Chapter 112: Imaginings Regarding the Space Ring

Sain did not answer. He knew Kevin had plenty of ways to make his life miserable; whether the exam was open-book or closed-book, the result would be equally grueling, so he couldn't be bothered to choose.

Seeing that he remained silent, Kevin made the decision for him. "Let’s go with open-book, then. I’ll give you plenty of time. You can take the test until whatever hour you like. You can even pull an all-nighter if you want, just don't leave this room. Feel free to consult any reference material here until you’re finished. How about that?"

Sain still said nothing, though he felt a growing sense of unease. He knew that if Kevin was this generous, the test content must be extraordinarily difficult—likely to the point where even scouring every document in the room would prove useless.

"If there are no objections, let's begin." Kevin sat down, gestured for Sain to sit opposite him, and pulled out a pen and paper to start drafting questions. With a few swift strokes, he finished the first one and slid it over.

"There’s no one else here, so there’s no need for formalities. I’ll write the questions as you answer them. Let’s not waste time, start," Kevin added, pushing a stack of books toward Sain. "Flip through them as you please."

Sain took the paper with an expressionless face and read: "Please detail the significance of spatial magic in the development of the era."

Sain: "..."

Kevin began drafting the next question as he spoke: "There’s actually no standard answer for this kind of question. Just write down whatever you think; as much as you can. I’ll grade it based on your effort."

Sain remained rigid, not bothering to reach for the books, as he knew full well the answers wouldn't be in them—at least, not the ones in this room. True to form, Kevin’s open-book test covered everything the books didn't.

"Can I choose a closed-book test now?" Sain tried asking.

"Sure." Kevin nodded, reached over, and took the books away. "Continue with your answer."

Sain: "..."

"Oh, maybe closed-book is simpler," Kevin muttered, perhaps realizing he had gone too far. He took back the paper, changed one word, and handed it back to Sain. He had changed "detail" to "briefly describe."

Sain: "..."

A moment later, Kevin finished the second question: "Please briefly describe the difference between a 'nation' and a 'race'."

Sain paused, pen hovering, but hesitated. Kevin could gauge his level just by watching his expression.

The third question abandoned the essay format entirely and became a multiple-choice question: *In 1285 of the Common Calendar, the most powerful theoretical weapon, spearheaded by the Ryan Empire, appeared. Unfortunately, this ultimate weapon remained on paper and was dubbed the greatest hoax by the Elven race. Question: What was this weapon? A: Super Celestial Arrow. B: Super Celestial Warship. C: Morning Pan-fried Bun.*

Sain immediately checked B with full confidence.

Kevin: "..."

The questions continued: *A cavalry battalion of 300 men—how much grain and fodder are consumed in a week? How much is that in gold coins?* For a logistics question like this, even without exact figures, a soldier of cavalry background should have a rough estimate. Unfortunately, Sain remained blank.

Next question: *The Giant Warblade has been developed and its power is terrifying. But why did it not appear in the recent military exercise?*

Four options were provided: *A: The Giant Warblade is a fake. B: It is too expensive to use. C: The technology is immature and may be dangerous. D: The leadership wouldn't allow it.*

For a question this simple, Sain finally felt a flicker of confidence and marked C.

Ignoring Sain, Kevin continued. Remembering that Sain couldn't answer the General's questions, Kevin made the fourth question: *Briefly describe the range of an Elven bow. Briefly describe the range of a Beast-kin heavy bow.*

Sain was finally able to write something down for these; after all, he had investigated these after the General asked him. He stopped staring blankly and started working in earnest.

Kevin continued to draft questions until there were twenty. The focus remained primarily on military topics, interspersed with economics, politics, culture, and history. The formats varied, with plenty of multiple-choice questions to lower the difficulty—otherwise, had Kevin stuck to essay questions, Sain would have certainly scored a zero.

Once finished, Kevin casually picked up a book to read. They sat face-to-face, so there was no chance for cheating. There was no pre-set curriculum, testing his true level.

Sain still felt a deep sense of resentment, writing whatever came to mind for the ones he didn't know. He wanted to throw his pen down and kick the door open to leave, but he couldn't. Military orders were like a mountain, and despite his background, he had been raised with military discipline. With the General’s personal order, he had to endure it.

"Done." A while later, Sain handed in his paper. Dragging it out was pointless; if he didn't know, he didn't know.

Kevin took it and glanced at the first question. Sain had written: "Spatial rings might become more popularized, eventually reaching commoners. Carrying things will be more convenient."

Kevin nodded. "The first answer isn't bad. At least you recognize that as eras develop, high-tech products become more accessible, which leads to even higher technology. However, you only thought about the convenience of storage; your thinking is a bit narrow."

"Oh right, and spatial teleportation," Sain added quickly, just remembering.

"Anything else?" Kevin asked.

"Uh, maybe some use in combat?" Sain stumbled.

"For example, how would you use it?" Kevin asked with interest.

"Maybe teleporting behind an enemy during a fight," Sain replied. "Of course, it doesn't work yet, right? Because spatial teleportation has a delay and is easily interrupted by the opponent. But if it develops further, maybe that will be gone."

"Not bad. Anything else?" Kevin pressed.

Sain finally shook his head.

Kevin picked up the manual for a trebuchet and spread it out for him to see. Sain suddenly realized: "Oh! You could store the trebuchet in a spatial ring; that would be very convenient for operations."

"Not just that," Kevin pointed to the counterweight of the trebuchet. "If I could store the counterweight directly in the spatial ring, then place it high up and attach it to the throwing arm, wouldn't that skip the process of lifting the counterweight? The donkey-driven winch wouldn't be needed, and the trebuchet would save even more space."

"Oh, that's a good idea," Sain nodded.

"I hadn't thought of it during the military exercise," Kevin sighed. "If I had, the firing interval of my trebuchet could have been significantly reduced. And after careful consideration and checking some books, I discovered there's huge value here."

"If I have a pile of iron weighing several tons, I can easily store it in a spatial ring, then run to a high place and release it. That's equivalent to me single-handedly transporting several tons of weight to a height without any effort. Do you understand the value of that?" Kevin asked.

Sain shook his head, looking slightly dismissive. "As far as I know, none of the nobles who own spatial rings do anything so boring."

"Several tons of objects would normally require over a dozen Beast-kin slaves to move. I can do it alone with ease. By transporting heavy objects to a height, one could easily design machinery like waterwheels to drive operations, ensuring irrigation and water transport. If it were a warship, I could use a similar method to build an engine, resulting in incomparable speeds. Even in daily life, heavy lifting would be a thing of the past; even a frail girl could easily move heavy objects through the storage and release of a spatial ring," Kevin replied.

Sain’s expression changed slightly, showing clear surprise.

"Currently, spatial rings can only store solids; liquids and gases are difficult. It's not impossible, but if you try to store a basin of water, you might only get a single drop or less inside. The top mages on the continent are studying this. If they succeed, do you know what that means?"

"What?" Sain asked blankly.

"You might think the point is just to put water in a bottle and store the bottle. But you're wrong. The research isn't for storage, but for the absorption and release mechanism. If a warship had a spatial ring mounted on the bow to suck in water, and another at the stern to release it, this method of propulsion might be superior to the heavy-falling-weight engine."

"A spatial ring weighs almost nothing; a commoner could operate it. Once successful, it’s entirely feasible. If a warship uses sails, a spatial ring could absorb air in front of the sail and release it behind, creating powerful wind force. The key is that the magical fluctuation is minimal, reducing the chance of enemy detection," Kevin explained, his enthusiasm growing.

Sain’s mouth hung open, stunned.

"Going further, if a spatial ring absorbs air and releases it into a tube, the air would be compressed and shoot out violently. What is that? That's a jet engine! If you use multiple nozzles that can be adjusted in different directions, what is that? That's a vector engine." Kevin slapped the table in excitement.

Sain was horrified. "Is the era developing too fast?"

Kevin pulled a book from the side and turned to a page to show him. "Of course, these are theoretical, but this theory wasn't proposed by me. As early as 1285, over a hundred years ago, there were similar concepts. The famous 'Super Celestial Warship' project used vector engines. It was a warship that flew in the sky—'Super Celestial' meaning 'beyond the heavens'."

Sain blushed; he hadn't known about the famous project and had chosen the wrong sword earlier.

"Of course, the Super Celestial Warship was a hoax. Its perceived power led nations to race to develop it. The Elven race spent massive funds and manpower, while simultaneously caught in a war with the Beast-kin, which ultimately led to the split between Light and Dark Elves, an internal war that continues to this day," Kevin sighed.

Sain remained silent.

"So you got the third question wrong, too," Kevin turned to the second question. "The relationship between a 'nation' and a 'race' is a fairly basic concept. It’s a pity you don't know it."

"Take our country as an example," Kevin explained. "We have Humans, Dwarves, Panda-folk in the central regions, a few Elves who came during times of war, Beast-kin slaves, and of course, the Frog-folk on the southern islands. Regardless, we are all part of one nation."

"There are also xenophobic races on the continent that form independent nations. In the early days, the Elven race was like that. Even today, they haven't fully accepted other races. The Beast-kin go without saying, but even for Humans, very few are allowed into the Elven forest. Of course, we call them a 'race' out of habit. Before they declared their own nation, even if their forest were full of Humans, we would still call them the Elven race."

Sain: "..."

"You have no concept of the logistics questions later. Don't think that's just for the logistics department; as a commanding officer, if you don't understand, you'll likely lead your troops to starve. After that, you finally got the Giant Warblade question right..." Kevin began to critique the paper point by point, finally concluding, "You got half of the twenty questions right. 50 points. Do you think that's fair?"

Sain responded with silence.

"I will definitely show this to your father. I don't know what he'll say," Kevin gestured with his hands. "But don't worry, you haven't been studying long. Even a zero would be normal. Keep working hard, hahaha!"

*Knock, knock, knock!* The door suddenly opened. Kevin turned his head. "Come in."

Start walked in. "Hey, you're both here! Haha, it's lively in here now!"

Kevin pulled over a chair. "Sit. We're all friends here."

Start sat down with a smile and familiarly flipped through the exam paper. "Wow, this is professional. Are you preparing for the Royal Academy?"

Kevin simply answered, "This is basic knowledge that should be mastered."

Start shook his head repeatedly. "If I had to do this, I'd probably score zero. Haha. Kevin, you can't always measure others by your own standards. You're a walking library; the rest of us are normal people."

Kevin laughed. "Then what should I do? Use your standards? Are you the standard?"

Start shook his head with a grin. "You're just too serious. Sigh!"

Sain sat expressionless, watching them chat with cold eyes. He didn't like either of them, though if he had to choose, Kevin was even more annoying.

"By the way, I came here because I heard some news," Start said mysteriously. "I heard they’re starting to wipe out the mountain bandits?"

"Yes," Kevin nodded. "I knew that already."

"Your sources are pretty fast," Start said, looking surprised.

"The King told me himself," Kevin said casually.

Start: "..."

"I don't think wiping out bandits has much to do with me," Kevin continued to himself. "The terrain is rugged and not suitable for trebuchets. Bandits don't have city defenses; they'll likely just send infantry or aerial units."

"Do you know when the operation begins?" Start asked.

"No," Kevin replied. "But I expect movement in the near future. What do you want to do?"

Start smiled slyly. "I mean, Sain is the General's son. A fat guy like me isn't of much use. For something like wiping out bandits, it's better to let those who want to earn military merit go. Heh heh."

Sain glanced at him coldly, still not speaking.

To curry favor with Sain, Start nudged Kevin. "You know? Don't be so serious. He's the General's son. You understand?"

Kevin: "..."

"Cough," Start continued to smile. "At the end of the day, we all came from the same recruit squad. Whatever conflicts existed are in the past, right? Feel free to come by the Inspection Corps; I have some status there now."

Kevin didn't pay much attention. "Starting tomorrow, we'll go out for visits in the morning, practice combat aura and magic in the afternoon, and study theory in the evening. That’s the schedule."

"Visits?" Start jumped in. "Visit who?"

"Other legions, military production teams, the Royal Academy, etc. Theory and practice must be combined," Kevin waved his hand. "There’s an old saying: read without walking, and your legs will be lame. Walk without reading, and your eyes will be blind."

"Wait," Start looked confused. "Where did that old saying come from? I've never heard it. If you walk while reading, won't you hit a tree?"

"Anyway, that's the point. We start tomorrow." Kevin made the decision, leaving no room for argument. Truth be told, Kevin had wanted to visit some of these places for a long time, but as a low-ranking officer, he would always be turned away. Now, by bringing Sain along—the son of the Thunder Knight Commander—he would at least be given some face. Kevin had his own plans; teaching and being taught were mutually beneficial.

Start shook his head helplessly and left. The night passed, and the next day, as they walked out of the camp gate, the guard stepped forward to block them: "Sorry, sir. The General’s order is that if Officer Sain wants to leave, we must ask where he is going to report it."

Sain replied sharply, "I'm going out to hit a tree."

Guard: "..."