Chapter 35: The S-Rank Patent Controversy 4

Ukri was a fourth-rank water mage living in Chaos City, as well as a fifth-rank mercenary.

He was already forty years old. Because of the limits of his natural talent, he knew that he would probably never advance beyond the fourth rank in his lifetime. He had no useful connections within the Mage Guild either, so in the end he had chosen the life of a mercenary.

At present, he served as the chief mage of a small mercenary group.

Water magic was admittedly not known for its offensive power, but then again, the destructive ability of most low-ranked mages was nothing particularly impressive.

Early that morning, Ukri accompanied his mercenary captain to the Mercenary Guild.

The Chaos City branch was the largest branch on the continent apart from the guild’s main headquarters, so it was normally crowded enough already.

But what Ukri saw that day still shocked him.

The entire street was packed with people.

And most of them were mages.

Chaos City had an exceptionally large population of mages—not necessarily the strongest, but certainly one of the largest in sheer numbers.

"Huh? Why is the Mage Guild so crowded today?"

Ukri looked around and realized that nearly all the mages were heading toward the Mage Guild.

Curious, he grabbed a nearby man who also happened to be a fourth-rank mage.

"What’s going on?"

The man glanced at Ukri, noticed his mage identity, and finally answered.

"I’m here to buy access to a patent. Haven’t you heard?"

Ukri stared at him in frustration.

Can’t this bastard just finish his sentence?

Of course, he couldn’t exactly say that aloud, so he forced a smile.

"What patent? Why are so many people here? Is it expensive?"

"Expensive or not, it costs a thousand gold coins," the man replied irritably.

Ukri immediately clicked his tongue.

"A thousand gold coins? Forget it. If I spent that much, I’d be sleeping in the street."

"You think you can just walk in and buy it?" the other mage scoffed. "You still have to queue. This time they’re selling access to an S-rank technique. Do you even know what an S-rank technique means?"

For an ordinary low-ranked mage, one thousand gold coins was no small sum.

Ukri also had two women depending on him financially, so his first instinct had been to turn around and leave.

But then the man’s words finally registered.

Ukri stopped.

His face was filled with disbelief.

"Wait... are you sure you said S-rank?"

"Of course I am!" the mage snapped. "Why else would I get up before sunrise and stand here until nearly noon?"

He pointed ahead.

There were still close to a hundred people waiting in line.

Ukri’s eyes widened.

An S-rank patent from the Mage Guild?

Something like that had not appeared in thousands of years.

The last person to create one had invented something so advanced that even now ordinary mages knew almost nothing about it, because the technique could only be used by eighth-rank mages.

S-rank was practically legendary.

Even forbidden spells belonged to that classification, and those could only be studied at the Mage Guild headquarters after reaching the ninth rank.

Since when could a low-ranked mage learn an S-rank technique?

The other mage saw the disbelief on Ukri’s face and sighed.

"Stop staring at me like that. According to the introduction, this S-rank technique is a new method of magical compression."

"It consumes ten times as much mana as the old method, but only one-third as much mental power."

"The spell’s original size and shape don’t change."

"And the most important part is this—even a first-rank mage can learn to use it."

"The power of the spell increases by at least one full rank."

He looked at Ukri.

"Now tell me—is a thousand gold coins worth it?"

"Forget one thousand. Even if they doubled the price, I’d still learn it."

"With this technique, people like us might finally be able to hunt intermediate-rank magical beasts."

Ukri stood frozen for several seconds.

Then his eyes lit up.

"Damn! Which old monster came up with something like this?"

"A thousand gold coins? Hell, even if it cost ten thousand, I’d find a way to learn it!"

His mind immediately began calculating the potential profits.

A fourth-rank magical beast was usually worth only a few hundred gold coins.

But a fifth-rank beast could sell for several thousand.

If this technique truly allowed low-ranked mages to challenge stronger magical beasts, then his earning potential could easily double—or even more.

Ukri had been completely won over.

This so-called S-rank patent was not merely some impressive magical theory.

For mercenary mages like him, it could change their entire lives.

The man nodded in agreement.

“Exactly. Who wouldn’t want it? Sure, the mana consumption is much higher, but your mental power remains intact. Mana can always be restored by purchasing mana potions, but mental strength is different. The only way to recover it is through proper rest and sleep.”

He became more excited as he continued.

“And honestly, casting time isn’t that big of a problem. Once a spell’s power increases by one entire rank, its destructive ability rises exponentially. Besides, the Mage Guild has already confirmed that this patent has a 100% success rate.”

“With my current mana reserves, as long as other people can hold back a fifth-rank magical beast, I can release three compressed spells. There’s no way a fifth-rank magical beast survives that.”

Ukri looked at the endless crowd ahead of him, his face filled with envy.

“In the future, when hunting fourth-rank magical beasts, I won’t need to throw out more than a dozen spells anymore. One compressed spell should be enough.”

“And since I’m a water mage, my healing magic should become much stronger as well.”

He sighed.

“I really wonder which mage invented this. That person is going to make a fortune.”

The other mage shook his head, a trace of excitement in his voice.

“Only someone who truly understands the essence of magic could create an S-rank technique like this.”

“But thinking about it, this is wonderful news for low-level mages like us. Low-level spells can now possess the power of intermediate-level magic.”

“Hahaha! Hahaha!”

Just as Ukri and the other mage were discussing the matter, a middle-aged mage suddenly rushed out of the Mage Guild.

Sweat was still visible on his face, but the words he shouted immediately shocked everyone around him.

“My fourth-rank magic, after compression, has power comparable to sixth-rank magic!”

“I’ve made a fortune!”

The crowd instantly became restless.

A jump from fourth-rank power to sixth-rank power sounded simple when spoken aloud, but every mage understood what that actually represented.

The gap between those two levels was like an enormous mountain.

Seeing the excitement on the middle-aged mage’s face, Ukri immediately squeezed his way forward through the crowd.

His heart was pounding with excitement as he stared at the entrance of the Mage Guild.

Boom!

Inside the ship’s cabin, another explosion erupted.

This was already the sixteenth failure.

Kent sat there silently, staring at the remains of another failed experiment.

His current goal was to discover an alchemical mixture capable of producing a powerful burst of impact force.

The first materials he considered were water-element magic crystal powder and fire-element magic crystal powder.

Unfortunately, after countless mixing experiments, almost all of them ended in failure.

Originally, Kent had wanted to directly use magical energy to create a weapon similar to a magic crystal cannon—something like an energy gun powered by magic.

However, he quickly discovered that the activation magic array of a magic crystal cannon was far beyond his current ability.

Such a magic array could only be engraved by a seventh-rank mage.

Compared with that level of mastery, Kent’s current mana and mental strength were simply insignificant.

Therefore, he abandoned that idea and returned to his original concept.

Using explosive force to generate kinetic energy.

But this approach also caused him endless frustration.

The moment the fire-element magic crystal powder and water-element magic crystal powder approached each other, they reacted violently before he could even control them.

“Looks like this is the only way.”

Kent reorganized his thoughts.

After careful consideration, he realized that fire-element and water-element magic crystal powders might work for making a simple explosive device, but they were completely unsuitable for a handgun.

The reason was simple.

They were far too unstable.

Kent then thought of using powdered magical cores instead.

Unfortunately, the conditions aboard the ship were too limited. He had no equipment capable of grinding magical cores into fine powder.

Magic crystal powder, however, was already a commonly used alchemical material.

That was the only practical option available.

Kent picked up the small furnace beside him.

This was a furnace specifically designed for melting refined iron.

It used charcoal as fuel, and when refined iron was placed inside along with a small amount of fire-element magic crystal powder, the metal could be melted much faster.

Kent had already prepared the molds.

His idea was actually quite simple.

He would first create something similar to a landmine.

The entire device would have a cylindrical shape.

The outer shell would be completely forged from refined iron.

Inside the cylinder, the lower section would contain water-element magic crystal powder, while the upper section would contain fire-element magic crystal powder.

The two materials would be separated by a layer of resin.

To strengthen the separation effect, Kent mixed powdered obsidian into the resin.

Obsidian possessed excellent resistance against magical interference, making it ideal for isolating the mana fluctuations between the two opposing magical materials.

The upper section contained the fire-element magic crystal powder.

The top of the cylinder narrowed into a small opening about the width of a thumb.

Inside this opening was a thin piece of refined iron.

At the top of the iron rod was a large cap, with a diameter matching the bottom of the cylinder.

The cap was firmly locked against the top of the cylindrical shell.

The internal structure was divided into three equal sections:

The water-element magic crystal powder occupied one-third of the cylinder.

The middle insulating layer occupied another third.

The fire-element magic crystal powder occupied the final third.

Finally, Kent coated the refined iron shell with another layer of resin mixed with obsidian powder.

This was to further isolate magical fluctuations and prevent accidental reactions.

The reason the middle insulating layer was made so thick was mainly for transportation safety.

If the separation layer was too thin, accidents could easily occur during movement.

Kent stared at the strange object in front of him.

It was approximately fifteen centimeters tall and around five centimeters in diameter.

A completely different-world version of a landmine.

Looking at his crude creation, Kent felt deeply frustrated.

It was far from the handgun he had originally imagined.