Chapter 156: The Wondrous Uses of Runes (Third Update)

When Henry Lee set out to learn shooting, he wasn't looking for practical utility or combat effectiveness. He wanted just one thing: pure coolness!

As long as it looked cool, that was all that mattered!

Therefore, nothing matched the image of an "American traditional martial arts master" quite like a Wild West cowboy. Just as you wouldn't expect a Chinese martial artist to lack the lightness skill, how could you call yourself a master without it?

Seeing Henry's intense interest, Olivia introduced him to the Colt revolver from the ground up—the M1873. As the name suggested, it was a standard-issue military weapon produced in 1873, spanning two centuries and still in production.

The models currently on the market were already in their third generation, primarily catered to Western film fans and collectors, crafted into various exquisite editions.

Its mechanism was remarkably simple: cocking the hammer rotated the cylinder, and pulling the trigger fired the round. Because it lacked any automatic mechanism, every single shot required manually cocking the hammer.

Thus, clever cowboys discovered that by holding down the trigger and continuously slapping the hammer with their palm, they could achieve a rate of firing comparable to a machine gun.

In fact, comparing it to a machine gun was being modest. The legendary sharpshooter mentioned earlier could put even a Gatling gun to shame, and he was remarkably accurate to boot!

Even Olivia couldn't match that kind of speed. Her revolver skills were merely decent enough to qualify her as his instructor, but wanting to be as ferocious as characters in the movies? Very few people in modern society used it as a real weapon anymore!

Much like how very few people nowadays practiced traditional martial arts, Henry was determined to learn the essence. He had his heart set on the Colt revolver!

And so, he began preparing his cowboy ensemble, self-styling as "Father Colt."

Jeans, a cowboy hat, a long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves necessarily rolled up, and of course, a quick-draw holster at his waist—a specialized competitive holster designed purely for speed!

Olivia went out of her way to procure a batch of revolvers, ranging from .45 to .32 caliber, with varying barrel lengths, including collector's memorial editions, civilian nickel-plated versions, and flamboyant gold-plated editions.

Henry tried every single one of them before ultimately settling on the replica military-spec .45 caliber version—the largest caliber available for the M1873.

Don't ask why; whenever that question arose, the answer was always a terminal fear of insufficient firepower!

Caliber was justice!

With the model chosen, the next step was shooting practice.

Olivia wanted to teach him highly practical shooting stances, such as the Weaver stance, but Henry refused! He insisted on hip-firing cowboy style, because holding it up high just completely ruined the vibe!

The former nun felt a slight urge to point out that movie styles were artistic exaggerations, but since His Reverence wished to play along, she had to set her professionalism aside and indulge his whims.

Next came the body posture. Naturally, it wasn't the standard forward-leaning center of gravity, but rather the classic cowboy squat-and-lean—though this wasn't merely artistic flair; real-life cowboy fast-draw competitions actually utilized this stance.

Later on, however, Henry decided that this was bad for his lower back, so he switched back to a completely upright posture, justifying it by claiming it would better confuse the enemy, keeping them guessing the exact moment he would draw his weapon.

Olivia: "......"

If it were anyone else, she would have wanted to beat them to a pulp.

Forgive me, Lord, for he is a venerable priest!

At last, they arrived at the shooting phase.

Facing a ten-meter target, Henry stood his ground while Olivia held a stopwatch and clicked the start button from the side.

Simultaneously, Henry swiftly brushed against the grip at his waist and drew for a hip shot!

Miraculously, he actually hit the target!

Olivia stopped the timer and nodded, "Well done!"

With an air of flamboyant swagger, Henry blew a puff of non-existent smoke from the muzzle!

Olivia deemed it acceptable, so she prompted, "We can work on improving accuracy next! Keep going!"

Under her guidance, Henry focused intently on practicing cowboy shooting.

After half a day's work, the air reeked of gunpowder, but Henry's proficiency had increased by leaps and bounds. Perhaps revolvers truly were his natural calling, as he progressed rapidly.

They always said that shooting feel was built entirely on a mountain of spent ammunition. Olivia's method was to feed him bullets, and over the next few days, the sisterhood took turns accompanying him to the shooting range.

With his magic show still in the preparation stage and nothing else to do, Henry continued to immerse himself in the cowboy fantasy, hoping to master a unique trick while his enthusiasm was still burning high.

In truth, as long as one had interest and dedication, the learning efficiency for anything could be astonishingly fast.

Henry was finding his stride in cowboy quick-draws—suddenly drawing and firing, fanning the hammer for rapid shots, imagining the target across from him as an enemy falling by surprise. It felt incredible!

Gradually, his speed and accuracy improved. Sometimes he could even catch his opponent off guard and strike first. The uncapped firing rate of the single-action revolver began to yield sweet rewards!

However, breaking through neural reflex and muscular limits via traditional training alone was simply far too slow! To become like that legendary gun god required more than just bitter practice; it demanded raw talent!

Henry lacked that kind of formidable innate talent, nor did he possess the patience to endure decades of grueling practice. Thus, right at the peak of his enthusiasm, his clever mind started turning!

Since he couldn't break through his physical limitations, why not break through via his weapon?

A beginner-tier character could still sweep the board wearing orange-grade legendary gear!

He remembered that as a mage, his secondary profession allowed him to delve into rune carving and weapon enchanting!

If he imbued his revolver with effects like +100% attack speed, increased accuracy, and a certain chance to trigger a headshot... wouldn't that achieve his goal through a shortcut?

Though he had no idea whether runes could be applied to modern weaponry, Henry decided to tinker with the idea simply to cure his boredom.

He pulled out his "Grimoire of Runes," spent accumulated points to purchase materials, cleared out an extra room to serve as his personal workshop, locked the door behind him, and buried himself in study.

The process was tedious, but the results of his verification were endlessly thrilling!

He attempted to carve weapon-acceleration runes onto the barrel and compared it against a standard model of the same type. The runic version consistently boasted a 10% increase in weapon attack speed compared to the normal one!

In other words, from drawing the weapon to firing, the runic revolver delivered a fluid, seamless sensation that made it infinitely more intuitive to use!

Next, he compared revolvers engraved with accuracy-boosting runes. After several rounds of testing, the hit rate of the runic revolvers improved noticeably. The shameful stigma of his inaccurate hip-firing was finally on the verge of being shed!

Henry felt as though a brand-new door had accidentally swung open for him.

If his practice pieces could yield such results, crafting a serious, high-end set would surely make him soar!

And so, Father Colt buried himself entirely in the craft of weapon runes and enchanting.

Because his subjects of study were modern firearms, the combinations of different runes and enchanting effects required repeated experimentation. Modern steel alloy products simply couldn't match the extreme tolerance thresholds of magical weapons.

At the very least, a revolver couldn't fire a bolt of lightning or spew a fireball, simply because the materials couldn't withstand it and the technology couldn't achieve it for the time being.

However, when it came to foundational attributes—increasing attack speed, boosting accuracy, enhancing destructive power—these were all well within the realm of possibility!