Chapter 129 : Chapter 129

Chapter 129. What Is This?!

"Pay attention, I will now show you the exact steps I’m taking."

Fulan turned the long tube horizontally, aiming it at the apprentices. At that moment, the apprentices saw her drawing spiral patterns inside the gun barrel, even though it was in mid-air.

"What is she doing?" Almost all the apprentices had this question in their minds.

Once she finished the first part of the spiral, Fulan moved on to the second half of the tube.

She sealed the back end of the tube with a new piece of iron, then began making several small openings and grooves along the tube.

While the apprentices could somewhat understand the process of making the hollow tube, they were utterly confused now. Why was she adding all these small designs?

Fulan worked quickly. Within the blink of an eye, she had completed a series of operations that the apprentices didn’t quite understand.

The apprentices were left scratching their heads. Even Elan, who was standing by, had no idea what Fulan was up to.

Finally, after using up some materials, Fulan had completed the weapon.

The gun was made up of a long tube, with two small protrusions at the top used for aiming. There was no trigger, just a handle at the bottom for holding it.

Fulan then took a pointed bullet from a nearby pile of materials and inserted it into the barrel through the side opening.

The apprentices looked at her, puzzled. What was their mentor doing?

"I’m assuming it’s okay for me to shoot at this wall, right?" Fulan asked Elan before proceeding.

Elan nodded, giving her the go-ahead.

Fulan didn’t hold the weapon in her hands but instead used [Telekinetic Hand] to hold it in mid-air. She aimed at the wall and released [Steam Jet] behind the bullet.

In an instant, the bullet shot out of the barrel, and a burst of white steam exploded from the front of the tube, accompanied by a hot, humid air.

What was even more shocking was that a deep hole appeared on the distant wall, with fragments of stone falling around it.

"Did you see that, apprentices?" Fulan turned to the apprentices, who were still stunned by the loud noise and the weapon’s destructive power.

The room fell silent, and a single weak hand rose high into the air.

Fulan looked at the apprentice who had raised their hand and asked, "Do you have a question?"

Osian spoke up: "Mentor, how did you cast the spell inside the barrel, instead of casting it from your body like normal?"

Typically, spells were cast from a mage's body, and it was difficult to cast a spell at a distance like this, let alone cast it through a layer of iron.

Osian had figured out that Fulan was teaching them how the weapon worked, but he was still unsure about the specifics of the spellcasting.

"It’s my oversight," Fulan admitted. "Casting a spell from a distance requires long practice. Actually, you could modify my design later by adding a small hole to allow the spell to enter. However, I recommend practicing distance spellcasting first, so that this weapon's power can be increased."

Other apprentices, following Osian’s lead, began asking their own questions. Why was the rifling necessary? What were the sharp protrusions on the barrel for?

Fulan answered all their questions, and the apprentices were filled with excitement. They could tell that this weapon had great potential.

No matter how you looked at it, if someone aimed a strange-looking tube at you, you'd be forced to wonder what it was.

Unlike bows or crossbows, where you knew to run when you saw them pointed at you, this new weapon could catch anyone off guard.

Kane, in particular, was focused, absorbing every word Fulan said. He thought the weapon was far superior to the crossbows Osian had modified.

Not only was it more portable, but with a crossbow, you could only carry about four, and during use, you'd have to remove it from its fixed position to attack.

But this new weapon was different. It was easy to carry, and he could take six or seven of them. It was also easy to use—just aim and release the spell.

"Next, let me tell you how to improve this weapon," Fulan continued.

She discussed ideas such as making the gun smaller to increase portability, or adding additional mechanisms to allow multiple bullets to be loaded at once...

"My lesson is over now. Class dismissed... This weapon will stay here, and anyone who wants to come and have a look can do so."

The apprentices immediately sprang into action. Some ran straight for the door, eager to try and make the weapon themselves. Others crowded around to observe it more closely.

Fulan turned down one apprentice’s request for a closer look and walked with Elan to another room.

As soon as they entered, Elan gave Fulan a surprised look and said, "I didn’t expect you to come up with a design like this… Why are you teaching them these things?"

Elan’s meaning was clear: such knowledge was clearly high-level and should be reserved for the apprentices to exchange, not taught freely.

This was a common belief on the continent—that valuable knowledge should be kept behind barriers, not easily accessible to everyone.

Although Elan felt that the weapon’s power might not be enough at the first-tier level, it was definitely a deadly tool at the apprentice tier.

Just seeing the hole it made in the wall had shocked him. The weapon’s power, made with basic materials, was astonishing.

Without any precious materials, and with no complex steps in its creation, Elan realized that by the time the assessment came around, everyone might be able to make several of these weapons.

Fulan smiled and replied, "This knowledge isn’t that important. I’m teaching them so the school can easily gain a high ranking."

Fulan had thought this through carefully. The method she was teaching required the Forge Furnace School's unique spell, [Steam Jet].

With magic as a requirement, the gun wouldn’t become too common. But she also knew there was a risk of it being copied, as the Elemental Academy might develop a similar effect with a compressed wind burst.

As long as others couldn’t use gunpowder to create similar effects, using firearms would remain a niche method, especially since they required spells to work, making them a high barrier to entry.

Suddenly, Fulan had a thought. She handed a piece of paper to Elan. He took it, asking, "What’s this?"

"It’s a spell developed by Habos when he was a first-tier mage. He asked me to pass it on to you."

"Oh, I see!" Elan scratched his nose, saying nothing further. He had come from the Law Academy for trade, and it was expected that Habos would carefully consider this before handing over a real spell.

Receiving the spells from Habos now meant that Elan had earned Habos’s true trust.

Fulan held another piece of paper, one she had received from Habos the day before. It contained spells for both the first-tier and second-tier mages.

She believed that she could be promoted to second-tier directly at the Northern Society, which is why Habos had given her the second-tier spells as well.