Chapter 55: The First Magic Staff in History
Rhodes glared at Dural. "When this holy sword is finished, you will upgrade the equipment of everyone in my party, and I will pretend I never heard any of that."
The old dwarf's face immediately fell. Upgrading the equipment of a whole party was a costly endeavor. Just upgrading the armor and battle-axe of the beardless dwarf would take a considerable amount of effort, to say nothing of the others. The only small comfort was that upgrading a mage's equipment was relatively easy; he could just make them a few magical items.
"Mr. Rhodes, that's a bit too..."
"I'll give you another dragon scale."
They had managed to salvage seven or eight intact scales from the battlefield. It wasn't nearly enough for a shield or a full suit of armor, so they might as well use them as payment. It was a win-win. It was just a shame they had been in such a hurry, their minds focused only on killing the dragon. Their spells had been at full power. If he had known, he would have focused more on piercing attacks, aimed for its head, instead of blowing its body to bits.
Hearing the offer of additional payment, the old dwarf immediately shut his mouth. After a quick mental calculation of the pros and cons, he gritted his teeth and agreed.
Just then, Serie appeared silently at the workshop's entrance. "What are you two doing?"
Seeing the evening sun falling on her shoulders, Rhodes realized that he had been here all day without noticing. Activating the mana crystal had taken more effort than he had expected; he hadn't even noticed the time fly by.
Dural flinched, almost dropping the finished staff. "L-Lady Elf! We were just making the... uh, magic staff Mr. Rhodes designed."
Serie walked into the workshop. She had come over out of curiosity, wondering why Rhodes hadn't returned. Now, hearing that the staff was already finished, she wanted to try it out. She took the simple staff and examined it closely. It was very light; she could lift it easily, and it wouldn't interfere with her movements in battle. It was clear Rhodes had designed it with a mage's physical strength in mind. A beautiful blue crystal was set at the tip, and the shaft was made of a grayish-yellow wood that was hard to the touch and made a crisp sound when tapped.
"It's made of Xuan Ironwood," Dural said proudly, stroking his beard. "It may be light, but its hardness is no less than that of steel." Only a master dwarf like himself could have crafted a staff of Xuan Ironwood in a single day. An ordinary dwarven craftsman would have spent half a day just processing the wood, to say nothing of the later work.
Hearing his boasting, Rhodes also examined the staff in Serie's hand. He was curious about this wood that was as light as a feather but as strong as steel. In some countries, it would be the perfect building material.
Serie paid no attention to the old dwarf's boasting. She ran a finger over the runes on the staff, a slight frown on her face. "Did you design these magic runes as well?" Dwarves couldn't have come up with such runes; only a mage could have designed them.
"I did," Rhodes admitted.
"You did?" Serie was surprised. "But I never taught you..."
"I reverse-engineered them from the magic you taught me," he continued.
Is this what it means to be a genius? Even though she had been prepared for it, Serie was still shocked. To be able to understand the principles of her magic was one thing, but to be able to reverse-engineer them and design the corresponding magic runes... this man's talent was truly frightening. Could it be that he is not human, but the reincarnation of some god?
But Serie didn't let her thoughts show. She simply used her magic to modify the runes. "This one can be replaced. It will make the mana flow more smoothly."
After finishing her modifications, she infused the staff with her own mana, feeling the change it brought. It really did work. She could cast her spells much faster.
"Was that..." Dural said, having watched her cast the spell, "an elven secret art rune?"
He had seen an elf cast such a spell a long time ago, inscribing runes on a piece of equipment. But he had been just an apprentice then and hadn't been able to get a close look.
"Yes," Serie said, openly admitting it. She then tossed the staff to Rhodes, a move that confused Dural even more. As she left, she turned and added, "Don't work too late."
Her tone was like a wife reminding her husband not to stay out too late socializing. But she was probably just saying it out of concern for her companion. At least, that's what Rhodes thought.
After she had gone, Dural rubbed his hands together excitedly. "Amazing! A magical item tuned with an elven secret art! It will surely be a masterpiece!"
The elven secret art runes came from the very core of elven magic. They were rarely shown to outsiders. Dural was confused. What was the relationship between the Lady Elf and Rhodes, that she would entrust him with a magical item inscribed with her secret art runes? He was a dwarf; he couldn't understand them. But Mr. Rhodes was a mage. He could learn them, and he could leak them. Wasn't she worried?
Pushing his questions aside for now, Dural said, "Shall we see how it works?"
Rhodes gripped the staff and infused it with his mana, then tried to cast a simple 'Light' spell.
Voom!
A blinding ball of light instantly appeared, much faster than when he usually cast it. And the mana required to maintain it was about a third less.
"The effect is quite good," he said, looking at the staff with satisfaction. "It not only speeds up the casting, but also reduces the mana cost." He would have been happy with just the faster casting speed; he hadn't even designed it that carefully. But to also reduce the mana cost... it was a pleasant surprise.
"It might have something to do with the mana crystal you provided," Dural said with a laugh. "Such a high-purity crystal is a rare sight. And of course, the Lady Elf's modifications also helped."
Outside the workshop, Serie hadn't left. She was leaning against the wall. Hearing the exclamations from inside, a small smile appeared on her face. As expected, this man was always full of surprises.
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