Overwhelming Firepower

Lucen started thinking about what skill to unlock. This made him feel like he was back in his old room, looking through forums on how to make the best build for a character.

Unfortunately, there were no forums about his gun mage character, as the skill choices were different from the ones he remembered this character had.

Still, even this process had a kind of old-school charm to it. Picking a skill based solely on instinct without knowing if it would synergize with later skills.

Despite his body being in great pain, he was actually enjoying thinking about what skill to unlock. As for the one skill point he gained, he already knew which skill he would be placing it into.

’Since I’m still thinking about what skill to unlock, I’d better use my skill point now.’

Lucen did not hesitate as he selected Gun Knowledge and used his skill point. The second he did so, the gun knowledge skill upgraded from novice to Intermediate.

A lot of knowledge came flooding into Lucen’s mind, but due to the physical pain he was already feeling, the pain from the torrent of information wasn’t much.

The torrent of knowledge was dizzying. Blueprints, measurements, the metallic scent of gun oil, even the echo of unseen firing ranges rattled inside his skull. Revolvers, bolt-action rifles, Gatling guns, his head spun with possibilities.

He now had complete knowledge of guns up to 1900. That means he also has knowledge about things like steam engines, since there were some people who made guns with that knowledge.

Unfortunately, there was nothing in there about tanks. Still, he now had knowledge about how to make things like Gatling guns.

’With this much new knowledge, and with magic, maybe I can turn this world into something like a steampunk world now.’

Lucen was immersed in the gun knowledge he acquired and noticed something. ’Dam,n some of these guns can’t be made with the current level of our blacksmiths. It would be better if we had dwarves present. With those guys, any weapon, even weapons that I could only imagine, can be created.’

Lucen remembered that in this game, the best weapons were created by dwarves. Still, the dwarves he knew only appeared mid-game after the Rocton Empire started attacking the neighboring countries in earnest.

The emperor in the mid-game changed into one who advocated human supremacy. So the vassal kingdoms that had other races changed their treatment of non-human races, forcing many races to run to different countries.

’I wonder... Maybe there are already dwarves somewhere in Norvaegard. Still, dwarves are a proud race; they were not just craftsmen but warriors. Based on what I remember about them in this game. They liked the barbarians better than those living in kingdoms and empires. I guess that makes sense since the non-human policies of the Rocton Empire have exploited them.’

The dwarves in this game had great similarities to Tolkien’s dwarves. So they would most likely either live underground or near mountains.

”I guess I can hire somebody to search for them, or maybe Robert of Father already knows where they are...” Lucen muttered under his breath. ”I’ll ask them when I get the chance.”

Lucen stopped thinking about the dwarves and once again focused on what kind of skills he should unlock.

’Okay, I at least know I’ll unlock one active skill and one passive skill. First, let’s see the Active skills.’

Lucen once again read all the active skills and what they could do.

’Hm... Elemental Bullet is pretty useful and is a diverse ability, but the same thing could be said of Rune Engraved Bullet. One skill is powered by mana, and I can control the element I can use. While the other is based on luck, it gives out status effects that might help against powerful enemies, and since it’s random, they won’t see it coming, since I don’t even know what will be coming.’

Lucen then shifted his attention to the last Active skill.

’The last available active skill, recoil step. It’s a good skill that could help in dodging. It can also be used to charge an opponent and catch him by surprise. The first two skills add diversity and enhance my firepower. The last one, a movement skill, is good for maneuverability. Now what to pick...’

Lucen thought hard about what to pick, since he wasn’t sure if he would get the same choices later on.

’If I use it well enough, maybe I can recreate the Recoil Step by using Elemental Bullet. Like creating a small explosion to propel myself in any direction I want. Since the gun creation skill makes the weapon incredibly durable, this might actually work.’

He pictured a low-yield flame round detonating just after it left the barrel, the backwards force timed to a step, careful, predictable, repeatable.

It would eat mana, sure, and require exact blast geometry, but with his new Gun Knowledge and his marksmanship skill, the math for blast vectors seemed doable.

’Heh, if I had this system back in my past life, I wouldn’t have taken a bachelor’s in arts course, and instead would have taken something from the bachelor of science.’

Lucen had finally convinced himself and unlocked the Elemental Bullet skill.

[Skill Unlocked: Elemental Bullet – Active (Novice)]

Bullets may now be imbued with elemental mana (Fire / Water / Earth / Wind / Lightning).

Element strength, area, and stability scale with mana invested.

’Okay, now that I have chosen my active skill, it’s time to pick a passive skill.’

Lucen checked the passive skills, and unlike the active skills, there were more of them.

’Kill zone seems incredibly useful, especially thinking about the future when there will be more wars going around. Still, if it came to the point that I’m the only one left facing multiple opponents, it means I already failed. Still, it might be useful if I’m facing assassins attacking me when I’m alone. It increases my dexterity and agility depending on how many opponents are attacking me, that’s kinda OP, especially since this is most likely at the Novice level, imagine when I have it in the highest level... Also, thinking about a last stand seems kinda badass.’

Lucen started thinking about every other scenario in which he would need to face multiple opponents at once.

’Eagle eye, this skill increases the range of any firearm and also increases clarity at distant targets, even with poor visibility. Now, if I use this in tandem with my marksmanship skills, I might become someone like that sniper girl from that Virtual Reality death game anime. There’s also that Simo Häyhä, the white death, he’s cool. Anyway, snipers in any genre are pretty badass, killing enemies without even being seen.’

Lucen then shifted his attention to the next skill before he started geeking out about other snipers he remembers.

’Iron Sights… hmm. Steadies both body and mind while aiming, even helps resist fear, charm, or illusion. That’s nice, but I already have Dragonkiller’s Resolve for fear, and Acting Adept for illusions if I roleplay hard enough. Charm resistance, though... Yeah, that could be handy if some succubus or manipulative noblewoman tries anything. Still feels redundant, though.’

His eyes slid down to Suppressive Presence.

’This one’s like killing intent or bloodlust. Every shot makes enemies hesitate, instinctively flinch. I don’t even need to hit them. The sound of my gunfire becomes a weapon. This thing is good for psychological warfare. It would work if the opponents are intelligent enough, but against monsters it might not be as effective.’

Lucen then looked at the final passive skill he could unlock.

’Cold Focus... Now this one only works in a chaotic battlefield. The more chaotic, the more fear, the more panic, everyone else becomes, the calmer and more precise I become. There’s also the added bonus of accuracy and mana efficiency, and it scales to the chaos surrounding me... This can also be achieved using Acting Adept, and depending on what character I’m using, but it won’t have the same bonus of mana efficiency and accuracy. This might also pair nicely with RELEASE, which drains my stamina, mana, and aura at the same time.’

Lucen closed his eyes to focus more on his thoughts. Unlike the active skills, which were only three, these ones each had great advantages that the others can’t replicate. There’s also the fact that most of these skills can synergize with his existing skills.

’So my choices are epic last stand ability, me against dozens or hundreds. Becoming a sniper legend, killing enemies before they even know I’m there. Turning into a Psychological terror that messes with people’s heads. Or becoming an efficient killing machine. What to choose, all of them seem like good choices.’

Lucen opened his eyes, his eyes practically burning with irritation. ”Tch, why can’t I just choose all of them? Why can’t my system be something like the one in Skyrim, which I can basically max out everything?”

Lucen once again looked at all the passive skills, and after much frustrating deliberation, he narrowed it down to two options.

’So it’s either a killing zone or Cold Focus. Both of these skills are great, and they become more powerful the more enemies there are. Killing zone would work even if I’m not alone, and the enemies are focusing their intent on me. As for Cold Focus, it can work either way as long as the battlefield is chaotic enough. Now the question is, which is better, the increase in agility and dexterity or the increase in mana efficiency and accuracy?’

Lucen thought about it for a long while, and he finally reached a verdict.

’After thinking about it for a bit, it’s obvious that between these two, one benefits me the most based on my style of fighting. Then I choose you!’ Lucen then picked one passive skill.