"Enough to kill any Lesser Shadow, maim a mid-level one, and do damage to Greater Shadows and Masters. Any more bang than that would take extra energy."

"How much collateral damage would be caused by such an explosion?"

"I should be able to keep it fairly pin-point. If someone else was standing directly next to the shadow, they might be in trouble - but anyone more than two or three steps or so away should be fine."

Nod. "That sounds excellent, then."

"Still holding off on instantiations until we have a full kit prepared?"

"Yep. Might think of some improvement while we talk. Speaking of - how dangerous is the gun in the hands of the Shadows? And do they count as demons for the spear?"

"The gun is only slightly more dangerous than a regular weapon in the hands of the Shadows. For the spear... I have no idea whether they count as demons, but my guess would be 'no'. The spear prefers those 'of demon blood', but to the shadows, I suspect it prefers those 'of human blood' - half-demon, half-human."

Nod. "So a self destruct for my gun would just be wasteful, and the spear is - complicated."

"Yes, that's about the size of it."

"The spear is very complicated," sighs Blair. "They'd only get to use it once easily, but that one shot could screw everything over. I still want it, mind, but ugh."

"If you used it judiciously on nearby foes, you might be able to use it at less risk of it being turned against you."

"Not for me," he reminds the angel. "For my sister, with the likely demon bloodline."

"Hopefully she would have no risk of it being turned against her at all."

"Yeah, no kidding. ... Is there a way you could hand me a self destruct button for the spear?"

"I could build it, but it would be draining. The spear is an artifact of significant magic- containing the energies released in its destruction would be difficult."

"Yay. Right. No self destruct for the spear, I guess."

"It's within my energy budget, but I estimate that between summoning the spear and building the self-destruct, it would use up three-fifths of my mana. Two-fifths if you don't mind collateral damage when the spear explodes."

"No self destruct for the spear," says Blair, nodding firmly. "Not worth giving up the mana battery and gun."

"So that's the gun, the spear, the mana battery, and the self-destructing compass?"

"... Yeah, I think so. Uh, can you teach me how to use the gun before you send me off?"

"Certainly. I'll need to manifest it, of course."

Nod. "Yeah, go ahead, I think I'm set on my choices."

And the angel hands Blair a revolver.

"Here you are. Take as long training as you need."

"I was planning to!" he agrees, grinning.

Not needing to eat, sleep, or rest in any way is very useful. Blair is very thorough about learning how to use his shiny new revolver. Just because he can't practice its additional magical effects doesn't mean he can't learn to shoot well. The largest obstacle is boredom, and boredom can be staved off with interesting conversation and the understanding that his life is literally going to rely on his ability to shoot things.

But staved off is not defeated, and eventually, boredom wins out.

"Right," sighs Blair, "I think that at this point trick shots are about the only things to add to this education, but even with all the time in the world I don't think it's worth it. Besides, I'm going to start forgetting things."

The angel nods. "There's only so much that can be done in this empty space. Are you prepared to leave?"