Overwhelming Firepower

The Martial God transferred Lucen to a hidden room within the temple. Lucen was surprised to see that there was a hidden passage in the nearly empty temple.

He had circled this temple several times before and never found any mechanism to hide such a passage.

What was hidden underground was several rooms, with one big room that looked similar to a dojo.

The training hall was far larger than the temple above. Its floor had been constructed from dark stone divided into perfectly even squares, while deep marks covered several of the walls.

Some resembled sword slashes, while others appeared to have been left behind by fists and palms.

When Lucen sat down on the bed, the Martial God left. Once he was alone, Lucen calmed himself down first. When his head was no longer hurting that much, he looked at the three screens in front of him.

Lucen examined the three skills carefully. Focused Barrage would be extremely useful against powerful enemies.

With his marksmanship, landing consecutive shots was not difficult. As long as he continued striking the same target, every bullet would become stronger than the last.

This was a very effective skill, especially against bosses and those who had ridiculous regeneration.

The only drawback was that Focused Barrage required him to maintain the attack without making a mistake. If his opponent forced him to miss, escaped his sight, or made him change targets, the accumulated power would disappear.

Still, that would be hard, as his marksmanship, battle instinct, gun knowledge, and gun kata skills make it difficult for him to miss a shot.

’Also, since the skill says hit, and there’s no specific indication of what kind of hit, that means it doesn’t have to be a gunshot; even a punch will work as long as I hit the same target.’

This was truly a skill that was meant to take down even a boss with impossibly high health.

He shifted his attention toward the next screen. Disruption Round was a skill similar to silence in other RPGs. Or was it more like the bullet used by the magician killer in that certain franchise?

Unlike the bullet from that series, however, Disruption Round did not appear to permanently damage the channels through which energy flowed. It merely disturbed the mana or aura being used by the target.

’Also, even though it’s not specifically in the description, since the bullet is able to disrupt energy, could it be used to penetrate mana barriers?’

The system’s descriptions did not always explain every possible application of a skill. Ricochet and Bullet Parry had both become far more versatile once Lucen experimented with them.

If Disruption Round destabilized mana upon contact, then it might weaken a magical barrier enough for the bullet to pass through. Even if it could not penetrate the barrier immediately, repeated shots might eventually cause the spell to collapse.

The same principle could possibly apply to weapons and armor reinforced with aura.

Lucen could not confirm any of those theories without acquiring the skill, but the potential alone made Disruption Round extremely tempting.

A single bullet capable of weakening defenses and interrupting abilities would be useful in almost any battle.

After considering its possibilities for a while, Lucen finally turned toward the last screen.

Aerial Arsenal possessed the simplest description among the three. It summoned magical rifles that floated around him. Once Lucen designated their targets, each rifle would automatically aim, fire a single mana-formed round, and disappear.

He had seen this kind of skill in several anime and games he had played before. Most of the time, it was in the form of swords raining down on someone.

The difference was that those weapons usually needed to descend upon their target. The rifles summoned by Aerial Arsenal did not.

They could float anywhere around Lucen, adjust their barrels toward the enemies he designated, and fire immediately. The mana-formed rounds would reach their targets far faster than swords falling from the sky.

Lucen imagined several rifles appearing behind him while he fought with his trench gun at hand. They could attack enemies attempting to surround him, cover his blind spots, or concentrate their fire upon a single opponent.

He could also position them above the battlefield and fire downward, making it difficult for enemies to hide behind ordinary cover.

The fact that each rifle disappeared after one shot initially appeared inconvenient. However, that meant the summoned weapons never needed to be reloaded. Lucen could simply replace one formation with another as long as he possessed enough mana.

There was no fixed limit to their number either. It might be possible to summon hundreds of rifles if he was willing to exhaust most of his reserves in one attack.

The image immediately appeared inside his mind. Hundreds of rifles materialized across the sky, each aimed toward the same enemy.

The moment Lucen lowered his hand, every rifle fired simultaneously and buried the battlefield beneath a rain of bullets.

’That would be f*cking cool!’

Despite getting excited about the idea, Lucen also realized the downsides of this skill. One of the problems was that he was unsure how powerful each rifle shot was going to be.

If the mana-formed rounds were significantly weaker than the bullets fired by his actual weapons, then the skill would only be effective against weaker enemies.

Firing a hundred rounds would appear impressive, but numbers would mean little if none of them could penetrate an opponent’s defenses. It would also be an enormous waste of mana.

Lucen was equally uncertain whether he could control the amount of mana placed into each rifle. If every weapon produced a round of fixed strength, then improving the skill’s proficiency might be the only way to increase their power.

There was also the question of whether his existing skills could affect the summoned rifles.

Could Elemental Bullet transform their ammunition?

Could Ricochet alter the trajectories of the mana-formed rounds?

Would Marksmanship improve their automatic aim, or would each rifle possess accuracy independent of his own?

Aerial Arsenal had the most unknown factors among the three skills.

Its mana consumption was another problem. There was no indication of how much mana a single use of the skill would consume.

Still, among the three skills presented to him, this one was the most versatile.

’Heh, I pretty much already decided, haven’t I... Now I’m just trying to convince myself.’ Lucen shook his head and released a quiet laugh.

Focused Barrage and Disruption Round were both excellent skills. Under different circumstances, he might have selected either one without hesitation.

However, neither of them was as versatile as Aerial Arsenal. ’Not to mention it would look f*cking cool as hell.’

Lucen reached toward the screen displaying Aerial Arsenal.

”I choose this one.”

[You have selected Aerial Arsenal.]

[You have acquired Aerial Arsenal.]

The other two screens disappeared. Knowledge concerning his new skill flowed into Lucen’s mind, teaching him how to summon the rifles, position them, designate their targets, and command them to fire.

The sudden influx of information caused his headache to worsen again. Lucen closed his eyes and waited until the pain subsided.

Once he felt a bit better, he looked toward the entrance of the training hall. He wanted to see what the Aerial Arsenal was like.

***

[STATUS WINDOW]

Name: Lucen Thornehart

Age: 20

Class: Gun Mage

Level: 45

Health: 191440 / 191440

Mana: 960 / 960

AP: 890 / 890

Aura: Awakened (3rd Mantle)

Mana Core: Third Circle

SKILLS

+ Bullet Creation – Active (Advanced)

+ Gun Creation – Active (Advanced)

+ Gun Knowledge – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Marksmanship – Passive (Advanced)

+ Gun Kata – Passive (Advanced)

+ Alchemy – Passive (Advanced)

+ Battle Instinct – Passive (Advanced)

+ Regeneration – Passive (Novice)

+ Flame Resistance – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Poison Resistance – Passive (Advanced)

+ RELEASE – Active (Intermediate)

+ Ricochet – Active (Intermediate)

+ Blacksmithing – Passive (Advanced)

+ Ice Resistance – Passive (Advanced)

+ Elemental Bullet – Active (Advanced)

+ Killing Zone – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Woodworking – Passive (Advanced)

+ Fear Resistance – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Unarmed Combat – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Bullet Parry – Active (Intermediate)

+ Suppressive Presence – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Explosive Bullet – Active (Intermediate)

+ Mental Resistance – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Curse Resistance – Passive (Novice)

+ Swordsmanship – Passive(Novice)

+ Archery – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Pressure – Active (Intermediate)

+ Unbound Demonic Stride - Active (Intermediate)

+ Aerial Arsenal - Active (Novice)

TRAITS

Thornehart Lineage (Dormant) Foreign Soul (Unique)

+ Training Adept (Rare)

+ Grit (Normal)

+ Acting Adept (Rare)

+ Dragonkiller’s Resolve (Epic)

+ To the one who had been given to (Legendary)

+ Battle-Crazed (Rare)

+ The one who perseveres (Legendary)

+ One who can speak to all (Rare)

BLESSINGS

+ Unyielding

+ The Blessing of Greater Flames

***

Lucen closed the status window and entered the training hall. He raised one hand and activated Aerial Arsenal.

Mana gathered above his shoulder, forming a rifle made from blue light. Its shape resembled a bolt-action weapon.

Lucen designated one of the older impact marks on the opposite wall and commanded the rifle to fire.

A sharp crack echoed through the chamber. The mana-formed round struck the stone, leaving a hole surrounded by spreading cracks. Then the rifle dissolved.

Lucen examined the damage. ’About as powerful as a rifle from the 1890s. Better than I expected for a novice skill.’

Then he imagined several hundred of those rifles firing together. A grin spread across his face.