The Author's POV

Unaware of the attention I was getting from a certain instructor, I walked back to my dorm.

My mind was currently preoccupied with something that I had been meaning to do since back in the northern district.

...start my own company.

I had long realized that financing myself through one-time cash endeavors wasn't going to cut it.

I needed a more long-term solution. Something that would last me for a long time...

Hence why I was currently in deep thought.

I already knew what I was going to sell. It was a product that was still not out yet. A revolutionary product as some might call it.

'Mana cards'

A concept that only appears in the latter half of the novel, and sweeps through the market like a storm. Something that both villains and heroes crave.

An item that enables people to manifest spells without the need to actually learn the spells...

According to the timeline of the novel, it was currently only in the developmental phases. No, rather, it was probably still not there yet. Perhaps only the idea was there, but no one actually decided to go through with it yet.

Though I didn't know how to fully create them, as I never went into too much detail in my novel, I knew a general concept.

What resources were needed to create the cards, and the general concept behind how it worked.

Moreover, I didn't actually need to know all the details with regards to how to make them.

That wasn't my job.

...That was someone else's job. I would provide them with the concept and they would develop it for me.

That was the first part of my plan.

Of course, having a product wasn't the only thing required in order to set up a company. Though crucial, there were other things I needed, such as an outlet to protect and add value to my product.

Something that would give my company both protection and publicity.

...fortunately, I had already thought of a solution to my problem. Get a backer.

A backer that could both protect my product from competitors as well as bring a good name to it, and I knew just the right person in mind that could help me.

Thus, in order for me to carry out my plan of creating a company, I needed to get in contact with two people.

Melissa and Amanda.

They were the two people that would play an instrumental role in creating the foundation of my company.

I needed to contact Melissa with regards to the creation and development of the cards as she was the only person I knew who was smart enough to develop the product

...and regarding Amanda, I needed to contact her with regards to possible cooperation with her guild.

Rank 1, Diamond ranked guild Demon hunter.

...I mean, what better backer was there?

Unless you were another diamond-ranked guild, no one would dare touch my company. Especially not when it was sponsored by the number one ranked guild. An almost untouchable existence.

Fortunately, contacting Amanda wouldn't really pose a problem for me as I knew her character well. As I've said before, Amanda always paid back her favors.

...and she owed me one. After all, I did save her back in Hollberg.

Moreover, even if it wasn't for the fact that she owed me one, I was sure that the deal would go through as it would also be beneficial for her guild as it would help them gain another source of income.

Who would reject such an easy source of income?

Regarding Melissa, I also thought that getting her approval wouldn't be too hard since she would also gain another source of income. After all, financing her research endeavors wasn't going to come cheaply.

In the end, after contemplating for a long time, I headed back to my dorm to sort out my thoughts.

I needed to do a lot of planning.

...

-Click!

"Huuu..."

Opening the door to my dorm, I quickly slumped down on the white mattress of my bed. The way back to my dorm was uneventful. Nothing really happened.

Laying down on my bed, staring at the white ceiling of my room, I couldn't help but mumble to myself as my thoughts drifted in a different direction.

"hmmm...if I rank in the top 100 I would be granted a better room right?"

Though I wouldn't be in the 'Leviathan' building as that was exclusively for the top 10 students, perhaps there was a chance I could be upgraded to the Manticore or Hydra buildings? Right?

After all, if I did rank highly, I would stand out even more. A top 100 student in the horned sheep building?

That was like having the best footballer in the world play for a second-rate team. Just didn't make sense.

Actually, regardless of my rank, I needed to change my room. Even if I had to pay for the new room.

I needed my own private training room.

...I couldn't stand the training grounds anymore. Especially since I had to hold back whenever I trained there as I had to be careful not to reveal the sword art I was practicing.

After all, a five-star art was extremely sought after. Probably on the same level as a <S> ranked skill.

Its value was that enormous.

"What else..."

Frowning, I started thinking of all the things I needed to sort out by the end of next month.

"Recruit Ava, develop the basic concept of a 'magic card', set up company, somehow contact Kevin with regards to going to Immorra, Reach E rank, Mercenary stuff..."

"Ughh...Shit"

Holding my head with both hands, I couldn't help but groan out loud.

Just thinking of the things I needed to get done by the end of the month gave me a massive headache. Very depressing.

"Huuuu..."

After ten minutes of self depression, letting out an exhausted breath, I sat up straight.

"Alright, let's just solve one problem at a time"

No point in me complaining about life. Might as well get everything over with fast so that I had fewer things to do later.

...and out of all the things I needed to do, I first chose to complete the basic outline of the 'Magic card'

After all, without it, I wouldn't be able to set up a company.

"Where is my stuff..."

Glancing around the room, I rummaged through some of my drawers and took out a pen and a paper.

Sitting down on my desk, I quickly drew the rectangular outline of a card.

The concept behind magic cards wasn't that hard.

Simply put, they were cards that had spells engraved on them. Moreover, what made them special was the fact that they weren't a one-time-use item. They could be used many times before needing to be replaced by a new one.

"Monster core powder...Tulif leaf extract...Orc bone marrow extract..."

Listing all of the items required to create the card, I turned on my phone and looked for the prices of the items I was listing.

I needed to make a basic calculation of the costs of the production for each card. This way I could get a better idea of how much I needed to invest for the creation of the first batch of cards which I would present to my 'investors'

"30,000 U..huh"

After more than thirty minutes of research, I managed to get an approximate calculation of the cost of creating a card. The spell on the card was the <G> ranked spell Ice glaze.

Honestly, It was pretty expensive for a regular person to buy, but it wasn't too absurd.

Well, for big guilds, this was basically a lump change.

"Alright, that's doable"

Leaning back on my chair, I nodded my head multiple times. I of course would sell the cards for a higher price, but overall, I could already see this being a hit.

I won't go into too much detail with regards to the card as I too didn't know too much about the specifics, but essentially, using the items I had just listed, a medium that could be used to store mana could be created.

Through that, the medium could be turned into a magic circle through which a spell could be used.

Higher ranked magic circles could also be engraved on the cards, but as obvious as it may seem, the price would shoot up dramatically. Why? Simply because higher-ranked spells required more mana.

Staring at the white ceiling of my room, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself.

"...I guess I will earn the ire of all magicians after this huh?"

Altough everyone could wield mana, the ones that have the most affinity with it were magicians.

Through the usage of magic spells, they could invoke fireballs and many other supernatural phenomena.

If magic cards were introduced, I would essentially enable people to become magicians...I could pretty much already envision a mass of low-ranked mages protesting outside of my company building.

After all, with the introduction of 'Magic cards' no one would want to partner up with them in dungeons. I mean, cards were cheaper than hiring mages.

Of course, the protests would quickly die down after a while. Magic cards couldn't totally replace magicians.

It may seem like that at first, but as time passes and people realize that 'Magic cards' weren't as they thought they would be...magicians would once again be sought after for dungeon raids.

Especially since proficient magicians didn't need too long to cast spells, unlike the cards that required a bit of time to activate.

Moreover, magic cards required a lot of mana to activate.

Reason being that a lot of mana was wasted in the process of activating the card. In terms of efficiency, mana cards were not on the same level as proficient magicians.

...But I didn't care.

With the protection of the 'Demon Hunter' guild, I was without a doubt going to be safe regardless of whether there was a backlash or not. Plus, no one would find out I was behind the creation of the cards as I'll just use a pseudonym.

"Alright, I've pretty much finished with the framework of the card, now all I have to do is contact Melissa and Amanda"

After spending two more hours researching the cards, standing up, I stretched my back.

"...I guess I need to make a trip to the Leviathan building huh"

Guess I did.

After all, it was better if I didn't leave things for later as I had a lot of things to do. Moreover, that was where Melissa and Amanda were currently at.

"Welp, here goes nothing"

Like that, after washing my face in the bathroom, I headed out of my room.

-Clank!