Chapter 425: Magic Cannon

"Almost two years ago, the market price was around one hundred gold coins per crystal, but desperate people were ready to buy it for two hundred," Roderick said. "Right now, the market price is around two hundred gold coins since we are preparing for war. The mana crystal mine I have is not really ready to use yet either. We are still building the infrastructure around it."

Adrian nodded. "So two hundred gold coins for ten thousand mana crystals."

Roderick just looked at him pleadingly. "Can’t you give us a discount?"

Adrian thought about it. "Well, I could give you a discount. But what are you even going to use all this mana for?"

"Well, after seeing those weird-looking sticks that you used to threaten us, I put our mana engineers, runesmiths, and most of our royal mages to work to produce something similar," Roderick said as he looked at Adrian. "They have come up with something, but it is pretty bulky, and it is not exactly on the level of whatever you have. When I originally pitched the idea to them, they told me that to create something small like that, the precision needed is extremely high."

Adrian smirked. "Yeah, I know."

"So we made a larger version."

Adrian chuckled. "So you are basically making a... well, show it to me, and maybe I might think about giving you a discount."

He paused, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Wait, why should I give a discount to someone who is actively trying to win an arms race against me?"

"Come on, it is not that bad," Roderick said quickly. "You are already way ahead of us, so you’ll only get better and better. And this thing should help us hold the line against the other kingdoms too."

Adrian just looked at him.

"Well, you will need to give me something in return for me to accept a discount. I know that you desperately need mana crystals right now. I am pretty sure that you would buy these even if I priced them at three hundred gold coins each. I know exactly how much mana is required to power up something huge, and I also know how much mana is required for research and development."

Roderick’s face turned dark.

"What more do you want from me? I am basically a puppet in your hands. You have my weakness."

"Well, I don’t really want to use your weakness against you every single time, you know?" Adrian said casually. "Let’s just talk like regular human beings and make a proper business deal. I mean, if I really wanted to scam you, I wouldn’t be coming here and talking to you face-to-face. I would have just sent you a letter saying, ’Send me these many gold coins,’ and you wouldn’t have any choice but to listen to me."

Roderick solemnly nodded. "Well, I am glad that you are not downright heartless. Let me think about it. Until then, let me take you to the training grounds and show you the device."

Adrian nodded. Before following Roderick, he tapped his spatial ring and pulled all ten thousand mana crystals back into his storage.

The two of them walked along the wide corridors of the palace before heading out into the massive royal training grounds. Even though it was early in the morning, the royal mages working on the devices were already up and active.

Adrian looked at the device just once and chuckled inwardly.

’Okay, so they are basically making a cannon. But instead of starting with gunpowder like me, they directly jumped straight to using magic. I mean, if I didn’t mind splurging mana at the start, I probably would have just started with a rifle powered entirely by mana instead of gunpowder too. But this is just a prototype, so I guess it worked out for them.’

He looked at the large, bulky cannon and turned to Roderick. "What is this called?"

"This is the Mana Siege Machine."

"Mana Siege Machine?" Adrian repeated. "What does it even do?"

Roderick looked at the mages. "Show him what it does."

The mages nodded respectfully. They grabbed a few low-quality mana crystals and put them inside a reinforced iron box. That box was then inserted directly into the back of the cannon.

All they did was pull a large lever on the side of the barrel, and the cannon fired with a deafening boom.

The thing that it fired was in fact an extremely dense ball of pure magma. It was not a regular fireball at all. The ball of magma shot out at high speed and hit a huge boulder across the field before violently splashing all over it, melting the stone on contact.

Adrian just watched the boulder melt.

"That is impressive," Adrian said. "But shouldn’t something like this cost you a massive amount of mana?"

Roderick let out a sigh. "Yes. This is the strongest level that we can push it to. Anything more than this, and the device basically explodes on itself. The materials just cannot handle the raw mana output."

Adrian nodded. "So is this thing made of steel or mithril?"

"It is ninety-eight percent iron and two percent mithril."

"Okay," Adrian nodded. "So I am assuming that you are using that tiny bit of mithril as a material for conducting the mana?"

"Yes."

"Well, that is not a bad idea, I guess. You guys can certainly do better though. Keep working at it."

Roderick’s face darkened again. "Can’t you just give us some advice on it?"

Adrian shrugged. "Come on. You are basically a neighboring empire. I never know when you will turn your backs on me. I mean, I have your weakness, yes. But what about Maximillian? What about his kids? What do you think they will do after you eventually die?"

Roderick took a deep breath. "Okay, fine. Fair point."

He looked back at the mages. "Get on with your work."

He turned back to Adrian. "Let’s walk over here. I will show you a few more things."