A day after the incident with the Wild Beast Sect disciples, Jin Shu and company were back to traveling. Jin Shu was going to teach Su Bing how to use the weapons he had created for her yesterday, but first, they had to go somewhere where there weren't any people around, as he didn't want to accidentally hurt or kill an innocent person.
As they walked through a mountainous path, they came upon a clearing between the mountains. Jin Shu looked around the area to ensure there were no people around. "I'm going to teach you how to use your new weapons here. Let's start with this." Jin Shu took the expandable baton out from inside his ring.
"This is a baton. It can expand and retract to be hidden. It has a Weight Increase Rune, Frost Rune, and Wind Rune inscribed onto it. It is used like so: when the baton is retracted, if you swing it downwards—or really any direction you'd like—the baton will expand. This weapon is designed to be non-lethal; however, if you use the Weight Increase Rune and deliver a well-placed strike to the head, it could be used to kill or seriously injure someone." Jin Shu explained to Su Bing how to use the baton, then handed it over to her.
"Thank you, Jin Shu. I will use it well," Su Bing said gratefully.
"Okay, don't get too excited with just that. The main attraction is coming up next." Jin Shu said as he took out the pistol he had crafted for her.
"This here is the CZ Scorpion Evo 3+ pistol with an IA-SC9 integral silencer, but we'll just call it the Scorpion. This weapon is silent yet extremely deadly, much like a scorpion's stinger. However, before I allow you to use this weapon, you must go through some basic weapons training. This weapon is extremely dangerous, especially in the hands of someone untrained." Jin Shu described the weapon he had created for her proudly. This was honestly one of Jin Shu's favorite weapons, so he was quite excited to teach her about it.
Jin Shu summoned a table from his Space Ring and set the Scorpion down on it. He also summoned a magazine and a spare bullet. He then began teaching Su Bing gun safety.
"The first and most important rule of gun safety is: Always Treat A Gun Like It's Loaded!" Jin Shu placed emphasis on each word to make sure the point got across.
"That may not make sense to you yet, though it will later in the lesson. Next, I will teach you about the various features of a gun." Jin Shu motioned for Su Bing to come closer to the table.
Jin Shu picked the spare bullet off the table. "This is a bullet. The bullet is a projectile that is fired from the gun, like how a bow fires an arrow."
He placed the bullet down and picked up the magazine. "This is called a magazine, or mag for short. It is used to hold bullets, so that you do not have to reload your weapon one bullet at a time. This mag holds twenty bullets."
Next, he picked up the Scorpion. "This is the gun itself. It has various important features. We'll start with the magazine well. This is where the mag is to be inserted into the weapon. To unload a mag, press this paddle forward and pull the mag out. Next is the trigger. When a bullet has been loaded—we'll go over how to do that later—if you squeeze this trigger, a bullet will be fired out of the gun. Here, try squeezing the trigger." Jin Shu handed the gun to Su Bing.
Su Bing took hold of the Scorpion and tried pulling the trigger; however, it felt like the trigger was stuck. Jin Shu shook his head in disappointment.
"Wrong! You've already forgotten the first rule! Always! Treat! A! Gun! Like! It's! Loaded! Look where you are pointing the gun!" Jin Shu yelled at Su Bing in a stern tone. She had forgotten the most important rule and was pointing the gun down towards her feet.
"But you told me to!" Su Bing complained.
"If I told you to jump off a cliff, would you? No, you wouldn't because you would be afraid. Well, you should be afraid of that weapon in your hands as well. That weapon is much more deadly than falling off a cliff. With a single pull of that trigger, someone can be killed." Jin Shu expressed the danger of a gun to Su Bing.
"Alright, give me the gun back. There are a few more lessons you still need to learn before you can actually handle a gun." Jin Shu took the Scorpion back and began the next lesson.
"You may have noticed that when you tried to pull the trigger a moment ago, it felt like it was stuck. That is because of the trigger safety. The safety is located on either side of the trigger and is color-coded. White indicates that the safety is engaged. To disengage the safety, flip this switch here to red. Red indicates that the weapon can be fired." Jin Shu demonstrated how to use the gun's safety.
"The second important rule of gun safety is: Always Keep The Muzzle Pointed In A Safe Direction! That leads me to the next feature of a gun. This here below the handguard is the barrel of the gun. The opening at the end is called a muzzle. This is where the bullet is ejected from when you pull the trigger." He again placed emphasis on the second rule of gun safety and further clarified another important feature of the gun.
"Next, I'll teach you how to load the weapon. First, take a magazine and insert it into the magazine well here. For this demonstration, I'll be using an empty magazine. After the magazine has been properly loaded, you'll hear a clicking noise. This indicates that the magazine is in its proper place. Then, pull this charging handle backward and lock it in an upward position. If you turn the weapon over, you can see that this slide has opened. This allows you to see inside the chamber so that you can check to see if a bullet is already loaded. Slap the charging handle down to load a bullet into the chamber." He gave her a demonstration on how to properly load the weapon.
Jin Shu took the magazine back out of the gun and placed both onto the table. "Here, you can practice what I taught you."
Su Bing cautiously stepped up to the table and asked, "This isn't another trick, is it?"
"Ahaha! No, it's not a trick. Just remember what I've taught you so far and practice handling the gun." Jin Shu chuckled while reassuring her that he wasn't trying to trick her again.
Su Bing fiddled with the Scorpion for a short while until she was comfortable with it.
"Let's practice properly aiming the weapon next. This is a proper shooting stance to be in while aiming a gun. Feet shoulder-width apart, dominant foot placed slightly backward, dominant hand on the grip near the trigger, and this depends on the weapon, however, in this case, the other hand is placed on the handguard at the front of the gun. Now that you know the proper stance, it's time to aim the gun at a target." Jin Shu gave Su Bing a demonstration on how to properly hold the weapon in a shooting stance.
He walked over to a mountain wall about fifty yards from where he had placed the table and set down some improvised targets he had made before they left the city yesterday. They were made from a wooden stand with a piece of cloth painted with a target.
"This here is the sight of the gun. You look through this circle at the back and line up the place you want to shoot with the tip of the front sight." Jin Shu showed Su Bing how to properly use the iron sights on the gun. Unfortunately, right now, Jin Shu had no way to make a modern scope for his weapons and had to use the default iron sights. This was no problem for Jin Shu; however, it could prove difficult for a beginner.
"Come here and try holding the weapon in a proper stance and aim at the center of the target I set up," he called Su Bing over.
Su Bing took the Scorpion from him and attempted to get into a proper stance.
"Alright, that's a good start. Push your body into the stock, place your cheek here to get a better look through the sight. Pull the gun back into your shoulder. When you fire the gun, there will be recoil, and you need to pull the gun backward to compensate for it." Jin Shu gave her a few more detailed instructions.
"Okay, I'll now show you how to actually fire the Scorpion." He took the gun back from her and loaded a magazine into the gun.
Chic! Chik!
Jin Shu inserted the magazine, pulled the charging handle back, and slapped it down, loading a bullet into the chamber. "Do you see how I held the gun when I loaded it? You should hold the weapon with your dominant hand and use your other hand to reload and unload the weapon." Jin Shu explained further how to properly handle reloading the weapon.
"There are a few more rules I haven't taught you yet, the first of which is: You Should Keep Your Finger Off The Trigger Until You Are Ready To Fire. The second is: To Check What Is In Front And Behind The Target You Are Shooting At." Jin Shu told Su Bing the last rules on gun safety, then got ready to show her how to fire the gun.
"Now, can you tell me what I have to do before I can fire this weapon?" Jin Shu quizzed Su Bing.
"Um...? You have to...? Uh...? Pull the trigger?" Su Bing answered uncertainly.
Jin Shu shook his head. "I said 'before' I fire the weapon, not 'how' do I fire the weapon. Try again."
Su Bing hesitated for a moment. "...Oh! Turn the safety off!" She shouted excitedly, having remembered.
"Right, now what do I do?" Jin Shu continued his quizzing.
"Umm... now is when you pul—ah! No, you check the target...?" She said with much confidence.
"Actually, that wasn't the answer I was looking for, but it is a good answer and effectively serves the same purpose. The answer I was looking for was: aim the gun at the target." Jin Shu commended her for her answer.
"Now, what comes next?" he asked.
"N-now you pull the trigger?" she hesitated slightly and asked.
"Yes, now I can pull the trigger, except there's one more thing you have to know. You do not pull the trigger of a gun; you squeeze the trigger until the gun fires. The reason being that by squeezing the trigger of the gun, you apply steady pressure to both sides of the trigger. If you pull the trigger, you will decrease your accuracy." Jin Shu gave her one last tidbit of information.
"Alright, now let's put all of that information together and see what it looks like, shall we? First, load the weapon. Next, load a round. Third, get into a shooting stance. Fourth, aim the weapon at the target. Lastly, turn the safety off, place your finger on the trigger, and squeeze." Jin Shu gave a play-by-play of each action he was taking.
Psh!
Tink!
The bullet struck the target dead center. The gun was so quiet that if you didn't pay attention, you would just think it was the sound of the wind.
"It's your turn now, however, you will be using an empty magazine to start out with." Jin Shu unloaded the gun, making sure to clear the chamber before handing it to Su Bing.
Su Bing took the weapon and practiced loading, unloading, and dry-firing the weapon at the targets.
After a few moments, when Jin Shu deemed Su Bing competent enough, he allowed her to use live ammunition. "That's enough practice, let's move on to live firing the weapon."
Su Bing loaded a magazine with live ammunition into the gun. First, she loaded a round into the chamber, next she aimed at the target, and lastly, she fired.
Psh!
Tink!
She succeeded in hitting the target; unfortunately, she didn't hit the bullseye, which she was aiming for.
"...I missed," she said sadly.
"That was really good for your first time." Jin Shu encouraged her.
"Did you miss on your first time?" she asked curiously.
"...uh, no, I hit the bullseye," he replied truthfully.
"Oh," she whispered in a dejected tone.
"It's okay, just continue practicing. You will get better over time." Jin Shu re-encouraged her.
"Okay, I'm going to keep trying." Su Bing regained her mood and continued practicing.
Psh!
Tink!
"Dang it!" She missed the bullseye again.
---
Su Bing practiced until it was dark, so they decided to make camp in the mountain clearing.
"You did really well today. Tomorrow I will teach you some basic stealth techniques," Jin Shu told Su Bing as they sat down to eat their dinner.
"Um!" Su Bing nodded happily as she ate her dinner.
Tomorrow was going to be another busy day of training.