Chapter 20: The Future of Warfare

The next day, Adi made his way to Hadid's office. He knocked softly on the door, his heart pounding with a mixture of anticipation and excitement.

"Come in," Hadid's voice boomed from within.

Adi entered the office, his eyes scanning the room, his senses alert. Hadid, his face serious, his eyes filled with a steely determination, stood by the window, his gaze fixed on the courtyard below.

"Adi," Hadid said, turning to face him, his voice a low rumble. "Let's go."

Hadid led Adi through the corridors of the Niziari headquarters, their steps silent, their movements purposeful. They arrived at a bustling workshop, filled with the sounds of hammering metal, the scent of burning wood, and the hum of activity.

"This is where we'll be working," Hadid said, his voice filled with a sense of purpose. "The Development Strand."

He gestured towards a group of blacksmiths, metal workers, and alchemists, their faces focused, their hands moving with a practiced ease.

"Adi," Hadid said, his eyes gleaming with a hint of excitement. "How about you improve the loading part, and I'll improve the accuracy part. I have a team for you – blacksmiths, metal workers, and some alchemists."

Adi nodded, his heart pounding with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. He was ready to learn, to grow, to create. He was ready to face the challenges that lay ahead.

Hadid, meanwhile, began experimenting with the flintlock mechanism, his focus intense, his determination unwavering. He tested the accuracy of the musket, firing shot after shot, his eyes scanning the target, his mind analyzing the results.

He noticed that the farther he was from the target, the more inaccurate the musket became. He tried changing the barrel, making it longer, making it shorter, widening the bore, narrowing the bore. But the results were the same. The accuracy remained inconsistent.

Adi, meanwhile, was looking at the musket's triggering system. He studied the flint, the pan, the powder, the way the spark ignited the powder, creating pressure that propelled the bullet down the barrel. He experimented with different amounts of powder, trying to find the perfect balance, the perfect ratio. He tested the reaction of the flint and the powder, trying to understand the dynamics of the ignition process.

Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months. Adi, his mind racing, his hands working tirelessly, continued his experiments. He tried everything, every combination, every permutation. He was determined to find a solution, a breakthrough.

Finally, after months of relentless research and experimentation, a breakthrough occurred. Adi, his eyes gleaming with a hint of triumph, had an idea.

Instead of putting the powder insignificantly, how about putting it on a paper? This would determine the accurate firepower needed for the bullet's potential.

But Adi wanted more. He wanted to improve the loading process, to make it faster, more efficient. He wanted to create a weapon that could be reloaded quickly, a weapon that could be fired repeatedly without delay.

Hadid, meanwhile, was still stuck on the barrel. He had tried everything, but the accuracy remained inconsistent. He was frustrated, his mind racing, his determination unwavering.

He passed a law in Niziari, decreeing that muskets should be used for defense purposes only, not on missions. The weapon was still unstable, too loud, too unreliable.

Adi, his mind focused, his hands working tirelessly, continued his research, his determination unwavering. He knew he could do better. He knew he could create a weapon that would change the world. He knew he could create a weapon that would revolutionize the way the Niziari fought. He knew he could create a weapon that would make a difference.

While Hadid and his team of hunters were out practicing, Hadid noticed something peculiar. As he aimed his bow and arrow at a target, his eyes focused, his mind clear, he released the arrow. He watched as it flew through the air, a perfect arc, a straight trajectory. But then, he noticed something else. The arrow was spinning.

He had never noticed this before. He asked the hunters if they had ever seen this phenomenon. They all nodded, confirming that the spinning arrow was indeed a common occurrence, and that it actually made the arrow fly straighter.

A lightbulb went off in Hadid's mind. If the spinning arrow flew straighter, what if he could make the musket ball spin? He began experimenting with the barrel, adding grooves, adjusting the angle, trying to create a spin. He tested and retested, his determination unwavering. Finally, he achieved success. The ball spun, and the musket became more accurate than ever before.

He tested it at a far target, and the ball hit its mark. The hunters roared in joy, their faces filled with excitement and admiration.

Meanwhile, Adi was still struggling with the reloading process. He had come up with the idea of putting the powder in a paper shell, but that wasn't the only problem. He needed to find a way to make the musket fire even in wet conditions.

"What if we put the gunpowder in a closed container?" he mused aloud. "That way, even if water is present, it can still fire."

But then he realized that this would be a waste of material. They would be destroying the shell every time they fired. He needed a better solution.

"What if we put the bullet and the shell together?" he murmured, his mind racing.

As he was thinking, a group of alchemists, the same ones who had formulated the smoke bombs, approached him. Their eyes sparkled with excitement.

"We have something," one of them said, his voice filled with a mixture of pride and apprehension.

They had been working on finding an alternative to flint, and they had accidentally created a highly unstable material from mercury. It sparked when struck, just like flint.

Adi's mind raced. He had an idea. He envisioned a bullet, with a small compartment containing the powder and the reactive material. All they needed was a way to hit the cap and ignite the powder.

"What kind of material do we need to use to encapsulate the bullet, the powder, and the reactive material?" he asked.

They consulted with an old blacksmith, who advised them to try copper mixed with tin.

After months of work, they finally created the very first bullet. But they still didn't know if it would work. They didn't have a weapon that could hit the cap of the bullet. The workers were concerned.

"How about we make one?" Adi said, his voice filled with a quiet confidence.

He explained his idea to Hadid, who was fascinated. He approved the creation of the very first single-shot gun. The future of warfare was about to change.