Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

“Don’t talk to me, you betrayer. How dare you… without saying anything to me… sneakily… leaving me there alone…”

Luger grumbled in a voice dripping with resentment. Leeha burst into laughter, imagining his sullen face.

“Oh, come on! Being so rude to someone offering to exchange information!”

“Y-you! What did you say?! You have something else to tell?”

“I was there. Do you think I might know a few more things than you do?”

With a mix of playful and serious tones, Leeha stirred Luger’s emotions.

“And right now, it’s the paleo Gorilla Tribe! Seriously, you could just teleport there! I have it saved in my crystal.”

“Then….”

“But hey, I was being nice, offering you a chance to listen! If you don’t like it, fine. Keep digging there forever. Ah! If Kaztor really heads that way… you know you’re dead, right? Even me, headmaster Browless, Kidd, and all kinds of people couldn’t catch him, remember that.”

Leeha’s alternating use of carrot and stick was something not many in Middle Earth could withstand.

“Turn it on.”

“What?”

“Chain Teleport turn it on! I’ll message you immediately if Kaztor shows up.”

“What about the information?”

“… When it’s out.”

“I can’t hear you~?”

If anyone saw Leeha’s face, they’d wonder what kind of person he was, smirking mischievously amid the chaos of the capital, cackling to himself.

“I said I’ll tell you, you damned fool! I could fly there right now and knock some sense into your—”

“Keke, okay! Don’t turn off the chain teleport! Hit me up when you’re done, good luck~” Leeha was about to cut off the conversation again after saying his piece.

Luger pondered the next investigation site for a moment. The forest inhabited by Dark Elves?

“No, Kaztor is less likely to go there. We’d just end up being tailed for nothing. What could returning to a homeland abandoned a hundred years ago accomplish? After all, the Dark Elves are the ones who asked us to track Kaztor. They’re less likely to hide him or show any kindness.”

Aware that Leeha, Kidd, and Luger had begun their pursuit, Kaztor would have ruled out such options long ago.

“It looks like we’ve checked all possible locations… Ugh, for now, we just have to wait for the research institute’s results at the Royal Magic Academy.”

Or wait for Luger’s intel. Leeha contacted Blaugrunn to ensure they were ready for battle at any moment.

“But will I be of any help there?”

“Why are you like that? They say a single mistake is forgivable.”

“If Blaugrunn-ssi isn’t there, we can’t even fight! Besides, you’re just a kid right now.”

“What?”

“You’re still a Juvenile. It’s normal for teenagers to make mistakes and wander. If you don’t straighten up, will Bahamut scold you?”

“If you put it that way—”

“Cheer up. Don’t worry. Blaugrunn-ssi, you did nothing wrong. Nobody thinks so.”

The Juvenile Bronze Dragon was despondent, thinking his delayed casting had let Kaztor escape. Leeha reassured him, boosting his confidence once more.

After chatting, contacting various people, and setting up an information network, Leeha finally managed to visit the City of Gazia.

“Bottleneck-ssi! Is everything I asked for ready?”

“Whoo, Leeha, what do you take me for? Asking me to manage that in just a week, do you think that’s something a human can do?”

Hearing Bottleneck’s sigh, Leeha glanced at the ground for a moment, fearing the earth might sink under the weight of a dwarf’s deep resentment.

Indeed, it was a justified concern. On the day of the incident, after wrapping everything up, the last place Leeha visited was Gaza City, to meet with Bottleneck. The purpose? To encounter Bottleneck.

“Hmm… well, since I’m not a dwarf, that does sound like something a human would say, doesn’t it?”

“This darn…! I might as well go back to Hell Anvil! If it keeps up like this—”

“Ah, why go on like that, dear Chief Engineer? I was thinking of getting you a few guns made by the bonobo folk when we head to the New Continent next time.”

“… What?”

“I told you, the bonobo paleos made guns. One of their mystical creatures created a firearm almost identical to Luger’s Cobalt Blue Python! Aren’t you curious about that?”

“Well, curious, yes but—”

Handling an infuriated dwarf was a piece of cake for Leeha. Hadn’t ‘Koba’ been seen handling one in the midst of battle with those mystical creatures?

From that moment, Leeha had only one thing on their mind.

“If Bottleneck-ssi can make, or even if he can’t make but can take inspiration from, an item similar to the Cobalt Blue Python—”

“We could once again enhance the Black Bass, is that what you mean?”

“Exactly.”

A significant improvement of skills!

To track and contest Kaztor, this was indeed essential. Of course, the easiest way to enhance one’s prowess was to refurbish one’s items.

“So, let’s see what you made with the materials from Toon I gave you, shall we?”

“Damn it, you can’t help but trap me in this every time—”

“What??”

“Follow me! I’ll show you what I’ve made with those damned dinosaur claws and bones!”

It wasn’t just a refurbishment for Leeha alone, but a crucial moment for the overall enhancement of the skills of the users who trusted and followed Leeha.

“The claws have been fashioned into daggers. They’re designed to be carried at the waist without hindrance.”

“Ah, I can see the carefully honed edges. They seem shorter than originally, no?”

“Of course! Do you want to swing around with the root of the claw in battle? Adjusting for a suitable length and ensuring only the most robust and sharp parts remain means reducing size is inevitable!”

“So, that’s why it’s a good thing. Why the anger, then~”

Leeha playfully massaged Bottleneck’s shoulder.

Just looking at the pair of daggers before them invoked the majestic aura of Toon.

“Any special features?”

“One of its characteristics was also infused into the claw.”

“Characteristics?”

As if questioning the necessity of his own explanation, Bottleneck handed the dagger to Leeha.

[Legendary Dinosaur Claw Daggers that Drain Mana]

Attack Power: User’s Strength/2 + User’s Agility

Type: Melee,

One-Handed Weapon

Effect: Removes target’s held mana (24 hours limit)

Required Conditions: Strength 200 or above, Agility 2,000 or above, intelligence 400 or above

Description: The claws of Toon, the Supreme Giant Monster Commander from the Second Human-Demon War. Toon, who did not use magic, was feared by the coalition’s mages because he inherently had the ability to dispel mana. Not only could he scream to use a wide-range dispel, but he also personally swung his claws at great magic users like dragons, forcing them to pay the price. This was why all mana holders in Middle Earth had no choice but to fear the name of Toon.

“Dispel!”

“Right. Perhaps the effect is limited to once a day because there’s only one claw.”

“That alone is incredible, isn’t it!? What about the amount of mana it can remove? How much can it handle?”

“I wouldn’t know. How could I possibly test that?”

“Ah, right.”

Pondering testing it on someone? It would result in immediate death. Strictly speaking, Bottleneck had not ‘created’ this item, but rather ‘processed’ it, so it was natural to be clueless about the true effects of Toon’s claw.

“No, if there had been any restrictions… there would have been an explanation, like the situation now.”

A 24-hour limitation means the mana removal effect can only be used once a day. If there had been any restrictions on the amount of mana removal, Middle Earth would certainly have noted it.

“For instance, it could only remove as much mana as the user has, or- well, considering Toon originally doesn’t possess mana or use magic, the clue should have been something like it only removes as much mana as the user has. But there’s no such indication, meaning it’s unlimited.

This literally suggests an unrestricted mana removal. At this revelation, a chill ran down everyone’s spine.

The most commonly circulated weapon in Middle Earth is the ‘one-handed sword’.

However, that’s just the type of ‘weapon’. What about when classifying ‘combat styles’?

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the most widespread are the magic-user classes.

“Elementalists, sorcerers, warlocks, Mages, Dark Mages, spellcasters, sages, Flame Mages, ice mages, wizards, necromancers, even Lady Rubini’s Oracle belongs to the magic-user classes… not to mention, a significant number of professions require the use of skills, not just basic attacks, relying heavily on mana!

Just think about how many magic-user classes come to mind that players play the most, and what about other jobs? What lies in their hands is practically an anti-mage weapon.

“Bottleneck-ssi! This is why! This is why I really like you!”

“Only at times like this!”

“Really, really! How can you make a weapon with such functions, in such a sleek and beautiful ‘form’? I couldn’t do it even if I were beaten to death.”

“Mhm, of course! What ability do you think you have to make something like this?”

Bottleneck shrugged off with a feigned indifference, but even that brought joy to Leeha. The dagger made from Toon’s claw boasted such powerful functionality.

Moreover, for someone with unusually high agility like Leeha, the attack power of the dagger was almost unparalleled. What more could they need?

“The problem might be Ram Hwayeon… Hmm. It was one of the items intended for her, but requiring an agility of 2,000 is a bit of a flaw.

No matter how much she advanced with the help of Ram Hwajung’s hunting achievements, for a Flame Mage like her to achieve 2,000 agility was out of the question.”

Well, it’s not my place to worry.”

Ram Hwayeon is someone who…

Whether she can use it or not, having an item named [Toon] means she will employ all possible methods to extract its maximum efficiency.

She would use whatever means necessary.

“What are you standing around for? Next is the shield. I used only two out of the three chestplate pieces.”

“Oh? You didn’t use all three?”

“Using all three would make it too big and inefficient. You wouldn’t even be able to carry it. That’s not what you wanted in the first place.”

“Um… That’s true. It was already clear since it was just a chest piece or a fragment. Of course, a dinosaur’s ‘chest armor’ would be huge.”

“Here, take the remaining chest piece for now.”

Bottleneck fumbled around and presented a piece of Toon’s chestplate. It was as white and pristine as when it was first looted by Leeha.

“And this is… the shield.”

“This?”

While Leeha was busy putting the chest piece into the bag, Bottleneck lifted the shield made from Toon’s chestplate.

The size was impractical for use by a dwarf, being disproportionately large, but what first caught Leeha’s eye was not its size or shape.

“This, you say?”