Commission(V)

Maximus spent a few minutes using his Mental Force to check and analyze the Runic Constructs within the blue crystal, but he didn't discover anything wrong with the Runic Constructs themselves. However, there was some subtle interpretation that he wasn't sure if it was done on purpose or not. The only way to confirm his doubts was to ask the owner and commissioner of the Runic Constructs.

"Young Lord, if you don't mind me asking, what kind of Runic Path were you trying to acquire?"

"Why are you asking me that? Shouldn't you be able to tell from analyzing it? Isn't that supposed to be your expertise or are you a fraud?" Young Lord Cedric narrowed his eyes suspiciously at him.

Maximus shook his head slightly and calmly said: "Naturally, I am aware of the contents of this Construct Crystal. I just want to confirm something with you, that's all. On that topic, Young Lord, you have an affinity with the Natural Elemental Runic Force, water, am I right?"

Young Lord Cedric silently nodded as it wasn't a big deal for him to know such information. This was because his family, the Wells Family, was one of the top families in this world. Furthermore, although his family was renowned in many fields, their lineage were well-known for being naturally endowed with the Natural Elemental Water Runic Force.

"Then, were you attempting to create a Runic Path with your Runic Force affinity as a foundation or a separate Runic Path that complements your Elemental Runic Force?" Maximus continued to ask.

"Why do you keep asking me these pointless questions? Just get to the point." Young Lord Cedric impatiently said when he realized that he kept bringing up things that he shouldn't have brought up if he was a rune expert as he had claimed.

Maximus stopped asking more questions and got to the point: "I notice that you are trying to get a bubble creation Runic Path, which would complement your Elemental Runic Force of water as long as the Runic Path selection was the right one."

"What are you trying to say? Do you mean to say that there's something wrong with the Runic Constructs?"

Young Lord Cedric frowned and he silently thought: 'Don't tell me that there really is something wrong with the Runic Constructs. But that shouldn't be the case. Even my parents confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the Runic Constructs. However, I can't rule out the possibility. Oliver told me that this bastard said something similar to him about a fault in his Runic Constructs right after he had taken care of the problem for him. But if there's really a fault, why isn't he doing the same with mine?'

If Maximus were to temper with his Runic Constructs without his consent, he would have a legit excuse to refrain from paying him for his assistance. He would then keep that money for himself. Later on, he would use the money stashed away, along with his allowance to buy a special congratulation gift for Chloe when they meet sometime today.

Usually, he would receive some allowance from his parents to spend freely, but he had less allowance than the necessary amount needed for the special gift he wanted to buy Chloe, so he could only use this trick that he heard from Oliver, who used the same trick to acquire enough money to visit Ecstasy Night Club for a whole week when he came to Mystic Runic City last time with his family for his Runic Path creation.

However, unlike how things proceeded with Oliver's case, Maximus was acting completely different this time, and he was starting to worry about missing this opportunity.

A moment later, Maximus smiled and said to him: "No, there's nothing wrong with your Runic Constructs. I was just confirming with you regarding your Runic Path's choice. In fact, I think your Water Bubble Runic Path selection was an ingenious decision and has potential."

"Anyway, here you go." Maximus tossed the blue crystal back to him.

Young Lord Cedric caught the blue crystal with a perplexed expression on his face. He then pondered for a moment before asking: "Are you sure there's really nothing wrong with my Runic Constructs?"

"Of course. Why would I lie to you? I don't stand to gain anything from doing that in the first place. If anything, I would lose my credibility by lying to you." Maximus solemnly replied without hesitation and with a confident tone that suggested that he was truly telling the truth.

'Shit! If he's telling the truth then I am unlucky as I won't be able to avoid paying him for his assistance. I need to think of something. Wait a minute, is he perhaps lying to me? No, it makes sense for there to not be anything wrong with my Runic Constructs in the first place. Even my parents confirmed that it was safe.' Young Lord Cedric pondered silently when he saw Maximus's solemn expression as he spoke.

Even though his parents were not experts when it comes to analyzing runes inscribed by Runic Construct Creators, they were expert Runic Combatants, who had come to understand more about runes as they used their Runic Path. Therefore, they had some insights about their Runic Path, which allowed them to also understand other Runic Constructs.

Unbeknownst to him, there really was something wrong with the Runic Constructs this time and it was just a tiny problem with the interpretation of the molecules that made up the water bubbles, which most likely resulted from the wrong description given by Young Lord Cedric himself when he visited a Concept illustrator to have his ideal superpower conceptualized.

But would Maximus tell him that? Of course not! This was more so as he could accurately guess the intention of this scheming Young Lord. He would let him suffer the consequence of having to suffocate to his own superpower.

Initially, learning from his previous experience with Oliver, who was also a Young Lord of one of the top families in this world, Maximus decided that he would no longer help any stranger out with their Runic Constructs, even if their Runic Path formation would lead to their eventual demise. Therefore, Young Lord Cedric was simply unlucky that there really was something wrong with his Runic Constructs.

Indeed, Young Lord Cedric's prospective superpower was something that could potentially cause harm to him in the near future. This superpower was very simple in terms of its concept, as it utilized his Elemental Runic Force affinity, which was water, to create a viscous water bubble.

However, whether he didn't state his intentions or ideas clearly to the Concept Illustrator, or the Concept Illustrator misunderstood his intentions when they heard him, none of that mattered. All that mattered now was that there was a possible problem with some part of the Runic Codes that made up the Runic Constructs.

Runic Codes were essentially the symbols and characters that represent the different types of elements in the Runic Construct. For example, the molecular formula of the element water according to scientific description was composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.

If you want to transcribe or translate such formulas into rune language, you would need to use the corresponding Runic Codes that the scientists within the supernatural community devised. Using these Runic Codes, it became easier for Runic Construct Creators to create sophisticated Runic Constructs or Supernatural abilities.

That aside, Young Lord Cedric's Runic Constructs foundational runes consisted of Runic Codes that would allow him to create water bubbles that would be extremely difficult to pop due to their extremely high viscosity.

To create a water bubble, there are various ways, such as combining water, soap, and granulated sugar for simple and less viscous bubbles. Combining water, oil or glycerin, and baking powder for more viscous bubbles. Another method was using Sodium Alginate, water, and Calcium Lactate, which would create a gummy but viscous water bubble.

However, all these methods require the appropriate approach or they might not form properly or there might be some side effects when manifesting using your Runic Path. After all, these were complicated processes requiring your understanding of these chemical elements and their functions. In other words, you need to be proficient in chemistry and physics to be able to fully use this type of Runic Path.

However, the type of water bubble that Young Lord Cedric's Runic Constructs contained allowed him to use the chemical elements of soap, which were either Sodium Hydroxide or Potassium Hydroxide and plant-based fatty acids, along with his Elemental Water Runic Force. There are various problems wrong with this careless approach, but the main reason was the Sodium Hydroxide and Potassium Hydroxide.

In soap-making industries, the ingredient for bar shop requires Sodium Hydroxide to make. On the other hand, the ingredient for liquid soap requires Potassium Hydroxide. Both of these are dangerous to the human body by themselves due to their corrosive nature but are rendered harmless after their chemical reaction with fatty acids.

As far as water bubbles are concerned, liquid soaps are the most logical choice for a more 'bubbling effect', but that is irrelevant information in this situation. If we are to talk about the other reasons why his approach was careless, it would be that this Young Lord planned on using his Runic Path to create a Water Bubble Shield that would wrap around his entire body.

He even wanted to maneuver it to allow him to float in the sky. It was truly bold and ridiculous to rely on such a thing to fly, but that was his decision and nobody would stop him from making such a decision. He most likely wanted to fly with his superpower and had no choice but to come up with this likely method to do so.

However, if he used this method, it would expose his skin to the chemicals, such as Sodium Hydroxide in bar soap or Potassium Hydroxide in liquid soap. Both Sodium Hydroxide and Potassium Hydroxide are highly caustic bases that could cause chemical burns to the skin if exposed to them carelessly. In other words, if he fails to manifest or combine them properly, he risks getting his skin burned by a highly corrosive chemical.

Rather than using this risky method, it was better to use Sodium Alginate, Calcium Lactate, and his Water Runic Force to create his water bubble. This would result in a much safer water bubble forming around his body. There would be no chemical reactions to his skin, as both of these chemicals were not caustic or harmful to the skin.

Furthermore—

Stop! What is this kid saying? Do you think anyone understands you when you talk about scientific methodologies? This is why I don't let him explain things and instead do it for him. I got careless because he stopped rampaging and could think properly now, but I guess I would have to take over from here onward.

To summarize Maximus's thoughts, it was better to utilize Sodium Alginate, Calcium Lactate, and water to create the Water Bubble Shield. This was especially so if this Young Lord Cedric was aiming to wrap his body in it. Otherwise, as long as he doesn't use it on himself, he could use one of the other methods that involve using caustic chemicals that could potentially harm his skin to create the Water Bubble Shield, which would be effective against enemies if they were to be exposed to the chemicals during the formation of the Water Bubble Shield.

Another thing to note was that if Young Lord Cedric were to use his Runic Path to conjure Water Bubble Shield to wrap himself while in an agitated state, the formation of the Water Bubble Shield might destabilize due to failure in the chemical reaction. As a result, he might suffer from a skin burn from the toxic chemicals, losing control of his Runic Path, and then choking in his own water bubble while trapped inside of it.