930 Sidearm

"Let's enter the cave now!" Bu Dong said after he checked his weapons a final time. Apart from the sword he usually used, the Angry Ape Cultivator had added a Glock automatic pistol to his repertoire of weapons. While he still needed more practice to get the hang of it, Bu Dong carried it in case of an emergency. 

He had learned the painful lesson that having a secondary weapon might prove very useful in Jin's dungeons. There had been times when his sword was being flunked out of the way, leaving him with nothing but his fists to fight his way out.

He naturally had other swords in his storage ring, but there would always be a delay activating the storage and removing said item out of it. And also, putting them out as a secondary sword hindered his movement. Having two scabbards usually would interrupt his footwork if he placed it on the waist and if he put it behind his back, there were sometimes trouble drawing it out in time. Unsurprisingly none of Jin's monsters was nice enough to wait that long in the midst of battle. 

Other customers had opted to use quick storage rings to solve that problem, but they were hella expensive. Even though Bu Dong had the money to get it, the durability of these rings was a problem too. Also, as a long time customer who wholeheartedly believed in Jin's items, the Pandawan had decided to wait for the dungeon supplier to release his own version of quick activation storage rings.

The most prominent reason for the change in this Pandawan's behaviour was the Pandapolis Defence Raid. After King Baal had used his magic, everyone had been transported to various parts of the city. So, Bu Dong, as well as the others, had been stranded to fend on their own. Even though reinforcements eventually came in to help them, many of them by that point in time had been barely holding on to their teeth and knuckles. (Well, figuratively.)

Their weapons broke from the constant clashing, due to the wear and tear to set in even faster. The blood from killing the demons made their grip on their weapons to slip, causing them to lose possession of their weapons at times too. Some of the Pandawans were agile enough to steal weapons from the fallen demons to continue with their fight, but to Bu Dong, the biggest issue had been the ranged fighters.

Most if not all the Pandawans suffered near-death experiences because the ranged fighters had a clear shot on them. Bu Dong had a very close shave when an arrow zipped past the crowd in front of the Demon Archers and shot him in the back. At that point of time, he was too tired to even throw a melee weapon towards the Demon Archer and could only be wary for the next shot.

Surely if it had been a one-on-one fight, the Pandawans would win hands down, but the demons had suffered too many losses to care about the opinion of Jin's customers. Afterwards, all of the Pandawans reviewed their fights during dinner and collectively requested Jing Ru to give them some lessons on gun handling. 

The Gunning Giraffe Pandawan didn't mind, but after two weeks of training, she all found them to be sorely lacking in every aspect. While it was to be expected, that did not stop any of them from carrying their pistol into battle.

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"You think we can ever one-shot these Sui Lions?" Bu Dong asked as he touched the sidearm and ensured the safety was off so he could fire away at a moment's notice.

"I remember Jing Ru telling me that so far Boss Jin had always secretly placed a sure kill spot on all his monsters. If we manage to find such a spot, they could theoretically be killed instantly. Apparently, it isn't always the head, and those sure kill spots can vary with each and every monster we encounter despite being the 'same species.' But if we are repeating the dungeons and memorising the monsters' sure kill spots, it would be easy as cake." Yue Wen answered as she too checked her pistol. 

Xiong Da had graciously sponsored the whole group after their dinner discussion and made a bulk purchase of the same Glock pistol (to not make it too obvious that they were not for him) and even got them gun belts and holsters as part of his welfare package to the group. (He was really utilising the free credit that Jin had bestowed him.)

"Well that sounds good in theory, but that means we would have to repeat the dungeons by always making the very same decision and moved to the very same places like clockwork." Yue Han complained that it was impossible to search for a sure kill point for each and every monster, especially when it was not visible.

"Chances are that at our skill level the only way to hit it, would be from a lucky shot and even then we won't be able to necessarily pinpoint exactly where we hit it since the monster splatters. " Yue Wen explained how Jing Ru had found out about the sure kill points and identified it by the monsters spitting its guts out instantly as if the shot had turned explosive in nature. 

Soon after she had made a post on the forum and someone had gone through other similar posts to make a guide of known sure kill spots for cultivators who used ranged weapons.

"So what about bosses? Can bosses also die from those sure kill points yet?" Bu Dong asked as their group carefully entered into the cave.

"She managed to get a lucky hit once, and it dropped the boss' health by a third at the time. Jing Ru tried hitting the very same spot, but after the first time, it did not activate. Her theory is that either there are other sure kill points on the boss or the sure kill point change after one has been activated. Of course, it could also be the case, that Boss Jin made it so that you only get the damage once and it's up to the cultivator to use it early or later."

"Sounds like being a gunner has its perks." Yue Han commented as he actively concentrated his chi into his eyes and ears. Being a Blind Bat Cultivator, he had better senses in searching for monsters within a cave.

"True, but you saw how Jing Ru has to cover herself with various traps and tricks when fighting whenever she can't get a shot in. Unlike us who have defensive and offensive skills, her only advantage is sniping from afar. Other than that, she's a normal gunman against a slew of monsters with various defences and armour." His sister replied since she had seen her friend in battle quite a number of times.

"Shhh." Yue Han immediately halted the group and stopped them from talking any further as he detected movement within the cave. "I sense two coming from the front and one lurking at the side over there. Prepare for battle." He whispered as Tanke who had been quiet the whole time paced himself forward while the others retreated a few steps back.

If possible, the group wanted to ambush the remaining monster.