Chapter 203: The Prelude to Firearms

Nighttime, west of Nightlight City, outside the Magic Castle.

Leon was waiting outside the main gate of the castle. Accompanied by the creaking sound of the gate opening, Bayen walked out. He wore a wide black Magic Robe and leather boots. His hair was gray, his beard short and salt-and-pepper, and his eyes were bright and spirited.

Bayen nodded slightly to Leon. Leon hurriedly bowed and extended both hands to shake Bayen’s somewhat withered hand.

Bayen held Leon’s hand, leading him into the hall, and said: “Lord Torch-Bearer is waiting for you on the first floor of the tower on the west side of the hall. I will lead the way.”

Leon looked up at the night sky outside the transparent dome of the hall. Hundreds of Controllable Light Orbs were suspended near the dome. In the hall, which was almost as large as the entire castle, dozens of Wizard Apprentices were scattered about, eating food and discussing something.

A few apprentices seemed to be debating a heated issue. They traced runes in the air with their mental power, seemingly comparing something.

Bang!

The combination of runes in front of one Wizard Apprentice failed. Instead of forming a Spell Model structure, it caused a Mana disturbance, directly injuring several nearby apprentices.

Bayen looked at them with a headache. As both a student and teacher at the school, and possessing excellent spellcasting skills, Bayen held high prestige among the apprentices. After Ace guided the apprentices to establish the autonomous Student Council, Bayen became its first president.

Bayen rubbed his forehead and said to Leon: “Please wait a moment. I need to handle a small problem.”

Bayen took a step. Almost instantly, a Spell Model appeared. Mana from Leap concentrated in his legs, and he quickly sprang to the side of the injured apprentices.

Bayen could be said to be the earliest among all Wizard Apprentices to master Water Magic. He activated Lesser Potent Nourishment. Accompanied by the pulse of Mana, mist began to rise.

This mist carried a dense aura of life. As Bayen pointed his finger, the mist surged toward the injured Wizard Apprentices, rapidly nourishing them.

Nourished by the mist, their injuries healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. The apprentice who caused the trouble was recovering, but his face remained pale. His big nose sniffled instantly, seemingly afraid of something.

Bayen said with a stern face: “Lesser Wizard Apprentice Eddie, due to improper rune operation in the castle hall causing an explosion and injuring four people, 10 Social Practice Points will be deducted.”

“No! I converted ten thousand mud bricks with Lesser Mud-to-Stone just to get ten points!” Eddie’s face lost all color, and he looked utterly devastated.

Bayen was unmoved. He said to Eddie slightly more gently: “The public hall is a place for dining and discussion. If you want to experiment with spells, you can go to the combat training ground. Rules are rules. You violated the school rules, so you must accept the punishment.”

Having finished speaking, Bayen ignored the devastated Eddie and turned to walk back to Leon.

Leon looked at the vast hall, feeling the Mana he couldn’t perceive, and took a deep breath, his eyes filled with longing.

This was the power of Magic. This was the world of Magic. Although he was in it, he was separated from it by a layer. He also desperately wanted to become a Wizard Apprentice.

Just as Leon was lost in thought, Bayen had already returned to him and said: “Let’s go. The tower is in this direction.”

Bayen escorted Leon to Ace’s tower. After bowing respectfully to Ace, he slowly withdrew. Leon approached Ace and found someone already waiting there.

Ace was also pleased to see Leon arrive at the castle without any mishaps. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly as he said to Leon: “This is Mid-level Wizard Apprentice Ancestar, though he prefers to call himself a Knight.”

Then Ace said to Ancestar: “This is the Temporary Chief Magistrate of our Territory Administration Office, Mr. Leon. I called you both here today because I have a task to entrust to you.”

Hearing this, Ancestar said solemnly: “Knight Ancestar is willing to serve his Lord!”

Leon also followed suit, saying seriously: “Leon is always ready to execute the will of Your Excellency the Archon!”

Ace waved his hand and said: “Having the heart is enough. No need to be so serious. Let me show you something first.”

Subsequently, the two followed Ace up the magic lift to the laboratory floor. The west tower where Ace lived was entirely inscribed with Seamless Expansion Rune Arrays, making the internal space immense.

On the laboratory floor, 300 rifled flintlock muskets with bayonets and 300 ramrods lay quietly. Not far from them, a large amount of parchment-wrapped paper cartridges and Minié balls were piled up.

Ace picked up two rifled flintlock muskets and two ramrods, had the two stand behind him, then fetched two paper cartridges and two Minié balls, standing in front of them.

“This thing is called a musket. It is a new weapon I researched,” Ace said. “Next, I will teach you how to use it.”

About an hour later, both Ancestar and Leon understood how to use this strange weapon. Tear open the paper cartridge with teeth, pour the black powder evenly into the musket barrel, compact it with the ramrod, insert a lead ball, compact it again with the ramrod, pour gunpowder into the priming pan at the rear, aim at the target, and pull the trigger.

Men always have an enthusiasm for weapons that women find hard to imagine. Both Knight Ancestar and Magistrate Leon were very interested in this strange steel rod.

After ten rounds of simulated operation, Ace had the two use lead Minié balls for live firing practice to see the specific effect. Thirty meters away from the two, Ace used Magical Trickery to erect an iron plate about the thickness of ordinary heavy armor.

Ancestar leveled the gun, aimed, and pulled the trigger according to the method he had learned.

As a standard Knight, Ancestar was not only proficient in horsemanship but also mastered the use of various weapons. Whether it was close-combat weapons like heavy lances, heavy morning stars, knight longswords, standard short swords, one-handed axes, poleaxes, or ranged weapons like short javelins, throwing axes, and longbows—he could use them all proficiently.

Ancestar had spent his entire youth mastering these excellent weapon skills. Now, in just one hour, he had mastered the use of this “steel rod.” Although he wasn’t very practiced, the learning speed was too fast.

Ancestar thought a lot, but his thoughts flashed by in an instant. The loud bang of the first shot startled him. Immediately afterward, he looked at the iron plate in the distance.

As a Knight possessing Heart Force, his physical constitution was greatly enhanced, and his visual range was very long. If he concentrated his Heart Force into his eyes, they were almost comparable to eagle eyes.

When Ancestar saw the condition of the iron plate, his pupils suddenly contracted.

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