A Gunslinger’s System in a World of Magic

…

"Alright, everyone," Boyle yelled out, "Let's move on."

It had been about fifteen minutes since Henry had spoken with the former Slaves and his words had convinced the majority to stay back and join them in their expedition through the Dungeon. Aaron was part of the resistant minority but he and the others had the good sense to realize, that if they had barely a chance of making it with their meager numbers before, then they definitely couldn't make it with just three doubters trying blindly to find the Gate.

The Former slaves came to Henry with the bags of loot they had been 'trusted' with by the now-dead Slavers.

"We still did the work carrying it so I say we keep some of it," Aaron grumbled but the others, the majority, ignored him.

Henry smiled.

"Keep it all," he said, "Just ensure you can carry it."

They could carry it of course. The bags, at the moment, only contained arrowhead loots of Y'Nth metal and with the way storage bags were made, it takes significantly more weight than that to make carrying it a hindrance.

The Former slaves looked grateful but they had no reason to be. Henry had no interest in their Loot.

First, he had quickly taken possession of the staves that had been wielded by all the Orc casters he killed. The staves all had pieces of Y'Nth metal imbedded to the top so Henry saw a chance at a good enough profit from them.

Second, Andor had gathered Axes of the fallen Orc warriors which he handed either outright or subtly to Henry who stowed them into his Inventory.

At first, it had seemed as though the Knights didn't particularly care about loot but the diligence with which they gathered up Axes, claiming possession to a good number before Andor could reach for them, made Henry consider his earlier impression had not been entirely accurate.

The Knights seemed to have just let the Mercenaries gather loot more eagerly to keep them happy and retain the service. With the Mercenaries all dead now, there was no need for that. This was, of course, thanks to Henry and Andor but none of the Knights seemed grateful.

Anyway, the previously listed two reasons had given Henry and Andor a sizable loot to call their own so there was no need to rob the Former Slaves who could use the Y'Nth metal gathered to set up some life for themselves once they left the Dungeon.

*If* they left.

Henry believed in the speech he had used to convince them. He really did think they could die if they turned around and tried to find the Gate on their own. Because of the large landscape of the Dungeon, things were not as direct as the Lich's more structured Dungeon which had direct paths so that enemy attacks could not circle around to find you.

Anyway, the point is, it would have been dangerous for Aaron and the others to return but coming with the Knights was not really any better because they were not seeking a way out. They were seeking the Dungeon Boss which meant the danger of the expedition would only continue to rise.

As everyone gathered up their things and prepared to follow Boyle's lead deeper into the Dungeon, Henry looked at the Former Slaves and really hoped they weren't heading to sure deaths.

"Huh," Boyle said as he glanced at Nyx who was trotting by Henry's side, "So she'll walk with us then?"

Boyle didn't know all of Nyx's abilities, or any of them in fact, but he did know she had not been with them before now. Having her trot with the group might make them easier to spot by enemies ahead.

"She'll be quiet," Henry assured with a small smile.

Boyle snorted,

"I doubt that," he said and Nyx made a point of snorting at him in return. She snorted hard enough that the air from her nostrils tossed his hair back.

Boyle rolled his eyes,

"Quiet down," he said but he said nothing more about Nyx trotting along after that.

Henry patted Nyx's side then and she let out one last sound of satisfaction before falling silent as though to prove his earlier point and show that she truly could be silent.

Henry smiled at that. On a side note, he was sporting a different shirt seeing as the one he was wearing before had been sliced up by Gareth's sword. He also had his <Abominable Vest> on.

The Vest was a piece of accessory he should have used in his battle against Gareth and maybe had an easier time at it. Why he hadn't, Henry had no idea. Especially since there was no reason to avoid it once Gareth knew who he was.

Then again, it might have gotten very damaged too so maybe it was right not to wear it? Maybe.

"Eloise," Gareth called gently to his second-in-command.

Eloise walked a bit faster but so swiftly and gracefully that her footsteps hardly made a sound. She held out a hand and began to chant under her breath. When she was done with her spell, a ball of mana had formed above her palm and it periodically spread waves of Mana in all directions.

"This way," she said confidently, "There's strong energy coming from this direction."

Henry was almost sure that, had Louis been there, he would have been told exactly what the ball of mana was but he could make a fairly accurate guess on his own. It was clearly some kind of sensory spell that worked similarly to how the spreading of his Perception worked. Of course, considering Eloise's 'Intelligence' Stat, Henry was sure her magical perception was far better in range and strength.

"Should have had you cast that all along," Boyle grumbled mostly to himself, "Might not have been ambushed. Twice."

"Maybe not," Eloise said with a slight smile.

"How long can you keep that going?" Boyle asked.

"Only for a while," Eloise admitted, "But if it goes out, I'll be able to recast it at least three more times."

"Alright," Boyle said with a nod, "And I expect we'll be meeting enemies soon enough."

He wasn't wrong.

A few steps later, Eloise announced,

"There are Orcs up ahead."

"The Dungeon Boss?" Boyle asked.

"I'm not sure," Eloise admitted, "There's something strong in the group but I don't think it's the Boss."

"Something stronger than the Orcs we've already faced?" Boyle asked.

"Its energy is much stronger, yes," Eloise said with a nod.

"How many?" Boyle asked.

Eloise took a second to answer but even then she looked unsure,

"There are more of them than we faced before," she said and then added in a more urgent tone,

"It won't be long before they detect us too. They must have Casters."

"Maybe we go around?" Another Knight suggested looking unsure of another battle. He seemed especially skeptical because Eloise had mentioned 'something stronger' as well as a larger number of enemies.

Henry understood the worry. They were smaller in number now about to face enemies that were more than those they faced before.

"Can we go around them?" Boyle asked Andor.

"They're closer now," Eloise said shaking her head, "If we tried to move around them, I expect they'll detect us before we get far enough. We'll be forced to engage."

"So we attack first, then," Henry said.

Boyle furrowed his brow at that. He knew Henry was right which was why he nodded soon enough,

"We'll seize the initiative. Claim the element of surprise," he said.

"I can help with that," Henry said.

"How—?" Boyle started to ask but Henry was already moving. He picked one of the trees around them and began to climb it. He was quite a nimble climber. He hadn't done it in a while —never since he had been in this world— but it was probably one of those things he just couldn't ever forget how to do.

He balanced atop a tree branch soon enough.

"-Henry, what are you doing?-" Nyx asked.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"-What does it look like I'm doing?-" Henry asked her in return through their telepathic connection.

Out loud, he said in a quiet voice that those below could her well enough,

"I see them. I'll pick some of their numbers from up here while also drawing their attention to help your surprise charge."

"Alright," Boyle said without one ounce of a pushback.

Eloise gave Henry a look as though to wish him luck as the group began to creep forward with Boyle in the lead.

Henry saw Andor give him a similar look while sticking close to the female Cleric. He raised a brow at that but could hardly be bothered to pay it much attention.

"-I can't help you from down here-" Nyx said.

"-Who says you can't?-" Henry asked her and with that, Nyx pulled her neck back and then seemed to realize how silly she had been.

"-Of course-" she said and manipulated the shadows being cast around her to vanish into it and in that form and with continued shadow manipulation, she followed the crouching group.

Eloise told them when to stop moving so they didn't risk getting caught and attacked first instead of the other way around.

It was Henry's turn after that and he retrieved 'Cudgel' and looked down its barrel to pick out his first target.