As soon as Ryan spoke, the people around him looked at him differently. Some with disdain, others with contempt, and a few with expectant gazes. The city lord and Dex, however, wore strange expressions. Although the higher-level experts around them didn't believe Ryan's words, they couldn't ignore the fact that he had just created a bread tree. No one dared to mock him openly; if it were anyone else, these high-level experts would have thrown them out long ago. But here, even many high-level experts couldn't do much. For a second-tier mage like Ryan to have such an ability was quite the slap in the face to these powerful beings.
The city lord cleared his throat after a while, noticing that everyone around was silent, each of them deep in thought. Finally, he sighed and spoke uncertainly, "Well, go ahead and tell us then."
Ryan was already annoyed. He had intended to keep a little suspense, but seeing the disbelief in the room, he couldn't help but feel frustrated. When he heard the city lord's words, he didn't argue but reluctantly replied, "I have a solution, but I'm afraid the materials might be insufficient."
The city lord, seeing that Ryan didn't seem to be boasting, asked, "What materials do you need? Tell me."
"Various types of magic crystal powder, some refined iron, black obsidian powder, and some beast skins—not monster skins," Ryan explained. What he was planning to create was a new kind of landmine. The idea was to add a pressure spring to the existing design so that the landmine wouldn't explode unless a certain weight threshold was exceeded. Originally, Ryan's design was to use a metal spike to pierce through a barrier between water-based and fire-based magic crystal powders, triggering an energy reaction between the two, which would cause an explosion. But now, Ryan's plan was to place a spring around the spike. If the pressure wasn't enough, the spike wouldn't pierce the barrier. Given the narrow paths in the underground tunnels and the significant weight difference between the goblin chief and the goblin warriors, this made Ryan's plan feasible.
Without hesitation, the city lord replied, "We have plenty of magic crystals here, though mostly fire, water, and earth types. As for refined iron, there's plenty of it in the lava."
"I also need skilled blacksmiths, the more, the better." Ryan was thrilled to hear the city lord's words. Magic crystals on the surface were scarce, but underground, Ryan estimated there would be more, given the environment and the relatively small number of mages in the area. Unlike the surface, where demand for magic crystal powder far outstripped supply, underground resources were more abundant and less in demand, which kept prices low.
Curious to know what Ryan was about to make, the people around him watched intently. Magic crystal powder was a common commodity, and refined iron could be found easily in the underground, so they couldn't understand why Ryan would make such a big deal of it. Finally, the city lord spoke again, "Ryan, what exactly are you planning to make?"
Ryan responded, "Apologies, City Lord, there's one critical element I still need to figure out, so it'll take a little more time before my prototype is ready." He hadn't yet calculated the pressure the spring would need to withstand, as it depended on several factors like the hardness and toughness of the refined iron. The iron smelting technology in this world was still quite primitive compared to Earth, making this task more challenging.
The city lord almost couldn't contain his frustration. He had high hopes, and now people were starting to smile, clearly amused by Ryan's words. One level 8 magic archer even chuckled, saying, "Ryan, little brother, you should go home. You're a bit too low-level for this."
Ryan rolled his eyes at the dark elf, whose fiery build was concealed behind a metal mask. It was said that the mask was a top-tier alchemical product that could suppress the wearer's aura and enhance their perception. Magic archers in the dark elf community were rare, and only two such masks existed in the entire city of Muan, both worn by female elves. Normally, a level 8 professional talking down to a level 2 mage might have been seen as respectful, but Ryan, who was used to more equal relationships on Earth, found the comment irksome. He retorted, "With your skills, how about we see who can kill more goblins?"
The dark elf grinned, "Alright, let's have a competition. If you lose, you'll give me your bread tree. What do you say? By the way, I'm Darkya."
Ryan's temper flared immediately. The three percent of the bread tree that Darkya wanted was worth so much secret silver and refined gold. For an 8th-level dark elf to try and claim it was laughable. Ryan mocked, "What do you have that's worth as much as the bread tree? Your 8th-level archer skills?"
"You don't know your place. How can a mere second-level mage like you defeat me?" Darkya was enraged, because Ryan was speaking the truth. No one knew better than the dark elves the value of the bread tree, but knowing something was one thing—saying it aloud was another, and it felt like a slap in the face.
Ryan, no longer angry, scoffed and asked, "Fine, I'll take a small loss. I'll bet the bread tree. If I lose, I'll do what you say. But if I win, you'll become my servant, my slave. You'll do whatever I tell you. How about it?"
"Fine, it's a deal," Darkya responded, though she was seething with anger. When Ryan mentioned her becoming his servant, he kept eyeing her, and she could tell his intentions weren't pure. The dark elves had strict rules against marrying outsiders, and she wasn't sure whether Ryan was making a joke or truly meant it.
Upon hearing Darkya's agreement, Ryan immediately turned and left. He had little time to waste. Even if the city lord didn't send anyone, he still had Kobe and the Hark brothers. As he walked past Darkya, Ryan leaned in and whispered, "Beautiful lady, just make sure you're clean and ready for me. You'd better be really clean." Then he walked away with a confident stride.
At first, Darkya didn't quite understand what Ryan was implying. She thought to herself that she cleaned herself every day. But soon, she realized what he meant and grew even angrier. She wanted to find Ryan and get revenge, but then thought, "If I go after him, how should I explain it to others?" So, she cursed Ryan in her heart.
Ryan walked, deep in thought. The most critical task now was to have Kobe and the others create parts for the landmines, while he calculated the necessary diameter for the springs. Not far into his walk, Dex and Tanis caught up with him. Ryan simply smiled when he saw them. Returning to the alchemy lab, Ryan handed the metal casting portion of the landmine to Dex and Tanis. He assigned Kobe to gather beast skins and boil the glue, while the Hark brothers would crush the black obsidian. He had them treat it as a practice task. Meanwhile, Ryan focused on testing the strength and resilience of the refined iron springs. Since the magic furnace was the key, he had to ensure that each batch of molten iron was consistent.
Three days later, Ryan had finally crafted 1,000 springs. The fire magic crystals used in the furnace had run out. During these three days, Darkya had gathered over 500 magic archer arrows. Meanwhile, Dex had completed his task and produced 1,000 strange-looking iron items, which resembled liquor flasks and had iron nails with little hats. The group stared curiously at the odd-shaped items. Along with the iron pieces were piles of black obsidian powder and a pot of pre-boiled skin glue.
Darkya had been keeping a close eye on Ryan's progress, but upon seeing the results, she realized it was all just rubbish pieced together. The arrows she had used were intricately carved with secret silver runes. Over the course of 500 arrows, nearly 2 kilograms of secret silver had been used. Ryan, on the other hand, had used the smallest, cheapest magic crystals for his landmines and his magic crystal powder was the least valuable. As for the beast skins and black obsidian, they were as common as any stone on the ground.
Meanwhile, news spread that nearly 600,000 goblins had surrounded Muan City. They were powerful goblin warriors, accompanied by a large number of mages. The final assault was expected within two days, so everyone in the city was busy preparing. First, they built defensive structures in the tunnels, resembling walls.
Ryan entered his lab, where all the materials were ready. The only thing missing was the water-based magic crystal powder, as it was too dangerous to mix large amounts of magic crystals together. Ryan began assigning tasks: the Hark brothers were in charge of coating the landmines with a thick layer of glue mixed with black obsidian powder. Dex was to attach the springs inside the landmines. Kobe would fill the landmines with the magic crystal powder. Tanis was tasked with covering the powder with a thick layer of the glue and obsidian mixture, while Ryan would perform the quality check to ensure that there was no trace of water-based magic crystal aura.
In half a day, the landmines were completed as semi-finished products. Ryan then added the fire magic crystal powder and some iron filings to enhance the explosive power. The iron filings were coated with venom from the Black Widow Spider, which caused paralysis upon contact. The final step was sealing everything with the glue and black obsidian mixture, and then fixing the lid onto the central iron nail. After thoroughly checking, Ryan confirmed there was no magical aura emanating from the landmines.
"That's strange. There's a full pound of magic crystal powder inside, but I can't sense any magic," Dex remarked in confusion.
"Uncle, let's go bury these along the goblins' main route. We'll talk along the way," Ryan said, leading the Hark brothers, Kobe, Dex, Tanis, and others to the goblins' likely path. Each landmine weighed 3 pounds, and Ryan decided to take 180 of them, with each person carrying 30. The landmines were split between Dex and Tanis.
"Uncle, the refined iron itself blocks magical energy, and the black obsidian further prevents any magical aura. The point is to keep it hidden from the mages. This landmine is essentially a simple magical trap," Ryan explained, though he wasn't sure how to explain it fully.
With Dex and Tanis's help, Ryan managed to bury all the landmines in narrow sections of the passage, leaving a single clear path.
"Ryan, do you think your creations will work? Darkya's magic arrows can pierce refined iron armor. We tested them yesterday, and now there's talk about it," Kobe asked, standing on the city wall. Ahead of them, the goblins were closing in, and they had already passed the area where the landmines had been planted. Kobe was worried.