Scientific Wizard

The sudden burst of the projectile clearly caught Kevin off guard. Despite his exceptional dynamic vision, he could only watch as the rain of bullets flew towards him. At such a close range, there was no time for reaction.

He could only watch as the fragments of projectiles splattered onto him. Kevin flinched backward in fear, but soon realized there was only a slight sensation of pain on his body. There were no extra holes, not even a scratch.

"If Lydia had put in a special iron pellet just now, you'd have been seriously injured by now..." Philip chuckled, watching Kevin's thoroughly scared expression, unsurprised by this outcome.

Because this bursting projectile was his creation, and its power had been tested before. Its force was roughly equivalent to a second-tier spell - the Fire Burst. It could just about breach a Mage Shield. The remaining kinetic energy, however, wasn't enough to harm a human body. That's why when Lydia brought this thing out just now, he didn't speak up to stop her.

Seeing the amused expressions of everyone around, Kevin couldn't help but feel his pride take a hit, glaring at Lydia.

The halfling girl stuck out her tongue, having already taken refuge behind Lynn. She wanted to demonstrate to Professor Kevin how unreliable his estimation of the firepower of the firearm was.

After all, this firearm was something she had crafted herself and was extremely proud of.

Lynn, standing by, also quipped, "Professor Kevin, Lydia had already warned you earlier. If you had paid attention, you wouldn't have ended up in such a sorry state."

While the firepower of the firearm was impressive, a third-tier wizard wouldn't be intimidated when they focused. The main reason was Kevin's underestimation.

Of course, Lydia had gone a bit overboard. Although he guessed Lydia had tested the projectile's power beforehand, an attack capable of breaching a Mage Shield was quite dangerous. He picked up the firearm and tapped the halfling girl's head a few times with the butt as a warning.

Lydia held her head in pain, looking pitiful.

"Oh, by the way, Professor, how did it feel facing the firearm just now?" Lynn curiously asked.

"It's formidable. An ordinary person who doesn't know magic could master it in just an hour, gaining the power to threaten formal wizards," Kevin's expression turned serious. If the threat from the church wasn't looming, he would strongly advise Lynn to classify the firearm and its manufacturing method as top secret, maybe even destroy them.

Before this, there had been a substantial gap between wizards wielding magic and the common people, especially after becoming a second-tier wizard, being able to learn magic like Mage Shield which offered comprehensive protection.

Without extraordinary power, even if the opponent wielded a bow, or a huge sword, it was challenging to breach a wizard's defense, while their magic could easily kill enemies.

However, the appearance of firearms shattered this norm, allowing a non-magician civilian to possess a preliminary ability to threaten wizards.

However, Kevin quickly discerned the drawbacks, primarily the slow reloading and poor concealment. The gunshot from the firearm could probably be heard even from several hundred meters away.

Moreover, without using specially crafted rune-enchanted projectiles, it would take at least two to three shots to breach a Mage Shield.

Kevin expressed his feelings solemnly.

Lynn also nodded. He was well aware of both the advantages and disadvantages of the flintlock firearm. Instead, it was the bursting projectiles that Philip and others had researched that surprised him.

It seemed that modifying firearms magically might be a good path to explore. Since there was bursting ammunition, why not consider ice, lightning, and other types of bullets?

"How much does it cost to make this firearm? And how long does it take to manufacture?" Raphael hastily inquired.

During his stay in Iyeta Harbor these days, he had just finished evaluating the internal combustion engine and submitted a report to the council. Unexpectedly, Lynn had given him another pleasant surprise.

He had a clear view of the demonstration just now. This thing called a firearm wasn't just powerful enough to breach armor; it was also very user-friendly and could quickly create combat effectiveness, effectively compensating for the low-end combat power of wizards in the region.

This had been a concern of the council for a long time.

According to some grand wizards' speculations, when real large-scale warfare broke out, the church might first send out a large number of low-quality peasant soldiers, strengthen their will with divine spells, and charge in groups to consume the wizards' magic power. The elite forces made up of clergy, divine punishment troops, and griffin riders would then be able to easily determine the outcome.

Within the wizard territory, there was no existence of a so-called army, only some security teams responsible for maintaining order. Although they had begun recruiting and training again, they didn't hold much hope.

Because the hastily conscripted army had no combat experience at all; they'd be lucky if they didn't fall apart immediately in a real battle.

So much so that someone suggested whether the wizard apprentices should be sent to the battlefield. They didn't know much magic, but they could deal with those peasant soldiers, although this suggestion was quickly refuted and dismissed.

Despite these apprentices having little potential left, they had been laboriously cultivated; using them as cannon fodder was a waste.

The appearance of firearms was timely. It meant they could quickly raise a combat-ready force and might even be useful against those low-level clergies.

"We spent around ten days producing this firearm according to the blueprint," Philip said thoughtfully.

"The most challenging part of making a flintlock firearm lies in that seamless gun barrel. I used magic to solve it, but it's not that easy for the craftsmen."

They couldn't develop a corresponding alchemical array just for this gun barrel, could they?

"This can be solved using the internal combustion engine, then drilling holes within a solid steel tube," Lynn interjected, estimating roughly and continued, "For a workshop of fifteen hundred people, producing five hundred firearms a month shouldn't be a problem."

"How is that possible?" Philip was somewhat incredulous.

Doesn't that mean, on average, three people can make a firearm in a month?

"Of course, it's possible. With the division of labor and standardized processes, nothing is impossible!" Lynn stated firmly.

Even now, whether it's the Sekas Empire or the craftsmen in the wizard territory, they still follow traditional manufacturing methods. That is, one craftsman individually makes an item. Compared to modern division-of-labour methods, the efficiency is far too low.

TL/n - 

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