Below the cliffs of Stormveil Castle, the once barren hill known as the Stormcall was now home to a newly constructed, bustling town.
The damp sea breeze blowing in from the west howled here all day, but at least the raised earthen walls sheltered the town from the worst of the cold. The market was lively from early morning, with people coming and going.
On the wild ground that still lay just outside the town, several wooden mannequin targets had been set up.
Niđhöggr stood a few meters away, looking down at a heavy, metal rod-like implement in his hand.
"Heh heh." Rickert scratched the back of his head a little sheepishly and smiled. "I got the inspiration for this from cannons."
"A while ago, the Bard happened to recount the battle with the Fire Dragon Knight in Balidanis. That apostle used a cannon hidden in his shield, so I thought about combining the two concepts."
"But my craftsmanship isn't that great. Before, I was only limited to modifying crossbows, so I asked two master smiths, Hanarr and Hewg, to help me, and finally managed to finish it."
Nearby stood the "dwarf craftsman" Hanarr mentioned by Rickert, and the "smith" Hewg. Behind them was the "spirit tuner" Roderika.
Following Niđhöggr's advice, Hanarr had taken a boat from the Fairies' Island to exchange smithing skills with Hewg, and they had hit it off immediately.
After carefully studying the mineral of the Smithing Stone, he found it to be a treasure and ended up settling directly in Limgrave.
Hewg was naturally a welcome guest, but the two gruff old men were poor at managing their daily lives, which required the attentive Roderika to occasionally tend to their needs.
Of course, Roderika spent most of her time helping the people of Junction and the Fairies' Island, explaining how to communicate with spirits, fight alongside them, and guide them back to the Golden Tree and the spirit cycle.
As for the implement Rickert had asked the two old masters and smiths to make, it was actually a primitive hand cannon.
Coincidentally, this was not the only one of its kind in the world. Others had created similar firearms, such as the one who made the Fire Dragon Knight's shield-hand cannon, and the "sword smith" Gault, who lived in seclusion in the deep mountains and forests of the Kingdom of Midland.
Rickert could create the hand cannon because, on one hand, his mind was flexible enough, and on the other, Hanarr and Hewg were skilled enough to turn the ideas in Rickert's head into reality.
"Shall I give it a try, then?" Niđhöggr weighed the finished product in his hand and turned to ask.
Rickert nodded eagerly.
Although the hand cannon had already been tested several times since its construction, he was still curious about how powerful this weapon could be in Niđhöggr's hands.
With Rickert's help, Niđhöggr loaded the hand cannon with the appropriate amount of gunpowder and an iron ball. Gripping the handle with his right hand, he aimed the muzzle at one of the wooden mannequins and held a match cord in his left hand to ignite the fuse.
Fwoosh—
The fuse burned quickly, then a thunderous bang erupted. The hand cannon shook violently, white smoke rising from the muzzle, and the wooden mannequin nearby was shattered by the iron ball.
Rickert and Roderika had covered their ears in advance. Seeing Niđhöggr's test fire, they noticed he still stood perfectly still, as if the hand cannon had no recoil at all. Both clapped in surprise.
Hanarr and Hewg, being experienced, could tell at a glance that it wasn't that there was no recoil, but that Niđhöggr, with his capabilities, had long surpassed the realm of mortals.
Such recoil truly made no difference to him.
Niđhöggr touched the slightly hot muzzle of the cannon, then tossed the hand cannon back to Rickert.
Rickert caught it with both hands and looked at him expectantly.
Niđhöggr pondered for a moment, then offered his evaluation: "Let's start with the drawbacks. The recoil is too strong; very few can use it alone. Accuracy is low, range is short, loading gunpowder takes time, and it becomes problematic when wet..."
Rickert looked a bit dejected, nodded, and admitted:
"Besides you, in all of Limgrave, only Kenneth Haight, Pippin, Hanarr, and Hewg can test-fire the hand cannon alone. If others use it, the recoil might dislocate their wrists."
"This problem is actually easy to solve," Hanarr interjected at this point. "Ordinary people can use it in groups of three. Two of them aim the weapon, and the third loads the gunpowder and ignites the fuse."
Rickert also eagerly added, "The recoil, accuracy, and range can be gradually adjusted later. We believe it will get better and better, and eventually, even ordinary people will be able to use hand cannons effectively."
Niđhöggr nodded and said, "And that's precisely the advantage I was about to mention... Knights have swords, sorcerers have sorcery, clergymen have incantations, and warlocks have their arts. In the future, ordinary soldiers will have hand cannons."
"Casters often need intelligence, faith, connections to elemental spirits or monsters, and so on, to use various spells. The cost of developing such a caster is too high."
"The power of a hand cannon is naturally far inferior to sorcery, incantations, or magical arts. But its advantage lies in simplicity. If those with a little familiarity use it in groups of three, they can manage it."
"This is a weapon belonging to mortals, equivalent to a portable cannon. Soldiers will be capable of fighting even when facing apostles and monsters."
"Moreover, its potential is limitless."
It seemed Niđhöggr could envision the early advent of matchlocks and flintlock pistols, and perhaps even see more advanced firearms in subsequent generations.
Rickert beamed with joy.
Ever since he learned about the Kingdom of Midland and the Band of the Hawk, he had felt a strong desire to do something for the Lands Between and the Fairies' Island. That's why he had asked Niđhöggr to test this fire in the early morning.
Now that Niđhöggr had given it a fairly high evaluation, Rickert was very pleased.
"A good start." Niđhöggr also smiled. "You can continue to refine it and strive to apply a more perfected finished product to the Junction Legion."
Rickert nodded repeatedly, full of enthusiasm. At the same time, Hanarr, Hewg, and Roderika also smiled—at least their efforts during this time had not been in vain.
---
When Niđhöggr returned to the Roundtable Hold, Melina, who had arrived back earlier, was already busy processing information.
She glanced at Niđhöggr, then lowered her head and continued writing with her quill, simply saying:
"Schierke and Ivarella were here. They're experimenting with that idea you mentioned before, and it seems to be progressing well, but you happened to be away."
"They asked me to tell you that if you returned, you should go to the spirit cherry blossom tree... If you go now, they should still be experimenting, right?"
Niđhöggr was momentarily stunned before realizing that Schierke and Ivarella were the ones involved.
He immediately bid farewell to Melina, left the Roundtable Hold, and walked towards the golden tree. Everyone coming and going saluted him.
Today, the magnificent golden tree was not only guarded by knights and soldiers at its roots but was also inhabited by many fairies throughout the giant tree, as well as spirits wandering from all over the Junction.
It had become a true spectacle in the harbor of the Fairies' Island, and many people came to see it.
When Niđhöggr passed through the sorcerers' village in the forest and approached the spirit tree with its scattered pink cherry blossoms, he saw a group of sorcerers in enchanted robes gathered there.