Chapter 115 – Heroic Age
After a short break, Moore started up once more. “The typical representative of a soul transformation cla.s.s weapon would be the Perpetual Saint Gun. It is also known as the ceaseless soul-powered machine and nicknamed the King of Ten-thousand Weapons. Yet, when it was made it was just an ordinary, basic rune gun from that period of time.
“Its first wielder was an ordinary Federation soldier who, upon retiring, brought the rune gun to his hometown. This old soldier had already been riddled with injuries suffered from fighting for the Federation for thirty years. With this body filled with ailments, he pa.s.sed away just a few years after his return. But this is just where the legend first began.”
It was later known as the Perpetual Saint Gun, a divine rune weapon that shook the heavens. The following words were a.s.sociated with the weapon; ‘With this gun in hand, the world is mine.’
“This obscure and unknown old soldier left behind a renowned son. His name was Gungnir, the Eternal Gun G.o.d.. When his father ma.s.sed away, Gungnir had been just three years old. Even so, he wors.h.i.+ped his ordinary soldier father a great deal.
“As the only thing left behind by his father, as well as the symbol of his father’s military contributions and glory, Gungnir developed an odd level of affection for the rune gun. It was as though the gun became his father. This kind of special emotion and hope made it so that Gungnir never let go of the gun since young. He grew and created a transcendent gun technique while also developing an indescribable kind of tacit understanding with the rune gun.”
As he discussed his specialized field of knowledge, Professor Moore became prominently more rigid. It was unavoidable for his speech to become dry as he spoke of those high-end specialized techniques. Yet, when he spoke of the history behind these legendary figures and legendary weapons, he became incomparable more vivid as he grew more and more absorbed with the storytelling.
Every student seemed to be intoxicated by his words. From w.a.n.g Zhong to the person least inclined to listen in cla.s.s, Ma Dong, it was as though Moore brought them into an era enveloped by the flames of war. An era where heroes were present in large numbers.
“After enlisting into the army, Gungnir started his journey to becoming a legend. In the beginning his performance wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. He didn’t possess any family background, and there were no visible signs of extraordinary talent. It was like he was as ordinary as his father. Yet, his devotion, pa.s.sion, and indescribable self-confidence wasn’t anything others could compare with. He could be described as borderline fanatical.
“After a quiet and obscure ten years, one of the greatest military campaigns was born—the Tianfeng Canyon Battle!”
When this was brought up, everyone knew of the event. When they were young they would have definitely heard of this battle when discussions popped up about the stories of heroes. With the entire army was killed, and everyone was filled with despair and ready to forsake the city, one man and one gun defended the canyon for no less than nine days. One man against ten-thousand. This small soldier became an immortal legend and gained the t.i.tle of ‘Famed General’.
Gungnir once wrote in a memoir; ‘At that time it felt as though my gun possessed life. As though the love my father had for me dwelled within. Although he was no longer by my side physically, his soul had always watched over me.’
This was the first signs of a soul transformation for a divine weapon. A hidden consciousness dwelling inside. Science, however, had yet been unable to prove and explain this event.
“No matter how strong a soldier is, no one is capable of persisting in such a battle. After all, one’s body has its limits. Yet the Perpetual Saint Gun has the ability to absorb the energy of others. What is most frightening is that the energy will be immediately transformed into a form of energy that its wielder can use. A ‘ceaseless soul-powered machine’. This is the most formidable King of Gun Kings inside the Federation!”
With this story complete, Professor Moore took another short break. The next part would be the important aspect of learning. “Naturally, legends were just legends. In this, the legends had exaggerated the relations.h.i.+p part between Gungnir and the Perpetual Saint Gun. This is something necessary for legends. What we shall pay attention to is the essence of the story, which is that hyperdimensional life forms and rune weapons are the same. The only different is the degree of difficulty between their births. This difficulty isn’t a difference of one or two points and even to this day we are still unsure how to solve this question.
“It was during the despair of the dark era that the birth of divine weapons occurred, yet in this era of constant progression, we are instead unable to manufacture divine weapons like those of the past. Perhaps this is the question most worthy for us to reflect on.”
Stories of heroes resonated easily with the people, and all of the students gave a thunderous applause at the end. No one could resist the urge to dream of the day when they could summon soul beasts and leave their names in the history books. As for the things they should reflect on… f.u.c.k that. It had long been thrown up to the clouds.
Professor Moore smiled and made that pressing down motions once again. “Due to the constraints of time, I shall introduce just one more weapon. This is likely the most neglected branch of rune weaponry. It is also a most ill.u.s.trious example and something quite a number of students should be familiar with—the Limitless Cross Wheel.”
This was a name that made the solemn atmosphere inside the cla.s.sroom flip completely. Quite a few started to roar with laughter as this weapon had only recently gotten famous. The cause of this was the appearance of an expert whose popularity had reached the peak.
“Brother All-Mouthy King’s Cross Wheel!”
“Hanged Ghost’s eternal nightmare!”
“Too much exaggeration! What Brother King used isn’t as good as the original.”
“Naming it is useless as everyone is mistaken. Its full name is Laforgue Infinite Slash Crosswheel…” Professor Moore ignored the rising cheers of the students and started his talk of the Laforgue Infinite Slash Crosswheel’s cla.s.sic story without hurry.
w.a.n.g Zhong had heard the same story from Scarlet. While Professor Moore’s narration had some small differences, there weren’t any big changes on the whole. Professor Moore was obviously an expert at telling stories. On top of the information Scarlet had given, he also added various historic backdrops and the evaluations of the later generation about Laforgue. This allowed listeners to feel great shock and awe while also gaining a deeper impression of the entire biography.
Finally, he ended with his summary. “Everyone only knew that Laforgue was a very strong ranged soldier. In fact, he was also an outstanding rune blacksmith. His Unlimited All-cutting Cross Wheels were the most complex, difficult to control weapons among the Ten Great Divine Weapons. Therefore, it is usually underestimated.
“Of the large majority of soldiers who had researched the cross wheel, simply the ability to control the direction of the spin wasn’t easy. This was something usually quite simple on other boomerang-type throwing weapons. Wanting to unleash the cross wheel’s true might mean that one had to achieve thorough control over every minute detail of the weapon. To take a step in that direction is equivalent to traversing from the earth to the heavens.
“It is a pity that no news had been spread of anyone able to achieve the same level of proficiency in it as Laforgue. Perhaps it is only those geniuses who had the talent to do so. If one chose a rune sword or rune gun, then one could expect a quick return. Why would anyone waste their time researching a weapon that had simply no use in combat during the learning phase, especially for a weapon where one was unsure if they could actually master it in the end?”