A series of rapid gunshots rang out across the field, and the wooden target, which was about the size of a human figure, standing in front of Revy, was peppered with several more bullet holes. Immediately after a while, a series of three shots from the revolver sounded again and they also hit the target, scattering wooden shavings on the other side of the target.

Revy put the black revolver back in the holster on her belt, then assumed a relaxed pose. She took a deep breath and then grabbed the handle of her revolver, quickly pulling it out of its holster and using her other hand to fire another 3 shots. Shavings from a piece of wood fell again, but not all of the bullets hit thespot she targeted. Revy placed the revolver on the table behind her and approached the target, studying it carefully.

Single shots were not a problem for her, a second of aiming allowed her to achieve satisfactory accuracy, as evidenced by the accumulation of holes in the middle. However, she would still prefer to fire faster, but to achieve this she would have to get her body used to the new weapon, which would take some time. Something else bothered her more.

The target was scattered with bullet marks unevenly. These were all her attempts to shoot quickly, using her other hand to pull back the hammer. She remembered Dutch doing this with his revolver, he called it Fanning, and although he had never been particularly accurate at shooting like this, Dutch was a master at it, compare to her.

The first shot usually hits the target, although not even close to where she was aiming. It was lucky, however, if the second bullet hit the target anywhere, and the third bullet never hit the wooden target.

Revy scratched her head, admitting to herself that she still had a long way to go if she wanted to master the revolver, then turned on her heel and walked over to the table. She picked up the black revolver and then, as Dewar had instructed her earlier in the day, began reloading the weapon. She pulled the hammer back to the first position, opened the gate on the cylinder housing, and began painstakingly knocking out the spent shells and replacing them with unfired ammunition. After replacing the contents of all 6 chambers in the drum, she put the used casings into a metal cup standing on the table, which was half full of brass. She didn't understand why she had to keep them, but that's what the dwarf ordered, so there must be some sense in it. After finishing with the black revolver and putting it in its holster, she picked up the steel-gleamed revolver and reloaded it in the same way, and after reloading, she placed it in the holster above her right hand.

Immediately afterwards, she reached for the rifle resting on the table. She grabbed the gun by the barrel and then quickly raised it towards her, putting her hand into the weapon's lever, then pulling it open the bolt. Looking at the weapon, she was able to see that the rifle looked identical to the Winchester rifles, except for perhaps a few accents. The dark steel of the lock and the wooden cladding along with the stock reminded it of a 73. Revy closed the gun's bolt and then opened the ammunition box. She took one bullet and looked at it. Despite its appearance, it wasn't the .44 she expected. The shell length was similar, but the caliber was slightly smaller, perhaps .42 if she had to take a guese. Without wasting any more time, she began loading her gun. She inserted bullet after bullet into the loading port in the side of the gun, loading the magazine under the barrel until she met resistance. 10 bullets. Revy moved the reloading lever, then put another round into the magazine. 10 rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber. Revy relaxed her stance, then confidently grabbed her rifle and placed its butt against her shoulder. She quickly aligned the front sight and rear sight, then squeezed the trigger, a ball of fire appearing in front of her and another hole in the wooden target. Revy lowered her weapon for a moment. She looked at the target in front of her, then looked at the gun in her hands. She pulled the lever. The metal clang of the shell casing popping out of the gun sounded loud, and she put another round into the chamber, closing the bolt on the gun. Revy quickly put the gun back to her shoulder and, after taking aim, began firing. After each shot, she reloaded and, to the accompaniment of the sound of shell casings popping out of the gun, she introduced new rounds into the chamber. Keeping the front sight on the target all the time until it runs out of ammunition in the magazine.

She lowered the gun, leaving the it's bolt open. Smoke was flowing from the barrel and from the center of the weapon, probably the remains of the grease used to preserve the rifle, now heated by 10 bullets fired quickly.

She looked at the target in front of her. The place where she had aimed her rifle was now a cluster of holes. This was a good sign, even though the target was quite close, the weapon itself turned out to be equally accurate and comfortable to use. So the results from the first use of the new weapon were very promising. She bent down under herself, picking up the brass that a moment ago were in the magazine of her weapon, then approached the table and, as before, returned the shells to the metal cup, and from the box she began to take out more bullets to load the rifle.

"Maybe you should focus on horse riding..." She heard Rock's voice behind her. "…You already learned how to shoot well in your previous life. Maybe you shouldn't learn something new." He said as he rode up to her on his horse.

"I need to get familiar with this weapon and get a feel for it..." She said, turning towards him. "From what the dwarf said, if we want to survive as hunters, my weapon cannot fail me... Nor can I fail using it... Besides..." She added after a moment, returning her gaze to the rifle she had left on the table. "The greater the distance between me and this black fucking misfortune on four hooves, the better for my health..." There was a hint of nervousness and irritation in her voice and in the movement of her hand while loading the rifle, but Rock, knowing her from long time, he knew that her level of nervousness was still under control and he had nothing to worry about. At least not for the moment.

Revy finished loading the rifle with ammunition, reloaded it and moved away from the table, standing with her back to Rock and his mare and facing the wooden target. She relaxed her body, chose the place where she would aim on the target, confidently grabbed the rifle in both hands, and then took the shot.

A series of repeated shots rang out. Rock and his mare didn't react much to the sound of the gun. Rock's time in Roanapur made him stop dodging every shot. After all this time, his self-preservation instinct was more selective in responding to stimuli. Still, if he was in the middle of a gunfight, he would bury his head in the sand and seek cover from the bullets. However, in the current situation, where he knew who was shooting and that the target was not him, his instincts did not react.

Revy quickly fired all the ammunition in her rifle's magazine, then seeing it was empty, she threw it to the ground and grabbed the revolvers in the holsters on her belt, continuing to fire on her chosen zone on the target. Within a dozen or so seconds, she emptied both drums of bullets. She put the weapons back into the holsters on her belt and picked up the rifle from the ground, wiping the dirt off it as she did so. Immediately afterwards she approached the target to see how it went. She was satisfied with the accuracy itself, both the rifle and revolver shots did not deviate from her expectations, but she was worried about something else. Firepower.

When she used the Cutlasses, she had at least 30 bullets at her disposal. Now, in a similar amount of time, she could fire a maximum of 23 bullets from two revolvers and a rifle before she ran out of ammunition. Perhaps the bullets she was now firing were more powerful, but she wasn't sure if that made up for the smaller amount of ammunition and the much more tedious reloading of the weapon. She felt that if she wanted to survive in this world as a hunter, she would have to change the way she fought.

Revy visibly sighed before turning on her heel towards Rock and starting to approach the table again.

"Is something wrong, Revy?" He asked, seeing the confusion on her face.

"I'm 7 bullets short..." She said with slight irritation, placing the rifle on the table. "Plus, reloading these weapons is a real pain in the ass."

"Wow..." Rock replied in astonishment as he adjusted himself on his horse. "It's the first time I see you counting bullets..."

"Rock…" Revy raised a clenched fist towards him. Then she stuck her middle finger at him.

"What should I tell you..." Rock continued despite her very obvious gesture. "Whenever you picked up a gun, you fired as if you had an infinite amount of ammunition..."

"I always counted how many times I fired..." Rock looked at her, clearly judging her words. "More or less..." She added after a moment, having to admit that her partner was somewhat right. "Besides, that's not the point... What's more important is that I could sense when I was running out of ammunition, and then I could take the magazine out of my pocket and reload..." She grabbed the rifle and, pulling the box of ammunition towards her, began to load it. "Here, I have to load each cartridge separately..."

"I see..." Rock replied. "Maybe we should ask Dewar if he has any weapons that use magazines..."

"I doubt it..." Revy replied as she reloaded her rifle. "I looked through all the weapons he had in the store and didn't see anything that used a detachable magazine. That's why I took this rifle. It seemed to be a sensible choice..."

"It's a good weapon, what don't you like about it?" They both heard the dwarf's offended voice. Rock turned his head behind him, seeing Dewar's silhouette walking towards them.

"Revy is complaining about low ammo and the long time it takes to reload..." Rock spoke before she could respond. The dwarf scratched his gray beard.

"Well… That might actually be problematic… I don't have a gun here that's quicker to reload or has more bullets…" Revy sighed.

"I can deal with what I have... I just have to get used to it..."

"Maybe you need an extra weapon..." The dwarf added after a while. "Or… Another shooter." Revy looked at him in surprise.

"Who?" Dewar's eyes moved to Rock sitting on his horse. Revy just widened her eyes in response. Rock himself, only after a while, understood the dwarf's suggestions.

"Is it me?" He shouted, pointing at himself with his hand, and Dewar shook his head. "I can't and don't want to shoot..."

"Exactly... This is a shitty as hell idea!" Revy added from herself.

"I prefer to avoid direct fights... Besides, I am not used to fighting, I can get along with people and convince them to get along with me..." He explained, and Revy just nodded, agreeing with him. But Dewar interrupted him.

"Believe me Rock... You won't get along with the monster you might encounter on the route..." Rock and Revy fell silent and looked at Dewar. "I understand reaching an agreement with a bandit... A bandit is also human and if he can avoid a fight, he will try." Dewar scratched his head, as if remembering some event from his past, then turned his serious gaze back to them. "But you can't get along with a monster... A monster... A wild, hungry animal... Demons too. If you meet them and you don't have a weapon, you will have to leave everything you have and try to run away... Which may not always be possible or successful." Rock looked down and tightened his hands around the reins, clearly understanding the dwarf's message.

"I see..." He replied after a moment of silence, without looking up.

"All right." Dewar said then turned his back to him. "I'll go get a gun for you." He added, walking away slowly. Revy was stunned by what she saw. As if frozen, she held the motionless rifle in her hands. She only woke up when Rock started to dismount from the horse. She put the rifle down and quickly walked towards Rock, and being close to him, she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"Rock!" She screamed in his face. "Are you fucking crazy? You and the gun?"

"Revy…" Rock looked into her eyes with a look of uncertainty. He then grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands away from his shirt. "It's not that I want to use a gun... But Dewar's right. My skills aren't of any use here. So, since I can't defend myself here with words, maybe I should, just in case, learn to use a gun..." Revy fell silent, and then momentarily, she pulled her hands from Rock's grasp.

"I heard what that dwarf said... He told me the same thing yesterday too..." She said, gritting her teeth and looking away, not looking at him. "Still... I don't like this idea one bit."

"Nither do I…"

A few minutes later, Dewar returned with gun belt slung over his shoulder. He walked over to the table they were standing at and placed a belt with a weapon, they knew too well.

"This is the Lostar Frontman... Relatively heavy, yet surprisingly handy. But you probably already know that because you had the opportunity to use it..." Rock just flinched at the mention of the previous, and also his first, use of the weapon. However, the dwarf continued. "It shoots these bullets." He said, then took a box out of his pocket and placed it on the table. "38 ReC. Together with a heavier revolver, it creates the perfect balance between firepower and recoil... It is great weapon for both a novice and an experienced shooter..." Rock hearing all this just turned green in the face. Revy, seeing her partner's reaction, interjected.

"Enough of this advertising..." She said, taking a step forward and grabbing the lying weapon. As she picked it up, she felt that it was definitely a little heavier than either of her revolvers, but it wasn't uncomfortable. She was also able to see that the Frontman's octagonal barrel was slightly longer than the one on her revolvers, which was probably the reason for the difference in weight. "Okay Rock, now listen to me and watch carefully, because I will explain and show you how to use a gun..." Rock nodded wordlessly and turned his gaze towards her.

In the meantime, Dewar had left them and, walking up to the wooden target, he took a piece of chalk from his pocket and used it to draw a circle with a dot in its center as a target for Rock, then quickly returned to the couple at the table.

"Now repeat what I told you."

"Never point a gun at something you don't want to shoot, never keep your finger on the trigger if you don't want to pull it, and always treat the gun as if it were loaded." Rock flawlessly recited the rules that Revy introduced him to during a very short lecture, and although he remembered perfectly well that she herself did not always follow these rules, he did not have the courage to remind her of it at the moment.

"Okay..." Revy said as she spun the cylinder of her revolver. "Let's get shooting then..." Revy walked past him and stood in front of the wooden target, then called him to herself. When he approached, she placed a revolver in his hand, pointed at the target, and then began to adjust his position. "Bend your knees slightly... Bend over a little. Legs wider..." Rock faithfully followed the instructions without hesitation, understanding what was at stake. Once Revy was satisfied with his posture, she stood behind him and rested her hand on his right shoulder. "Okay... Pull back the hammer, aim at the white dot and slowly squeeze the trigger. Remember, the shot is supposed to surprise you..."

Rock nodded. He pulled the hammer back, which opened his view of the front sight and rear sight mounted on the barrel of the gun. He aligned them in the center of a chalk circle, right on top of the white dot. Only then did he put his finger on the trigger and slowly start squeezing. His hand was shaking, not only from the unnatural weight of the revolver, but also from fear of the gunshot, and when his hand shook, the revolver shook too. Still, Rock slowly squeezed the trigger, waiting for the inevitable sound of the gunshot. At one point he felt the trigger mechanism react. The hammer began to fall, and although in reality this movement lasted less than a second, from his perspective it took a minute from releasing the hammer to hitting the supposed primer. However, when the hammer returned to its retracted form, no shot was fired. All Rock heard was the click of metal together.

"Revy... Are you sure about loading this revolver with ammunition?" He asked without turning away from the gun in his hands.

"Yes... I loaded one bullet... Or nothing..." She replied, still holding his shoulder from behind.

"Is it finally one or nothing?!"

"Keep shooting and you'll find out..." Rock gritted his teeth but did as she said. He took his finger off the trigger and started the process again. He pulled back the hammer, took aim, put his finger on the trigger and started squeezing. Again, there was no shot when the hammer dropped. So he did it again. Cock the hammer. Take aim. Pull the trigger. Nothing again. Rock sighs. He stopped believing that Revy loaded his gun with ammunition. After all, who would do it after such a short training? Now all he had to do was repeat what she had taught him until he decided he was ready for real ammunition. Not that the quality particularly bothered him.

He relaxed his body, then pulled the hammer back, aimed and placed his finger on the trigger, squeezing it. And again nothing. The hammer clicked falling down once again. Rock, almost nonchalantly, but still following the rules given to him, pulled off the hammer once again. He took aim. And he put his finger on the trigger, slowly squeezing it until the hammer moved forward.

This time, however, at the end of the it's road, the hammer hit the primer.

Suddenly time slowed down. In front of the barrel of Rock's gun, to his surprise, a ball of fire appeared, and the revolver tried to break free from his hand. The recoil may not have been strong, but he still wasn't prepared. The gun jumped up and Rock, feeling like he was losing control, gripped the handle tighter to bring the gun down. Immediately afterwards, his sense of time returned to normal, and he aimed the barrel of the gun at the ground. Immediately afterwards he felt a distinct blow to the back of his head.

"Rock! What the hell did I tell you?!"

"That every weapon is always loaded..." He replied, rubbing the back of his head that had been hit a moment earlier.

"So what? Do you think you followed that rule?" Rock just groaned in response, continuing to rub his head with his free hand. Revy sighed. "Stay here and don't point it at anything you might damage..."

"Sure, I understand..." He replied, looking and aiming his weapon at the ground. Revy walked past him and started walking towards the wooden target. Dewar, who had been observing the whole thing from the side and from a safe distance, joined her.

"You didn't have to be so hard on him…" He said, quietly, leveling himself with her. However, Revy did not react. "Besides, you did it on purpose... First you gave him a lecture, then you relaxed him by telling him that you either put the ammunition in or not... And then you beat the crap out of him for not getting ready for the gunshot..."

"It's his fault for listening to what I told him..." She replied as she reached the hole-riddled piece of wood that served as a shooting target.

"But you don't have to blame him for falling into the trap you set yourself..." Revy didn't react to these words either, she just looked thoughtfully at the target drawn with chalk. Dewar also looked at the wooden target and then sighed. "It's almost noon..." He said after a while, turning around and slowly walking away. "I'll go prepare something at the fire. Once you've sorted yourself out, join me..."

"Sure..." She said, turning around and watching the dwarf leave. Then she turned her gaze towards Rock, who was still standing in the same place and kept looking at the revolver in his hands, pointing at the ground, timidly turning it over in his hands from time to time and carefully observing its sides. She sighed, then turned to the wooden target and used the sleeve of her coat to start erasing the chalk circle in the middle of which, instead of a chalk dot, there was a bullet hole.

AN: Well that chapter took more time than I wanted it to took. See you in april in another chapter.