A bowling alley and shooting range combo seemed like a bad idea. Especially when alcohol was added to the mix. Yet, here I was, inside such a place. While the man at the counter inspected my rifle, I couldn’t help but take in the sights.

  It smelled of cigar thanks to the thick cloud hanging above our heads. That, mixed with the smell of greasy food coming from behind one of the bar counters down the way, gunpowder from the guns shooting just over yonder, and of oil wafting up from the bowling lanes.

  It made for a unique smell. One I couldn’t quite disagree with. The hazy smoke made my fingers itch, as it teased a dead habit. The warm lights above bathed everything in a warm atmosphere. Further enhanced by the rowdy laughter, the joking jabs the various people here made to one another.

  This felt like a man’s paradise. Further back, behind the bar, was a small area where people smoked and played billiards or darts. A small section of arcade games was filled to the brim with people hovering around fighting arcades.

  However, there weren’t only men. Though men made up the majority, there were some women wandering about. They drank and laughed with their male counterparts with ease. Even if they were outnumbered by ten to one at minimum, they didn’t seem upset by that. A few heads glanced at my and éclair’s entrance, but nobody made a scene or approached.

  As I took in the scenes and sights, the man before me had swiftly disassembled my rifle. A magnifying glass was in his hand as he looked over each piece. While he worked, someone else came to the counter, they shot me a look but otherwise said little as they passed over some cash. Without even looking away, the man grabbed a pair of bowling shoes from under the counter and handed them over. Not without the sound of what must have been bullets rattling about… Did they keep bullets beside the shoes?

  What kind of place was this!?

  Really, it just made this all the more surreal. He had bowling supplies right behind him, a whole bowling shop was beside the bar, and it was bustling. And this man, at the counter had not only bowling supplies and rental shoes, but racks of weapons set behind him, with cans of munitions sitting slightly open.

  This whole place was definitely violating who knows how many safety violations, and I swear, even with the rock music playing over it all, I’d probably lose my hearing with all the sharp cracks echoing out from the range portion. Only, I wasn’t exactly human, so my ears were more than capable of handling the noise.

  Really, I was stuck between whether or not this was heaven or hell…

  “Alright then…” The man spoke up, somehow over everything. Also, my weapon was already re-assembled. “It’s a good weapon, uses standardized rifle rounds, typical of anything mascot made. Metal components appear to made with a special silverite alloy, that is an alchemical silver that can be rather expensive and difficult to make. The stock is made up of a special kind of ivory, again, expensive and valuable since it was enhanced with alchemy and such. All of which are hallmark signs of a mascot made weapon.”

  He said, pointing to each piece as he did so, then he moved to the sling.

  “Magical beast leather, probably some kind of snake, holy attributed by the looks of it. Silverite belt buckle, nothing much more to say honestly.”

  He finally finishes off, though.

  “Now, do you mind showing me some of your munitions, and I noticed a mount for a bayonet, care to show it to me?”

  Without questioning the process, I did as he asked. Producing one of each, of my ammo types and conjured the bayonet. He looked it over, a little bored at it, but his eyes lit up when he saw the bullets.

  “Wonderful craftsmanship… probably implanted when you bought the weapon, right?” He turns to me.

  “Yeah, they are.”

  “Thought so…” He grumbles and of all the ammo types, he stops especially long on the exploding bullet.

  “Well, ain’t this a beaut.” He whistles. “Something like this is a little unusual, this bullet is better made than the others, with what looks like some kind of liquid in the center. I’m half tempted to crack it open and see, but it’s probably highly compressed and extremely explosive due to that.”

  “Well, yeah. I’ve been calling it an explosive round.?”

  “Huh, well, now I’m doubly curious.” He says softly before sighing and putting it down. “Now, care to show me what you can do on the range?”

  At his behest, we take a stall at the range, he helps set things up and hovers over my shoulder as I load and get ready. He doesn’t move or make a noise as I shoot and eject casings. Each shot punches into the target, but not enough to fully punch through the target which appeared to be made out of metal. After the first emptied magazine…

  “Again.”

  So, I fill back up the magazine and continue…

  “Alright, this time, when conjuring your bullets, give it a bit more juice.”

  More juice? Can I do that? Instead of questioning him, I just do it. I focus on pumping more magic into the process and… A bullet appears, though, it looks a bit different. While I was doing that, he pulled the target back and set a new one.

  “Right, do a full magazine of those and continue.”

  It takes a lot out of me, but I get it done. This time, the bullets’ song is far more pronounced, even over the sound of pins being knocked over and gunshots nearby. This time, each shot easily blows through the target, leaving notable marks in the metal target. As I finish up, he places down a box of ammo.

  “Try this.”

  Doing as he says, I loaded the live rounds into my gun, unsure if it would work, while he put a new target up. When I pulled the trigger, I wasn’t expecting the kick, which threw my aim slightly off. I still had to pull back the slide to eject the spent casing, but the smell of gunpowder was especially strong as I did so.

  Second shot was better and by the fifth shot, I had the hang of it. Each shot punched into the metal target with far more force than my base bullet, but not nearly as much as the enhanced bullet.

  He hummed and motioned for me to load again, so I did. Once I emptied the second magazine was emptied, he pulled back the target and had me try my different rounds.

  Piercing punched right through but left a small hole behind. Shot, nearly pushed the target down and left numerous dents on the plate, but failed to punch through. Enhanced versions were perhaps, better. Pierce left a small hole, even smaller than before, but it practically phased through the target. At the far end of the range, it managed to dig into the reinforced wall a bit before it lost torque. As for the shot, it didn’t quite pierce the target still, but left numerous pockmarks on the target that could be seen through, and knocked the target to the ground.

  “Right, I’ve seen enough, follow me. And don’t worry about cleaning up.”

  Without a word, I follow him, not back to the counter, but actually out the back door. On stepping outside, I’m not greeted with the sun or a warm breeze first, but by a series of explosions that nearly send me to the ground. Unbothered, he continues forward and I, follow.

  The entire back area looks like it must have been a baseball, or soccer, or even a football field. Either way, it was a large open area, now converted in what I could only call, an explosives range. The part of the field closest to the building had stands built on them. The field itself was surrounded by concrete walls, and with markers here and there.

  By the stands were numerous people, chucking explosives of all kinds. Boxes of grenades and even rocket launchers just stood about, with larger targets being set up throughout the open field.

  I gawked for a moment, at least, until the man spoke up again.

  “Try your explosive rounds now. Try the normal ones, then the empowered ones.”

  “Right… What should I test first?”

  “Just shoot.”

  With his blessing, I did so. They sang, high and low, like always. After the first volley, a full magazine of rounds sent out, he whistled.

  “Figured that’s what it was. You know liquid nitrogen, right?”

  “Yeah, I do.” I answer back.

  “Pretty much that, but much, much meaner. Can you change when they explode?”

  “I can make them explode prematurely.” I answer back.

  “Show me.” Was all he said in response.

  A few shots later, most exploding in the air, or just before hitting the ground. Each one leaving fields of glittering frost in their wake.

  “Mm… try the empowered one and hit some of the targets.”

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  I do just that, shooting round after round. It was exhausting, nothing like the other rounds, and just before I was exhausted, he spoke up.

  “That’ll do, now, follow me back.”

  And soon enough we were back at his counter.

  “Alright, it’s clear you need practice. You have a good base, which will only improve as you use your weapon, now… before we begin, I have to ask do you understand why a chosen’s weapon and uniform are valuable?”

  I didn’t, to be honest. When I had asked Usagi, they had given me the cryptic, because they’re critical. So, “No, I don’t. Usagi, the mascot wasn’t very helpful.”

  “They tend not to be… So, weapons and uniforms are at their core, manifestations of your soul.”

  “And that means?” I ask cutting him off, he sighs.

  “Right, it means they’re a part of you. How they appear, what they become, they say a lot about you and your character. Weapons, especially, are very good ways to judge what kind of person someone is. Silver is always a good sign, since it usually represents purity, white can be good, though, it depends on the kind of white. White can mean death, depending on the coloration and placement of it, but it can also mean innocence.”

  Hardly sounded like me, but, maybe mine is more suited towards death.

  “In essence, if someone manifests a weapon that just feels wrong, and if the coloration and or details seem much, well, it means something is wrong with the person.”

  “Is that conclusive?” I ask, just to be sure.

  “No idea, frankly, with so many of us here, it’s better to err on the side of caution. If someone doesn’t pass the vibe check, we kick them out, no fuss and all.” He pauses to take a pair of rental shoes someone hands over and sets them aside.

  “Now, uniforms can be trickier, so they’re less authoritative in general. But, weapons, like uniforms are linked to the soul, and what I mean by that, is they change, alter, and even adapt according to their wielder, though to a much greater degree than a weapon would.”

  I nod along.

  “What I mean is, your weapon is more or less an absolute. Your uniform reflects your soul, but the weapon is more of an addition, not something integral. Your uniform however is a whole other story. The uniform represents you as you see yourself, or rather, your idealized self. Your uniform can undergo significant changes, depending on your state of mind, mental health, and such.”

  He takes a moment to shift, a series of loud cracks fill the air as a bowling ball hits a perfect strike, causing a series of cheers to break out.

  “Now, what I just said is true, for the most part. Barring alternate uniforms and such, which can be attained through events or rare catalysts. Those will alter your weapon and uniform to a drastic degree, even alter how you use your magic.”

  “Events can change my weapon? Or rather, I can get alternate weapons?”

  “Yes, and grant you special uniform changes. Depending on the event. As for other means, you can use a gold coin to get a new weapon, but that isn’t suggested, normally. Not unless, you need another weapon, for some reason.”

  “Can I get an example of these, alternates?”

  “I’m guessing you haven’t unlocked your uniform yet?”

  “No, I haven’t.”

  “Well, then you won’t have much of a frame of reference, but I’ll try to make it simple. Each uniform comes with a set of, parameters. These parameters dictate what you’re good at, and not. They also dictate what type of magical girl you are, like a damage dealer, someone that takes hits for others, a healer, supporter, and the like. Some uniforms also come with special additional benefits.”

  He took a moment before continuing.

  “Christmas themed uniforms might grant a resistance to the cold, swimsuit themed uniforms might grant the ability to go underwater, and those are just the basic ones.”

  Christmas? Swimsuit? I could tell he saw the confusion on my face, but he didn’t seem to be concerned with resolving that.

  “As for other types, the best explanation would be, that they represent an alternate you. Basically, what ifs. You don’t see them often, but they can change your weapon and can grant a much wider range of alterations to your abilities. These require catalyst, or you can spend a gold coin, but that’s like rolling a specific character on a mobile game off banner, totally not worth it.”

  “What?” I reflexively said, not fully understanding what he was saying.

  “Nothing, anyway, what you should be focusing on now, is unlocking your uniform and improving both your uniform and weapon.” He brushes me off and bulls on, which is annoying, but I press on as well. This felt important.

  “How do I go about that?” I asked the pertinent question.

  “Gold coins. Mascots made them, the mascots can improve them. Upgrades are dependent on the type of weapon, and what they are meant to do. In your case, I imagine with each upgrade you’ll unlock additional functions on top of improving the base power of your rifle.”

  “And how useful will those functions be?”

  He shrugs. “Depends. Your weapon is rather versatile. Which means it’s both stronger and weaker. It has good punching power for an un-upgraded weapon. But in the same way, it doesn’t benefit off your magic as much. Which is a big downside. The additional functionality might make up for it, but I don’t know. Honestly, gun types are generally considered weaker as it is.”

  I thought back to Tabitha. How her spear interacted with her own magic. How the wind gnashed and whirled at the tip. How she launched it at the silver ranks during the alraune fight. I knew I wouldn’t be able to replicate that with my rifle. At least, not within the immediate future.

  “I see… And uniform?”

  “Same thing. Each upgrade improves the base abilities and grants additional functions, depending on what you need. And since you don’t have one, I can’t exactly tell you what you should expect. Only that, Ice types tend to gear towards physical damage, especially for rabbits. So, expect something physical, so either a close-range damage dealer, or someone that takes hits.”

  “And you said they’re part of me, that they won’t break?”

  “Now, they can break, but if that happens, it will just take some time to restore themselves. Uniforms typically repair even faster. There do exist attack types that can damage weapons and uniforms directly, but none of them will ever fully destroy them, since they are a part of your soul. At best, you’ll face soul death long before you have a chance of losing either.”

  I nod along, though… “Are gold coins the only way to get a weapon and uniform?”

  “Technically, no. A mundane weapon, or tool can become a weapon. So long as the user has a strong emotional attachment to their weapon. It especially helps if said weapon carried over, from when they fell down the rabbit hole. Since, any item that crosses the divide changes in a fundamental way.”

  “Really? How different, I mean, I have this.” I pass him my cigarette carton, with a lone cigarette. He eyes it oddly for a moment.

  “Mm, you had the look of a smoker, though, more of a smoker that kicked the habit.”

  I’m not surprised he noticed. The cigar smoke in the air was giving me a hankering. Not a pleasant sensation. He inspects the carton for a bit.

  “Yeah, this is an heirloom. Basically, an item that holds significance to someone brought over. Such things range from simpler fortifiers, like trinkets that give them slightly increased defense or mental resistance to simple objects like this, containers that contain a small amount of something. I knew a guy that had one of those containers of breath mints, the heirloom always made sure he had at least one inside the container at all times.”

  He eyed the cigarette for a moment, then shrugged. He pulled it out and lit it up. Adding to the smoke…

  “Mm, yeah, this is a real winner. A real smooth, quality smoke.” He says and exhales a puff of smoke. “I can’t say exactly what it does, but if you get the chance, you might want to upgrade it. Though, that could be problematic if you want to keep the habit gone.” He then hands back the now empty carton, which I stash away.

  Well, that wasn’t quite what I wanted to hear, but… alright. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “You do that. Now, any other questions?”

  “Yeah, the uniform. Do I have to use a coin for that too?”

  “It’s a little less stringent, but also much more. To awaken your uniform, you would need to tap into who you are, the core of your being. Not a lot of people can do it, and from what I’ve heard, it requires a lot of lucky moments, and for you to know exactly what kind of person you are.”

  He takes a drag from his, well, my, cigarette and exhales.

  “So, not easy?” I surmise.

  “Yup. Now, is that it?”

  “I guess, I’m not sure what else I could ask.”

  “Good, if you have further questions, don’t be afraid to ask, just…” He trails off and grunts.

  “Him again…” he mutters, he then reaches under the counter and pulls out a heavy machine gun. “Might wanna duck.”

  I do just that, especially as he yells out.

  “HEY, YOU!” He cries out, the music stops, all sound stops. Everyone focuses on the man at the counter, and immediately the crowd splits. Revealing a lone figure. His eyes widen.

  “What, did I tell you about cleaning up after yourself!” As he yelled, my, and near everyone’s eyes shot towards a single stall filled with discarded weapons, improperly left around, along with numerous bullets and bullet boxes.

  Instead of trying to defend himself, the singled-out man immediately turned to flee, though, that was a bad option. With a wrench of the slide, the gun, just above my head was chambered. The trigger pulled. Bullets spat out. Each shot rang in my skull. Spent casings slapped against the ground, bullets screeched through the air, perforating the offender, for a moment or two, he danced as the bullets punched through him.

  It felt like an eternity, but really, it had just been a few seconds of sustained fire until the man behind the counter finally stops. The muzzle of the heavy machine gun radiates heat and smoke.

  Silence continues to reign for a moment. Every eye on the downed man, currently, somehow, still alive. Coughing up blood and staining the tiled floor.

  “MEDIC!” The man behind the counter yelled out, and he continued the conversation like nothing had happened. Just like him, everyone else went about their business. The music started back up, people continued to shoot and bowl. All like nothing had happened. Like a man hadn’t just been gunned down.

  “Right, now where was I…” He trailed off, but my own mind was still trying to process what I just saw. “I can give you a pass, that’ll get you past the checkpoints and such without issue. You’ll be allowed to practice here, without issue. You’ll have to purchase bullets though. Otherwise, you’re free to come and go as you please.”

  I nod, and just like that, the conversation ends. Rather, he gets right back to work, leaving me to my own confusion. I checked my watch, and unknowingly, most of the day had gone by. It was getting close to sunset, which meant it was time to leave…

  As I walked away, I saw the gunned down man being healed up by a doctor. Rather, if someone was going for the sexy doctor cosplay. A white coat and a stethoscope around his shoulders. The man wore gloves and sneakers, and white pants with a white belt around his waist. He wore no glasses but had a medical mask on his face. What he wasn’t wearing, was a shirt. He was shirtless. Exposing a bronzed, muscular chest, glistening with either sweat or oil. Not only that, but it was also a hairy chest, not something I’d expect to be very sanitary. Not to mention his long flowing locks that draped over his shoulder.

  He was hovering over the downed man, slowly restoring his body. A light brown light emanated from his hands. Beside him though, was a familiar face. In a nurse attire, cap and all, was…

  “Serenity?” I called out, not sure if I was seeing things right. The nurse jolted at my words, a clipboard in hand. She looked at me, and I saw the recognition flicker in her eyes. She didn’t immediately run over, she squatted down to talk to the doctor first, then ran over.

  “Prima!” She said, a bit excited, but also… “I’m glad you’re okay! It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?” She had quite a bit of energy.

  “I’ve been alright.” I went ahead and told her about what had happened the second event. “Have you done your second event yet?”

  “No, I haven’t. I think it might be at the end of this month though.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, everyone has been saying so.”

  I wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so I asked about other things, how she was doing, if she’d seen anyone else, though…

  “I can’t say. I’m mostly with the doctor here, there tends to be a lot of injuries around here.”

  “I can easily imagine.”

  Guns… alcohol… bowling… Billiards… Darts… Arcade Games…? I would be more surprised if nobody got injured here.

  “Any deaths?” I ask, looking as the gunned down man slowly gets up. His clothes riddled with holes.

  “Usually no, even if they die, the doctor can bring them back if they weren’t dead for too long.”

  A little terrifying to hear… Though, it reminds me of what Black Hawk said not long ago. Maybe I should take the time to apologize for calling the hospital on them?

  I’ll probably do that on the way home.

  We talked a bit longer before excusing myself. Notably, éclair wasn’t outside, neither was Black hawk. I did hear people mentioning that some crazy person was causing havoc in their arena… So…

  I didn’t think éclair would want me to wait for her, or to bother her, so, I left.