You may be wondering what a Jersey even is.

 

Long ago, a group of explorers and adventurers went on a quest to find the stimulant hempseed for some dastardly noble, and they stumbled upon a strange cave. When they went inside, they discovered new and complex technology they had never seen before, like phoenix powder and the Jerseys. 

 

When some detectives, archaeologists, and investigators came to check it out, they determined that it was some sort of ancient civilization that lived long ago. The tech looked pretty old and destitute, so they determined they must’ve moved somewhere else or had gone extinct. That didn’t stop them from creating excavation and extraction sites on those places though.

 

With these new found areas, they discovered brand new things, like clear-cut glass, a type of thin, clear, bendable solid, though nobody knew how to make it, fine pottery, and most importantly, phoenix powder and the sacred jerseys.

 

Phoenix powder is this fine, granulated gray powder some explorers found in some small canisters, and they realized, if lit on fire, it fizzled and exploded abruptly. It was named Phoenix Powder because just like a phoenix, the beginning stage is when it’s gray and weak, but when awakened, it becomes a fiery hot fireball.

 

Sadly, there’s not much to go around, so any powder that is found is kept in the treasury as a national artifact, as people noticed it’s power could do so much good and evil.

 

The Jersey, on the other hand, is the most famous and destructive weapon the world has ever seen. Some explorers and excavators found this strange metal tube with a wood butt sitting in a box. Although it was extremely old and worn out, it was still usable. 

 

This explorer started fiddling with the tube by rubbing the butt and sliding his finger inside the tube, when, by accident, flicked the lever on the side. 

 

What happened next was pretty gruesome.

 

The front of the barrel exploded, firing a small metal bullet out of it. And at that moment, the explorer’s finger happened to be in the barrel. So when the tube got activated, and the bullet went flying, that bullet wasn’t going to stop, and his whole finger exploded in chunky bits, raining flesh and bone fragments everywhere.

 

Safe to say everyone around him was horrified, and he promptly collapsed in pain and shock, but while he was being tended to in a medical tent, the other inspectors were now ever so careful to actually inspect it.

 

They found a few garbled words, and some of them actually understood the lettering, as they had discovered earlier a strange alphabet, and learned how to spell words and understand.

 

On a small plaque on the butt of the barrel was the words of “something.. Something.. New Jersey”. They had no clue what a New Jersey was, so they just decided to call it a Jersey.

 

Luckily for them, there was a lot more ammo and phoenix powder sitting in a box closeby to where the Jersey was found, so they took that to, and on that day, those explorers had the most feared weapon in history.

 

When they brought it to the king, who was the third king of the kingdom, King Targanhov, he requested if he could use this strange new weapon. The explorers, who remembered the time when one of their comrades had their finger blown to bits, tried and pleaded to the king to not use it, but he insisted.

 

An hour later, the king was holding the Jersey and pointed it at a pig’s head. The explorer’s had shown the king where the ammo fired out of, and where they had found where new ammo gets put into. 

 

The sun beat down on everyone, the breeze was fresh, the standstill was intense, until the king suddenly fired the Jersey. 

 

The pig’s head was promptly shattered to pieces. It’s whole front face was beyond recognizable, the skull shattered into several bone fragments, and the brain was now a pool of shattered flesh. 

 

The king was horrified and astounded at the same time. He ordered all ancient civilization sectors that were within the border of the country to be protected by the nation, and ordered that proper authorization needed to be put in place to enter. He also confiscated all new technology to be either stored in the treasury or spread out for the public to learn. The Jersey became legendary.

 

Nowadays, restrictions have somewhat eased, and a lot more Jerseys have been found. There’s been a new rule that if you were allowed to enter for a visit or a business trip, and you find a new technological item, you could keep it. However, this rule only goes for if you have enough money to enter, or you’re noble enough to enter. Things got so bad that a new form of bandits were formed to steal as much new technology as possible without being caught, and security had to be ramped up even more around these technology mines.

 

By the time I had put on my former noble clothing of a vest, suit, tie, and gone down to the meeting hall, Randolph was already there. There’s a big reason why he’s a big deal. First of all, he’s the duke. Second of all, he owns a Jersey.

 

Now how did our Lesser Baron family like ours get to be good friends with a Duke? That’s easy. There was this big war between the Syrilian Kingdom and the Archibov Republic about seventy years ago, and back then, my grandfather and the duke’s father were good friends and battle partners. They fought together, ate together, saved each other one too many times. Although our families got separated into classes, both grandfathers insisted on my father to be friends with the now duke.

 

The duke is this handsome and tall man, who has charming blue eyes and blonde hair with a ponytail. He's a cheery and calm man, but it's rumored that whenever someone talks about Jerseys or other alien technology, he'd get extremely ecstatic and excited. Not to be such a bummer, but Duke Randolph is married and has children. Sorry ladies!

 

It's wonderful how they’re still friends, and that’s how we got this significant opportunity.

 

“Alright, It looks like everyone has assembled,” my father said as I took my position in front of the duke. “Everyone, this is Duke Randolph. He’s a good friend of mine, and today he’ll be showing you all the most prized and most renowned weapon, the Jersey.”

 

My brothers and sister ooh-ed and ahh-ed. It’s not your everyday occurrence that you get to witness the power of a Jersey or the effects of phoenix powder.

 

“Everyone, let's go outside to the target practice clearing, Duke Randolph will show you what a Jersey does,” my father said.

 

Everyone walked outside into the grass clearing, where a lone melon was sitting on a table a couple yards away.

 

“Everyone stand back, and be sure to cover your ears, the Jersey makes a terrific noise,” Randolph said. As everyone took several large steps back, Randolph opened a slot on the side of the barrel, inserted a shell, and locked it back up. He then hoisted the butt of the Jersey under his armpit, having one hand holding the underside of the barrel and another hand on the switch.

 

Five seconds go by. Ten. Twenty. What’s taking so long?

 

BANG!

 

Well speak of the devil.

 

A burst of flame burst out of the barrel, and the melon tumbled off the table, blown to bits. 

 

Wait. Blown to bits? Upon a longer glance, only the side of the melon seemed to be destroyed, while most of the melon seemed to be intact. I looked at my family, my brothers and sister, who were applauding Randolph on his mighty accomplishment, who weren’t even looking at the end result.

 

I could do way better than this duke.

 

My hand instinctively raised up to touch the Jersey.

 

“Zyan!” my father’s voice suddenly burst behind me. “Why would you try to touch the duke’s belongings? Don’t you know that a Jersey is very dangerous? Also, he’s the duke for crying out loud! What are you doing?” 

 

I turned around. My brothers and sister giggled, while my parents were in horror and embarrassment.

 

“Sorry Father, I just wanted to see if I could fire the Jersey… I just ... think I could do better.”

 

My father was red in the face, he looked like he was going to burst like a can full of Phoenix Powder. Oh now I’ve done it. 

 

Luckily, the Duke came to my rescue.

 

“Try it you say?” exclaimed the Duke, butting into our conversation with an ecstatic grin on his face. “Why, of course, I can allow you to use the Jersey! I love showing people how I use the Jersey! It’s so… gratifying. And if you fail, you can admit defeat and I can teach you all properly.”

 

Duke Randolph put the Jersey in my hands, almost as if he was shoving it into my hands. It looked wonderful. Long smooth barrel, clean butt, nice design. Everything I would’ve dreamed of a Jersey.

 

Duke Randolph gave a small snicker. “You must be wondering how you shoot it, by the look of how you’re marvelling at it. Do you need instructions?”

 

I looked at my family behind me. My brothers and sister were on rapt alert, watching my every move. My father and mother were in a sort of shock.

 

“I don’t need any help,” I meekly said. “I already watched how you used the Jersey and fired it.”

 

Duke Randolph looked slightly gloomy, but then perked back up. “No worries! Let’s get that target ready for you!”

 

With a wave of his hand, the melon floated back onto the table, the damaged part turned to the back. I see you Duke, trying to cover up your weakness.

 

I looked at the duke condescendingly for his weak ploy, but he was already standing to the side, as if his plan had worked all along. I focused on the task at hand and looked back at the Jersey and my target.

 

I opened the slot how Randolph did and put the bullet in before locking it in its place. Placing the butt of the Jersey under my armpits. Wait. That doesn’t feel right. Placing the Jersey in this position makes it insanely hard to aim, why would the Duke hold it like that? I hoisted it up so it pressed against my shoulder.

 

After taking a closer glance at the end of the barrel, there seemed to be a small uptick at the end. Maybe it was a piece used for better aiming?

 

I heard a loud cough behind me. I turned around to see my brother Dennis impatiently waiting, while tapping his foot on the grassy floor. 

 

“Hey Zyan, if you’re not going to use the Jersey, why don’t you let me use it? You’re probably going to use the next half day trying to use that thing,” Dennis jeered.

 

What? Who was he to say that I was being a slowpoke? I was changing my posture and finding secret pieces of the sacred Jersey, give me a break! 

 

“Surrrrree Dennis. I’ll fire the Jersey in the next ten seconds then!”

 

“Ha! Don’t miss!”

 

Game. On.

 

I pressed the butt of the Jersey up to my shoulder, aimed the uptick scope at the melon and fired.

 

It was a pretty good hit.

 

No. Not just a pretty good hit, it was an amazing hit! In a fiery blast, the bullet had sailed across the green, smashing the melon into a trillion pieces, red juicy flesh and green rind flying everywhere. The impact was so strong even the table hit the dirt.

 

I lowered the Jersey and took a good look at Duke Randolph. He was wide mouthed, his eyes staring at what was left of the eviscerated melon. Not even his golden blonde hair could make him look like a winner.

 

I smirked and looked at my family. They were all in shock, my mother and father especially.

Serves them right. It was their fault that they didn’t think I could handle it.

 

Randolph coughed and reformed his composure.

 

“My my, I have to say, that shot was wonderful! I haven’t seen such a wonderful shooter for years! My, I’ve spent years mastering the art of the Jersey, only to be beaten by an adolescent boy in mere minutes, oh what shame!” Randolph dramatically said, combing his hair like some dramatic showman.

 

“Sandson! My dear friend!” Randolph pounced on my father, thoroughly shocking him out of his daze, “Your son has some magnificent skills! Have you been teaching him how to use a Jersey?”

 

My father stuttered and gasped, “Wha- Uh, no! We haven’t! We don’t even own a Jersey!”

 

Randolph was bubbling with glee at that point. “Well I don’t know what’s happening, but your son has featured more skill than even the Jersey Knights of the Syrilian Kingdom! This is groundbreaking! I may even be inclined to take him under my own wing and teach him!”

 

Oh no Randolph, why did you say that? I like my freedom, I like this place, and I don’t really enjoy the extremely high society. Too many pompous women with semi-sphere dresses. Ugh.

 

I’d rather be exploring town under cover and walking around with Klien, how’d this come to be?

 

Randolph was still talking. “So Sandson, can I take your son under my wing?”

 

“Uh… um..” my father stammered. “I’ll just let Zyan think about it. He’s the one with the skills after all, I can’t make such an important decision for him.”

 

Wait No! Don’t push this thing towards me!