Alister knew he couldn’t do anything right now about the slums. He sighed loudly as they got off of the horse onto the sand of the beach. The horse dissipated, catching the eyes of many people around them. Thankfully their interest passed, and they continued on their ways, carrying boxes from warehouse to ship and back again. Many of the ships were to the north of the area they were headed. They moved to the south near the city wall, where a natural cove created a perfect environment for the crabs’ fish farms.

“I feel bad about this… are you sure the crabs aren’t smart enough to feel loss…?” Wisteria whispered, frowning as they crested a small sandy hill to watch the droves of crabs scuttering about in low tide.

The beasts were the size of cats or small dogs, and were beautiful shades of blue and green that shone in the afternoon sun. They looked a little different than normal crabs, and not just for their size. They had elongated appendages beside their mouth which they used to gently grip and move fish as well as to clean their antenna and to eat.

Crabs had absolutely overtaken the cove. Close to a thousand were shuffling through the sand, going as far north as they could get away with, more than a mile of land taken by the crustaceans. They had carved burrows into the limestone walls and made use of tide pools to help them keep their fish. It was complex for animals. Heck, even people struggled to farm fish sometimes.

“Maybe they are. I don’t know, honestly,” Morgan responded, “They’re a massive problem, though. And since it’s in a poor area, there aren’t a lot of people that can pay for a guild contract for an adventurer to come out. This is a great opportunity to get it handled. It’ll help keep their population down for a few years. They get in the way of the local fishermen and are very territorial. People keep getting hurt, and can’t afford a doctor. The free temple clerics have been getting busier because of it.”

“I understand… I just… feel bad about it I guess.”

“We aren’t killing all of them, just enough to be responsible about it. About a third to a quarter of them, that’s our aim. It’ll be okay,” Morgan gave Wisteria a pat on the shoulder, “It’s understandable to feel bad about it. But we’ll be feeding people, like you suggested. It’s the natural cycle of things.”

“Yes ma’am. So… what’s the plan? I don’t want to get swarmed by crabs…”

“Area of effect spells?” Alister suggested, speaking up though he didn’t take his eyes off the crabs.

“Well, Alister will be doing most of the fighting so he gets most of the exp. You’re capped right now at ten anyway,” Morgan answered, “No AoE. That’ll draw too many at once. Targeted only… Actually… I think I have something that’d be great for it! Have you ever shot a gun, kid?”

Alister stared at her with his mouth ajar, “I… uh… n-no? I… have I even seen a gun before…? Salvator has something like that, I think. But it’s definitely magic. I’ve never even seen this gunpowder thing before. It sounds like it’d be more trouble than simply casting a spell in its place.”

Morgan got an evil grin on her face and brought out a crystal again, “Summon weapon: Avarice!” It was something she had preset, one of her favorite weapons for long range. A beautiful gun made of deep red wood and dark steel with a long barrel and a flintlock mechanism. The rifle, named Avarice, was made for long-range, and had runes carved into the wood to give the bullet more power.

She chuckled, running her fingers down the wood, “This lovely lady is loud, but way less attention gathering than a giant fireball spell.”

“Let me look at it,” Alister demanded, trying to grab the weapon from his cousin.

She lifted it up out of reach, “Woah there sticky fingers. Do you even know how to use one? You just said you haven’t interacted with any before. Let me show you how it works first. See that crab? The one with the gold-tinged antennae? I’ll hit that one. Watch and learn, kid.”

After a silent moment of aiming, and one final exhale, a click of the trigger sounded out. The flint dropped and struck against the frizzen and made a shower of sparks that ignited both the gunpowder and the magic runes engraved in the firearm. Three small red concentric magic circles formed at the muzzle, each smaller than the last, and for a strange moment in time was quiet. Unlike a normal, non-magical gun, this one had a delay for the enchantments.

That moment was short lived, however. The pause allowed more pressure to build, and the spells aided in firepower. The crack of sound in the air was loud enough to make their ears ring.

Alister jumped, hard. His eyes left the crab in question, who had moments ago been fine… and now had a hole the size of a grapefruit in its face when he located it again. His hands were cupped against his ears, silent in shock. Wisteria had her hands against her ears but didn’t look surprised. Wisteria nodded approvingly, “Nice shot!”

“Thanks. They have a better sense of smell than sight or hearing,” Morgan said, resetting the gun with practiced movements. The enchantments helped speed things up, but using a ramrod still took a hot minute. The crabs nearby the dead one had scrambled and scuttled to safety, panicked at the sudden sound and movement. Some tried to hide by burrowing in the sand, others ran to the burrows, and some scuttered into the ocean to escape.

Alister still had his hands on his ears, but he slowly let them drop to his sides.

“I… that… I can’t…,” he stopped and started, flopping his hands in bewilderment, “Is that not a weapon of the gods? That a non mage can do that now… Is that normal? Really? Truly?”

“Let me show you how to shoot it, Alister,” Morgan said, amused but unbothered by his shock.

“Are you not hearing me? Did that… monstrosity make you deaf?” he huffed out a sigh pulling his fingers through his hair, “I can’t believe something like this exists.”

Morgan rolled her eyes, “Oh come on. It’s not that incredible.”

“You don’t understand. I lived and fought in a time where this wasn’t imaginable. The only way you fought monsters was with magic. Magic through a sword or scepter, magic through items, whatever. The only enchantments on that weapon are minimal. Aiming and some mild power increase? That’s nothing huge. The implications… what you could do with things like this… I haven’t gotten to see much of modern weapons,” he sighed again and rubbed his face, “Even the gods are just powerful people with a… special spark in them. They learn. They fight. They bleed. They die. If this is how much mortals have grown… how far have the gods come? What have they created? I… I’m so behind now…”

“Well that’s a weird thing to focus on,” Morgan softly teased, “I’m sure the gods prefer to grow rather than stay stagnant. I don’t know though. Comparing yourself to adults or even gods isn’t very fair to you. You’re a kid. You’re starting from more than most kids. You’re rich. You’re a noble. You have all your memories from your past. Most kids won’t have that. So don’t think of yourself as behind. You’re just right where you are.”

Alister scrunched his nose and looked away. He said too much. Thankfully Morgan didn’t care, but he didn’t see being upset and surprised as an excuse. Wisteria looked concerned as well, but she kept quiet.

“Let me show you how to use this thing. It’ll make you feel better,” she said.