Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 5 Antoine Laurent
No amount of talk is as effective as a demonstration.

"Come closer," Winters beckoned.

"What to do?"

"Come closer."

Ike bent down.

Then Winters ripped out several strands of his hair from his forehead, causing him to cry from the pain.

Ike kicked the spellcaster on the ground hard.

“You can’t pull mine anyway, I don’t grow my hair long.” Winters chuckled. “Look closely.”

He entered a spellcasting state again, as if being burned by flames, his hair curling up at a visible speed until only a small black ball remained.

Ike's pupils dilated as he stared intently at the few strands of hair, for he saw no flame.

“That’s how it is.” Winters showed the remaining charcoal to Ike: “Magic, replacing fire, takes effect.”

"This is...fire magic?"

"Not quite the same. Without fuel, there's no open flame," Winters said with a self-deprecating laugh. "Fire spells are most practical for things like lighting a lamp. Their power is less than that of a burning piece of firewood. If one day people can carry fire with them, fire spells can be thrown into the trash."

"Magic...doesn't it need spells? Long and complicated spells? The magicians in stories all became so powerful after learning an ancient spell."

“Singing? Who are we singing to?” Winters sighed. “The Alliance speaks Imperial language, but the people of the Bluelands and the United Provinces have different accents. Imperial nobles speak Old Language; the people of the Ancient Empire speak Ancient Language; the Fremans speak Saracen Language; and the people of the Silk Kingdom speak Silk Language.”

People's languages ​​differ greatly; who uses the correct language? Who uses the wrong language? Could it be that the magic of the court mages and the magic of the Saracen sages are two separate language systems? Or perhaps, can the mages of the Silk Kingdom chant in the same language as the imperial court mages?

[Note: Fremen means traveler; the land of silk is Serica]

"The staff? Surely a mage has a staff, right?"

"Why would I practice this if I have a staff?" Winters raised his longsword and gestured. "I might as well practice with a staff. A spellcaster's power comes from within and is not affected by external objects. Give an ordinary person a good sword, and he'll become a swordsman as skilled as you?"

Ike fell silent, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

The process of demystifying is always painful.

From afar it looks like a fine horse, but upon closer inspection it turns out to be a donkey dressed in a horse coat, which would disappoint anyone.

"However, the description of [chanting] may have some basis. General Antoine Laurent believed that for magicians, chanting might be a means of self-suggestion. 'The ritual is not important, what matters is the sense of ritual.' So he invented spellcasting gestures to replace chanting."

“This is the hand gesture used when casting fire-based spells.” Winters raised his left hand, pressing his thumb against his index finger.

"This is the hand gesture when using speed-enhancing spells." He then pressed his thumb against his middle finger.

"This is the hand gesture when using sound-based spells." He finally pressed his thumb against his ring finger.

Winters continued, "Other actions will do—gritting your teeth, licking your lips, touching your nose—any action will do, as long as you associate an action with a type of spell." "Magic? You need hand gestures?"

"Of course, you can do it without gestures, but if you suddenly switch spell types, the caster is likely to be like a clumsy carriage that can't turn the corner and crashes straight into the wall."

It's like asking you to first engage in a sword fight, then suddenly move on to a game of chess. Then you have another sword fight, and then you come back to the chess game. The caster's perception will be confused.

After a moment of digestion, Ike suddenly laughed and said, "I didn't understand anything."

"That's right, you didn't understand."

"But I at least understood one thing: General Antoine Laurent created many things, discovered a lot of knowledge, and was a great man."

“Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier is the father of the Alliance's magic system. Although he didn't know magic, he was the greatest magician.” Winters also put away his frivolous attitude: “He represents humanity's spirit of daring to explore the laws of all things.”

"It's a pity he died too young..."

“It was a headache.” Winters was reluctant to talk about it, since the United Provinces had not yet exonerated Antoine Laurent: “It is said that the general was researching knowledge that could redefine magic in his final days, but after his death, the manuscripts were all lost.”

"So being able to turn water into vapor means you have magical talent? I'll give it a try, maybe I have magical talent too?" Ike quickly changed the subject. He also dipped his hand in water, dripped it onto the stone bench, and then imitated Winters by applying force to the water droplet in the air.

“Vaporizing water is very difficult.” Seeing Ike trying to vaporize water, Winters reminded his friend, “Untrained spellcasters have very weak abilities, almost no different from ordinary people. It’s impossible for them to vaporize water.”

To give you an analogy, if the essence of magic is fire, then an untrained spellcaster isn't even a flame; they're merely a spark from a flint. It requires long-term training to gradually transform into a flame, and eventually into a full-blown fire.

To test for small sparks, you'd need the equipment invented by General Antoine Laurent. Besides, haven't you already tested them?

"When did I get tested?" Ike exclaimed in surprise.

"Didn't you take a test when you entered primary school?" Winters was also surprised: "Didn't everyone have to take a test when they entered primary school? That's when I took the test."

“I was only nine years old when Lu You enrolled, and I really don’t remember whether I took the test or not. How was it done?” Ike thought carefully, but he really had no memory of taking the test.

"I can't remember either, it was in a room with several glass instruments." Winters scratched his head. It was all ten years ago, and he couldn't remember it either.

"It seems like a woman gave me a test. I did whatever she told me to do, and then I left after the test. Later, the teacher said I was a spellcaster, so I had an extra spellcaster course."

Ike shook his head and said regretfully, "I really have no recollection of it. Maybe they didn't test me, or maybe they did but I forgot."

But he cheerfully said, "It doesn't matter. I'll try to see if I can vaporize water now. Haha, what if I'm some overlooked genius? It's not against the rules to try."

After saying this, he dipped his finger in the salt water again and dripped it onto the stone bench. Then he cupped his hand around the droplet to prevent it from being blown away by the wind, and stared intently at it. Winters sat to the side, remaining silent and waiting with great interest for the result.

Human lighter, WM! Although General Antoine Laurent's theories, limited by the times, still contain many errors, he has embarked on the right path. Now, the direction forward has been pointed out by General Antoine Laurent; it is up to future generations to carry on his legacy and forge ahead!

A tribute to Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier, the most revered man, the magician without magic, the father of modern chemistry, the proposer of the theory of conservation of matter, and the creator of the metric unit!

However, the appearance of a general's full name in an online novel could cause unforeseen trouble, so this will most likely be the only time the full name "Antoine Laurent" appears in this book. In this book, "Antoine Laurent" refers to a sage named "Antoine Laurent" from another universe.


(End of this chapter)