A Technological Revolution in Halkeginia

"You can't really be serious about this," said Louise as Kazi walked to Vestri Court.

The pinkette had been trying to dissuade her familiar from going to face Guiche for the past half hour as the Inventor made his way to Vesti Court.

"I am most serious," said Kazi as he adjusted the goggles he had donned in preparation for the fight, "he issued a duel towards me, so therefore I must accept. I believe it is part of the code of honor."

"He's a Noble and a Mage!" yelled Louise, "He'll destroy you!"

At that, the inventor from beyond the stars let out a loud laugh, "I've heard claims like that before, mostly from people that were displeased with my inventions. Suffice it to say, I'm alive, and they're not."

"But…" protested Louise before being cut off by her familiar.

"Kid," said Kazi with a smile, "I've shown you and the people here several amazing wonders that I've created. What I haven't shown anyone yet, are the equally amazing weapons that I've also created. Now, Vestri Court is this way, right?"

xXsceneXx

"I see you decided to appear," said Guiche as he motioned toward Kazi with a flourish of the rose he held in his hand. Kazi had to admit he was rather impressed. Either the cosmetics in this place were quite exceptional or the nurses were more skilled than he initially thought. The black eye and handprint that the girls had given this fop were completely gone.

"You challenged me, so I came," said Kazi with a smile as his goggles glinted in the sun, "isn't that how it works?"

"Indeed," said Guiche, "I am pleased to see a boorish ruffian like yourself knows at least the courtesy of a Duel, however, it will not change the outcome."

"My runic name is The Bronze," said Guiche as he waved the rose in his hand, causing a single petal to fall to the ground, "thus, a Bronze golem, a Valkyrie, shall be your opponent."

When the rose petal struck the earth, a bronze suit of feminine armor rose from the earth and stone as if the dirt was being transmutated into the metal armor. In its hand was a sharp halberd that it moved to hold at the ready once the golem was finished forming.

"Impressive," said Kazi.

"Now you see the difference in standing between a noble and a commoner like yourself," said Guiche, "perhaps if you get on your knees and apologize, then I shall show leniency and forgo this battle."

There was a brief flash of light and Guiche watched in shock as the golem he had just summoned fell to the ground with a large hole melted through the bronze armor's torso.

"Is that all?" asked Kazi as he lowered his arm, with a strange looking pistol in his hand, smoke coming from the barrel from the shot he had just delivered, "I was hoping for more of a challenge, not just amateur target practice."

"What did you just do?" said Guiche in shock, "What is that thing, some kind of magic gun?"

"Something like that," said Alex, "this here is a Modulated Plasma Energy Pistol Mk15, or as I like to call it on the market, the Nitro Stinger A-17. Releases a self-contained burst of superheated plasma that can pierce through solid steel. At its middle setting, it's more than enough to deal with a bronze suit of armor."

"So, what if you have some sort of magic weapon," said Guiche as he waved his rose-wand again, creating seven more golems, "I shall still emerge victorious. One man isn't a match for seven Valkyries."

"I see," said Kazi as he placed his pistol on a holster on his belt, "I'll have to up my game a bit."

Pulling out the remote he had used to teleport his tech to Louise's room, Kazi punched an authorization code into the device, causing a circle of light to appear, depositing another handgun into Kazi's hand, this one slightly different looking. Drawing his first pistol, Kazi let loose a barrage of plasma bolts, nailing the Bronze golems despite their attempts to dodge. Watching his golems fall to the ground with numerous holes melted through their armor, Guiche felt a chill of fear as he witnessed this so-called commoner's skill with these unusual weapons.

"I suggest you give up," said Kazi casually as he adjusted the settings on one of his pistols once the golems were dealt with.

Instead of responding, Guiche waved his wand and caused a sword to sprout out of the ground, but before he could grab it, a bolt of electrified plasma struck him in the chest and sent him sprawling to the ground unconscious.

"You killed him!" yelled out a student in shock.

"Relax," drawled Kazi as he holstered his pistols and moved his goggles off his eyes, "I only knocked him out with a stun blast. I'd say the duel is over though."

The students were silent as Kazi holstered his pistols and walked over to where Louise was standing.

"How'd I do?" asked Kazi cheekily.

"You…but…" said Louise in shock.

"Left you speechless, didn't I?" smirked Kazi, "Well my tech is pretty impressive."

"Impressive?!" exclaimed Louise, as she finally found her voice, "You just took down a Mage and EIGHT golems with just two guns!"

"Miss Vallière," said a voice from behind them, causing the pair to turn and see several teachers that had walked up, "I believe it would be wise for you and your familiar to see the Headmaster. He wishes to speak with the two of you."

xXsceneXx

"Well now," said Old Osmond, the Headmaster of the Academy of Magic, "that was quite the impressive display, ignoring the fact that you shot one of my students that is."

"Why thank you," said Kazi with a smile, "and he'll be fine. His body might be a bit sore, but he'll be fine. I set the pistol to non-lethal mode after all. I'm not in the business of killing children."

"You refer to them as children," said Colbert, a balding professor that taught Fire Magic, "but you don't seem to be much older than they are."

"Heh," smirked Kazi, "that would be because of my science."

"What do you mean?" asked Louise, "You can't be much older than me!"

"Well it's a long story," said Kazi, "you see, when I was born, I was very sick. I was born with a degenerative heart defect."

Seeing that the others didn't understand what he was saying, he simplified things for them, "I was born with a problem with my heart that slowly ate away and killed it."

The Halkeginians looked at the scientist with horror upon hearing his description. They wondered how a person could survive being born with such a serious condition. Louise was reminded of her elder sister Cattleya and the disease that she has had to live with all these years.

"No need for all those sad looks," chuckled Kazi, "thanks to science, I found a cure. As I was stuck in the medical facilities, I studied hard and developed a method to transfer my consciousness to an artificial body made from a combination of mechanical parts and organic material cultivated from my healthy cells. The result was this body, a perfect blending of technology and biology, that leaves me young and healthy."

"I see," said Osmond, "and the items you displayed in the duel are of your creation as well?"

"Why yes," said Kazi as he pulled out his remote and pressed a few buttons, causing the guns to appear on the table, "This here is a Nitro Stinger A-17, a pistol that fires a pulse of energy that can be modulated in strength to be powerful enough to punch through six-inch steel, or to just knock out a human with a painful jolt."

"Fascinating," said Colbert, "and what about that device you used to summon it?"

"Oh that?" asked Kazi with a smile, "It's just a controller with a link to my main labs and foundries. It allows me to keep in touch with CONIS."

"CONIS?" asked Osmond, "Is this a colleague of yours?"

The scientist only grinned and placed a round metal device on the desk in front of the headmaster and pressed a button, causing a hologram of a young woman dressed in a suit.

"Greetings," said the hologram, causing the Halkeginians in the room to gape in shock.

"Is this some sort of homunculus?" said Osmond in surprise, causing Kazi to chuckle.

"Computerized Overseeing Navigation Interface System, or CONIS for short," elaborated the scientist, "is an artificial intelligence system that I created to oversee the projects and production lines in the main Zenith Industries location.'

"You can create life?" asked Osmond.

"No," said Kazi, "she's just a bunch of thoughts processed into a computer. No offence, CONIS."

"None taken sir," said the hologram.

"Is there anything else you can tell us?" asked Osmond, getting a smile from the Scientist.

"I thought you'd never ask," said Kazi.