Chapter 390: Chapter 389 Sword and Shield

Richard set into motion.

First, he found a square glass container from the shelf and placed it on the circular experiment table. Then, he lifted the bag of flour he had collected earlier and poured it into the container, followed by an appropriate amount of water to maintain a roughly 2:1 ratio of flour to water.

He stirred the mixture with a glass rod, blending the flour and water to create a paste-like substance.

Richard observed the contents of the container, stroked his chin, and in the next moment, he cast a spell. He manipulated the paste to levitate out of the container and into mid-air, transforming it into a round shield.

Extending his hand, Richard tentatively touched it. It was obviously soft, easily penetrable.

Withdrawing his hand, Richard clenched his fist and struck out with increased speed and force.

“Bang!”

A muffled sound echoed as the paste quickly solidified, resembling a white monolith sculpted into a stone shield.

“Hmm–”

Richard withdrew his hand, rubbing his sore knuckle and staring expressionlessly at the paste as it slowly reverted to its original form. A flash of enlightenment flickered across his eyes as he swiftly considered some possibilities.

Using a non-Newtonian fluid to construct a shield was undoubtedly feasible.

However, designing a shield from mere flour to serve as a life-saving device was far too childish.

This was just a basic test. Based on this, he needed to continuously refine and experiment with denser, superior-quality non-Newtonian fluids.

He intended to infuse spells into these substances, combining modern Earth technology with the present Wizard World technology, to create a shield whose effect was “greater than the sum of its parts.”

“So next, I should…” Richard stared at the flour shield in mid-air, formulating a plan.

…

Over the following days, Richard was busy experimenting with various materials.

There are many types of non-Newtonian fluids, far beyond one person’s knowledge, including not just pastes and chewing gum but also materials like tomato juice, apple pulp, potato puree, melted chocolate, thick sugar water, condensed milk, egg white, and various minced food materials.

Of course, non-Newtonian fluids are not solely foodstuffs.

Apart from foods, dense solutions and suspensions of synthetic polymers also qualify as non-Newtonian fluids, including but not limited to polyethylene, polyacrylamide, polyvinyl chloride, nylon 6, PVC, celluloid, polyester, and rubber solutions.

Additionally, some building materials like mud, coal-water slurry, ceramic slurry, paper pulp, paint, and ink also count.

Richard’s task was to find and create as many non-Newtonian fluids as possible, through extensive experimentation, to determine which fluid performed best, which paired most perfectly with spells, and which offered the best cost-effectiveness…

Eventually…

…

Many days later.

Magic Test Field.

Richard stood next to a square container placed on the ground, filled with a viscous liquid resembling ink.

This wasn’t a single substance, but rather a mixture containing common materials like sand and carbon powder, along with demonized creature materials like Earth Bear blood and Black-headed Crow bone powder.

With a twitch of his eyebrows, Richard crouched, peering at the liquid. Then he extended a finger, dipped it into the liquid, and with a firm pull, drew out a long, unbroken thread of viscous fluid.

“So…”

With a flick of his finger, the free energy elements inside him surged, releasing a spell that caused the liquid to detach from his finger and rise into the air, forming a thick, round shield. Then, a greasy yellowish liquid emerged, coating the surface of the shield– the power of the spell.

The combination of spell and non-Newtonian fluid.

“Phew–”

Richard stood up, took a deep breath, adjusted his body state, and controlled the air to protect his fist as he aimed and fiercely struck the shield.

“Bang–”

The shield made a light sound.

Richard could feel that the force contained in his fist, upon the moment of contact with the shield, was forcibly dispersed. The dispersed force then hit the main body of the shield, causing it to rapidly harden and be completely neutralized.

Richard withdrew his fist only to see the shield quickly return to its original form, completely undamaged.

Richard blinked, unsurprised by this, because this was just the simplest of tests; next was the second test.

Slowly parting his lips, Richard waved his hand and an ice cone emerged. The ice cone didn’t seem very powerful, but its speed was sufficient, shooting out like a bullet with great kinetic energy and piercing power toward the shield.

“Puff–”

The ice cone tore through the thin film of muddy yellow liquid at the surface and fiercely struck the shield.

Then there was a “splash” sound as it shattered upon the hardened Non-Newtonian fluid.

Richard was not surprised by this either and proceeded with a third test.

Taking a step back, Richard attacked with Shape Energy Fire Magic.

“Boom boom boom!”

After several spells, the outer surface of the shield was slightly damaged but nearly perfectly blocked all the spell attacks.

So…

The final test!

“Ratatata…”

Richard backed up, this time retreating a considerable distance, and prepared to attack with his strongest Magic Salt Shattering Armor Bomb technique to test the shield’s effectiveness.

It was also a chance to see which was stronger–the attacking sword or the defending shield.

Who would it be?

Taking out the Magic Salt, Richard cast the spell, controlling the particles of Magic Salt to fly out and adhere to the surface of the shield. Then he chanted the spell for quite some time and prepared thoroughly before raising his hand and releasing a truly spectacular Magic Salvo.

“Boom!”

The violent trembling that had occurred before happened again, with the sound waves and shock waves howling outward, fiercely blowing past Richard’s body.

Waiting quietly for the noise to subside, Richard squinted towards the shield. He saw that the entire shield, under the destruction from the Magic Salt, was badly shattered, with less than half of its volume intact on the front, clearly exceeding the defense limit.

Walking closer, he could see that less than a quarter of the volume on the back of the shield was preserved–it had cracked under the stress caused by the Armor-shattering Bomb.

In the contest between sword and shield, clearly, the sword had won–the sword had pierced through the shield!

It seemed that while shields could be thickened and may take more robust forms for defense, the sword could also become stronger. Even with the principles of Armor-shattering Bombs, a shield, no matter how thick, could be damaged.

So… will shields always be weaker than swords?

Will they?

Not necessarily.

Sword and shield, attack and defense–it’s like two sides of the same coin; neither side will always win, nor will either side always lose.

Just as a sword can cause damage without piercing the shield, using the principle of the Armor-shattering Bomb, surely there must be similar ways for shields to safely withstand attacks that seem invincible.

For instance… reactive armor.