43 Gunblade (1/2)

While everybody was preparing, Luna utilized this time to install Rank 3 Upgrading Stations and Rank 3 Equipment Modification Stations. As long as people had the money for it, they could upgrade and modify their weapons. Rank 3 modification brought something that Luna had been keeping out an eye for: Guns.

Technically it was a modification to the Itak Tagalog. It looked like how it regularly would, but with a a gun barrel going along the top part of the blade, about three-fourths of the way. It looked natural, but the thing that confused Luna was the fact that he didn't see any magazine.

What type of bullets does it use? Where is the trigger? Can a scope be modified onto it?

After reading the description, he found out that it worked exactly the same as the automated turrets. It also had the same reloading mechanic as the turrets. There was no trigger because it responded to the person holding the weapon's thoughts. It was similar to how the nervous system would send a message to move parts of your body. A scope could be installed as well, the effective range was around 900 meters, and it could fire 10 rounds before needing to recharge for 30 seconds. As long as one dual-wielded these things, they practically wouldn't have to worry about too much downtime between reload times. Most importantly, it had a safety as well. It did however, cost 5,000 VIS per weapon. 10,000 VIS total if you're doing both blades.

Luna definitely did not have the funds to arm the 20,000 active human soldiers and the 40,000 active Elven soldiers. Not to mention the rest of the 30,000 humans in reserve and the rest of the 60,000 Elves in reserve, seeing as every citizen in the <Sovereign Nation> is pretty much required to grind out levels, essentially making their whole population a part of the Army. This has been Luna's goal from the beginning.

Nevertheless, he still had funds to spare to build 1,000 pairs which cost him a total of 20 million VIS. As soon as production started, he called Hans over.

”Lord Luna, you called for me?”

”Ah, Hans. Good, you're here.” As he said that, Luna tossed over a pair of Gunblades to him. ”How good of a shot are you?”

”Top of my class, Lord Luna.”

”Haha! I knew you had potential, but this is even more impressive. Col. Hans Garica, I have a proposal for you.”

”Yes, Lord Luna!”

”I want you to hand pick a team of 25 of the most elite. These men will be your personal guard, they will be known as the Black Guard. You will then choose the remaining 975 of the best sharpshooters in order to complete your regiment which will be under my direct command. I hope you accept this offer. Daunting as the responsibility may be, you've shown to be quite capable so far. I don't doubt that you'll be able to handle it.”

”It is my honor, sir! I gladly accept! I just have one request, Lord Luna.”

”What is it?”

”That we may have the privilege of naming ourselves 'The Luna Sharpshooters' as our motivation to stay the best of the best, sir!”

”This... Alright.” If it was indeed awkward being called a Lord before, it was even more awkward for him to have a whole regiment dedicated to his name. Overtime, Luna has began to accept these things and could only hope that he lives up to being the Lord Luna that the people respect.

”Thank you, Lord Luna!”

After taking his leave, Hans did not hesitate to put the plan into motion. He was loved by the soldiers and was familiar with almost all of them, so picking out the men that he believed to be worthy was not too hard of a job. The men who were picked out were ecstatic, especially when they found out that they would be part of such an elite force directly under Luna's command.

This was also motivation to the rest of the soldiers. The people who skipped out on grinding extra hours for levels could only feel regret. After all, the concept of receiving free Gunblade upgrades before everybody else was quite enticing. They weren't entirely expensive, but when you put in the cost of upgrading your weapons and armor, paying even more for modification was quite expensive.

Once these Gunblades manifested their <Anito>, not only would the blades inflict more damage or additional effects, so would the bullets.

This would include but are not limited to explosive fire bullets, wind reinforced piercing bullets, or even the much rarer <Soul Anito> bullets that, while not as physically damaging as the rest, would cause damage on the level of the soul.

While not exactly lethal, but when fighting someone during a melee fight, having someone lose consciousness for even a second would be fatal. After all, physical and magical defense, while they could mitigate damage from other bullet types, were entirely useless against these bullets.

Of course, there was the question of grinding enough with the weapon to activate it's <Anito>, and in order to further upgrade it, the amount of grinding required would go up exponentially, and so would the cost.

After announcing that people could now upgrade their equipment further, the ones who could afford it started lining up. These machines weren't exactly cheap, so Luna couldn't just install too many of them, at least not yet.

Afterwards, he called for the Elder Aran who had been given a leadership position as well.