Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

"Finally," Antonio concluded, "Different strategic objectives call for different tactics. Without clear strategic objectives, there is no true victory. Moreover, Vineta must prepare for a protracted war no matter what. War is of the utmost importance in determining the life and death of a nation, and there absolutely should not be any opportunistic mindset for a quick victory."

At this point, Antonio thought of the deranged words spoken by Secretary of State Lionel and added heavily, "Because our greatest threat isn't from the Tanilia Federation but rather other... potential enemies."

At three o'clock that afternoon, an order signed by the Governor Debela and four members of the Board of Supervisors was delivered to the Thirteen-Person Military Committee:

"The war budget has been fully approved;

The Second Army Reserve Corps begins conscription, prepare for the establishment plans for the Third and Fourth Reserve Corps;

Authorize the Navy to attack any and all ships of the Tanilia Federation;

Organize a retaliatory strike against the Tanilia Federation as soon as possible."

Accompanying this order from the Board of Governors was a public declaration:

"The noble Venetian Republic and the Federation are now in a state of war, all treaties, contracts, and agreements are hereby null and void.

Any Venetian supporting or assisting the Federation will be regarded as a traitor.

Any Tanilian supporting or assisting the Federation will be regarded as an enemy.

The Tanilian captains and plantation owners' Federation will be destroyed.

Victory belongs to Vineta.

That same evening, Winters, Bard, and Andre, who were also apprentice officers under Colonel Kongtai'er, received formal orders: to arrive at the West Camp at eight o'clock in the morning the day after tomorrow, with all their equipment.

——Cut——

The next night, in Major Moritz's residence.

The half-drunk Major Moritz clung to Winters, insisting on teaching him the "Deflection Spell" as a goodbye gift no matter how much Winters tried to decline.

Three officers from the former Army Headquarters' Military Police Section gathered once again at Major Moritz's residence, but this time it wasn't for a meeting. Instead, Field and Moritz were there to see off Winters.

"What ability do I have to use the Deflection Spell?" Winters said with a wry smile, seeking help from Colonel Field.

However, Field was so drunk that his eyes were glazed over and he couldn't understand what Winters was saying.

"Don't worry... don't worry... The training method I am going to teach you is one I created myself," Moritz burped long and loud, "The... The Deflection Spell doesn't need much explosive power; the key is precision... precision, understand?"

The Major let go and turned to search for something, "Where's the chair? Where's the chair?"

Bemused, Winters quickly handed his own chair to Major Moritz, although he still didn't see how a chair could be used to practice the Deflection Spell.

Moritz took the chair and unsteadily stood on it. Winters hurriedly went to support this inebriated man, but Moritz reached up and took down a thin rope from the beam.

What began as a lesson on the Deflection Spell suddenly turned into a lesson on hanging, frightening Winters to quickly pick up the Major from the chair.

The rope was long, hanging from the beam down to the height of the table. Moritz tied a dinner knife to the end of the rope and then instructed Winters to step back—until the rope was taut and the tip of the knife was still a finger's width away from Winters's nose, no closer.

"Stand still, and don't move." After Major Moritz said this to Winters, he let go of the dinner knife.

Winters watched as the knife before his nose swung away like a pendulum and then swung back toward him.

The glinting knife tip carved an arc through the air, seeming like it would stab into Winters's eyes, which prompted Winters to dodge to the side with a turn of his head.

"Don't move, it won't hurt you," Major Moritz explained. "The dinner knife won't swing higher on the return; don't believe me, watch."

With that, Major Moritz demonstrated it himself. He held the knife close to his nose, retreated until the rope was tight, and then released his grip.

The dinner knife tied to the rope swung out and then back again like a pendulum. Moritz didn't flinch, and the knife came back only a tiny distance from his nose but did not hit him.

As the knife swung back the next time, it didn't head straight for Moritz as before, but instead veered off and swung toward his shoulder.

"See what I mean?" Major Moritz asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"I... I'm starting to understand now," Winters hadn't expected Moritz to be serious rather than foolishly drunk: "Senior, you're really a genius!"

The principle of the Deflection Spell is fundamentally simple; it's a lateral Arrow Flying Spell.

The real difficulty of this spell lies in its demand for precision.

The Spellcasters must accurately target a high-speed moving object with the spell; they must also be able to change its horizontal velocity in the instant before it would hit them, causing it to deviate from its original path.

Yet the problem bigger than the difficulty of the spell itself is that the Deflection Spell lacks a safe and effective training method.

The Deflection Spell itself is a high-risk spell, used for life-saving in critical moments. But even the most skilled Kinetic Mages wouldn't fully trust this spell because a slipup could mean taking a bullet.

Practicing with a musket was of course suicidal, and the existing training plan involved using bows and arrows. They would shoot arrows from a light bow towards the trainee, allowing the Spellcasters to practice deflecting the arrows as a way to learn and then gradually switch to a stronger bow.