Chapter 363: Swordcasters
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Pranav
“Four Elemental Swordcasters? They’re just second-rate magical swordsmen who rely on equipment. Mages require natural talent and are impossible to ma.s.s produce. Even if they can somewhat use magic because of their equipment, just how far can they go with no talent in magic? When even their source of mana relies on equipment, how can they possibly understand the truth of magic? They’re just a bunch of novices who’ll take forever to improve in power level. Rather than wasting so many resources on them, it would be much better to spend resources on raising some young mages. Producing a single archmage will have far better results.”
Despite their astonis.h.i.+ng feats at Red Maple Castle’s defense line, no praise awaited the Four Elemental Swordcasters. Lack of ability to cast spells continuously without their own mana, lack of high-level spells, and difficulty in improving power levels were all weaknesses that other people noticed. This helped rea.s.sure the other countries that this job cla.s.s wasn’t a threat to them, and also made them uninterested in importing this job cla.s.s for themselves.
Other countries were highly interested in the products of magical engineering. However, this new job cla.s.s was surprisingly unpopular.
Most people would be suspicious of the usefulness of any newly-born job cla.s.s. The att.i.tude of the archmages in the Cloud Tower was the best evidence of the problem with people’s att.i.tudes. After all, the Cloud Tower’s archmages were the predominant authority about all magic-using job cla.s.ses.
Indeed, while this new job cla.s.s allowed ordinary people to cast magic, they would find it difficult to continue developing their power levels in magic as they lacked ability to sense mana or the elements. Not only that, it would be impossible for even ten low-ranked Four Elemental Swordcasters to defeat a single high-level individual. A job cla.s.s like this one seemed to lack development potential and would naturally be unpopular.
“…Perhaps Brother Roland feels that it’s strategically important to have many magic users in our army.”
Even though Reyne adulated Roland, she could only understand this job cla.s.s and try to defend him in such a method.
“Talent? Can that be eaten?”
Roland always replied in such a matter to anyone that doubted him. And he indeed possessed what it took to be proud of himself. After all, he was a mage student back at the academy who broke all the records in how many cla.s.ses he failed. Not only that, several dozen of his magic teachers had called him an “idiot in all things regarding magic,” denying the possibility that he would ever advance far in the path of magical knowledge. Yet he managed to reach the realm of becoming an Emblem of Endless Truth archmage in two different fields of magic. When Roland said that talent was useless, it would indeed sound more convincing.
However, special exceptions would always be difficult to imitate. Even Roland himself had to admit that him being able to reach his power level was basically a miracle. Would a second person like Roland be able to appear from the few hundred Four Elemental Swordcasters? The answer was evidently no.
Actually, over the past two years, less than ten Four Elemental Swordcasters had managed to progress to Silver rank. And, the few that did were the ones who had a minor amount of talent in magic to begin with. Even most of the Four Elemental Swordcaster’s supporters lost hope in this job cla.s.s.
Since resources were limited, East Mist had an internal council meeting regarding the topic of whether or not to continue expanding the Four Elemental Swordcasters. East Mist was no rich country with plenty of money to spare like a mega empire. Investing in a long-term investment with no foreseeable returns seemed to be utmost idiocy.
Obviously, continuing to forcefully push my plans through everyone’s disagreement would be infeasible. That was why, only then, at that internal council, did I tell others about my true understanding of this job cla.s.s.
“All of you are still too inexperienced. You think that tremendous magical power is everything? Simply looking at pure power would make us no different from wild gorillas.”
Perhaps at that council, Timlad was the only one who even slightly understood my way of thinking. But after today, everyone who thought negatively of this new job cla.s.s would have to rea.s.sess their opinions.
War would always be the best litmus test of any job cla.s.s’s usefulness. Excellent combat achievements would be all that was needed to stem the negative reviews.
The Borealis activated all its engines. This airs.h.i.+p hidden in the clouds began to awaken, illuminating the surrounding sky with its lights. The next moment, its cargo doors opened and the Aurora Knights rode the aurora through the sky. Several hundred Swordcasters dropped straight down towards the ground. Only when they could see the ground rus.h.i.+ng towards them did they activate the magic devices on their backs.
Bright orange flames flickered brightly as various trails of light streaked across the sky. The Swordcasters were flying towards their chosen targets.
These Swordcasters hadn’t landed by themselves. They were wearing heavy bags on their backs, so ordinary gliding magic was incapable of handling their weight.
Unlike previous gliding magic, which was slow and unable to be maintained for long periods of times, these magical jetpacks that spat out magical flames were both swift and highly maneuverable. But any ordinary person who tried to use one of these jetpacks would end up no different from an unlucky individual who rode on a goblin rocket. Once he started flying, he would need to consider how to land back down on the ground, alive.
But the Swordcasters had undergone magic training so they were able to accurately control the power of the jetpack’s magical flames. They could also control the winds to send them in any desired direction. And to fine-tune the control process even more, their magic swords were currently inserted into the jetpack’s control panel and automatically made decisions for them.
“First squadron, clear out the fish type enemies above water that are currently hara.s.sing the Auland fleet. Second squadron, go underwater and a.s.sa.s.sinate high-threat targets. Third squadron, continue to support from the air and provide explosive covering fire.”
After Reyne gave them their orders, each squadron tore open their giant bags to expose equipment that was already pre-equipped on them.
The first squadron was equipped with small, miniature boats named the “Dolphin #1.” These were flexible metal sh.e.l.ls powered by an engine, with a single place to stand on. The rider would be standing in a swift miniature boat that was less than two meters wide. Also, the rider needed to be chained within it. Otherwise, there would be an enormous risk of being tossed out of the boat.
The powerful engine allowed these boats to travel at high speed on top of the water, far faster than any fis.h.!.+ They circled around the large battles.h.i.+ps and chose to eradicate smaller targets.
Meanwhile, their weapons were insanely powerful. All the Dolphin #1s were equipped with machine guns—all the Swordcasters and Magic Archers needed to do was insert their magic swords into the boat’s control panel and enchant the bullets with armor penetration, haste, explosion magic, and other such support abilities before simply spraying bullets in a general direction.
At this moment, the swift boats and heavy firepower machine guns all became extensions of the Swordcasters’ bodies. This new job cla.s.s, which had been a.s.sessed as worthless in the long run, showed off its own unique combat style.
Three swift boats dashed past a Sea Giant like a howling gale. The roaring machine guns left several hundred holes in its body, and a powerful Gold-ranked Sea Giant perished just like that.
The second squadron, the underwater squadron, was equipped with oxygen canisters and diving gear along with specialized “Otter” jetpacks, which functioned in both water and air. The fire propulsion magic would automatically be transformed into water propulsion magic when underwater, allowing the Swordcasters to become more agile than even the Sea Tribe.
Their specialized harpoons were only their backup weapons. Simply using instant cast ice pillars would be more than enough to kill the Sea Tribe members, who weren’t equipped with any armor. Their main target was to a.s.sa.s.sinate any Sea Tribe mages hidden underwater and remove the few enemies capable of threatening the Auland battles.h.i.+ps.
“Impossible!”
To their astonishment, the Sea Tribe found that these humans were even faster and dexterous underwater than they were. A Naga archmage who was currently in the middle of casting a spell was instantly pierced to death by a harpoon. And her Legendary power level was far above the Swordcasters’—this was the best proof that there was no such thing as absolute safety on a battlefield. She had believed herself to be completely safe, deep underwater, and hadn’t made any defensive preparations whatsoever. That was why she was a.s.sa.s.sinated without even having a chance to resist—the second squadron had slain the first major target since the battle started.
Meanwhile, the third squadron wasn’t equipped with any powerful weapons. However, this squadron had the most people in it. And all of them were carrying oil barrels filled with explosives…
Alright then, this was just a simple strategy of using remote grenades that worked underwater. The underwater members of the second squadron would provide target locations for their allies in the air, call for aerial a.s.sistance, and tell the third squadron when to explode the oil barrel grenade. After each oil barrel sunk underwater and exploded, shockwaves would spread at a tremendously rapid pace, followed by a large amount of Sea Tribe corpses… And for the Sea Tribe members farther away from the explosion’s center that were merely knocked unconscious, the very fact that they floated up to the surface while unconscious was no different from a death sentence.
“Let’s have fun hunting some fish. The last grenade had an excellent harvest. A7, I’m going to the next target. Just let me reload!”
The roaming bomber Swordcasters flew back up into the air after notifying their underwater partners and went back to the Borealis to retrieve another batch of oil barrel grenades.
But their task wasn’t only to provide aerial bombing support. Protecting their partners along with providing backup logistical mana support was their task as well.
The Swordcasters and Magic Archers’ excellent performance shocked even the Gold-ranked Aurora Knights. In comparison to them, the Swordcasters were, on average, at the Iron rank. Yet their combat achievements far surpa.s.sed the Gold-ranked Frigid Nightmare riders.
The Aurora Knights were indeed powerful troops highly suited for aquatic combat. They could freeze the water and dash at high speed on the ice. However, their methods of attack were rather archaic and traditional. No matter if they used ice magic or physical charge attacks, the Sea Tribe were able to correctly defend against them.
Although the Aurora Knights could easily suppress the Sea Tribe, the Sea Tribe only needed to escape to the deep sea, which made it impossible for the Aurora Knights to chase them down. How could they possibly be as effective as a deep sea grenade?
At this moment, the Swordcasters’ advantage was shown. Since they were able to use their equipment like part of their bodies, they could customize themselves to deal with specific enemies and terrain. The Swordcasters, who were currently equipped for aquatic and underwater battle, proved that they had even more of a terrain advantage than the Sea Tribe.
Indeed, the Swordcasters were a job cla.s.s that relied to an extreme on items rather than personal power levels. But what was wrong with relying on items for power? Humans in my previous world had reached the peak simply by using items. They even invented nuclear bombs, which were capable of destroying the entire world.
Unable to improve their magic ability or use high-level magic spells? Gunmen from my previous world weren’t exactly capable of “leveling up” by shooting twice the number of bullets at a time or making their guns spew fire like in a video game, now, were they? But there would still be no comparison between an ordinary warrior who only finished basic training and an elite combat veteran with over one hundred battles under his belt. Simply the techniques and expertise in using one’s weapon could be refined over a lifetime.
Personal power level being weak? Lacking in mobility? All I had to do was equip them with mobile mechas or Iron Horses. And if the range of their attacks or firepower was lacking? Stronger modifications to their equipment was all that was necessary.
Lack of mana? Just carry more mana batteries. Who said you could only carry one mana battery? See for yourself, every one of the Dolphin #1 swift boat pilots were carrying three magic swords and ten fully charged Olivia’s Magic Box mana batteries.
“It’s difficult to improve personal power level by using items? In that case, all that’s necessary is to improve the level of the item. This is actually easier than raising a high-level mage, and high-level items can even be ma.s.s produced! Dwarven rifles and Dwarven sniper cannons are on completely different levels! Magical engineering can create cannons with ten times the firepower of normal cannons! Can any small cannon possibly compare to a Roland t.i.tan? Besides, I don’t believe it’s impossible for the Four Elemental Swordcasters to improve in power level. They just have the wrong idea about how to progress!”
In the council that opposed my Swordcasters, I personally showed off the newly invented seals and various magic sword techniques. This was a job cla.s.s that focused on techniques over raw power. Since all the magic came from outside sources, researching new and more powerful sword seals combined with new magic sword techniques was most likely the correct method for them to level up.
“Swordcasters are simply people using a magic sword. They shouldn’t need to be restrained by traditional ways of thinking from the past. Why do you have to treat them like mages? Just take a look at the real way to use these Swordcasters. Why are we called humans? That’s because humans are the only species in the world that are capable of using tools, which is why we humans have led the way in evolution… Fine, I misspoke, Elves, Beastmen, and Dwarves also exist in this world and are perfectly capable of using tools. That’s—would you please get off from my head now, Harloys? I’ve been rather anemic recently.”
The Four Elemental Swordcasters were users of magic, but their use of magic originated from magical engineering—this field was their true specialty, not raw power. They would become the favored children of warfare as well as the most valuable job cla.s.s of this new generation. The further magical engineering developed, the stronger they would become.
And as long as there were enough people who joined this job cla.s.s, geniuses among them would appear sooner or later. Perhaps among ordinary mages, less than ten percent would advance to higher power levels. And for these Swordcasters who had much less talent than mages, only three percent of them advanced to higher power levels. But as long as they were no longer treated like mages, I was certain I could multiply the number of Swordcasters by more than one hundred times. As long as there was sufficient time and enough Swordcasters, I would definitely reap a reward in the end.
Of course, this power had a price to it as well. Although there were more than five thousand Swordcasters in East Mist, Reyne had only brought along two hundred. It wasn’t because she didn’t want to bring more, but rather that East Mist could only afford to fully equip two hundred.
In order to further develop this job cla.s.s with limitless potential, more than just resources and money would be required. This would depend even more on the industrial and educational level of a country, which was something that couldn’t be solved overnight.
Creating a magical engineering product only needed an engineer? What a joke. An expert would be needed right from the designing stage. The equipment’s materials would need the a.s.sistance of metalsmithing and metallurgy industries. Enchanting and runic spell arrays would require enchantment expert archmagi. Alchemists were required to finish injecting mana into the batteries and completing the energy cycles. Every single piece of equipment required the support of multiple industries and more than ten people working together.
If I wanted to create a streamlined, high-efficiency, ma.s.s-produced product, I would require even higher industrial standards.
Judging from the current combat situation, where the Swordcasters, who were the lowest rank of all, far outperformed the Gold-ranked Aurora Knights, Reyne felt like she now better understood Roland’s plans. It seemed that from the very start, he was looking forward at a new generation completely different from modern warfare.
Perhaps in future battles, ordinary metal weapons would be abandoned and magic swordsmen would become the most basic warrior job cla.s.s. It would also become quite easy to use the elements, meaning that mages would no longer be so special. The products of magical engineering were destined to replace mages as the kings of the battlefield.
By that time, perhaps every country would no longer be fighting over territory, but resources, instead. Nor would the countries compete in seeing how many powerful individuals each country possessed, but rather in technology and the smithing industries. Nor would wars be about total suppression by top-level existences. The naturally powerful dragons and giants would no longer be at the top of the food chain. Trained, ordinary humans would become the new masters of this generation, with master smiths and master engineers taking the social status of forbidden spell archmagi.
“…This is an invention that will change the world?”
Reyne recalled how Roland instantly came to that conclusion upon first seeing the Olivia’s Magic Box. Very rarely for him, he forcefully pushed through his development plan regarding Olivia’s Magic Box despite everyone’s total opposition. He spent an enormous amount of material and human resources on what was called “Roland’s pet project that’s actually a bottomless hole.” Perhaps, from the very start, he had antic.i.p.ated this day and was doing his very best to push through all these changes.
I indeed saw everything quite clearly. Every industrial revolution would be an excellent opportunity to readjust the power balance between countries. Being one step late would equal forever being late. Surely there would be no need for me to explain the consequences of being technologically behind.
“…At the very least, we’re now technologically ahead of everyone else! And being ahead means future resources and cards up our sleeve.”
That’s right. Roland and his allies were doubtlessly now at the peak of the world in this area of magical engineering. After showing off outstanding combat ability in Auland, East Mist obtained better political, military, and economic standing, which also gave East Mist an appropriate platform to sell its goods for an excellent price.
So had Roland been able to see through to future world-level changes in how wars would be fought? Reyne clenched her fists tightly as she faintly felt like she could imagine her home country of East Mist becoming a future mega-empire in the world. Perhaps this Holy War would be a chance for her People of the Mist, who had suffered so much pain over the years.
“Perhaps we’ll finally be able to stand at the peak of the world.”