Please pull the trigger for this world one more time.

"What is there that you don't understand? Is your mind completely focused on etheric imagery and your work?"

Sober seemed somewhat helpless. "Would you rather be disfigured than not clean? If he had been even a little slower, your nose would have been ruined."

Sober moved closer, lowered his voice, and spoke rapidly, "Are you stupid? Go and try to get some information out of him, ask him about what he has and his equipment. He's a hot-blooded young man, he won't refuse you. Go now!"

"……ha?"

......

Mo Zian sat on a rock, lit the record he had finished reading, and through the firelight, he saw a graceful female elf approaching.

"..."

The female elf with wet hair walked up to him, staring down at him without saying a word for a long time.

A figure flashed, and Han Dafu appeared beside Mo Zian. Mo Zian and Han Dafu exchanged a glance and began to stare at each other.

Come on, who's afraid of who? Four eyes can't out-glare you two?

"...Thank you." The unusually hesitant female elf uttered a somewhat awkward Guangwu language.

"You're welcome," Mo Zian replied generously. "Hail, Child of Light, may you be blessed, Rohida (a polite term for an unmarried girl)."

The young female elf was visibly taken aback, then quickly straightened her posture slightly. "Oshimunedoral (May the Holy Light be above you)... Do you understand our language?"

"No, but my childhood friend is mixed-race, and my uncle is an even pure white elf. I remember he came from Cuifei City." Mo Zian smiled slightly. "These are the only two phrases I know for greeting."

"Cuifei City! I'm also from Cuifei City, but my hometown is actually Zaoguo Town, which is nearby."

The female elf seemed somewhat surprised. After successfully exchanging greetings, her awkwardness subsided considerably, and even her Wuhan dialect became less stilted. "My name is Elena, Elena Grayhawk Crown."

"My name is Mo Zi'an," Mo Zi'an then pointed to the side, "and this is Han Dafu."

"I sensed Salia's presence on you. Are you one of her followers?" Elena asked Han Dafu hastily.

"That's right," Han Dafu replied calmly. "I served the goddess at the Temple of the Night God in Tianhe Port for several years."

"Sit down for a while. We all need to take a break. If you don't mind, we can sit down and chat for a bit."

Mo Zian pointed to the stone opposite him, "I see you're fighting with a longsword, are you a shape-based swordsman?"

"Yes! How did you know?" Elena asked in surprise, pulling a silk scarf from her pouch and placing it on the rock.

"My childhood friend told me that you are a very special type of mage who practice physical arts and are extremely good at amplification spells. Those who go even further will tattoo etheric shapes on their bodies."

Mo Zian showed a hint of interest. "Actually, I'm a little curious. In my impression, the Holy Light Dynasty is a country of mages. Do they also have martial arts traditions there?"

"Of course."

Elena answered readily, "Actually, elves all have inherited ancient martial arts techniques, and there were quite a few martial artists among elves in the past... It's just that because elves are more likely to become mages, mages have become very popular, and many traditions have been abandoned."

Sensing a hint of melancholy in Elena's tone, Mo Zian took out a paper package from his backpack and handed it to her. "Here, this is candy. It's nothing expensive, just something that can quickly replenish your energy. My hands are a bit dirty, so you can take it yourself."

"Oh, Oromo (thank you)... Um, thank you."

After Elena picked up a piece with her fingers, Mo Zian took back the paper packet, and a hamster next to him had already opened its little mouth, waiting to be fed.

After feeding Han Dafu a few pieces, Mo Zian put a few pieces in his own mouth and said, "Actually, I can understand what you're saying. It's like how our Guangwu people's ether guns initially developed into two schools, but in the end we only adopted one."

"Oh! Really!" Elena's eyes lit up a little. Mo Zian's topic reminded her of her original purpose.

"Yes, the main distinction is made by the type of bullet: ejected and un-ejected. Ultimately, due to various reasons, we Guangwu people kept the un-ejected bullets."

The Chenhuan people used gunpowder guns, so they retained the ejection-type design. Generally speaking, guns that did not eject casings were called "chong" (铳), and those that ejected casings were called "qiang" (枪).

Mo Zian said calmly, "Actually, I think that whether it's a school of thought or a weapon, it's all a choice made by the tides of history. I'm also quite curious about how the revival of the Shape-Based Swordsmen came about."

"My first teacher always praised my talent for swordsmanship because the weaknesses of mages are too obvious."

Elena shrugged. "The Chenhuan people's gunpowder guns are somewhat better, but when facing your... uh, Guangwu people's ether guns, low-level mages are just sitting ducks."

There's no time to raise the shield when bullets come, and even if you raise a low-level shield, it won't stop the bullets.

Decades ago, during the internal strife between the North and South, the mercenaries employed by the Guangwu people left a deep impression on us.

Therefore, it's no secret that our Holy Light Dynasty's army later underwent sweeping reforms.

"Yes, I know that."

Han Dafu chimed in, "Didn't our textbook say that they trained professional soldiers called 'magic soldiers' and basically abolished the original mage recruitment system?"

Mo Zian continued to ask, "But what does this have to do with the Shape-Taming Swordsman?"

"Our thinking comes from these so-called professional soldiers."

Elena said, "They followed your ideas and invented the battle staffs we have now. You see, those over there, there are quite a few kinds."

Mo Zian turned his head and glanced at it. "To be honest, I think calling it a spear would be more appropriate."

The so-called "battle staffs" that Elena mentioned had a triangular spearhead at the top, with symmetrical curved blades on both sides of the spearhead that were advantageous for slashing, and a crystal ball was inlaid at the connection between the spearhead and the shaft.

"Oh, it's a grammar problem."

Elena explained, "In our elf concept, anything that can assist in spellcasting is categorized as a 'staff,' which is the word 'Ashur.'"

Elena pointed to the crystal ball at the hilt of her sword, "Look, my longsword is the same."

Mo Zian glanced at Elena's exquisite sword hilt. "Your equipment is really good. Ordinary soldiers definitely couldn't afford it, right?"

"Of course!"

Elena slightly raised her delicate chin. "This sword belongs to me. It cost me almost all of my wealth... The ones ordinary soldiers use are mass-produced. Those things that can only fire energy blasts can't be called 'Ashur' at all."

"Can't ordinary soldiers cast spells?" Mo Zian asked curiously. "At the very least, they should..."

"No, it's not that ordinary soldiers can't, but that they don't need to cast spells most of the time," Elena said. "When they are drafted, they receive a lot of training, such as improving their physical fitness and ether reserves, but they don't receive any spellcasting training."

They only needed to use those "standard staffs" that could only fire various energy projectiles as their offensive means, while their defensive measures came from the various shields on their armor.

"Won't you inscribe other shapes?" Mo Zian continued to ask.

"Yes, but engraving various shapes is very expensive and requires a high level of technical skill."

Irene stood out for her candidness, saying, "Either you need a promotion or to be rich, but how many of those who become soldiers come from wealthy families?"

Mo Zian looked enlightened and said, "I understand. It's actually the same as our Guangwu Empire. Ordinary soldiers are mainly issued a standard rifle."

By the way, Elena, are you interested in ether guns?

"It's alright... I'm quite interested."

Elena suddenly remembered the purpose of her trip again. "I actually just wanted to... I'm quite curious about the weapon you have. I know that your Guangwu army has a much higher degree of standardization than ours. Is this your standard weapon?"

"No." Mo Zian shook his head decisively. "This is my own weapon. Just like your sword, it's not something that can be widely deployed. Moreover, it has a high barrier to entry, and not everyone can handle it well."

"Hey, his family sells this stuff." Han Dafu, who was leaning against a rock and resting with his eyes closed, pointed at Mo Zian.

"Oh, right, since we've brought it up..."

Mo Zian pulled a card out of his pocket and handed it to Elena with a bright smile. "My family does indeed run an ether gun factory, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that in the entire Guangwu Empire, my family's level is among the best."

If you need to buy some self-defense weapons, you might consider us.

"Okay, okay."

Elena happily accepted the card, but suddenly felt like something was off...