The sound of machinery and tinkering noises filled the air by the time Alice arrived at the House of Blacksmith. The employees paused what they were doing to pay their respect toward Alice by bowing their body. Likewise, Alice reciprocated their gesture by lowering her head slightly and they continued on their job.

“Welcome back, Your Majesty. Lady Nyxondra is waiting in her workshop.” An incubus promptly ushered Alice downstairs where the real magic happened. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on NoveIꜰire.net

In the underground workshop, she found Nyxondra who was wearing a forging apron and shorts underneath it. She bent her body down under the table. Her round and sizable rumps stick up high while searching for something.

‘Wow, she has nice cakes! Who would've thought?’ Alice muttered inwardly, admiring the shape and volume.

It was Alice’s first time to see Nyxondra’s smoking hot body. The blacksmith succubus was rarely seen wearing anything thinner than her usual formal black dress.

Many people thought that Nyxondra was not particularly interested in romantic relationships and only had sex if her sex drive called for it. But Alice could smell the thick and sweet Aphrodisiac Aura emitted from Nyxondra's body. She’s just a workaholic succubus who occupied herself with hammer and furnace instead of having sex unlike the other madam who could wring out one hundred men in a single night; Evelynn.

Granted, it was her job and duty to ensure both the succubi and the guests were mutually satisfied. Alice couldn't even begin to imagine how it feels like to have sex one hundred times in a single night.

Before long, Alice eventually found what Nyxondra was looking for. A trigger piece for the Magic Rifle.

“I think I found what you are looking for, m’lady.” Alice quipped. Startling the blacksmith succubus.

“Wah!”

Bam!

Nyxondra accidentally hit the table’s corner with her horns. She grimaced in pain as horns were pretty sensitive for succubus.

“Ouch, ouch! My horns…”

“Sorry for surprising you, are you alright?” Alice handed the trigger piece to Nyxondra and was gently accepted by the latter.

“Yeah, you should have raised your voice or something, your ladyship.”

“Hehehe.” Alice smiled wryly. “But anyway… How's machine manufacturing going?”

“Everything went smoothly, thanks to your Magical Milling Machine. I managed to produce ten Magic Rifle prototypes instead of one hundred. However, the quality of each Magic Rifle surpassed my expectations.”

Nyxondra put a Magic Rifle together from scratch in less than a minute and handed it to Alice. She wouldn’t stop snickering when Alice inspected the Magic Rifle.

Instead of forging the gun barrel from a flat piece of wrought iron, Nyxondra drilled a hole into a premade high quality steel bar. Afterward, she put a mandrel into the hole which had been milled with reverse rifling on it and then she forged the barrel with four synchronized hammers with quarter circle dye on each end. Once the gun barrel was rifled and chambered, Nyxondra did a heat treatment to the barrel to increase its strength.

With this method, not only did the barrel become more robust, it could withstand the atmospheric pressure should the gun be chambered with Magic Bullet.

The Rifle body was made from seasoned oak. Every moving part was produced with precision. The Rifle Action was easy and smooth to operate yet it didn't feel loose at all.

As for the ammunition propellant, Nyxondra had been experimenting with many combustible substances and raw minerals but she eventually stuck with pulverized Low Quality Fire Mana Stones. According to the research and experiment, this substance was ten times stronger compared to the regular gun powder recipe that Alice provided.

As per Alice’s suggestion in the ammunition’s blueprint, Nyxondra used a soft material that is malleable and flexible enough to withstand the expanding pressure for the bullet cartridge. However, Alice was surprised as she found out that Nyxindra used One Horned Lizard’s Scales that have a similar atom formation to that of a copper.

As for the primer, Nyxondra used dried and powdered skin of a Flame Monitor Lizard that was an impact-sensitive yet very stable compound.

Meanwhile, the bullet’s projectile was made of jacketed mithril core that could penetrate a thick wall or even a layered Magic Shield. Nyxondra had thought of many combinations for the projectiles for specific use or special operation but she opted to use mithril core as the standard version.

To put it simply, this ammunition was a standard .303 Cartridge but on steroids.

Not only physical ammunition, the rifle was also capable of shooting Magic Bullet as well by loading the bullet chamber with mana instead of real ammunition.

Alice was genuinely amazed by the genius engineering that goes into the making of a Magic Rifle and including the ammunition. She might have the blueprint, but manufacturing one Magic Rifle into reality was a whole different beast. She felt so lucky to be surrounded by so many insanely intelligent people.

“Why don't you try it and see if my creation will meet your standard?”

“Are you sure? It's a brand new gun, I don't want to break it.”

“That what weapon is made for, Your Majesty. I would prefer to see my creation breaking or exploding on the battlefield rather than rotting in someone's cellar or attics. If it breaks on your hand, I just need to make another one and fix my previous mistake.”

“Nicely put, Lady Nyxondra.” Alice pulled the rifle’s bolt, chambered an ammunition and aimed for the wall.

“Wait, not my wall!” Nyxondra raised her hand before Alice pulled the trigger.

Afterward, they went to the backyard, placing some target practice by the end of the impromptu gun range. There were three targets at different ranges and sizes. From 100 feet up to 500 feet each. The target practice was equipped with three layers of Mana Shields.

Soon enough, the casual gun testing had become the official demonstration. Dozens of Huntresses and Incubi Sentinels were invited to to witness the weapon that would revolutionize war and industry as a whole.

“Alright. Watch my posture closely. Your posture when firing the rifle will greatly affect your accuracy.” Alice assumed her shooting stance, standing in a poised manner, one eye focused through the back and front iron sight.

After a deep breath, she held the rifle steady, once the target lined up perfectly in her sight, Alice pulled the trigger lightly. The gun went off spectacularly due to Fire Mana Stone powder charge. The mithril core projectile blasted the stone targets into smithereens since Alice aimed for its center mass.

Alice shot repeatedly and hit the other two targets with lethal accuracy. Every gasped in amazement and awed upon seeing the sheer fire power that was produced by a very little amount of Fire Mana Stone Powder.

“Woahhhh!”

“This is ridiculous! I don't feel any magic spell activation when the gun is fired yet the target is destroyed!”

“Indeed. The target exploded even before the sound reached my ears. I can't even see the flying projectile. The enemies wouldn't have a chance to flee or even detect where the bullet came from.”

For experienced Mages, Low Grade Fire Mana Stone only has little value in their eyes as it was only able to provide a small amount of mana. Fusing Low Grade mana stones into Middle Grade would take a long time, and not worth the effort at all.

However, with the correct technology and approach, it could turn a small projectile into a lethal weapon that could even pierce Mana Shields!

Alice hoisted the rifle over her shoulder, scanning every Huntress and the Sentinels.

“The Rifle is good for ambushing clueless enemies but not for prolonged fighting scenarios since the barrel needs to cool down and get cleaned for every 500 rounds or so during active duty. Otherwise, it will get jammed. Use it sparingly and smartly.” Alice said.

“Affirmative, ma’am!” Replied the Huntresses and Sentinels in unison.

Alice turned to the succubus blacksmith, smiling gleefully. “Lady Nyxondra, how many rifles can you produce in forty days?”

Nyxondra smirked confidently. “Depends on the readiness of the raw materials. House of Blacksmith is capable of producing 1,000 guns per day once the fabrication and assembly lines are finished by the end of this week.”

“Consider it done. You’ll receive the raw materials and the fund by next week.” Alice placed the gun on Nyxondra arms as she walked away from the scene.