Chapter 205: Escape Clause
After thirty minutes of showing Stella how to properly hold an aim the rifle, for which she needed to shapeshift into a longer-armed form, and another five minutes figuring out how to mount the semi-indestructible contract on a tree - Kir had to use his claws to carve a slot for the scroll stick - Stella was finally ready to shoot.
"Alright, first charge it with mana," Kir instructed.
"Feels like the thing is trying to suck me dry, and not in a good way," Stella said.
"That’s just Kangetsu getting used to you. Now, focus your mana on the topmost bullet." He put his finger at the top of the revolver.
"Okay, I feel it... but there’s some kind of barrier?"
"Once you feel the barrier, it’s ready to be shot. But if you can push mana past it, you’ll get a more powerful shot. If you focus a bit, you should recognize a small hole where mana can pass through. Try it now." Kir watched as Stella focused more of her mana, managing to fill thirteen out of the one hundred layers in the bullet. It was impressive given he had only managed to cap out at fifty-one in a dry-fire test.
The exponential nature of each round meant a one-hundred percent charge would probably be equivalent to his Nova Blast at around five percent of its power, but with far more mana used. But it was the "elemental" effects he’d designed the rifle for that were the point. That, was a need for precision and deniability when it came to his casting technique. Putting mana into a weapon would obfuscate his methods and deliver consistent results without having to form the spells, saving valuable time.
It would also let someone like Stella cast spells they didn’t know, since all the caster rounds needed was mana, at least once he’d explained each bullet to them. He gave her a brief overview of each bullet, and let her select the first one she would use.
She went with the plasma bolt; charging it as far as she could go.
"When you’re ready, line the dot and the very top of the barrel sight up with the contract, and pull the trigger."
A charging sound not unlike that of an old camera sounded. "Trigger... that’s this thing, ri-"