A quarter of an hour later, Kike, seized by an inexplicable fear of the unknown, looked rather regretfully at the gray-robed mage, who was outside the capsule with an excited, fanatical expression, directing his apprentices as they calibrated something. "Lord Anthony, is it still too late for me to change my mind?"
He clearly remembered this fellow telling them earlier that the Finance Office had plainly received a budget personally approved by the lord for constructing a small teleportation gate.
"Teacher, what exactly is this thing? Why do I feel a little scared?"
Kangerweian, standing behind Kike, had even broken out in goosebumps from instinctive terror.
At this moment, from another angle, one could see the "fully armed" Kike and Kangerweian crammed into a streamlined, cylindrical metal device resembling a mechanical construct.
Outside the device, the mages led by Anthony seemed to be carrying out the final calculations and safety inspections.
Hearing this, Anthony looked up at their unease, then smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry too much. We've verified the theory behind this Arcane Propulsion Launcher many times already. Statistically speaking, it's at least 26.3% safer than ultra-long-range teleportation without confirmed coordinates.
"Besides, setting up and opening a small long-range teleportation gate takes quite a while to prepare. Aren't you afraid you'll step out the door only to find yourselves in the middle of a horde of Demons? And how could preparing a teleportation gate possibly be as fast as this? According to our calculations, once the launcher fires successfully, you'll arrive within Cormanthor in eight minutes."
Thirty years ago, the "Advanced Mobile Combat Golem" research project he had submitted was rejected by the Finance Office for the twenty-third time, citing flaws such as poor cost-effectiveness, fragility, and unsuitability for modern warfare. It was then that his father, Herbert, returned in