The guards continued to gather to watch Ariadne train and were astounded by the amount of brute force she displayed when Edmund forced her to try a new move that they all witnessed, but they still found it unbelievable when it occurred. Today, however, was different because the young man asked her to hit him.
‘Peasant, are you insane? I am glad you are showing me how to use a sword, but I don’t see how you could defend one of my strikes.’ Ariadne ?shouted.
‘Duchess, look at those folks over there. They must believe that everything you do is impossible and wonder how you can accomplish what you do. You will experience the same thing today but also learn how to do it yourself one day. Hell, you need to learn to survive in the future.’ Edmund replied, pointing at the group of men by his side.
Like always, she took the enormous sword at her side, and Edmund did the same. To the guards watching, it looked like she appeared right next to Edmund instantly, but he had already changed positions and appeared to be aiming for her sword.
It was more of an attack than a defense. Her eyes widened as they clashed, and her sword didn’t meet any resistance as they collided, but she could not understand what was happening because all she could see was Edmund flipping in the air before his sword struck the ground next to her, leaving a sizable hole.
Everything happened in a split second. Alon could not comment on the technique because he believed it was impossible. It couldn’t be happening, and the crowd couldn’t believe how Edmund wasn’t ?blown away by her strike.
‘See, duchess? I combined your strength with mine; that is how you defend against someone stronger than you to make it a fair fight.’ Edmund laughed.
‘I don’t see how it is useful, but it is interesting.’ She replied, confused.
‘You and I are only going to fight against the dungeon guardian; guys like them will handle everything else, ' the young man said, pointing to the guards.
‘Don’t be foolish; how do you even know that, peasant?’ She ?uttered it.
‘I just know. Trust me.' He smiled at her.
‘Just trust me? Well, at least you're teaching me something useful.’ Ariadne laugh.
Edmund knew she didn’t take him?, but that didn’t matter in that moment. He was ?beginning to think that he could at least try.
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‘You idiot bastard.’ Eliza hits Edmund’s back with a wooden stick.
‘Ouch! Why did you do that?’ Edmund looked at Eliza.
‘You ?struck the duchess with that thing you call a sword.’ The maid puts a finger on his face.
Ariadne chuckled as she observed what was going on. She thought about what Edmund said, the way he wanted to conquer the dungeon, but found it strange that he knew how everything worked.
‘We are training; she will have to handle much worse in the future; she needs to learn; it has only been a few days.’ Edmund gently slapped the hand she was pointing at his face.
‘You should be more cautious; she is your master, after all.’ Eliza smacked his hand away.
‘Anyway, duchess, the guards there are waiting for the go-order to put the street lights in place, and I would like to show you and Capt. Alon, how will we fight from now on.’ He called Alon with a wave of his hand.
Eliza looked at Edmund while clenching her fist. Alon noticed Edmund waving and ran to him. Alon approached the three of them.
‘Your Highness.’ Alon bowed to her.
‘Wait for me next to those trees; I've got something to show you all.’ Edmund said.
Edmund grabbed the swords and dashed to the warehouse. Ariadne asked for her fan as they made their way to the trees. Alon was curious about what would happen, so he wasn’t sure what he saw when the young man arrived carrying a strange object made of iron and wood.
‘I will call this Ariadne Mark 1, or A-M1, for short.’ Edmund showed everyone the object.
‘What exactly is this, peasant? It’s the thing you said you would show us in three days? And what about the name? What's your goal here?’ Ariadne began to fan herself, her face filled with disappointment.
‘Well, it is a weapon; look, this is a battery. It is made of Nihilium and copper.’ He pointed at the battery.
He removed a rectangular block from the weapon's base, displayed it to everyone, and then reattached it. Eliza was confused about how that piece of wood and metal was a weapon.
‘Now, this is where all the magic happens.’ While pointing at a lever, he laughs.
‘I don’t know what a battery is; how is this a weapon, Edmund?’ Alon asked, confused.
‘You will see, you have this lever up and pull it back, then you pull it forward and back down to its original position like this.’ Edmund performed the motions.
They just observed him. Ariadne was intrigued by what he was doing but didn’t understand what he was trying to do.
‘You aim at your target and pull this trigger at the bottom.’ The young man pulled the trigger.
A flash of white light appeared from its point, making a noise similar to a loud whistle mixed with someone blowing out a candle. It made all of them cover their ears. They next noticed a hole in the tree with black marks and pieces of wood scattered nearby.
‘What? Are you a mage?’ Alon widens his eyes, looking at Edmund.
When Ariadne thought back to what he had shown her at his home on Velvent, she grinned. Eliza didn’t understand what was happening, having her two hands covering her ears.
‘I’m going to call this kind of weapon a rifle, and for the duchess, this is the final product; it took all of this time to make them because I made many mistakes and things like that, and there is a battery recharger that is a kind of big.’ The white-haired young man smiled.
‘With this alone, we can conquer the continent. You made me very happy, peasant.’ Ariadne smiled while maintaining a fixed gaze on the rifle.
‘But your grace, I recall Edmund saying that only those loyal to you can use these things; how could you do that by conquering with brute force with the Chatzi being so few?’ Eliza looked at the duchess.
‘She has a point, but at least we can protect the duchy with these things.’ Edmund at Ariadne.
