The three went down the steps back towards the lobby. Nirra noticed that some adventurers would start whispering with their party members when they saw the elven S-class archer. She then thought it was natural since the person beside her is an S-ranker. A class that is the highest in the guild and that only a handful of adventurers of different ethnicities and species would be included in.
They then approached the door, which Nirra thought was a utility room, but her guess was wrong when it opened back out to the outside world. Now that she thought about it, she never did see the so-called 'proving ground' of the guild in her almost 3 years as an adventurer. But nevertheless, the place looked more like a football stadium than a proving ground. Benches that were stacked three high can be seen on the outer edges where people would sit to watch an event, possibly by two adventurers settling disputes by combat.
In the center was a raised stone platform where the guild rank-up test would be held. The three went up the small steps that led to the platform. They then saw white lines that separated the platform into two as well as a circle located at the center, with the middle point represented as a dot. So far, nothing out of the ordinary yet.
"Hey, Ameria, what's so special about this place? Aren't the spectators going to be hurt with all the fighting and projectiles flying all over the place?" Nirra asked as she walked up to the elf.
"Ah, the spectators are actually really safe. There is a magical barrier here made by the runes that are etched beneath this platform that produces a mana shield to block anything that would end up outside." Ameria said as she stepped on a specific spot. Her foot was then lit with purple light from a magic circle that formed under her feet. Both Nirra and Ellie suddenly flinched for an unknown reason.
"Do not be alarmed; it is just the shield activating due to myself channeling elemental mana into the conduit." She explained.
Ellie then walked up to the edge of the platform. She then reached her hand out and was a bit startled when she felt a solid, invisible barrier that blocked her hand from reaching a certain distance. Nirra nodded in Ellie's direction when she saw what her sister had done.
"Now what do we do? What do I aim at?" Nirra turned towards Ameria as she held up her Remington rifle.
"I'm getting towards that; please wait for a tiny bit." Ameria said as she again channeled her elemental mana towards the conduit that was located beneath her foot.
The platform then started shaking as some panels shifted and the platform itself got longer. A small wall that reached their stomachs was erected from the platform beneath them, and on the far end of said platform, stone pillars suddenly rose up. There were 10 in total, each with varying sizes and distances.
"There, an archery range to fit our needs." Ameria said as she stepped off of the conduit.
Nirra noted that the conduit was the dot inside the circle that was marked by white paint before. Ellie then came up beside Nirra as her gaze was fixated on the archer range that seemingly erupted from the platform itself.
"This is so cool; I wonder if the guild would let me practice my sword in here," Ellie said as she imagined the crazy training she would put herself through.
"Oh, I'm sorry to inform you that the guild only lets us S-rankers use this in any way we see fit. Anything below us S-ranks would have to write a letter addressed to the guildmaster if you wish to use the proving ground area," Ameria explained as Ellie slowly sank into a state of sadness. Nirra then patted Ellie on the back in condolence as Ameria let out a small giggle at her companion's antics.
"Time to do what we came here for then," Nirra announced as she opened the compartment on her belt to retrieve some cartridges to load inside her lever-action rifle. Ameria was looking at Nirra curiously as Mofu suddenly awoke from his small nap. The vulpen's secondary colors changed from black to yellow as it jumped down from Nirra's shoulder.
Nirra then kneeled down to pat the small fox, to which the small fox replied with a cute "Mofu!" As the colors on his ears, tail, and paws changed into a red color.
Ellie then stood back up and walked beside Ameria as Nirra started loading the ammunition into the tubular magazine. Of course, the bottom of the cartridge was facing her when she loaded it inside.
'What are those little pebbles she's loading into that strange tube? Is it the projectile?' Ameria thought as she saw Nirra pull down the handle of her weapon.
Nirra noted that the lever was a bit stiff, but it still worked in the action of pulling the bolt backwards to cock the hammer while guiding the cartridge into the firing chamber. When she pulled back up, the bolt moved forward, chambering the round inside the firing chamber and leaving the hammer cocked.
"Alright, time to see if all that hard work paid off," Nirra slowly said to herself as she walked up against the small wall and aimed her weapon. Her target was a small stone pillar that was 400 meters away. Ameria was surprised that Nirra was going for the furthest target away. She took note of the way Nirra was holding her metal tube and her leg stance while she held it.
Nirra aimed down on what would usually be iron sights with a post and an aperture, but in her haste to finish the weapon, she forgot to add it in. So she focused on the center of the barrel for her target acquisition. She held her breath as she slowly squeezed the trigger. When she did so, the sear disengaged with the hammer, so there was nothing stopping it from slamming into the firing pin. When it impacted, the firing pin transferred the kinetic energy into the tiny doomslime core on its tip, and it impacted the steel disk that was under the cartridge. The core slammed into the disk, pushing it slightly so that the ignition from the contact would catch the gunpowder waiting to explode and propel the bullet forward. As the bullet traveled through the barrel, the grooves inside it made the bullet spin like a football being spun when thrown by a player. It exited the muzzle with such speed that it left the S-rank adventurer elf with them wide-eyed. Smoke covered the middle of her weapon as the lead bullet hit the target dead in the center, and she noticed that it was cut in half. Which makes sense because the pillar it was shot at was not that thick, only a few millimeters across.
Nirra breathed fresh oxygen into her lungs as relief filled her body. The lever-action rifle she made inside an old blacksmith's forge worked perfectly, with no visible damage to the weapon itself. She pumped her hand up like she won the lottery as she pulled the lever back down, as she did so, the bolt pulled back and the ejector sent the spent brass case into her hand.
'What have I just witnessed?' Ameria thought as she was recovering from Nirra's display. Her eyes went even wider when she looked past the pillar with her insanely good vision and noted that the projectile also had made a hole into the shield that was supposed to keep everything in.
The three went down the steps back towards the lobby. Nirra noticed that some adventurers would start whispering with their party members when they saw the elven S-class archer. She then thought it was natural since the person beside her is an S-ranker. A class that is the highest in the guild and that only a handful of adventurers of different ethnicities and species would be included in.
They then approached the door, which Nirra thought was a utility room, but her guess was wrong when it opened back out to the outside world. Now that she thought about it, she never did see the so-called 'proving ground' of the guild in her almost 3 years as an adventurer. But nevertheless, the place looked more like a football stadium than a proving ground. Benches that were stacked three high can be seen on the outer edges where people would sit to watch an event, possibly by two adventurers settling disputes by combat.
In the center was a raised stone platform where the guild rank-up test would be held. The three went up the small steps that led to the platform. They then saw white lines that separated the platform into two as well as a circle located at the center, with the middle point represented as a dot. So far, nothing out of the ordinary yet.
"Hey, Ameria, what's so special about this place? Aren't the spectators going to be hurt with all the fighting and projectiles flying all over the place?" Nirra asked as she walked up to the elf.
"Ah, the spectators are actually really safe. There is a magical barrier here made by the runes that are etched beneath this platform that produces a mana shield to block anything that would end up outside." Ameria said as she stepped on a specific spot. Her foot was then lit with purple light from a magic circle that formed under her feet. Both Nirra and Ellie suddenly flinched for an unknown reason.
"Do not be alarmed; it is just the shield activating due to myself channeling elemental mana into the conduit." She explained.
Ellie then walked up to the edge of the platform. She then reached her hand out and was a bit startled when she felt a solid, invisible barrier that blocked her hand from reaching a certain distance. Nirra nodded in Ellie's direction when she saw what her sister had done.
"Now what do we do? What do I aim at?" Nirra turned towards Ameria as she held up her Remington rifle.
"I'm getting towards that; please wait for a tiny bit." Ameria said as she again channeled her elemental mana towards the conduit that was located beneath her foot.
The platform then started shaking as some panels shifted and the platform itself got longer. A small wall that reached their stomachs was erected from the platform beneath them, and on the far end of said platform, stone pillars suddenly rose up. There were 10 in total, each with varying sizes and distances.
"There, an archery range to fit our needs." Ameria said as she stepped off of the conduit.
Nirra noted that the conduit was the dot inside the circle that was marked by white paint before. Ellie then came up beside Nirra as her gaze was fixated on the archer range that seemingly erupted from the platform itself.
"This is so cool; I wonder if the guild would let me practice my sword in here," Ellie said as she imagined the crazy training she would put herself through.
"Oh, I'm sorry to inform you that the guild only lets us S-rankers use this in any way we see fit. Anything below us S-ranks would have to write a letter addressed to the guildmaster if you wish to use the proving ground area," Ameria explained as Ellie slowly sank into a state of sadness. Nirra then patted Ellie on the back in condolence as Ameria let out a small giggle at her companion's antics.
"Time to do what we came here for then," Nirra announced as she opened the compartment on her belt to retrieve some cartridges to load inside her lever-action rifle. Ameria was looking at Nirra curiously as Mofu suddenly awoke from his small nap. The vulpen's secondary colors changed from black to yellow as it jumped down from Nirra's shoulder.
Nirra then kneeled down to pat the small fox, to which the small fox replied with a cute "Mofu!" As the colors on his ears, tail, and paws changed into a red color.
Ellie then stood back up and walked beside Ameria as Nirra started loading the ammunition into the tubular magazine. Of course, the bottom of the cartridge was facing her when she loaded it inside.
'What are those little pebbles she's loading into that strange tube? Is it the projectile?' Ameria thought as she saw Nirra pull down the handle of her weapon.
Nirra noted that the lever was a bit stiff, but it still worked in the action of pulling the bolt backwards to cock the hammer while guiding the cartridge into the firing chamber. When she pulled back up, the bolt moved forward, chambering the round inside the firing chamber and leaving the hammer cocked.
"Alright, time to see if all that hard work paid off," Nirra slowly said to herself as she walked up against the small wall and aimed her weapon. Her target was a small stone pillar that was 400 meters away. Ameria was surprised that Nirra was going for the furthest target away. She took note of the way Nirra was holding her metal tube and her leg stance while she held it.
Nirra aimed down on what would usually be iron sights with a post and an aperture, but in her haste to finish the weapon, she forgot to add it in. So she focused on the center of the barrel for her target acquisition. She held her breath as she slowly squeezed the trigger. When she did so, the sear disengaged with the hammer, so there was nothing stopping it from slamming into the firing pin. When it impacted, the firing pin transferred the kinetic energy into the tiny doomslime core on its tip, and it impacted the steel disk that was under the cartridge. The core slammed into the disk, pushing it slightly so that the ignition from the contact would catch the gunpowder waiting to explode and propel the bullet forward. As the bullet traveled through the barrel, the grooves inside it made the bullet spin like a football being spun when thrown by a player. It exited the muzzle with such speed that it left the S-rank adventurer elf with them wide-eyed. Smoke covered the middle of her weapon as the lead bullet hit the target dead in the center, and she noticed that it was cut in half. Which makes sense because the pillar it was shot at was not that thick, only a few millimeters across.
Nirra breathed fresh oxygen into her lungs as relief filled her body. The lever-action rifle she made inside an old blacksmith's forge worked perfectly, with no visible damage to the weapon itself. She pumped her hand up like she won the lottery as she pulled the lever back down, as she did so, the bolt pulled back and the ejector sent the spent brass case into her hand.
'What have I just witnessed?' Ameria thought as she was recovering from Nirra's display. Her eyes went even wider when she looked past the pillar with her insanely good vision and noted that the projectile also had made a hole into the shield that was supposed to keep everything in.
