Chapter 371 — Suojilin's Order
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
Suojilin was no expert in arcane technology, nor did he truly understand how the machines and mass-produced magic arrays Gao Yang had devised actually worked. But he was, at the very least, an experienced warrior and a well-traveled adventurer. From those unprecedented, inconceivable arcane armaments he could see their immense advantages and vast prospects, and he could roughly imagine the environments in which such weapons might be deployed. That was enough.
Of course, Suojilin knew well that judgments made on the strength of past experience would surely prove insufficient. These new weapons were too potent in effect, too far ahead of their time—the notion of "letting every ordinary person unleash magic power enough to destroy heaven and earth" was a mad inclination, yet one that genuinely existed in the Cecil Territory. So the high-ranking ranger himself was not certain how far such armaments would ultimately develop. But one thing he could be sure of: he knew what he wanted.
"The lord has ordered me to train a Steel Ranger corps—an entirely new kind of soldier—and he has also given me the task of designing new weapons and validating new tactics. You know, this is a most challenging assignment," Suojilin said with a smile. For the Mr. Nikoxidan before him also always wore a smile (a comical one), which made everyone who spoke with him unable to keep from smiling in turn. "So I have some rather... advanced ideas. We can find a quieter place and discuss those design proposals in detail."
"Of course. We can go to the Mechanical Manufactory," Nikoxidan buzzed, rising and floating upward. "Hmm... the Artisans' Hall has too many people. Let us go to my office instead."
Nikoxidan's office was right beside the Artisans' Hall—it served both as his office and as his usual dwelling. It was a room into which few ever came visiting besides Rebecca and Gao Yang. Outsiders could hardly imagine how a sphere one point three meters in diameter lived and rested; Suojilin was equally curious, and after entering this cylindrical room, he saw a great many rather bizarre... things.
He saw numerous metal cylinders of varying heights arrayed throughout the room, and metal plates polished smooth as mirrors set into the walls. There was no bed, no table, no chairs such as humans required, but there was a circular platform in the very center of the room, just the right size for Nikoxidan to settle upon and rest. Beside that circular platform, Suojilin also saw a three-tiered rack filled with all manner of metal handicrafts—yet the appearance of those handicrafts was truly... strange. Some resembled intricately structured sails, some resembled interlocking rings, and others were simply twisted, tangled clumps of metal. Suojilin was certain that even the finest connoisseur of art could discern no meaning in these things here.
"Did you make all of these?" he asked curiously, gazing at the great metal sphere floating ahead. "These... decorations?"
"Made from scraps in my spare time," Nikoxidan buzzed. "My memories are fragmentary and incomplete, but now and then some hazy impressions still surface. Gao Yang suggested I preserve those hazy impressions as models, for perhaps it might help me remember something. Of course, the method has produced no effect thus far, but making these little things is still quite enjoyable. I surmise these objects must be things I frequently came into contact with in those years, and that is why they left such deep impressions in my annular polarizer—oh, the annular polarizer is my memory organ. But never mind that for now; tell me your ideas."
Suojilin's attention shifted at once from the roomful of "handicrafts." He cleared his throat twice and said, "First, regarding the protective gear currently used by Cecil's combat soldiers—from what I know, their arcane armor has a layer of 'lining' inscribed with various runes, is that right?"