Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 20 Fire Tornado

There was no time, no space, no matter, no fluctuations, only boundless darkness… No, here, even the concept of darkness itself did not exist; it was pure “nothingness.” After an unknown amount of time, a spark suddenly appeared within this “nothingness”—Winters regained consciousness.

His hearing returned first: what were those chaotic sounds? Then his sense of touch returned: he seemed to be lying down, was he on a bed? It seemed to be a very hard bed? Finally, his vision began to return. Winters first sensed light, then he struggled to open his eyes, but his vision was blurry and he couldn't focus.

After regaining sensation in his body, he was immediately met with intense pain. This pain was not pain in the normal sense, but rather similar to the pain experienced when using magic. The pain did not originate from any part of Winters' body, but it was undeniably tormenting him.

Winters wanted to scream in pain, but he could only weakly open his mouth; no sound came out. He tried to lift his arm, but there was no response. It seemed he had only regained sensation in his body, but not control over his muscles.

For Winters, it was like a sudden, deep sleep; he couldn't even remember when he lost consciousness. No memory, no concept of time, not even a dream.

In the last moment he could remember, he was still fighting a fire in Guitu City. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he had lost control of his body and was suffering terribly on a hard bed in some unknown place.

"He's awake! He's awake!" Winters heard someone shout excitedly.

"Who is it? Where am I? What happened to me?" Winters' consciousness was still sluggish, and thinking had become a difficult task for him. His eyes still couldn't focus, and everything in his field of vision seemed to be a dark brown color.

A little warm liquid trickled into his mouth; it didn't seem to be water, but rather had a slightly bitter taste. His swallowing reflex made Winters instinctively drink it down. It turned out someone had gently lifted his upper body and was feeding him little by little with a spoon. Seeing that Winters could swallow, they continued feeding him spoonful after spoonful.

After being fed, Winters was put back in his original position, lying down. His consciousness began to blur, and he soon drifted off to sleep.

I closed my eyes again, then opened them again. Still no memory, no concept of time, not even a dream.

But when Winters woke up again, he felt much better. Although the pain hadn't completely disappeared, it wasn't as intense as before, making him want to writhe on the floor; it had become bearable.

Indeed, for Winters, the last time he woke up was "just now." He had no real sense of the passage of time; he only felt that he regained consciousness the moment he closed and opened his eyes.

This time, Winters' eyes were finally able to focus. He carefully examined his surroundings: the ceiling was very close, almost within reach, and the material seemed to be...wooden planks?

He could move his limbs again, and quickly reached his hand out of the bed to touch it. There was a wall next to him, and the material seemed to be...wooden?

Winters could no longer lie still. With a push of his waist and abdomen, he sat up and tried to make out his surroundings: a cramped and dark wooden room, many ropes, and the whole room was swinging rhythmically... He seemed to be in a ship's cabin?
What? I'm on a ship?? Winters was taken aback.

"Huh?! You're awake?" A booming voice rang in Winters' ears, the loud tone making his ears ring: "Report to the general! Someone has woken up!"

Upon hearing that distinctively loud voice, Winters could recognize who it was just by ear. The only person who could speak that loudly without amplification was Winters' fellow countryman in the cavalry, Andrea Cellini, whom everyone usually called Andrea.

Winters himself wasn't exactly known for his good temper, so his friends were all very tolerant. Andrei, on the other hand, was a carbon copy of Winters; both were typical fiery and impulsive Veneta people. Similar personalities often clash, so although they were from the same Republic of Aquamarine, they weren't particularly close.

However, for Winters, who had just woken up from a deep coma, Andrei's loud voice brought him a sense of reassurance.

Winters looked around and found several unconscious classmates beside him. He wasn't lying on a bed, but rather on a plank of wood with some padding. He desperately wanted to know his surroundings: "Am I on a ship?"

"Yes, it's on the ship," Andrei replied affirmatively.

"How did I end up on the ship?" Winters was still puzzled.

"They were carried aboard. You were all unconscious and couldn't be woken up, so everyone carried you onto the ship." Andrei's understanding of the issue was rather unique.

“I’m asking me… what are we going to do by boat now?” Winters asked again, using an unambiguous phrasing.

"Take a boat home, back to Veneta (Sea Blue)."

"Shouldn't we go back by land?" Winters was even more confused.

“They said the roads were difficult to travel this year, so they sent a boat to pick us up.” After explaining their current situation to Winters, Andrei asked a strange question: “Do you remember what you did?”

"What did I do?" Winters found the question very strange.

Andrei asked again, tentatively, "You really forgot?"

"What do you want me to remember?" Winters was completely confused. He struggled to stand up, and Andrei quickly reached out to support him.

“You burned down Guitu City! Burned it down! Don’t you remember?” Andrei’s words hit Winters like cannonballs.

"Burned? What burned?" Winters felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing this, and the last trace of dizziness in his mind vanished. He asked in horror, "Weren't we putting out a fire? What, we burned down Guitu City?"

“Yes, we were originally fighting a fire, and the minister ordered us to demolish houses. Then all of you spellcasters were called away, and as soon as you used your magic, you summoned a firestorm.” Andrei was completely unaware of the impact his words had on Winters: “After the firestorm appeared, the fire intensified. The firebreaks were useless, so we all retreated. When we left by boat, the people were spreading rumors that it was the military academy's magicians who summoned hellfire to burn down Guitu City.”

"How could this be? We went to put out a fire! What firestorm?" Winters never expected things to turn out this way. He suddenly remembered the last scene he had: a giant serpent of fire soaring into the sky.

"Tell me, what was that firestorm like?" Winters had too many things he wanted to know, so he had to ask the most important questions first. Standing was too tiring, so he sat back down on the makeshift bed.

“Let me think… it’s like a rope connecting heaven and earth.” Andrei tried to describe Winters’s condition after losing consciousness with his limited vocabulary: “A swirling rope of fire… a fire tornado!” Andrei was satisfied with his metaphor and repeated, “A fire tornado!”

Recalling the last scene he witnessed, Winters realized that the fire tornado might really be related to him... no, to all the spellcasters who used wind manipulation spells at the time.

"How is Guitu City now?" Winters was eager to know the consequences.

"Half the city was burned down. If it weren't for the torrential rain, the whole city would probably have been reduced to ashes." Andrei hesitated before asking the question that had been bothering him: "Was it really a fire tornado that you summoned?"

“I don’t know… I really don’t know…” The intense pain struck Winters again, and he curled up in agony as he answered. He really didn’t know whether the fire tornado Andrei mentioned had anything to do with the spellcasters.

"It's alright, it's alright, don't worry about it." Seeing Winters' pained expression, Andrei thought he was feeling guilty about burning down Guitu City, so Andrei quickly comforted Winters: "Anyway, it's their territory, so what if it's burned down? Even if it's all burned down, it's none of our business! Anyway, we're going home."

Andrei, who came from the Republic of the Blue Sea, clearly did not empathize with the disaster in the provincial capital.

Winters was now in a difficult position: "I never admitted to starting it... I just said I wasn't sure, and I really wasn't sure if it was related to the spellcaster... Besides, I didn't start the initial fire, so why does it sound like I'm the undisputed arsonist?"
A series of rapid clattering sounds of military boots against the deck came from inside the small cabin. Winters gritted his teeth, stood up, and stood at attention with Andrei, saluting.

"It's good that you're awake!" The officer in the general's uniform spoke first. This middle-aged general was handsome, tall, and had a meticulously groomed mustache. Even without his uniform, one could not mistake his profession, because his military bearing was so obvious in every gesture.

The general ended the pleasantries with a single sentence, asking Winters directly: "I need to ask you something, and you must tell the truth. Did the Army Officer School intentionally cause your comas?"

Winters quickly analyzed the situation; this high-ranking officer was probably the "general" Andrei had mentioned earlier. He rallied his spirits and honestly replied, "Reporting to the general, I don't know!"

Upon hearing Winters' words, the officer frowned: "Then tell me what you know."

Winters recalled the events of that night: "The instructor gathered all the spellcasters together and had us use Wind Manipulation to change the wind direction of the fire. I only remember using Wind Manipulation; I have no memory of the rest. When I woke up, I was here."

"You said all spellcasters, right? All of them, not just spellcasters from the Blue Ocean, but also spellcasters from the United Provinces?" The officer keenly grasped the key information he wanted and pressed for more details.

“That’s right, it’s all spellcasters, including spellcasters from the United Provinces.” Winters’ impression was that all spellcasters were gathered there, without any deliberate selection of who went and who didn’t, and naturally there were also students from the United Provinces.

The officer got the answer, but his expression showed he was very dissatisfied with it. He didn't press further, clearly having lost interest in Winters: "Alright, I understand. Take good care of yourself. Tell me immediately if you remember anything else."

The officer ended the conversation perfunctorily and turned to leave the small cabin.

Winters also vaguely grasped the underlying logic: it seemed that the general really wanted the federal military to take responsibility for his coma.

After the general left, the officer who had come with him spoke. He was a handsome young man with a beaming smile. Compared to his officer's uniform, his face seemed rather young. His smile had a nonchalant ease, as if to say that he didn't care much about anything.

"Sit down, sit down, don't stand." The officer waved his hand kindly, gesturing for Winters to sit down.

Winters didn't dare to actually sit down, only nodding but not moving.

"Alright, I'll sit down first." The officer didn't put on airs and sat down on the ground with ease, even finding a cabin board to lean against comfortably.

Seeing that Winters and Andrei still dared not move, he smiled and advised them, "Relax, we are alumni. I am just a few years ahead of you. Don't be so concerned about rank. It's tiring for me to look up and talk to you while you're standing."

Upon hearing that the person in front of them was an alumnus, Winters and Andre relaxed a little and sat down on the ground, but their backs remained ramrod straight.

“You’re both warrant officers now, and have entered the officer rank. We’re only a few years apart in terms of seniority.” The two cadets were still a little reserved, but the officer didn’t press them. He introduced himself first: “That was Brigadier General Layton, and I’m Major Moritz. You can call me Moritz, senior, or major, whatever you prefer. By the way, what are your names?”

"Hello, senior! I am Winters Montagne."

"Hello, senior! I am Andrea Cellini."

The waves and the pattering rain pounded against the hull, and the ship swayed rhythmically back and forth like a pendulum amidst the sounds of wind, rain, and waves. Only a small, half-open ventilation window allowed light in, making the small cabin very dim.

"Winters, how are you feeling right now?" Major Moritz asked Andrei a question that seemed completely baffling.

"What?" Winters was a little confused.

"Feelings, how you feel right now."

Winters knew what Major Moritz was asking: "Pure pain, but still barely tolerable. The last time I woke up, the pain was unbearable."

Winters thought to himself, "I feel like I'm still in a spellcasting state." But Major Moritz wasn't wearing the Three-Five Association's badge, so he was clearly not a spellcaster. Therefore, even if Winters explained it to him, he wouldn't understand what a spellcasting state was. So Winters chose to describe it in a way that ordinary people could understand.

After hearing Winters' words, Major Moritz took out a small silver coin, fiddled with it in his hand, and fell into thought.

(End of this chapter)