Chapter 574 - 365: Barbarian Musicians
Chapter 574: Chapter 365: Barbarian Musicians
When the many battles at High Cliff Castle ended and a rare period of peace began, Mier dove headfirst into the design workshop of the blacksmith’s forge.
After studying the various weapons and armaments from Kolon and Gonda that had been gathering dust, it was as if he’d been divinely inspired. Ideas began to pour out of him at an incredible rate.
The blacksmith forges were no longer scattered haphazardly around the Bengyong River. They had been organized into High Cliff Castle’s new armory district.
High walls now surrounded the area, where rows of forges sat nestled together, their chimneys belching thick smoke. This was a military restricted zone of High Cliff Castle, off-limits to unauthorized personnel. Any ill-intentioned person who dared to approach would be swiftly met with the fists of the Jackal Wolfman Guards on duty. They would then be handed over to Leiden for interrogation, and the matter would ultimately reach the Lord’s ears.
Levi had originally planned to visit Ash and her party, but now that Mier had developed new standard-issue equipment, he couldn’t possibly restrain his curiosity. He immediately walked down the straight, red-brick road and into the armory district.
When he arrived, the first batch of Magic Crystal Arrows was just being distributed to the Griffin Knights for a test firing.
A crowd of Knights was packed together, all eager to witness the power of the new arrows for themselves. When the Lord arrived, the crowd parted like the Red Sea for Moses, automatically clearing a direct path to the center.
"I’m not too late, am I?"
"The arrows were just handed out, Lord. They haven’t been test-fired yet," Si Kai said, pointing to the five Feder Archers at the front. They were each holding a White Feather Arrow and examining it repeatedly.
Levi took the Arrow Si Kai handed him and examined it. He noticed the difference the moment he held it.
The shaft was just an ordinary, straight white pole, but the tip of the Arrowhead wasn’t a sharp blade. Instead, it had a tiny, almost invisible, firing pin.
"What’s this for?"
Logically, a design like this sacrificed sharpness. While it could still pierce flesh without issue, it would be useless against Armor.
"It’s Mier’s design," Si Kai explained. "Remember those leftover Magic Crystals you brought back from the Wind Speech Tribe, Lord? Mier originally wanted to see if he could find a use for them by repairing Kemish’s suit of Magic Armor. However, he discovered that the Primordial Magic Power contained within those crystals was extremely concentrated and violent. It couldn’t be used like ordinary Magic Power at all."
Levi remembered that suit of Armor. It had a defensive Magic spell engraved on it, but it hadn’t even withstood a single kick from him. He had shattered the Magic Stone on the chest that served as its power source, and the Armor had been tossed into a High Cliff Castle warehouse to gather dust ever since.
"Then, by chance, Mier discovered that if you confined this Primordial Magic Power in a sealed space and then applied a certain amount of pressure, you could detonate the already highly active power," Si Kai said with a faint smile, letting Mier take over the explanation.
"So, I hollowed out the center of the Arrowhead and filled it with Primordial Magic Power. A firing pin strikes it, applying pressure and detonating the Magic Power," Mier said, looking a little sheepish before his expression turned troubled. "But the problem is, the craftsmanship required for the Arrowhead is too demanding. There’s no way to mass-produce them."
Just grinding the firing pins alone had kept him awake for days and nights.
"Let’s test it first," Levi said, unconcerned. It was only natural for a prototype to have flaws.
To be honest, the common use for these Magic Crystals was to dilute them into ordinary Magic Power. This was then used to create various Magic Potions for Mages to replenish their power, or to serve as an energy source for Magic Equipment or Magic Arrays.
Mier was the first person to ever apply raw Primordial Magic Power directly to a weapon.
In the presence of their Lord, the normally nonchalant Griffin Knights took a deep breath and grew serious.
These Griffin Knights were formerly Feder Archers. When it came to archery, even the Centaur Warriors were slightly less skilled. Their eyes were as sharp as eagles’ as they drew their bows, nocked their arrows, and took aim at the wooden dummies in Heavy Armor nearly two hundred paces away.
At the command, they released their Magic Crystal Arrows in unison.
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
The expressions on the onlookers’ faces were as if they had just seen an Undead.
It wasn’t that the five Arrows had missed their mark. They had all, without a doubt, struck the heads of the wooden dummies two hundred paces away. What shocked everyone was that the instant the Arrows hit the helmets, they erupted in an azure explosion. The powerful turbulence of Magic Power blew the armored wooden dummies to smithereens.
"Holy moly!" Zat exclaimed, unable to stop himself from wiping the drool that had trickled from the corner of his mouth.
If one of those hit a person, not even their own mother would be able to recognize what was left.
Levi looked down at the Magic Crystal Arrow in his hand. He walked over to an open space, pinched the Arrowhead between two fingers, and squeezed. With a BOOM, the Arrowhead exploded. A massive torrent of azure Magic Power washed over him, but in the end, it only managed to ruffle the hem of his clothes.
"The power’s decent. It’s almost on par with an attack from a Middle Level Combat Qi Knight," Levi mused. The power reminded him of the Dragon Vein Dog-man who controlled the Fire Element; their destructive force was comparable.
The crowd was completely unfazed by this display. They were all too familiar with their Lord’s inhuman constitution. They even suspected that if he were hit with a blast of Dragon Breath, their boss would probably just take a bath and start singing in it.
Unlike the Holy Sith Kingdom, High Cliff Castle had no Alchemists and thus couldn’t manufacture Magic Equipment. For Mier to give an Arrow the power of Magic Equipment through such a simple design was truly commendable.