Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Winters' old face turned red as he brazenly said, "In my view, for a prospective officer who will one day take on the responsibility of commanding on the battlefield, a wise mind is more important than well-developed muscles. That's why ensuring sufficient sleep is my military duty."

Immediately afterward, Winters began to reason with Aike, "Do the math again—if I practice for a year and still can't beat you, what then? Since I can't beat you without practicing, and if I still can't beat you after practicing, wouldn't I be at a loss? Therefore, not practicing is like preserving my capital, and preserving my capital is like not suffering a loss."

"Look, not practicing means no loss for sure, but practicing could lead to a big loss. Therefore, not practicing is akin to a big gain. I'm content with scoring seventeen points, and I don't think I could beat you even if I did practice," Winters confidently expounded his twisted logic.

"To practice and still not beat me would be a big loss, so not practicing equals a big gain. You Sea Blue people really are business geniuses," Aike said, unable to decide whether to laugh or cry.

"I was sent here to the Federated Provinces Republic at the age of thirteen to attend the military prep school. You say I'm Sea Blue People, but they probably think of me as a hillbilly," Winters said with a mischievous smile, "Criticizing me is like criticizing yourselves. If there's anything wrong with me, a person from the Sea Blue Republic, it must be because I've been corrupted by you folks from the Federated Provinces Republic.

The clanking sounds of sword fighting stopped as the group of students practicing behind Winters and Aike finished their match, and they repeated the actions of Winters and Aike: quickly stripping off their training armor and upper body combat clothing, then rushing to the water tanks to guzzle down brackish water.

A new group of students went up to suffer, and Aike, watching them fight with longswords, suddenly said with a touch of melancholy, "Sometimes I can't help but wonder what's the point of all the sweat we pour into practicing swordsmanship? Think about the owners of those armors; they wear an extra layer of chainmail and spend even more time practicing with weapons than we do."

Winters was taken aback, but Aike continued, "I only started learning swordsmanship when I entered the military academy for the young, but the owners of these armors have been trained to be warriors from childhood. And in the end? They still get dragged off their horses and stabbed to death, or shot dead with muskets. Does personal bravery truly mean anything in war?"

Winters was nearly choked by Aike's abrupt change in stance, "Stealing my lines, aren't you a bit immoral? Are those words even fitting for you to say? At least you should have lost before you have the right to make such remarks," he protested.

"I've actually had this thought for a long time. I can understand why you don't like practicing swordsmanship. You're a Spellcaster, after all. It doesn't matter if you don't practice swordsmanship. I might be able to match you in swordplay, but in a real battle, I might be dead after you cast a single spell. For Spellcasters, swordsmanship truly isn't that significant," Aike looked straight into Winters' eyes and said earnestly.

Winters and Aike had known each other since they entered the prep school six years ago; it was no secret among the military academy students that some were Spellcasters. To Winters, Spellcasters were just like any other military academy students but with an additional Spellcaster course.

The rest of the time everyone was in the same classroom, eating in the same dining hall, sleeping in the same large dormitory—nothing special. But only today did Winters realize that Aike lacked even the most basic understanding of the Alliance Country's Spellcasters.

This was actually not surprising, as for most people—including trained prospective officers like Aike—the image of Spellcasters was tied to pointy hats, high towers, old men with white beards, and various supernatural folk tales.

If Aike hadn't attended military school, he might never in his life have seen a breathing Spellcaster—and certainly not one who couldn't breathe.

Those born with magical talent were rare to begin with. More challenging than having a child with magical talent was the task of identifying and nurturing such gifted individuals from among the masses. So challenging that those who were not magicians wouldn't even know where to start.

Known magicians in this world were all Royal Mages/Court Magicians of feudal monarchs. They served as scholars, advisers, bodyguards, and enforcers exclusively for the very top of the feudal hierarchy.

The magicians roamed the courts of feudal monarchs, and commoners had no chance to meet them—they should hope they wouldn't encounter a magician.

Who exactly were these court magicians with pseudonyms? Were they truly human? At what age were they selected? And how were they trained to be magicians? These secrets were likely only known to the magicians and rulers themselves.

The techniques for selecting potential wizards, the training programs for magicians, and the means of casting spells—these were all closely guarded secrets of the ruling elite. Ordinary people's understanding of magicians ranged from "cry again and the witch will take you away to eat you" to "the brave prince receives a magical sword from the reclusive wizard and wins an empire."

The Gulf Alliance—a nation founded by commoners who overthrew the emperor and nobles—naturally would not have magicians. Not only were there no magicians, but the Gulf Alliance was also a prime victim of the feudal rulers' monopoly on magical power.