Happiness is a Warm Gun

Authors Note: I apologize for the prolonged absence loyal viewers, but the destruction of my hard drive and school work picking up made the going rough. At least we get swanky new sheets out of it (thank Smisenost on the Gamer Discord)! Thank you all for being so supportive; it means a lot to me. Enjoy!

“No problem,” John said, holding the door open for her. Relieved, she set the large tool down against the wall before going to press a button… and stopping when she saw the thirty-first floor was already pressed.

“I’m Olivia. Haven’t seen you around, are you a new member?” the redhead asked, adjusting the welding goggles that rested atop her head. Her outfit was mostly made out of a deep mocha leather, with various pouches sewn to the inside and outside of her clothes. A corset was topped by an open overshirt and cloth trousers with a utility belt that would make Batman jealous. He noticed a small bracelet on her wrist with a screen, glowing lines etched across it.

Her aura was a light brown and complimented her outfit, similar to the patterns in his character sheet, and wasn’t as expansive as Amy or Abigail’s. “Oh wait a minute, you’re John Newman! You’re the person I’m meeting with! I just finished submitting some requisition forms.”

“That’s right… how do you know what I look like?” John replied, using Advanced Spy on her as he asked. He didn’t feel particularly threatened but figured it was good to collect information nonetheless.

“Oh, sorry if that put you on guard. I got footage from your combat test with The Sickle. I have to say, I like your style. Western movies are a pretty big thing back home. I already have an idea of what to make for you, but it’s a little outside of your price range…” the girl looked him up and down, clearly approving of his attire. “We can talk about the specifics when we get to my lab.”

As if on cue, the elevator dinged, signalling their floor. Upon stepping out, he noticed that it was at least ten degrees colder. The rest of the building was comfortable, but John was suddenly glad he wore a jacket.

“It’s the first door on the right, just in this barrier here,” Olivia called behind, opening the door to reveal a dimly lit storeroom. She disappeared, and he entered the barrier he felt after her.

You have entered Olivia Caroline Buildwell’s Workshop! You might have to yell to be heard.

Most of the space was taken up by power tools laid on tables. Several gadgets and gizmos looked to be in various stages of completion. A retractable, reusable mundane skeleton key hidden in a false finger here, a shotgun made of a strange blend of a fizzing honeyed metal and a bluish dull crystal there. Crammed into one corner was a wooden desk, a faceplate partially obscuring a scroll and several vials in a rack. She stood in front of a holographic screen, the most advanced looking piece of technology in the place.

“I’d like to build a sniper rifle for you, made of concentrated inubrix, manasteel, druchite, and stygian steel,” as she spoke, a model of a vintage rifle projected itself from the screen. It had a revolver barrel and looked to be made entirely from a black metal. The object separated into parts, revealing it to be multicolor. The inside of the barrel looked more like traditional steel. The chamber seemed to be a mix of the first two metals, taking on a slight sheen similar to the steel yet colored more similarly to the shadowy metal.

“Those are all expensive materials, but well worth it. The chamber being made of inubrix should infuse each bullet with the same qualities, allowing them to bypass all mundane metals and some magical ones. The barrel being made of stygian steel should imbue them with the ability to temporarily halt the regenerative properties of what they hit. Most of the weapon would be made of a tough manasteel alloy, for durability and utility. Weapons made of manasteel tend to draw from the strength of their user. The druchite would be used for plating. Druchite absorbs light around it and combined with your duster’s enchantments should render you and the weapon completely invisible when in use, even hiding your aura as some invisibility charms do.” She was clearly excited about the prospect of combining so many different metals in one implement. All at once, the rifle reformed into one solid machine.

“It would be modelled after a Whitworth Rifle to fit your look, but it would be far stronger. It would use 7mm rounds for anti-personnel fire with an effective range of about 2,500 meters. If you’d like, I could probably whip up a version that could use a replaceable chamber for anti-materiel rounds, or modify it later. Since it’s your first purchase, and since I like your style, I won’t charge any labor costs. When everything’s said and done… it’ll be about $250,000. It won’t have any enchantments or runes, but it already has some magical properties. Something like that would probably normally be in the millions, but between scrapped projects and bulk material discounts, I can get you a low price.” She became much more withdrawn when it came to the price, the digital sniper fading into the background.

It sounded too good to be true, and he considered using Mind Reading to get a glimpse into her thought process. Thinking better of it due to her vastly superior intellect, he asked her outright, “This sounds way too get to be true. What’s the catch?”

“There’s no catch! I swear! I have some of that stuff left over from projects I either finished or cancelled, and I want to make good equipment for you! I like making good stuff! If you can’t afford it, maybe we could work something out. I could take the price out of your first contract or something.” She seemed genuine enough, and so far (aside from her catching him off guard with his name) she hadn’t set off any warning bells. Judging by her workspace, she was good at what she did and wanted to prove it.

“Okay. Let’s do it,” he was lucky that killing the mobs during the third test put him over by a small margin; before it he had been way under. Now, aside from the money he materialized in his arms, he had about forty thousand dollars left.

“Oh! I didn’t know you were just going to give it to me right here! That’s fine I guess. I’ll have to take it down to the secretary and have her add it to my balance. Shame since I was just down there.” She looked less than enthused considering he was giving her a hundred thousand dollars. It was also interesting that the guild functioned as a bank.

“We can deposit money? Like a bank?” John asked, surprised that such a feature would be included considering it had so much going on already. Considering the ties with the Auction, I guess it kinda makes sense.

“Huh? I guess. It’s mostly used by Wands to make purchase orders in the guild’s name. Y’get a lot of discounts that way. We’re pretty well respected.” She was already in motion, clearing off the previously shotgun occupied table. “I’ll get right to work on your gun, it should be done in a few days. I’ll text you when it’s finished. I might want you to come in a couple times to test out some mundane prototypes, get a feel for it.”

“Sounds good to me, I can’t wait.” After the serious matters were hashed out, John was giddy about getting a new weapon. Martial arts for close range, pistols for mid-range, and now a sniper rifle. Maybe once I earn a little money I’ll look into enchanting it too. Maybe get something that’d highlight enemies that get hit with it? Is that too much like a video game to be possible? Looking at his character sheet, John hoped that wasn’t the case.

“Alright, you can stay and watch me work, but you’ll have to be quiet. Otherwise I’ll see you soon! Try not to take any bounties until you get the gun, I really want to see how it fares on your first outing.” Her polite way of kicking him out didn’t go unnoticed, and he thanked her again before leaving the barrier, calling the elevator and discovering that the one they had left was still there. He stepped in and pressed the button for floor ten, wondering if the dorm he was assigned to looked the same as the one he had stayed in two nights ago. Then again, it’s not like I’ll be seeing it that much. There’s a barrier in it after all.

He looked at his phone to discover that that little detour had only been about ten minutes. I’ve got almost four hours before Jenny gets home. Maybe I could fit in a little training with Abigail before then, show her my new technique. Once I’m done with that maybe I’ll visit Jenny in the Inferno, catch a show or two. I’ll have to slip away before too long though…

He swiped his new card through the door lock, stepped into the room and felt a barrier throughout most of it. Seeing the room itself was empty, he decided to enter it.

You have entered the Aria-Firenzia-Newman-Tensung living space.

I can’t decide if Grace was involved and gave herself top billing or if it’s just alphabetical. Looking around, he noticed he was in a living room that was slightly larger than the actual dorm room was. Two couches surrounded a large flat-screen television on an entertainment center, an ottoman between the T.V. and the sofas. The shelves on either side were currently empty. On both sides of the large wooden shelves were two doors, both currently open. Looking into one, he saw a rather sparse bedroom. All that was visible was a desk.

The other was a little better decorated. Something hung on the wall. Upon closer inspection, he saw it was a wall scroll of a martial artist going through several forms of what John figured to be Tai Chi based on the fact that only one martial artist lived among them and that was the art she professed to use. “Uh, hello?”

“Hi John!” Amy emerged from a door to his right, surprising him. “The instructor from my second test offered to create a barrier for my room, and I took him up on it. We voted on it and agreed to have it done to the whole room, but I could ask him to take out your section if you want to create your own barrier there. We just figured everyone would have more space this way. All the bedrooms are way bigger than the actual dormitory was and have their own bathrooms. The kitchen is on the left.”

“I guess this is fine, I just wasn’t expecting it,” John admitted, looking around the room. He was a little confused, having no idea how the plumbing in the barrier could connect to outside it, or if it did at all. And how they had internet, or electricity. Same goes for Keith’s apartment. How does any of it work?

“Okay! Your room is across from the front door, the left one. There’s not much in it right now, just the same stuff that would be in your quarter of the dorm. It’s the same for all of us, though Grace and Abigail had some small stuff on them that they’ve already put up. I’m going to get some stuff from the manor tomorrow.”

“Alright, where’s everyone now?” John figured he’d be able to move some stuff from the apartment pretty easily especially after setting up a waypoint. I might want to buy all new stuff too.

“Abigail is downstairs at the training grounds, Grace is sleeping,” Amy answered, clearly tired herself, “I’m going to join her pretty soon. I’ll see you tomorrow!” With that, she retreated into the room she had come from. John crossed the floor to his room, impressed with the space but not the furnishings. I’ll get a big desk for my PC, some posters maybe. Definitely getting a T.V. in here too.

Leaving the barrier and the room, he took the elevator down to the second sublevel. The training room they had used a couple days ago was on this floor, and sure enough, entering it revealed her furiously attacking the training dummy.

“Hey Abigail!” John called, waving to her. Apparently he had taken her off guard, as a spout of flame shot into the dummy’s torso. “I’ve got something to show you.”

“What is it?” she called back, wiping her hands with a cloth that hung off the arm of the scorched object. He approached, settling into his defensive stance a few feet in front of her.

“I got a new ability, so let’s spar. Nothing too serious, but I want you to try to attack me.” John charged Intercepting Strike, watching her movements. Her face lit up at his request, and she aligned her centerline with his. It was a different stance than the one she usually fought in, because her fighting style revolved around exploiting her unique ability and redirecting an opponent’s ****.

She tensed up, palm sailing toward him. He recognized the oncoming attack, and went into motion, Intercepting Strike helping him along. She recoiled as instead of her palm impacting his cheek, as she expected, he booped her nose. “What? But how did you?” His shit-eating grin both confused and irritated her as he slowly backed away, satisfied with this test of his abilities.

“Again!” she demanded, realigning herself with him. He readied the technique once more, and she rushed forward to strike. This time, his ability caught nothing more than her feint as he brought his guard up to intercept a false attack, feeling her foot slam into his stomach.

“So that’s how you want to play it, huh?” He wasn’t surprised by this turn of events - she was a much more experienced fighter after all - but nonetheless wanted to continue fighting.

“Again!” he was the demanding one this time, eager to effectively incorporate this technique into his casual fighting. She rushed at him, and he sidestepped her feint, catching her open-palm thrust with Intercepting Strike. Her elbow blocked his fist before the blow could be properly delivered, and he brought up his other arm to block the chop to his head.

He leapt back, disentangled from her. “How am I doing so far? I haven’t really had the chance to train with another unarmed fighter like me.”

“I’ve developed my skills for my whole life and you are only just training your abilities but you’re still this good… I’m pretty excited,” she concluded, a cocky smile on her face. They faced each other once more, both ready to strike.