Dragonkind Shapeshifting Ring

Ovesto had the cat maid pour Roland and Rick a glass of wine each, then teased with a smile, "How does it feel? From now on, you're a patent holder too."

"It feels like I accidentally achieved financial freedom. Now I can make money without lifting a finger," Roland said wistfully.

"Hahahaha!" Ovesto laughed heartily. "Roland, of all the things I admire about you, aside from your talent, your frankness and sincerity stand out the most."

He raised his wineglass, inviting the two to toast from where they sat, then took a sip and continued.

"Atrelin has a very mature system for commercializing intellectual property. You don't even need to handle the details yourself. Just wait for your dividends every year.

"Of course, large consortiums like this charge rather hefty agency fees."

Rick hastily said, "Our services are professional. We guarantee our clients can save themselves both worry and effort."

Having said that, he took an exquisitely decorated little wooden box from his pouch and respectfully presented it to Roland.

"A small token of our regard. Please do accept this gift."

"Hmm?" Roland hesitated.

Ovesto smiled. "Go ahead and accept it. The founder of the Hilt Consortium is an old friend of mine. Rick is her descendant."

In Elvish, "she" and "he" were distinct.

The corners of Roland's mouth lifted slightly. He accepted it at once, then opened it to take a look, as was customary in Atrelin.

Inside lay a bone ring of an antique design. It looked like a hollow dragon finger bone, its gilded surface giving it a sumptuous finish. It would fit neatly over a finger, covering most of it like a finger sheath.

Exquisite Dragon Race inscriptions were carved around both the inside and outside of the ring. Their meaning was "change form."

These inscriptions looked somewhat like marks scratched into a stone tablet with claws. They had the characteristics of stone-carved writing, with even circles replaced by pentagons, making them look angular, straight-edged, and sharp.

Under the light of the Magic Lamp, the ring gave off a mysterious glow that made one want to explore the story behind it. At that moment, however, Roland was more interested in what it actually did.

Rick explained, "This is a Dragonkind Shapeshifting Ring. It lets you use the fifth-level spell 'Dragonkind Transformation' once per day, transforming you into a juvenile Gold Dragon."

The juvenile stage covered Gold Dragons from their teens through their twenties. They already qualified as large creatures.

Recalling the magical biology he had studied at the academy, Roland knew such a creature had a body over three meters long, a total length of around nine meters, stood a little over two meters tall, and weighed more than a tonne.

A juvenile dragon was stronger even than an adult troll, with a carrying capacity ranging from several hundred kilograms to over a thousand. However he looked at it, it was far more powerful than a frail, scholarly human like himself.

A Siberian tiger weighed only about a third as much. With this transformation spell, he would not even need a sliding tackle. He could simply overpower it through brute force. Even Wu Song would have to admit he was impressed.

Ovesto said, "The Atrelin mage's rules of combat: the human body is frail, so never rely on brute force.

"When you're adventuring and don't know what to do, use divination. If divination leads you astray, use transformation. If you still can't win after transforming, teleport away immediately.

"Master those three types of spells-divination, transformation, and teleportation-and even with no combat experience at all, you can perform quite well in battles during your adventures."

"That sounds pretty good."

Roland silently approved and hurried to commit it to memory.

These are the three trusty tricks my teacher is passing down!

After presenting the gift, Rick kept the two company for a while longer, then tactfully found a respectable excuse to leave.

Ovesto had someone see him out, then turned back to Roland with a smile. "Don't let all his bowing and scraping here fool you. Outside, he's an important man whose word is law-a financial titan, you might say."

Roland gave him a sidelong look and grinned. "Mr. Rick wouldn't happen to be a distant relative of yours, would he, Teacher?"

Ovesto laughed despite himself. "What are you imagining? He's not my descendant. There's no need to fish for information in such a roundabout way!"

"Ahem... What I meant was, accepting such an expensive gift from him right away feels a little embarrassing."

"While this gift is worth tens of thousands of gold coins, he isn't giving it to you for nothing. It's an investment in your relationship."

"An investment in our relationship..."

"There's a limit to the returns on Atrelin's aboveboard investments. They can never compare to befriending the mage himself.

"There's no need to shy away from saying it. Even I treat you generously and nurture you in hopes of reaping substantial returns in the future. It's the same principle as your parents and family sending you to the academy in the hope of getting something back.

"In this world, investment and returns form the underlying rules of all altruistic behavior. Benefits such as emotional satisfaction and future security fall within that scope, and even the Mages' Council and spellcasting through the magic network...

"It's just that merchants are shortsighted. All they see are clinking gold coins."

Ovesto smiled faintly.

"There's a limit to how much they can earn through your licensing agreement. But once they reach the legal ceiling, they can introduce it to another party for further investment. They can also use your name to drum up business elsewhere, or even privately resort to things like officially sanctioned knockoffs.

"When it doesn't touch your core interests, you can't police everything. You'll simply have to turn a blind eye."

Roland said with heartfelt sincerity, "Teacher, your wisdom is as vast as the Posephi Ocean on the Empire's eastern border!"

After leaving Ovesto, Roland returned to his residence and found that quite a few chambers of commerce and organizations whose names he had long known had sent him congratulatory letters, along with an assortment of gifts.

The High Goblin Airship Association, the White Oak Consortium, the Bloodfang Mercenary Group, and the Adventurers' Association were all renowned names.

News had already spread that his fourth paper, "Research on Oracle Magicalization," had been accepted.

Unlike many other papers, it could be considered a major work that founded a new discipline. It would also announce to the world that Roland, a newcomer, had formally arrived on Atrelin's Arcana scene.

Just sorting out the sources and values of these gifts took Roland quite a while.

Then he turned to the next page of his inbox and discovered an even longer list.

Roland immediately abandoned any intention of examining it closely and wondered whether he should hire a butler or a personal assistant to handle such things.

Otherwise, he feared he would be utterly incapable of managing his daily life.

Just then.

Ding! The Arcane Committee has sent you a new message!

Roland opened it casually, only to freeze when he read it.

"Dear Mr. Roland:

"Thank you very much for your tremendous contribution to Atrelin's Arcana community. Following its latest deliberations, the Arcane Committee has decided to create a special Oracle Script expert seat for you and award you the honorary title of 'Chief Authority Expert on Oracle Script,' with a special annual allowance of 2,400 gold coins and a special spell allocation: the fourth-level spell 'Dimension Door' (once per day)..."