A Gunslinger’s System in a World of Magic

***

—Two Days After the Bandit Encounter in the Mountain Path—

Henry looked out of the barred window of his cage as snow fell outside.

The sounds of the carriage finally nearing civilization started slowly as they pulled through homesteads and towns staying in the fringes of the more developed regions in the North.

Finally, with the grating sounds the carriage made as it dragged across cobbled stoned roads, as well as the tall buildings of all sorts he could see through the barred window, Henry realized they had arrived at their destination.

If not for anything —and there was very little that made Henry happy at the moment—, he was glad the journey was finally at an end.

After his escape attempt failed, Henry woke up back in the cage with a throbbing in his head. He had lost Hit Points from the hard head knock but, at least, he was still alive. Which could have gone either way because Eli was pissed.

The way the Mercenary Fighter saw it, it was Henry's fault his friend got cleaved in two which, of course, wasn't wrong. From the bits of conversation Henry had gleaned whenever they made camp, he learned that Jonas had to constantly remind Eli they had a job to do to keep him in check.

"We can find someone else, Jonas," Eli had insisted,

"We can find someone else. Just let me kill that piece of shit."

When he said those words, Eli glared daggers at the cage and Henry was sure he would get murdered in his sleep.

All in all, the two-day trip was tense. Henry was never let out of the cage. His feeding was sparse at best and the portions were vastly reduced.

But now it was over.

Once out of the cage, Henry was determined to start workshopping more ideas of escape. It didn't matter how many jolts of electricity fired into his brain, he was going to be free. Of that he was sure.

Alvareen…

Henry assumed that was the name of the City they were in because it was where Jonas once told him he was being taken to. Looking out the window, Henry felt he had been pulled into another world.

Sure, he had already experienced much that set this world apart from the one he had died in, however, there were still familiar elements. There were gangs made up of normal people.

The most advanced City he visited, Saint Claret, was also still rooted in some familiarity with guards who walked about with guns. There was none of that here.

Everyone who had a weapon either had some kind of sword, some kind of bow, a spear, or some variation of those weapons on their backs. In Saint Claret, Henry had caught sight of maybe, one person, like that. Here, it was all over.

No one the carriage passed batted an eye at the cage. The few who glanced at it had nonchalant expressions at seeing Henry's face through the barred windows.

The carriage continued on its way till it was pulling through gates manned by guards that continued the trend Henry had seen all over the City already by having sheathed swords hooked to their belts.

"Another one?" Asked a voice Henry assumed belonged to one of the guards. He didn't hear either Jonas or Eli respond but the guard spoke again,

"Gave you some trouble, did he? Where's Al?"

Again there was no response from either Jonas or Eli but Henry could have sworn he heard the veins popping out of Eli's neck at the mention of Al, whose death he had not yet avenged by killing Henry.

"Damn, such silence," the Guard said, sounding disappointed that neither of the two answered him,

"Well, you know where to take him."

As the Carriage pulled on along, Henry's cage got close enough to the guard to hear him mumble 'Assholes' under his breath.

The ride wasn't long this time and when the Carriage pulled to a stop, there was a finality to it.

A minute later, there was the sound of lock fiddling followed by bolt pulling before the cage's door was pulled open and Jonas pulled Henry out of it and tossed him to the snowy ground unceremoniously.

Henry got back to his feet and quickly enough and flashed him a smile,

"Thank you," he said sarcastically as he brushed the snow off his face,

"It was getting warm in there. I was begging for some cold on my cheek."

"Shut up," Jonas said and grabbed his arm to pull him along as he walked.

Henry looked around. He looked to have been brought to a large Estate.

"New recruit?" Called out a voice that caused Henry to look ahead.

Two men were walking over. Both tall and both dressed in matching leather armor.

Jonas tossed Henry toward them as he said callously,

"Here. Get him off my hands."

One of the men held out a hand and stopped Henry from crashing into him as he chuckled,

"Haha, clearly there's a story here."

The man reached behind him and produced a Cuff that he snapped onto Henry's left wrist.

'Another one?' Henry asked with a mental groan.

"Jonas, take this one off him, will you?" The man who just strapped Henry with a second Cuff said.

Jonas tapped the Command cuff on his wrist and infused it with Mana.

*click*

With a small sound, the first control cuff on Henry's wrist loosened and the man pulled it off to toss it at Jonas who caught it and walked away.

"What's your name, boy?" The man asked Henry.

"Henry."

"Well, Henry, welcome to your new life. You're the Property of Ralph Gribbo until the day you die.

Assignments are in the evening and with any luck, you could be part of Tomorrow's Dungeon raiding party."

Henry furrowed his brows but said nothing. He was still wondering just what thoughts he was allowed to have with the new cuff on and didn't want to set off any jolts to his head just yet.

The man turned to the other man standing close by,

"Ed, get him settled in."

Ed steered Henry into a part of the Estate that had been made into permanent housing for those cuffed just like he was. Bunk beds all over.

"Pick your spot," Ed said before he left. No introductions, no orientation course, nothing.

Henry's eyes roamed the room and he found a bed. However, right when he walked toward it, someone stepped in front of him.

"Hi," the boy said. He had curly brown hair and the largest pair of electric blue eyes Henry had ever seen.

He looked not much older than Henry. In his early twenties at most. His eyes were constantly wide and at first, Henry thought it was him being expressive but when they remained like that he just had to assume, it was permanent.

"Hello," Henry said.

"You're new," the boy said.

"I am."

"What's your name?"

"Henry."

"Hello, Henry. I'm Louis."

"Nice to meet you, Louis," Henry said to be polite. He made to walk past but Luis blocked his path.

"Hey, Henry… You wanna get away from here?" Louis asked.

Henry furrowed his brow,

"Are you asking if I want to escape— Hnghh!"

Just as it had been on the journey over to Alvareen, the new Cuff rewarded all thoughts of escape with jolts of electricity. But Henry did note that it was far more forgiving in its pain. It didn't send him to the ground spasming at least.

"Yeah," Louis said like he hadn't just seen Henry in pain,

"You wanna be free?"

"How are you even able to consider it?" Henry asked.

"Oh you mean the jolting pain?" Louis asked with his eyes as wide as ever.

"Yes," Henry said in a slightly raised voice. Asking how Louis could consider escape had also jolted his brain.

Luis twitched a bit and shook his head,

"Yeah, I don't feel that anymore."

"What?" Henry asked, incredulous.

Louis nodded,

"Yeah, I don't feel it. Felt it constantly for weeks and now I'm just numb. I don't advise you to try it though. It could drive you mad."

"Could it?" Henry asked sarcastically because Louis' wide eyes made him seem insane enough to prove the statement true.

Louis didn't seem to hear the sarcasm as he nodded,

"Yep, yep. You see, I'm a Lightning Mage."

"A what?"

"A Lightning Mage. Some jolts to my brain are a piece of cake," Louis said,

"So do you wanna be free?"

"Of course," Henry answered.

"Good, good," he said with a crooked smile,

"You don't seem too put down by the jolts yourself. You're different from the others here. They've all given up. A damn, damn shame."

"Thanks, I guess," Henry said as he continued to endure jolts of electricity to ask,

"So what's your plan?"

"Well, it starts simple but somewhat difficult all the same," Louis said, staring Henry down with his wide electric blue eyes,

"We have to be part of Tomorrow's Dungeon Raiding Party."