Outsiders never learned what Frank had said to Little Smo. They only knew that after he returned to the Legion, he set another major change in motion.
The Magic Musket had undergone two and a half generations of development. Compared with the first generation, the second used bullets instead of loaded black powder and gained greater stability and a rifled barrel. The extra half-generation replaced parts such as the stock with wood, reducing the gun's weight.
But it still suffered from the need to reload after every shot. No one on a battlefield would wait for you to leisurely load a bullet. That was why the more soldiers Hellfire had, the stronger it became: half again as many soldiers meant half again as much firepower.
The Blacksmith Shop had tinkered together another weapon it called the second-generation Magic Musket: the Magic-Loaded Musket.
It looked much like the Magic Musket, except for a magazine holding five bullets in front of the trigger. Its firepower was unchanged.
In theory, the soldiers should have welcomed more shots without any loss of power. In reality, the cavalrymen who received it looked thoroughly disgusted.
Apart from excuses like "I've formed a bond with the Gun Spirit in my hands," the biggest reason was its astonishing tendency to jam. On average, it jammed once every two volleys. That was manageable in practice, but a jam on the battlefield could cost you your life. Better to load one bullet after every shot.
Frank's major change was to issue the Magic-Loaded Musket, which Annan had taken an interest in and called a branch of the second-generation Magic Musket, to Hellfire's soldiers.
"Falling behind is the root of every problem. All of Hellfire's problems come down to insufficient firepower. More training might make you Professionals, but it won't solve