BXBX NOVEL Chapter 50: 1000 souls a bullet?
Carrying so much freedom would have been a pain in the ass but luckily the {Carry} family of abilities made it much simpler. {Hike} actually did not only lower air resistance making me go faster but it also applied to my gear. So I could run with such bulk and still move as if I only wore a shirt.
I stored everything after I updated my {Auto} and tested it. I managed to get the entire armory on my body. I counted and I had about 1200 rounds of various ammunition along with a dozen grenades. If I can find a way to use {Reload} economically I would be like a one-man army.
As I already tested {Store} and its family of abilities, I now needed to figure out how to use {Reload} for the entire armory instead of just the guns on my hands.
Another problem was just walking with so many holsters on me was cumbersome. They may not have been heavy, but I kept hitting metal when I moved my arms. The problems just kept pilling up didn't they? I needed to go into a gun range where I could test pulling and storing guns in a number of situations.
For that reason, I was again on the Metro on my way to phoenix. While Tempe had C2 Tactical they were an indoor range. With Arizona being the 7th state with the most guns per person, even women and teenagers were busy having a good time there. Anyone would have freaked out if I started pulling illegal firearms out of my ass.
And so, I was now returning to Phoenix to go to my dad's usual hangout the Phoenix, the Rod & Gun Club. It was an outdoor range that was cheap as fuck provided you can endure the heat. I personally knew the manager because he and my dad were buddies in high school.
As the journey would take over an hour, I found myself scrolling through the news and YouTube. It was the same old stuff with nothing but depressing propaganda. Fifty years ago, if I heard a kid shooting up a school it would have been big news. Now? It happened like every other week.
"If these are the work of IRIS, they are doing a hell of a good job. The regrets the parents and the victims would have would be enough to create powerful {fates}."
I next checked the international news and saw nothing but riots, massacres, rapes, genocide, natural disasters, and wars. Maybe it was because Lilly opened my eyes. Now that I knew that these things were manufactured for better reapers, I felt disgusted. I tried to look at the scenery and massaged my nose bridge to calm myself.
"What would I do if I was in their shoes?"
On one hand you could save the present but have your race go extinct. On the other you fuck the present up so bad you get a future to bitch about. There was no right answer. Both options caused so much sadness and despair it tore at my soul. Yet this was my new reality, one I have to accept when I return to Hellsgate tomorrow night.
I then heard beeping and noticed the reaper phone received some notifications. With a gloomy mood I checked in silence unsure what to expect.
[Sender: Vela]
[DARRRLLIIING!!! HOW ARE YOU?! Hehe, Jas and I are now on the waiting list to be transferred into the NA Battle front. I got your contact from Bella. Limitless sounds perfect for you! So awesome!
Wait for us okay? We will be there soon! Oh! Bella also said to get familiar with guns! So Jas and I are training with various weapons. It's hard to get guns here, it takes forever!
I heard its easier there, I'll just buy one when we arrive! Ciao! Much love - Josephine.]
Just like Bella and Lilly, Josephine's energy practically pulsed from the phone screen. I found my mood improving just from imagining her face when she wrote this. She used an exclamation point in nearly every sentence. Considering how lively she was in person it seemed pretty apt.
[Sender: Vela]
[Darling, Jas has been acting weird. She keeps saying the two of you are tied by fate and that you are her husband. It's really weird. I couldn't help but think 'who are you and what have you done with my stoic sister?' But she misses you even more than me so please be kind to her. Pretty please?]
Hmm. I did remember Jasmine suddenly calling me husband out of nowhere. But haven't they all taken liberty in calling me what they wanted? Honey, darling, husband, dear, southerner, wombat, Aki was the only who used part of my name at least. I tried to remember what happened with Jasmine.
"As amazing as you were, do you have to worry me like this? But I will settle for finally being with you again, my dearest husband."
Being with you, again. I only met Jasmine that same night, why did she talk like we were already acquainted before? She was cold and even hostile when the night began. The woman only started to lighten up the longer we fought together.
'I wonder what is going on? Did my jokes go overboard?'
Not that it mattered to me though. I saw her as an ally not as a love interest. I checked my inbox further and found another message.
[Sender: Satis]
[Husband. Are you well? I am doing everything to return to your side even a second sooner. Please wait for me. I cannot believe my wish got fulfilled. I will tell you about it when we reunite.
Jo should have told you about most of our situation. I will tell you what she doesn't know.
[The EU battle front is angry with our results. Jo and I are in hiding as his majesty intends to bring us in for questioning. Also, I heard news that many are searching for 'John Smith the Formless' please be careful. Mia Flair and Amari Soldat are helping us unofficially. They said it was as repayment to you. I don't like Mia, she feels like a vixen.
Just tell me and I will put an arrow through her heart.
[Anyway, this message is already quite long. I count the seconds till I get to see you again husband. Even with the world around me collapsing I feel no fear all because you and I are under the same sky. Soon. Soon, I can be with you once more. Until then, please keep safe.
- regards Jasmine.]
"…"
What happened to Jasmine? She acted like she was madly in love with me. Did I really go overboard with my teasing? No. Somehow, I felt this was different but why? Unable to find an answer I put the thing with Jasmine out of my mind, I then sent generic replies to both sisters and reviewed the info from Jasmine.
The one in charge, Clive Zanardi the Virtuous was unhappy at Jo and Jas placing alongside Mia and Amari. Since the sisters were hiding it mean the Revenant did not have good intentions. I hope they got here safe and sound. While I did not see the girls romantically, they were still my irreplaceable allies.
I then remembered the main thing I needed to figure out. Leaving the messaging app, I checked the Forums and typed the thing that concerned me most.
[Search: Why do reapers think using firearms are stupid?]
The forum search had topics going as far back as the 1910's. Wasn't that as before World War I? The internet forum shouldn't have existed then. But when I think about IRIS they must have kept the information in some way. All to give the next generation a better chance.
[Answer: Firearms are useless past floor 10, Ghouls start to appear on that floor and those do not die from just physical trauma.]
[Answer: Guns cannot be blessed so they will get you killed from floor 11 onwards.]
Most of the answers revolved around these two points. Firearms could not be blessed and that unblessed weapons could not kill past floor 10. Then were all soul weapons blessed? Why were bows allowed then?
[Search: Are all soul weapons blessed?]
[Answer: No, most soul weapons do not have an affinity. You gain the blessing from holy attribute {fates}]
[Answer: Is this guy being stupid or what? Soul weaponry are armaments that grow with the reaper. Once a reaper becomes a mid-level phantom, they no longer need a blessing.]
Hmm, so they did not start out powerful but like {Rewind} the {fates} grew in steps. But as the manifested developed their {fates} as weapons it increased their combat potential directly.
[Search: How can bows kill past floor 10 but not guns?]
[Answer: Are you retarded? Bows are not the ones blessed but the arrows!]
[Answer: Blessed arrows can be retrieved allowing them to earn back the investment for the blessing, a bullet cannot.]
[Answer: Have you ever tried to bless a bullet son? Try it once I promise you, you will bleed from your eyes.]
So a blessing was given on the arrows instead of the bow. The main difference of an arrow and bullet was the former could be retrieved and fired again. The latter separated into components which could not be reformed without specialized equipment.
[Search: How much to bless an arrow or bullet.]
[Answer: one thousand souls per blessing.]
[Answer: The priests are crooks; they scam people for 1 thousand souls a piece!]
[Answers: one object can be blessed for 1000 souls.]
"1000 souls a bullet? Isn't that $20,000 for a single round?"
'Fuck, I never realized how poor I was. What the hell do I do now?'