Legend of Ransera

It is said that most advancements regardless of the field happens when those who work within it were inhibited by whatever it is which had been holding them back all along. Society. Confidence. Religion. Morals. Attachments. Ideals. Just like the war against Kalzasi years prior, it should be no surprise to anyone that an outbreak of the undead could very well be the next best time to make a new achievement. One simply had to think about it. The undead were just monsters wearing people skin and as far as anyone knew other than their intense hate for the living, they may as well be people. People lacking thoughts, emotions and whatever else but people as far as one were looking at them, physically of course. The perfect test subjects for weapons makers and doctors and when it came to Dakkur, runesmiths alike. While as a runesmith Dakkur took a more utilitarian view of his products which oftentimes is for the benefit for the end user, he also used it to supplement his own skill with his weapon. A runecaster, stolen away from his home of Zeraphesh. While one should be content with the regular mass produced runesmithed caster shells, over the recent seasons Dakkur found that it may be time for him to have a stronger option to use.

This is by no means the first time he was working with runecrafted shells though. Dakkur too had been a part of the grunt work in mass producing the caster shells himself. Sometimes he was even given the privilege to try some new materials to augment those same shells. Oftentimes those augments were just minor in nature, no doubt in part due to the materials being used but through one of his commissioned works this season he hit, the big one, so to speak. Perhaps a good shells? A strong shell? An explosive shells? Quick firing shells? Shells he could put one of his summon spirits inside so they could burst out in bloody viscera. Until he actually decided what he wanted to make of the stone and actually made the shells, who knew? In the end this was what it was, science. A logically made inference and a study of the results.

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The caster shells made all that was left was for Dakkur to test them out, see if he was satisfied with the results and then record it so he may replicate them in the future. It was great that he did not need to test the bullets on targets as such results were neither accurate nor truly representative of their effects on the field. That said, it was not great that he would have to go forth and search for one of the undead on his own accord. That was the difficulty of his task more than anything else. He had to search for one of the undead. One. Not two, not three, not ten or fifteen. One. Anymore than that and he would risk great bodily harm on himself. That and even if he did empty the chamber he could never be sure he could get them all. Contrary to popular belief Dakkur was no good fighter. He was just robust. Some may think that this robustness represented his Moratallen blood but it in fact represents a state of mind.

To be robust, Dakkur had to be sneaky to make up for his shortcomings. He was not one of those people who could just rush into the middle of a horde of undead and take them all out. Fortunately he had enough practice sneaking around the city throughout the season and started from the border of one of the more known undead hotspots. Peeking through corners, listening ahead, Dakkur avoided plenty of the undead as he continued with his search. Until he found the lone one. But one element of beang sneaky was to also make sure that no one could sneak up on him in turn. After he was sure there were not hiding spots he could be jumped on from at the scene it was on to the next step.

Hidden in a hiding spot of his own Dakkur had to lure the undead creature close to him. As he knew it was safe in the direction he came from, it would be better that the undead creature get closer to him than him moving in closer to uncharted territories. Taking out an aven from his pouch he tossed it a little bit ahead. 'Clink!' After that it was a game of patience. After the undead creature lost interest and had its back turn, Dakkur tossed the coin again, closer this time so it too will follow. This is something he would have to repeat until the creature was close enough to him. It would be, as cunning a plan as any he could make on the spot.

Then runecaster in hand, shells already loaded, Dakkur was prepared as he would ever be. The trap was set. An audible groan from himself to get it sprung. When the creature came close to check, its chin right on top of the barrel, Dakkur pulled the trigger. BANG! That worked. Quite well actually. Then it was time to run. Wisdom dictated he run before more arrived because the shot was that loud. Wisdom also dictated that he had his escape route already ready, which only needed him to reverse his steps. If he remembered right... the last group of undead he avoided was about 500 meters to his right so to dodge them in case they approached him, he should veer a little to the right and out of sight until he was sure they would not be coming.

To dodge the undead. Now that would be the true practice of robustness Dakkur was inexperienced with. Hopefully it would not be a test he would fail.