Chapter 300: From the Beginning

"You mean that?" Barbo walked to get the revolver looking handgun and blew it off with dust.

"That's the one." Ned reached for the gun but was intentionally held by Barbo.

"Not so fast, Kid. This thing ain't working anymore without a power source?"

"You mean gunpowder?"

"Gunpo—what?"

"Nevermind." Ned tried to reach for the revolver once again, and this time Barbo gave it to him.

Unlike the one he has inside his inventory, the revolver from Barbo was fitting to Ned's hand.

Ned got the feeling that the revolver was a standard build with nothing much of a design. It has a wooden grip that perfectly fits Ned's hand. Instead of a cylinder*, there was this hollow inside, that to Barbo's surprise, Ned opened it with a push of a lock near his thumb. The inside was empty, but Ned got the feeling that this was where the ammunition goes in. The barrel was sleek, and was nearly a foot long, and made of silver metal, perhaps bronze as it changes color depending on the angle. It was rather light on Ned's hand. Not the best Ned had seen so far, but still, a revolver. In an era where gunpowder wasn't even known.

If I know how this thing works, I might build my own, Ned thought as he eyed the silver surface of the revolver. Ned doesn't want to feel excited but, he nearly threw a smile looking at the gun.

"You ask how this thing works?" Barbo began before holding his breath as though unable to understand Ned why he was eager to learn how the gun works. At last, Barbo explained. Not that the kid knows how it works, perhaps he was just fond of the weapon's unusual looks, or so he thought. "That range weapon works by merging both the battery's energy from the user. From what I've known, where it came from, they already built range weapons that merge both the user's mana and the gun's battery. Once working, heck, bows and crossbows were nothing but stones in front of a boulder."

According to Barbo, as per Ned's requests to learn more, the battery was equivalent to Earth's cartridges*. The one Ned looking at was a gun that shoots a blast of Wind energy. Barbo added, there were different types of guns, depending on the user's satisfaction. It ranges from guns that shoot fire bullets, water bullets, and terra bullets. There were also guns that if built by a Master Craftsman, could use nothing but just the mana of the user. Piercing everything as the bullet depends on the one using the gun.

As Barbo explained things to Ned, he caught how the smith whispers during his talking.

Ned had to ask but as Barbo seeing his confused face, Barbo explained why: "It's from the Empire of Ekan."

"Then why is that on the floor?"

"Well. That gun can't be used by anyone else but only its original user. You needed the same mana that fuels it for it to work. It also needs a battery. The battery was a stone filled with mana."

"You stole this?"

"Makers, no! Why would you say that?"

"Well. You're whispering, the gun was from the enemy of the Kingdom. And if I didn't stare long enough, it was difficult to find the gun."

"You brat. Fine. It wasn't stolen but was sold by a soldier from Ekan. But that was a long time ago, heck that man is dead."

"How'd you know that?"

"I was with pops when the soldier sold it to him."

Barbo explained things with his head shining from the light of the ceiling. Although the temperature inside the shop was rising high, Barbo was used to it that no sweat was leaving his forehead.

After Barbo explained, they left the room where he worked and led Ned to the front of the shop.

Outside, customers were checking for Barbo's assortment of weapons and armors.

"You gonna buy or what, kid?" Barbo glared at Ned, typical of shop owners looking at unwanted customers. "As you can see, I'm quite a busy man."

Ned wasn't sure if he should laugh, or grin at Barbo's statement. Ned was nearly an hour inside Barbo's shop, and in that hour, Barbo's shop only had two customers. Whereas, across his blacksmith shop was a merchant shop selling assortments of potions and armors, and was filled with shouting and laughing as the owner tends with customers coming and go.

"I want to learn more about this gun." So far, with Ned's instinct, Barbo seemed to be a man he can somewhat share information with, with just a little push, Ned might learn a thing or two on how this weapon works.

Aside from range weapons, Ned must have a close combat weapon at a ready. But what he was lacking was the gold. Twali gave him the entrance fee for the Hunter's Exam, but it wasn't enough to buy him a new weapon.

If things went south for Ned, he might start the Hunter's Exam with his bare hands. Given the situation, he might use the broken Butterfly to defend himself even if the rules say otherwise. But since the spatial inventory was scarce, he might attract unwanted attention if they found out he has items in his inventory.

To play it safe, he needed weapons hanging on his waist, heck, if he could find a bow he might as well use them. It wasn't like the hidden island of Abada whereas Ned would stall around the island and he could make weapons out of the things that scatter the island. Even if he could, his opponents might have something on their sleeves.

The rules say that during the Exam, no weapons were allowed. But that doesn't mean he won't have something to defend himself, and it wasn't sure if the 'no weapon rule' applied to the whole Exam or perhaps just to the finale.

Still, even with the Exam or not, Ned must have a weapon in a world where strength rules.

"Tch!" Barbo went to the two onlookers inside his shop. A moment of silence led to murmuring then when past the courtesy and Barbo and two onlookers threw cursing words with another.

Barbo went back to Ned looking red. Ned imagined Barbo like a raging bull with his baldness turning red as though popping smoke.

"You better make this worth my time, kid." Barbo waved to Ned to follow him back to the smithing room and cut a door to their right where Ned saw a kid in his 16 or 17, arranging tools clumsily.

"Mina!" Barbo pulled a chair and stared at Ned as though saying 'sit'. He then turned to face the kid, whom he called Mina. "This tiny kid here is our guest."

Tiny, Ned thought with curses following a question: Why did the Engineers make us tiny? They can add an additional inch or so.

Ned's body was still growing, last time he checked he was somewhere around 5'5" or 5'6". Although unconcerned, his height somewhat went 5'7". Although normal for his age, Barbo and the kid seemed to tower him by a couple of inches.

So calling him tiny wasn't a lie at all.

"Yosh! Uncle Bo!" Mina stood as he snapped the sole of his boots. "I'm going to tend the shop! In return, you teach the recipe on making that blade!"

"You! Fine... But choose only one: I teach you the Fencing Calamity recipe or your salary?"

"I want my salary, Uncle Bo!"

"Then scram, child!"

"Yosh!"

Mina, a tacky name for a blacksmith apprentice, was thinner than Ned. He might break a bone or two if he was left unchecked. His hair was yellow but with smoke, dust, and fumes it turned brown. He walked past Ned while he stomps his feet in a hurry. He was rather energetic for a sloth looking, kid.

Barbo stared at Ned. "How come you act out of your age? Look at my nephew, full of vigor. Too much, it ran to his head."

Shaking his head, Barbo got another chair and sat opposite Ned.

"Don't get me wrong." Barbo threw his back after pulling a wooden jug over the table and poured a cup of bubbling and foaming juice for Ned. "Seafoam Ale."

"You know I'm a kid?"

"My shop, my rules. Now drink. Don't let it go to waste. It's a seafarer's drink. I bought it from a newly established pub. Now. Drink."

Ned had no other choice. Drinking the Seafoam Ale, Ned remembered the sweetness followed by bitterness and satisfaction he happens to have during his time at the Time to Loot crew.

Guess, they're expanding, Ned thought and smiled inwardly.

"That's more like it! Here. More!"

After Barbo poured Ned another Seafoam Ale, his eyes looked past Ned's shoulder to check how was Mina doing.

"As I said, don't get me wrong. Some of my creations here, Mina helped."

Ned nodded and looked over to check the kid, Mina, that was seemed to be normal looking at first look.

"So... Do you want to know more about the weapon from the Empire? What are you, some kind of super tiny spy?"

Ned disregards Barbo's other statement. "How much will it cost me to learn about the handgun?"

Barbo scratched his head after drinking another ale. "Nothing."

Ned cocked an eyebrow.

"Cause even if you know how it works, it doesn't have a battery. Still useless."

"Battery?" Ned leaned and rested his arm over the table. Although silver in hair, it was rather turning dark from the fumes that hovered the ceiling.

"Yes. Those were stones filled with Mana. And only some High Nobles were able to have a hand of those things. For Magic Capable, they were called Mana Stones."

Ned almost laughed in surprise upon hearing Barbo's words. From the very beginning, he already got everything he needed.

Ned focused and out of thousands of Mana Stones in his inventory, he produced one on his hand. "You mean this?"