Overwhelming Firepower
Chapter 28: Around the campfire

Chapter 28: Around the campfire

Moments before Lucen woke up, Knight Garett was patrolling the area. As he was walking around, he heard some of the soldiers and mercenaries talking to one another.

"Is it true that the young master gave the finishing blow to the dragon?" One soldier asked.

"Yeah, the little leader used the powder you put into those sticks of yours and blew it up in the dragon’s wound. If that wasn’t enough, when it was trying to get up, he used a spell that made a similar explosion but a little weaker. The dragon could not stand up after one strike." A mercenary responded.

"Our young master, really did all that?"

"Yeah, everyone here at that time would tell you the same thing. No one would dare try to take the little leader’s credit."

Listening to their conversation, Garett looked at the giant dragon being dismantled, and still could not believe the tales. Their once sickly young master was able to defeat a dragon, even though it was young and wounded.

"Tell us about those sticks of yours? What are they?" A mercenary asked.

"Sorry, can’t tell you much since this is a secret. But I can tell you that this is the young master’s creation."

"The little leader made that thing?"

The mercenary asked. Even though Lucen had shown them one incredible thing after another, learning that he could not only fight but was also good at creating things was something else.

Even Garett and his fellow knight Roland were truly surprised when they saw the performance of the arquebus.

’That weapon was able to pierce through the thick hide of the Frosthorn Alpha. That would mean it had the power of a second mantle aura user. To think that is a weapon anyone could use.’

It was quite a good weapon indeed, but it wasn’t good enough for an aura user to use. The benefits of using something that needs to be reloaded for every shot, and it takes at least a full twenty seconds to do it, were not ideal in an aura user’s battle, especially if you’re above the second mantle.

Against first mantle aura users, the arquebus could work if they were caught by surprise, but if they knew what to expect, they could potentially dodge the shot with enough focus. Of course, it changes if there are a lot of people firing the arquebuses.

’Hm, maybe we can ask the young master to create a similar weapon, but one tailored for aura users.’

Garett liked that idea and decided to ask Lucen when he had the chance. As he was approaching Lucen’s tent, four people were waiting for him. They were his fellow knight, Roland, the mercenaries, Harlik, Mark, and Renz.

"You’re going to see if the little leader is awake?" Harlik, as the representative of the mercenaries, asked.

"Yes, are you all coming to see if the young master is feeling better?" Garett asked, and the others nodded their heads. "Then let’s see how the young master is doing."

As the group of people got near Lucen’s tent, they heard two people talking.

"So that’s the ability you gained after bathing in dragon’s blood? Enhance regeneration of the body, that’s interesting, so did you inherit other draconic traits?"

"Unfortunately, no, aside from the enhanced regeneration, my body did get a little bit stronger, but not that much."

"So all that effort... Just for that? Hmph, I guess it’s better than nothing." Robert shrugged his shoulders.

"I think that the effect of dragon’s blood is different for everybody, and it’s a matter of luck. Oh, right, I also learned something new. It’s possible to eat monster meat, but it has toxins in it that are somewhat poisonous."

"That’s nothing new, everybody already knows that. Which is why no one eats monster meat."

"But did you know, aside from the poison, you gain something else? When I ate the glacier hare’s meat, even though I was poisoned a little, I also gained some resistance to the frost. It wasn’t that noticeable, but I have a way to sense such things. Seeing as it wasn’t noticeable at first glance, it’s obvious that other people who tried wouldn’t be able to tell that they got something else aside from poison."

"Hoh, that is interesting. So you gain such enhancements when eating monster meat."

"Yes, that’s why I want to try and figure out a way to remove the toxins, so we can only gain the benefits from the monster meat."

"I wonder if there’s a similar effect if you drink a monster’s blood." Robert took out the vial he had that had the dragon’s blood.

"That’s what I want to know as well." Lucen looked at the vial in Robert’s hand with interest.

"Want to try drinking it?" Robert asked.

When the conversation was starting to head into a dangerous sounding situation, the group entered the tent. Inside the tent, the group saw that Lucen and Robert were looking at the vial filled with dragon blood.

Garett quickly did a knight’s salute, and so did Robert. The mercenary trio did not try to copy the knights and simply nodded their heads.

"Knight Garett has seen the young master."

"Knight Roland has seen the young master." The two knights spoke one after the other.

"It’s good to see you well, little leader." Harlik greeted Lucen.

"Well, you’re upright and talking. Guess that means I can continue to fulfill my oath," Mark chimed in.

"Little leader! I did a good job, right? I brought back the people you requested." Renz, the youngest of the mercenaries, who was also a decade older than Lucen, spoke excitedly.

"I recognize you, Knight Garett, Knight Roland." Lucen stood up and responded with a knight’s bow. He then shifted his attention to the mercenaries.

"It seems that you guys are doing better than I," Lucen said with a smile on his face. He then looked at the happily smiling Renz. "Thank you, Renz, because of you, we survived."

Seeing the grateful appearance of Lucen, Renz felt embarrassed and scratched his head. After he was done greeting those who entered the tent, Lucen’s attention shifted back to the dragon’s blood.

"So let’s try drinking this. Come on, hand it over." Lucen gestured for Robert to give him the vial, but Garett interrupted him.

"Young master, I have something to report."

"What is it, Knight Garett?"

"We have captured several spies, who were observing us. What should we do with them?"

When Lucen heard Garett had captured spies, he looked at Harlik. "Have you seen the spies?"

"Yeah, I helped in capturing several of them."

"Were some of the spies the people who hired you to kidnap me?"

The second Lucen said those words, Garett and Roland reacted violently. They did not speak but glared at Harlik. They were about to strike at the mercenaries, but before they could move, Lucen signalled them to stop.

"They’re no longer an enemy, and as you have seen, they’re already under my command. So stand down."

Lucen, who had been fighting for four days with the mercenaries, made his commands sound like they had true weight.

The two knights released the grip on their weapons and slightly bowed their heads.

"We apologize, young master." The two spoke in almost perfect unison.

"Hoh, they were going to capture you. So, can I use them for experiments?" Robert asked.

Lucen glanced at the excited Robert and shook his head before replying, "Not for now."

"They’re just meat with secrets." Robert insisted.

"I said not now," Lucen replied firmly.

He turned back to Harlik. "So are any of them the ones who hired you?"

"Yeah. Recognized two of them right away."

Lucen nodded. "Garett, have you begun interrogation?"

"No, young master. We secured them, but nothing more. If you wish, we will find out exactly who had the audacity to try and kidnap you."

Lucen thought about it for a second, since he did not really have any interrogation skills, he should let the experts do it.

"Very well, go and find out who sent them and how many more of those rats are hiding in Ironhold. When we return to Ironhold, we’ll root out every rat hiding in the walls."

...

[STATUS WINDOW]

Name: Lucen Thornehart

Age: 12

Class: Gun Mage

Level: 6

Health: 560 / 630

Mana: 130 / 199

Aura: Awakened (No Mantle)

Mana Core: First Circle

SKILLS

• Bullet Creation – Active (Novice)

• Gun Creation – Active (Novice)

• Gun Knowledge – Passive (Novice)

• Marksmanship – Passive (Intermediate)

• Gun Kata – Passive (Novice)

• Alchemy – Passive (Novice)

• Battle Instinct – Passive (Novice)

• Regeneration – Passive (Novice)

TRAITS

• Thornehart Lineage (Dormant)

• Foreign Soul (Unique)

• Training Adept (Rare)

• Grit (Normal)

• Acting Adept (Rare)

• Dragonkiller’s Resolve (Epic)

BLESSINGS

• Ashen’s Vow – Duration: 17 Days (Varkun)

• Flame Forged Wrath – Duration: 32 Days (Kalderos)

• Veil of the Silent Moon – Duration: 22 Days (Velmira)