Chapter 57

Ryan, after reading Lily’s letter and replying to her, thus bringing their conversation to an end, opened the bottom drawer of his desk.

There, wrapped in black suede, lay several broken rings, each one fractured across the surface, its runes poorly etched or deteriorated. He had made them himself. Failed attempts. Proof that mastering magical craftsmanship wasn’t a matter of willpower or talent, but of patience, knowledge, and a great deal of practice.

Over the past three months, Ryan had gathered all seven of the initial formulas from the arcane crafting system. He had purchased every single one, just in case doing so might unlock an automatic advancement or a system update.

He bought the remaining formulas: the Dimensional Storage Ring for 150 galleons, the Language Translation Amulet for 80 galleons, and the Mental Clarity Potion for 90 galleons.

A total of 320 galleons.

He acquired them easily, having more than enough money to spare. The system, however, did not react.

His conclusion was logical: to unlock the next stage, he had to successfully craft each purchased formula at least once.

So far, he had completed only one, the Magical Boots of Agility, which he had begun months earlier at Hogwarts.

After much trial and error, he achieved his first success. It had taken twelve full hours of artisan work, divided into four sessions of three hours each. He had to apply knowledge from:

-Runic Manual I and II, to engrave runes of speed, lightness, and magical traction onto the leather and soles.

-Enchantment Theory I, to anchor the passive activation spell.

The boots were discreet, black, with an obsidian-colored sole slightly thicker than normal, reinforced with a pattern of tiny runes along the inner ankle edge, where no one would notice them at a glance. The stitching was made with thread treated with Acromantula essence.

Their function was dual: they increased his speed and agility, and allowed him to move along vertical surfaces, or even upside down, sticking to them as if he were walking on solid ground.

However, to take effect, the boots required a simple wand movement to activate. Ryan had designed the runes so that, without activation, the footwear behaved completely normally. Otherwise, walking on walls or constantly moving faster and lighter would become an inconvenience in daily life. The concept was clear: use them only when necessary, as a strategic resource within his personal arsenal.

They weren’t for sale, at least, not yet. They were part of his private equipment, alongside his enchanted robe, his explosive rune marbles, and his inscribed spell talismans.

The production process had taken a great deal of time, far more than any other item he had crafted so far. And the materials hadn’t been cheap. The base boots were made from durable young Wyvern leather, valued at 30 galleons, and sewn with Acromantula-treated thread, which cost another 10 galleons.

A total of 40 galleons in raw materials, much more than what he usually invested in his most popular products. The magical reading glasses, for example, required only a 7-galleon investment, and the enchanted quills as little as 0.69 galleons for the cheapest version.

If he ever decided to sell them, he could easily ask for at least 150 galleons, a fair price considering the rarity of the materials and their magical functionality. Even so, the profit margin would be lower compared to his simpler products: the glasses had a ×10 margin, and the quills up to ×14, while the boots would barely reach ×3.7 or ×4.

And that was without even considering the limited market. Who was going to buy them? A first-year student? Impossible. They were far too expensive a luxury even for most of the older students.

This kind of item targeted an entirely different clientele: Aurors, duelists, people who worked with magical creatures, perhaps...

Still, if the audience consisted of Aurors, duelists, or professional wizards, he could easily ask for far more than 150 galleons, and they would still buy them.

By contrast, his magical quill that allowed one to write in the air as if it were invisible paper had a much broader appeal. Anyone could use it.

From children who bought it just to amuse themselves by drawing floating doodles or writing nonsense in midair, to scholarly adults like his mother, Iris, who used it to map out mental diagrams and theories without wasting parchment.

Even professors could find it useful for illustrating concepts during lessons, projecting formulas or maps in the air for all students to see, far more elegant and impressive than using chalk and a blackboard. More magical, and that alone was something all wizards appreciated. Even McGonagall herself had bought one of his quills and used it on occasion in class to explain complex formulas.

That was the kind of product that generated gold: low cost, mass production, high demand, and no risk.

Ryan looked again at the open drawer. Inside were several broken rings, some with cracked silver fragments, others with faint, worn, or poorly inscribed runic lines. All of them were failed attempts. Failures.

He was trying to create his first Dimensional Storage Ring, a complex piece that demanded absolute precision.

Over the last three months, he had finished reading not only Runic Manual II, which had allowed him to master expansion runes, permanent magical inscriptions, and spatial-linking structures, but also Enchantment Theory II, an equally demanding tome he had purchased from the system for 50 galleons.

He had managed to complete it 100%, thanks to his constant use of his x2 speed-reading glasses.

Otherwise, it would have taken him six months in total, three more than it actually did.

He had finished the book only a few days ago, and since then he had been fully immersed in the practical phase. The process was meticulous and unforgiving.

Each attempt came close to success… but a single mistake, however tiny, a slightly misaligned rune, an interrupted stroke, an enchantment applied a fraction of a second too late, was enough to ruin everything. And the ring would collapse.

Creating a Dimensional Storage Ring required inscribing expansion runes with perfect accuracy to open an extradimensional space contained within the object. Then, a magical compression enchantment had to be applied to stabilize the internal volume and prevent the micro-space from collapsing. Finally, it needed to be enchanted with a secure access seal, one that could be activated by a keyword or the user’s intent alone.

The problem was that a ring wasn’t exactly a large object. Each rune stroke had to be drawn with extreme delicacy, the wand hovering just above the inner edge of the band. While Ryan already had experience enchanting small surfaces, like the frames of his glasses or his quills, this was a different level entirely. It required steadiness, magical control, and tolerance for failure.

Hence the fragments that now lay in the drawer: tiny tombs of failed projects.

Ryan carefully slid his hand into the drawer until he felt a smooth, black wooden box. He lifted it out and opened it slowly. Inside rested a silver ring, still not fully polished.

Three runes were already engraved on the inner surface, barely visible under direct light. He had worked on this model over several sessions. Unlike the previous ones, this one was properly balanced, with its magical layers still intact.

If he managed to complete two more sessions without any mistakes, he would have created his first fully functional ring. The first of its kind.

“The precious…” Ryan murmured, brushing the edge of the ring with his thumb as if it were a living creature.

Well, perhaps not that precious. It wasn’t a legendary relic or a forbidden artifact. In essence, it was simply a magical inventory, an object for storage.

And in the wizarding world, that wasn’t particularly rare. Expanding tents, school trunks with multiple compartments, enchanted bags like the one Hermione Granger would one day use, all those had existed and functioned for ages.

Even he owned a wallet with an expansion charm, courtesy of his mother.

But this ring was different.

Not only was it far more compact and elegant, but infinitely safer. Only Ryan could access its contents, whether through a keyword or sheer willpower. A sealed-access enchantment, combined with stable compression and security runes, made it impossible for another wizard to open without destroying it first.

'A kind of magical crypto wallet,' he thought, though he knew the reference was lost to the void. No one here would understand what he meant.

Besides, it was much more convenient than any bag or trunk. With the ring on his finger, Ryan could store or retrieve an object without even moving a finger, he just had to picture it.

If, for instance, one of his rune marbles or magic grenades was stored inside, he only had to think of it… and it would appear directly in his hand. No rummaging through pockets, digging through books, or emptying half a trunk to find a bottle buried at the bottom.

The kind of thing that didn’t seem essential, until you were in the middle of a duel, cornered, and it saved your life. And clearly, far more convenient for everyday use.

Ryan would trust this ring to hold his belongings more than a vault at Gringotts. He didn’t trust goblins. Though, considering the bank had been founded centuries ago and had never suffered a major incident, they were probably quite reliable.

He closed the box gently.

“Two more sessions,” he whispered. “And after that, you’ll be with me for a very, very long time.”

He wouldn’t work on it now, he was expecting a client soon and couldn’t afford distractions. Besides, he didn’t plan to fail these next two sessions. He had already brewed two Mental Clarity Potions in preparation for working on the ring.

Another formula from the system that had cost him 90 galleons, 10 more than the Perfect Sleep formula.

If he managed to complete the dimensional ring, he would have crafted six of the seven initial system formulas. The only one left would be the Language Translation Amulet, which would complete the first collection.

It was then that his mother’s voice pulled him out of his focus:

“Ryan! Your guest is here!”

Ryan closed the desk drawer with a firm motion, stood up, and straightened his robe.

“Time to do business,” he murmured with a faint smile.