Chapter 29 Magical Items and Spells
"You've had this gun for at least two years, right? And it's been neglected. The rifling is almost worn out, turning it into a smoothbore. The bolt and hammer are also rusted. This will seriously affect your shooting accuracy and may even cause the barrel to explode. As a gun user, you must be aware of this, right?"
Old Neil, in his black robe, was still sitting at his mottled table, holding Angel's 0.45-inch revolver in his hand. He opened the cylinder, pointed the notch at the gas lamp on the wall, and looked inside along the muzzle.
Angel sat across from him, and seeing his weapon being criticized as worthless, he quickly defended himself:
"This gun is second-hand. It was already in this condition when I got it. If it was new, I would definitely take good care of it and would never have gotten it into this condition."
"I mean, you should have come earlier to get a new one."
Putting down the revolver, Old Neil glanced at Angel, and a smile suddenly appeared on his stern face.
"Come and get some when you're out of bullets. Don't use your gun to this extent. Other guys have to replace their guns two or three times a year. Most of the old weapons we collect are almost as good as new. Guns, like bullets, are consumables, consumables!"
He emphasized.
Angel's lips moved, as if he had a thousand words to say, but what he finally blurted out was: "You're right."
She came to the Blackthorn Security Company early this morning. In addition to reporting to the base every day as required by Dunn Smith, the most important thing was to replace her revolver.
Originally thought that this kind of thing would be difficult, but unexpectedly Dunn waved his pen and not only agreed to Angel's request to change the gun, but also took the initiative to propose to equip her with the Night Watchman's badge and apply for a "weapon use certificate".
"Ms. Granger, you don't want to be stopped and questioned by a police officer on the street with a gun, do you?"
Dunn asked Angel this while writing the note.
Pushing the strange thoughts out of her mind, she handed over the note in her hand: "A 0.45-inch revolver, 40 rounds of the same caliber bullet, and a Special Operations Division badge."
"I was a little curious when you came to collect bullets last time. Why do you, a girl, need such a large-caliber revolver?" Old Neil took the note and did not go to the armory to get the items immediately. Instead, he asked with a smile.
"I think pistols are essentially close-range weapons, and power and stopping power are more important." Angel answered truthfully. This was also the reason why she had been using the revolver left by Cole Granger after she got it, instead of replacing it with a small-caliber revolver with moderate power and a chamber for 6 or even 7 rounds.
"Well, that's a pretty standard answer. However, I do hope that you all use weapons of the same caliber. This will make it easier for you to replenish each other's ammunition during battle, and it will also be easier for me, who manages the weapons depot."
Old Neil shook the note in his hand, turned and entered the iron gate at the back. After a while, he took out a brand new pistol, two boxes of bullets and an iron badge about half the size of a palm.
The badge is inlaid with silver words "Ahowa County Police Department" and "Special Operations Division Team 7", surrounded by the crossed swords and crown symbol representing the police system.
The new revolver was even more finely crafted than Angel's old one, with a carefully polished wooden handle also engraved with the police emblem, and the metal parts gleamed in the flickering gaslight.
The bullets were a box of ordinary pistol bullets and a box of demon hunting bullets, packed in a paper box and an iron box respectively, just like before.
After taking the items, Angel signed his name in the record book handed to him by Old Neil, and the handover was completed.
"Should old weapons be destroyed or stored?" Angel asked curiously as he saw Old Neil put her old revolver into a box under the table.
"We usually hand them over to the Tingen City police on a regular basis. They will dismantle and destroy the weapons to prevent them from falling into the hands of civilians or even entering the underground market. Although civilian weapons are already rampant, this process still needs to be followed."
Old Neil kicked the box containing the recovered weapons and replied.
"Of course, weapons damaged during our encounters with extraordinary events are not included. Sometimes these weapons are imbued with extraordinary powers, and even become extraordinary or magical items themselves. It is very dangerous to hand them over to ordinary people. The Church has special people responsible for handling them."
Angel caught the key point of Old Neil's words: "Magical item?"
"Any object that comes into contact with Beyonder properties for a long time has the potential to become an object containing Beyonder powers. We call these objects magical items. Even if they simply accidentally come into contact with spiritual materials, or even a Beyonder's body part, they can become Beyonder items with spiritual powers."
Old Neil leaned back in his chair and spoke slowly, like a teacher.
"Most of these items are simply tainted with power and cannot be used, but a small number of them will gain Beyonder properties, becoming magical items with those properties. It is said that there are craftsmen within the Church who can actively use ordinary Beyonder materials to perform such combinations, turning ordinary weapons into Beyonder weapons with Beyonder abilities."
Filtering out those confusing words and concepts, Angel grasped the key point of Old Neil's words, extraordinary weapons.
So, where can I buy it? - she almost blurted out.
Old Neil winked and smiled, saying, "You want to know where to get this kind of weapon, right? Every Nighthawk who heard me talk about extraordinary weapons has asked the same question."
“My answer is, no.”
"As far as I know, all the official Beyonders in Tingen combined can't even produce a single Beyonder weapon—ah, those guys at the Mechanical Heart are different. They have their own craftsmen who can make weapons that are less effective, but also much less dangerous. Perhaps you could try your luck at the underground market and spend a lot of money, or find a craftsman from the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery to make one."
Deeply disappointed, Angel picked up the brand new revolver on the table and sighed, "Then it seems I can only use an ordinary revolver. At least it's free."
Old Neil laughed out loud when he heard that. "I like young people who can find joy in hardship."
"But besides extraordinary weapons, there are other simple and... cheap ways to improve combat effectiveness."
Seeing that Angel was a little disappointed, Old Neil still added.
He reached into the inside pocket of his robe, pulled out a small piece of silver, and handed it over.
Angel took it and looked at it carefully.
The silver sheet is very thin, and both sides are engraved with Hermetic spells, a type of language commonly used in mysterious rituals. Complex texts and symbolic symbols overlap and surround each other, covering the entire surface of the silver sheet.
Just holding it in her hand, she felt a deep, quiet mysterious power, just like the one she felt when she prayed to the goddess in the Church of the Goddess of Night.
"This is the 'Sleeping Spell.' All you have to do is recite the spell you set to activate it. This one is 'Night' in the ancient Hermetic language. Then, infuse your spiritual energy into it to trigger it. The effect is to put those nearby into a deep sleep, similar to the Beyonder abilities of Leonard and the others."
Remembering Leonard Mitchell's ability to make people drowsy by reciting poetry when fighting with Madam Sharon, Angel nodded in understanding. This should be the same origin as the "Insomniac", and may even come directly from the power of the Goddess of Night.
This pre-made spell can indeed greatly enhance combat effectiveness, because it is almost a reproduction of the extraordinary ability of a certain sequence. Even if it does not have lethality, if it is used unexpectedly, it can instantly tilt the balance of an originally evenly matched battle to one side.
Even if the "Sleeping Spell" cannot make the Extraordinary person fall asleep directly, as long as it can interfere with the other party's thinking for a second or two, it can play a huge role in the battle between Extraordinary people.
"The method for making a talisman is very simple, similar to the process you use to make special bullets. The spell is engraved on the base material and infused with spiritual energy. Their effects don't last long, usually only one to two weeks, but after the effect expires, they can be re-infused with spiritual energy to activate it."
"You have experience making special bullets, so I won't teach you from the basics. Take this talisman, select the materials, and copy the incantation above to make a talisman with the same effect."
"Thank you, Mr. Neil." Angel didn't expect such an unexpected gain and quickly expressed his gratitude.
"It's just some basic occult knowledge. I also happen to be teaching this to the newcomer, Mr. Klein Moretti, right after Divination. Um, you two can study together."
Klein Moretti… He had just drunk a potion in the alchemy room next door this week and became a Beyonder…
Angel thought back to the moment she watched him drink the potion. She had been so busy crafting "Gathering Storm" bullets these past two days, and she was constantly worried that this was all a test from the Nighthawks that she hadn't seen her new neighbor since.
Bang bang——
There was a knock on the door, and they both turned their heads at the same time. A half-top hat peeked out from the crack of the door, followed by the face of a young man with short black hair.
"Excuse me, I think I heard my name?"
The person who came was Klein Moretti, whom Old Neil had just talked about.
"Ah, speaking of you, I'm going to take some time to teach you how to make spells. Miss Granger is also very interested." Old Neil didn't have the embarrassment of being caught talking behind someone's back. "Are you here to pick up the bullets for practice?"
Klein had already pushed open the door and walked in. He nodded and replied, "Yes, thank you, Mr. Neil. It's the same as always. Thirty rounds of ordinary pistol ammunition."
"Okay, wait a moment." Old Neil stood up again and went to the armory behind him to get bullets.
"Practice?" Angel looked at Klein standing by the door and asked doubtfully.
The young man, wearing a black vest and a top hat, explained with a smile, "The captain assigned me the task of quickly familiarizing myself with the use of a pistol. I now take thirty rounds of ammunition to the shooting range every day for practice."
Holding the brand new revolver he had just obtained, Angel's heart moved.
"Is the shooting range nearby?"
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