The night sky, illuminated by 12 of the realm's 15 moons, provided a mesmerizing backdrop for tonight's project.
Brasskert and Reyvik stood beside Kael, watching intently as he prepared to assemble his latest invention, what he called a shotgun. Arguably, it was the very first of its kind in this realm.
Meanwhile, Volgran sat on the grass in the backyard, his massive legs crossed. Completely unaware of the work taking place nearby, he had become captivated by a large, colourful moth flying around him.
Kael laid the receiver onto his wooden workbench, followed by an array of crafted components: a seamless steel barrel, a striker spring, a carved wooden stock, linkage rods, an extractor, an ejector, and dozens of smaller pins and screws.
Yeah… totally worth two weeks locked in the forgehold, Kael thought, running a hand over the freshly machined parts.
Now comes the hardest part… putting it all together.
Without wasting another moment, he began the assembly process. His friends looked on in silence as Kael fitted the components together piece by piece.
First, he grabbed the barrel and aligned it with the receiver, sliding the chamber end into place.
Click.
With a satisfying snap, the barrel locked into position.
Kael immediately moved to the next step, installing the locking mechanism he had forged earlier. He secured the locking block into the breech mechanism. Its job was simple but vital, keep the action locked tight when fired so the force of the blast shot forward, preventing the whole shotgun from blowing up.
Then came the trickiest part of the entire build. Kael paused, staring down at the complex mechanism, before looking up at his companions.
"Reyv, Brasskert..."
"Yeah?"
"What's up, human?" Brasskert chimed in.
"Gimme a hand with this one," Kael said, wiping his sweat-soaked forehead with the back of his arm, leaving a dark smear of forge grease across his skin. "It's a bit of a nightmare to line all this up alone."
"Alright Kael… Relax, we got your back, okay?" Reyvik smiled, his tail wagging behind him.
"Thanks, Reyv."
Kael grabbed Book X off the corner of the bench to double-check the blueprint again.
"Alright… time to drop the firing mechanism. I need the trigger, the linkage, the sear, and the striker."
"Hold this, Reyv." Kael handed over the receiver assembly with the barrel and chamber already secured in place.
Reyvik nodded, holding the heavy metal steady. Kael carefully set the trigger into the bottom of the frame, hooking it directly into the mechanical linkage. Next, he set the sear, ensuring the striker would stay locked back until the trigger was pulled.
Then came the spring.
"Brasskert, this striker spring needs to go right behind the striker. But it's got to be compressed first to load the force… and it's damn stiff."
"Ceh! Ya underestimate an old gnome?" Brasskert grunted. "This old gnome's been breakin metals BEFORE you were even born, Humanz!"
Despite his short frame, Brasskert's thick, worn fingers possessed ridiculous strength. He grabbed the heavy steel spring, muscle bulging as he compressed and stretched it straight into the housing.
Click!
The heavy spring seated flush against the back wall.
"Damn! Guess I shouldn't have doubted you," Kael laughed, genuinely impressed.
"Told ya!" Brasskert scoffed, wiping his hands off.
"Alright, next up... we need to line this striker up with the sear so it catches and holds under tension until the trigger pulls."
"Hmm... let me…just" Kael lightly nudged the trigger assembly, checking the movement to ensure none of the internal parts were binding or catching against each other.
Click-clack.
"Oh yeah! Smooth..."
"Now for the shell-handling hardware."
Kael picked up the spring-loaded extractor and fitted it into the bolt face, positioning it to grip the rim of a spent shell.
Next came the ejector, fitted along the inner wall of the receiver to kick the spent shell out of the port once it was pulled clear.
With both pieces set, he connected the bolt assembly directly to the action bars of the pump mechanism under the barrel.
"Alright...now let's see."
Kael racked the wooden pump slide back hard, then shoved it forward to close the action.
CLACK-CLACK.
He cycled it again faster this time.
CLACK-CLACK.
The parts glided back and forth without sticking, the ejector moving cleanly as the bolt cycled through the open ejection port.
"Okay..." Kael breathed out a sigh of relief. "Just a few more steps left."
"Now for the shell carrier..."
Kael placed the lifter gate beneath the chamber entrance, pinning it so it connected directly to the pump's action assembly.
"This is vital, when I rack this fore-end back, it cycles the action and feeds a fresh shell from the magazine tube into the chamber."
He picked up the twin action rods, sliding them through the receiver's guide slots until they pinned securely to the internal bolt, then ran them down to lock into the wooden foregrip beneath the barrel.
"Reyv, let me take the receiver."
Taking full hold of the frame, Kael gripped the wooden pump and racked it back hard, then slammed it forward.
K-CHCK!
K-CHCK!
"Oh, damn, I love that sound!" Kael grinned, his eyes lighting up. "It moves smooth as silk... guess taking extra time on those forge measurements paid off after all."
"Okay, next up... actually looks pretty straightforward."
He grabbed the carved wooden buttstock, aligning its solid tang against the back of the metal receiver, then drove heavy screws into the mounting points to lock it down tight.
Lifting the complete firearm, Kael brought it up to his shoulder, resting his cheek against the wood as if aiming a heavy crossbow down an imaginary sightline.
"Awoo! it's all finished, Kael?" Reyvik asked, his wolf ears twitching in curiosity.
"Not quite yet. Just feeling out the weight," Kael replied, adjusting his stance. "Making sure it's not too front-heavy and that the sight alignment feels natural... but yeah, this balance is actually spot on!"
"Of course, ma boy! Ya followed the measurements correctly, right?!"
"Yes, the mea- Boss?! Whatcha doin' here?!"
"HAHAHAH! What's da matter? I can't be here with ma brilliant inventor?!" Durmuk boomed, slinging his arm over Kael's neck and pulling him in. "Ya about to bring a great change to this whole damn realm of course I'm gonna be here to see it!"
"Ouch... Boss..." Kael wheezed, squirming out of the chokehold.
Durmuk let out another roaring laugh. "Alright, alright! So ya finished assembling all the bits, huh?"
"Yeah, Boss... now it's time to turn all these parts into a working firearm!" Kael grinned.
"Good!"
"Okay, let me finish up with the final step... the full function check."
Kael picked up the fully assembled shotgun, working the action deliberately. He racked the wooden foregrip backward and forward over and over watching the internal sequence closely.
He checked the smooth movement of the shell carrier as it rose and fell, inspected the extractor claw as it gripped the rim of a shell, and verified that the ejector kicked it out cleanly.
Next, he checked the lockup, making sure the locking mechanism seated properly so the action would remain securely closed when fired.
He pulled the stock tight against his shoulder, squeezed the trigger to test the break of the sear, and ran his thumb over every mounting pin, screw, and seam along the frame and barrel to ensure nothing was loose, binding, or misaligned.
Durmuk looked on with a raised eyebrow, clearly confused by Kael's endless inspections, as were Reyvik and Brasskert. Kael cycled the pump and inspected the action over and over without ever loading a round.
"Ya, ma boy, watcha doin'?" Durmuk grunted.
"Oh, nothing... just checking the structure. Making sure it holds together, making sure the action won't jam, making sure the ammo doesn't—"
Durmuk slapped a heavy hand onto Kael's shoulder. "Hey! Since when are ya this doubtful, huh? Ya afraid of failin'? This ain't the boy I know."
"No, Boss, it's just..." Kael paused, staring down at the polished metal and wood. "I'm afraid it won't work... I put so much effort into this. More than any of my past projects, except maybe the vehicle machine I've been working on..."
"Meh! Even if it fails, ya just try again, right?" Durmuk grinned, giving Kael's shoulder an encouraging squeeze despite his short dwarf frame.
Kael let out a long breath. "Yeah...
Setting his doubt aside, Kael reached into a leather pouch on the bench and grabbed a hand full of heavy shotgun shells. One by one, he slid them into the loading port beneath the receiver, pushing them into the spring-loaded magazine tube beneath the barrel.
K-CHCK!
K-CHCK!
K-CHCK!
The sharp, metallic clinking of brass and spring tension echoed through the quiet, moonlit night of Kallidorra.
With seven shells fed tightly into the magazine tube, the weapon was fully loaded. Kael glanced back down at Book X on the table, reviewing the diagrams for proper shooting technique, the hand placement, the wide athletic stance, and the stern warnings about holding the buttstock firmly against the shoulder to handle the recoil.
He mimicked the stance in the drawing, pulling the wooden stock tight against his shoulder, gripping the pump fore-end, and resting his finger lightly against the guard.
Alright... everything followed correctly.
Kael's heart slammed against his ribs. His hands felt clammy.
"Hey, humanz! Watcha waitin' for?" Brasskert crossing his arms.
"Ya alright, ma boy?" Durmuk asked, leaning in.
"Yeah, Boss... I'm—"
"Come on, Kael! Shoot it already! Why are you so afraid of your own invention?" a clear, melodic voice called out from across the yard.
It was Elvareth, stepping out from the house after finishing up her chores.
Kael snapped his head toward her, his nervous hesitation instantly melting into annoyance. "I'm not afraid, old elf!"
"Alright, fine!" Kael exhaled, bracing his feet into the dirt and squaring his shoulders. "This is what you all wanted to see, right? Get ready... because this is the first firearm to ever be in this realm!"
Kael gripped the wooden fore-end and racked the pump back, then slammed it forward, chambering a shell with a heavy metallic clack.
He raised the barrel, aiming down the sightline toward a wooden target dummy he had set up earlier in the yard.
Taking a deep breath, Kael braced his shoulder, took aim, and squeezed the trigger.
THWWOHPH!!
A deafening explosion shattered the night air as fire and smoke burst from the muzzle. The brutal kickback shoved Kael's shoulders hard, knocking his foot back a step into the dirt. Instantly, Kael racked the pump back
CH-CK!
The smoking, spent shell flipped out of the ejection port
When the thick cloud of smoke cleared... The wooden target dummy was completely obliterated into dozens of floating shards.
"Haa... haa... it works..." Kael breathed out, staring at the destroyed target in utter disbelief. "It works, guys!"
"Whoa... ma boy..." Durmuk rubbed his eyes, in complete shock. "That... that's unbelievable!"
"You did it, Humanzz! You actually made a workin' Firearm!" Brasskert shouted, sprinting over to Kael with a wide grin.
"AWOOOOOO!" Reyvik howled at the moons, his tail whipping back and forth in wild excitement.
"Human can shoot now!" Volgran who just now looked at the massive moths turned his gaze and got excited.
"HA... HA... HAHAHAHA! I did it!" Kael burst into triumphant laughter, lifting the hot shotgun high.
Under the light of the twelve moons, the group rallied around Kael, cheering and celebrating the birth of the realm's very first shotgun.
The proud grin across Kael's grease-stained face said it all this was a momentous breakthrough, a force that would change the realm forever.
Durmuk watched Kael, a warm, proud smile spreading across the old dwarf's face.
Haha... this boy, Durmuk thought to himself. This human really is a miracle... for this town. No... for this whole damn realm!
They celebrated straight through the end of their nighttime training, testing the weapon again and again
THWOMPH!
THWOMPH!
until…
"Alright Kael, I get it… your invention is great," Elvareth sighed, putting both hands on her hips and glaring at him. "But don't you think it's a bit too late to be playing with your machine?"
K-CHCK!
Kael racked another shell into the chamber, raising the barrel to take another shot.
"Huh? Stop now? Relax, old elf! It's not every day we get to see a firearm in this realm, right guys?" Kael turned to his companions with a grin.
"Sure, Humanz! But, uh..." Brasskert muttered, taking a subtle step back. "I think Lady Elvareth is gettin' kinda mad..."
"Meh, what's she gonna do to me anyway?"
Kael turned toward Reyvik with a confident smirk. "Right, Reyv?"
Reyvik didn't answer. He just stood there frozen, pointing a trembling finger behind Kael's back, a terrified look across his face.
"What's wrong with you?" Kael blinked. "Oh..."
"What did you say? 'What can she do to me anyway?'" a sharp, icy voice suddenly rang right in Kael's ear.
"Eh? Mother!" Kael squeaked, dropping his shoulders. "I meant... I'm the one who can't do anything if you tell me to go inside, right guys?!"
Kael blinked frantically at the others.
"Y-Yeah! Lady Elvareth, datz exactly what the humanz said to us!" Brasskert chimed in instantly. "Alright, datz it guys! Pack it up! We're done with trainin tonight!"
Everyone nodded in unison and scrambled to pack their gear. Experience had taught them all the same lesson, whenever Elvareth got angry, Kael was the one who suffered the consequences, and no one wanted to be in the splash zone.
"Awoo... we're leaving, Kael..." Reyvik whined softly, slipping toward the gate.
"Aight, ma boy," Durmuk patted Kael's shoulder, Kael leaning down to his mouth. "Ya invention is great... but Elvareth's anger will be greater if ya don't listen to her."
One by one, the group slipped away around the side of the Kael's house. The heavy, thudding footsteps of Volgran the Giant slowly faded into the quiet night until silence settled over the yard once more.
Fuh… Kael let out a huge breath of relief. Dodged a beating tonight.
He turned back to his workbench and began gathering his scattered wrenches, the X books, Blueprint and all the other things before heading upstairs for the night.
"So? Did it work as well as you hoped?" Elvareth asked, breaking the stillness.
"What, the shotgun?" Kael holding his head high. "Of course it worked! You're looking at the greatest inventor in this realm!"
"I see…" Elvareth smiled softly, stepping closer to pat his head. "So my Kael is already starting to change the world, hmm?"
"Ceh! Of course!" Kael grinned. "Just watch I'm gonna be a Realm Protector too!"
Elvareth's smile softened as she looked down at him. He had grown so much. The days when she had to fuss over every little thing were behind them now. Yet, no matter how much he accomplished, in her eyes he would always be her curious, ambitious human boy.
"Whatever you say, Kael…" She turned toward the cottage door, her voice warming up. "Just make sure you come inside and eat your dinner tonight."
"Yeah, yeah… thanks, old elf."
Under the colourful glow of the moons, the first firearm of this realm was born. It was more than just a successful invention, it was a turning point or what more appropriate things to call is Revolution point.
This was only the beginning of what this human could do. Another step had been taken… a leap forward.
The realm better be ready, because this Mightless Inventor was just getting started.