[Unimpeded Draw]-Passive

Level: 3

Exp: 23/100

General drawing assist. Provides the unconscious ability to quickly and smoothly draw your weapon without risk of catching, whether blade, firearm, or other. Enhanced by Dexterity. Increased levels decrease risk of failure

Chance of failure: 17%

Upgradeable!

[Firearm Proficiency]-Passive

Level: 2

Exp: 74/100

Provides muscle memory assist to a wide variety of firearms that you’ve handled. Increases familiarity when dealing with a new firearm in your possession. Increases with Dexterity and number of firearms handled and operated.

Current number of unique firearms used: 4

[Quick Aim]- Active

Level: 4

Exp: 37/100

General Aiming assist. Provides the ability to quickly get on target, aiming your weapon directly where you’re looking. Requires line of sight. Enhanced by Perception and Dexterity. Increase levels decreases mana consumption.

Cost: 17 Mana/use

[Firearm Maintenance-advanced]- Knowledge based

Level: 2

Exp: 74/100

Knowledge on proper maintenance of a wide variety of fireams. To include single, double, and semi automatic side arms. Pump, lever, bolt, and semi automatic long guns. As well as a large variety of others. Increased efficiency with Dexterity and Intelligence.

Increased levels provide increased quality of repairs and cleaning.

[Lesser Endurance]-Passive

Level: 3

Exp: 97/100

Increased efficiency when operating at higher levels of activity. Does not increase Endurance Skill but does increase efficiency of stamina usage.

Increased levels increases performance.

Upgradeable!

[Penetrating shot]-Active

Level: 1

Exp: 83/100

Imbue a projectile with extra force and a momentary piercing effect on impact with a physical target. Target recieves damage based on projectile and depth. Ineffective against magical barriers. Penetration increased with Strength and Dexterity.

Increased levels decreases mana usage.

Cost: 25 mana/use

Upgradeable!

...

[Forceful Takedown]- Active

Level: 1

Exp: 83/100

Imbue self with extra force and momentum prior to impact with target while providing momentary protection from said impact. Non lethal force will be transferred onto target. Enhanced with increased dexterity and strength. Increased levels decreases mana consumption.

Cost: 20 mana/use

[Tracking]- Knowledge based

Level: 1

Exp: 83/100

Imbue a projectile with extra force and a momentary piercing effect on impact with a physical target. Target recieves damage based on projectile and depth. Ineffective against magical barriers. Penetration increased with Strength and Dexterity.

Increased levels decreases mana usage.

Cost: 25 mana/use

Upgradeable!

[Animal Processing]-Knowledge based

Level: 3

Exp: 46/100

Provides knowledge of animals and how to harvest various materials such as skins, pelts, meats, bones, or organs. Increased level increases quality and amount of knowledge provided.

[Restraints]- Knowledge Based

Level: 1

Exp: 0/100

Provides knowledge of various restraint techniques to immobilize or control your foes utilyizing various means including physical holds and other materials. Also provides information on escaping the said retraints. Increased level increases quality and amount of knowledge provided.

[Marksmanship] Knowledge based

Level: 3

Exp: 14/100

Imbue a projectile with extra force and a momentary piercing effect on impact with a physical target. Target recieves damage based on projectile and depth. Ineffective against magical barriers. Penetration increased with Strength and Dexterity.

Increased levels decreases mana usage.

Cost: 25 mana/use

Upgradeable!

[Steady Aim] Active

Level: 2

Exp: 81/100

General aiming assist. Provides a steady platform to utilize the use of ranged weaponry. Enhanced by strength and dexterity. Increased level decreases mana consumption.

Cost: 10 mana/second

[Basic Negotiation]- Knowledge based

Level: 1

Exp: 0/100

Provides knowledge of basic negotiation practices, techniques, and laws or customs. Increased level increases amount and quality of knowledge provided.

Upgradeable!

“Welp, that’s fucking over with!” Will said cheerfully and closed the last window after rereading through all his applicable combat skills. He had skimmed them before but now he stared at his journal and noted the various Skills at his disposal. He was just adding to the growing paper based database he was assembling.

Even if Will didn’t see the point in most of his Skills after a few weeks to adjust…

Damn, has it really only been a few weeks?

Will did some quick math in his head.

Damn! Only fuckin’ 16 days! Seems like longer!

Will double checked his count but it was right. He’d only been on Cradus for a mere 16 days so far. He’d made some good progress in such a short time, or at least he thought. He still had no idea how high someone could level and didn’t have anyone he could ask. There were people he trusted but not with the information that he had information on another world in his head, which would be the only way to explain if it turned out to be extremely common knowledge that even children learned.

But that was the point of his records that he’d have to keep locked away. His notes on Enchanting, Skills, Classes, Places, Everything!

Although the two biggest things were Enchanting, which was its own book, and his collection of largely worthless Skills.

The issue was, ones that were knowledge based were largely unhelpful in his experience. The only ones that actually taught him much of anything were the animal processing Skill, which he’d admit was helpful in cutting up monsters in the dungeon, and the dual-wield Skill. That one was only because that just wasn’t part of his training. Neither was [Negotiation]… The Skill didn’t give him much but he’d leveled it and learned a bit more, so he was alright with that one.

But others like Firearm proficiency, maintenance, and marksmanship? Well, Will realized he might get a little bit of a boost to his skills thanks to his Skills but he didn’t think that he really needed knowledge about cleaning and properly maintaining a firearm for example. He’d been doing that already and from what he’d noticed, the Coalition Marine Corps had held him to an impossibly higher standard than his Skill taught him for years already, not to mention how other people used their weapons… After leaving the enchanter's house, Will had spotted an adventurer STARING down the barrel of his rifle. The damn thing was up to his eyeball and the breach was closed. He’d stared at it for a minute before jamming a stick into the barrel, likely in an attempt to clean it. Another was leaning on a shotgun with his hands over the muzzle! Idiots!

The quality of firearm proficiency and maintenance practices, not to mention firearm safety, aside.

Dual-Wield was sort of useful in that he’d never been trained to use two weapons systems at the same time before. But he still wouldn’t be doing that in a fight unless he absolutely needed to. It may look cool to use two weapons at once but you could only properly aim one at a time. So unless he got a Skill that allowed him to… what? Grow another set of eyes on a stick?! See through his thumbs?! Give him a heads up display like the helmet in his combat rig? Whatever it was, Will wasn’t going to be going in gun blazing like a fucking asshole only to miss the vast majority of the time before being eaten by a monster. At least not unless the whole point was laying down suppression fire, that he could see.

As for his active Skills…

They aren’t that bad. I shouldn’t rely on them though and should find a way to test [Steady Aim]… I should ask the Sheriff if there’s a range somewhere- The fuck am I thinking. Just go out into the desert and shoot beer bottles. That’s probably what everyone else does anyways! …Wonder if there are any competitions with that?

Will ended up distracting himself from his task at hand but it wasn’t that bad.

As for the idea of shooting competitions, Will wasn’t a sniper but he had qualified for marksman on a regular basis through multiple weapons systems. His training wasn’t exactly standing at a range and kneeling or lying prone either. They had to move their way through a training course with holographic moving targets to shoot at. Which was one of the reasons why he didn’t think he needed [Quick Aim] all that much. It was helpful but Will was already well versed with keeping a weapon in line with his sight, his HUD was turned off during weapons training and qualifications and there had been a few missions where it had failed. Hence the reason Marines trained without the tech. Which he guessed was probably part of the reason why he was so iffy about relying on the Skills.

Although he wasn’t that familiar with the weapons at his disposal, so Will couldn’t exactly say he was still a marksman. Will wondered briefly if he could get something made by the gunsmith that felt a little more natural in his hands. Something with a proper adjustable iron sight at a minimum and a pistol grip… Maybe he should just-

Eh… Is that really a good idea though?

His idea, of course, was going to talk to his local, gun focused rather than people focused, gunsmith and discuss modern or at least close to modern firearm designs. His one Skill mentioned semi automatic weapons, which Will understood in great detail but he even knew the basics of making fully automatic weapons. With recoil assist buffer in the stock. Air cooled and gas operated with an adjustable sear for fully auto. Or with some work, he could design the guts of the firearm for burst firing! Throw in a compensator for recoil on the front. Allow for an expanded magazine. And he wasn’t positive but with some work, he could probably make something like a modern holographic- Eh… Maybe an old fashioned red dot sight.

Fuck if I go through with that. May as well go with a bullpup design too. Completely replace my carbine with a semi-modern variant. If I did that, the rifle would have to be a miniature coil or rail gun to keep up... Maybe throw in a sub machine gun- NO! A fucking tommy gun!

Will wasn’t that into older movies like his dad was but he’d watched a few older movies, remakes of historical classics that showed the ‘birth of the age of innovation!’ Which was basically the 20th century. The earlier pieces from that era showed the first compact automatic rifles. Some of which were present in the second world war. He couldn’t help but admit he was a bit of a fan.

Will laughed to himself as he sat alone in his bedroom at his desk.

It was a pipe dream, or should be. He might be able to bring about some things. Like a tommy gun or build a bullpup carbine. Maybe a rail gun with the use of magic…

Okay, not a pipe dream!

But way beyond his current capabilities. It was still fun to think about though.

“Ah, should get some sleep,” Will said to himself after glancing over his Passive Skills. They weren’t necessarily worthless but he didn’t notice the effects of them that much and he wasn’t about to grind them like some sort of video game. The same went for his utility Skills that he’d have to write down later. Along with his sole resistance skill.

But before Will closed his eyes he decided he really should head to the gunsmith in the morning. He had some money saved up now and more maps on the way from Gertrude as of that afternoon. It would make sense to buy a firearm of some sort to practice his enchanting on. Maybe break out his engineering kit to make a few modifications if he could. Basically, do what an [Artificer] would do.

“What’d ya need?” Will looked at Silverstead’s lone gunsmith. The man was in the middle of working on a revolver. He had the grips taken off and was carefully adjusting (SOMETHING) but didn’t look up at Will as he entered.

“Just looking for a new gun. Not sure what, yet?” Will said.

“Take a look but don’t you go touchin’ nothin’ without my say so. Stock pin snapped and the main spring is bent. Shouldn’t take me more than a few minutes ta get it all in place,” the gunsmith said in his usual bored monotone.

While he worked Will walked down the counter looking at the various weapons on display. It seemed bolt action was popular for the longer rifles but there were still quite a few lever actions available. Then for shotguns, it was all break action. He glanced through the shotguns but didn’t see a single pump action or semi-automatic.

There was a bolt action and two lever action shotguns though.

“Mind if I take a look at one of the shot guns?” Will asked while pointing vaguely to the two lever actions. They probably had the quickest rate of fire of all of them and it was possible with some alterations could have a larger magazine to work with.

The gunsmith glanced up briefly from his work, his hands pausing mid motion to be absolutely still.

“Thinkin’ of buyin’ or just lookin’?”

“Buying,” Will informed him. It was true, he didn’t actually own a shotgun yet and he could think of a few ways it might be useful. If nothing else it could be used for taking out a large number of smaller enemies, like the damn little snakes in the dungeon. It probably would have been fun to send buckshot after buckshot round into their midst.

“Go ahead, don’t be playin’ with it.”

Will got his permission and stepped a little behind the counter to grab one of the lever actions. It didn’t matter which one, they seemed to be the same model. As soon as it was in his hands, Will opened the chamber and inspected the breach. Happy to see that it was clear, he started to evaluate the weapon.

He first inspected the muzzle, without aiming it at his head of course. It looked to be about a centimeter and a half in diameter with thick walls. Inside he couldn’t see any rifling but he didn’t really expect that with a shotgun. They could have rifling if they were shooting solid projectiles but not necessarily with bearings.

“What’s the ammunition on this?” Will asked after inspecting the weapon further and not seeing a stamp in the metal indication serial number, ammunition size, or manufacturer. It did have a few strange stamps on the metal but Will didn’t recognize them.

“That’s a twenty gauge,” the gunsmith replied dryly while putting the revolver back together.

Will nodded and correctly placed the buttstock in the pit of his arm while positioning himself to look down the sights. It wasn’t exactly normal for him. His stock weld that he was used to being worthless with the different shaped stock but it was similar to his rifle and carbine, so not that unfamiliar. Strangely enough, gauge was probably the only imperial measurement still in use in the Coalition. It had to deal with the weight, in pounds, of a solid sphere of lead that could fit within the bore of the shotgun. Of course, it was an inverse fraction, so a 20 gauge could hold a sphere that weighed 1/20th of an imperial pound. Will had to do a quick conversion in his head…

Eh, something like 20 grams. I think.

Not that it mattered much, he was getting more used to using the outdated form of measurement and knew the various sizes of shotgun ammunition.

“Anything I should know about this one? Range with a solid projectile? Spread of bearing rounds? Special maintenance? The best ammo to use? Any parts that are known to fail?” Will asked but quickly glanced at the gunsmith. He wasn’t sure if the man had made the weapon or not. He briefly worried he’d insulted the man.

Rather than look at Will with a stink eye the gunsmith perked up slightly and quickly joined Will. It was obvious his passion was for firearms and Will had just pressed the right button about asking for details.

It didn’t take him long to know all there really was to know about the shotgun. He even asked the type of metal used and after explaining his plans to enchant it, the gunsmith took it from him and had him look over the other lever action. There actually was a difference. The second one had a bit of silver added to the alloy that would be better for enchanting.

“Thinkin’ bout takin’ it?” Willard asked. That was the gunsmith’s name. He’d come to introductions about halfway through explaining the magazine spring was known to have issues if you kept it loaded all the time. The metal used in the spring would set and eventually lead to the weapon jamming as the next round wasn’t pushed far enough back to get to the lifting mechanism that raised it up to the breach.

“How much?” Will asked.

“Twenty five dollars and I’ll throw in a box of ammo,” Willard told him, “Don’t be goin’ tellin’ folk that. Good to know a few younguns knew more bout firearms than just point and shoot.”

“I won’t,” Will said with a chuckle. Surprisingly he had awakened something in Willard. He wasn’t interested in much else besides firearms but the man could really talk about them and respected someone that respected both his profession and the products he sold. Will knew a few others like that growing up, people that were fascinated by one and only one thing. A lot of them were on the spectrum but Will doubted they knew about autism on Cradus.

“I think I’ll take it,” Will decided. He’d made $42 from his sales of maps so far, it would have been $50 but the first two had been sold for only a dollar each. Still, he probably had more sales than that coming up, not to mention wands, and the inevitable sale of the silver once it was smelted down into ingots.

Willard dropped a box of ammo containing ten rounds of ammo on the counter and carefully set the shotgun beside it.

In total it had cost Will $26, thanks to buying a sling for the shotgun as well but he was satisfied.

“Let me know if you go on and get some decent enchanted weapons. Might take one or two off your hands if your willin’” Willard said as Will left.

“I’ll let you know if I’m looking to sell,” Will waved the man a friendly farewell and quickly returned to his store, “Sorry, new maps are being made. Come by tomorrow around noon.”

There were a few adventurer types peeking in his windows as he walked up. The sign was there and one of them was looking at it but Will knew that not everyone in the Federation was literate.

“Well, time to start working as an [Artificer],” Will said with a grin as he set his shotgun down on his desk along with his tome and two unidentified pieces of jewelry that he needed to catch up on.