Lucius started to create a new weapon.

The concept of a gun seemed reasonable to him. His first gun was fine, but it was too slow and bulky. The structure itself weighed almost five pounds, and it was huge. When he went to Trupe City, almost everyone noticed the gun on his back.

Something smaller came to mind. A handgun. After pondering the idea a little but, Lucius went to work and created one.

First, Lucius gathered up his supplies. Liquid Brightmetal for the structure, Rebound Powder for the explosion, a Spiral Bevel Gear, and crystals.

Then he realized he didn't have an AE Crystal. He used it for the wind drill, but he didn't need the drill anymore. He yanked the AE Crystal off it and put it to work.

He let a Mana Crystal absorb a Thunder Crystal. Then, he carved a small wood block out and cast metal on it, creating a metal block. He stuck the Mana Crystal and the AE Crystal on it, then attached the Spiral Bevel Gear.

Lucius packed in Rebound Powder right next to AE Crystal and slowly spun the Mana Crystal. It ignited the powder and, satisfied, Lucius set that aside.

Then, he carved out the shape of a wooden handgun. It was, like the other creations, it was crude and misshapen, so Lucius spent the next ten minutes smoothing it down and slowly, it took the shape of the gun he had in mind.

Then, he packed sand inside it and around it and cast the metal. The wood was quickly replaced by the Brightmetal and Lucius dunked the gun in the water. The sand disappeared and when Lucius took the gun out of the water, it gleamed in the light.

Lucius then slid the metal block into the gun and it finished. Lucius created a small trigger, just a button that would spin the gear which would shoot the gun.

Then came the hard part. Lucius wanted to use crystals as bullets, but it was far too large for the chamber. So he had to create actual bullets, ones that were designed to penetrate armor and flesh.

So Lucius created small, round, metal bullets. It was from Brightmetal, the hardest metal that Lucius had. He created metal pellets and stuck it into a chamber. He would've done the same thing for his gun, where he utilized gravity to let the bullets drop into the chamber, but this time, he wanted it to be as practical as a real gun.

So this time, Lucius created a new function. He cast a thin wire of Brightmetal and created a spring, then put it at the bottom of the magazine. The spring was tight and constantly pushed the bullets up, so when Lucius would fire the gun, it would automatically push another bullet in the chamber.

After Lucius finished making the magazine, he had to think of one more mechanism.

The trigger on the gun wasn't like triggers on earth. It would get pushed in and stay pushing in. On his sniper, Lucius added a little dowel to the trigger so he could manually pull the trigger out. But that gun was meant for damage, not speed. The handgun that Lucius wanted was for speed. So having to manually pull the trigger out each time he fired wasn't a good option.

Lucius thought about using a spring, but it would interfere with the gear inside. No matter where he put it, as long as it was near the trigger, it would tangle with the gear and snap the spring.

So Lucius had to create something where the trigger could pop out automatically, or at least if he had to do it manually, it would be quick.

There was something that Lucius thought of: the safety. Not that he would actually make one, but it would suit his hand if he modified it to become a reload thing.

Lucius created something like a thumb safety and attached it to the back of the gun. There was a rope attaching it to the gear, so when it was pushed down and back by Lucius' thumb, it would reset the gear and push the trigger out.

Even though it wasn't fast, it sure was a lot better than having to pull the trigger out every time. Instead of taking almost three seconds to pull the trigger out, using the thumb system took only about half a second.

After he finished it, Lucius went out and tried it out.

He took aim at a tree and pulled the trigger. There was the sound of gunshots, then the tree trunk exploded into a fountain of splinters.

It worked! Lucius grinned. Ah, this is the fruits of five hours of work.

Then, Lucius tried out the thumb mechanism. He fired once, pushed down the thumb hammer, and fired again. It was in rapid succession and there was hardly any downtime.

Perfect. Now all I need is another, Lucius thought.

He had no more salvageable AE Crystals. Also, his cache of Rebound powder wasn't enough for another. His tub Brightmetal diminished into basically nothing; the only thing that Lucius could make was a spring.

I think I need to get some more, Lucius thought. The Brightmetal is super valuable for basically everything, and the AE Crystals are also needed.

Marching out of his workshop, Lucius went up to Balos and Luna. "I might need to go back to Trupe City."

"Magnets?" Luna asked.

"No. I need Rebound Powder, Brightmetal, and crystals."

"Alright. Make sure you don’t kill yourself," Luna asked. She seemed a little skeptical about Lucius leaving Baylight alone ever since Lucius had the encounter with the people that attacked him.

"It's fine. I have a new and better weapon," Lucius said and showed Luna the gun. She still didn't look convinced.

"Well, I'm going now. Bye!" Lucius said and waved off. He got money from his room and headed into the forest.

After the alliance with Poris Kingdom, Baylight was given a loan of ten thousand Orbs. Lucius was sure that the fruits he planted were going to quickly pay them.

Ah, I'm here, Lucius thought.

Wearily, Lucius stumbled up and approached the guards.

"You again?" One of them asked.

"Yup. It's me," Lucius said.

"Trading?"

"Yup."

"Weapons?"

"Obviously."

"Alright. Same deal as last time. Don't make trouble, or we will have to, remove you from Trupe City. Okay?"

"Yes, sir."

The gate silently slid open and Lucius stepped inside. Once again, he headed to the Market Square.

It was busy as always, with people bustling around and purchasing things from the many stores. Lucius went over to one that had a massive sign that read, "CRACKLIN' CRYSTALS!"

God, what an awful name, Lucius thought as he stepped inside.

The walls were lined with crystals of every size and had so many different effects. It was impossible for Lucius to count the different crystals.

Lucius walked up to the counter.

"Hello there, young man. What can I do for you today?" The store clerk asked with a strange accent.

"Do you sell AE Crystals here?"

"Of course. This is a crystal store, my friend," he said.

"Where are they located?"

"Over in the corner. Not many people come in and buy AE Crystals, even though they have a good use. Most people don't find a use for them though."

"Ah. Thanks," Lucius said and walked to the corner. The dust around and on the crystals made it clear that nobody grabbed the crystals in a while.

Lucius picked about twenty AE Crystals and dropped it into bags. He figured that would suffice for whatever he planned to build in the next month or so.

Then, he browsed the rest of the crystals. There were many crystals that Lucius wouldn't even dream of. There were (that were expensive), Fire Crystals, Thunder Crystals, and interestingly enough, >.

Lucius took one up to the counter. "What do these do?"

The clerk looked at the crystal. "It has a... violent effect. I'm not sure why we sell it though."

"But what does it do?"

"Well..."

"Going to answer?"

The clerk sighed. "I suppose. When it comes in contact with solid matter, it completely deconstructs it. It is the most dangerous crystal in the world, but no one can utilize it. You can't put it on a sword because the sword would dissolve in explosions. Wands are the same. And there doesn't seem to be a use for it."

"If it dissolves every piece of solid matter it touches, then how is it harvested?"

"It's created in the Void."

"What's that?"

The clerk looked a little surprised. "You don't know?"

Lucius shook his head. "Sorry. I don't really know much about this world."

"Ah. If that's the case, I will explain," the clerk started. "The Void is a place that no one really understands. It's underground, almost one hundred miles (160.93 kilometers) under where we are now. Instead of the normal crystals that get produced when magic is used, it is created everytime a life form dies. It could be anything—animals, people, bugs, literally anything. The Void isn't created like the Surface. The > can't dissolve the surface down there for some reason. The entire Void is lined with the crystals, which makes it practically impossible to venture down there."

"Oh." Lucius said. "Do you know what else is down there?"

"There have been some reports from adventures of seeing glowing red eyes in the darkness, but none of it has been confirmed," the clerk said.

Spooky. That's also pretty cliché, but oh well.

Lucius carefully returned the case back to where it was and backed away.

Then he paid. "Thanks. Do you know where I can get Brightmetal?"

"Yeah. It is in 'SMITHING AND METALS' over there," the clerk pointed out the window.

"Thanks," Lucius said and exited the store.

He then entered "SMITHING AND METALS" and expected to get roasted. But the interior of the store was about room temperature, nothing like the smithy in Baylight.

There didn't seem to be anyone in the store at the moment, and the front desk seemed empty. Lucius quietly walked around and looked at the metals, looking for Brightmetal.

He found some and bagged three 1x1 feet slabs of it, then dropped it on the counter.

Then he patiently waited for someone to come.

After waiting for about five minutes, someone came through the door.

"Sorry!" She squeaked and rushed behind the counter.

"It's fine," Lucius said.

"Ah, thanks," she said and started to tally things up. "There were sightings of a Grade B rank beast near the outskirts. I went out and talked to some adventurers. People are beginning to band together to take it down, but like I said, it is a Grade B beast. They're going to have a hard time taking it down."

Monsters were divided into ranks. Grade A monsters were top beasts that were virtually unkillable alone, while Grade E monsters were the weakest. There was only one person that could handle a Grade A monster alone in the whole world. The Eloon was only Grade D.

"Do you think it'll damage the city?" Lucius asked while he handed money to the clerk.

"Nah. I'm sure that the others will take care of it. Trupe City has plenty of strong people."

Hm... should I go? Lucius pondered. I reckon that there'll be a lot of good loot if I go, plus I'm itching to try my new gun...

"Do you know where the beast is?"

She nodded. "Yeah. It is east of here. I bet that there'll be a stream of adventurers going that way, so just follow them. Are you thinking of fighting it?"

"Yup."

"Well, don't die."

Lucius grabbed his bag, then set it down. "Can you hold this for me?"

"Sure," she said and took the bag. Lucius also handed her the AE Crystals, which she put in the backroom.

"I'll be back for them!" Lucius said and left the store.

Now, time to find the beast, Lucius said. He walked to the east gate.

"Are you going to fight the beast?" One of the guards asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Hm... a little young, but if you insist on going, go that way," the other guard said and pointed Lucius in the direction. There were a few people heading that way.

"Okay. Thank you!" Lucius said and jogged down.

I hope Voxis Kingdom doesn't attack soon. I'm sure that Luna and Balos can take care of it though, plus we have Poris Kingdom too.

A little worried, Lucius pushed the thought to the side and continued to run.

"Oh, it's a katana user! That's pretty rare!" Lucius heard. He turned around to face the person who spoke.

It was a group of three people. They were much older than Lucius. One of them had a claymore on his back, another had a bow, and the other had a staff.

The man with the claymore was stocky with not much fat. His arms were massive and it seemed like the massive sword on his back wasn't even there. Metal armor plated his body, which should've slowed him down at least a bit, but he moved fluidly and had no trouble keeping up with the rest of the group. Black hair ran down his head and stopped at his eyebrows. He seemed about in his late twenties.

The archer was young. He just seemed a bit older than Lucius. His upper body was visibly stronger than his lower half. His hair was a light brown and spiked up.

The mage was the smallest of them all. She didn't seem strong, but there was a vibe around her made you believe that she was intelligent. Her hair was a dark blue and ran down straight down to her shoulders.

"He's so young too!" The one with the staff said.

"Hey kid, are you good in combat?" The person with the sword said.

"Well, I'm decent," Lucius said, which made him slightly aware of the gun in his pocket, concealed but in an easy spot to quickly take it out.

"Want to party with us?" The archer asked.

Why not. It's not like it's a blood contract or anything.

"Sure," Lucius said.

"Great!" The mage exclaimed.

"I'm Tres," the man with the claymore said. "This is Rai and Olive," Tres said. They all shook hands.

"I'm Lucius."

"Nice to meet you," Rai said. "Where are you from?"

"Um... sorry, I can't tell you," Lucius said. They seemed to want to know, but they didn't press it.

"We're local to Trupe City," Tres said.

"That's nice."

There was an awkward silence as the group walked in silence.

Then, there was a savage roar in the distance.

The group looked at each other.

"Let's go," Lucius said.