Chapter 33: 6.2 Bootstrapping

I didn't bother using my cheat method of inscribing what I needed. No, this needed some finesse that speed wouldn't give me. Taking out the chisel, I painstakingly carved out five arrows pointing towards and outwards the barrel. These were commonly used to amplify Wesen into wind in blades and some armor, as well as augmenting some fire-based Seigels. On the base of each arrow, I also added a parabola opening towards the arrowhead, just to tie it all together and make sure that the exorbitant amount of arrows that I just etched onto it wouldn't make the whole thing explode on my hands. Finally, I then carefully connected the whole monstrosity of Seigels to where the 'hammer' of the rifle should've been; the lines connecting from the parabolas all coalescing towards a singular dot where I'd theoretically pour some of my Seigel Wesen for it to fire.

Yep, I have no idea if this would work the way I thought it would. Mother taught me that Seigel Wesen was fundamentally different from Elementar Wesen. But looking at it from a different angle, they should be similar enough for them to work hand-in-hand through Seigels. So theoretically, I could brute-force Seigel Wesen to act like Elementar Wesen, assuming that it worked.

After that was done, I did a last once-over look to make sure everything was in its proper place, before then doing the usual final touch of infusing it with my Wesen. I watched with anxious dread as the dim glow flowed through the length of the barrel, the glow stopping just at the place where the trigger should've been.

Placing it against my shoulder, I tried getting a feel for my prototype rifle; aiming it towards a slab of unused metal as a finger hovered over the 'trigger Seigel' that I had fashioned. This thing should use wind as a substitute for the explosive energy of gunpowder to propel the bullet forward. Well, that was the plan, at least.

Loading a single small nub of metal into the barrel, I once more took aim at the slab of metal.

"Here goes nothing..."

I slowly lowered my thumb to touch the trigger Seigel before pouring some of my Wesen into it. I flinched my head away from the thing as the rifle's Seigels shone with dull energy, the telltale glow signifying the power that was flowing through them.

...

.......

I stood still as the rifle menacingly glowed in my hands, doing absolutely nothing as I thought it would do. Did it not work? Was my Seigelwork too dumb and stupid for it to actually do something?

"Well, that sucks..."

I sighed as I let go of the rifle, my right hand still gripping the stock like a piece of stick. I didn't even get anything to work with this failure beyond the fact that my Seigels didn't do anything. Ah well, back to the metaphorical drawing board, I guess.

With the care that wasn't really suited for handling potential explosives, I unceremoniously dropped-

*BANG!*

"WHAT THE FVCK!?"

"BROTHER!"

I could barely hear Lise speak as the deafening blast of the miniature explosion still rang in my ears. Thankfully, I had barely gotten away with but a scratch as the rifle all but turned to shrapnel just as soon as I'd let go of it.

What happened?!

"What happened?!" I felt a hand on my shoulder as I turned my head behind me, Lise greeting me with a worried expression bordering on panic and resolve. "Are you okay?!"

I absently nodded as my eyes roamed back to the disastrous prototype that almost took my right hand with its suicidal throes. The base of the rifle's barrel was practically non-existent, looking like shredded popcorn while the muzzle-end of the thing looked like it hadn't even been scratched.

"So... that 'popping' sound... It came from the rifle?" Lise asked as she sheathed her sword.

"Yeah," I replied as I slowly regained my bearings, the ringing in my ears dissipating as the sounds of flowing molten metal hummed through the air once more. "It's supposed to do that, actually. The breaking apart, however? That wasn't supposed to happen."

Lise said nothing as she picked up what was left of the prototype, looking somewhat sullen at the fact that my experiment catastrophically failed on me. Please don't give me that look, Sis. This was my first time making something like this, okay?

"I guess this is part of the scientific method, right?"

"O-Of course," I stuttered as I eyed the exploded prototype in her hands. "Trial and error. That's going to happen a lot when trying to invent something new."

"Aren't we wasting our then metal, Brother?"

"Research will always eat up resources, Lise," I explained as I took the hunk of metal out from her hands. "We can never expect something to work right the first time."

I ran my hand through what was left of my boomstick, feeling out what was left of the Seigels that I had etched onto it. So far, only the arrowheads came out in a relatively recognizable shape. The rest, unfortunately, were probably scattered throughout the scrap beneath our feet. Joy.

"It'll take at least a fair bit of experimentation and prototyping before I can make a halfway decent rifle," I muttered more to myself as I walked back to my anvil. "At least now I know that the base of the rifle wasn't strong enough to withstand the energy."

While I knew the broad strokes, the particulars continued to evade me as I stared blankly into what was left of the rifle. Maybe more reinforcement then? I was pretty sure there wasn't enough space in the barrel to accommodate another helping of right angles though. Reduce the arrows then... That could probably work.

I felt a pair of eyes land on me as I stewed on my thoughts. Looking up, I saw my little sister looking at me expectantly, her eyes darting quickly between me and the scrap of metal in front of me.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Uhmm... What Seigels did you put into it?" Lise asked, fidgeting as she rubbed her hands in front of her.

"Just the basic hardening with some of the coils we found in the water tower," I enumerated, not sure where she was going with this. "There's also some arrows near the base of the thing for directional propulsion."

"Pro-pul-sion?" Dammit.

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