not agility.

“What about this?” Abigail asked, taking a robe off its rack. John used Advanced Spy on this newcomer.

I’ve worn robes before, they’re not that bad. Two hundred damage threshold against all spells is pretty great, but it has absolutely no physical armor. I want something with a good mix of both. It can also act as a mana battery and spell enhancer though, so it wouldn’t be the worst choice in the world… The Gamer felt like now was the perfect time to min-max, but none of the equipment made it seem possible. Though their unique effects were interesting, none of them really did what he wanted.

“Wow. I can’t believe this is in here,” Olivia said aloud, picking up a mask made of metal. “This might be exactly what you’re looking for.”

“What is it?” John asked, taking the mask from her. When his fingertips touched it, a flood of memories swept over him, deafening him. The mask going on, a revolution led by the wearer. An assassin in the shadows. Fear struck into the heart of evil. “What is this?”

“Like I just said, it was worn by the previous Ace of Swords from my Kingdom. It’s made of meteoric steel and fragments of a learning crystal. When he died, they tried to market it to every other Ace of Swords out there, but the mask… rejected them. It would go haywire when put on. It’s thought to have a will of its own.” The steampunk engineer explained, brushing the blackened steel with her fingertips. “I’ve never felt anything from it myself. I’ve tried putting it on, but I couldn’t activate any of its commands. Just a sheet of metal to me. Why don’t you try it?”

His fingers fiddled with it idly as he looked down into its eyes. Advanced Spy told him she was telling the truth, and revealed some of its secrets.

He tapped on each of the qualities, since all of them were unknown.

Willed, Item Quality
This item has its own will, and as such may ignore your mental or verbal commands if it deems you to be a bad owner.

Mechanical, Item Quality
This item is mechanical, meaning it has a host of analog features.

Enchanted, Quality
This item or entity is enchanted, and as such has lasting magical effects.

Folding Metal, Item Quality
This item is made in such a way that it can fold down to a more compact size, usually into another item of some sort.

Meteoric, Item Quality
This item was affected by energies found in outer space, leading to a remarkable resistance to any attempts to damage its form.

Learning, Quality
This item or entity is capable of adapting to its surroundings over time, possibly changing its qualities or armor rating.

“Well, only one way to know for sure.” John put the mask on, the leather clamps securing it in place automatically. The metal shifted and tightened as it molded to his face, resulting in his field of view being the same as if he didn’t have it on at all.

“Well, you’re wearing it. That’s more progress than some. Try giving it a mental command. It can magnify visuals, audio, and it has thermal vision. I don’t know any other features it has besides hiding your identity, but we saw you put it on, so that wouldn’t be working anyway,” Olivia explained, peering into the lenses of the mask.

“Oh, oh! Look at me! Ever since you showed me Predator, I wondered what I look like thermally,” Abigail said, engulfing her hand in flame.

With a mental command the room appeared to be blue, except for the engineer in front of him who was mostly yellow-orange and the pyromancer, whose entire body looked to be a blinding white, especially the fire in her hand. “Okay, yeah, it works. Abigail, your whole body looks like one big flame.” Sensing his intention, it reverted back to normal vision. “Huh. I guess I’m worthy?”

“I guess so. You must be similar enough to the previous owner,” Olivia thought aloud, looking John up and down.

“Well, you did say you liked my style, I guess it does too. Is seeing me put it on the only way to bypass the identity protection?” John asked, uncomfortable with the idea of that being the only way to let his allies know who he was.

“It should come with what looks like a stack of post-it notes. They’re tattoos you can apply to anyone so that they recognize you when you’re wearing the mask, even if they didn’t see you put it on. It’s supposed to come with an endless supply,” Olivia said, checking near the stand the mask had been on. When she finished her explanation, John felt the stack appear in his hand.

“I’ve got it.” John held up the paper in question, peeling one off the stack. “So how does it work?”

“I’m not sure of the specifics. I think you just press it to a willing recipient, and it lasts until you want it to go away?” She took the paper from him and pressed it against her forearm, but nothing happened. “Maybe you need to do it?”

He took the sheet from her and did exactly as she did. The paper faded into her skin, leaving only the marking tattoo. “It works!” He took the mask off, feeling its smooth edges. “This thing is supposed to fold, I wonder if…” With a little bit of pressure applied at the rim, the mask folded in on itself until all that remained was a belt buckle that looked similar to the full-sized thing. It clipped onto his belt easily.