— Commander Rodrik Vael, notice posted in the Ironguard Barracks
Emily had some experience with guns. Her father had shown her how to fire a hunting rifle once, but that was years ago. And she had been on the receiving end of a few guns before, though she didn’t like to think back on those moments. It almost felt like a rite of passage now that she was finally learning how to shoot back.
She followed Mina one afternoon to where she would begin practicing. She had expected something more traditional, like an open field, maybe, or a shooting range with little targets set up in a row. Instead, Mina led Emily back up to the elven ruins she had converted into a training ground. From this high up, she could see everything, and Emily knew that when the first gunshot rang out, it would echo through the entire valley.
“Um, Mina?” Emily said as they arrived. “We’re doing it here?”
Mina simply nodded. She had a rifle slung over her shoulder.
“Isn’t everyone in the valley going to hear us?”
“I got permission and put a notice in the town square. No one’s going to panic.”
That was what Emily had been worried about. In Peccatum, gunshots were as common as coughing. Out here though, Emily wasn’t so sure the people were used to it. She didn’t want to scare anyone into thinking there was some sort of attack going on. But if they all knew, it should be fine.
Mina had decorated the elven ruins with targets. Some were circular and hung from old railings and overhanging tree branches. The rest were comprised of wooden training dummies.
Emily looked over to one of the further targets hanging from a low branch. “How about I hit that one first.”
Mina raised an eyebrow. “If you’re that confident.”
Emily gave her a sly grin, and walked over to it. A hard slap sent it twirling out of control. She then turned back with a proud smile on her face. “Done.”
Mina stared back, unammused.
“Hey, I didn’t specify ‘with a gun.’” She walked back confidently.
Mina took a long, deep inhale. “Fine. You hit the rest of them ‘with a gun’ you’ll get your massage too. You miss more than five, you’re running three laps around Star Lake, and then you’re polishing my weapons.”
Emily looked around at the two dozen or so targets hanging around. “Can I… practice first?”
Mina smirked slightly, and drew her revolver. “We’re starting with handguns today.” She held it out, but just as Emily reached for it, Mina pulled it back. “First, you need to know how to hold one.”
Emily crossed her arms. “Okay, I’m not that inexperienced. I know how to hold a gun.”
Mina raised an eyebrow.
“…Okay, maybe not properly, but I do know how.”
Mina twirled the revolver once in her palm before gripping it properly. She stepped closer, holding it up for Emily to see. “Watch,” she said and started running through the basics; how to grip the handle properly, and how to keep her index finger resting outside the trigger guard until she was ready to fire. She showed her how to release the cylinder, reload the rounds, and cock the hammer back with her thumb. Mina then handed Emily one of the bullets to look over. It was silver-tipped with a bronze casing.
“Silver bullets?” Emily asked.
“Silver disrupts magic, and Monsters are full of it. So when they’re touched by silver it’s like getting a splinter under the skin, forcing the magic out. That’s why it burns them, and why their wounds don’t heal right. It’s a balance. While magic runs hot, silver cools it.” She held her hand out, and Emily gave her the bullet back. It turned over in her palm, and Emily raised an eyebrow. Despite the silver tip sizzling against her skin, she didn’t so much as flinch.
Mina loaded the bullet into the revolver, and, in one fluid motion, snapped it shut, and raised it toward a distant target.
BANG!
The shot rang out, startling Emily as a chunk of wood splintered from the target’s edge. Mina barely reacted. She flicked open the cylinder, letting the empty casing fall to the ground with a quiet clink, then handed the revolver to Emily.
“Now you try.”
Emily hesitated before taking the gun. She followed Mina’s instructions carefully, loading the weapon, holding it with both hands and pulling the hammer back with her thumb. When the gun clicked, she knew it was ready to fire.
Emily took a deep breath and raised it, aiming for the closest target.
“Steady,” Mina said.
Emily adjusted her stance, but her arms wobbled slightly. Even after all her resting, she was still regaining her strength. Still, she pushed through it. This was a real gun, her next big step toward becoming a monster hunter. She had imagined what this moment would feel like. Powerful. Maybe invigorating. But as her finger rested on the trigger, all she felt was fear. She had seen what guns could do. Holding that power in her hands made her heart race.
“Arms straight.”
Emily adjusted.
Mina nudged her foot with her boot. “Keep your feet planted.”
Emily nodded and inhaled deeply. She aimed, and…
BANG!
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
The gun kicked back harder than she expected. Her heart jumped into her throat. Her shot went wide, hitting a tree trunk several feet away from the target.
For a second, she just stood there, stunned. Then, slowly, a smile crept across her face. “This still counts as practice, right?”
Mina held out another bullet. “Try again.”
Emily took it and reloaded, flexing her fingers. “It feels weird,” she admitted. “Like… my hands are all fuzzy.”
“You’ll get used to it. Try again.”
Emily steadied herself and took another shot.
BANG!
She hit the tree just below the target. Bits of bark splintered off.
“A little better,” Mina said, handing Emily a handful of bullets this time. “Keep going.”
She missed the next shot. Then the one after. And the one after that. The longer she held the gun, the heavier it felt. Her arms ached from the recoil. She needed more muscle for this.
Mina must have noticed because, without a word, she stepped behind Emily and placed her hands over hers.
Emily stiffened. Her face felt warm.
Mina’s grip was firm, her palms rough with callouses. She didn’t force Emily’s aim, just corrected it, guiding her into a steadier position. “Now.”
Emily took a breath, steadied her grip, and fired.
BANG!
The bullet struck the target dead center.
Emily stared. “I actually hit it?”
Mina stepped back. “Good job.”
“But you helped me.”
Mina shrugged. “You still hit it.”
Emily looked at the gun in her hands and smiled.
Emily had been at it for what felt like hours.
Her arms ached, her hands were sore, and her ears were still ringing from the last shot. But despite her exhaustion, she was grinning. This was more fun than she had expected. She was missing more than she hit, but every time she landed a shot, Mina would nod and say, “Good” and every single time, it made Emily feel a little more confident. Thankfully, the wind wasn’t as big of a problem as she had worried. The ruin walls helped block some of the airflow that might have otherwise disrupted the targets.
After Emily had spent a few dozen rounds, Mina took back the revolver, and flipped it in her palm before holstering it in one smooth motion. “You’re not terrible,” she admitted. “But a still target is still easier to hit than a moving one. When your aim improves, we’ll move on to things like that and quickdrawing.”
Emily blinked. “Quickdrawing?”
Mina answered by drawing her gun so fast that Emily barely saw it happen.
The bang echoed through the air, and when Emily looked, the bullet had struck the center of a wooden dummy.
Emily’s mouth fell open. “How the hell—?”
“It’s a good technique when something rushes you,” Mina explained as if she hadn’t just performed something near-impossible. “You won’t always have time to aim properly. Sometimes, half a second is the difference between walking away and bleeding out in the dirt. A charging boar, a maniac with a knife, a ghoul, it doesn’t matter. If something’s coming at you, quick drawing lets you put a bullet in it before it reaches you.”
Emily glanced over at the two other guns Mina had propped against the nearby wall. “But with a rifle you can hit something from really far away.”
“That’s right.” Mina lifted the rifle. “These are mostly for hitting something further away, but you can also use it against flying monsters.”
“I know a bit more about these,” Emily explained. “My dad showed me how to fire one… once.”
“Then I’ll refresh you.”
Mina ran through everything just like how she had with the revolver. When she finally fired in a demonstration, the crack hit Emily like a punch to the chest. The gun didn’t just look heavier, it sounded heavier. The target Mina hit was too far away for Emily to reasonably see, but she knew Mina had hit it. “Distance is the most efficient way to deal with monsters,” she said. “If you can kill something before it knows you’re there, that’s the best outcome.”
She gestured for Emily to take the weapon.
Emily hesitated, then grabbed it. She nearly groaned at how heavy it was. “Gods, does it have to be this weighty?”
“Easier to use lying down,” Mina said. “Kicks harder too, but you’ll get used to it.”
“The targets will be way easier to hit with this.”
“With enough practice.”
A grin slowly stretched across Emily’s face. “I bet I can do it without.”
“Don’t even start.” Mina rolled her eyes.
“I hit one target with it, and you let me see your room.”
“Not happening.”
“At least let me try once.”
Mina crossed her arms, then sighed and gestured for Emily to go ahead.
She lay prone against the ancient stone floor and propped the rifle against the limestone. She took her time lining up the sights with a distant target. It wasn’t too far away this time. Emily inhaled deeply, and…
BANG!
The recoil slammed into her shoulder like a hammer.
Emily yelped, rolling onto her side as she clutched her arm. “Ow!”
“Told you it kicks harder.”
“I think it just dislocated my shoulder,” Emily groaned, rubbing at the sore spot.
Mina crouched next to her and felt it. “You’re fine. You’ll get used to it.”
“You keep saying that.” Emily rolled onto her back, staring up at the darkening sky.
“Because it’s true.”
Emily didn’t answer, and simply let out a tired sigh. Her stomach growled.
“Hungry?”
“You could say that, yeah,” she chuckled.
“Shame you won’t be getting anything.”
Emily lifted her head, and stared up at Mina’s imposing figure. “You burned it all, didn’t you?”
Mina crossed her arms. “No, you won’t be getting anything to eat until we’re done. You still need to hit every target, like you said.”
“Thought I had to be inside before dark?”
“I’m with you, aren’t I?”
Emily shuddered at the sudden prospect. She had gotten so distracted with the practice that she had actually forgotten about the bet. The sky was darkening, with the last threads of daylight reflecting off Star Lake’s surface. Emily’s gaze darted toward the water as unease churned in her gut. The targets weren’t the problem, she knew she’d hit most of them, but the thought of running around the lake in the dark sent a shiver down her spine. She was already tired, she wasn’t going to survive that.
Emily pushed herself to her feet and brushed her palms. She squared her shoulders and met Mina’s steady gaze. “I’ve got this.”
Mina silently handed Emily the revolver and a handful of bullets. “Fifteen targets. One shot to hit each. Miss five, and you’re running around the lake all night.”
Emily swallowed hard as she loaded the gun. Her arms were already sore, but she knew she could push through it. Raising the revolver, her eyes narrowed on the first target, the closest one. The wooden disc was maybe fifty yards out, and already had a few holes in it from earlier. She aligned the sights. Her arms trembled slightly, but she locked them, exhaling slowly. She pulled the trigger, and splinters exploded from the target.
Emily breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to the second one, and hit that one as well. The third and fourth targets were also easier to hit. The fifth was further. She squinted, adjusting her stance, and fired. The shot went wide, the bullet kicking up dirt beyond the target. Her stomach twisted, but she forced herself to move on. Six, seven, eight, she hit them all. The ninth was a miss. She cursed under her breath, her heart pounding harder.
“You’re doing good,” Mina said calmly.
Emily’s arms shook as the soreness settled in. She missed the tenth, but hit the eleventh. The revolver was feeling heavier with each shot. The twelfth was a near miss, the bullet grazing the edge of the target, but Mina said it counted. She nailed the thirteenth target, then missed the fourteenth. Emily’s breath hitched as she turned to the last target. It was set at the farthest edge of the makeshift range, small enough that she wasn’t sure how she’d manage to hit it. She had been hoping to hit the fourteenth target and guarantee her victory, but now she had no choice but to attempt it.
“Remember, firm stance,” Mina said.
“It’s not like its the hardest one to hit…”
“You’re doing good. You can do it.”
Emily nodded, blinking sweat from her eyes. She adjusted her grip, and slowly raised the revolver. Her heart slammed against her ribs. One shot. One chance. Emily took a long, deep breath to steady her aim. She put her finger over the trigger, exhaled, and pulled it…
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