Overwhelming Firepower

Chapter 326: The path forward

While Lucen was preparing for the upcoming semester as a new instructor, back in Ironhold, Robert had just finished another experiment when he noticed something.

"Why hasn’t my partner in the path of creation returned?" Robert removed his bird beak mask and looked around, and realized that he was the only one in the workshop.

The dwarves who were helping him were nowhere to be found, and the Barbarian Warrors he was using for test subjects had gone as well; still, the most important one, Lucen, had not returned.

Robert narrowed his eyes slightly as he tapped his chin in thought.

"That is, later than expected." Lucen had mentioned he was heading to the Royal Academy to look into something.

Robert had not thought much of it at the time. After all, Lucen rarely wasted time on meaningless matters.

"He should have returned by now..."

Robert’s gaze drifted across the workshop, landing on the unfinished experiments laid out before him. Several of them had been left in a state that required discussion.

Not because Robert lacked the ability to proceed, but because Lucen often introduced ideas that shifted the direction entirely. Robert clicked his tongue softly.

"How troublesome."

Robert sighed as he sat down on his chair, thinking about the many advancements he and Lucen had created.

**"

Yet despite advancing the technology, especially that used for battle to a great degree, there had only been a few advancements in Robert’s main study, which was alchemy.

The greatest advancement alchemy had was the creation of battle alchemy. Even though mages of the Yellow Tower do use what they create using alchemy in battle, that needs to be prepared before the battle starts.

Battle alchemy had changed all of that. It was something he created alongside Lucen, who gave him the initial idea.

One day, when they were talking, Lucen asked him why they didn’t use transmutation for battle.

At the time, Robert had thought it to be a rather strange question.

Transmutation was a fundamental aspect of alchemy, yet it had never been used in battle. It was considered too slow, too deliberate, and far too impractical to be applied in the midst of combat. Alchemy, as it existed, required preparation.

Potions, salves, and catalysts were all created beforehand and used when the situation called for them. That was simply how alchemy had always been practiced.

And yet, Lucen had asked that question so casually, as if the answer should have been obvious from the very beginning.

Robert’s fingers tapped lightly against the table as the memory resurfaced.

"Why not use it in battle?"

At first, he had dismissed it as an odd curiosity. However, the more he thought about it, the more he found himself unable to ignore it.

His gaze sharpened slightly as he reached a conclusion. It had never been impossible. It had simply never been attempted.

That was the truth he had come to understand. Alchemy itself was not limited. Rather, it was the people who used it that imposed those limits. A slow, manic smile formed on Robert’s face as his thoughts continued.

If one could change the form, the state, and the structure of materials, then there was no reason that the process could not be adapted for combat. The real issue was not the concept, but the execution.

If the process could be shortened, if unnecessary steps could be removed, then transmutation would no longer be confined to preparation alone.

It could become something immediate, something reactive, something that existed within the flow of battle itself.

That realization had marked the beginning of what Robert would later call battle alchemy. It was no longer about preparing tools beforehand, but about creating results in the moment.

Just remembering the excitement he felt back then made Robert tremble. ’I, of all people, being bound by the common sense of the times, yet my partner in the path, Lucen, is so much further. He was never bound to such things as common sense.’

His teacher and the strongest mage in Norvaegard also came to help in its creation. Now, Robert had taught a few young alchemists the art of battle alchemy.

However, even after passing on what he had learned, Robert knew that what they had created was still incomplete.

The foundation had been established, but the path ahead remained unfinished. There were still too many limitations.

Speed was inconsistent. Precision varied depending on the user. Control required far more focus than what could realistically be maintained in the midst of battle.

Robert leaned back in his chair as he let out a slow breath.

"I want to learn more, to improve more."

His gaze drifted once more toward the unfinished experiments scattered across the workshop.

Each of them represented progress. Yet none of them felt like the answer he was searching for. Robert raised a hand and rested it against his forehead.

"Lucen..."

He muttered the name quietly. Whenever they worked together, progress did not feel like a slow accumulation; it felt like leaps.

It was unpredictable, most of the time illogical, yet undeniably effective, not to mention it was always so exciting and fun.

Robert’s eyes slowly opened as his thoughts settled, yet the faint excitement lingering within him refused to fade.

"That is precisely the problem," he said quietly.

Whenever Lucen was present, progress did not feel constrained by limits or bound by conventional understanding. Instead, it felt as if every discussion had the potential to break through what was previously thought impossible.

Robert lowered his hand from his forehead and straightened his posture slightly.

"And now, at the moment when there is still so much left to refine, you choose to remain elsewhere."

There was a brief pause as his gaze shifted toward the entrance of the workshop.

Lucen had said he was merely going to the Royal Academy to look into something. At the time, Robert had assumed it would be a short visit, something trivial that would not take long.

However, the fact that Lucen had yet to return meant that whatever he had found there was not insignificant.

Robert’s expression sharpened as he reached that conclusion. "If it were unimportant, you would have returned already."

He rose slowly from his chair, his movements deliberate as his mind continued to work through the possibilities.

"That means you have found something worth your time." The second he had that thought, a faint smile formed on his lips.

"And if it is something that has caught your interest..." His eyes gleamed faintly behind his glasses as he licked his lips. "Then it must be worth mine as well."

In Robert’s memory, Lucen has never made a step that didn’t result in something happening. Meaning that there was something to gain from going to the Royal Academy.

Robert’s smile slowly widened as his thoughts aligned into a single conclusion. Lucen was not the type to act without purpose, nor was he someone who lingered in a place without reason.

Every action he took carried intent, and more often than not, that intent led to something unexpected.

"That alone is enough of a reason," Robert said quietly.

His gaze shifted toward the door once more, no longer filled with uncertainty, but with clear determination.

"If you have found something worth your time, then remaining here would only delay my own progress."

Robert stepped forward, his movements no longer slow or contemplative, but decisive.

The scattered experiments behind him no longer held his attention. They were incomplete, but they could wait.

After all, true breakthroughs were never found by repeating the same steps in the same place.

Robert reached for his coat and draped it over his shoulders, adjusting it with practiced ease.

"If the answer lies at the Royal Academy," he continued, "then I will simply go and see it for myself."

Robert headed to the top of the tower, where a platform was created for his personal airship. The first airship that was ever created and had been modified multiple times was Robert’s masterpiece.

Unlike the more refined designs that would eventually follow, Robert’s airship was a product of relentless experimentation rather than elegance.

Its frame was built from reinforced steel and treated timber, layered together to withstand both pressure and heat, while its outer hull bore the marks of constant modification.

Pipes of varying sizes ran along its surface, some newly installed while others had clearly been replaced multiple times.

At the center of the vessel sat a compact yet powerful steam engine, its design far more complex than that of the trains in Ironhold.

The dwarves had contributed their expertise, engraving precise runes along the boiler and key structural points, allowing the engine to operate at higher efficiency while maintaining stability under extreme pressure.

Even so, the entire system carried a faint sense of volatility. Unlike the standardized models that were being produced for the others, this airship had no uniform design philosophy.

It was basically a canvas that was filled with many different colors. Lucen and Robert just added whatever they wanted to the airship.

It was not the most stable creation, but it was the most adaptable. Robert placed a hand against the hull, feeling the faint warmth lingering within the metal.

"It has been some time since you were last put to proper use." A faint smile formed on his lips. "It’s time for us to go to Caelhart and see what Lucen is doing."

He stepped into the control cabin that was cramped and cluttered, filled with overlapping systems that had been modified far beyond their original design, to the point where only Robert himself could operate them properly.

Robert moved toward the main controls and began adjusting the valves with practiced precision, his eyes scanning each gauge as pressure steadily built within the engine.

The low hiss of steam filled the cabin as the engraved runes along the boiler glowed faintly, stabilizing the flow as the entire vessel trembled before settling into a steady rhythm.

"Heh, as always, that sounds better than any kind of music."

The airship slowly lifted from the platform, the reinforced structure groaning slightly under the pressure before stabilizing as it rose into the sky above Ironhold.

Robert’s gaze shifted forward, his eyes gleaming behind his spectacles as the horizon stretched out before him.

"Let’s see what kind of fun you have gotten yourself into this time, Lucen."