Chapter 99: Chapter 098: Test of the Iron Ring
Richard took several engraving needles out of his suitcase, along with a magnifying glass.
He fixed the Iron Ring on the table, lit the area with a “Phosphorus Candle,” and then, holding the magnifying glass in one hand and an engraving needle in the other, began to work on the Magic Rune.
Through the study of “Monroe Chapter,” Richard had long confirmed that he only needed to add two barely discernible lines to the Iron Ring to disable the Magic Runes within its target range. But even lines just a few millimeters long presented a tremendous difficulty to etch.
On one hand, the precision of the Magic Runes on the inner band of the Iron Ring was extremely high, about the same as those on the Crystal Skull, surpassing ordinary micro-sculpting and requiring careful control. On the other hand, for some unknown reason, the Black Iron Ring was incredibly hard, making carving difficult, not something one engraving needle could easily complete, and it would take several—perhaps even more than a dozen—worn-out needles to complete the carving.
But, it had to be done.
After all, the value of a Space Item was extremely high, even if there was only one cubic centimeter of hidden space, it could have a tremendous effect.
Taking a deep breath to calm his emotions, Richard picked up the engraving needle and began to work.
In the blink of an eye, several hours later.
The night had grown deep. Pandora was leaning against the wall, curled up in the corner of the bed, eyes closed, head drooping; it was unclear if she was asleep or had found a new way to zone out. Richard let out a gentle sigh, moved from the position he had maintained for several hours, and stood up from the table, stretching lazily.
“Crack,” his neck and shoulders emitted a series of subtle pops and crackles.
Richard’s eyes sparkled with an unusual light as he held the finished Iron Ring and murmured, “It’s done.”
The next moment, Richard slid the Iron Ring onto his hand, drew a surge of Mana from within his body, and activated the ring, then reached in with his spiritual power to probe its interior.
The hidden space within the ring rapidly came to the forefront of Richard’s mind.
The size of the space was neither as small as one cubic centimeter nor as large as the thousands of cubic meters described in some novels; it was actually about one cubic meter, similar in size to a large suitcase.
At that moment, this “interior of the suitcase” contained quite a few things, part of the Mysterious Wizard’s legacy. During the verification through the Mysterious Wizard’s blood, Richard had mainly focused on breaking the Iron Ring’s magic and hadn’t paid much attention to the contents, but now, he could finally take a good look.
Controlling the extraction, Richard began to remove the objects one by one, laying them neatly on a wooden table, realizing that they could be divided into five parts:
The first part consisted of various odd materials, gemstones, and crystals. They seemed valuable, but it was hard to assess given the scarcity of Wizards in the current world.
The second part comprised a number of bottles containing potions, Medicine Powder, ointments, and more, all exhibiting some Mana fluctuations, and which would likely have some effects on the body. But without an instruction manual, it was hard to determine their exact purposes, requiring some time to test.
The third part included several Papyrus Scrolls with sloppy handwriting, which appeared to be the Mysterious Wizard’s own research on Spells.
The fourth part was a large seed resembling a walnut. Initially, Richard intended to categorize it as the last type, but upon careful sensing, one could feel intense Energy Waves inside. The quantity of energy contained was somewhat frightening; if detonated, it would release a force equivalent to tens of K (kilograms of TNT explosives), perhaps even a hundred K (comparable to a Tomahawk cruise missile). If crafted into some form of explosive Magic Tool, it could serve as a notably powerful trump card. Therefore, Richard decided to list it separately.
The fifth part consisted of miscellaneous items, such as the Mysterious Wizard’s spare clothes, inscribed plates with unknown meanings, bread, clear water, several types of Coins, etc. One type of Coin, seemingly made of amethyst, even contained a non-negligible Energy Wave within, which led Richard to speculate that it might be a currency used among Wizards. As for its authenticity, that remained to be verified.
After a simple inventory of the Mysterious Wizard’s remains organized the hard-earned spoils of defeating him, Richard’s gaze fell back upon the Iron Ring.
The items of the Mysterious Wizard piqued his curiosity, but it was just curiosity. The Iron Ring, a Space Item, however, sparked an extremely strong research interest in him.
Richard didn’t understand why some characters in novels, upon acquiring similar Space Items, felt primarily joy and then just naturally used them.
It was as if someone had given the protagonist of a novel an aircraft carrier, and after saying “Thanks for the aircraft carrier, bro,” the protagonist happily piloted it for transportation runs.
Could it be that the main use of an aircraft carrier was its expansive deck for transporting many things? Was there no interest in exploring some of the equipment on the aircraft carrier? Like anti-aircraft missiles, anti-submarine sonar, carrier-based aircraft, and the entire suite of technology applied on the aircraft carrier?
In Richard’s view, a Space Ring was quite similar to an aircraft carrier; its main function was definitely not just transport. There must be more functions waiting to be explored. What was most important was figuring out the principles behind the Space Ring, cracking the Magic System of the wizards, and thus mastering this power.
His eyes flickered, and Richard began the first round of tests on the Iron Ring.
That was to take out the items from the Iron Ring and put them back in.
After putting them back in, take them out a second time.
After taking them out, put them back in a second time.
After repeating this many times, Richard carefully observed each detail of taking and storing the items.
Ultimately, Richard found that it wasn’t the case that the items would appear or disappear instantaneously with a thought. Both the retrieval and storing had a brief process.
The Iron Ring acted as a small entrance and exit—a box’s entrance and exit. When storing items, it was as if they were being poured in and out of a box.
When taking out a large number of items at the same time, the speed of retrieval would slow down. It seemed as if the box’s opening was of a fixed size, indicating that there were certain limitations to the quantity of items that could enter or exit within a unit of time.
If there was a limit to the quantity of items within a unit of time, were there any restrictions on the size of the items?
The Iron Ring had an interior volume of only about one cubic meter. What would happen if an object larger than that were stuffed inside? Would the Iron Ring burst?
This second round of testing was a bit risky, but necessary.
Richard’s eyes flashed as he took everything out of the Iron Ring and laid it on the ground in the room. He took down the suitcase from the table and cleared the table of miscellaneous items. Then, with some difficulty, he lifted the table with one hand and attempted to insert it into the Iron Ring.
In the next moment, Richard felt resistance, as if the table was resting on a spring, requiring a more significant force to compress even a portion of it.
He chanted a Spell, “Wind Force”, which enhanced him, greatly increasing his strength. He exerted a fierce push, forcibly stuffing the table into the Iron Ring.
Whether it was an illusion or not, at the end, Richard felt as if he heard a “crack”.
Raising an eyebrow, Richard quickly took the table out of the Iron Ring, attempting to place it back on the ground.
The next moment, with a “crash,” the shattered table slid out from the Iron Ring and fell to the floor.