Chapter 152

When something powerful enough to shake the very foundations of an era emerges, only a few can immediately grasp its true significance.

It wasn’t until Gawain mentioned “one hundred and six secondary-tier transcendent warriors” that Amber, Jenny, and Rebecca suddenly realized what that seemingly unremarkable armguard really meant.

Magical tools or equipment capable of casting spells weren’t unheard of in this world. Mages often carried magical items for survival or support—amulets that could cast protective spells, rings or spellbooks that unleashed quick offensive magic. But these items shared two key traits: first, only those with magical power—“transcendents”—could use them; second, they were so expensive that even minor nobles hesitated to afford them.

A magic ring capable of releasing a secondary-level offensive spell was worth as much as a knight’s half-year income in the Holy Spirit Plains. Such a ring required crafting from precious metals like adamantine and mithril, and had to be personally enchanted and refined by a high-ranking mage.

But the thermal ray gun? Its most expensive component was the quartz crystal used as a focusing lens, worth less than half a silver coin. Thanks to the cheap crystal mines in Tanzan Town, that cost was only going to drop further.

And what kind of labor did it take to produce a thermal ray gun? Aside from the initial design of the runes and prototype circuit boards, which required mages and runemasters, once the design was finalized, it only needed a bunch of noisy machine tools and a few skilled workers to fill the rune grooves with magical conductive materials and assemble the parts. Though bulkier than those delicate, ornate magic rings or amulets, these guns could be mass-produced in overwhelming quantities.

Even better, the requirements to use them were far lower. They didn’t need highly trained professional soldiers—ordinary people could learn to operate them with minimal training.

Understanding all this, Jenny’s gaze shifted from pride and excitement to a hint of unease.

This was her first time participating in a “Cecil-style invention.” She didn’t know what this weapon would bring to the world, and she didn’t dare to imagine.

“Ancestor, are you really planning to issue these to every soldier?” Rebecca, quick to grasp the implications, asked with sparkling eyes. “If soldiers have these, do they still need to train in swordsmanship?”

Gawain had wanted to say that with the advent of ranged energy weapons, the era of swords and spears was already on its way out. But then he remembered this was a world filled with all kinds of transcendent powers, where the line between cold and hot weapons had long blurred. So he changed his words: “Conventional arms will still be retained. Mass-producing enchanted swords, armor, and blades is the next step. But in my vision, the thermal ray gun will be the soldiers’ primary offensive weapon, with swords gradually becoming secondary.”

Rebecca happily gestured excitedly: “We could mount the thermal ray gun on the left arm, and still wield a sword in the right hand. When enemies are far, use the scorching ray; when they get close, draw the sword and slash… The gun’s casing could be thickened so it can even be used to block in close combat!”

Gawain considered this for a moment and found Rebecca’s idea surprisingly appealing—though he wondered how a mage’s first instinct was to think in terms of close combat.

Regardless, it was clear that the fighting style of Cecil’s soldiers was about to be revolutionized. He just hoped knights Byron and Philip could adapt quickly to this change…

But turning a weapon into a practical tool required more than just a prototype test—especially for something as novel as the thermal ray gun. Gawain had only successfully fired the first shot. To ensure stable battlefield performance, many more shots would be needed.

He put away the prototype armguard and looked at everyone present. “It needs more testing. We’ll start first thing tomorrow morning at the testing grounds northeast of here.”

The testing grounds to the northeast were a large wasteland near the riverbank. After Rebecca’s crystal explosion test there, the area had been designated an official military testing zone. Subsequent tests of crystal grenades were also conducted there. Gawain was itching to go and blast away immediately, but nighttime wasn’t suitable for such tests. The territory still lacked a large indoor weapons testing facility that could operate at night, so all tests had to wait until the next day.

Early the next morning, Gawain rose before dawn.

Unlike the sparse crowd during the first shot the night before, today’s formal test was much more official and serious. Rebecca had informed Hetty about the thermal ray gun, who immediately summoned Byron and Philip, the two military commanders. She also selected twenty steady, reliable soldiers from the combat corps to guard the area and keep unauthorized personnel away. Meanwhile, she arranged targets at various distances to test range and accuracy, and called in the druid Pittman to handle any emergency medical needs in case of accidental injuries.

From all this, Gawain could clearly see one thing:

His eldest granddaughter was slowly learning the “scientific and institutional” mindset he had taught her…

Initially, Gawain planned to operate the weapon himself, but after Amber nagged him for ten minutes straight, he decided to give her the chance.

Of course, this decision wasn’t just because Amber’s chatter was annoying. More importantly, as a rogue, she had experience using hidden throwing knives—and quite skillfully. She had some familiarity with fixed, arm-mounted ranged weapons, so she was the natural choice to operate it.

Watching Amber strap the thermal ray gun onto her arm and professionally adjust the bindings for stability, Rebecca, who missed out on the chance to operate it, couldn’t help but grumble sourly, “Be careful not to shoot yourself—that thing’s way heavier than a throwing knife!”

“No worries,” Amber grinned at Rebecca. “When I practiced with throwing knives, I had to hang an iron weight on my wrist. That was heavier than this!”

After showing off, the half-elf rogue finished adjusting the equipment, nodded to Hetty who was recording data, then raised her arm and aimed at the first target downrange.

The rune trigger was pulled by a metal wire, instantly converting the magical energy stored in the capacitor into the scorching ray’s power. With a soft crack, a blazing beam shot out and struck the leather-clad wooden target some dozens of meters away.

The target was pierced clean through.

Hetty quickly recorded the numbers, and Amber moved on to the second target…

“Effective range is only between 200 and 300 meters, below the standard for scorching rays and less than the theoretical value of the rune circuit board,” Hetty reported after the tests. “The cause might be improper adjustment of the quartz crystal or poor magical conduction efficiency between the rune board and the capacitor. These can be improved through better craftsmanship. Another issue is accuracy: within 50 meters, it’s acceptable, but beyond that, accuracy drops sharply. At 100 meters, even Amber—who’s half-elf and trained with throwing knives—misses three out of four shots. For ordinary soldiers, the rate would be much worse.”

Rebecca scratched her head and bluntly said, “But you still shoot better than Auntie… Ow, ow!”

Watching Rebecca get her ear pulled by Hetty, Gawain remained expressionless. “Accuracy is also a matter of manufacturing quality. Nicholas’s assembly is precise, but the scorching ray boards were handmade by Rebecca and the others. Since this was just to verify the new rune design, they didn’t put much effort into selecting quartz crystals.”

He glanced at the armguard Amber was wearing. “Also, it currently lacks a sight. Installing a simple aiming device between the ray’s muzzle and the middle of the armguard should greatly improve accuracy.”

After explaining the concept of a sight, Amber’s eyes lit up. “Oh! That’s a great idea! It’ll make training soldiers so much easier!”

Though they were discussing accuracy issues, the thermal ray gun’s precision had already exceeded Gawain’s expectations.

He had thought that a weapon with such a bulky design and no basic sights would only be accurate within a dozen meters, but reality surpassed that.

Partly because the thermal ray gun wasn’t a projectile weapon and involved almost no mechanical movement, it had virtually no recoil or barrel shake to affect accuracy. As long as the user’s hand was steady, the beam would stay on target.

Partly because the people in this world had different physical abilities and talents compared to Earth humans.

Amber’s half-elf bloodline gave her a natural aptitude for ranged weapons, and even ordinary humans here had superior physical parameters—consider the nobles’ average lifespans over a hundred years, or the “ordinary soldiers” charging in heavy armor wielding massive swords. These advantages likely extended to ranged weapon use as well—though that would need to be confirmed through testing with regular soldiers.

Meanwhile, Rebecca was already grimacing under Hetty’s scolding. “Aren’t you guys going to help me?!”

Gawain couldn’t help but smile at the straightforward girl getting lectured, then stepped in to rescue her. He nodded to Amber. “Keep testing. This time, focus on how continuous firing affects performance.”

Continuous firing was a relatively long process, so Gawain didn’t watch closely. Instead, he walked over to the two knights, Philip and Byron, standing nearby.

Both knights were intently watching the testing grounds, their expressions complex.

“What are you thinking about?” Gawain asked lightly.

“This is truly an incredible weapon,” Byron said with genuine admiration. “Incredible… Magic released in this way, with both the source and control of the magic handled entirely by the weapon itself, regardless of the user’s talent. The operator only needs to pull the rune trigger…”

“Not just admiration, right?” Gawain gave him a half-smile.

“…Yeah,” Byron glanced at Gawain and finally admitted, “There’s a bit of sadness too.”

“Oh?”

“I spent two years learning Breath Protection, then another three years mastering Danger Sense—and that was just a secondary-level knight skill,” Byron shook his head. “Now, a recruit trained for a few days can casually fire a scorching ray.”

Philip sighed softly, his tone tinged with nostalgia. “I was faster than you—I took six months for those two skills combined.”

Byron: “…Can you feel something else for once?”

“I told you, the times are changing,” Gawain interrupted the banter. “This change is inevitable. You have to accept it.”

Byron paused, then gave a wry smile as he looked at the testing grounds. “One day, will that thing be able to fire a Death Finger?”

Gawain was silent for a moment. “Maybe.”

”…Looks like the day the City of a Thousand Towers falls isn’t far off after all.”

Meanwhile, on the other side, Amber shifted her arm slightly, tired from holding it up for so long. Then she raised the heat ray gun again and pulled the rune-engraved trigger.

The front of the ray gun seemed to warm up a bit, but this time, no beam was fired.

“Old Zongzi! This thing’s busted!”

(End of chapter)