Perhaps realizing that Li Qi really could not wear the large disk properly, Dr. Riv slapped his forehead and muttered to himself:
"I almost forgot to prepare a Wearing Garment for you..."
As he spoke, Dr. Riv went over to the wooden table and continued rummaging through something.
Li Qi silently looked at the oval-shaped red disk in his hands, gripping its edges with both hands and rocking it up and down.
Then he looked up at Bolent:
"Sir, what is this...?"
Bolent replied with a faint smile, "Classified. You'll find out soon."
What the hell? Why is everyone being so mysterious?
Li Qi held the disk and frowned slightly.
Dr. Riv had already chosen the 'Wearing Garment' he had mentioned. He brought it over to Li Qi:
"Your build is a little small, so it might not be very comfortable to wear... Well, that's a minor issue. Put the 'Orb' here."
The orb?
Was he sure this thing was an 'orb' and not a 'disk'?
Li Qi looked at the disk in his hands, which was larger than his head, and was left speechless. Still, he followed Dr. Riv's instructions and placed the 'orb' into the empty space at the front of the Wearing Garment.
The orb looked like it had only recently been made. It had not yet been properly fitted to the Wearing Garment. When Li Qi put it in, he felt that the opening was a little too large, and the orb kept wobbling inside.
Only after Dr. Riv slightly tightened the Safety Rope attached to the orb was the red orb firmly secured in place.
"All right. Put it on." Dr. Riv ordered him again.
Li Qi did as instructed and put on the oversized garment.
The garment had been made for an adult's body. It was a little too large on Li Qi, with the hem almost reaching his knees.
Fortunately, it did not hinder his movements.
With the orb hanging from his chest and nearly covering his entire upper body, Li Qi followed the doctor to the side of the Firing Range, where the doctor handed him a Bolt-Action Rifle.
At first, Li Qi thought it was just an ordinary rifle. But the moment he took it in his hands, he realized something was off.
Compared with an ordinary rifle, this one felt slightly lighter.
As he sensed it, Li Qi heard Dr. Riv say:
"Warrant Officer Li Qi, your marksmanship should be excellent, right?"
"Not bad. I can hit a stationary target every time within two hundred meters."
Li Qi answered.
Limited by the performance of the rifles in this world, as well as his own marksmanship, Li Qi could hit whatever he aimed at within two hundred meters—but only if the target was stationary.
He could hit targets from farther away, but his accuracy would drop somewhat.
Dr. Riv nodded:
"Two hundred meters will do. Now, Warrant Officer Li Qi, aim at that target and try infusing the firearm with magic power."
"Infuse the firearm with magic power...? All right, I understand."
Li Qi had just been about to ask about it. After all, everyone knew that firearms had very poor magic conductivity.
But then he thought better of it. Both Bolent and Dr. Riv were important figures. People like them would not possibly be joking with Li Qi or trying to play a prank on him.
Thus, Li Qi did not refuse. He raised the rifle, aimed at the distant target, and began channeling magic power into it.
Magic power flowed from Li Qi's body into his hands. Before he could even try to channel it into the rifle, his attention was drawn by a flash of light.
The light came from his chest.
More precisely, it came from the orb on his chest!
The red orb emitted a faint glow. At the same time, waves of warmth flowed from it, pushing the magic power in Li Qi's hands into the firearm he was gripping tightly with both hands.
The firearm also began radiating reddish magic power. Li Qi could feel the magic power flowing through every inch of it.
His pupils contracted slightly. Li Qi roughly understood the orb's function, as well as why Dr. Riv had given him those instructions.
He no longer hesitated. He raised his head, took aim, and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The gunshot rang out, and a bullet wrapped in red magic power shot toward the distant target.
When the Magic Bullet struck the target in the distance—
BOOM!!!!
A violent explosion and shockwave erupted. The scorching flames nearly broke through the Magic Barrier established around the plaza!
Li Qi stared wide-eyed at the flames soaring into the sky in the distance. Then he looked blankly at the rifle in his hands, unable to react for a long while.
Compared with Li Qi's astonishment, Dr. Riv and Major Bolent were remarkably calm.
Bolent gazed at the distant flames with a click of his tongue, while Dr. Riv took out a fountain pen and notebook and began recording something:
"Excellent, excellent."
He scribbled in the notebook for a while before asking Li Qi, "Warrant Officer Li Qi, how much magic power did you consume?"
"...One-tenth of my magic power!"
"One-tenth... Hmm. With one-tenth of your magic power, how many standard Light Spells can you cast... er... how many standard Light Spells?"
Dr. Riv asked again.
Li Qi estimated for a moment:
"About... thirty-something?"
"Be more precise."
"Thirty-seven to thirty-nine, something like that?"
"The basic magic input is thirty-seven to thirty-nine Magic Units... Not bad."
Dr. Riv continued recording.
Listening to his muttering, Li Qi pondered silently.
Basic magic input units?
Does the doctor mean that only this amount of magic power can be used with the orb and the rifle in my hands?
Li Qi made his guess.
It was not difficult to tell from the doctor's words that Dr. Riv considered the magic power required for a Mage Master to cast one standard Light Spell to be one Magic Unit.
Using that value for conversion—
A novice Mage Master, in other words, a first-level Mage Master, should have a total of roughly ten to fifteen Magic Units.
As for a Strategic Rank like Li Qi, his basic total magic power was at least four hundred.
At least according to Dr. Riv's method of calculation, Li Qi had between four hundred ten and four hundred thirty Magic Units.
At that rate, even if Li Qi could use this Magic Orb, he could fire it only a dozen or so times at most.
However, factoring in his own magic recovery rate, he should be able to fire a few more shots.
Li Qi was thinking this over when he raised his head, intending to ask Dr. Riv something. Instead, he heard the doctor say:
"Continue. This time, try using your maximum magic output."
"Yes!"
Li Qi gathered his thoughts, gripped the rifle tightly with both hands, and aimed it at the target in front of him again.
This time, he tried channeling all his magic power into the rifle in his hands, outputting magic power at maximum power according to Dr. Riv's instructions.
The orb grew brighter and brighter, while the magic power on the firearm nearly solidified.
But just as Li Qi was about to pull the trigger, he heard a crisp crack from his chest.
Crack—
"!"
A bad premonition surged through Li Qi's heart. He decisively threw away the rifle, then immediately stripped off the garment and hurled it, orb and all, toward the Firing Range ahead.
The garment and orb were thrown to the very center of the Firing Range by Li Qi's enhanced arm. Immediately afterward, Li Qi swiftly tackled Dr. Riv beside him to the ground.
The next second—
BOOM!!!!!
An explosion several times more powerful than the previous one rang out inside the Firing Range.
This time, even the Barrier jointly established by the Mage Masters could not stop the explosion.
The flames shooting into the sky and the shockwave spreading from the blast completely tore the Barrier apart!
Li Qi pressed Dr. Riv firmly to the ground and formed a Magic Shield around himself to block the shockwave from the explosion.
No one knew how long this lasted.
After the shockwave passed, Li Qi climbed to his feet and turned to look at the empty ground in the distance.
A gigantic crater had appeared in the open ground. Smoke produced by the explosion billowed from the crater and drifted upward.
Li Qi looked at the crater, then at himself, wearing nothing but his undershirt, and let out a sigh of relief.
That was close...
Really, just a tiny bit closer!
He, Li Qi, would have been reincarnated again!
Before you continue