Fireworks

"Unless..." Ryan chuckled wryly, "unless someone consumes a hundred barrels of Iceberry! And we already know that eating even a small plate of it can cause such extreme excitement that it leads to cardiac arrest and instant death!" At this point, Ryan smiled bitterly, "Unless your heart is as strong as a dragon's, which might withstand the side effects of a hundred barrels. However, if we could find a dragon, its magical power would already be immense, and there'd be no need to use any means to become a wizard!"

Freyr thought for a moment, then patted Ryan, whose eyes were red from lack of sleep, "The future is bright! The road is arduous! — I believe in you, keep pushing forward!"

With that, Freyr cheerfully clapped his hands, leaving this thorny issue to Ryan to figure out.

...

Freyr was in no hurry. Not at all.

Although he had been practicing "Stellar Magic" for a while, he still hadn't overcome the first obstacle and felt no power from the stars. However, the spell Natalie had taught him and his nightly meditations had significantly boosted his mental strength.

Currently, there didn't seem to be any urgent need for him to master any great magical power.

As a noble, Freyr had no worries about food or clothing, with plenty of servants at his beck and call. By monopolizing the betting business in the Russell Plains region, Freyr was no longer short of gold coins.

What did he have to worry about?

Oh... maybe just one small problem...

...

Behind the castle was a vast farmland that produced enough grain, vegetables, and fruit to meet the needs of the castle, with the surplus sold off.

Freyr had requisitioned an abandoned warehouse next to this farmland, and he visited this place daily.

Ryan's invention, gunpowder, was now the focus of intense creative efforts...

Freyr had assembled a fireworks development team using various materials purchased by Focker and craftsmen he had hired: carpenters, engravers, blacksmiths, and even a tailor, along with seven or eight servants from the castle.

The first thought that struck Freyr upon obtaining gunpowder was that this stuff could definitely be used to create fireworks and make money! In this world, there was no need for gunpowder or hot weapons. Any low-level wizard could cast fireballs with power comparable to a handheld rocket launcher.

Even non-wizards, warriors trained in internal power, could unleash techniques like wind blades using their internal energy...

In this context, Freyr figured he could only produce some crude firearms with limited utility.

Fireworks, however, were a different story!

Thanks to his past life's experiences, Freyr had grown up in the countryside, where he had seen rudimentary workshops making fireworks and firecrackers. He even knew how to make a firecracker using a few rolls of newspaper and a small amount of gunpowder! Though crude, it would definitely go off with a bang!

Freyr demonstrated this in front of the craftsmen, astonishing them all! Once assured that this was not some kind of magic, Freyr explained the purpose of the yellow powder and outlined his requirements.

Freyr wasn't interested in making the kind of earth-shaking firecrackers he had shown them; he wanted to create beautiful fireworks.

Fireworks, after all, were simply devices that, when ignited, emitted colorful flames!

With gunpowder at hand, the process wasn't particularly difficult. Freyr believed that if a rustic workshop from his past life could produce them, he should be able to as well.

Freyr wasn't sure about the specific chemicals needed to produce different colors, but he knew that certain substances in this world's alchemy could burn with various hues, and mixing them with gunpowder should do the trick.

The craftsmen, being no fools, quickly grasped the principles and soon produced something far more refined than Freyr's crude firecracker. When ignited, it went off with a loud bang and brilliant display!

Fireworks were soon being produced. Freyr's crowning achievement was having an engraver carve a wooden statue of a goddess holding a vase. When the fuse was lit, the vase spouted flames of four different colors!

In this era, such an item was nothing short of miraculous! The sight left everyone wide-eyed with amazement! Even the craftsmen and the engraver who made it were so awestruck that they knelt in reverence, praising the great goddess of light, mistaking it for a divine miracle!

Freyr immediately dubbed this creation "Dawn Goddess's Mercy," borrowing the name from the classic move of the Aquarius Gold Saint from Saint Seiya. Not satisfied with this, he sought more!

After all, this "Dawn Goddess's Mercy" was too small. Its fireworks reached only about human height.

If he was going to do this, he wanted to go big!

Freyr envisioned creating something like the celebratory cannons from his past life, fired into the sky, exploding in mid-air with fireworks radiating in all directions! Now that would be spectacular!

Compared to this, the Dawn Goddess was mere child's play.

But this was a tough challenge!

Freyr tried to explain to the craftsmen how to launch the fireworks into the sky, but after much discussion, he realized that he had moved beyond mere fireworks and into the realm of cannons!

Unable to convey the principles of gunpowder's explosive power, the mechanics of propulsion, and the effects of recoil to the craftsmen, Freyr eventually faced the result of an overly ambitious craftsman trying his hand at it: a small-scale explosion caused by too much gunpowder, which accidentally injured two people (fortunately, the injuries were minor and they recovered in a couple of days).