C39- A New Weapon (3)

"I don't understand how you think this will even work..."

"Me neither..."

"Just trust me, okay?"

Corvin was holding a metal tube with a wooden handle in his hands as the three were standing in the archery targets at the Institute. He aimed the tube towards the target and held his breath.

"Can you tell me why are you using an old medicinal powder for the explosion, when you can just use an explosive made by an alchemist like most people would do?"

"Hm? Because this isn't made by an alchemist."

"Why?"

"Machines can't produce a magically created explosive, and this thing they called 'black powder' is really just an explosive rather than medicine. I don't know why they listed it as an old medicine in the book."

"You want to mass produce this thing?"

"This? No way! You will- Cough, We will come up with a good design and then mass produce it! It is mostly metal, you know? We can get that from the Margravate. And for the black powder..... We will find a way to make it eventually!"

"Ugh... You didn't think this through, did you?"

"Well, it was an idea that came to my mind when my sword shattered in the middle of my fight with a rat. But you should have seen it, when small metal pieces go that fast, it really shreds anything in front of it away."

"Will that... thing... work here?", she asked while pointing at the crude metal pipe in his hands.

"Probably..."

Step step step

"Hah~ Hah~ Why did I have to do this?", asked Noah who just ran there, out of breath.

"Because the idea was his and I made the thing so the responsibility of telling people about the loud noise of this thing falls to you."

"Right... No I don't get it! I never agreed being a part of this madness!"

"Neither did I, Noah. But don't you just want to see Corvin when that thing explodes on his face?"

"Hm? Hehe, now I want to see that!"

"Hey! How are you guys my friends?!"

"Shut up and just show it to us Corvin!"

"Sigh~, You wanted it."

He lifted the pipe up to his shoulder and brought a matchstick at the hole at the end of the pipe, where the black powder was stuffed inside.

"Now watch me as I launch the fastest metal ball ever in this school's history!"

He said and shoved the lit matchstick into the hole.

Booom!

*****

"You need to not do anything like that for at least two days.", said Amy who was applying a medicine to Corvin's shoulder.

He failed. The bullet didn't launch and just dropped out of the hole at walking speed, and instead most of the fire burst out of the hole he used to burn the black powder, burning his shoulder really bad. 

"I think I know the problem, so it won't happen again-"

Smack!

Amy hit his head lightly.

"No, you should stop! And maybe even stop going to class today as well. No matter how good my medicine is, you still did eat an explosion almost right on your face."

"R-right... Thank you for the medicine, Amy."

"No problem. The nursery is closed after school, and I can't leave my employer like that."

"Am I not a friend anymore?!"

"You are, don't worry."

"I wasn't really worried or anything actually...", he muttered.

Amy hit his head again, this time a little bit harder.

"You don't say that to a friend, idiot. At least keep it inside your head."

"Sorry, sorry. I will keep them inside next time."

*****

A few days later, Felyp came back to the Institute with Corvin's new sword and the new armour made from the Plaguehorn's fur.

"You like it? It looks like the sword of a hero, doesn't it? All white and shiny."

Inside Noah's dorm, which had turned into a meeting pleace for them at this point, Felyp gave Corvin his new sword.

The one edged sword was completely white except the hand guard, which was decorated with gold. It had a slight curve and was almost as long as Corvin's arm. It's sheath was also white and where the hand guard met the sheath was decorated with gold as well. When the two parts met, they formed the shape of a swan, and it also acted as a lock to keep the sword from slipping out of the sheath.

"Yeah... It really is nice and all, but Master..."

"Hm? Did I do something?"

"Yes, dad!"

"Noah?"

"Don't you see, us four friends here having a chat? Why did you suddenly barge in with a sword in your hands? Didn't you see how you scared the girls?", said Noah and pointed at Clair and Amy.

"Ah... Did I do that? And, Noah... You are siding with the girls now rather than your father? HAHAHA, you are at that age, I guess!"

"What do you mean 'at that age'? It's been a while since my puberty started, you know?"

"Hm? Cough, Right, I forget sometimes how fast you are growing. Well, anyways..."

"Anyways?"

"Here, these are the armours you two wanted as well!"

He placed the two light blue fur armour next to the white sword on the table. The armours were made out of two shoulder pads and a chestplate, since both Noah and Corvin needed agility more than defence, the legs were left free.

"Wait... Wasn't that mosnter white? Why is it coloured light blue?"

"Oh, that? I don't know... Probably something happened when making this thing."

"... Will it be okay?"

"Yeah, I tested it myself! It is good armour, and we have leftover fur for when you two need repairs."

"Well, we don't plan on fighting anyone in the near future anyways..."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that.", said Felyp.

"What? Why?"

"Well... There will be a war in the near future, so the school will be closed during that time probably. And the of you will come with me, as my son and disciple."

*****

The man, who was crouching in the garden of the castle, pointed on the ground. He focused on the area he pointed at, and slowly lifted his finger upwards. As he felt his energy drain quickly, he saw the dirt on the ground increasing in amount and creating a small pile. He waited for the pile to disappear, since matter created by magic always disappeared after a certain amount of time.

But the small pile stayed like that for minutes, and then hours and then days. After a week passed, and the small pile didn't disappear, the man wasn't surprised. He could already guess something was different from normal with his newfound magical power.

When he first regained consciousness after passing out when the black smoke entered his body, he could feel the ground beneath the building he was inside of. It took a couple of hours for him to get used to the feeling.

With the dirt pile experiment over, he reached a conclusion. The power he gained from the black smoke was different than normal matter magic. Normal matter magic could be used to cange the physical properties of matter like volume, mass and shape. Or it could be used to temporarily create matter that would disappear after an amount of time proportionate to the caster's skills.

But his power was different. He couldn't create any matter he wanted. His power only worked when he was altering something that existed without human intervention. Like mountains, caves, rivers or natural forests. And the changes he made, stayed that way without reverting back, which thought to be impossible with magic.

He felt like he could feel the entire surface of the planet he was on, and maybe even more. But even then, there was something else he feeled. Something he didn't knew, but something that was sure to change his world forever. He knew he didn't have the power to reach that thing yet, so he decided to gain more power. 

He ordered to the servant close to him.

"Find me the greatest matter mage in the Empire close to here."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

The servant left the room.