Oath Of Iron And Fire

Chapter 6: Mass-produced Magic War Tools

After laughing, Winters kindly reminded Ike: "The descriptions of magicians in ancient books are definitely exaggerated, but since the court magician can serve as the emperor's personal thug, he must have real skills.

If you really meet a court wizard one day, be very careful. Don't confuse us spellcasters with court wizards. We are two completely different types of magic users."

"I think maybe they are worthy of being called magicians, and we are just spellcasters." Winters said in despair, "I think the generals in the Army Department also think so, so they call us 'spellcasters' instead of 'magicians'. We are just mass-produced magic warfare tools of the Alliance."

"Don't belittle yourself. Magic must be very useful on the battlefield." Although Ike has never been on the battlefield, he is obviously a firm supporter of the Army's policy of spellcasters: "Otherwise, why does the Army attach so much importance to spellcasters? Magicians are the most trusted executioners of Mad Richard."

"That would require a very, very powerful magician. There is no spellcaster as powerful as the Mad King's court wizard in the entire alliance." Winters put his hands to his mouth and made a megaphone shape. "If I really go to the battlefield, I will be a human megaphone. It's the kind made of tinplate into a cone shape, without the tip. The dean of discipline uses this megaphone to curse people every morning."

Ike didn't understand what Winters was saying. Winters said bitterly, "I didn't say that. General Taylor said that. When he came to inspect last year, he spoke to the spellcaster students alone."

Winters was in high spirits when he started to imitate General Taylor's hoarse duck voice: "The most useful magic in war is the amplification technique! This amplification technique is especially useful for commanding soldiers. There is no need to worry about being drowned out by the sound of gunfire, which makes the snare drum obsolete. You must practice your amplification technique well, and avoid other useless tricks."

"Listen to what the top figure in the federal army says about spellcasters, useless tricks?" Winters suddenly had a funny idea: "If there is a portable fire, fire spells will be eliminated. If someone invents a tool that can amplify sound without magic, the army's spellcasters may all be unemployed."

"What kind of tools are you talking about? You are all the treasures of the army!" Ike pondered for a while, made up his mind, and then said to Winters: "Have you heard of 'Ten Years of Personnel'?"

Winters thought about it carefully and shook his head.

Ike explained, "It's normal that you haven't heard of it. It's only those of us who don't have magical talent who are discussing it. In addition to having enough military service, army officers who want to be promoted must also have vacancies, right?"

This was common sense known to all Army officers and paramilitary officers, so Winters answered without hesitation: "Yes."

"But there are many officers in the army who cannot be promoted even if they have enough military service, so they can only continue to gain experience." Ike's tone was not very sure: "But many people say that as long as spellcasting officers have enough military service, they will definitely be promoted, so they will definitely be promoted to major within ten years, and colonel within twenty years."

Winters was shocked when he first heard of such unspoken rules within the army. This was actually normal, just like no one would talk about bullies in front of bullies, which student would talk about spellcasters in front of spellcasters?

Ike's words made Winters' cheeks heat up, because he found that he was a beneficiary of an unfair system, while his friends and classmates were oppressed in this unfair system.

"If there really is such an unspoken rule, then it is clear discrimination and it's unfair." Winters was educated in a way that emphasized fairness and justice, and the Army's policy clearly violates the principle of fairness.

He said sincerely: "Military promotion should be based on ability and merit. I don't think magical talent has any special value in commanding an army. The army is in chaos if it does this."

Ike realized that he made Winters feel guilty, so he said hastily, "Don't take it too seriously. It's nothing. Officer promotions are definitely not based solely on magical abilities, but considering all factors, it's reasonable to consider magical abilities as a bonus."

Ike gave another example of even more unfair treatment: "Those officers who come out of the 'crash course' can't even become a colonel in their lifetime. Aren't they discriminated against even more?"

Seeing that the topic of the conversation was about to turn into a criticism of the decision-making level of the Alliance Army, Ike now regretted talking to Winters about the personnel of the past ten years. He quickly brought the topic back to magic: "You just said that fire spells are useless. How can fire magic be useless? Isn't controlling fire very powerful?"

"Fire magic is not about controlling flames, but about using magic instead of flames to achieve certain effects. For example, for a non-flammable material like stone, no matter how much magic I use, I cannot make it burn." Winters quickly corrected Ike's misunderstanding of magic.

"But to be honest, my fire spells may not be as powerful as a torch," Winters said helplessly, "I can only vaporize a little water with all my strength, but with a torch I can dry the water out in an instant.

Sound spells don't require casting materials, and acceleration spells only require some hard objects. Most fire spells require casting materials. If we really get to the battlefield, I'm afraid you'll kill me with a sword before I can even take out the casting materials."

"How could that be? Didn't you just burn a hair?" Ike said with a smile, "If we were to fight, wouldn't you win if you could find a way to set my hair on fire?"

Winters gasped at the dirty idea: "I actually never thought of using fire magic to set the enemy's hair on fire."

The more Winters thought about it, the more he found this idea interesting. He stood up and said to Ike excitedly, "Your idea is really dirty. I like it. I will write this spell in my spell book."

"Haha, you have your own original spell now. How about calling it Axel's Hair Burning Spell?" Winters said as he paced back and forth, "Hair Burning Spell doesn't sound powerful enough. How about calling it Axel's Head Burning Spell? Face Burning Spell? Hair Burning Spell?"

"Is this considered inventing magic?" Ike laughed dumbly: "Isn't this too ridiculous?"

"Why doesn't this count as inventing a spell? You invented a unique use of fire magic." Winters refuted seriously: "It's all swinging arms and dancing with swords, and it can be divided into so many postures and moves. Why doesn't inventing a unique use of magic count as inventing a spell? Why do you think fire magic is classified as one category? Because their principles are the same, the only difference is the use.

"Okay, okay, let's call it hair burning." Ike replied casually.

"Although it has yet to be verified, this idea is really novel. We need to find some real hair to practice a few times and see how to make the hair burn faster and more vigorously." Winters found it more interesting the more he thought about it: "Now I finally understand why the general said: 'There are no bad spells, only stupid casters. A caster must first be a smart person, and then he can be a caster.'

"My thinking was rigid. The only thing I could think of for actual combat was the Flash spell. But you woke me up." Winters said heavily, "Ike, you are really a genius. If you have a talent for spells, you will definitely be a spellcaster a hundred times more powerful than me."

"It's not that great. Stop exaggerating." Ike thought Winters was making a big deal out of nothing. "What if I shave my head off?"

"This..." Winters' breathing stagnated: "...Then I can only use the flash technique again."

Ike laughed loudly, and then said to Winters in a sincere and yearning tone: "I really want to be a spellcaster, even if I am the lousy spellcaster. Even if I can only cast the most basic fire spells that you hate the most. I don't want to be a spellcaster for the 'Ten Years of Human Resources', I just want to be a spellcaster. I really want to know what it feels like to use magic."

Winters could understand what Ike was saying. Who didn't fall asleep with the fantasy of becoming a knight or a magician when they were young? When he learned that he could learn magic, he was so excited that he couldn't sleep all night.

Unfortunately, although the spell power of untrained potential users is like a small spark, if you want to make the fire burn, you must at least have a small spark. If there is no spark, how can you make a fire?

"Are you so disappointed that you can't be a magician? If you really experience it once, you will probably feel disappointed that it's just so-so. And let me tell you, I have become particularly sleepy since I accepted the spellcaster training. I seriously suspect that this is a side effect of learning spells." But Winters still tried his best to enlighten Ike:

"If I could, I would rather trade my spellcasting ability for your swordsmanship. Do you know how painful it is for me to not be able to beat you once? Do you know that I hide in the toilet and cry every day because of this? Besides, maybe the court wizards are different, but we spellcasting officers are really just tools."

This ridiculous joke made Ike smile. "Your love of sleeping has absolutely nothing to do with being a spellcaster. You just like to sleep in. Okay, let's not talk about impossible things. Tell me what it feels like to use magic. Is it just very painful when using magic?"

Winters thought carefully about the feeling of using magic and said with a blush, "It's really painful, like being tortured, but other than that it's also very... pleasurable. Pain and pleasure, at least that's how I feel. And every time I stop casting a spell, I feel a little empty. I think it might be a symptom of addiction."

"Using magic can be so enjoyable? So enjoyable that it becomes addictive?" Ike was stunned.

"Yes." Winters blushed even more.

Using magic is of course addictive and pleasurable, but the spellcasters of this era did not know the underlying reasons. Later researchers used magnetic resonance imaging technology to discover that when a spellcaster uses a spell, almost the entire cerebral cortex becomes intensely active. The activity pattern is very similar to the activity pattern of the cerebral cortex when "the brain rewards human reproductive behavior." This state of setting off fireworks in the brain will of course bring intense pain and... pleasure similar to that when "the brain rewards human reproductive behavior."

Without this compensation, humans simply cannot bear the additional pain caused by casting spells. Later researchers even found that the physiological structure of the brain of a spellcaster is different from that of an ordinary person, with a thicker cortex and a smaller medulla.

"How good is it?" Ike asked seriously.

"It feels great." Winters replied seriously.

"Isn't it because you have a special type of desire?" Ike asked again suspiciously.

"I'm not a masochist!" Winters raged.

"Don't say anything, not tomorrow, just today." Ike held Winters' hand tightly. "After class, take me to find that... teacher Christian to test me. I think... I'm very likely to be the one who slipped through the net!"

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Character cards of the protagonists of the extra chapters (up to Chapter 6)

(I wrote the character card of the protagonist based on the character card of Pillars of Eternity. It might be interesting to update it as the plot is gradually updated.

But don't take the attributes too seriously, because the caster still relies on his brain to fight, not his attributes.)

Name: Winters Montagne/Yue Dong

Gender: Male

Occupation: Warrior (level 3) Spellcaster (level 2)

Talent ability: Never tear the card

Dominant hand: right hand

Height: 1.82 meters (barefoot)

Background:

the Confederate States of Great Sinus

(Enlightenment: The people do not need the emperor, it is the emperor who needs the people. Determination +1.)

The Honorable Republic of Veneta

(Mercantilism: Everything has a price. Diplomacy +1)

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Educational Background:

Army Junior School Vineta Branch

Army Officers Academy Preparatory School

Army Officers School

(Ivory Tower Officer: Street Smarts -4 Tactics +3 Strength +1 Constitution +1)

(The Army's morbid enthusiasm for running schools has resulted in the vast majority of Army Officer School students coming from internal admissions.)

Standard Confederate Spellcaster Officer Training

(Mass-produced magic warfare tool: Unlock the Alliance caster skill tree. Religious knowledge -4)

(If you believe that wine can turn to blood and bread can turn to flesh, you are not a qualified spellcaster.)

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Courses taken:

General studies: rhetoric, history, mathematics, geometry, law, international law, old languages, ancient languages;

Military science subjects: tactics, fortifications, fortress tactics, drawing and use of military maps, war history, topography, horse science, health, accounting;

Military academic subjects: horsemanship, swordsmanship, weapons, field surveying, field tactics, war history travel, annual exercises, and routine service.

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Active Abilities:

Long Sword (A Proficient) (Because he was beaten up by S-class swordsmen for many years, in a sense, he is actually very strong.)

Matchlock (B Master) (Here, this is the shooting rod, point the muzzle at the enemy, and you can go to fight.)

Horsemanship (B Mastery) (I like horses, but I'm too lazy to shovel manure, brush their fur, or feed them carrots.)

General Weaponry (D: roughly understood) (Oh~ah~ah~so that's how it is, I understand.)

Equipment (A is good at) (Add two more sets of gears to balance the force so that the planetary gear is not so easy to break.)

Explosion (B Mastery) (Art is all about explosions, and what boy doesn’t love to set off fireworks?)

Alchemy (E) (I heard...it seems...it seems...)

Old saying (B mastery) (Être seul n'a pas d'importance Being single is no big deal.)

Ancient language (C unfamiliar) (Ancient language is a dead language. I can just look it up in a dictionary.)

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Passive ability: (the standard for ordinary people is 3, and the passive ability equal to 3 is not specified)

Historical knowledge 6 (History +1 War History Class +1 War History Travel +1) (Partial historical knowledge)

Diplomatic Communication 4 (Mercantilism +1) (Trust me, this is good for both of us.)

Religious Knowledge -1 (Standard Senath Spellcaster Officer Training -4)

Street Smarts -1 (Ivory Tower Officer -4) (If I lost my wallet, I'd go to the guard.)

Tactical Literacy 6 (Military Training +3) (Hold your weapon tightly! Don’t look back! Don’t retreat!)

Wilderness Survival 2 (Keeping the Fingers Clean -2 City Kids -2 Military School Canteen Exercised Stomach +3) (Is this wheat? Oh, this is not wheat.)

Perception 5 (Military Training +2) (From the tattoo on your arm, I judge that you are a sailor.)

Threat 4 (Military Status +1) (I'll teach you something else: a big knife!)

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Spell Ability Rating:

Fire Magic: Medium

Kinetic Magic: Weak

Sound magic: Weak

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Spells that can be used effectively:

(Just like a five-year-old child can lift a 100-jin barbell, as long as you know the principle and spell, you can use it, but the problem is whether you can use it effectively)

Antoine Laurent's Pyrotechnics

Antoine Laurent's Vaporization

Tesla's Luminosity

David's Flash

Iron Smelting Technique with No Name Yet

Flying General's Flying Arrow Technique

The Wright Brothers' Wind Harnessing

Ludwig's Amplification

Axel's Hair Burning Technique

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Character traits:

Grand Unionist

Although he was born in the Sea Blue Republic, Winters studied in the United Provinces since he was a child. He was deeply influenced by the Grand Alliance and agreed that the alliance government should have more power.

(A patriot or a traitor?)

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The genetics of the Venetians

A fiery character is ingrained in the Venetians' DNA.

(Don’t engrave everything into your DNA, asshole!)

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Respect for professional knowledge and skills

Winters admires people with specialized knowledge and skills, such as mathematicians or swordsmiths.

(You can do things that I can't do.)

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Atheists

The spellcaster's ability comes from the understanding of the laws of nature. Winters does not believe in the existence of gods.

(Listen, I am too lazy to popularize atheism to you, and you don’t want to instill religious beliefs in me.)

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Lawful Good

Winters is willing to do good things, but his military school education also makes him respect order.

(It's a good idea to put a sword in a bad guy's mouth, but it's best if I do it with the judge's permission.)

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Boys Gang

Winters lived in a boys' boarding school for ten years. He was good at getting along with men, but relatively bad at getting along with women.

(What kind of school is this? You are really causing a lot of harm to people!)

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Carefree

Winters is a lively person who enjoys fun and the uncertainty of life even in the darkest and most tragic situations, and likes people with a sense of humor.

(Specifically showing the irresistible desire to complain)

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The world is a makeshift team

Winters believes that the whole world is a makeshift team. It is a world of worse rather than better.

(It doesn’t matter if I’m miserable, as long as the enemy is more miserable than me)

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Love animals

If there are no cats in heaven, I want to go to a place where there are cats.

(Of course it would be even better if they didn't shed.)

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Very imprecise character attributes: (added points according to PE rules, plus skill points provided by the character background)

Strength 12 (Basic 11 Military Academy +1) (Winters loves to sleep and avoids all unnecessary physical activities)

Constitution 13 (Basic 12 Military Academy +1) (Constitution 13 means less prone to illness)

Agility 14 (Basic 13 Sword Training +1) (Agility without strength is meaningless except for running away.)

Perception 15 (Basic 13 Spellcaster Training +2) (Intuition is most accurate when it comes after the fact.)

Intelligence 18 (Basic 16 Spellcaster Training +2) (Do you think my extra sleep is in vain?)

Determination 14 (Basic 13 Enlightenment +1) (Is 14 points of determination really a lot?)