An Idea for a Kinetic Weapon (Please Follow)

After perfecting the formula, Richard handed Anna the Focus Potions he had made over the past half month to settle his debt and commissioned a machine from her.

All the material costs from the past half month had been borrowed from Anna.

"The thing you want isn't hard to make. A Magic Energy Probe and a few Stable Mana Input Devices will do the job. But..." Anna trailed off. The machine Richard had commissioned gave rise to a wild guess in her heart.

Could he be using a machine to make Magic Potions?

"Sister Anna, what did you want to say?"

"Nothing." Anna shook her head, tossing that mad idea from her mind.

How could Magic Potions possibly be made by machines?

"I happen to be free these next few days. Come find me in a week."

Seeing Anna agree, Richard felt at ease. Anna's research focused on Magic Armor and Alchemy Machinery. As Gerald's most outstanding student in a thousand years, her attainments in Alchemy Machinery were undoubtedly unmatched among apprentices.

With her making the machine, its quality and precision would definitely be guaranteed.

After leaving the Test Area, Richard followed Anna to the Commercial District to settle the Magic Stone payment for the potions.

"You're practically raking in money every day now. Even your Senior Sister is nearly being surpassed by you." Anna handed Richard a bag full of Magic Stones, teasing him as she spoke.

Richard smiled shyly. "How could I compare to you, Senior Sister? One piece of your Magic Armor is worth more than a month of my Magic Potion making."

"You're still so young, while I'm already an Advanced Apprentice." Anna sighed. She now felt like the waves behind drove the waves ahead, until the earlier waves died upon the shore.

How long had Richard even been studying alchemy, yet he had already achieved so much?

By the time he reached her level, who knew what kind of monster he would become.

Since he had not returned to his dormitory for half a month, Richard bought several dozen pounds of fresh beef and two pounds of Iron Pellets in the Commercial District.

He had not fed Munin for so many days. He hoped the bird had not starved.

Fortunately, when he returned to the dormitory, Munin did not seem much different. Its feathers were merely somewhat dry and dull, lacking their former glossy sheen. Yet at the corner of its beak, Richard actually found a trace of flesh and blood.

"You little rascal, you actually went out and stole food." Richard stroked Munin's feathers, and Munin gently rubbed against him in return.

After feeding Munin, Richard returned to his desk and looked over the model Ellie had given him once more.

This dismantled Rune Array could still be used as a spell, but Richard now needed to consider how to make the spell more useful.

"After the Ice Cone Spell is released, it goes through a rather long acceleration process..." Richard casually sketched on draft paper with a quill. "Continuous acceleration—doesn't that make it similar to a rocket?"

A rocket needed to constantly consume fuel during flight to reach maximum speed, while the Ice Cone Spell gradually accelerated by consuming the Kinetic Spell attached to the ice cone.

Then if he repeatedly used Acceleration Spells on the ice cone while it accelerated, would the projectile's range become farther? Would its power become greater?

Richard felt that he had found the key.

But an idea was only an idea. Turning it into reality would require considerable effort.

If Richard wanted to create this piece of Magic Armor, he needed to find a suitable carrier material for the spell, then design the layout of the Runes and the Magic Conduction Circuit.

Next, he needed to streamline the number of Runes in the spell as much as possible. The more Runes there were, the more mana they required and the greater the heat loss they caused. If he inscribed it according to the current Rune count, there would be no need to test materials at all—he could just use Mithril directly.

But what Alchemist Wizard did not covet Mithril? How could an apprentice like him possibly get his hands on it?

According to Richard's concept, this piece of Magic Armor should have a long, narrow acceleration channel, with Kinetic Spells inscribed at different points in the channel so that the spell acted entirely upon the launched object.

Richard drew his concept into a draft. After revising it several times, an extremely crude wizard-style firearm appeared on the paper.

"What a coincidence." Richard could not help laughing as he looked at the draft.

With a preliminary blueprint, Richard began working on its creation.

First, he asked Ellie next door to reduce the number of Runes in the Kinetic Spell as much as possible, and Ellie readily agreed. Then he began gathering materials from the Commercial District that he believed might work for testing.

According to Richard's concept, this piece of Magic Armor should consist of an acceleration channel and projectiles. Put simply, a barrel and bullets.

Of those, the bullet material was especially important.

A qualified bullet had to possess sufficient hardness, low density, and enough malleability. If possible, it would be best if it also had Magic-Breaking properties.

But gathering materials was a tedious matter. After trying for a while, Richard suddenly remembered that he had previously met an apprentice who dealt in alchemy materials.

"There are quite a lot of these..." Kevin looked over the list Richard had given him. He had been in the alchemy trade for some time, yet just from this list of materials, Kevin could not even guess what Richard wanted to make.

"Experiments inevitably require trying several different materials," Richard said lightly.

"I'll keep an eye out for these in the Commercial District. If the Wizard Merchant Guild or any apprentices put them up for sale, I'll help you secure them." Kevin folded the list and tucked it into his inner pocket. "I heard you've become quite the big shot now, Richard."

"What kind of big shot am I? I'm only borrowing my mentor's name." Richard waved his hand.

"Hey, excessive modesty is pride." Kevin stood and poured Richard a cup of tea. "Anna's Hut's Focus Potions have quite a reputation in the Commercial District. Apprentices who have used them all say their quality is more stable than the potions from Ulrich's Alchemy Shop."

"Ulrich's Alchemy Shop?" Richard asked in confusion.

"You didn't know?" Kevin seemed surprised. "Before you, Focus Potions had always been sold by Master Ulrich's Alchemy Shop."

"I really didn't know that." Richard rubbed his chin awkwardly. He truly had never paid attention to who sold Focus Potions in the Commercial District.

The Academy's Focus Potion market was huge. He had not yet reached the point of competing with anyone.

"Everyone is spreading rumors now, saying that because Joseph stole your woman, you deliberately started making Focus Potions to challenge him..."

"What kind of nonsense is that?" Richard interrupted with a laugh. "I'm not that idle."

"You may not mean it that way, but that doesn't stop others from thinking so." Kevin paused. "And Ulrich's Alchemy Shop's Focus Potion business really has shrunk a little because of you."

"Focus Potions used to be in short supply. No matter how poor the quality was, everyone endured it. But now that you've appeared as a competitor, some apprentices who aren't in such a hurry have started waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

"Waiting for your potions." A sharp glint flashed through Kevin's eyes. "Your potions are high-quality and consistent, and every month you produce a substantial batch. If they aren't in a hurry to go on missions, naturally they all buy your potions."

"I really hadn't considered that." Richard shook his head. "So what are you trying to say? Just say it."

"Haha, Richard, you still have the same temperament. You were like this on the airship, and you're still like this now." Kevin smiled and stated his purpose.

"I want to be your Potion Agent."

Thanks to Cicada Shedding Its Shell, Book Friend 8966, and Heart of the Fierce Lake for their Monthly tickets.