No Step On Slime

Chapter 21: Guns for Cash

So! It's been one entire year since this story has begun. Happy anniversary!

. . . . .

"The goddamned hammer keeps breakin'!"

I was really tempted to smash the action group of my revolver onto the anvil I was working on. But the only thing that would do would be setting myself back a week's worth of work.

In front of me were at least four metal pieces of what used to be two revolver hammers.

They kept on snapping for some reason. Maybe the metal I was working with was poor quality, or perhaps I was cutting them too thin.

Either way, that wasn't the only thing that was running thin. My patience was nearing its limit, too.

I felt an arm on my shoulder, as a familiar voice behind me piped up.

"Calm down, lass," Kaijin said. "You won't be solving any problems if you get mad at your own project."

I sighed, pushing the chair I sat in away from the desk.

Sometimes I felt like this Dwarf was the only reason I haven't smashed my own fist into pieces in the process of rage-slamming a table.

I think I really needed some anger management lessons.

"Don't mind me, just gettin' all that outta my system..." I replied. "Honestly, I still ain't used to stuff in this world."

"'In this world?'" Kaijin asked, repeating my last sentence.

"Nothing, nothing. Still adjusting to this new... place, " I corrected myself. "You see, I ain't used to worrying about stuff like metal quality. Cuz I bought all my metal from standardized sources."

Looking at the several pieces on the table. Swiping up two of them, I held them tightly in my fist.

"Y'know, if I could just...!"

I clenched the two halves of the revolver's hammer in my hand.

"If only I can, like, make 'em stick back together!"

"Open your hand up, let me see the problem," the Dwarf replied.

I thrust my hand out towards him, opening up my palm to show him the broken hammer.

"I've made two of these so far, and I don't get it. Damn thing keeps breaking, it's annoying as fuck."

"I don't see what's wrong with it?"

"Whaddya mean? It's..."

I glanced at the two pieces of the revolver hammer in my hand. Only, it wasn't in two pieces.

They had somehow re-merged together.

Was I imagining this?

I gingerly picked it up with my finger, confirming that it was actually in one piece.

"Am I going schizo? I swear to god..." I muttered to myself. Maybe I was beginning to imagine things.

I picked my other broken revolver hammer off the anvil. "This is what I was talking about," I continued. "But for whatever reason, when I squeezed it with my hand and..."

I proceeded to do the exact same thing. Something felt off... and when I opened up my hand again, it was in one piece.

"What the fuck?"

Kaijin, who had grown curious, looked over my shoulder to see the hammer now in one full piece.

"Are you, perhaps, using one of your abilities?"