It must be known that due to guns requiring firedrug to be actually used, they were not mass-manufactured. Firedrug can only be ignited through an imbuement of Force. On the other hand, primary weapons such as swords, spears, hammers, and other injury-causing accoutrements have had factories dedicated to their mass production. This was used to great effect by the First World Revolution, arming their revolutionaries with mastercraft level weapons across the board broadly leveled the battlefield against the aristocrats. More importantly, though the ruling class had more guns during that moment, there were actually more wizards and mystics fighting on the side of the First World Revolution, which made all the difference.

To this day, guns are highly expensive, artisanal weapons. But they are often Final Arguments. That is to say: once they are brought out, a situation will change, usually in favor of the gun-bearer. Guns are now more common as ceremonial pieces of power for knights, kings, lords, and, of course, capitalists that could afford to buy them.

Some might even say the capitalists' power to buy large quantities of guns is what caused the Second World Revolution to fail.

From Meditations on the World Revolutions by the Razrunan revolutionary knight-errant Agusa Garamshiki.

"You don't seem very thrilled to be able to see your achi again," jabbed Ampalila, stifling a grin.

They trained in a small spot beside the open kitchen, right next to a copse of banana trees. Akazha enclosed the copse with a salt circle. Avoids ghosts and bad fortune.

"She's too bubbly of a person," replied Akazha. She breathed and performed the fourth drill.

They had just begun at noon. Akazha did not seem to be at the greatest of spirits. Yet, they practiced already gun-to-gun CQC flow. As she performed, Akazha said: "Every time I am in her vicinity my social stores are drained out completely."

Ampalila laughed. "Understandable."

The drill seemed a choreographed dance, but in truth a test of wits and reaction.

Ampalila fed Akazha attacks by soft-striking with the gun's barrel, or the butt, or with a fist. Akazha would apply the defense: parrying, swiping the gun to redirect the attack, stepping back to avoid attacks that would be too tricky to block otherwise. Then, counter: a swipe of the barrel, a strike of the butt.

The movements were reminiscent of longstick strikes. Akazha did notice: a lot of the movements have the fingers softly dappling over the location of the gun-triggers. Parts in the dance wherein you can insert gunshots. After most attacks that would be finishers--most attacks in applied martial arts are finishers, you do not want to make a fight last longer than it has to--there was a sort of movement that has the gun flipping and the hand swiping alongside the barrel, the priming pan, the firedrug chamber, and the trigger. The Garuda Knights' Quick Reload function?

Akazha wondered, suddenly: if the Garuda Knights could create this, were there ever any firearms built out of sorcery? Since firedrug required magick, one would think magick guns where the rate of fire is quicker, needed no reloading, and was fired by something else--Force or Spirit or some other esoteric means--would have become quickly common.

But then again, secrecy is power.

They continued the flow for a few more. It truly did strike similar to the Sagara Trishula. Did these movements belong to a spear art? Perhaps... bayonet?

"End," commanded Ampalila. The ultimation of CQC flow: two clashes of the barrel, an overhead clash--with the hand on the lock--pulling the barrel down so that it was level with your other hand (which, no doubt, would've been when the bullet was dropped down), a bring around horizontal slash with a backstep that exploded into a twirl.

The twirl ended in an aiming position upon one knee, ready to fire. "Good," apprised the Captain of Bullets.

Akazha smiled and nodded. "Easy enough. What next?"

"Next? We shoot. Are you sure you extended that salt wheel into the banana trees?"

Akazha took another look. Nodded. "Yes, master. Around 6 banana trees within the salt wheel."

"Good. Hold your gun in this manner, breathe, then pull the trigger. Do not wait for the smoke to clear, the bullet has already penetrated the victim of your scorn. You immediately perform the Garuda Quick Reload and aim once again."

Akazha opened her mouth to ask something; the ear-splitting gunshot cleaved through Akazha's intention.

Embers and smoke erupted from Ampalila's Gun. When it cleared, Ampalila was already aiming again. Quicker than lightning: the Captain fired off another bullet.

The lacquered wood of the long gun clacked, clinked. A breath later: another gunshot. Three shots ripping through the air. Lightnings of a wroth god. Dogs barked. Birdwings fluttered from trees.

Akazha turned. A banana tree had been cleaved halfwise from the force of the bullets.

"Wow."

Ampalila returned. "The same thing can be done with handguns, you should know. Revolvers and the like."

"I see." Akazha removed the surprise from her face. "Is it my turn to shoot now?"

Ampalila nodded, beckoned with her hand. "Come, stand where I am and aim."

Akazha did as she was told. She stood with both feet an adequate distance apart. She pointed the barrel of her gun at one of the banana trees. She closed one eye--

"Close not your eyes!" said Ampalila. "Follow. Level the gun. Place the barrel against your cheek or on your shoulder. Aim but do not close your eyes. Your perception will be muddied. You will not be able to see the world for what it truly is. Not being able to see the world for what it truly is is the most detrimental problem to a gunner."

Akazha let out a shaky breath. "Okay," she whispered.

Akazha focused on the banana tree. At first, it doubled into two banana trees. A trick of the unfocused eye. She exhaled and focused only on the target, seeing nothing but the target. One-Pointed Concentration on the target.

The two doubles of the banana tree fused into one. There. Akazha pulled the trigger. The dragon-headed serpentine mechanism swung and slammed into the flash pan. At that point, her Force Furnace reflexively flared. Force fires funneled through her contact with the gun. It ignited the firedrug upon the flash pan...

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

...an eruption of smoke and ember.

The projectile ripped the banana tree's, and then continued, with much of its force gone, into the forest.

"Damnation," said Akazha. "I could've sworn..."

"Good anyhow. You will get used to it," said Ampalila. "Reloading maneuver?"

"Right." Akazha performed the reloading maneuver, and it took relatively quick for her. Pull barrel down, slam bullet in with a mudra of force so that it embedded itself into the powder chamber without having to use a ramrod, took out a small cartridge and peppered some firedrug onto the flash pan, closed it, and then snapped her fingers to light the wick upon the serpentine on fire. Except it wouldn't because it was already spent, so Akazha pulled it out, brought out a fresh new wick, and then screwed it back onto the serpentine.

She aimed again, breathing heavily. Pulled back the serpentine mechanism. "Again," said Ampalila. "You will notice that the thing that ignites the firedrug is not the serpentine nor any other hammer mechanism. Nay, it is the very Force of the wielder. This is why only those inducted into magick traditions can wield guns."

Akazha nodded, and then focused. Enter into Gun Samadhi. Oneness with the gun, the bullet, and the target. Her Force was more focused now, stronger, better. Sharp like a blade.

The moment the banana tree focused, she felt a shiver streak through her spine like a whip. She pulled the trigger. Her Force burned through. Scarlet smoke burgeoned from the barrel, and sent the bullet flying straight, straight, and into the banana tree, burying it deep within. Not exactly at its stark center, like with Ampalila, but a strike home nonetheless. "Yes!"

"Good one," said Ampalila, nodding approvingly. "Reload?"

Too caught up in her victory, Akazha performed the reloading action again. Every time she would reload it would take around 10 seconds, having to check everything was okay. The quickest one she did was 5 seconds, when she didn't need to replace the wick.

After a few more shots, Akazha breathing heavily, turned to Ampalila and bowed in gratefulness. "Who knew shooting guns could work up such a sweat?"

"Anything that requires the channeling of your Force will weaken you," said Ampalila. Akazha noted that that only made sense. All of her magicks would leave her with varying degrees of fatigue after all.

Ampalila asked: "Are you satisfied?"

Akazha gestured to her gun. "I've no more bullets, and no more wicks."

Ampalila nodded.

"Oh, in actuality, master, I do have one question."

"Go."

"Assuming since wizards and alchemists invented firedrugs and the subsequent firegun, would you not think those same machinists would've made a more... convenient and more rapid form of gun by now? One that does not need so much maintenance in the battlefield... one wherein a wick need not be replaced? One where one did not need to ramrod a bullet through a muzzle in the midst of a firefight?"

Ampalila grinned at that. "Excellent question." She gestured for Akazha to give her her dragon-headed long gun. Wondering where this might go, Akazha acquiesced and gave it.

Ampalila took both guns and threw them to the side. Akazha's eyes went wide. "O-oh, master--"

"After inventing samadhi reloading the Garuda Knights--a cabal of mystics and machinists--went on to create one of the first modern rifles." Ampalila performed three mudras, and then snapped her fingers and made a pulling motion, as if she was taking something out of the air. As she did that, a different long gun: this one with a barrel that did in fact look like the opened mouth of a garuda, with the sides decorated with wings. One wing in particular was turned up at an interesting angle. Gold filigree ran up and down the barrel and into the stock, as if embroidered by the very gods.

"What is this?" asked Akazha.

Ampalila walked over to the shooting spot. "The Garuda Knights--a knight, in particular. Her name was Toranja Bedilraja, found that, though firedrug was rare and thus guns have limited use in the battlefield, they could still use modern machining to be able to create a gun that could be fired easily, using the least amount of firedrug available. In addition to this, they resolved to create something with unparalleled accuracy. You should know what the Garuda Knights were formed for: hunting naka. Dragons. They were so named after the historical rivalry between the naka spirits and the garuda spirits, or the great eagles."

Ampalila opened a chamber atop the barrel, performed a mudra to summon a bullet--looking like an arrowhead now--inserted it into the chamber, closed it, lifted the right wing, pulled it back, and then pushed it back in. "They created the garuda rifle." Ampalila pulled the trigger: her fingers glowed bright red, and the gold filigree similarly fulminated with that same color. Then the bulletshot out of the barrel at a speed indiscernible even to Akazha's latent Third Eye, and pierced straight through one of the undamaged banana trees.

"A weapon of great destruction," said Ampalila. "This is the Toranja Mark 2. Unfortunately, due to firedrug being resistant to all forms of industrialization, rifles remain a specialist weapon." Akazha heard a note in her voice that made it seem like she wanted it to keep it that way.

"Amazing. A gun for gun masters?"

"A gun for gunners," said Ampalila, nodding. "And one that requires large wellsprings of Force to be able to wield. Here, you begin with this." She pulled out a different gun out of the air. One made of black lacquered wood with dragonic batik motifs running up and down its barrel and stock. Its bolt was in the shape of a naka. "Use this for now. This one's mine."

"Okay. Thank you, master," said Akazha, bowing low as she took the gun. "But... why did you not teach me about this kind of gun before?"

"The Garuda Knights are an esoteric sect.," Ampalila replied. "They don't like revealing this information out into the public."

"Yes, of course master," said Akazha, thrilled.

Ampalila nodded. "And third, of course, is that you have to know how to fire a normal gun before being able to fire the specialized one of the Gun Oracle."

"Is that why fire burgeoned from your fingertips when you fired, master?"

Ampalila nodded. "Garuda rifles have no more need for firedrug. It directly uses the smokeless liquid-fire Force of the wielder to propel bullets forward, performed through a specially crafted mudra by the Garuda Mystic Otani." She put out her gun, and then placed her fingers on the trigger in a specific manner. pinky and ring finger outstretched. Middle finger pulled back, thumb on the stock of the rifle. "This is the Dragonslayer Mudra. It's used only to provide explosive force into the barrel of the gun. It is not exhausting to use, but it does require a user that intimately knows how to harness the Garuda Gun Art."

"I see." Akazha copied the mudra, and then got into a firing position with her own gun. "Like this?'

Ampalila nodded. "You cannot use this mudra with normal guns. It only works specifically with garuda rifles, so keep that in mind. Thankfully, we are growing in number, and we have chapters all across the Utter Islands."

"You're a Garuda Knight then, Captain?"

"Senior Member," she said, nodding once. "Now when you pull the trigger, your Force is transmuted magickally into explosive force that has the same effects of firedrug being ignited. This allows for quicker reloads and, subsequently, quicker firing. It helps those of us that do not have the privilege of delving deep into magicks to be able to learn how to use daggers to fire off bolts of magnetite and karma--" That itself was something only truly adept wizards could do, Akazha knew, "--so this is a great equalizer for us."

"Are there other Gun Arts that use Rifles?"

Ampalila nodded. "They all have their own specific spins on the rifle design, all arising from the long gun and the pistol. Now, get into firing position."

Akazha did so. Ampalila gave her a bag of new bullets. "You can put up to six in there at a time," Ampalila said.

Akazha nodded. Ampalila guided her in putting the bullets in until the chamber was filled, and then closed it. The captain taught Akazha how to maneuver the bolt. "Whenever you pull this bolt, it locks in a new bullet. If you can't move the bolt, that means there's a bullet in there."

Akazha performed the bolting action, and then aimed at the nearest banana tree that had not been shot yet. She sank deep into her concentration, inhaled, engaged the mudra, and then pulled the trigger.

The color of Akazha's will was the color of the sky on a cloudless day, spotless, vacuous, complete. She could feel her Force, carried by her Spirit, exploding through her mudra, and into the gun, sending the barrel out in a sky-blue colored cloud. It pierced through the banana tree--again, not quite perfectly in the middle, but there somewhere there nonetheless.

"Good. Great for a first timer. It probably helps that you are a witch yourself. Not everyone has the capacity to channel their Force through mudras, but you did it pretty easily."

Akazha grinned, happy at the outcome. "Teach me more, Captain."

Ampalila nodded. "Gladly. On one condition."

Akazha leaned on her gun and tilted her head, as Ampalila walked to her side.

Ampalila continued: "Do not tell any dragons that you know of this art. Understood?"

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