*BOOM*

The loud echo of an explosion resounded throughout the wide clearing. In the distance, what used to be a target had now become dust as all that was left on the site was a small crater.

"Was that supposed to happen?"

Richard asked but he got no answer from those who were with him.

The mini explosion that happened was a result of using the special bullets he made with Cindy.

After he left the workshop, the group that he tried to leave behind found out that he had exited the building and chased after him.

Though it was just the goddess teleporting everyone right in front of him.

Because of that, Richard’s plan to quietly test his weapons had failed and he ended up doing a "display" of his current capabilities.

That said, the test would not have ended quietly even if he was able to evade them.

"Wasn’t it supposed to be homing?"

"It was..."

Cindy and Richard contemplated the error, there was no spell used. The bullet and gun only had the feature of penetrating magical barriers and homing towards the target.

The mini explosion was NOT part of the design-

"You used the bear spirit didn’t you? The monster lived for centuries, based on what I learned from the wandering souls, this country isn’t even 300 years old. Those bears were older than this country! Even if you turned them subservient, that would not remove their inherent nature of destruction. Now, the souls have been given a way to enforce their will onto the world. They likely used the concept of that "gun" to create the explosion"

Ragnar was the one to give an explanation.

Richard observed the crater, unlike explosions caused by bombs, the small explosion caused by the bullet was a pure kinetic blast.

"Like a crater caused by a cannon ball"

Although the bullet he fired was meant to penetrate and mushroom within its target, the crater was closer in form to an impact from a cannon ball.

"Those toys? I guess the bear connected that type of weapon to create this", Ragnar responded while nodding his head casually.

The concept of how the bear interfered with the world was simple. Whichever bear spirit it was that took over, all it did was add another effect to the bullet.

"Wouldn’t the gun explode on me or make the bullet target me?"

Richard asked worriedly but Ragnar answered him with confidence, "Nah! You used the blood contract right?"

"Yes"

"That makes you the true owner of the weapon and the souls that inhabit it. All the bear could do is add a bit of something with its will to your attacks. If you don’t like it, there are ways to silence their ego, what do you say?"

Richard thought for a moment, while the idea of having an intelligent weapon was interesting, the fact that it added a bit of randomness to his attacks gave him a bit of worry.

What if he wanted to silently shoot someone and the bear gun decides to turn the bullet into a rocket?

If that happened at a distance there was still some way to accept but the gun he had was a fucking pistol!

The engagement range he would use it for would range from less than a meter to 500 meters or more-maybe.

While the max range was still up in the air, he was surely going to use it at close range especially when he can’t really take out the halberd.

"I guess it’s time to let the spirit-"

As he was about to answer Ragnar positively in terms of removing the spirit’s ego. Richard felt an echo of will coming from the pistol.

Although no words were exchanged, maybe because of the blood contract, Richard could feel the "intent" behind the echoing will. It was not a cry of resistance or anger but a plea-

"It seems that the bear doesn’t want to lose its ego", Richard explained curtly which Ragnar found intriguing.

"Oho? Now that’s an artifact! Unlike most of the artifacts these lasses carry, a true artifact is one that has a will of its own and would only serve its master!"

Ragnar’s words immediately sparked a light in Richard’s eyes.

An intelligent weapon is what a true artifact is?

Now that he thought about it, historically, many myths and legends talk about legendary weapons that seem to have minds of their own.

The sword in the stone, even if it wasn’t a talking sword, it was still a sword that could only be pulled out by the king of England.

But that was not a fully sentient weapon, still, there were other legends like a sword owned by a viking warlord that forced its user to take a life once it was drawn, or another sword that needed to take a life for it to be sheathed or-

"Huh? Most sentient weapons in myth seem a bit... cursed"

RIchard thought as he could only recall weapons that had to "taste blood" whenever they were drawn.

Historians and mythology researchers likely had an explanation why such weapons were the norm in many myths.

In fact, there were also stories of sentient shoes, sentient brooms... though those were mostly fairy tails.

Then there is the sentient puppet...

But as he thought more about it, if he added the cursed items into the mix...

<True artifacts are made from the souls capable of bearing an ego. In order to make them true artifacts though, the crafter must allow for the souls used to be controlled. Since having to lead thousands just to swing a blade was dangerous, the creation of artificial souls that would manage weapons became the trend. This soon developed into the refining method to turn thousands of souls into a single powerful artificial spirit with its own ego but completely subservient to a selected wielder>

"What she said"

The goddess gave her encyclopedic explanation while Ragnar just agreed with her as his own explanation was based more on "feel" rather than logic.

Although Richard was thankful for Ragnar’s teachings, his delivery of knowledge was truly... mind opening.

Learning of those facts, Richard turned his attention back to the gun.

To others he was simply staring at the gun but Richard had started communicating with the bear spirit that was able to retain its ego.

Richard stood in a state of just staring blankly at the gun in his hands for a few minutes before-

"It’s all good, Kuma would follow my orders from now on"

His naming of the bear spirit needed a bit of... help but since things went well, nobody complained. Moreover, his naming was better than a teen who would likely name the bear "Dark Flame Ursa Major".

Of course, it would be a secret that Richard had contemplated giving the bear that very name. Unfortunately, it lacked descriptors that started with vowels so the young man could only start to ponder on ways to turn "KUMA" into an acronym.

The goddess?

Richard didn’t bother whether she revealed his thoughts or not at this point.

Would it matter if he was an open book? Yes

Could he do something about it? No

Unless he chose to cut ties with the Goddess, something he could not do as his very awakening was a result of their pact and that tied them together somehow.

Even Ragnar had no idea how to deal with it.

Only Merlin, his perverted ancestor could maybe do something about it.

But Richard didn’t want to disturb the old man.

Moreover, he had bigger fish to fry... though- maybe they are smaller but to him, their value was bigger.

After all, wasn’t the value of things determined by those that desire it?

Richard had a gun that could fire hellfire missiles, a spear that could cut through almost every barrier- whether it could cut through tungsten alloys was something he didn’t know thought-

But he had no plan to hunt down tanks-

But even if he did, modern MBT’s (Main Battle Tank’s) follow a doctrine that was, "no armor is best armor".

Penetration got so bad that using an explosive charge to stop a projectile became the most "advanced" method of protection.

That or layering more than 200mm of steel alloys.

It’s not like he was going to raid the pentagon though, even if he did, he won’t really face much armor.

Though, before all that, he had to ensure that he won’t just end up going "rambo" on his quest.

His enemies had ties to the government, had a way to completely tarnish his reputation and he was likely marked as guilty long before his crimes were made public.

As much as Richard wanted to take his revenge, he wasn’t completely out of the woods yet even if he did have a change in appearance. Especially since that change was minor and he was still identified by FBI agents.

"The FBI are scary..."

He can’t help but mutter those words recalling how he was nearly caught in a trap in an area he never thought anyone would know.

His mutterings were heard by everyone but the only one to speak up was Cindy who asked.

"Are you going to kill Andrea?"