43. Magic Gun

Ben keeps experimenting on his magic pistol. He even doesn't take a lone job to focus on his pistol. He wants to be prepared for any situation that might happen in his job.

He wants to add an element to his magic pistol, but it's harder than he thought. The base magic that is used on his pistol is bullet magic. Bullet magic itself is categorized as a dark element. So Ben needs to change that dark element and replace it with another element.

But changing that dark element is not easy. Even after a week, all Ben's attempts to change it have failed. It will either break, explode, or couldn't be formed at all.

That's why on Monday after school, Ben scan many books in the library. He scan books related to bullet magic, elements, and also magic letters. He needs more data to finish his project.

He continue the experiment the next day but still failed. The school library's data is not enough for this. Darkness magic isn't that popular, after all. Just the sound of it has made people afraid already.

Luckily, Ben has an expert in the guild, the old man. He asks for Roubaul's help to build the magic letter formula. Then he work with Roubaul using all information they have.

They experimented every day until they finally succeed on the 8th day since they work together. The key is to make the bullet magic neutral without any element.

Then for the element, they install it on the lacrima that stores the ethernano. That's why for each element, Ben needs one lacrima crystal.

"Ben-boy, it seems you can only use 1 element. If you want to use all elements, then you need to make one pistol for each of them. But it won't be efficient," says Roubaul

"That's too troublesome. I have a good solution for that," says Ben while grinning.

Ben draw a blueprint with AI Chip's help. Roubaul watch him draw the blueprint and understand it. What Ben draw is a Revolver that has a rather big size and has 8 slots.

Those 8 slots are for Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Lightning, Darkness, Light, and his Sun energy. Then inside the handle, Ben will install another lacrima crystal.

The size will be almost as big as the handle. It's like a magazine, and it's also changeable. So Ben can change it if the energy is depleted.

But this crystal will not have any element. It is just to add more energy because the crystals in the slots are small. They won't have enough power to shoot many times, so he needs another source. It's like having more batteries.

"This round thing, is this for storing the lacrima crystals?" asks Roubaul.

"Yeah, it will hold all the crystals inside. To change the element, I just need to roll it to the desired crystal." Ben explains to Roubaul.

"Hoo, this is a good idea. How many rounds of shooting that this pistol can do?" asks Roubaul.

"I don't know, we need to test its limit first."

"I can't wait for it."

After he draws the blueprint, Ben starts to make the revolver. He make the crude version first for the prototype. Then he makes the lacrima crystal 'batteries'. The crystals are from the cave that he used to train last year.

Ben finish the prototype the next day, and he test it on the field. Other guild members come to watch the test. They're curious if Ben's new magic item will work.

Ben wears protective gear that Roubaul made. The guild members take some distance from him to avoid accidents.

Ben only uses the small crystals on this test and doesn't use the magazine lacrima. He wants to test the limit of these small crystals first. Then Ben starts his test using the fire element first.

*BANG* The first shot goes well without any problem. The damage on the target tree is also good. It won't kill strong mages instantly, but it can give them fatal injury. Some rounds of shooting, and it will be able to kill a mage.

Ben test the other elements, and only the sun element have a little problem. It ejects stronger energy than the others, which is good. But the revolver won't be able to hold if he used it too much.

"It seems you need to tune down the power of the sun element." Roubaul give Ben advice.

"No, this is good. I need a stronger shot among these 8 elements. It can be used for trump card or finisher," says Ben.

Ben starts to shoots again just with the small crystals. He shoots until the crystals run out of energy, even the sun crystals. The result is 20 shots for the 7 basic elements, and 10 shots for the sun element.

"150 shots in total without the magazine lacrima. The sun element cost 2 times energy, but it's 2 times stronger, so it's fair. Let's try the magazine," says Ben.

Ben load the magazine lacrima then shoots again. He doesn't change the empty small lacrima crystals to know the magazine's limit. The result is 532 shots using the basic element.

"Nice, this is really nice. With 682 rounds in total, those 2 serpents that I fought in the past will die even if I don't use my own magic. But it seems the revolver needs to be stronger," says Ben while looking at some thin cracks.

"Then you'll need a better material," says Roubaul.

"But this steel is the best that I found in the town."

"Because you bought it from the normal way. You need to buy it from a special way," says Roubaul while smiling.

"Ah, I can ask for your friends' help." Ben realizes what Roubaul means.

"That's right. I will contact them to find the best material. You just need to prepare the money. But Ben-boy, I want you to make enough for your team too." Roubaul asks Ben to make pistols for the girls.

"Don't worry. I've planned the ones for Wendy, Bella, & Carla." Ben answers it easily.

"Eh, us too?" asks Wendy.

"Of course. This is a life-saving item, so I will make one for each of you." Ben smile and rub Wendy's hair.

After the experiment, Ben give his bank card to Roubaul. The old man's friends will buy the materials for the magic guns. Roubaul said that his friends have good reputations in the mages world. So they'll be able to buy high-end products easily.

While waiting for the materials, Ben train like normal. He has prioritized the experiment these days. So now he will train like normal, and even harder than before.

He also helps the girls train and plays with them. The girls have shown good progress these days. They play around often, but they still train following their schedule.

It has been days since Ben check his stats. So he is curious and decides to check it now.

[Name: Ben Cooper

Age: 12

Status: Alive

MP: 48,981/47,981

STR: 85

AGI: 84

STA: 89

INT: 99]

'Finally, I pass the 80th mark on all stats. Intelligence is just 1 point away from 100. My MP also raised a lot after my fight with that Etherious. It seems possible to pass 100 on all stats in this 1 year, or even less.' Ben thinks while looking at his stats.

Ben has changed his training menu since his battle with the serpents. The change is working because now his stats have raised significantly.

"Hard battle is really the best place to grow. If I keep getting hard battle, then I'm sure I'll surpass the 100 marks in 6 months. Then I'll be an S-Class, and have access to more dangerous places, hehe."

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