Solderlin was not an expert in magical technology. He did not understand how Gwen's machines and mass-production circles worked, but he was at least an experienced warrior and knowledgeable adventurer. He could see the great advantages and broad prospects of the unprecedented and incredible magical weapons, and he could roughly imagine what kind of environment they could be used in. That was enough for him.
Of course, Solderlin knew that his judgment based on his past experience was not enough. The new weapons were too useful, and the concept was too advanced. The idea of "allowing every ordinary person to release destructive magical power" was a crazy idea in Cecil's domain, but it did exist. So, Solderlin was not sure how the weapons would eventually develop. But there was one thing he was sure of — he knew what he wanted.
"The lord ordered me to train the Steel Rangers, which is a brand-new unit. He also gave me the task of designing new weapons and testing new tactics. You know, this is a very challenging task," Solderlin said with a smile. Mr. Nicholas always had a smile on his face (funny), which made everyone who talked to him laugh. "So, I have some more … advanced ideas. Let's find a quiet place to talk about the design plans in detail. "
"Of course, we can go to the machine building," Nicholas said with a buzzing voice. He got up and floated. "Well … there are too many people in the craftsman hall. Let's go to my office."
Nicholas' office was located next to the craftsman hall. It was both his office and his usual residence. It was a room that few people visited except for Rebecca and Gwen. It was probably difficult for outsiders to imagine how a ball with a diameter of 1.3 meters could live and rest. Solderlin was also curious. After entering the cylindrical room, he saw a lot of strange … things.
He saw many metal cylinders of different heights arranged in the room, and some metal plates as smooth as mirrors inlaid on the walls. There were no beds, tables, or chairs in the room, but there was a circular platform in the middle of the room that Nicholas could rest on. Next to the circular platform, Solderlin saw a three-tiered shelf filled with all kinds of metal handicrafts. But the handicrafts looked really … strange. Some of them looked like sails with complicated structures, some looked like nested rings, and some were simply twisted metal lumps. Solderlin believed that even the best art connoisseur would not be able to see the significance of these handicrafts.
"You made all these?" Solderlin looked curiously at the metal ball floating in front of him. "These … decorations?"
"I made them from scraps in my spare time," Nicholas said with a buzzing voice. "My memory is incomplete, but occasionally some hazy impressions will emerge. Gwen suggested that I make models of those hazy impressions and preserve them. Maybe it will help me remember something. Of course, this method has not worked so far, but it's still very interesting to make these little things. I guess these things must be things that I frequently came into contact with in the past, so they left such a deep impression in the ring-shaped polarizing body. Oh, the ring-shaped polarizing body is my memory organ. Let's not talk about this for now. Tell me what you think. "
Solderlin's attention was immediately diverted from the "handicrafts" in the room. He coughed and said, "First of all, the protective gear used by Cecil's soldiers. As far as I know, their magic armor has a layer of 'lining' with various runes, right?"
"That's right. The original version of the magic armor directly engraved the runes on the metal armor, but this will easily cause the runes to malfunction when the armor is shocked, and it is not conducive to upgrading and replacing. So later, we added a tactical lining to the armor, made of tough leather, "Nicholas said as he casually took out an iron ingot from a nearby pile of metal ingots. The ingot floated between him and Solderlin and quickly changed shape in the air as if it was liquid. Within a few breaths, it had become the standard armor of Cecil's soldiers, and the various parts of the armor were scattered in front of Solderlin." This part — this is the location of the tactical lining. "
"The tactical lining is very much like the cotton or leather armor worn inside the steel armor, but its main role is to carry the runes, so its coverage and protection are lower than leather armor. This is also to reduce the cost," Nicholas continued. "At present, the runes we integrated into the tactical lining are mainly weight-reduction spells, which are used to reduce the burden on the armor as a whole; weak elemental protection, which is used to increase the soldier's resistance to low-level magic; breeze shield, which can resist external attacks to a certain extent and be used to resist poisonous environments. In addition, we have also set up protective runes to resist high and low temperatures. Although they are all weak, they are enough to allow the soldiers to survive in many extreme environments for a longer time. "
Solderlin looked at the armor that could almost turn an ordinary person into a low-level extraordinary. He could not help but ask curiously, "Do these things rely on the combat backpack to provide energy?"
"Yes, there is a high-power magic capacitor in the combat backpack. In addition to charging the weapon crystal, the rest of the energy is supplied to the armor." Nicholas floated up and down. "The biggest energy-consuming unit in this armor is the weight-reduction spell, but it is also the most important part. Without it, the soldier's physical strength consumption will increase exponentially."
Solderlin thought for a moment and said, "If we give up on this layer of steel armor, or only keep the light armor, and reduce the amount of Combat Crystals we carry, won't we be able to reduce the weight of our backpacks as well?"
"… In theory, yes." Nicholas thought for a while. "But this will greatly reduce the defense …"
"We can replace it by adding stoneskin runes on the inner lining. Although the effect of the stoneskin runes is weaker than the steel armor forged by Cecil Hill, it can still provide the soldiers with protection against ordinary light swords. Moreover, as a basic rune group, the stoneskin runes consume much less energy than formal spells like weight reduction," Solderin said. "According to my idea, the Steel Rangers are not going to fight the enemy head-on. Even if we have to attack the enemy, we will leave immediately after the attack. So, it's better to save the weight of the armor and the battle backpack and use them elsewhere."
"Understood. I will think about it," Nicholas said as he began to 'mold' the item Solderlin wanted with another metal ingot. "What else?"
"There's also the matter of weapons. Apart from the Mana Terminal equipped with heat ray guns and force field shields, I hope the Steel Rangers can also have some more powerful offensive weapons …" Solderin said. He couldn't help but recall the dangerous encounter at the border of Typhon last winter. He thought about the mysterious cultists of the All-Ending Cult and his battle with them.
"In actual combat, I've discovered one thing. That is, traditional spells have their limits. The individual's talent, the battlefield's environment, the spellcaster's physical condition, and many other factors can affect the effect of a spell. But the Magicite Armament is different. As long as you still have the strength to pull the trigger, it will definitely exert its power … and it's impossible to guard against it." Solderlin had a serious look on his face. "This is what the crystal grenade told me …"
Nicholas was stunned. He could not help but ask, "So what are you trying to say?"
"What I want to say is … those things that will explode with a pull of the ring and a press of the button are all awesome!" Solderlin said with a bright smile on his face. "They will be loyal to your goal under any circumstances. I hope that every soldier of the Steel Rangers can use these loyal weapons … Let me be frank, how small can the magic crystal railgun be?"
Nicholas was stunned for a few seconds before he reacted. "What?!"
"I have seen the original version of the 'Justice I' type magic crystal railgun, and I have also seen the lightweight 'Persuader I' type accelerator cannon," Solderlin said. "The size of the 'Persuader' is almost one-fifth of the size of the 'Justice'. It can be pulled by a carriage, but it is said that it can still destroy walls. According to Miss Rebecca, the accelerator cannon can be further reduced. If it is powered by energy crystals, the heavy overload device and the energy-accumulating base can be omitted. She once told me a plan to reduce the weight of the accelerator cannon to an extreme, and I think it is feasible …"
Nicholas listened to Solderlin in a daze. After a long while, he said, "… You just said that you want to reduce the weight of the armor. I thought you were going to let the Steel Rangers take the lightweight route … But now you are saying that you want them to carry a small magic crystal railgun?! Do you know that even if that thing is reduced in weight, it is still a big thing? "
"I have to emphasize two points. First of all, the Steel Rangers do not have to carry all their weapons with them every time they are on a mission. I want to design an arsenal for them that contains a variety of weapons. This arsenal will be used by the entire Rangers. According to the requirements of the mission, each soldier will carry different equipment. The miniaturized magic crystal railgun is just one of their backup weapons. Secondly, light armor and heavy weapons do not contradict each other. In the Silver Empire, there is a type of heavy javelin thrower in the Elven Forest Guards. They use heavy, disposable javelins. They are lightly armored soldiers, and to make it easier for them to carry and throw their javelins, they only wear a leather breastplate on their upper bodies. But they are the most dangerous hunters in the forest. I hope that the Steel Rangers can achieve the same effect. "
"… Okay, okay, okay. Anyway, you are the expert in this area. I will look for the people at the Institute of Magical Engineering and study it together." Nicholas was convinced. He recorded Solderlin's request and said, "So, other than the lightweight railgun, what else do you need?"
"Tactical eyepieces with a distortion detection effect. I know that they have already made them, but they have not been installed yet. I want to try them out first."
"Okay."
"A small blade that is easy to carry and flexible to wield. I have a design for this. It is an elven dagger. But I hope that you can modify it into something like the Molten Cutter Sword. The Molten Cutter Sword should be able to be miniaturized, right? "
"It is a little difficult, but it is worth a try. Maybe it will be at the cost of reducing the continuous use time. "
"That is acceptable. Also, I want to increase the amount of grenades that the soldiers can carry. It is best to add additional slots for grenades on their protective gear. But it should not affect their mobility. "
"… I knew it. By the way, do all elves fight like this?"
"That is not the case." Solderlin curled his lips in disdain. "They don't have the insight that I do."
Nicholas was speechless.
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