Chapter 152 — The Shooting Test
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
When things appear that are enough to pry at the cornerstones of an age, only a very few people can recognize their significance at first sight.
So it was not until Gao Dai uttered the words "one hundred and six second-tier extraordinaries" that Amber, Jenny, and Rebecca suddenly grasped what that unassuming-looking armguard truly meant.
Magic-releasing props and equipment were not unheard of in this world—mages habitually carried a few magic items for self-preservation or support, such as various talismans that could cast protective spells, or rings and grimoires that could unleash quick-strike spells—but these props mostly shared two traits: first, only "extraordinaries" possessing magic power could use them; second, they were so expensive that even minor nobles balked at the price.
A magic ring capable of casting a second-tier offensive spell was worth half a year's income from a knight's fief in the Holy Spirit Plains, for such a ring had to be forged from adamantine and mithril, and only a noble mage could personally infuse and temper it before it could be used.
But in the thermal ray gun, the most expensive component was the quartz rod serving as the focusing crystal, worth less than half a silver coin—and now, with the cheap crystal ore supplied by Tamsin Town, that price would fall even further.
And what labor did manufacturing such a thermal ray gun require? Apart from the initial stage of designing the runes and making the prototype base plate, which needed mages and runesmiths, once the design was finalized it required only a pile of clattering machine tools and a few skilled workers to fill the array grooves with magic-conducting materials and perform final assembly. Though it was far bulkier than those delicate, sumptuous magic rings and talismans, it would come in overwhelming numbers.
And the requirements for using the thing were even lower—it did not even need carefully trained professional soldiers; an ordinary person with a bit of training could use it.
Having reasoned all this out, Jenny's gaze toward the thermal ray gun no longer held only pride and delight; a trace of unease had mixed into it.
This was her first time taking part in "a Cecil-style invention," and she did not know what this weapon would bring to the world—nor did she dare to imagine.
"Ancestor, are you planning to issue this thing to every soldier?" Rebecca, however, was a girl of formidable adaptability; she quickly caught on and looked at Gao Yang with sparkling eyes. "Then once the soldiers have this... will they still need to train in sword and blade?"
Gao Yang had meant to say that once ranged thermal weapons appeared, the age of blades, spears, and halberds had entered its countdown to retirement—but he quickly remembered that this was a world where all manner of extraordinary powers existed, and that the boundary between so-called cold weapons and thermal weapons had already blurred once extraordinary power entered the picture. So at the last moment he changed his words: "Conventional armament will still be retained; mass-producing enchanted blades and armor is the next step. But in my conception, the thermal ray gun will become the soldiers' primary means of attack, while sword and blade will gradually recede into their secondary weapons."
Rebecca gestured cheerfully: "We can mount the thermal ray gun on the left arm, and the right hand can still use sword and blade as usual—when the enemy's far, hit them with the scorching ray; when they get close, draw the sword and slash... We can thicken the ray gun's shell a bit, so it can even be used to block in melee!"
Gao Yang mulled it over briefly, and suddenly found Rebecca's idea rather appealing—except for one thing he could not understand: as a mage, how was it that this girl's first thought was always this kind of melee theory?