A Brand-New Magic Tool: Star

The thousand-man commander was dead, killed by He Ming's Wind Disk: Rending.

The centurions were all dead too. Solar Flame Light Slash had cut them down one by one, turning them into nutrient powder for the Golden Star Seed.

As for the ten-man commanders, they were merely Armored Warrior Figurines with the strength of lesser servants. They were utterly incapable of commanding an army.

This disorganized mob might have been able to trap Xu Fang, who was burdened with deadweight, but against an equally organized force of Military Mages, they quickly fell apart.

When the first rays of sunlight appeared in the sky, the remaining Terracotta Warriors finally stopped moving.

The earth shook, and a deep pit opened once more, shielding them as they returned underground.

The Military Mages, who had fought through the night, had finally made it to another day alive.

"Quick, medic!"

"Where's the stretcher? The company commander's injured!"

Li Yi, the equally battered political instructor, shouted at the top of his lungs.

The medic hurried over and gently spread pure-white healing magic over He Ming.

"The company commander's fine. He's just run out of mana and has a few other injuries. He'll be all right after some healing and a few days of rest."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

He Ming wasn't just the strongest person in their company; he was also their pillar of support. If he went down, the impact on morale would be devastating.

"I'll report this to the Chief Instructor right away!"

Li Yi had only taken a couple of steps when he stopped again. "By the way, where's the soldier who brought the company commander back?"

A Military Mage said, "Instructor, that guy isn't one of our soldiers. He's a student from Ancient Capital No. 2 High School!"

"A student?"

Li Yi froze for a moment, but quickly understood. After scolding him—"Students are soldiers too. We can't afford to be cliquish"—he hurried off.

Meanwhile.

The new recruits' dormitory was a showcase of human diversity.

Some students had fought all night and were now sprawled on their beds, fast asleep.

Some had just fought for real and immediately jumped back into the virtual battlefield on their phones.

Some had been scared witless by the Terracotta Warriors and were curled up in the corner, feeling miserable, or crying and begging to go home.

Others were unlucky enough to have been hit by arrows from the Kneeling Archer Figurines. They were injured, and every movement made them hiss in pain.

As for the unluckiest one, Military Mages sweeping the battlefield had already pieced him back together. He was calling home with "dying for his country" as the main point of his message.

"Boss! Boss!"

Sun Rui Zhi barged in, brimming with excitement. "I killed five Terracotta Warriors last night! That was awesome!"

Rui Zhi was a Primary Level One Mage, so he wasn't qualified to fight outside the city. He'd stayed on the wall the whole time, casting spells from there.

During the melee, a few Terracotta Warriors had stumbled their way to the wall. The sharp-eyed Sun Rui Zhi had blasted them into pieces with a Thunder Seal.

"I'm definitely making the Undead Rankings this time... By the way, boss, how many did you kill?"

Xu Fang said, "I didn't keep count."

He only remembered killing them by the dozens, wave after wave. Who had the patience to count them all?

He was more concerned with other things. Yesterday's battle had given him plenty of inspiration.

Sun Rui Zhi was deeply impressed. As expected of the boss—even his way of showing off was so smooth and natural. He was a role model for them all.

......

Military training was managed with extreme strictness. The camp was completely closed off, and especially during the first month, no one was allowed to leave for any reason.

Fortunately, though the camp was small, it had everything they needed. It couldn't match the bustle of downtown Ancient Capital, but it had all the basic facilities.

Following the signs, Xu Fang found the company's forge.

The forge wasn't large, about fifty square meters. Two rows of shelves were piled high with raw materials and damaged Magic Tools, and the floor was a mess.

The only clear space held a stool. An old soldier in uniform, wearing reading glasses, sat on it and studied a blueprint in his hands.

"Repairs are done in order. Those with more Undead Points get priority," the old man said without looking up.

Xu Fang said, "I need Magic Stones, a carving knife, a bundle of Ink Horn deer sinew, and some rock iron."

Only then did the old man stop what he was doing. He looked up in surprise, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "You're a forgemaster too?"

"I only know a little."

"Is that so?" The old man asked no more questions. He gathered the things Xu Fang wanted. "The forge is inside. Five thousand an hour."

"Okay."

Xu Fang walked into the forge.

The old man really trusted him—or perhaps he had confidence in the company's security. Even if Xu Fang had any bad ideas, he wouldn't be able to escape their grasp, would he?

Just judging by what Xu Fang had crammed into his head over the past month, the things in this room were probably worth tens of millions in total.

He sat on the forging chair and picked up the carving knife.

Unlike the novice who'd fumbled through the process the first time, Xu Fang now worked with practiced ease. Before long, he had carved a Fortification Array into the rock iron.

Whoosh!

A flame of light flickered in Xu Fang's hand. Heated by its outer flame, the rock iron bent into a short steel tube.

Xu Fang had excellent control over the flame. As soon as he got the desired result, he withdrew it, drawing away the remaining heat as well.

Ink Horn deer sinew was a Minor General-level material. It was expensive, and it had excellent elasticity and resilience. Xu Fang compressed and adjusted it first, then fixed it beneath the steel tube.

Snap!

"A little crooked..."

Xu Fang pulled off the sinew and tried again. After wasting half a bundle, he finally found the right position. Once compressed, it could spring out along the intended path.

"The cooling array is too large and complicated to carve... It's not a big problem. I'll try this Wind Element array. It'll speed up the flow of heat and direct it into the ice stone on the outside... Great, that'll work as a substitute."

"I'll install the Magic Stone here."

Xu Fang looked like a mad scientist villain from a movie, muttering to himself as he moved among bottles and jars.

Gradually, a brand-new "Magic Tool" took shape before him.

Xu Fang picked it up and weighed it in his hand, then slipped it into his sleeve and channeled mana into it.

Click!

With a barely audible snap, a black pistol, less than twenty centimeters long, sprang into Xu Fang's hand.

"Awesome!"

That smooth little sequence of moves had even made Xu Fang feel cool.

In his previous life, this thing was called a "sleeve gun." Modern-day spies often used it to assassinate their targets. Xu Fang had first seen one in Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions, when Yuuta used one.

Of course, Xu Fang's sleeve gun wasn't like the pretend weapon wielded by the Dark Flame Master, which existed only in his imagination. It didn't use gunpowder, but a spring-loaded mechanism. And with Solar Flame Light Slash added to it, its power was off the charts.

No, "Solar Flame Light Slash" wasn't quite the right name anymore. It should be called "Solar Flame Light Bullet."

The gun needed a cool, chuunibyou-worthy name too. He'd call it "Star."

It would stay hidden in his sleeve most of the time. Without mana flowing into it, there was no risk of it going off accidentally.

It was also highly concealable, had a long range, and needed no windup. People could get shot before they even knew what was happening, with no idea how they'd fallen.

Xu Fang walked out, grinning.

The old man said blandly, "One hour and twenty-eight minutes in total. Rounded up, that's two hours. With the materials, you owe me fifty thousand."

Xu Fang was in a good mood. He'd gotten such a powerful weapon for fifty thousand and felt he'd made a killing.

He didn't bother arguing. He paid by transfer and left, leaving the old man standing there in stunned silence. Why hadn't the kid complained?

......

While Xu Fang was making "Star," a reward application was sitting on Grand Instructor Fei Jiao's desk.

"Almost everyone who took part from Third Company was injured. Company commander He Ming was badly wounded and only just woke up. But our casualty rate was the lowest it's been in years. We lost only two Primary-level Military Mages."

Fei Jiao looked over the list as his subordinate briefed him.

"At the same time, the results of this battle were better than any we've had recently. One thousand-man commander Terracotta Warrior and four Centurion Terracotta Warriors were all killed. The Terracotta Army in Pit Sixteen won't recover for at least six months."

Fei Jiao nodded with satisfaction. "Good. They must be rewarded. Issue the rewards according to the recorded kill counts."

He paused when he noticed his subordinate hadn't moved. Puzzled, he said, "What are you waiting for? Go do it."

"Chief Instructor, there's an unusual situation."

"Go on."

"This person's contribution is somewhat special. You'll have to decide on it yourself."