Soul Gun

Hearing Rayne's words, the dwarf's smile faded a little.

His gaze swept over Rayne, and noticing that he had come in empty-handed without even a piece of luggage, he muttered something under his breath.

Scratching his scalp, the dwarf replied, "There are shared rooms for two behind the inn, cheap at just 8 Copper Liso a day. But I can tell you probably don't want to share with someone else. The rooms on the second floor suit you better, 12 Copper Liso a day. If you stay long-term, I can give you a discount."

Rayne nodded. The dwarf had read him correctly; he really did not want to share a room.

"How long do I need to stay for a discount?"

"At least half a month."

The dwarf picked up the beer on the counter and gulped down a large mouthful. Beer and foam soaked the beard around his mouth, but he casually wiped it away with his hand and continued, "If you stay for half a month, I'll only charge you 150 Copper Liso, and you'll get one free breakfast every day."

Rayne did not answer right away.

When the dwarf lifted his mug, something at his waist was inadvertently revealed and caught Rayne's attention.

If he was not mistaken, it was a gun!

This world had guns, and they were extremely powerful. They even had a special name: Soul Guns. They were considered very precious weapons.

Soul Guns looked remarkably similar to handguns from Earth, but there were also major differences.

The principles behind their destructive power were similar, but Soul Guns used special bullets. The wielder had to possess Soul Power or some other supernatural power to fire them, and every shot consumed the shooter's Soul Power. This prevented Soul Guns from being used on a large scale like firearms on Earth. Put a Soul Gun in an ordinary person's hands, and it was less useful than a dagger.

In fact, a brand-new Transcendent profession had emerged in the Empire in recent years, called Gunners. They used Soul Guns as their primary combat weapons and had become quite popular.

Dwarves had used Soul Guns for far longer, and the renowned Dwarf Musketeers were known by nearly everyone.

However, Rayne had never heard of a Soul Gun that ordinary people could use.

In other words, this world did not have gunpowder yet!

Was that even possible?

Rayne suppressed his doubts and did not let his gaze linger on the dwarf's Soul Gun. He nodded. "Then I'll stay for half a month first."

Besides the fair price, this inn had another advantage: it was not far from the Justice Church. If a Fallen One was to be judged, he could rush over in time to absorb the soul as soon as the bells rang.

"Fine. The deposit is 200 Copper Liso. I'll refund the difference or charge extra if needed."

Having made a sale, the dwarf's mood improved. He took another drink of beer.

In Rayne's eyes, the dwarf's soul changed from white to pale green. Rayne smiled to himself, pulled two 100 Copper Yuan notes from his pocket, and handed them over.

The dwarf opened a ledger on the counter, preparing to register him.

"My name is Rayne," Rayne volunteered. The dwarf scribbled a few strokes and replied, "I'm Zoltan Tartar, the owner here. If you need anything, come find me anytime, or have one of the staff pass along a message."

With that, Zoltan tossed the ledger beneath the counter, pulled out a ring of keys, and led Rayne upstairs via the nearby staircase.

There were more than a dozen rooms on the entire second floor, most of them already occupied.

Rayne chose a room facing the street. It was simply furnished, much like the apartment he had stayed in before. Fortunately, the floor had decent soundproofing, and the noise from the hall downstairs was much quieter up here.

Zoltan handed Rayne the room key, then suddenly asked before leaving, "Rayne, do you play cards?"

Rayne froze for a moment. "No. Why?"

"What a shame."

Zoltan shook his head regretfully, his rooster-comb-like hairstyle swaying back and forth. "Many of my guests come here specifically to play cards. This place has a bit of a reputation in the Lien District, and it might become a card players' club someday. If you want to play, just come to me. My collection is comprehensive, and I have plenty of rare cards too. I guarantee you'll be satisfied with the prices."

Rayne understood. This dwarf innkeeper was apparently an experienced Card Player, running a card business alongside his inn.

"Alright, I'll think about it."

Rayne politely declined. He had no interest in playing cards right now.

Zoltan said nothing more and returned to the first-floor hall.

Rayne locked the door, lay down on the bed, and immediately opened the phone interface to inspect the two icons that had just been activated.

The first icon looked like a plant, made up of several leaves and a main stem. But where a flower should have been at the top was a bizarre-looking head. It had a twisted, highly abstract face, making it impossible to tell whether it was some monster or magical creature. It looked rather frightening.

Rayne remembered that this app had seemed to be for identifying plants before. How had it become like this?

He opened the icon and fiddled with it for a while, but found no clue about its purpose.

Closing what might have been some kind of encyclopedia, Rayne opened the second icon.

This icon was much simpler and more straightforward, resembling a three-dimensional bullet. The moment Rayne opened it, a list of options appeared before him, each represented by a smaller image.

At the sight of those miniature images, Rayne nearly jumped off the bed.

They were far too familiar to him.

This turned out to be a firearm disassembly game Rayne had downloaded!

It was a foreign mobile game with very few players, an extremely niche title. Rayne had played it because he had majored in mechanical engineering in college. Though he had not worked in a related field after graduation, he had always been interested in machinery and had played many games with mechanical themes. This was one of them.

The gameplay was simple.

It provided three-dimensional models of hundreds of firearms. Players disassembled them in the correct order, turning them into a pile of parts, then reassembled them and competed against other players for speed based on the total time taken.

The game had a very comprehensive selection of firearms: pistols, rifles, assault rifles, even several heavy artillery pieces.

Rayne opened the top option, and sure enough, a three-dimensional model of a pistol appeared.

As his gaze moved, the pistol slowly rotated, then rapidly came apart. In less than half a minute, it had become a pile of components. He did not immediately reassemble it. Instead, he carefully inspected the parts, enlarged them in his vision, and viewed their specifications and materials.

As long as Rayne wanted, he could keep the parts in that state indefinitely, use them as references, and manufacture real components.

Rayne counted them and discovered that there were only a little over twenty firearm models in total.

"They're all firearms I've used in the game."

He had only started playing this game recently and had not unlocked all the three-dimensional firearm models. He probably did not even have one-tenth of the total. It was truly regrettable.

But it was already enough.

Rayne did not know whether this world had gunpowder, whether gunpowder would work here, or whether bullets could be made. If not, all of this would be pointless. Even ten thousand firearm blueprints would be useless.

Besides, he believed that even if firearms could be made, they could only serve as transitional weapons.

The Aerenus World possessed supernatural powers. Firearms had an upper limit to their power, and they were external tools. They were far inferior to making power one's own. In the end, he still had to pursue strength of his own!

Still, if he could make a gun, it would be enough to seek revenge on Ramsey and Esberg.

Ramsey was an ordinary person. One shot would be enough to put him down.

Esberg might be more troublesome, but he was only a low-level Transcendent. Firearms could still inflict fatal injuries on him. As long as Rayne found the right opportunity to shoot him in secret, Rayne refused to believe he could withstand it.

He immediately got up and went downstairs. Zoltan was sitting behind the counter, sorting through a stack of cards.

"Boss, give me a Molten Keep Stout."

Rayne sat down at the counter, took out a Copper Liso, and ordered the cheapest drink.

Zoltan carefully put away the cards, twisted open the valve of the barrel behind him, filled a large mug with stout, set it before Rayne, and casually took the coin.

The cool beer slid down his throat. Rayne perked up and let out a satisfied burp.

"This is good beer. Is it really brewed from Molten Keep rye?" Molten Keep was a famous Dwarf Fortress located within the World Mountain Range, far from the Empire.

Zoltan gave a dry laugh but did not answer.

Rayne wisely did not press the matter. He drank while casually chatting with the dwarf.

After a while, Rayne realized they could not keep the conversation going. They simply had no common topics.

Zoltan could barely go three sentences without mentioning the Myriad Spirits Card. He was practically obsessed with it. Other than boasting about his card skills, he kept trying to persuade Rayne to play, preferably by buying a beginner's card set from him. He was even willing to offer a discount.

Cards, cards... Rayne ranted inwardly. I'll play your head!

He quickly drained the last mouthful of beer and asked directly, "Zoltan, do you know anywhere nearby that sells Alchemical Materials? Preferably somewhere with a wide selection. I want to buy some things."

"Kid, are you an alchemist or an alchemy apprentice?" Zoltan looked at Rayne suspiciously.

Alchemists were not a Transcendent profession, and ordinary people could take up the trade, but it was an extremely mysterious occupation. Alchemy had broad applications, including manufacturing weapons and equipment, brewing potions, enchanting, and more. Many formal alchemists were Transcendents and had joined the Alchemist Association.

The Alchemist Association was one of the Empire's most powerful factions, and almost no one dared provoke it.

"Neither. I just want to buy some materials for my own use."

How could Rayne know anything about alchemy? He had once wanted to study it at the academy, but he could not even pass the most basic entrance exam and had failed to qualify as an alchemy apprentice.

Zoltan thought for a moment, then lowered his voice. "Tell me what materials you want, and I can get them for you. I guarantee they'll be cheaper than anything from the Alchemist Association, but you can't spread the word."

Rayne was somewhat surprised.

From the sound of it, Zoltan was very likely an alchemist and was also running an underground business.

"I need many kinds of materials. I can't even name some of them. Could you let me take a look first?" Rayne knew how to make gunpowder and what raw materials it required, but he did not know what those materials were called in Aerenus. Only by seeing them in person could he match them up.

"Fine." Zoltan called over a staff member and gave him a few instructions, then said to Rayne, "Follow me."