Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 6 Three and Five

Winters remained silent as he watched Ike fidgeting around.

Given the Army's thirst for spellcasters, it's unlikely they would overlook a promising cadet.

But it is highly unethical to dismiss someone else's dream, even if it is the truth.

Ike tried his best to "use magic," his face getting closer and closer to the stone bench, his expression becoming increasingly ferocious, his eyes almost touching the water droplets.

Given today's temperature, the water on the stone slab will eventually vaporize, regardless of whether Ike has magical abilities or not.

"Do you feel anything special?" Winters asked.

"Yes, my eyes are extremely dry."

"I just love your sense of humor."

“Water cannot be used to test potential users, otherwise there would be no need for specialized equipment to screen spellcasters.” Winters explained why testing with water is not feasible: “General Antoine Laurent once mentioned that the magic required to vaporize a drop of water is more than the magic required to accelerate an arrow like a hundred-pound bow.”

"However, the general only mentioned it casually, without providing detailed evidence," Winters added. "But during my training, I could sense that water is the most difficult liquid to vaporize. Now do you understand why acceleration spells are generally considered to have the strongest destructive power?"

"Vaporizing this little bit of water doesn't seem to have any use, but speeding up an arrow can kill someone?" Axel replied tentatively.

“That’s right, the difficulty of casting a spell is not related to its power.” Winters shook his head as he thought of the awkward situation of fire magic: “Magic does not exist for killing. Humans are just picking out the magic that is most suitable for killing.”

"What's there to say? Practicing swordsmanship for ten years, only to be shot dead on the battlefield—isn't that even more humiliating?" Ike accepted it easily, drawing inferences: "The Lord didn't create steel and gunpowder for killing, did He? Weren't they created for killing anyway?"

"Ah."

The water droplets on the stone bench had completely disappeared, and Ike felt no sensation of using magic. He was somewhat frustrated: "I really don't have any talent for magic."

"Not necessarily, anyway, it can't be detected with water."

Winters comforted Ike, "If you want to get tested, I'll take you to see Instructor Christian tomorrow; he should be able to help."

Which Christian instructor?
[Christian] means believer, and there are too many people with this name in the Army Academy.

"The head of the spellcasting research department is probably the most powerful spellcaster in the Academy. Don't worry, he's very kind, and you'll definitely be able to ask him for help."

“Forget it, I’m just giving it a try. I don’t really think I’m a spellcaster.” Winters volunteered to help Ike find someone to test him, but Ike became timid.

It's one thing for two people to casually take a few drops of water to test something, but it's quite another to go to the head of the teaching and research office and use specialized instruments.

"Tell me about what it feels like to use magic," Ike said, curious.

“I can’t describe it accurately in words.” No matter how hard Winters tried to organize his thoughts, he couldn’t quite put his finger on it: “For example, can you describe colors to a person who is born blind?”

This question stumped Ike as well. He paused for a while, came up with all sorts of ways to describe it, and finally admitted, "No, how can someone who has never known what color is understand color?"

“It’s the same with the feeling of using magic. How can you describe the feeling of using magic to someone who has never experienced it?” Winters said frankly, then quickly added, “I’m just using an analogy, not saying you’re disabled.”

“Of course I understand what you mean,” Ike said with a gentle smile. “It depends on the standard of a normal person. If the spellcaster is a normal person, then we are indeed all disabled.”

“You’re a normal person; spellcasters are the odd ones out.” Winters quickly changed the subject. “I’ll try my best to describe what it feels like to use magic, but it won’t be very accurate, and it’s only based on my own experience.” “Okay.”

“Sometimes there’s a very strong feeling of pressure, like the whole space is pressing down on me; sometimes there’s a very strong stinging sensation, like being stabbed with a knife; sometimes it’s very cold, and sometimes it’s very hot.” ​​Winters frowned as he recalled the feeling of using magic.

He continued, "The key point is that these sensations don't originate from any part of my body; it's like someone else is being hit but I'm in pain—you know, phantom pain?"

"Does a soldier who has had a limb amputated feel that the severed limb is still there and can still feel pain?"

“Yes, it’s like phantom pain.” Winters nodded. “But for me, it’s not because a part of my body has been cut off that I experience phantom pain, but rather it’s like a part of my body that I’ve never had that is causing the phantom pain.”

The body parts that cause pain have no flesh and blood, yet they have a very real sensation. Calling them limbs isn't entirely accurate, but I don't know how else to describe it precisely. Like I said before, you can't describe colors to a blind person.

"I understand what you're saying a little better now."

"Therefore, Alliance spellcasters refer to magical talent as an invisible 'third hand,' a 'fifth limb' beyond the four limbs. The numbers three and five hold significant symbolic meaning for Alliance spellcasters; hence, the Alliance Spellcasters' Association is also known as the Three-Five Association."

Winters dipped his finger in water and drew a symbol on the stone bench. He first drew a regular pentagon, and then drew lines from one vertex to the other two vertices, dividing the pentagon into three triangles.

“This is the symbol of the Alliance spellcasters. Look at its shape, a regular pentagon divided into three triangles. It can represent a third hand, a fifth limb, or the three triangles can also represent the three major types of magic.” Winters explained the meaning of the symbol to Ike as he drew it.

"So this is the mark of a spellcaster? No wonder you wear this badge every day; I always thought it was the mark of the Hailan Hometown Association!"

"Don't you know this is the mark of a spellcaster?"

"You didn't say that."

"You didn't ask."

This chicken/egg cycle will continue indefinitely.

Winters quickly remembered something else: "Didn't we have a course on counter-magic tactics?"

"It was from the descriptions of the anti-magic teacher that I started to believe that spellcasters could kill me with a flick of their fingers," Ike said with a laugh. "The magic he talked about in class was different from what you told me."

“I think what they were talking about in the anti-magic class was Richard IV’s court mages, the henchmen of the court during the War of Sovereignty.” Winters understood what was going on: “Court mages were few in number and extremely mysterious. Their training and the methods of their spells were unknown to outsiders.”

Winters recalled what he had learned in his literature class about court mages: "The scholars of the Fremanians recorded that the emperor of the ancient Silk Kingdom once summoned a meteor shower, which destroyed hundreds of thousands of rebels. A spellcaster like me who can only light a candle has no idea how such a super spell could be performed."

"Summon a meteor shower? If the court mages were really that powerful, how could Mad Richard have failed to conquer Guitu City?"

"So I think this part of the ancient books is mostly exaggeration. Since it's all exaggeration anyway, they'll definitely exaggerate it as much as possible," Winters laughed.

The Book of the Later Han Dynasty, Annals of Emperor Guangwu: At night, a meteor fell into the camp, and during the day, a cloud like a collapsing mountain fell into the camp, but did not reach the ground by more than a foot before dispersing. The officers and soldiers were all disgusted and subdued.

The Book of Jin, Annals of Emperor Xuan: He met with Zhuge Liang at Jishi and fought on the plain. Zhuge Liang could not advance and retreated to Wuzhang Plain. Then a long star fell on Zhuge Liang's camp. The emperor knew that he would be defeated. He sent a surprise force to attack Zhuge Liang from the rear. They killed more than 500 people, captured more than 1,000 people alive, and more than 600 people surrendered.

The Book of Jin, Annals of Emperor Xuan: At that time, a long star, white in color and with a piercing ray, flowed from the southwest of Xiangping City to the northeast and fell into the Liang River, causing the city to tremble. Emperor Wenyi was greatly frightened and ordered his appointed prime minister, Wang Jian, and the imperial censor, Liu Fu, to surrender and request the lifting of the siege and their capture.

(End of this chapter)