A Gunslinger’s System in a World of Magic

•••

Henry was dropped at the very spot he had left the room from; Right by the side of Doherty's split-open carcass and the sounds of combat greeted him.

The three Mercenaries appeared to have been chosen as the next Challengers and together they faced off against Echo, to constant failure that had them slammed into walls and against columns with blood dripping from their mouths and some body parts stuck at odd angles.

Henry activated <Insight> and frowned when he saw Echo's current Stats were an amalgamation of the Stats of the Three Mercenaries which meant, on average, it was stronger than each of them.

From the current scene, Henry could posit that they had tried to be in synch and were quickly out of their depths.

"Weak," Echo said in a slow crooning voice as it approached one of the Mercenaries,

"You Failed." It said before bringing its Spear down and stabbing it through the Mercenary's head. Ending the life the Fighter was already barely hanging on to.

With <Insight> still activated, Henry saw Echo's stats drop but it was unconcerned. And why should it be? It had won.

Echo approached a second Mercenary and after attesting to his failure, it killed him just as it had done the last.

Again, its Stats dropped. Now mirroring the last of the Mercenaries.

Henry had 'Violent Retort' in one hand and 'The Hydra's Sting' in the other as his fingers slid across the triggers wondering if he should shoot Echo right now or see what would become of it when the last person whose Stats it was mirroring met its end.

'So, do its stats just drop to zero without a challenger, or what?' Henry asked himself just as Echo arrived at the third.

"Please… don't…" The Mercenary Fighter struggled to say.

Besides the Mercenary's weak, pained cries and the slight sound of shuffling that Echo made as it approached him, there was silence in the room.

The Decaying Undead were all dealt with and the members of the Raiding Party (those who used to wear Control cuffs) just watched with bated breath, knowing that fate would soon be theirs as well.

Louis gulped. His plan had worked. They were free and now they were about to face the consequences of such a crazy plan. With that thought, he gripped his Staff with both hands and held on so tight, his knuckles were turning white.

"Unsavory," Echo said to the Mercenary pleading for his life,

"You failed to prove your mettle. For that, there is only death."

"No!" The Mercenary yelled, "Please No— Ack!"

As the Mercenary breathed his last, Henry raised both his guns then and fired shots from both. Out of 'Violent Retort' traveled two powerful slugs packing forceful might and from 'The Hydra's Sting' traveled an <Acidic Combustion> shot.

All three fired shots met a protective field that absorbed every bit of kinetic energy and magic they had so they fell to the ground in useless clatters.

Henry frowned.

The field was magical, that much was clear, but something about its components did not seem all that 'normal'. Or as normal as anything in this world ever was.

He still had <Insight> activated and he watched as Echo's Stats dropped after the death of the third Mercenary and now its Stats looked like this;

——————

[Name: Echo]

[Job: Mettle-Tester.]

[Health: ~]

[Mana: ~]

[Strength: ~]

[Agility: ~]

[Stamina: ~]

*[Remarks: An Echo.]

——————

The stat screen lacking any figures worried Henry. If it had dropped to zero, he would have certainly felt more at ease. If it had dropped to some minimum level, it would have at least been understandable. Lacking any figures and looking like it was in flux was absolutely worrying.

Now, of course, even before his failed 'assassination', Henry considered the whole 'Echo' thing a scam. For one thing, while Echo appeared to replicate the Challenger's Mana capacity, it didn't run out of the magical resource as they did.

Replicating the Challenger's Mana just served as Echo's baseline for what level of magical ability it was limited to even if it could stay on that level of magical ability forever.

"Henry!" Louis called out when the sounds of the gunshots announced to him that Henry had returned,

"You came back."

"Of course, I came back," Henry said, confused that Louis sounded surprised. Even if he had stayed in Elminster's workshop for hours, he'd still exit here and likely still face Echo all the same so how could he not come back and try when there were still people who could fight by his side against the mummified Undead.

It was while those thoughts were roaming in his mind that Henry realized how it must have looked to anyone else when he was swallowed by the Portal and he added,

"Wait, you didn't think I left you to die, did you?"

Louis nodded with his eyes still as wide as ever because that was exactly what he had thought.

Henry shook his head and fought a smile off his face because the situation was far too serious to find that funny.

Speaking of which, Echo turned slowly while flicking blood off his Spear,

"Foolish to attempt a sneak attack," it said slowly,

"You can only hurt me while I test your Mettle. Until your test begins, I shall be impervious to your attacks."

"Would have liked to know that before wasting my shots, but okay," Henry said, and with <Reload>, two Mana-infused shotgun slugs from his Inventory were loaded into 'Violent Retort'.

Echo took a step forward with its head cocked to the side. It eyed Henry's guns and then regarded him with those emotionless black eyes as it said,

"You're a peculiar one."

Because of these?" Henry asked as he raised both guns and aimed them at the Undead's face.

So far, Echo's stats were still in flux and had not replicated his own. The test had not yet begun.

Echo nodded,

"Yes," it said, "But it's also you. I can feel it, you are worthy of being my challenger but—"

"What makes me worthy?" Henry asked and shut Echo up as it regarded his question before answering in a tone that made it sound like the reason should have been obvious,

"You're the strongest one here."

"I am?" Henry asked, surprised.

According to Henry's <Insight>, with Doherty and the Mercenaries now dead, the current 'strongest' in the room was the Opponent Doherty had made him spar against to qualify for the Raiding Party.

Henry's highest stat, Agility (56) was still lower than that Fighter's highest stat, Strength (62) so how could he be the strongest in the room?

"Hold on," Henry said and his eyes widened slightly in realization,

"It's the total of our Stats!"

No one who could hear Henry's mumbles understood him but he didn't care. He was taking a quick glance around, piling multiple Status screens, and doing some rough Maths in his head that always saw him stay ahead because he had more stats (Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Perception) to add up compared to theirs (Strength, Agility, and Stamina).

The only exception was Louis who had the 'Intelligence' stat as a Mage to make up Four but because of his lacking Physical Stats, Henry still came ahead.

Echo was unbothered by Henry's mumblings as well as his surprise at being crowned strongest in the room.

"Are you ready to test your Mettle?" It asked.

"Would it matter if I said I wasn't?" Henry asked.

"It wouldn't," Echo answered calmly and its stats began to morph to echo Henry's.

At the same time, Henry received an Alert from the System;

[Grand Quest Updated!

Main Quest: Prove Your Mettle.

- Defeat Echo.

Reward: 2000 Exp]