"Ayo!" Ryan slowly regained consciousness and felt a sharp pain in his hand. He then saw Delis, her eyes red, looking at him with concern, while Quillin and his two guards stared at him with strange expressions. Fortunately, the sky was illuminated by two large moons, which provided light similar to Earth's street lamps. This was one of the reasons why the Twin-Star Continent was so prosperous, with ample sunlight and relatively mild seasons in the plains, where the effects of the four seasons weren't as noticeable.
Ryan glanced at his hand and noticed only some minor scratches, likely from scraping the ground. His face also felt hot, possibly from a similar scrape, and his clothes were torn. Since Ryan wasn't used to wearing robes, he preferred regular clothing, which was more convenient for experiments and kept him comfortable.
"Brother, you've really outdone yourself! I didn't die at the hands of others, but almost died at the hands of your own guards! Don't you think that's unjust?" Ryan looked at Quillin with a mix of anger and amusement. He had warned them to be careful, but they hadn't listened, and now he was nearly injured by his own people while testing the mine. Ryan spoke half in jest, half in frustration.
Quillin looked at himself and then smiled bitterly. "I didn't know it would have such power. How were we supposed to predict the explosion? There was no warning whatsoever."
"I already told you all, but you guys didn't listen. If I had known your guards were Golden Swordsmen, I would have just had them test it themselves," Ryan retorted. He didn't think much of the two Golden Swordsmen, as they had seen so much in their careers that it would be rare for an ordinary person to ever even encounter a Golden Swordsman.
Quillin stumbled and nearly fell, but was supported by his guards. He laughed wryly and said, "I say, little brother, if you hadn't warned us, we'd never know. Look at this, a chunk of flesh missing from my arm, and that Sarloth Beast is blasted to pieces. Its bones are shattered."
Ryan immediately stood up and surveyed the explosion's aftermath. He could clearly feel the chaotic magical energy at the site, and a deep hole was left in the ground. The Sarloth Beast's head was blown off, and only half remained, while three of its limbs were missing, and the remaining one was barely connected by a small piece of skin. The area within a few dozen meters was filled with scattered meat. Instead of being relieved, Ryan furrowed his brow.
"What's wrong? Aren't you satisfied? I mean, you're just a level one Alchemist, just level one, little brother. You need to realize that you're only level one!" Quillin said, seeing Ryan lost in thought and looking distressed. To Quillin, this was a perfect alchemical creation: first, it had great concealment—no magical fluctuations were emitted from it, which was an astonishing feat. On the Twin-Star Continent, there was a common understanding: the greater the power of an alchemical creation, the more magical energy it would release. Yet, Ryan's invention had no magical signature and was extremely well concealed. Quillin had mocked Ryan at first, thinking that an alchemist's work would be elaborate and artistic, but this "lump of iron" seemed more perfect than any of his expectations.
The second point was the power—it was immense. Even though Quillin didn't know much about alchemy, he had seen enough level one alchemist creations to know how different Ryan's invention was. The explosion's impact had left his guards severely injured, even though they survived.
But the most crucial factor, Quillin realized, was the suddenness of the weapon. It had no magical fluctuations, it was highly effective, and it was right beneath their feet. Quillin shuddered at the sight of the Sarloth Beast's remains and couldn't help but ask loudly, "What's wrong? Why do you look so upset, when this is perfect?"
"No, the power is too great," Ryan muttered slowly, realizing what he had been missing. He shook his head, explaining, "This is related to combat tactics. Think about it—if a team of ten enemies faces you, and you kill one with an explosion, how many are left to fight you?"
"You're just stating the obvious. There would still be nine left," Quillin replied, dissatisfied.
"But what if you blow their arms and legs off? How many do you think would still be able to fight you?" Ryan responded, as if this was something everyone should understand.
"Well, of course, there would still be… at most seven," Quillin answered, his eyes widening as realization struck him.
"So, is bigger always better then?" Ryan asked, raising an eyebrow.
Quillin looked at his guards, who were sweating nervously, and said weakly, "What if they just leave the battle?" He couldn't help but snap back at Ryan's mischievous expression.
Ryan stared at Quillin, as if he were looking at an idiot. "In any team, if something like that happens, it's said that 'when hearts scatter, the team falls apart.'"
"Alright! I admit, you have a point," Quillin said, raising his hands in surrender. "But only you would think of such a crazy idea. However, against thieves, this could work. But would it be effective against heavily armored knights?" Quillin still wasn't convinced.
"Heavy-armored knights? They're easy pickings once they're off their mounts—without their steeds, they're nothing," Ryan replied disdainfully. Heavy-armored knights were indeed crucial in large army formations, but Ryan believed there were plenty of ways to deal with them. The simplest method was to dig pits in the ground, just slightly larger than a horse's hooves—not too big, just enough to trap the horse.
"Ho ho, do tell us how you would do that," Quillin replied, surprised. His two guards, however, merely shook their heads in disbelief.
"Alright, let me explain one way. You dig pits all over the ground, just large enough for a horse's hooves, not too deep—about the height of a horse's knee. This is not only simple, but also quite effective. Ordinary peasants could do it, no need for a proper army. Think about it—you're in full armor, your horse is armored too. Sure, you're strong, but your steed is the one that has to move. Imagine a horse galloping at full speed, only to stumble into one of the pits you've prepared. Now your four-legged horse is down to three legs—how is that a heavy-armored knight anymore?" Ryan ignored the strange expressions on the faces of Quillin's guards and continued. He had read about battles on this continent, and they reminded him of ancient European warfare on Earth: face-to-face combat, one command, and then they charged in, without any strategies—just a brutal war of attrition. Prisoners first, followed by light infantry, light cavalry, heavy cavalry, and by the end, hardly anyone was left. True victory was rare, and both sides suffered heavy losses.
"I said you need knightly spirit! Knightly spirit! It's about fairness..." Quillin leaped up after hearing this, shouting loudly.
"Mine's just about leading a bunch of peasants, not knights. How could it be fair?" Ryan interrupted before Quillin could finish, throwing the words at him. Quillin was left speechless, and his guards looked at each other, equally stunned.
Ryan returned to the ship and carefully freshened up. Big Nose had now become Niuniu's lackey and followed her around aimlessly. Ryan then recorded the results of his experiments. He discovered that the weapon had many advantages. First, this mine was more like an energy bomb, which explained its massive explosion—it wasn't just simple expansion creating force. Ryan had been wondering why the explosion was so strong, but eventually realized that it was the reaction between fire and water magic crystals. Not only did it produce a huge force from the expansion, but the interaction between the elemental powders of the two crystals was the key to the energy release.
Next, Ryan focused on optimizing the mine's structure. He added some auxiliary elements, like steel pellets coated with poison, and fats from certain magical beasts, which formed a gel-like substance. He also experimented with various other crystal powders besides the fire and water types, and most importantly, sought ways to reduce production costs.
"BANG!" Ryan was sound asleep when the ship suddenly rocked. He sat up, realizing it was already daytime, and the sounds of combat could be heard from outside.
"Don't move! Get down!" Ryan quickly jumped up, only to see Alice, disheveled and panicked, rush into the room. Ryan immediately ordered everyone to get down, then ran to the deck. Quillin and his two guards were already up, and the scene outside stunned Ryan.
On the riverbank, there were hundreds of people, most of them on horseback, with a few operating giant crossbows aimed directly at the ship. The attackers were all in leather armor, with several wielding staves. Their faces were concealed, but the ship was still at least 100 meters from shore, far enough that magic had no effect, but close enough that giant crossbows with a range of 300 meters posed a serious threat. Most importantly, the ship couldn't move.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!" The giant crossbows released a series of cold flashes, followed by strange whistling sounds in the air.
"Quick, get inside!" Ryan bent low and shouted urgently. But then he thought of Quillin's guards and the team of trial knights from the church.
"Ah! Those are siege crossbows! Take cover!" A scream rang out as someone on the ship was hit. Quillin's two guards exchanged glances but didn't move. Even Golden Swordsmen wouldn't risk charging forward against such weapons—siege crossbows could easily pierce through armor. Flying into the air would be even worse, and the Golden Swordsmen couldn't take the risk of a direct hit. If there was a Golden Mage on their side, the situation would be much easier to handle. A Gold-tier Mage's spells could target anything within a thousand meters, easily neutralizing the attackers. Earth Mages could use wide-area spells like the Earth Spike, and Wind Mages could use level 8 spells like Tornado Blade to decimate their enemies. This is one of the reasons why mages were more respected than warriors.
"Damn, is that a trebuchet?" Ryan squinted and saw a massive machine slowly emerge from the distance. If it wasn't a trebuchet, then what was it? It looked like they were preparing to destroy the ship and kill everyone on board.
"Captain Cort, the ship's been destroyed, and the crew's been poisoned. They're all dead," just then, a mercenary-looking warrior approached one of Quillin's guards, glanced at Ryan, and spoke.
"Can you tell what kind of poison it was?" Cort, the guard, asked.
"I took a look, and it seems like some kind of magical poison. It's the only explanation for why the crew died halfway through the journey," the mercenary replied cautiously.
"So they want to kill everyone on board?" Cort surveyed the shore, noticing that the attackers were moving some spherical objects. These were siege explosives, filled with animal fat and various poisonous plants. The ship was large, but it was still made of wood, so although it wasn't easy to catch fire, nothing was entirely immune to flames in a volatile environment.
"Your Excellency, may I suggest we join forces against the enemy? I am Silver Priest Holian, and this is my partner, Silver Paladin Lu'an," just then, two people from the Church of Light appeared from below. One was a Silver Priest, second only to the Pope and Cardinals, and the other was a Silver Paladin. Typically, church members worked in pairs like this. They had long been aware of Quillin's two guards, but since they were from different empires, there hadn't been any need to make introductions. However, seeing the bandits preparing to burn the ship, these two knew that although they could likely escape, their trial team would be wiped out. If that happened, their return to the church would be dangerous. And with no other alternative, they felt the need to approach Cort and speak up. Therefore, they respectfully addressed him as "Your Excellency."