Chapter 497 (1/2)

However, the more Dinesh thought about it, the more he wondered how having access to such an easy tool would affect the growth of people. He didn’t want to leap to any conclusions from only a simple spar, but from the fact that they hadn’t been able to completely kill the ram, only fatally wound it, made Dinesh wonder about their capabilities.

It seemed that they were at a comparable Level to him and Tykes, yet…

Dinesh's eyes glowed knowingly. It must be Skill Level, so much so that the difference bleeds over into stats. Interesting.

In addition, it wasn’t as though the two of them were invincible, either. Tykes was extremely powerful, sure, but his power was often something that he couldn’t exercise effectively. Most monsters simply dodged his attack. The only sort of monsters that didn’t was half dead rams that were bound and blinded.

Dinesh turned when he heard Hank’s voice.

“Ah… I’m not too sure about the details, but for people with higher Intelligence, I’ve heard ya can compress the Mana… somehow.” The man shrugged and scratched the stumble on his chin.

Dinesh nodded, a smile on his face. He had felt it, the inefficiencies in the first shot. He also was aware that the pistol was capable of handling more Mana. How much, he wasn’t sure, but it was surely more than he had just channeled through it.

For his first experiment, he focused the Mana, turning it into a highly dense slug. The projectile streaked out and ripped a hole in the stone, making a hole almost all the way through the likely 2-meter thick rock, before it ran out of momentum. Dinesh’s eyebrows rose. That level of punch was definitely something that was worth knowing about. His appreciation for Hank grew with every passing minute.

Next, he left his Mana in a raw and unfocused state but pushed more into the gun. This made the projectile bigger, but that basically just increased the area of effect.

Then he pumped more Mana into it and concentrated it. This time, the projectile was a dark blue, and it ripped completely through the stone. Dinesh chose another target and did it again, upping the dosage one more time.

However, before the Mana discharged, something snapped inside the pistol. There was a fizz, a spark, and then the thing lay dead in his hand, inert. His Mana had very quickly overloaded what it was capable of.

Inwardly, Dinesh was disappointed. Was the pistol only capable of this much? But it made sense, in a way. This weapon was effective at low levels, but it was designed as a beginner piece. There were likely stronger pistols available to those who had high Intelligence, but with the exception of the unconscious man, none of these seemed to have chosen to go the path of Intelligence.

“...my apologies. Perhaps the application of my Mana was insufficient,” Dinesh said, offering the pistol back to Hank after a slight hesitation. Would they require another gift for this…?

But Hank snorted, waving a hand and producing a dozen other pistols, before making them disappear with another flourish. “Don’t worry about. I’ve got plenty. And my Mana might be low, but my Focus isn’t. I blow out the baseline pistols all the time. Higher grade pistols require too many hoops to jump through and seemed less sure than bullets, so I’ve never bothered with the plasma pistols too much.”

Dinesh’s eyes traced Hank’s easy smile, then slid past him to the sharp-faced woman with auburn hair behind him. THere was something… off about this one, although Ptolemy wasn’t sure what it was. Nathan had given him a look when the group arrived, his gaze going meaningfully to this woman. That was more than enough confirmation.

When it came to Classes, almost no one was as skilled as Nathan now was.

“Well, how about we share a drink now,” Dinesh offered. “And exchange some information about our Zones.”

“That would be great,” Hank said, motioning for his companions to set up camp. After a small hesitation, they did, erecting tents near the thorny cabin. Then Hank continued. “Would you be able to send a message to the people in power back in your Zone? Our mission is primarily a diplomatic one; if we could communicate-”

“Unfortunately, our leader is a bit… determined to not give many of the power players back home even the time of day. Therefore, we can point you in the right direction, but the communication is up to you.” Dinesh said slowly. Even he was unsure exactly where the Ghosthound’s surliness in regards to Lyra came from. How could he explain it in a succinct way to a stranger?

But at the very least, he knew that the Ghosthound would prefer not to be overly involved in the peace talks. Although the Ghosthound was focused on the new Zone, Dinesh had figured out that it wasn’t exactly for diplomatic purposes; the Ghosthound was looking for something.