One man.
One book.
One gas lamp.
One night.
One miracle.
Ethan felt like he'd returned to his old life of late-night studying. By the time he finished reading the book end to end, his eyes ached. The writing was brutally technical—almost entirely overview, barely any examples. Worse, it covered a field he'd never touched before. The moment his focus slipped, his thoughts couldn't keep up, and he'd have to flip back several pages and reread.
No comparison, no damage.
He couldn't help admiring the anonymous author of Fireball & Ice Arrow Arcana. To take something as deep as Elemental Shaping and explain it so clearly even a complete novice could understand—it was absurdly impressive.
But Ethan, for all his flaws, was a product of cram education… and once upon a time, he'd been one of its strongest survivors. Surveying the Empire's current learning culture, he honestly believed no one understood grinding through books better than he did.
Anyone else would've quit halfway.
Ethan wasn't anyone else.
If he didn't chew this book to the bone, he wasn't sleeping.
This was the calm of a man bold enough to leave all his winter break homework for the last three days.
At last, effort paid off.
When he closed the book, a new skill appeared in his proficiency list.
『Elemental Drafting (Beginner): Proficiency 1/45』
Ethan spread the energy-storing parchment across the table in neat rows. Then he propped his cheek with one hand and covered his swollen, tired eyes with the other. He had to say it: whatever craftsman the Imperial June Flower Press had hired… did not speak human language. Their ability to summarize was nearly nonexistent. They could turn a simple concept into something endlessly convoluted until anyone outside the profession couldn't understand it.
No wonder people in this era believed you couldn't learn a craft unless you became an apprentice in person.
The teaching was atrocious.
Sixth Epoch, Year 171. Scholar Ethan of Elmwood Town issues the above critique of the Imperial education environment.
In reality, Elemental Drafting wasn't as profound as the book made it sound. At its core, it tested a drafter's control over their own mana.
Put even more simply—
Use mana to draw an Ice Arrow onto energy-storing parchment, and the scroll is done.
That was it.
It wasn't hard at all.
Not only could Ethan draw an Ice Arrow, he could alter its shape—make it mimic other forms.
He genuinely couldn't imagine how these so-called master craftsmen had managed to connect something this straightforward to "meditation," "spirit," "perception," and other completely unrelated things.
If the anonymous author had written this book, Ethan would've mastered the craft hours ago.
He could feel it—Anonymous was an educator with advanced ideas. If possible, Ethan really wanted to meet him.
But it wasn't too late.
If everything went smoothly, he could make twenty Ice Arrow scrolls before dawn, then go to Hearthbay and sell them all in one sweep—fulfilling the first official order of Old Sen's Magic Scroll Shop.
With Ice Arrow as the base, he needed to make full use of the "Level 2 proficiency" feature to design signature products unique to Old Sen's shop. Three Ice Arrows combined into one Heavy Ice Arrow? And that hailstorm rain he used to bury Miss Betsy and the seven old stewards—yes, that could be added to the production line too.
He'd already picked a strategic partner. On Ship One near the harbor, there was a scroll shop. The cost per scroll was fifty Silver Antlers. Ethan would price his at one and a half Gold Lions—after all, it was a beginner spell. He couldn't charge too high. Slow and steady.
That meant he could skip paying for a stall on the ship.
First batch revenue: 30 Gold Lions.
Minus the 4 Gold Lions 50 Silver Antlers he still owed Ivy…
One deal, and he'd earn back the book money!
Ethan's spirits soared. Businesses tied to mysticism really did print money faster than anything else. He could see the door to wealth opening right in front of him.
To that, the owner of "Magister's Magic Scroll Shop," a man with seven years of scroll-selling experience, offered this evaluation:
"Why don't you just rob someone?"
When Ethan enthusiastically presented his twenty Ice Arrow scrolls and explained his price, the old man was so shocked the cigarette in his mouth fell to the floor.
"One Ice Arrow scroll for one Gold Lion fifty Silver Antlers? Are you insane?"
The unexpected blow left Ethan blank for a moment. Instinctively, he glanced at the shelves packed with scrolls.
"But… it's an Ice Arrow scroll."
The old man couldn't be bothered explaining. "Beginner Elemental Shaping scrolls are on the third shelf. Go look."
Ethan dashed over.
A large sign beside the shelf read:
"Beginner Elemental Shaping Spells—Drawn by Masters, Crafted with Care. Price: 60 Silver Antlers."
Thunder split Ethan's brain.
His hands and feet went cold.
As a rookie shopkeeper, he realized he had paid a brutal price for being young. He'd heard scrolls were profitable and immediately dove in—without even doing market research.
A fatal misstep.
But—
Why not give them away for free?!
He wanted to snap back internally. The parchment alone cost fifty Silver Antlers per sheet.
Then he looked closer at the sign.
They were practically giving them away.
Buy 10, get 1 free.
By the time Ethan returned to the counter, the old man had raised a "ceasefire flag." A new line had been added to the board:
"No buybacks for beginner Elemental Shaping spells."
"So… I can't even get the ten-Silver-Antlers minimum wage," Ethan muttered.
And he didn't understand.
Guns and gunpowder were great, sure—but were Elemental Shaping spells really as worthless as the old man made them sound?
He had seen Ice Arrow's power. It wasn't inferior to a modern anti-material sniper rifle. The weapons of this era couldn't come close. The only problem was that scrolls were one-time use—you burned one, you bought another.
But guns consumed bullets too, didn't they?
Ethan staggered out of the shop, dazed. In his original plan, thirty Gold Lions should've been jingling in his pocket. Instead, he still had twenty unsold Ice Arrow scrolls.
Was Old Sen's Magic Scroll Shop going to sink before it even set sail?
He thought about the money he'd spent—his entire remaining fortune. He was still 4.5 Gold Lions in debt. The more he thought about it, the more it felt like a full-on all-in gamble.
A gust of sea wind hit him, carrying the salty tang of the ocean.
So cold.
"Elemental Shaper, please wait."
Someone called out.
A figure hurried out of the scroll shop after him—a familiar voice. Even with a masquerade mask, the man all but glowed with the same golden brilliance as Gold Lions.
The Pure-Love Young Lord.
The young lord's hand settled on Ethan's shoulder.
"I heard you say that using three Ice Arrows together creates a 'little surprise.' Can you explain that in detail?"
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
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