Iron Powder and Spellcaster

Imperial Calendar Year 557 [26 years after the prologue]

United Provinces Republic [Also known as Piedmont Republic]

guitucheng

It was a midsummer afternoon, cloudless.

The sun turned the entire city into a steamer, making all living creatures lose their vitality.

"Persistence will soon win." Winters, a third-year officer student at the Army Academy, told himself.

He bit his lip, fighting the instinct to breathe through his mouth.

[Winters Montagne/Winters Montagne]

breathe! The key is to breathe!

Winters tried his best to maintain abdominal breathing and actively controlled the rhythm to make each inhalation and exhalation as long as possible.

The air with body temperature sprayed out from the nasal cavity, hit the inner wall of the full-wrap helmet, and returned with a stinky smell of sweat.

With the current temperature, it’s time to take a quick shower and enjoy the cool breeze.

But even in this oven-like hot weather, Winters was wrapped up tightly.

He wore a complete set of cotton armor next to his body, and a set of training armor on the outside of the armor.

This set of training armor was a cavalry plate armor removed from the corpses of nobles during the Sovereignty War thirty years ago.

Because the War Department wanted to save as much money on instruction as possible, the cadets had only these second-hand items available.

Of course, the armor Winters used was not the armor of the nobles. Those gorgeous and elegant high-end goods were taken home by the generals and used as decorations.

Officers and cadets use the armor of those knights who actually fight on the front line.

These low-level nobles sold their ancestral property in exchange for war horses and armor. They followed their lords to Forsland to make a fortune with their ancestral spears and swords.

[Forthland Piedmont, today’s Republic of the United Provinces]

They believed that the enemy was nothing more than a rebel army composed of traders, serfs and craftsmen.

But it was the traders, serfs and craftsmen who had the last laugh, while the knights could only bury their bones in a foreign land.

No one remembers who they are, and no one remembers where they came from. Only this set of armor with bullet holes and scratches is left to prove that they once existed.

These armors have a plain appearance with little decoration and most are not polished. But the best thing is the solid materials used, because its quality is related to the user's wealth and life.

People from the Army Ordnance Bureau took away all the accessories below the skirt of these armors and issued them to the cavalry troops as brand new leg armors.

A batch of left pauldrons were removed from other captured armors, and the original right pauldrons of these armors were replaced.

There is a gap in the right shoulder armpit of the cavalry armor to facilitate the holding of the lance, and the Ordnance Bureau did not want to bother to make another batch of right shoulder armor.

"There's no difference between the shoulder armor and the front anyway!" That's what they said.

The Ordnance Bureau registered this batch of second-hand assembled goods as [New High Quality Three-quarter-A] and sent them to the Army Academy for use by the officers and cadets.

Many of the gaps in the armor made by muskets were not repaired, but the gaps were hammered flat.

A few more gun holes is not a big problem, after all, the officer cadets will not wear these armors on the battlefield.

What tortures the officers and cadets is not the bullet holes in these armors, nor the weight of these armors, but the excellent thermal conductivity of iron armor.

In winter, it will quickly take away your body temperature. In summer, external heat will be efficiently transferred to the interior of the armor.

Winters looked like he had just been fished out of boiling water. The cotton armor under the armor was full of heat and sweat, and it stuck tightly to his back.

Sweat flowed down from his forehead, and from time to time it would get into his eyes, making them painful.

He was wearing a helmet and couldn't reach out to rub it, so he could only endure it.

Whenever he put on these training armors that were older than him in the midsummer, Winters thanked the Bureau of Ordnance bureaucrats from the bottom of his heart for not patching the holes in the armor.

After all, with them, ventilation can be better.

During swordsmanship classes, training armor with more holes is more popular. This is why.

The officer responsible for handling this batch of armor twenty years ago probably would not have thought that his laziness would actually do good things.

This batch of armor has been in use since the founding of the Army Officers Academy until today, nearly thirty years ago.

Winters’ junior students will continue to be tortured for the foreseeable future.

But Winters has no extra thought to pity his juniors now.

He just wanted to tear off the baggage on his body and pour cold water on him.

Before this competition, he had already fought twice with two other fencers.

He won and spent a lot of energy.

This game is extremely important and difficult right now.

After more than twenty rounds of fighting, the muscles in Winters' shoulders were as hot as red-hot iron, and more like a door shaft that had not been oiled for decades.

His big arm muscles were unconsciously causing his whole arm to tremble, and his hands could hardly hold the sword handle firmly.

The sword in his hand was the reason why he had to wear a plate armor in the hot summer.

Sword is probably the weapon with the most sub-species in the world.

The sword in Winters' hand has a relatively short history, probably less than two hundred years.

It is 1.3 meters long, which is about the distance from the four fingers of an adult man's armpit to the ground.

The sword has no blade and is nearly 1 meter long.

Its sword grid is extremely large, two feet long.

The huge sword grid is the soul of this weapon. Without it, many sword moves cannot be performed.

This sword is very long, longer than most swords. Its center of gravity is a palm in front of the sword grid, and it must be used with both hands to exert its power.

Its weight is surprisingly low compared to its length. The sword Winters is using weighs only 1.4 kilograms.

Mostly, cadets call it a "sword."

If other types of swords come up in conversation, causing confusion, the cadets will refer to it as "the sword we practice."

Or simply because it is longer than an ordinary sword, it is called a "long sword".

The long sword only weighs 1.4 kilograms, but with the correct force, it is enough to break bones and split flesh.

This is why Winters wears a full set of cavalry armor even at the risk of heat stroke in the hot summer.

Winters, and his opponents, were using the real thing with no edge.

Winters was almost boiling with sweat, but he didn't care.

All he wanted to do was win this game and win against the man in front of him who he had not defeated in six years.

Now, it is the closest he has come to victory, and it may also be his last chance.

Through the grid viewing window on his helmet, he glanced at the scoreboard on the sidelines.

He had 17 points and his opponent had 12 points. He had never been more than 5 points ahead of the guy on the other side.

Whoever scores 20 points first wins, and Winters now holds match point.

He repeatedly told himself: "Calm down, calm down, only three points."

His brain was thinking rapidly: "Ike must take the initiative to attack if he wants to catch up with the score. I can wait for a flaw."

With his mind made up, Winters entered the competition venue from the waiting area.

He took a half-step with his right foot, planted his lower body into a T-step, and kept his back straight. The right hand is in front and the left hand is behind the sword hilt. His hands are lowered to the height of the navel, and the sword tip is pointed upward towards the opponent's throat.

The long sword technique practiced by Winters originated from the founding father, Union field marshal, and sword master [Ned Smith]. One of the core contents of this sword technique is "posture."

Winters' posture at this moment is called "Plow", which is both offensive and defensive.

And he prefers to keep his strong hands and strong side legs in front at the same time.

He knew very well that his energy had dried up, and his stiff posture must have looked funny to the onlookers, but he didn't care about the embarrassment.

Time always passes faster in my mind. There are a lot of things in my mind, but only a few seconds pass in the real world.

Winters' opponent was approaching him in a similar posture to Winters.

As Winters expected, he had match point and his opponent decided to play more aggressively.

Otherwise, a gamble-style raid by Winters could end the game immediately.

The opponent's sword point was also pointed at Winters' head, but his feet moved towards Winters' right side in large strides, trying to occupy Winters' sideways position.

Naturally, Winters would not let him get his wish, and he also adjusted his steps accordingly.

The two of them seemed to be looking at each other in the mirror, their stances were consistent, their steps were consistent, and even their breathing rhythms tended to be synchronized.

After walking around for a few steps, the distance got closer and closer, and the tips of their swords began to collide.

Winters' eyes didn't blink, and the sword tips began to collide, which meant that the two of them entered each other's attack range at the same time.

The opponent confidently controlled the long sword and struck with Winters' long sword, as if he was provoking.

The sword blades collided, making a crisp sound.

This kind of small bump will not bring any advantage, but it is an extremely effective psychological tactic.

An aggressive attitude can put great psychological pressure on your opponent.

Winters didn't realize that when he decided to take a defensive counterattack, his momentum was already low.

What he considers to be a sound and reasonable decision-making is an external manifestation of a lack of self-confidence.

Because Winters clearly knows that the opponent's hard power is better than his, and he still can't figure it out: How did he lead by 5 points?

So he asked for stability.

If his opponent was leading by 5 points, he would have hit him head-on.

Seeing Winters strictly guarding the center line, his opponent began to adjust the direction of attack.

The opponent turned the sword around the weighted ball, turning the tip of the sword that was originally pointing to Winters' right side to the left side.

Winters immediately realized that the opponent's attack was coming!

His opponent's physical strength was astonishing, and he could often force Winters' long sword away from the center line with his steely arms.

Then his opponent would quickly take a step forward, catch his sword in the sword grid, and stab Winters in the chest with a high thrust from top to bottom.

This is the other's specialty - the two are so familiar with each other that they can understand what the other wants to do with just a small movement.

Winters reacted subconsciously and saw his opponent's sword turning to his right. He changed his posture and swung to the right in advance.

This will be a head-on collision, and whoever can gain the advantage in the ensuing swordfight will score.

But the opponent's sword tip made a circle in the air and returned to its original position.

This was actually a fake move. Winters' hands and feet were cold, and there was only one thought in his mind: "Oops!"

There is never any "three hundred rounds of battle."

In armorless swordsmanship, one move can determine the outcome.

If you take a fake move, it's all over.

Although Winters had no time to think, his swordsmanship instinct was still there.

Instinct replaced thinking and controlling muscles, and he changed his sword swing from right to left, trying to adjust his posture back.

It was too late, the opponent had already launched an attack from Winters' left side.

He did not attack Winters' torso directly, but first used his strong sword to hit Winters' weak sword.

Winters' sword was knocked out of position.

At the same time, the opponent's left leg muscles exploded with powerful force like a spring, and his right foot strode forward.

The long sword in his hand quickly circled back to its top position, and the "bolt from the blue" was coming!

What Winters will face is a brutal top-down chop.

The blade of the sword drew an arc of light, and the speed was so fast that it made the sound of wind.

This time, the sword was aimed at the neck.

Without any mercy or any restraint, the sword hit Winters' left shoulder and collarbone firmly.

"when!!!"

A loud noise that was unbearable to hear.

Even the classmates who were watching subconsciously narrowed their eyes.

Whistle!

Effective scoring.

Winters' opponent was not careless at all. He quickly drew back his sword and used a horizontal sword gesture to block Winters' possible counterattack direction.

He didn't give Winters any chance to "kick back."

A back attack is a counterattack within one beat after losing a point. According to the competition rules of the Lu Yuan, once this happens, it will be regarded as a common death, and neither side will score.

Winters' opponent will never give Winters a chance to fight back.

However, the opponent was actually overly worried and hit him with a "bolt from the blue" with all his strength, which was like being beheaded through armor.

Winters had no way to fight back because he was in so much pain that he was nearly suffocating.

Winters' neck armor, shoulder armor, and breastplate distribute the momentum across his entire torso—if not for this, just one sword attack would have shattered half of his shoulder, even if the opponent used a blunt sword.

But the place where his collarbone was hit still hurt like the toes that were squeezed hard by the door.

The severe pain paralyzed Winters' muscles all over his body, and he could hardly move for a while.

His central nervous system responded to this intense stimulation, rapidly releasing large amounts of adrenaline and endorphins in his body.

After a brief period of intense pain, Winters was suddenly able to breathe again.

He gasped for air and pointed to the left side of his neck, indicating to the referee that he was hit here.

The referee gave the decision "3 points" without hesitation, and the scorer changed the score to [17:15].

There was a burst of thunderous applause in the training room.

This applause is not a humiliation to Winters, it is a tradition of the Army Academy, and the officer cadets will applaud for the wonderful battle.

In fact, even Winters wanted to applaud the opponent's attack.

It's really exciting: simple and effective fake moves, clean chops, and watertight return defenses. The whole set of moves is so handsome.

Of course, it would have been nice if the backdrop wasn't Winters himself.

It took less than two seconds for the two men to collide with each other and hit Winters.

The winner was decided in one breath, and many students watching on the sidelines were unable to see clearly the actions of both sides because of the poor angle.

I saw Winters take a hard blow in the blink of an eye, and his whole body was hit so hard that he couldn't stand still.

Besides the pain, Winters' mind was filled with frustration.

Marshal Ned's swordsmanship emphasizes the first move, encourages simple and direct attacks, celebrates rushing attacks that suppress the enemy, opposes flashy sword moves, and criticizes all unnecessary feints.

Because Marshal Ned believes that a qualified fencer will never be easily deceived by false moves, and an unqualified fencer will never be able to defeat a qualified fencer.

When playing against a skilled swordsman, using fake moves indiscriminately means giving the opponent an opportunity to strike.

Getting a fake move was more shameful in Winters' eyes than standing still and getting beaten.

"Are you okay? Let's take a break and fight again?"

The opponent did not return to the waiting area in the corner of the competition field. Seeing that Winters was shaking, he asked Winters with concern.

The opponent's voice came from the helmet and then into the other helmet, sounding muffled.

Winters endured the pain and tentatively moved his shoulder a few times to make sure the bones were fine.

So the young man's hot-blooded and aggressive nature overcomes the pain.

Although he wanted to sit on the sidelines and rest for a while, he really couldn't let go of his pride.

"It's okay, keep going." He held his shoulders and said through gritted teeth.

"Let them fight first, we will come back later." The opponent was still worried.

Winters repeated: "It's okay, keep going."

After saying that, he walked back to the waiting area with heavy steps.

The opponent sighed and walked back to his waiting area.

The whistle sounded again, a new round began, and the two men walked onto the field again.

The blood surged in Winters' chest, and the fiery temper in his bones gradually suppressed his reason.

The defense would be passive, he thought, and being passive would result in fake moves.

Must attack! attack! attack! A vicious jab to the head wins the day.

So in the new round, as soon as the two sides exchanged swords, Winters immediately launched a surprise attack.

A decisive long stride and high level thrust, straight to the opponent's front door.

The concept of this thrust is to raise the sword after crossing the sword, and use the sword grid to block the enemy's attack route, while threatening the vital points of the opponent's head.

Not to mention, Winters' fierce and reckless thrusts really surprised his opponents.

Because before this, Winters' playing style was extremely stable, so stable that he had almost no chance to take advantage of it, and so stable that he rarely fell behind by five points.

However, the instinct of his opponent's top swordsman was still there, and his swordsmanship instinct overshadowed the panic caused by Winters' thrust.

When Winters stepped forward, his opponent quickly took a step back.

The sword blades intersected, sparks flew everywhere, and they made a crisp sound.

Immediately afterwards, the opponent pushed his strong sword to the tip of Winters' sword as the sword blades scraped against each other. He exerted another force and pressed Winters' sword downward.

A strong sword body has a natural advantage in torque over a weak sword body. Winters was unable to effectively resist in terms of strength. His sword body was depressed, and the tip of the sword broke away from the opponent and pointed to the ground.

At the same time, the opponent twisted the long sword and used the sword to block Winters' possible slashing path, not giving Winters a chance to change his moves.

Other than that, the opponent only did one thing.

He moved his wrist slightly, keeping the tip of his sword pointed at Winters' belly.

The next moment, Winters bumped into him.

Whistle!

There was another thunderous applause and cheers, because it was another wonderful performance, still less than two seconds.

The winner is decided in one breath.

The opponent seemed to easily hit Winters' torso and score two points, but how many people knew the tactical game involved?

Winters pointed to the spot where the training nail was poked and walked quickly back to the waiting area.

The score became 17:17, tied.

The referee and his opponent looked at each other, and both shook their heads helplessly.

After spending six years together day and night, both of them could see that Winters' fiery temper was coming back.

In this state, Winters is a completely different person than usual. He is no longer the gentle, casual Mr. Montagne who always wants to yawn.

He is now irrational and his mentality is close to collapse.

But the game must go on.

When the two returned to the waiting area, their opponent began to think seriously about a question: "Should we let Winters do it again... After all, this may be the last time we compete."

It was a new round, and Winters maintained his "angry style" when he entered the ring.

Angry style is a posture that stores energy. Just as you can retract your fist to punch it out more powerfully, the same goes for swordsmanship.

The swordsman will hold the hilt of the sword to his shoulder, hold the sword high, and launch a top-down slash at any time.

The power of the angry slash is amazing, and the slash stroke is long, but the intention and direction of the attack are too obvious.

At this moment, Winters' mind was already occupied by one thought: "Attack."

The two sides have reached a draw, and Winters is inferior to his opponent in terms of physical strength, skills, and patience. If he wants to win, he must rely on bold and fearless attacks - at least that's what he convinces himself, and there is some truth to it.

When everyone thinks that someone has lost his mind, he actually has some fallacies that can convince him, and they may be very convincing.

The idea of ​​offense itself is correct.

But Winters failed to realize that his intention to attack was too obvious to be ignored.

The next second, the opponent also showed his anger.

The two of them were once again looking into a mirror, their movements exactly the same, standing face to face.

Winters understood what the other person was thinking. [Angry Style] was the posture in which Winters handed over each other's hands when they first met.

In the past six years of swordsmanship lessons, the two of them always cooperated with each other to perform a few sword moves in the Fury Style.

Yes, Winters has been practicing Ned's long sword since he was a child, while the opponent only started six years ago.

But now, the friend standing opposite him is already better than his predecessor.

The opponent's angry gesture was telling him that he could choose a flat thrust to get three points, because a straight thrust is always faster than a powerful slash - this was what Winters told the opponent.

He's handicap.

Winters' rival, classmate and closest friend wants him to win for once.

But Winters suddenly didn't have such a strong desire to win, not that he was angry. On the contrary, his sanity is gradually returning.

This was the last time the two competed in a swordsmanship class, and it might even be the last time they competed.

Because the so-called graduation means that partners who have been together day and night realize that they may never meet again in the future.

Win or lose, it doesn't matter, Winters suddenly didn't care anymore.

So this round, the two of them didn't play any tricks.

The opponent used his stronger strength to force open the center line and hit the target with a straight thrust.

This was the expected result. Winters dropped his sword and walked toward his opponent with arms outstretched.

Whistle!

He gradually realized that something was wrong, not 3 points, but 2 points!

The opponent did not attack the head, Winters was hit in the chest.

At this moment, the score is 17:19, and there is still one point left to end the game.

Winters' shoulder injury, which had been relieved, started to hurt again, and he coughed violently. He wanted to end the game decently with a warm hug, but suddenly found that he had to fight another round.

The level of embarrassment is comparable to crying at the funeral next door.

Fortunately, I haven't hugged him yet, otherwise it would be embarrassing.

Winters picked up the sword and walked back to the waiting area.

It's a new round, and it's still an angry start.

The opponent slashed diagonally, and Winters blocked with his sword;

The opponent drew his sword and switched sides, and Winters also changed direction to block;

The opponent drew his sword again and switched sides, and Winters subconsciously continued to block with his sword.

In the blink of an eye, the two sides fought three swords, and it looked like a lightning-fast fight.

Winters was now relying on his instinct to fight the sword, but at that time he had already vaguely sensed the smell of conspiracy.

So when he realized that the distance between the other party and him was rapidly shortening, he fell into a great panic.

He understood it all at once.

He was so anxious that he yelled: "[Vicious expletive]! You want...[more vicious expletive]..."

It was too late, and his personal attack was not properly conveyed to his opponent.

The other party could only hear the vague wailing coming from his helmet.

The opponent switched to holding the sword with one hand, using his left hand to control Winters' sword body in accordance with the sword pattern, and his right hand suddenly grabbed Winters' shoulder.

At the same time, a stumbling block appeared under his feet.

A simple leg drop followed by a top press with all his body weight.

Poor Winters was knocked down heavily, including his armor, and was pinned down by the other party.

The opponent smiled and tapped Winters' helmet with the hilt of his sword.

For the third time, thunderous applause and laughter erupted in the training room.

Since it is a swordsmanship competition, of course boxing cannot score points, and wrestling cannot score points.

But after knocking the opponent down and controlling him, he can then use the sword to damage the target.

efficient! Score one point.

Wrestling is also part of fencing - Marshal Ned Smith.

The whistle blew and the referee loudly announced: "Victor, Axel of Orange!"

In this way, the last sword fight ended with a wrestling.

Winters collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily with a wry smile, and he didn't even have the strength to move his fingers.

[Q: Wearing armor and practicing unarmored swordsmanship is not the same as searching for a sword by carving a boat? 】

[A: The swordsmanship that Winters and his friends learn is unarmored swordsmanship, but because there are no lightweight composite protective gears like today, for the sake of safety, they still have to wear armor when practicing]

[Q: Military schools don’t teach fighting, but swordsmanship? Are you kidding? 】

[A: No kidding, the military school also teaches dancing. The curriculum of the Brienne Military Academy included two dance classes, two reading classes, and two hours of recreational activities per week—this was all in the 19th century. Brienne Military Academy has two famous graduates: Napoleon and Davout]

[The swordsmanship course at the Union Army Academy is better regarded as a sport than practicality]

[Also: Wrestling is really part of fencing]

[Strong sword body/weak sword body, strong sword body refers to the part of the long sword close to the hilt, and weak sword body refers to the part of the long sword close to the tip. When your strong sword hits the opponent's weak sword, through the leverage principle and the impulse theorem we can know that your power will be proportionally amplified, making it easier for the opponent's long sword to lose its original position. At the same time, there are real blades/fake blades in long swordsmanship, which I won’t go into details here]

[The rear blow is to simulate the situation of death that may occur in actual combat. A large number of records show that people will not become incapacitated instantly when they encounter fatal injuries. They still have a chance to make a final counterattack]

[So in the sword competition rules of the Alliance Army Officer Academy, if the player who is hit can successfully fight back within one beat, neither person will score points]