The Black Iron Glory
Mental Shock and Animal Trials

Chapter 85

Mental Shock and Animal Trials

Claude's match lock was hung on his back as he walked down the mountain path.

Afternoon classes are one wrestling period and two periods of marksmanship. Claude is undefeated in wrestling against everyone except Welikro. He threw three students out of the ring, and no one had dared to challenge him ever since.

They started shooting skills only that year, though, contrary to what the name suggests, it taught everything except shooting skills. It mainly focuses on the basics of reloading and gun use.

The school, like most, uses the oldest model of firearms, it is also the heaviest, which is made for good training even though the design is outdated.

Claude and Welikro were passed after only two sessions and were exempted from further attendance.

The instructor had no choice. The two boys could recharge faster than him, and that did not apply to his pride, nor his authority as an instructor. Thus the two once again had a free afternoon. Both completely ignored the eyes of the puppies Borkal and Eriksson, and going, through friendship with the dogs, they did not have it.

Claude said they would rather go hunting with their new rifle, so the time would not be in vain, so he kept saying. Welikro preferred fishing, so Claude climbed the mountain alone. Claude thought his friend's interest was more fishing than just hunting. He grew up on the trail, so it was nothing new and exciting for him, who was fishing. Claude walked up the mountain to the plateau where the forest grew, whose outskirts had become his hunting ground.

Sometimes having good friends is a problem in itself. . . He doesn't have much personal time, for example. Everything was done with his friends. Moments like this, where he can enjoy the tranquility of the forest, are precious, very precious. And now, more than ever, she appreciates the reason for going out of town alone. He was desperate to try his two combat spells.

He was most excited about the Magic Missile. She laughed after using it for the first time. It was everything he imagined and more. It was like carrying five rifles with him that were always ready to shoot. As long as the mana was lifted, he had unlimited ammunition. And the rate of fire is closer to a slow machine gun than a shotgun. It was even better; he could cast it while moving, unlike his alchemist spell.

Oh, the gods really blessed him this time!

Unfortunately, the spell was only useful as a defensive measure. The chance of reaching a distance of ten meters from the target without alerting its existence and sending it to the bushes was extremely small, not that the spell was worth using even if it worked. A charred rabbit generally does not sell well.

Landes apparently asked Tawari how effective it would really be in the fight against magical beasts and the man told him he would at least let him die with dignity. Claude had no idea how powerful the magical beast was, but his spell at least had the same punching power as a rifle.

Another drawback is that he has to physically aim his shot with his hand, so if he is held back, or attacked from behind, it will be of little use. He could guide the projectile somewhat, but the effect he could have on his trajectory in just ten meters was somewhat limited. However, it was still very adequate for basic skills, and naturally it would be an unpleasant surprise for anyone who came to him.

However, it is quite difficult to find the subject of a spell. Magic Missiles can be shot at nearby objects, but Mental Shock requires an animal target, something larger than an insect. He could use it on them, but he did not know exactly what the effect was. And he couldn't shake the feeling of being a bully for using it on small, insignificant things.

It took several hours for him to finally find a valuable subject. He found a small snake under his trunk, and immediately hit him with a spell. The poor one fell dead when the spell was activated, however. He was not very aware of what was happening at first, as the snake stopped moving. It didn't shake like snakes usually do when they are killed, so he didn't know it was dead. He left after staring at her for a few minutes, but found her in exactly the same position when he came again near sunset on his way home.

So the effect of Mental Shock depends on the size of the target? Or is the spell much stronger than Landes? He tried it on some other animals and ended up pinning variance to the target size. The spell turned out to be fatal on everything smaller than a cat.

He uses his spell on a squirrel, but it falls on his head from a tree, so he is not sure if his spell or fall has killed him. He finds a cat just as he enters the city and uses his spell, and it collapses. He only realized it might not be stray after reciting the spell, so he did not go to check on it. He only knew it was dead when the owner picked it up and started crying. He had to fight his mistake when he left.

Shouldn't Landes have found that, too? He should have mentioned it! She pouted on the ceiling of her room as she tried to sleep. Then again, given how specifically he made a spell to help him feed the magical beast, he might never use it on anything else. Claude doubted he would completely eliminate this if he knew about it.

When he thought about it again, he slapped his own face. Sure was! If the spell had the same effect as hitting someone on the back of the head, then, just like the attack, it should also have the potential to kill. If it hit everything with the same force, then it would naturally kill a small beast, just as hitting a small beast as hard as one might hit a human would kill it as well.

He scoured the city in search of small animals, pets, and livestock – like a chicken – and threw it with his spell when no one saw. The chickens and geese did not die immediately, but in the end they also kicked the bucket. Dogs are the smallest animals to survive their attacks, but they are usually really scared when they come again.

Cows and horses survived without much trouble, though one cow was frozen with its muzzle in the water and nearly drowned. One of the horses was hit by a middle step, forgot to lower his leg, and fainted. The people who saw the horse looked at him with confused smiles while the owner rushed to look at his precious horse.

Claude becomes increasingly desperate to lobby humans with the spell, but he doesn't know anyone he wants to lobby that's easily achievable. After all, he didn't want to lobby just anyone.

The only downside to Mental Shock, really, is that it has to say a short, one-syllable spell. He had already tried casting by simply channeling mana through the formation, but it would not activate until he chanted a spell.

Claude deduces that Landes must have a sick humor, as he chants the 'bang' mantra'. He really disliked the idea of randomly saying 'banging' on the street to shock people or animals.

He headed for the farm and garden to the southwest of the city a few days later. The farm there is slightly larger than the one directly south of the city, and therefore should have fewer legs and eyes. The boys once again depleted the animals to the south, so he hoped that there would be more prey in the southwest of the city. Welikro did say, after all, that, that hunters in general do not go there because the farmers there have more money and can make the lives of hunters difficult if they accidentally kill livestock or animals family pet. Therefore such prey should be much more.

He hopes to test his mantra on some of the larger prayers. The jump from dog to cow was quite big, and he wanted something in between to better track how the effects increased between the two extremes. Pigs are ideal because she can test Mental Shock on them hopefully without killing them, but still take them with a Magic Missile if the spell doesn't work as expected.