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After the genociding the Orcs, the young master took a day of rest, revising all he had learned and experienced in the past days during his hunts. With his multiple engagements with the monsters, and information he had gathered from locals and the encyclopaedia he was now clear of just how challenging this world was for normal humans to survive in. In comparison, back on earth the Early humans who lived among hue beasts, had to face much lesser threats. Thankfully for the humans of Iseria, they could use mana to strengthen their bodies, beyond what was physically possible. Speaking of which, the 2000 militia of the territory was comprised mostly Rank 1 and Rank 2 warriors. The guards of the house were also Rank 1 warriors. Now the strength of a Rank 1 warrior was not exactly defined, but it was substantially greater than a well built human, and this disparity increased greatly with higher ranks. It was thanks to the Warriors and Mages that humanity was able to continue its existence and dominate vast swathes of territory.
Returning to the topic of monsters, for Add, the best way to deal with them was to avoid melee combat as much as possible. He would rather resort to using traps, sniping at long ranges, and only when he had no other option but to reduce the distance between him and his foes, he will depend on weapons such as the rifles. However, this did not mean that he would shy away from fighting melee if it had to be done. Also, he wanted to keep a final weapon to rely on, if the rifles failed, just in case. And since he was in a fantasy world, what better weapon would be there to keep than a sword? For instance, against enemies which had the same strength as him or weaker, he did not mind using his sword to hide modern weapons.
There were many people in this world, who could kill the current him like swatting a fly. As such it was unwise to reveal his weapons before others, or he may be targeted by such people, and attract unwanted and lethal attention. That is why he had not exposed his guns to anyone till now. In the future, when he was among people, he would only use the common weapons of this world and not the modern weapons like guns. Those would be used when he encountered critical situations or when he was alone, at least until he was strong enough to ensure his safety. So after going through the cold weapons like swords, spears, bows etc. available with the system shop, he decided on a sword. As it was the easiest weapon to master as well as quite flexible in usage. Although many people would argue that, a spear or a bow is better than a sword, but the sword outshined any other cold weapon with its simplicity.
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Item : Hardened Alloy Katana
Description : A Katana made with a combination of hard and tensile alloys and forged with age old traditional methods. It is sharper and more durable than a normal Katana forged with carbon steel, while being noticeably heavier.
Price : 20,000 CP
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Add chose the Katana for many reasons. He had always been impressed with Japanese swords in his past life, the Katana in particular. He liked its distinctive appearance: a curved, slender, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. The edge had a wavy design which looked beautiful. The Katana was a blade specialized for fast & powerful slashing and stabbing. They were made from a specialized Japanese steel called 'Tamahagane' which is created from a traditional smelting process that results in several, layered steels with different carbon concentrations, which increase the durability and damage of the blade.
Although long swords were versatile with many angles of attack & defence, Add chose to use the heavier and harder to use Katana. The reason being that, when compared with a Katana of similar dimensions, a long sword lacked the cutting power and speed of movement. Its single, hardened, wedge-like edge was capable of extraordinary sharpness and a curved blade is mechanically superior to a straight one at delivering edge blows to produce injury. And due to its hardness, the single curving edge of the katana is very good at penetrating even hard materials with straight-on strikes. Although the long sword won in versatility, defensive ability and few other grounds, he decided to go with speed and damage. Also this particular sword was much heavier and sturdier than traditional Katanas, and this meant that it could be used for defence and with sufficient force he could slice apart things without the fear of breaking the blade. He also purchased a retractable knuckle which fitted on his right arm. It could be set into attack position with a simple lever-spring mechanism and could also be retracted back into the rest position.
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Item : Model 48-5E Retractable Knuckle Spikes
Description : A Retractable knuckle made with heavy alloy steel. It has 4 sharp triangular spikes, each 5 centimetres long, which are especially hardened and sharpened to maximize their lethality. If propelled with enough force, they can cause serious damage to anything they hit.
Price : 2000 CP
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Item : KVT-401 "Ghost" Anti-material Semiautomatic Sniper Rifle
Description : This heavy Machine Gun is the first in a line of new series heavy sniper rifles. Designed in Ukraine. Chambering the beastly 12.7x108mm cartridge, it comes with a 10 round stamped steel magazine, and a muzzle velocity of around 900 metres per second, this rifle packs enough punch to penetrate hardened steel plates. It comes with an improved MIL-STD-1913 rail mounted sights, lightweight quick-detach adjustable bipod and DT-65 MK1 Suppressor.
Designed in response to the challenges of 21st century wars, its firepower and lethality shadows all similar weapons. This rifle is best used against light armoured targets and moderately armoured targets.
Effective Firing Range : 2000 metres
Price : 20,000 CP
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Technically speaking, the KVT-401 "Ghost" was a recoil-operated, semi-automatic anti-materiel sniper system developed by in Ukraine. Utilizing state of the art design, manufacturing, and materials, every component of the rifle was engineered to be lighter and stronger than its predecessors. The Ghost was optimized for use with a sound suppressor, providing a much-needed signature reduction capability to the sniper. Lighter, stronger, more accurate, and more capable; this heavy rifle was truly engineered for action. It is made of lightweight steel alloys and aluminium upper receiver with integral optics rail which can mount the sights and covered with anti-corrosive coatings.
It was one of the best heavy sniper rifles in the 21st century. The later versions and derivatives of this model were used even larger calibre bullets, and were feared across the battlefields. This gun was manufactured widely in many European countries during World War 3. Add himself had also used this gun many times. In a sense this gun represented the very pinnacle of its class of rifles. It was among the last of the heavy calibre sniper rifles which could be used by a single man without external support. Its firepower was enough to penetrate any lightly armoured vehicles, and even thick concrete walls did not offer much safety against its rounds.
After concluding his shopping spree, Add took out the Katana from his inventory. The system was kind enough to provide a sheath for holding the blade. The Katana was around 1.5 metres in length including the hilt, and weighed more than 5 Kg. The hilt which was covered with a type of cloth, along with the rectangular guard, provided a firm grip. Pulling out the weapon from its sheath, revealed a slightly curved greyish blade with a cold metallic shine. It looked quite ready to kill. He swung the large blade around with some effort, and it sliced apart the air with 'whoosh' sounds while he performed the basic moves like 'Slash', 'Stab', Guard and parry many times. Although these were but the most basic of moves which he knew, coupled with his stats, he would able to deal substantial damage. Then he also checked the Ghost sniper rifle, which was light black in colour and was around 15 kg in weight and 1.5 metres long. He stored the rifle along with some ammunition that he purchased in the inventory and then went to rest for the night after having a dinner of nutrient bars and water.
The next day, Add began descending from the hills. The deeper he went, the stronger the monsters he would face, and for now he had no interests to risk his life. The monsters on the fringes were giving him enough CP for his current needs, and as such searching for better rewarding prey was not a priority now. On his way down, he took a detour, he had already killed many monsters on his way up and going down the same path would be less rewarding. Finally once he was out of the dense forest, he could again use the drone without many constraints. The eye in the sky quickly began its job, scanning the vast expanse of woodlands. the wolves.
The region he was currently in was a bit different from other areas he had been in so far. The trees in this region were straight and tall, with ample space in between one another. They did not have thick canopies and sunlight illuminated the forest floor decently. Overall it resembled a temperate woodland. The drone continued searching and soon it found itself over a peculiar area. The forest in this region was dotted by patches of open grasslands in between the otherwise continuous woodland. These patches appeared anywhere from a few tens of metres wide to some which stretched over a kilometre across. These patches were covered in a type of grass that grew over a metre in height and some occasional bushes.
It was within these patches, that Add observed large herds of strange beasts grazing about. The beasts were around 4 metres tall, had a barrel shaped body with four strong but short legs supporting them and short fleshy tails. They had wrinkly reptilian skins with some sparse hair as well. The skin had a faint greenish tint with dull yellow coloured patterns, providing camouflage in the forests. Their head was egg shaped, broader at the back and narrower in the front ending in a beak, similar to those found in turtles but which had teeth inside. Two short tusks emerged vertically downwards, which the creatures were using as shoves to dig the roots of the grass. The neck was short and stubby with powerful jaw muscles, the most interesting fact about them were their legs which were bent sideways at the elbows and knees much like that of a lizard's. Their eyes were very small when compared with their body, and located on both sides of their head. These large herbivorous creatures were grazing on the lush patches of grass without a care for the world.
The Encyclopaedia identified them as [Lystodons], a large herbivore, these were D ranked monsters and were quite docile in nature. They looked like herds of giant cows and Add estimated that there would be hundreds, if not thousands of them in this region. They lacked any spectacular defensive methods, and relied on their size and numbers to thwart off predators. As he was beginning to plan an attack, the drone hovering above the area spotted a group of large wolves in the area. Add was familiar with these carnivores. He had encountered a small pack of these wolves earlier and had killed them with little difficulty, although that was from a long distance and by sniping. These were [Dire Wolves].
The Dire Wolves, were large wolves similar to the wolves of Earth, but much larger and deadlier. They lived in massive packs which could number in the hundreds. These C-Ranked monsters were known for their excellent teamwork skills and for being very swift and agile. It was said that a well organised pack of a few Dire Wolves could even bring down B ranked monsters. An individual wolf was not much of a threat in itself when compared to other C rank monsters, apart from their large size of about 1.5 metres at the shoulders and a length of 2.5 metres; they had no extraordinary defences and relatively lean bodies. Although their hide was known to be tough, but as Add had seen, the .338 bullets could pierce it without much difficulty.
But what they lacked in defence, they made up in their weapons and swiftness. Their jaws were large and powerful with canine teeth as long as the palm of a grown man, and were powered by thick jaw muscles. They also had sharp claws which were very deadly and would cause fatal wounds on most of their prey. The powerful leg muscles, along with the slim builds, made them very agile and could dodge most attacks made by their prey or enemies. Their pack tactics were very intricate and they hunted by isolating and tiring out their prey until it was exhausted and then went for the kill. They were led by a single Alpha wolf which was usually a B ranked monster and its strength was in a different league than the regular Dire Wolf. There were also Wolf Kings, A ranked monsters that were twice as large as the regular Dire Wolf, and highly intelligent as well. Although Dire Wolves mostly hunted in small groups of around 10-15, on rare occasions, hundreds of wolves may gather under the Wolf King to hunt large numbers of prey.
Since they were loitering around the grazing herds, they were most likely after these Lystodons. So he chose to wait at a spot farther from the large herd and hid in the bushes at the periphery of the grassland. Through the binoculars, he kept an eye on the surroundings and waited. The wait was short however, as he soon spotted a pack of 8 dire wolves slowly appear from one side through the tree line. They were spread out with one wolf leading, while the rest were following closely behind. The herd before Add had over a hundred Lystodons, but none of them spotted the wolves that were slowly crawling towards them, with their bodies sticking to the ground that helped them hide in the grass. Only when the leading wolf was less than 60 metres away, did a few Lystodons finally spot them and began growling while tried to escape.
The herd which was grazing peacefully immediately panicked and began running in all directions. The wolves rushed in, working as a team and managed to surround one isolated Lystodon. The 8 wolves were fiercely attacking it, but none of the other Lystodons chose to help, they were busy running away instead. A few wolves kept making faint attacks towards the Lystodon making it confused while others took turns to attack its unguarded areas. This strategy was very effective and within a few minutes, the large creature was brought down with bites and claws by the wolves which were less than 1/4 of its size. Once the wolves were sure that it was dead, they began dragging it towards the edge of the grassland, where they began feasting on its flesh.
Add who had been watching the entire seen unfold kept watching and did not take any action. After around 15 minutes had passed, the wolves had eaten their fill and 3 of the 8 wolves left the carcass while the remaining stayed behind guarding the corpse.
"As I thought, they must be returning to where the main group is…"
Dire wolves lived in large packs, and these packs stayed at a particular spot where they raised their young, a nest of sorts. He kept the rifle down and took out the drone's remote control. The drone which was placed on a stable tree branch some distance away, immediately took off and began following the the 3 wolves while he also followed behind it. The wolves followed a path full of twists and turns and kept going for about 5 kilometres, until they finally reached their 'pack'. As it turned out, Add had guessed correctly and the wolves did return to their main group. There were dozens of wolves spread over the entire area, and the total number should be less than a hundred, though he did not spot an Alpha Wolf. After he had ascertained their position, he retreated to form a strategy for dealing with them. The wolves were very fast on their feet, and their attacks were even faster as he had witnessed while they were hunting the large Lystodon. He decided not to waste time laying traps. The wolves were very smart and would be difficult to lure into traps and even if some of them did fall into a trap, the same would probably not work again. Keeping in mind all these, he decided to go for a straight frontal assault. But he was not going to get into close quarters combat with them using his Katana. He would use guns but the regular guns, for this he needed the help of some serious heavy fire power. Luckily, the system shop was as handy as ever and with his level having risen, he could buy more powerful weapons now.
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Item : Kord – N/70S Gatling Gun (Grade : Rare)
Description : This weapon is an electrically driven 6-barrelled heavy machine gun, which uses a 12.7x108mm, 50 calibre cartridge operated by a motor, which gets its power from an iridium nuclear fuel cell (radioisotope power system). This weapon was developed by the Degtyarev bureau of Russia in collaboration with JSC Kalashnikov concern as a response to the need for a high destructive capability weapon which could be used for engaging moderately armoured targets and vehicles and to provide heavy firepower cover.
With a rate of 1800 rounds per minute, this weapon specialises in dealing devastating damage to targets in short amounts of time. It uses SLAP (Saboted Light Penetrator) rounds as its standard ammunition. These rounds are designed to penetrate armour more efficiently than standard armour-piercing ammunition.
Range : (Effective Firing) 2000 metres
Price : 35,000 CP
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The Kord – N/70S was a Gatling gun similar in appearance to the M134 Minigun developed in USA. It had an overall length of more than 1.5 metres, and a mass of 25 kilograms. It may seem heavy but in reality, because of a special alloy of carbon steel used in its making, it was lighter than most other weapons in its class. This Gatling gun was originally intended to be mounted on vehicles and other combat platforms; however, with the development of powerful mechanical exoskeletons, even individual soldiers could carry it into battle. Each of the cannon's six barrels fires once in turn during each revolution of the barrel cluster.
The multiple barrels provide both a very high rate of fire—about 30 rounds per second—and contribute to prolonged weapon life by minimizing barrel erosion and heat generation. Various tests and trials showed that the average time between jams or failures for this weapon was in excess of 10,000 rounds, making it an extremely reliable weapon. It was operated by a heavy duty DC motor which was powered by a prototype iridium fuel cell which has a service life of 5 months with standard usage. The Kord – N/70S is belt fed and uses a 500 round box magazine. The 12.7x108 mm SLAP rounds had a high muzzle velocity of around 1010 metres per second, and caused devastating damage to whatever was hit by them.
With his strength, he could effortlessly carry this large weapon. Add purchased 5 box magazines which could be slung from his back using a harness, which cost him 5000 CP. The slap rounds were quite costly. This gave him a total of 2500 rounds, which he felt would be enough to deal with the wolves. He then kept observing the movements of the wolves for the remaining time of the day. The wolves were very ferocious, and kept fighting amongst themselves asserting their dominance over one another. There were also many pups running around here and there, with adults keeping strict watch on them. Every now and then, some wolves would leave and return with chunks of meat or corpses of smaller beasts for the young ones to eat. When the last rays of the sun were about to disappear below the horizon, he finally saw the dire wolf Alpha emerge from the cover of trees.
It was much larger than the regular wolves, with a height of over 2 metres and a length of over 3. Unlike the other wolves that had dull grey and brownish coats of fur, it had a blacker coat, which was very thick around the neck and shoulders. It was more muscular with a visible hump of muscles on its shoulder region and had an intimidating appearance with feral green eyes. As soon as it appeared, all the other wolves quietened down and showed respective postures, some lowering their heads, while others whimpered lightly. The Alpha growled towards the others as it made its way towards some carcasses of small deer like beasts which a group of wolves had just brought. It ate one carcass and then dragged a larger carcass effortlessly into the bushes to enjoy its meal in solitude. Even Add could not help but be impressed by the majesty it gave out, just like a true king amongst men. It was a shame that he had to kill it, but then again, this was a dog eat dog world, if he wanted to be stronger, there were some steps he had to take no matter how he felt about them. He retreated from his point of observation, and found a tall tree to spend the night on, far away from the gathering of the wolves, tomorrow would be the main show.
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The next day, with the break of dawn, Add was on the move. In the faint light of the dawn sun, he made his way towards the location of the wolves. The dire wolves were mostly nocturnal hunters, and usually hunted in the evening and night. They were apparently not morning creatures, as most of them were still sleeping when Add reached the previous day's observation spot. He was around a thousand metres away from the wolves, and began his attack with sniping. This time he was using the Ghost heavy sniper rifle. The AX338 could kill the wolves, but he would have to aim at their vitals, to kill them quickly. The more powerful Ghost, could kill them in one shot or so it should be. Through his scope he could see a few wolves wandering about, while the majority of them were still slumbering. The Alpha as usual was not in sight. He pulled the bolt carrier and loaded the first round. Add took a deep breath and relaxed his muscles, the cross hair on the scope landed on a wolf and he pulled trigger.
*Bang*
With a muffled bang, the bullet left the suppressed muzzle and hit the wolf right in the chest. The bullet entered and exited the body, bringing along with it chunks of meat and bone and a mist of blood as well, while the shock of the hit itself was so strong that the wolf was knocked off its feet and slid a few feet on the ground. With a pained growl, its life immediately ended. The surrounding Wolves were instantly alarmed and began growling and howling. But before all the wolves could even wake up, three more shots had been fired and three more wolves died. In response deep howls and growls began echoing throughout the area, alerting all the wolves that they were being attacked. But Add didn't care as he kept shooting and killed more of the wolves. But the wolves were not top predators for show as well, their ears soon picked off the sound of the rifle being fired and they began moving in the direction of the noise.
The Ghost had a suppressor equipped but that only reduced the noise when firing, but it could not cancel that noise completely. As the wolves were closing by, Add kept firing and by the time the wolves were around 300 metres from him, he had downed over 20 wolves. Now that they were right onto him, Add stored the rifle in the inventory and jumped down. On the ground, the imposing Kord – N/70S was waiting. He attached the large suitcase like magazine on his back with the harness. The magazine was attached to the gun by a connecting chain which brought the ammunition belt into the gun. He picked up the Gatling gun, starting the motor, his hand on the electrical trigger.
*Bzzzzzzz*
With a buzzing sound, the 6 barrels began rotating at high speed. Add had a solemn expression as he waited for them to arrive within 50 metres.
"You puppies all want to play games with me right? Okay then, I will play with you… Here, say hello to my little friend!" and pressed the fire button.
*Brrrrrrrttttttttttt*
The 6 barrels shot 30 shells per second at the incoming wolves, shredding them into pieces, and tearing their bodies open. Even the surrounding trees were also not spared as they were mowed down by the 12.7 mm bullets. With his perception skill he could sense any wolf within 50 metres that tried to sneak up on him, and with his agility, it was not much of a problem to dodge incoming attacks and shift his aim constantly and swiftly. The wolves were fast, but they were unable to get close to Add who kept pushing towards their nest, was firing in short bursts, in order to use his ammunition effectively. The recoil of the gun was very strong, but to Add it was not much of a problem.
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Additional information :
1. Radioisotope Power System : A type of power cell which converts the heat released during the decay of a radioactive element into electricity. These cells produce electric power in a stable way for long periods of time.
2. Saboted light armour penetrator (SLAP) rounds :
The SLAP design incorporates a polymer sabot, which allows for the use of a tungsten penetrator projectile of a lesser diameter than the original bore. By using the casing of a large cartridge with a lightweight projectile, the velocity of the projectile is greatly increased and the sectional density is improved. SLAP rounds have been designed for use against lightly armoured vehicles and aircraft. It has a polymer sabot (sometimes called a 'shoe') which allows the use of the tungsten carbide penetrator which is smaller than the original bore. The calculation of using a lightweight cartridge plus a lightweight projectile means added velocity. The plastic shoe is discarded once the round is fired and the SLAP round travels at more than 1200 metres per second to penetrate armour, using its tungsten carbide penetrator. Its tip is also very pointed and sharp adding for better penetration.