Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Watching Aike fumble about, Winters remained noncommittal. He felt that given the army's eagerness for spellcasters, it was unlikely that a cadet with the potential to cast spells would be overlooked.

But to flatly deny someone's dream is highly unethical, even if what's said is the truth.

Aike strived to "use magic," his face getting closer and closer to the stone bench, his expression increasingly fierce, his eyes nearly glued to the water droplet.

However, Winters thought that with today's temperature, whether Aike had the ability to cast spells or not, the water on the stone would surely evaporate.

"Do you feel anything special?" Winters asked Aike.

"Right now, my eyes feel particularly dry."

"That's what I like about you, your sense of humor."

"Water can't be used to test for potential, otherwise there would be no need for special equipment to screen spellcasters," Winters explained why water tests wouldn't work: "General Antoine-Laurent once mentioned that vaporizing a droplet of water requires more magic power than accelerating an arrow as if it were fired from a hundred-pound hard bow."

"But the general just mentioned it in passing, without a detailed argument," Winters continued: "However, I can also feel during my regular training that water is the hardest liquid to vaporize. Now do you see why spells of acceleration are recognized as the most lethal?"

"So vaporizing this bit of water seems useless, but accelerating an arrow can take a life?" Axel pondered for a moment and tentatively replied.

"Exactly, the difficulty of the spell does not correlate with its lethality," Winters thought about the awkward status of the current fire magic spells: "Magic wasn't created for battle, humans simply picked out the spells that are suitable for killing."

"Hey, what's there to talk about, isn't it more frustrating to spend ten years on swordsmanship only to die from a gunshot on the battlefield?" Aike accepted the reality quickly and drew a parallel: "Gods didn't create steel and gunpowder for killing, right? Aren't they still used to take lives?"

"Spellcasters don't believe in gods, but I agree with your view."

The water droplets on the stone bench had all disappeared, but Aike hadn't experienced any sensation of using magic. He said somewhat dejectedly, "It seems I indeed lack the talent for spells."

"Not necessarily, but anyway, water can't be used to test it," Winters said, indicating that regardless of whether Aike had potential, water testing was unsuitable. He consoled Aike, "If you really want to test, after the awarding of ranks tomorrow, I'll take you to find Instructor Christian. He should have a way."

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"Which Instructor Christian?" Aike asked, as Christian meant believer, and it was a common name at the school.

"Head of the Spellcasters Teaching and Research Office, he should be the most powerful spellcaster in school," Winters assured Aike with confidence: "Don't worry, he has a good temperament, asking for his assistance will definitely be no problem."

"Forget about it, I was just trying it out, I never really thought I was a spellcaster." While Winters offered eagerly to find someone to test Aike, Aike backed out. It was one thing to test casually with a few drops of water; going to see the head of the Teaching and Research Office and using specialized equipment was totally another matter.

"Just tell me about the sensation of using magic, don't talk about the theory of magic, it gives me a headache." Aike was very curious about what it felt like to be a magician.

"I can't accurately describe it with language either," Winters said helplessly, feeling no matter how he phrased it, he couldn't describe it properly: "Let me give you an example, don't be upset, but can you describe colors to a person born blind?"

This question stumped Aike as well. He thought for a long while and came up with various descriptions but ultimately admitted, "No, how can someone who has never known colors understand them?"

"It's the same with the feeling of using magic. How can you describe the sensation to someone who has never experienced magic?" Winters spoke frankly, quickly adding: "I'm just making a comparison, I'm not saying you're disabled, don't get upset."

"I can certainly understand what you're saying," Aike said with a gentle smile: "It depends on what you consider normal. If spellcasters are the norm, then indeed, we are all disabled."

"You are normal, spellcasters are the exceptions," Winters quickly changed the subject: "I will still try my best to describe the sensation of using magic, though it won't be very accurate and is limited to my own experiences."

"Alright."

"Sometimes there's an intense squeezing sensation, as if the entire space is compressing towards me; sometimes there's a sharp, stabbing pain, as if I were being pierced with a knife; sometimes it's very cold, and at other times extremely hot," Winters frowned as he reflected on his experience with magic.

He continued, "The point is that these feelings don't come from any specific part of my body. It's like someone else is getting hit, but I feel the pain. Do you know what phantom limb pain is?"

"Is it when amputated soldiers feel as if their severed limbs are still there and even experience pain?" Aike recalled content from his health class.

"Exactly, it's like phantom limb pain," Winters nodded. "But for me, it's not about feeling pain where a body part has been amputated; it's as if the pain comes from a limb I've never possessed.

The source of pain has no flesh and blood but possesses a real sensation. To call it a limb isn't quite accurate, yet I don't know how to describe it precisely. Just like I mentioned earlier, it is impossible to describe colors to a blind person," he said.

"I think I'm beginning to grasp what you're talking about," Aike replied thoughtfully.

"That's why the Alliance spellcasters refer to the gift of magic as the invisible 'third hand,' the 'fifth limb' beyond the four limbs. The numbers three and five hold significant symbolic meaning to the Alliance spellcasters, which is why the Alliance of Spellcasters is also known as the Three-Five Society."

Winters dipped his hand in water and drew a symbol on the stone bench. He began by drawing a pentagon and then connected one vertex to two others, dividing the pentagon into three triangles.

"This is the emblem of the Alliance spellcasters. Look at its shape; a pentagon divided into three triangles. It can represent the third hand, the fifth limb, and the three major types of magic," Winters explained to Aike the meaning behind the symbol as he drew it.

"So this is the emblem of the spellcasters? And here I was thinking you wore this badge every day because it was the insignia of the Sea Blue Fellowship!"

"You didn't know this was the spellcasters' emblem?"

"You never mentioned it, did you?"

"You never asked, did you?"

This chicken-and-egg cycle could go on endlessly. Aike explained why he hadn't asked, "The school doesn't allow us to inquire about spellcasters. Besides, you all attend spellcasting classes on Sundays. While we go to church, you have classes, and we've never eavesdropped."

"It really wasn't necessary, seeing as you'll eventually find out in the army. No wonder you had the wrong impression of spellcasters," Winters quickly remembered something else: "But haven't we taken tactics classes on countering enemy mages?"

"It's precisely because of how the instructor in the anti-mage tactics class described it that I thought spellcasters could kill me with just a flick of their fingers," Aike said with a wry smile. "What he described in class is very different from what you're telling me."

"I think what's described in the anti-magic class must be related to Richard IV's enforcers during the Sovereign Wars—the court wizards," Winters realized what was being misconstrued: "Court wizards are few and shrouded in mystery. Their training and the methods of casting spells are unknown to outsiders."

Winters took a moment to recall what he had learned about court wizards in his literature class: "Flemish scholars documented that ancient emperors of Silk Country once summoned meteor showers to destroy hundreds of thousands of rebels. It's unimaginable. Someone like me, who can barely light a candle, can't fathom how to perform such super spells."

"Summoning a meteor shower? If court wizards were really that powerful, wouldn't the madman Richard have conquered Guidao City?" Aike also found it hard to believe.

"That's why I think there's a lot of exaggeration in that part of the ancient records. Anyway, if people are going to exaggerate, they definitely tend to go big," Winters said, laughing.

————I am the dividing line of the Starfall Spell————

Book of Later Han - Annals of Emperor Guangwu: "At night, a meteor fell in the camp; during the day, a cloud like a crumbling mountain appeared, falling over the camp and dispersing before it reached a foot above the ground, causing all officers and soldiers to be filled with dread."

Book of Jin - Annals of Emperor Xuan: "Meeting with Liang at Jisheng, he fought on the plains. Liang was unable to advance and withdrew to Wuzhang Plains. Then a long-tailed star fell on Liang's rampart, and the Emperor knew defeat was inevitable so he sent troops to attack Liang from behind, beheading more than five hundred and capturing over a thousand prisoners, with over six hundred surrendering."

Book of Jin - Annals of Emperor Xuan: "At that time, a long-tailed star, white and with a mane-like appearance, streaked from the southwest of Xiangping city to the northeast, falling into the Liang River, shaking the city with terror. Wen Yi, greatly afraid, sent his appointed chancellor Wang Jian and Grand Herald Liu Fu to surrender, requesting to lift the siege and presenting themselves in shackles."