Sell you a Bridge chapter 8 (Patreon)

As we walked through the door into the back room it was like entering  another world. The vibe in the front of the shop was very old world,  like a weapon shop in the medieval era. This new section was very  different in terms of theme, looking more steam punk or factory chic in  design. Despite that it was obviously top of the line and incredibly  pricey in terms of construction, I wasn't sure if Teague had made the  back room himself or commissioned it but whoever constructed it had done  an excellent job.

The target practice range in the back  of the shop was...extensive. For one thing it wasn't a single floor, it  was easily fifty feet high, clearly taking up multiple floors of the odd  inverted pyramid-like building. Every single inch of the place was  covered with training tools. There were long chains hanging from above,  dangling out of the darkness like strands of web from some giant metal  spider and each chain was hanging to a different length. The targets  hanging off them spun and twirled freely making them even harder to hit.  As we entered Teague hit a button and the chains began to move and  swing retracting and extending as they moved.

Artemis had  an excited gleam in her eye as she turned to shoot me a challenging  smirk "Well? What do you think moneybags? Not bad right? This is where  Teague sees what kind of tricks you have up your sleeves. He checks if  the weapons are right for you and if they aren't he finds another one.  I've even heard of him taking on custom designs if nothing in the store  quite fits your style." She gestured grandly at the whirling cavalcade  of shifting metal mania. "So, show him what you can do. Call your shot  before you throw."

I decided not to try any of the crazy  ricochet shots this time. Partly because of all the crazy motion and  partly because I didn't own these yet and if I somehow fucked them up by  slamming them into each other I'd have to pay for them wether I liked  them or not. I picked a remote spinning target on the other side of the  room and focused on the bullseye. There was a red letter and a red  number printed on it so I could call the shot and I called "B7" and  threw. I had to lead the shot and take all the motion into account and  even my ninja skills weren't enough to compensate for all that the first  time I tried. It got stuck in a target that swung into the path of my  shot and stopped dead.

I cursed at the mistake but Artemis  whistled. "Not bad. Only a few feet off on your first try." I must have  shown my distaste for the miss on my face because she slugged me in the  arm with a laugh. "Cool it Morgan, no one makes it first try. The  patterns are randomized, every time you come in here you have to get  acclimated to the movements. Even I don't make the first shot of a new  session and I have the high score for archery." Anticipating my next  question she held up a hand "And before you ask Teague rents this place  out for weapons testing. Not just his own stuff you can use it to test  pretty much anything for the right price."

While that was  interesting I mostly ignored the last bit in favor of the first. If  everyone missed then I still had a chance to make a good impression. I  didn't know how this had turned from me being convinced to buy expensive  weapons to some kind of test from the weaponsmith but I sure as hell  wasn't going to lose. I could do three things with my new ninja training  and I was going to prove they were valuable damn it. Artemis was a  total badass and if I was going to have her back I had to be just as  amazing. I was getting stronger from the powder but I needed the skills  to match the muscle.

I let loose a second star, doing my  best to not only lead the target and match the speed of the movement but  predict a clear shot. I actually managed to hit this one, but I only  caught the edge. I kind of wished my ninja skills all had the option to  use points instead of certain ones having set costs but it was fine. I  was a master, I just had to remind myself of that fact with a bit of  practice to get used to my skills. I had been aiming for B7 again but  this time I called a slightly closer shot "C8" This shot was much more  on the ball and I actually hit the bullseye.

Unfortunately  in order to get the hit I'd banked it off one of the chains and the  shuriken were just as sharp as described. There was a loud crash as the  one with the partly  severed chain gave way and dropped to the floor  with a crash. Despite that Artemis slapped me on the back "Dead center  on the third try! Hell yeah, not a record but pretty close. You want to  try again or take it up to level two?" She sounded energized by the game  and I found that I was pretty pumped myself.

My heart was  pounding in my chest and I was bouncing on my toes with excess energy  as I nodded my head. "Hell yeah, level two, lets see it!" i was ready  for anything, I was just getting the hang of this course and if random  criminals could get it so could I! However after Teague pulled another  lever I realized I had neglected to remember something. A lot of the  people who came her were metas with powers specifically designed for  things like this. The enhanced speed and randomness transformed a  difficult task into a nearly impossible trial.

I  decided to give the new level a try since I'd literally asked for it  and the worst that could happen was that I failed. I tried another bank  shot first. Sadly the crazy whipping around of the chains was on a whole  different level, a flickering chain actually batted the shuriken away  rather than it bouncing off. I shook my head, I had no way of making the  shot here. I wrapped up the bundle and handed it to Teague. "I'll take  them." Despite my ability to keep up with the crazy training system here  these things were sharp as hell and would be damn useful. I promised  myself I would keep training and get better with them, I clearly hadn't  reached the peak of the skill.

Teague  smiled respectfully "Smart boy. Not many men can admit their limits.  That level isn't for people with human level senses or reflexes. Still  being able to hit the target on level one marks you as among the best in  world of normal humans." He leaned over and pulled a lever. The motion  died down and all the targets stopped. Then Teague whistel and a shape  came blurring from the darkness leaping up towards the targets. I raised  an eyebrow when I realized it was a dog. The dog landed one one of the  targets I'd hit leaning down to carefully pull the shuriken free with  it's teeth.

The  dog hopped from target to target, dropping the throwing stars from each  one on the ground, as I walked over to start picking them up I heard  Artemis squeal "Barnabas!" She ran over to where I was heading, I  thought to help but the dog just leapt down from the last target to land  in her arms. She started nuzzling the cute little thing, which looked  like an Australian shepherd mix. She laughed delightedly as he started  licking her face. Once I finished picking up the shuriken I walked over  to the pair. She noticed me and looked up from being licked by the  apparently supernaturally amazing dog. "So you're gonna take them?"

I  snickered at her, laughing at the ridiculous picture of Artemis with  her arms full of dog and face covered in slobber. I glanced over at  Teague "Cute dog. That was a crazy high jump I'm impressed. I'll take  the stars. I was also thinking of getting a sword, do you have any  tanto?" I knew from reading when I was younger that ninja had preferred  smaller weapons, katana and wakizashi were larger blades, the smallest  blade you see in a traditional set of three swords was more their speed,  the japanese version of a short sword or combat knife. I turned back to  where Artemis was to pet the puppy "And yeah looks like, can you  introduce me to this pretty boy?"

I  almost literally fell over when the dog raised his head, opened his  mouth and said "Hello I'm Barnabas. I appreciate the compliment, I do  feel pretty most of the time. My fur is very soft." I froze in shock but  the dog lowered his head, leaning out of Artemis's gasp towards me.  "You may pet me if you wish to feel it. You were very polite  even when  you thought I was just a normal canine, which speaks well of you. And  thank you for noticing how high my jump was, I train on the obstacle  course daily to keep my stamina up."

I  just stood there in shock for a minute, but Barnabas was patient, so I  reached up and began to pet the dog. I had a superpower now and had seen  some interesting things but this was...I never expected to meet a  talking dog. Artemis didn't seem shocked, which made sense since she'd  been coming here for years. Barnabas was indeed incredibly soft and as i  scratched behind his ears he leaned into my hand forcing Artemis to  readjust. I came to my senses after that "It's nice to meet you Barnabas  and no problem the compliments were well deserved."

Teague  was chuckling at my obvious shock but took pity on me speaking up to  draw my attention back to him  "To answer your question yes I can get  you a tanto. I actually have a full set of swords made to go with those  shuriken out of the same metal. I'll wrap up all three of them" He gave  the dog a long glance. "You can have them free of purchase. You only  need to pay for the shuriken." I clearly wasn't the only one surprised  by that, Artemis looked flabbergasted. Teague just smiled at our shock  "Barnabas is an excellent judge of character, he usually doesn't talk in  front of newbies. There must be something special about you."

The  big man gave a mysterious smile and turned to walk back into the main  part of the shop to get the swords. I looked at Artemis who carried the  dog closer to me with a shrug. "Never seen him give anyone anything as  long as I've been here. But he isn't wrong, Barnabas usually doesn't  talk to first timers. I didn't hear him speak for a year after I first  started coming here, and I used to come back all the time. Teague let's  me use the training room whenever I want because I'm his favorite." She  gave a proud smile and then glanced at the dog inquiringly "You know why  he would give away free weapons Barnabas?"

The  dog licked her face again before responding "I suspect he noticed what I  did. Your friend there reminds me a bit of his youngest sister, Del.  They've always been very close. I was actually her dog for a while and  you remind me of her somehow. I couldn't say how." He gave a roll of his  head that somehow came across as the doggy equivalent of a shrug.  "Anyway, he's going to be gone for a while getting those ready. In the  meantime you may scratch behind the ear again, you have a knack for  finding the right spot." I couldn't help but laugh at that and went back  to petting the talking dog.