Wolfe looked at the pile of ammunition that had been compiled for the heavy machine guns, and weighed the need to upgrade it all versus the time that it was going to actually take him. If they kept making it in the shop, they would be using a Rank Two witch, and it would all need to be redone again, but Wolfe wasn't sure how much the patrols were actually going through on a daily basis.
The team that left took four canisters with them, and there were two patrol groups leaving every day. So, eight per day, which was a simple matter. If he did a hundred, that should keep them for most of a week, he assumed, and possibly with a bit left over, as they wouldn't need to use as much of it to deal with threats.
Wolfe had just created himself an air magic cushion on top of a pile of crates and sat down to get to work upgrading the ammunition in the storage bay when he was joined by Stephanie. She had a smile on her feline face, and a look of nostalgia as she stared into the storage room.
"Do you remember when we made this room, and the first few loads of ammunition that we tossed in here, before you realized that you could just enchant the bullets and save yourself energy during the fight?" She asked.
"That feels like forever ago, but it was just last winter. Now, I'm looking to upgrade the ammunition for the heavy machine guns from Rank Two to Rank Four, so that it can deal with the stronger monsters more effectively, and there are multiple daily patrols taking enchanted rifles to the boundary of the forest to keep everyone safe.
It's come a long way from that cave under the ridgeline where we waited out an advance by the Grand Dutchies armour columns." Wolfe agreed.
"Rank Four ammunition? Are you sure that's a good idea? If it gets into the wrong hands, it could be a nightmare for not only our people but the guardian Demons and Fae as well." Stephanie reminded him.
"Do you think it would be better to just upgrade the enchantment on the regular rifles so that they could fire more powerful single shots? At least that way it would have to be a magic user, and while that doesn't rule out a lot of the threats, it does reduce some of the major ones." Wolfe suggested.
"Can you put a password on them? Like an activation code, so that if they're stolen, the thieves can't use the more powerful enchantments. Then we can keep sending out the regular ammo, and they can snipe the powerful monsters when they need to." The Familiar Cat suggested.
"Oh, that's a good idea. I can certainly put a password on the rifles. It's a simple addition to the array that I saw months ago when I was searching the inheritance."
"Then let's try that. It will also reduce the effects of having multiple Rank Four charms active all the time. The monsters can sense that, and if we scare them off with the patrols, it's nearly impossible for the witches to do their job." Stephanie added.
"See, that's why you're the smart one. Alright, I will do the rifles first and leave them a note so that they know how it works. With the spell inactive until they need it, it shouldn't give off any sort of deterrent aura which would scare the monsters away. I just wish that I'd thought of that ten minutes ago, and I could have upgraded today's patrol team before they left."
The rifles were stored in crates, including the one that Wolfe was sitting on, but he didn't actually need to see them to modify the spells. Since they were already created, all that he had to do was modify them for higher output and to require a password.
"What should the password be? It has to be something easy to remember when under pressure, but not so easy to guess that anyone who grabs one will figure it out." He added.
"FOAD." Stephanie suggested.
"You know, that's not bad. They're going to be thinking about it anyhow, so they will remember it. The problem is that it's too easy for the enemy to guess as well. How long do you think that it will take them to start screaming variations of fuck off and die at us once they get one of our rifles?" Wolfe asked.
"Good point. We should make it something corny that no self-
respecting person would say if they weren't in mortal danger. That would help keep them from misusing it as well." Stephanie joked.
"You laugh now, but I don't actually have a better idea, so we might end up going with that." Wolfe laughed.
"What are you two scheming about this time?" A voice asked from the hallway behind them as the city guards that were coming off-duty entered the armoury.
"We need an activation word for the new spells on the rifles. One that enemy magic users won't easily guess, but our own people won't easily forget. That way, if we put more powerful spells on the rifle, we're not putting ourselves at risk if the enemy gets hold of one of them."
"Are you sure? They could copy the inscription and make it work, couldn't they?" The guard asked.
"Only if they truly understand the spell. But if they did, they wouldn't need to duplicate it to start with. Directly copying it will copy the activation requirement as well." Wolfe explained.
"In that case, I suggest that we go with a single word activation. Something that is easy to focus on. How about we go with something simple like [coconut]? Nobody is going to try shouting coconut as they cast an attack spell." The guard suggested.
"Or something that's not so cheesy." One of the other patrol members suggested.
"Well, if we can't come up with something good soon, I'm setting the spell to [Blessed Be The Servants of the Magi]" Wolfe suggested.
"Oh, goddess no. We will come up with something, I promise."
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