A Barrier

'I hope I'm not trying to bite off more than I can chew here' thought the Master after Amos had reported to him about the slaughter that Gray had caused earlier.

"Anyway, has Arena returned from her scouting mission yet?" asked the Master from atop his throne with a distant tone.

"Yes Master. It seems that the information we got earlier was correct. A barrier surrounding the entire town has blocked all travel preventing everyone from leaving or entering the area." replied Amos, as a slender woman dressed in a tight black bodysuit entered the dimly lit hallway and bowed before the Master, holding what looked to be a file full of documents in her hands.

"I greet you master. Here's the report that you asked for," said the woman in a monotone voice, almost as if she were a computer AI instead of a human.

"Very well then," replied the Master as Arena handed him the documents.

'Hmm, so I was right. I found it weird that the government hasn't tried to bolster its control over this area, it seems that they can't ship in more personnel or supplies because of the barrier,' thought the Master carefully, stroking his stubble as he looked over the documents.

"Wait, Arena are you sure of this? In your report you've written that there is a forest directly bordering the barrier. But from what I remember isn't it supposed to be gravel for miles?" asked the Master with a surprised expression as he came across this information.

"I doubted it at first as well. But I can confirm that a forest has indeed appeared right outside of town. According to the few locals who live on the outskirts, it appeared right after the voice made an announcement about New Vautis," replied Arena, keeping her head bowed the whole time.

"And what about the so-called elves that were spotted entering border portals? Has information about them been collected?" asked the Master, his interest piqued.

"They've only been spotted on the other side of the barrier master. And only on occasions when they are entering a border portal,"

"And your report claims that all these portals are ruins ranging from D to C difficulty?"

"Yes master. I've taken Clifton to confirm their difficulties, and his ability stated that the lowest difficulty ruin was a D, while the highest was a C+" replied Arena, causing Amos to look visibly confused.

"Wait, then how powerful are these elves for them to even think about entering C-level ruins? Didn't the group led by guild captains nearly get wiped out by an E-difficulty ruin?" asked Amos, disbelief audible in his voice as he looked to the Master for an answer.

"I guess it would be foolish to assume that we're anywhere near the strongest beings in this, New Vautis, as they called it. After all, the voice did claim to have merged three worlds together. It's only logical that there are beings way above our level here,"

"We should just be lucky that the barrier is up, for now at least," said the Master, before gesturing for Amos and Arena to leave the hall.

"How are preparations for the ruin raid going?" asked the Master to a dark figure hiding in the shadows of the hall.

"Everything is proceeding smoothly Master. We will be ready to go within a few days," replied the shaded figure, before disappearing into the shadows.

"Everything is going along nicely," whispered the Master with a smile on his face.

***

"Welcome back master" announced Tesse, as Gray walked into the living room carrying a military green duffel bag.

"Clear the table," ordered Gray before setting the duffel bag on the living room table.

*Zuuppppp*

"Are those spoils from the dungeon?" asked Tesse as Gray opened the duffel bag and pulled out an M16.

"How good are you with guns?" asked Gray, inspecting the M16 with a lustful gleam in his eyes.

"My father once taught me how to fire a rifle, but that's about it," replied Tesse, looking at what else was in the bag.

"Master is that a magical staff?" asked Tesse, pointing to what looked like a magical staff from fantasy movies, with a blue gem at its top.

"Yeah, I picked it up from the dungeon boss. It only has one spell attached to it though, and I'm not keen on having to use a staff just to shoot fireballs," replied Gray as he began deconstructing the M16 carefully.

"Perhaps there's a way to attach it to a blood weapon. I'll know once I study it more and try to duplicate it as a blood staff, however for now.." grunted Gray, struggling to remove a segment of the gun.

"...I'm going to be busy with these firearms. While I'm doing that," as Gray said this he tossed a blood pistol to Tesse.

"Teach yourself how to use it. It seems that spear won't be enough for you,"

"Y-yes master," replied Tesse, a feeling of disappointment and embarrassment washing over her.

'I can't let him down again,' resolved Tesse before gripping the weapon and walking out to practice shooting.

"Wait, master are you not hungry?" asked Tesse, turning around before passing through the door. However Gray was fully immersed in studying his new toy, he hadn't even realized that Tesse had left.

'Perhaps I'll prepare something after I'm doing training,'

***(A few hours later)

"Finally," whispered Gray, beads of sweat dripping down his pale forehead as he held a crimson red M16 in his hands.

He had tried many times to create it, however, each time there was always something slightly off. And each time he had to destroy it, starting over from scratch since he didn't have a clue where he went wrong.

"Now to test it," said Gray, creating a mag filled with bullets in his right hand and loading it into the M16.

As he walked into the yard he found Tesse aiming at a can that she had placed on the roof of the house opposite to theirs.

'It seems she's taking this seriously. I love pets that are dedicated,' thought Gray with a smirk.

Tesse fired the pistol, hitting one out of three of the cans she had placed on the roof.

'Well, I can't expect a novice to master it in one day,' thought Gray as he fired the M16, hitting the other two cans down.

"Master," gasped Tesse in surprise once she heard the sound of the M16 going off. The sound was painstaking enough to make her feel like her eardrums were being stabbed.

"Do you perhaps have past experience with firearms?" asked Tesse out of curiosity, healing her pain away.

"The old man used to take me hunting when I was younger. Back then things were still," Gray stopped talking mid-way and turned around.

"Anyway, that's enough firearm training for today. Prepare something for dinner so we go to bed. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," said Gray, walking into the house with a shrouded expression.

"The horizon looks pretty today," whispered Tesse, staring at the myriad of red, orange, violet, and yellow streaks that painted the sky as the sun was setting.