The World Dragon's Heir-Chapter 34: Mana Revolver

There was only one problem with having created a Rare Quality Magic item with perfectly balanced stats. Nobody he knew could even afford to buy it. It was a nice notion to give it to his new friend, but in the city, that gun was worth more than the farm they were staying on, and not just by a little bit.

Dominic wasn’t flat broke anymore after the trip with the caravan, and he would be getting his share of the bounty from the Goblin Ears, but a Rare Quality magical pistol was so ridiculously valuable that it hurt the heart to even think of giving such a thing away.

But he didn’t know how to use it. Well, in theory he did, but he hadn’t trained in it.

Not just that, but his Core Skill wasn’t related to gun slinging, and he didn’t own any other magitech orbs or skill gems that would help him to target. It would just be a waste to use it himself.

So, he was left with a dilemma. Should he return to the Mayor to arrange the auction of the newly crafted weapon, or should he try to work out a deal with Bella?

It wasn’t an easy answer, at least not when he was looking at a single piece of adventurer’s gear that could buy him a farm or a simple life like Pops had, making tools in the city in a smithy that he owned outright.

Of course, getting a shop was the easy part. Getting customers was much more difficult, and many shops closed down every year after their clientele was drawn away by a new business opening somewhere else in the city.

Plus, the air in the big city was terrible. The only thing it had going for it was the fact that the people with all the money lived there.

This was a whole new experience for Dominic. Everything that he had scrounged, made and sold in his whole life wasn’t worth what he could make from one item made with a lucky recipe drop as an apprentice Blacksmith.

As he understood it, from his family’s intensive tutoring as a child before tragedy had befallen his family and he had been chased off by the invading soldiers, the drops were a result of the Monster Binding Tower, a magitech device somewhere in the world that rewarded those who killed the threats to humanity.

Ironically, while he wouldn’t get a drop item from human bandits, there was an excellent chance that he would give them one if they killed him. It was completely unfair in Dominic’s estimation, but that was how things were, and the majority of monsters, such as the Goblins, were a menace to everyone.

Then a sudden realization came to him. He didn’t have to stop at just one pistol. He had the plan, and he had more materials, so he could make another.

But if he remembered right, Pops had said that you couldn’t buy Rare Quality items with coins, you had to trade valuables for them. Perhaps he would be able to get more plans from the sale if he made another that came out at Rare Quality.

But that would have to wait, he had been up all night, and he didn’t know what everyone else had planned for the day.

Bella came out while Dominic was considering what to do, only to stop and stare at the pistol sitting on the table by the forge.

"Is that what you were doing all night? It’s beautiful. And powerful. What sort of core are you going to mount into the butt of the handle?" She whispered, as if speaking too loudly would make it disappear.

"I’m not sure. I don’t actually have any enhancement gems, and I don’t have a recipe to make any of the relevant combat trinkets. In fact, I have never shot a pistol in my life." Dominic explained.

"So, the first real recipe that you got as an apprentice blacksmith was for a gunsmith, and it’s a weapon that you can’t even use properly? That’s the strangest thing that I have ever heard of. Normally, the rewards are focused on the things that you need."

Bella’s confused look was rather entertaining, so Dominic handed her the pistol. "Here, tell me if that works properly, and if it’s balanced correctly. I mean, I think it is, but since I’m not an expert, I can’t guarantee anything."

Bella gave the weapon an expert spin on her palm, and then popped the cylinder open before pausing and smiling.

"You can reload it with mana. Just a single mana for six shots. Do you have any idea how much that will save on ammunition? They’re a copper coin a shot when you buy in bulk. Most of the time, I barely break even after restocking on ammunition for the month. Then there are all the enchantments that are already on it, and it doesn’t even have a core in the socket yet." She whispered reverently.

There was a noise outside, and the barking of the guard dogs, which caused Bella to race outside to see what the problem was.

There were foxes at the edge of the farm, going for the chicken coops, and they weren’t scared of the guard dogs. Instead, part of the fox pack was distracting the guard dogs, while the rest of their group looked for a way to get at the chickens.

Bella fired a single shot, and the closest Fox spouted fire from a hole in its head for an instant before falling dead.

The sound of the gun startled the other foxes, and they bolted for the tree line. Their agility was impressive, but they weren’t fast enough to escape Bella, who worked the pistol with blinding speed, firing over and over, then pausing for a split second while she reloaded, and firing again.

In a matter of seconds, eight foxes lay dead, and an overjoyed Bella was cradling the pistol as if it were her firstborn child.

Asking her for it back now was likely to break her heart, so Dominic did the next best thing.

He suggested payment.

"You know, I would be willing to sell that if you have something that’s worth it in trade." He suggested, expecting the Mystic Gunslinger to pass back the valuable weapon.

But instead, her eyes lit up in joy, and she ran into the house.

That was not at all what Dominic had been expecting, so he followed the dark haired young woman into the small farmhouse, where the smell of pancakes and frying bacon filled the air.

"Hey old man, there are eight foxes out there that need cleaned and skinned. I’ll help you in a minute, I need to get something out of the safe." Bella was calling, while Wiz’s dad laughed at her stumbling steps.

She had kicked her boots off at the door, but she hadn’t slowed down to regain her footing, and she was doing her best just to remain upright. It was like a slow motion train wreck as she staggered across the house and into the wall, where she bounced off and turned into her and Wiz’s bedroom.

Wiz’s startled shout was followed by a thump and a curse, while his parents laughed.

"The safe is under her bed, you see. It looks like everyone is up bright and early today." Wiz’s father joked as the burly Crusader made his way out of the room in a hastily donned set of trousers held up by suspenders.

"Bloody madwoman. What did you do to her? She used to be somewhat sane in the morning." Wiz complained.

"I’ll explain later. I think your mom has bacon ready." Dominic deflected.

"Don’t think that I’m going to forget. You owe me an explanation for whatever was so important that I was tossed out of bed this early in the morning. The food’s not even ready yet."

Bella came running back out and pulled Wiz into a hug.

"He made one. I never thought I’d find one out here, and we both know that only a Noble can get one in the city, but he made one, all by himself." Bella explained, without actually explaining what she was talking about.

Wiz understood right away.

"A Rare Quality Pistol? Bullshit, there’s no way that’s what he got as a recipe drop from a Goblin." Wiz retorted.

Bella placed the pistol on the table, along with two scrolls and a fistful of Enhancement Cores.

"These might not be quite the equal, but it’s everything that I have." Bella explained.

[Common Gunsword Recipe]

[Uncommon Cogwork Plate Armour Recipe]

[Enhancement Gems] mana recovery, spell power, endurance

[Magitech Orb] Minor Skill Gain Rate Increase

Now, those items individually wouldn’t add up to anything close to the value of the Rare Pistol. But it looked like these were all duplicates of the ones that Bella was using for herself, which made for a balanced and potent combination of enhancements.

Unfortunately for Dominic, the only sockets that he had on his equipment to mount them were on his necklace, which now held [Minor Illusion] and the [Blacksmithing] Trade Skill Core. He was going to have to improve his equipment to something better so he could actually use the enhancements that he needed in combat.

There should be some drops in his Inventory Cube, Dominic hoped. He hadn’t actually sorted through it after the fights yesterday, but the Goblins usually dropped a load of trash that would end up in the recycle piles in the city. Sometimes that trash had something good, though. A few mechanical bits, a damaged universal socket that he could fix and resell, or even a few coins hidden in pockets that weren’t sorted by the Cube until you checked them.

A quick search showed him what he had been hoping to find. There was a socketed item in the pile of junk that the goblins had given him. It was a nonmagical item, a leather bracer, but it had two spots for enhancement cores to be fitted into.

But then, he also had quite a bit of scrap iron and copper from the Goblins, as everyone else left it behind as worthless, and he now had an armour recipe.

It didn’t look like he would be getting any sleep today after all.