Chapter 298: Bored Dragon
CH298 Bored Dragon
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"Master, thanks to the Kellermans, the Voidheart Core beca flush with energy, allowing it to produce enough Spatial Energy for
to create a working prototype of my Interspatial Storage Project," Alex said.
"The Kellermans didn’t help you—you stole from them," rlin replied dryly, almost rolling his eyes at Alex’s phrasing.
"Details, Master. That’s just details. The important part is that I got the energy from them. Whether willingly or not, it’s still thanks to them," Alex said cheekily.
He handed the Coinage Moonstone Ring to rlin.
"Let’s see..." rlin murmured as he examined it. "Adamantium, Mithril, Refined Gold, Orichalcum... I can see why you called it the Coinage Moonstone. Your naming sense remains as direct as ever."
Alex only shrugged.
There wasn’t much he could say about that. He was an engineer—of course his naming sense was straightforward.
rlin continued his assessnt. "The craftsmanship could be better. But the alloy’s retention of its constituent tals’ essential properties salvages so value. You might convince others that it was made by a master craftsman who prioritises function over ostentatious display."
"I do care more about utility," Alex remarked.
"It’s not a wrong mindset," rlin conceded, "but it isn’t the right one either. Across all races—dragons, elves, humans—people judge by appearance before assessing practicality. Case in point, even I first assessed its materials and form before testing its function. That alone should tell you sothing."
Alex nodded.
It irked him, but he understood the principle all too well.
"Unless the practical value is well known and overwhelmingly superior, appearance will almost always dictate price," rlin continued. "So then, let’s see if your creation can fleece so royal pockets with its worth."
With that, he channelled his Spiritual Force into the ring.
’Fascinating,’ he mused. ’The opening process is exceptionally smooth. Even the faint Spiritual Force of a strong-willed ordinary civilian could activate it. Likewise, the structure is so stable that unless I intend to destroy it, not even the Spiritual Force of an excited Legend could break it.’
Then, rlin’s attention turned to the pocket space itself.
’Ah, this boy...’ he thought, his gaze piercing beyond the visible, delving into the underlying laws of the space. ’Although he didn’t forge this dinsion using his own power but rather leveraged pre-existing rules, it’s still astonishing that he managed to create a stable space where the balance of Space-Ti is intentionally broken. The temporal flow here... it’s been reduced by half.’
rlin’s Spiritual Force and ntal vision continued to probe into the secrets buried within the dinsion—truths likely unknown even to its own creator.
’While the result is impressive, it isn’t particularly practical for anyone walking the path of Space-Ti to study. The building blocks of this space are bare—stripped of almost everything except the fundantals of space and ti. This allows him to overload the base formation with Spatial Energy, overwhelming temporal factors and skewing the dinsion’s nature heavily towards space rather than ti.
’It only works because the dinsion itself is minute. Scaling this up to a larger, independent realm would be exponentially more difficult. In essence, it achieves its purpose as an interspatial storage, but offers little for those seeking to study or emulate the natural principles of Space-Ti, unlike naturally occurring materials such as the Nullcore Crystal.’
rlin smiled faintly.
’Well, that much is to be expected. Nature is the true teacher of all—comprehensive and balanced. A craftsman, however, works with focus, refining a singular concept to fulfil a specific purpose.’
He withdrew his Spiritual Force from the ring and gave his verdict.
"It’s a good artefact. The opening price at auction should be set at ten tis the current value of the high-grade Nullcore Orb I gave you. Ask Pinchcoin for the market rate of the Orb," rlin advised.
Truth be told, Alex had been uncertain about how to price the Coinage Moonstone Ring. Set it too low, and the royals might dismiss it as a novelty trinket. Too high, and they’d lose interest altogether.
He had already instructed Haggleworth to conduct a market survey to estimate what the bigwigs might be willing to pay. But Alex wasn’t holding his breath. This was a novel product—its value extended far beyond its visible utility, and that was sothing no ordinary market survey could truly quantify... especially not the kind Haggleworth or anyone from this world was likely to be knowledgeable enough to do.
Knowing how to fleece your custor’s pockets is an art Alex believed his previous world would likely always remain superior to his current world in.
rlin’s pricing suggestion was more than welco.
Not only was the dragon avatar an influential figure himself, but he also had vast experience auctioning off artefacts to other major powers—one of the Enclave’s primary sources of revenue. Few understood the depth of those nobles’ pockets better than him.
Alex looked to rlin, waiting for his master’s final evaluation of his big reveal.
rlin nodded appreciatively, stroking his beard.
"You don’t disappoint," he began. "Each of your breakthroughs is groundbreaking in its own right. Used correctly, they can transition into entirely new forms of strength that will aid you on your path to power. I only have a few things to say."
Alex imdiately straightened, ears taphorically perked.
"I’m listening, Master."
rlin’s tone grew solemn. "Just because you can cast your spells directly through formations doesn’t an you should abandon chanting completely. For every spell you learn or use, morise both the formation for your unique casting thod and the chant for orthodox casting."
He continued, "There are countless thods of spellcasting across the myriad worlds—seal formations, hand gestures, ritual dances, even blood inscriptions. So are shared across planes, others unique to specific realms. But chanting... chanting remains universal. Across all known planes, realms, and worlds, it has never faded. There’s a reason for that."
rlin’s eyes glimred with distant recollection. "In fact, even though I encourage instant casting, not even I have completely given up chanting. There are many—by your plane’s classification—Grade 16 and above spells that even I chant to cast."
[A.N: We can’t forget to let rlin humble-brag a little, can we? ??]
Alex’s lips twitched. A Grade 16 spell? Above that? He could barely cast a Grade 6 spell even with assistance. Considering how spells grew exponentially more complex and potent with each grade, it was nearly impossible to imagine just how powerful rlin—no, Uthvaazgol—truly was.
’That’s the wrong point to focus on, Alex,’ he scolded himself inwardly and forced his thoughts back on track.
"What makes chanting so important, Master? I thought true strength ant doing away with such things."
"Hmm..." rlin’s tone softened. "That’s a difficult question to answer. Each person must discover for themselves why chanting holds aning to them."
Alex frowned at his master’s typically cryptic response.
"Don’t overthink it for now," rlin said, smiling faintly. "You’ll soon embark on planar conquests. As with many things you’ll have to comprehend along the way, the answer will reveal itself in ti."
Alex was left confused, yet he could only nod in reluctant acceptance.
rlin continued, his tone turning firm.
"I know this goes without saying, but don’t reveal your ability to interconvert formations just yet. Always present them as their original form—spell formations as spells, arrays as arrays, tattoos as tattoos. If you must experint on any large-scale constructs involving interconversions, do so only within your outer planes.
"Announcing your ability to rge or convert formations will cause as much trouble as revealing that you are my True Disciple. That kind of attention is sothing you don’t need right now. Focus instead on your growth."
He paused, then added, "The sa goes for the Coinage Moonstone. Do not reveal yourself as its creator."
Alex nodded. "I had no intention of doing so. I plan to have Haggleworth present it under the pseudonym ’Hattori Hanzo.’"
rlin raised a brow. "Hattori Hanzo? That’s quite the unique na."
"Indeed," Alex replied with a small grin. "It’s ant to make the mysterious craftsman seem like soone from a distant, exotic land. Or perhaps," he mused, "I should go with sothing simpler—’Demon (Oni) Head’."
"I’d advise the latter," rlin said with a faint chuckle. "The forr might trigger the xenophobic tendencies of so of your world’s aristocrats."
"Understood." Alex inclined his head.
rlin’s expression sobered once more. "Lastly, I’m aware that you, Pinchcoin, and that gno CEO of yours are planning to fleece coin from the pockets of those attending the auction."
Alex’s lips twitched guiltily.
rlin ignored it and continued, "That’s fine—profit where you can. But be subtle. It’s acceptable to stage the event and push rival factions into competing against each other, but do not fan the flas directly. The people you’ll be dealing with are far more dangerous and cunning than you realise. Even your father treads carefully around their factions."
"Understood," Alex said gravely.
"Good. Now then," rlin smiled, his mood lightening again, "show
the other tricks you’ve co up with."
Alex obliged. He demonstrated everything he’d been working on—the Rune Cara, his new rune tattoo and array designs, and finally, his intended signature Craftsman Brand, which existed both as an array formation and as a spell.
The discussion stretched long into the night. It was obvious the old dragon was bored, and Alex’s return served as a welco distraction.
By the ti he finally left and returned to his Enclave residence, his jaw ached from so much talking.
Unfortunately for him, his night of conversations wasn’t over yet.
Waiting within his dorm mansion was soone else—soone he needed to have another long discussion with.
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