Ignoring Arisa’s cultural hazard, I explained the rest of the new gear.
External magic assists to Nana’s “Castle” activation, heavy armor options that could be thrown out there like Phalanx-style barriers, a “Slash” strengthener for Pochi, “Stealth” buffs for Tama, “Thrust” boosters for Liza, plus a second type that used an Acceleration Gate to enhance that “Thrust.”
Arisa and Mia got self-barrier options, and at Arisa’s request, I’d made a bunch of auto-intercept devices that would hover and take out minor assailants. Funnel-shaped, heat sink–shaped, et cetera. These were as powerful as advanced Practical Magic, and I’d applied those principles to them.
And since a single Phalanx had been underpowered against the bark greater demon, I’d prepared a new type that generated three at once. They could equip far fewer of these than the original type, so I was unsure whether to make it standard-issue or not.
I’d made some bracelet-shaped Phalanx activators while I was at it, but only Mia and I could use that without an assist from external magic—even Arisa proved unable to, so they clearly needed improvement.
“Master, I know we’re here to experiment,” Arisa said, as we were figuring out the sequence of tests. “But won’t this tear up the farmland you’ve just plowed?”
“We haven’t planted anything on it, so no worries.”
We’d cleared the stones, and the soil was nice and soft in case anyone fell over. Any disruptions our testing caused could easily be fixed with magic.
“Let’s start with the hover option.”
This was a part added to the front liners’ golden armor, and we had Tama test it, since she weighed the least.
I held it close to the armor’s attachment slot, and it snapped in place like a magnet. This was a system that employed Space Magic principles, and the attachment couldn’t be taken off again without the aid of a specialized repulsion field. But in case of malfunction, there was a built-in purge function.
“Whoahhh…”
Tama started out wobbly, but as she got the hang of hovering, she could zoom around.
“That’s amazing, sir! Pochi wants to—”
“Ack!”
Pochi boldly darted out, but got ahead of herself and face-planted into a tumble.
“That was shocking, sir! Pochi never fails twice—”
This time she was too cautious, and her legs shot out ahead of her into a backward somersault that ended in a headstand.
The shock absorbers on the golden armor were pretty strong, but I was glad we’d tested this on soft soil.
“You okay there?”
“I’m okay here, sir! Pochi is hauntless, sir!”
She probably meant dauntless. Tama gave her an assist for her third try, and she managed a successful hover. Liza and Nana didn’t flop as badly as Pochi, but they had their share of struggles before making it on their own.
“Well?”
“Good for maneuvers. But if it’s permanently equipped, the protrusion on the inner sleeve would get in the way during combat.”
“So mostly good for long-distance travel, then?”
She could just manually purge it at the end of that movement cycle.
“With the flying parts, seems like the skypower engine is better than the jet?”
“Yes, the jet is faster, but you can’t stop in midair.”
“Not just that—without a decent grasp on aerodynamics, the jet’s pretty risky.”
The jet engine provided more speed, but the skypower engine more stability. I should try a version with both engines where the jet only kicked in when speed was needed.
“Try aiming with the new artillery pieces.”
“Yes, Master. Checking armaments in turn, I report.”
A rain of Fireburst Bullets from the Gatling on her right arm took out one goblin-shaped golem after another. Ogre-shaped golems were advancing behind them, and the larger barrel on her left arm roared, blowing big holes in their torsos with each shot. The rapid-fire bullets were half the power of the Fireburst Gun, while the big barrel was twice the force.
“How’s the recoil?”
“Left is normal. My right hand is a bit numb, I report.”
A side effect of the rapid-fire mechanism?
“Try the one on your back.”
“Yes, Master. Aiming the cluster bomb at the oversize golems, I report.”
There was a boom, and light flew from the barrel on her back, bursting before the golem’s eyes. The fire spread out, burning off the beast’s hide and scorching the goblin-size golems accompanying it.
“Large-size beast intact. Using ‘Armor Pierce,’ I announce.”
The cannon on her back roared again, and the light bullets traced a spiral, piercing the beast’s brow.
The beast’s head snapped back—and flames burst from the back as the skull shattered.
“Defeated, I report.”
The cannon on Nana’s back was a large barrel version of Lulu’s Fireburst Gun, and the piercing projectile was five times as strong as the original.
“Last, try the rocket-assisted projectiles.”
“Yes, Master. Releasing safety. Protective cover purge”
The covers on Nana’s shoulders and knees flew away, and mini-missile heads appeared.
“Eyesight-aiming system switching to RAP mode—aiming complete. Firing, I report.”
The lens at the tips of the mini-missiles glinted—proof they were aimed—and at Nana’s cry, they shot out of the pods with a fwoosh like leaking air, belching smoke in their wakes as they accelerated toward the targets.
The golems fled, but the missiles pursued, evaded their attempts to fight back, and coated the targets in fire.
“Bliss! Those circus-like trails are so good! Missile fire should look like this!” Arisa was clearly drunk on the vibes, but I got why.
Next, it was Lulu’s turn to test her new artillery.
“Well?”
“The power’s impressive, but it’s heavy and bulky, so I could be in trouble if an enemy gets close. I’d rather have this big cannon on my pack as a portable weapon, like the original Fireburst Gun.”
“Didn’t care for the missiles?”
“The smoke hides my line of sight, so a rapid-fire gun would be way better.”
Nana seemed to have fun with it, but Lulu’s estimation was lower.
I promised to make the big barrel portable—a heavy Fireburst Gun, if you will.
“But you can’t use that to hunt small fry.”
“No, but if I equip the right-handed rotating Fireburst Gun to both hands, I can increase my extermination speed.”
“Yes, Lulu. I agree with that proposal, I declare.”
Hmm, for clearing bases, Arisa’s and Mia’s magic or pseudo-spirits were more efficient, so perhaps I was better off going for suppressing fire with dual-wielded Gatling guns.
“On to the next thing!” Arisa yelled, and we kept testing.
I’d made a lot of optional equipment, but half of them didn’t pass muster and went right into Storage. Of the stuff that proved useful, a lot of it required improvement before we’d put it into regular use.
Well, Liza’s “Thrust” support booster and Acceleration Gate didn’t need improvements, and the other front liners wanted something like that of their own. Perhaps I should standardize their exoarmor?
“‘Vanquish Cyclone,’ sir!”
Pochi was combining her exoarmor with “Vanquish Slicer” in an attempt to create a new special move, but it wasn’t going that well.
“Wibble, wobble, wabble, sir!” she wailed, dizzy.
“Pochiii!” Tama ran over to her.
The idea was to spin while throwing out “Vanquish Slicer” slashes, but she’d lost her balance in the middle, her blade touched the ground, and she’d gone flying across the air.