Ellia walked through the hallway as she looked at her watch's display. Then, following the map given, she soon reached Everwhite's shooting range.
"What do you want to do here?" Ruth asked.
'Well, time passed, and technology also advanced, so I wanted to see how advanced weapons became.'
"Hmmm, but you'll probably need my help for that then."
'Huh? Why's that?' Ellia asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You'll see what I'm talking about soon enough," Ruth spoke with a giggle.
Hearing Ruth's childish answer Ellia sighed as she walked up to the shooting range's reception desk. There a female receptionist greeted Ellia.
"Do you have a weapon or need to borrow a weapon?" The receptionist asked.
"I've brought my weapons today," Ellia said as she placed her two briefcases on the desk.
The receptionist then opened both briefcases and glanced inside. Then ever so quickly, she closed them.
"You cannot use such weapons in a public shooting range." She said as she passed both briefcases to Ellia. "You may do so in a private shooting range, but it would be very costly."
"What? What's wrong with my weapons?" Ellia asked.
"If you fire those weapons, you would disturb others and make a mess of the public shooting range."
Ellia gave the receptionist a weird look before sighing. "I don't have money on me, though..."
"Then please borrow a weapon of your liking."
"Wait, maybe use that black card." Ruth suddenly spoke up.
Hearing Ruth's words, Ellia immediately removed the card from her front chest pocket and flashed it to the receptionist. "Does this do anything?"
As the receptionist saw the card, she sighed as she rubbed her forehead. "Yes, it does... if you had that, why didn't you show it from the beginning?"
"Sorry, I didn't think the card could be used this way..." Ellia apologized as she rubbed her head.
"Do you even know how the card works?" The receptionist asked.
"I-I don't..." Ellia said awkwardly.
Hearing this, the receptionist gave another sigh. "Alright, I'll explain once, so listen carefully." Then, seeing Ellia nod, the receptionist started to explain. "These black cards are given to all nobles and students in top 30th rankings within Everwhite, and these cards provide special benefits. Including a private shooting range, training facility, and resting area. With the card, you also get an unlimited amount of ammunition instead of the limited amount. The list goes on."
"I see. Thank you for explaining." Ellia thanked.
"No problem, and I will need to scan your card." The receptionist said.
Ellia nodded and passed her card to the receptionist. Then after a quick scan, she gave it back to Ellia. "You should find your private shooting range in #14. I uploaded the directions to your watch."
Ellia then thanked the receptionist and walked off with her briefcases.
Then following the directions given by the watch, Ellia walked up to the second floor of the building.
'By the way, Ruth. Why did the Empire start this ranking system.' Ellia asked. 'To me, it all seems useless.'
"Although it may seem useless, it is very useful. Every since enhanced humans became a thing, battles fought in mass numbers became irrelevant. Someone with a strong ability would be able to take on a hundred soldiers with no ability and emerge victorious." Ruth explained. "As a result, the rankings are used to assess an individual's strength. The Empire can then dispatch a stronger soldier to deal with the threat."
'I see. That way, the Empire can lower casualties and higher its chances of winning a battle.'
"Yup!" Ruth confirmed.
'But is there a way to higher your rankings?' Ellia asked as she recalled that higher-ranked individuals received the same benefits as a noble.
"Everwhite holds another test like the entrance exam every month. During the test, students can show what they learned during the mouth and increase rankings."
'Then I guess I'll aim for number one next month. After all, the higher your ranking is, the better.'
Ellia shortly reached her destination. Placing her black card on the key card scanner, the door slid open. Walking inside, a cold gust of wind swept past Ellia.
A small deck was situated right in front of the door, and further out was a snow field that stretched out about 1000 meters out. Ellia nodded in satisfaction when she saw that it was an outside shooting range, not an indoor one.
She liked the more realistic environment an outside shooting range provided.
Placing her two briefcases on the floor, she opened one and looked into it. The second she did, a familiar blue overlay swept last the weapon, which then opened the system interference.
____
VS210 Ragnarok sniper rifle (Energy rifle)
Quality: purple
Basic stats
Damage: 800-1200
Durability: 300/300
Equip Requirement: 20 Strength, 21 Dexterity
Abilities
Reaper mode: A condensed from a regular shot, making it as fast as 0.3% of the speed of light.
---
Basic information
Average shooting range: 3000 meters - 4500 meters
Eps(Energy per shot): 250,000 volts
Energy capacity per magazine: 3,000,000
Weight: 54.43 Kg
Length: 1.1 meters
____
Ellia gave a perplexed look at the system interface and then back at the weapon. The barrel and the gun's body were separated to fit in the briefcase. The design of the weapon was a slick black.
"An average of 3000 meters?!" Ellia shouted in shock, "And a maximum of 4500 meters?! That's insanity!"
"Well, this baby is one of the Empire's high-end weapons. And that isn't the only thing it can do." Ruth spoke with a giggle.
"Oh, yea?" Ellia smiled as she took out both the body and the barrel without much effort despite its weight. The moment she did, both barrel and body automatically stuck together like a magnet.
"The Ragnarok doesn't run on bullets. Instead, it runs on energy packs giving a powerful blast but soft fire."
Hearing Ruth's words, Ellia lay prone on the edge of the deck and placed her shoulders and cheek on the weapon's stock. Looking through the scope, different types of data were shown to Ellia, such as the range, windage, and elevation levels.
As Ellia tried to adjust the scope, she found that she couldn't.
"I told you that you would need my help for this...!" Ruth laughed as she saw Ellia struggling to find the turret.
"Heck, it doesn't even have one..." Ellia sighed. "How does this work?"
"It automatically adjusts after sensing your optic movements," Ruth explained. "So you don't have to spend manually adjusting the scope."
"That's stupid..." Ellia spoke as she looked through the scope again. "I don't think it's working; everything is blurry."
"Well, do you want my help?" Ruth asked in a pleasant voice.
"Well, if you can, then please do," Ellia said as she struggled.
"Alright then, please bear with me," Ruth spoke.
"Bear with me?" Ellia asked in puzzlement. As Ellia was about to ask further, she suddenly felt a slight shock inside her head. It was almost the same feeling Ellia felt last night.
After a few seconds, the uncomfortable feeling quickly faded away.
"What did you do, Ruth…." Ellia asked as she rubbed her temples.
____
[Knowledge of all energy-based weapons acquired!]
[+10 dexterity!]
[13 Dex --> 23 Dex]
____
"I helped you!" Ruth responded enthusiastically. "Now, try looking through the scope!"
Ellia listened to Ruth's words and placed her right eye in front of the scope. The moment she did, she smiled. "This is amazing..."
"Hehe…" Ruth giggled.
The foreign weapon on her hand has suddenly become one with Ellia. It felt as if she had mastered using the weapon for years.
Ellia then focused on a dummy target a thousand meters away and pulled the trigger.
If it weren't for the slight recoil, Ellia would have thought she fired a blank shot because of how silent the weapon was.
Suppressing her bewilderment, she looked back at the target and opened her mouth from fright.
Ellia had aimed at the dummy's head, but the energy bullet had blown away everything from head to waist.
"Shouldn't this weapon be banned…" Ellia mumbled to herself as she watched the evaporated dummy automatically get replaced.
She then flipped a switch on her weapon and aimed again.
Firing her weapon, the energy bullet hurled its way to the dummy, creating a small hole in the head.
"Was it just me, or did that bullet fly faster than before," Ellia asked herself, but Ruth quickly answered her question.
"The mode you just switched to now is called the reaper mode for its breakneck bullet speeds and its ability to take out enemies quickly," Ruth spoke. "To be precise, the bullet moves at 0.3% the speed of light.
"0.3% the speed of light." Ellia weakly chuckled. "I shouldn't be surprised anymore… I still have another briefcase to go through…."
As Ellia got up from her prone position, she asked Ruth. "You still haven't told me what you did. What did you do?"
"Well, nothing much. I just uploaded all weapon data to your brain." Ruth responded as if it was nothing.
"Ruth… you sure are amazing," Ellia said meaningfully.
"Well, I was programmed to this after all."
Ellia smiled as she opened the next briefcase. Inside was another weapon designed with a slick black, but this time it was an assault rifle.
____
390ST Initiator assault rifle
Quality: orange
Basic stats
Damage: 1-∞
Durability: 220/220
Equip Requirement: 4 Strength, 12 Dexterity
Abilities
All-purpose rounds: Able to load all types of rounds in this weapon, be it pistol rounds or sniper rounds, it'll all fit. But the type of bullet you load inside will determine the type of damage you will do.
---
Basic information
Average shooting range: 200 meters - 600 meters
Magazine size: 30
Weight: 5.71 Kg
Length: 0.27 meters
---
"A 390ST Initiator assault rifle…." Ellia mumbled as she examined the weapon.
"Unlike the sniper rifle, this weapon runs of regular bullets, but never the less a deadly weapon."
Ellia picked up the weapon, loaded it, and then looked through the iron sight. She gunned down five dummies in an instant. Then without warning, sparks flew out of the bullet holes and completely melted the dummy.
"Thermite bullets…" Ellia mumbled as she watched the aftermath of her shooting. "It should be a war crime."
What made the 390ST Initiator assault rifle so compelling was the fact that you could load any type of ammunition inside, and it would still work as a standard gun.
Ellia then tried firing other special billets but soon deemed that they should be all a war crime.
She continued to practice and play around with her weapons for the remaining time.