Gun dog.

"BAM"

Rhoam slams his mace down at me just a second after I push raw mana into my legs, jumping to the side. His strike creates a small hole and shockwave where I just was.

All living beings unknowingly manipulate pure, internal mana. This is why Rhoam has seemingly superhuman abilities. But only sages or people who train certain techniques can use their mana outside of their bodies.

Of course, a royal knight would have more mana than a peasant because by training their weapons and bodies, warriors unknowingly exercise their mana as well.

Focusing back on the fight, I slash my saber at the King, executing a deadly Aqua Slash with Samantha, but he flips away, then bolts towards me at a speed my body can't keep up with, using a technique called a 'Flurry rush.' The tower shield in my teachers offhand bashes me to the ground.

It is part of Rhoam's unique training to use different weapons in our spars every day. Today is a tower shield and mace combo.

I retreat and execute my bread and butter spell, channeling lightning into my hand, "FEAR ME, I, ARJON SINCLAIRE, DRAW UPON THE POWER OF LIGHTNING, BEAR MY WRATH PITIFUL MORTAL - LIGHTNING GRASP!!!"

"For that last time, STOP announcing your spells," Rhoam angrily says, gritting his teeth and blocking my steam of lightning with his shield by executing another weapons technique called a 'parry.'

With a single bound, the king is upon me. His mace craves out a vicious arc in the air, whipping straight toward my head. I am forced to use stasis to freeze Rhoam in place before pushing him away with wind magic.

Taking this opportunity to push my offense, I focus on my blade techniques, gliding over the dirt of the training ground like a nimble ship at sea.

A trail of beautiful water follows Samantha as I jump into the sky, switching to a two-handed grip to strike down at Rhoam.

"ding...."

I got parried again.

I quickly retreat, drawing my revolver, and start pumping out bullets, which force Rhoam to duck behind his shield.

Getting greedy, I attempt to send the Throngler around the shield into Rhoam's unprotected side, but I soon realize that the king has grabbed my wire and yanks me forward, right into his fist.

With a new bruise on the side of my face, I fall to the ground, completely drained of mana.

My teacher helps me up and pats me on the back, offering some encouragement, "That was decent, kid; you even managed to push me back with your stasis chip."

"Now go clean the outhouse before you head off to whatever secret projects you do in that little shack of yours."

I complete my chores and make a large lunch for myself and Rhoam before heading over to a new pavilion I constructed for Shikah technology crafting, as it can be a bit... explosive.

Today, I will finish my first Shiekah project.

The basics of Shiekah tech are simple when you have the parts. The tech runs off of mana. The mana is gathered from the atmosphere through certain component formations to charge cores.

The cores can also be charged by special types of tech that can be used to feed off of the user's mana.

What gets tricky is moving the mana where you want it to go, and, in that field, I'm just shooting in the dark.

The tech uses rudimentary parts like screws, springs, and shafts, but they need to be precisely assembled in the exact right ways.

I've been able to make this project work, but I'm far from actually being able to understand and reproduce the components that make Shiekah tech so powerful.

With the right amount of parts and enough time, I may be able to make a Shiekah Iron Man suite!

But right now, I have made a more humble invention.

Inside my lab, there is a worktable with a compact cannon mounted on a metal arm, the cannon is attached to a harness, which is perfectly fit for my dog.

I'm giving Floofy a laser cannon.

The cannon is controlled by hydraulics that makes the weapon move in the direction Floofy's head is facing and is activated by two buttons on Floofy's harness.

The first button opens the protective case on Floofy's back, activating the cannon, and the second fires a blast of destructive energy.

Of course, due to my almost nonexistent knowledge of Sheikah engeneering, this cannon is significantly weaker than the version on the Guardian.

The cannon feeds off of Floofy's internal mana, so by using it, Floofy's mana store will grow larger, and he will be able to fire the cannon much more. But for now, I will charge it myself.

I whistle for Floofy to come over and begin strapping the harness to him. By now, Floofy knows hundreds of words, and he has grown to about the size of a golden retriever. He stands perfectly still while I strap him in.

We head out to an open clearing to test Floofy's new drip, and after a bit of signaling, I show my dog how to activate the cannon.

Floofy quickly learns that the strange object follows his head's direction, and we proceed to the first test.

I show Floofy how to fire the cannon by pushing the second button. A small blast rips out of the weapon, and the hydraulics quickly work to absorb most of the recoil, but Floofy is still pushed back a few feet.

The result of this is a blast that is able to make a two-foot hole in the boulder I was aiming at, pretty good for my first Shiekah invention.

Floofy stares at me, then barks happily, pushing the button on his shoulder, letting out another blast.

I teach him some new commands with this weaponry, and he picks them up easily. By the time the afternoon is over, Floofy and I are fighting in conjunction, battling different imaginary enemies. Tomorrow I will ask Rhoam if Floofy can join my training.

Everything is going according to plan.

FLOOFY WILL OBLITERATE ALL MY ENEMIES!