A Gunslinger’s System in a World of Magic

Orcs are violent creatures. By nature, they live for blood and War. Their very blood seems to grow restless when peace is abundant.

And despite this, they can be a very spiritual race. It just so happens that that spirituality dwells still in Violence and battle. Their Shamans (for the tribes that have them) always require some blood sacrifice to appease some god they worship.

Their magic, for the casters among them, is almost never elemental. It is always just a force of Mana tinted red by their natural predisposition.

Anyway, a lot of the casters had set their eyes on a few notes of interest. People who possessed a kind of interesting sensitivity that just made them seem dangerous whether or not they were;

The Clerics were one such people of interest. Eloise who had been slammed away was one such person of interest. And then, there was Henry.

The one wielding the stick that flared at the end and fired powerful projectiles. While the Casters did not understand the weapon Henry was wielding, they could tell it was magical. About as magical as the Axes that had been forged with Y'Nth metal. Or the Staffs they wielded to channel their magic.

Anyway, strange weapon aside, the Casters could detect a wave oozing from his head. They felt it ebb and flow. It was different from the sensitivity of the Clerics or Eloise. It was its own thing and maybe even more intriguing.

Of course, the Orcs were not at all interested in investigating this phenomenon. It just drew enough of their attention to cause three of them to direct their attacks solely on Henry.

Just after he had dodged the arc of violent Mana, three balls steaming with heat intent on searing the flesh off his bones came charging at him which forced Henry to start making agile dodges and runs to avoid getting struck.

<Quick Thinking>

Time froze and he spent the five seconds he had studying the trajectory of the attacks so he knew where he move his body once time resumed.

When the first volley of attacks was past, Henry kicked off the spot he was standing in and charged at the three Orc Casters.

The three all stood a few feet away from each other and their eyes were opened wide as one in reaction to Henry's dodge of their attacks and only got wider when he started charging at them.

As he ran, Henry retrieved 'Violent Retort' from his Inventory and swinging the sawed-off double-barrelled shotgun and the magical Repeater in his hands for a spray of shots, he fired mana-infused slugs and bullets that traveled toward the Casters for an assured hit.

As one, the three gritted their teeth and their spell-cast changed from attacking to defensive as they conjured shields formed thickly of their red and violent Mana.

Henry's shots had just struck the shields and cracks had begun to form when he realized he had been tricked.

Only two of the Orcs had changed their chant to cast defensive shields. The third, who now had a smirk on his face completed a separate chant and stamped his Staff against the ground to cause a Spell circle to appear at Henry's feet.

Henry's eyes grew wide and he leaped just as the spell circle began to glow an even brighter shade of red until it was at the explosive peak it had been building up to.

*BOOM!!!* Stay updated through empire

The explosion was intense and rumbled in a red explosive burst of Mana that propelled Henry even higher into the air than he would have gotten with just a leap.

The heat of the explosion singed his pants and burned the soles off his boots but the impact of it was what cost Henry the most.

[You have lost 50 Hit Points]

[Hit Points: 210/280]

While he was still in the air and mourning the loss of Hit Points, Henry fired shots from both his guns because, as he almost always had the foresight to do ever since he gained the Subskill, he had infused <Guiding Shot> into the shots he had fired earlier seeing as repeated shots onto specific spots on shields had proven very effective in breaking through in all his previous experiences.

The bullets traveled guided by the Homing signal placed on the fractured shield. The two fired shots struck as one and completed the ongoing cracks to shatter the shield entirely. And because the obstacle had not at all been strong enough to completely halt their progress, the shots traveled on and struck two of the Casters.

"Ah—" one let out as the shot struck him in the stomach. He bled but he'd survive.

The same was not the case for his comrade.

Henry's shot had pierced the second Orc's throat. And because it had been shot from the Mana-infused Slug of 'Violent Retort', the wound was not elegant. It was large and gory.

The Orc got about one last second to clutch at the wound before keeling over backward and hitting the ground. Never to move again.

[Kill-Reward: 400 Exp]

Henry received the Notification as his feet hit the ground again after his recent high toss into the air by the third Orc'a detonating Spell.

'More Exp,' he thought with a bit of surprise, 'This is 100 more than I got from the Orc archers.'

It didn't take long for Henry to decide that this made sense. The Archers were all about stealth and ambush and that was why Eloise had identified them as 'small' because, relative to their fellows, they were indeed small. Not just in size but status. They were not frontliners. Their job was to leap from tree to tree and hide out while picking off enemy groups.

Anyway, the Orc Casters clearly held more status than that. Their attacks also clearly packed more sting and force.

Speaking of which;

The sight of one of their own falling to the enemy's fire had the two other Orc's eyes widening and they were already working on their next chant.

But here's the thing; While Henry did allow himself the time to think about the difference in EXP he gained from killing an Orc Caster as opposed to an Orc Archer, he didn't do this while standing in place. In fact, the moment his feet hit the ground, he leaped into a run. The most zig-zagged run the Orc Casters had probably ever been opportune to see.

With his little strength to pile up on his impressive Agility, he pushed his speed to the limit and threw off any attempt the two Orcs made to aim at him.

And then, at some point, they could have sworn he vanished altogether.

*Bang!*

The sound of a fired shot announced Henry becoming visible again and the dull and heavy thud of the already-injured Orc's body hitting the ground like a felled tree announced another successful kill.

[Kill-Reward: 400 Exp]

Despite his eyes being widened in shock, the third Orc collected himself quickly enough. Henry was visible and just before he could charge into another vanishing run, the Orc hoped to riddle him with holes from conjured blades.

The Orc was sure there was no way he could miss. He was just too close to Henry for the gunman to get away.

But just then, Henry's eyes gained a red glint and a similar-colored haze rose from his body.

<Raider's Intent>

A Skill he had gained through the title he had received after completing his first Dungeon Raid.

A skill that was only useful within Dungeons.

A Skill that struck the Orc with fear and caused it to freeze in place long enough for Henry to cock his gun, point it at his head, and fire.

The back of the Orc's head blasted open from the violence of the shot and his body hit the ground at the same time Henry received a familiar alert.

[Kill-Reward: 400 Exp]