Chapter 875 - 780: The Impact of Arcane Mage Monthly
On the day the Arcane Mage Monthly was published, it was afternoon on the West Coast.
The headquarters of the Giant Rock Commerce Association was located in the busiest district of Harbor City, a gray-white stone building, modest on the outside, yet extremely luxurious inside.
Harrison’s office was on the top floor, with floor-to-ceiling windows offering a view of the entire port, masts like a forest, sails dotted here and there, and the distant sea shimmering under the sunlight.
He sat behind a wide desk, holding a copy of the freshly delivered Arcane Mage Monthly.
This was a habit he had cultivated over many years; he read every issue without fail.
To him, keeping abreast of the latest news meant discovering the latest business opportunities, and business opportunities meant magic stones.
When the Arcane Mage Monthly was brought in by the valet, Harrison was in the middle of handling a contract concerning the procurement of magic minerals.
He pushed the contract aside and accepted the thin yet weighty paper.
The cover of the monthly was a pale gold, with the gilded insignia of the Arcane Master Association printed on the corners; the date below showed it was the latest issue.
On the center of the cover, an elderly figure in a gray magic robe was speaking eloquently to the readers, lips moving, gestures firm, seemingly elucidating some profound theory.
But the newspaper was silent, with only images cycling slowly.
Harrison opened the cover.
The images on the newspaper immediately began to flow.
The first page featured a middle-aged witch demonstrating the operation of a new alchemy tool, her fingers deftly moving over the device, with lights flashing from within it.
Harrison glanced at it and quickly turned the page.
The second page showcased a young warlock explaining the optimization of magic models, a semi-transparent three-dimensional model floating in front of him, intertwining energy lines of various colors.
Harrison turned another page.
He sipped from the teacup beside him, his eyes quickly scanning the table of contents.
Magic potion improvement, magic model optimization, new explorations into elemental theory, alchemy advancements, and so on; each issue across the board was quite similar.
His fingers rested on the corner of the page, just about to turn to the next page when his gaze was suddenly captured by a title.
It was an article about magic potions, with a witch dressed in a white magic robe demonstrating some refining process beneath the title.
A cauldron was placed in front of her, hands moving slowly above it, delicate movements as if guiding some invisible force.
The imagery looped continuously, with her repeating the same gestures again and again.
Harrison halted his page-turning, laid the paper flat, and focused on the article’s title.
"The Complete Implementation of the Automatic Meditation Feature in the White Mist Forest Potion."
Automatic meditation.
His eyebrows raised slightly, fingers tapping lightly on the page corner twice.
He set down the teacup and spread the article out completely. The gestures of the witch in the imagery repeated over and over, but Harrison’s focus had moved away from her.
He quickly moved onto the article’s abstract, his gaze skimming down line by line.
"Users may automatically enter a state of meditation during the potion’s effect duration, without the need for active meditation technique engagement, without consuming spiritual power for guidance."
Harrison’s breath paused for a moment.
He was a businessman, not an alchemist.
But he had seen too many magic potions and sold countless magic potions, knowing deeply what this meant.
A potion that allows a Level 1 Mage to continuously increase spiritual power during battle, travel, or even sleep.
This was not an improvement; it was a disruption.
The existing market for meditation-assisting magic potions would be completely overturned by this thing.
The commerce associations that relied on selling traditional meditation potions for survival would either have to transform or face demise.
Whoever secured the rights to this technology first could gain the upper hand and take the largest share of the market.
His eyes moved to the end of the article, where the signature was.
Duke, Black Sail, Level 2 Mage, Level 2 Arcanist.
He was stunned.
His fingers slightly clenched, creasing the corner of the newspaper.
Harrison stared at that name for a long time, long enough for the witch on the newspaper to have completed the entire refining demonstration ten times.
Duke, Black Sail, he was more than familiar with that name.
There were many named Duke in the Wizard Plane, and there might be several from Black Sail.
But who else in Black Sail could also be a Level 2 Mage and a Level 2 Arcanist?
Harrison suddenly stood up, his chair sliding half a foot back, banging into the bookshelf behind him with a dull thud.
He didn’t pay it any mind, only staring at the newspaper, his eyes glittering with some sort of brilliance.
Excitement, shock, and a trace of disbelief.
That young man had really come this far.
Something like automatic meditation, how could it be researched by a Level 2 Mage?
But he knew, it wasn’t luck; it was strength.
That young man had never relied on luck to get to where he was today, Harrison was quite certain of that.
He had seen the extraordinary talent of this young man back when Duke was just a wizard apprentice and witnessed in person him progressing step by step to the Level 2 Mage rank.
Harrison acted quickly, soon formulating some content, checking this information a few times before sending it to Duke through the Wizard’s Mark.
Now this young man’s identity and status had unknowingly changed from the past, requiring him to treat with more attention and respect, words and phrasing extremely cautious.
After sending out this information, he hadn’t yet received a response from Duke, which couldn’t be rushed and needed patient waiting.
After that, Harrison sent information to the seniors of the Giant Rock Commerce Association, discussing this matter.