Chapter 35. Staffs.
Five days had already passed since we set out on this journey—one that took quite a bit of time even in the game, and in reality demanded even more, especially considering that in the game we also travelled at night. We, on the other hand, sleep at night, having entrusted the night watches to Greyrat and Indiana at their own insistence. Not that I was against that in the slightest.
Right now it was only evening, and we had made camp. It was still too early to go to sleep, so I turned to what had been taking up most of my break time lately. I took out a carefully carved, half wooden staff with special grooves cut into it, where I planned to inlay mana-infused glass, since I had no way to use precious stones.
"Listen, how many of these staffs do you even need? You've already made, what, three of them?" asked the noblewoman, who watched what I was doing with interest every day.
"Yes, there are three so far, but I need a lot more," I replied calmly, not taking my eyes off my work.
"Why? You cast perfectly fine even without them."
"A mage's reserve is extremely limited, and a properly made staff lets you cut the cost of a specific spell several times over, and some even let you use a spell without actually knowing it," I began to explain, before suddenly catching myself. "Just… don't touch the ones I've made, okay? The effect here is a bit stronger than that cheap junk from the old pervert's shop, and the consequences might be a little too unexpected."
When I finished, I couldn't help but feel embarrassed, imagining an insanely aroused noblewoman in my arms, desperately seeking release.
"Uh… okay. But still, why do you need so many of them?"
"…" With a heavy sigh, I decided to explain a bit more. "Some spells are too complex and too mana-hungry, so in my case, for now, I can only use them properly through staffs."
"For example, this one." I pulled a staff out of my inventory; its grooves were carefully filled with transparent glass, and in the middle a clear number 1 was inscribed. "With this, I'll be able to quickly set up a stationary barrier that will cut us off from the outside world, making it impossible for anyone to reach us. Without a staff, I don't stand a chance of activating this spell at my current stage. And it's not even fully charged yet. But I think I'll prepare everything just in case before we go into the tomb."
"And the others?" Cecilia asked with interest, and Greyrat and Indiana also began listening in on our conversation.
"This one…" I took out another staff, also with transparent glass, but this time bearing the number 2. "I called it the teleportation staff. It'll allow quick short-range teleportation."
"Teleportation? I don't quite understand, can you show me?"
"Fine," I agreed, realizing that on an island like this, it was entirely possible they weren't familiar with a word like "teleportation."
I got to my feet, leaning on the staff, then channeled mana into it and quickly slammed the base against the ground. In the next instant, I appeared behind the girl, who jumped the moment I vanished.
"Lona?" she called out, bewildered.
"I'm behind you," I announced with a cheerful smile.
"This is the teleportation you were talking about?" the girl asked in awe.
"Correct. Of course, you can only teleport within line of sight and at most about ten meters, but extra mobility never hurts."
"And would I be able to use a staff like that?" she asked with interest.
"Um. It's an artifact, remember? You said you barely have any mana."
"That's true, but if I use it somewhere where there's no one else and I'm alone…" A blush spread across the noblewoman's cheeks. And something told me that if I wasn't careful, that embarrassment would turn into anger.
"Yes, I think you'd be able to use it a couple of times, but only once I can make another one like it. This one I prepared specifically for myself, and besides, I think you can afford higher-quality materials. Then we can also make it smaller."
"Alright," Cecilia nodded, looking slightly thoughtful.
"What about the other two?" Indiana asked as he walked up.
"The other two?" I took the last finished staff from my inventory. Its glass was dyed green, and in the middle was the number 1.
"This one basically lets you quickly use a more concentrated version of a healing spell. It won't regrow limbs, of course, but it'll close slashing wounds and the like in no time. And finally, what I'm working on now—this will be our main weapon against the Berserker." I picked up the unfinished staff I'd been carving, its patterns still incomplete.
"Main weapon? So it'll be an offensive spell?" the noblewoman remarked thoughtfully.
"Right. And as for what kind of spell—probably easier to show." I pulled a fire staff out of my inventory. It wouldn't help much, but it would still make forming the needed spell easier. Then I began gathering fire mana at the tip of the staff, compressing it into a single bright point that shone ever more intensely with each passing moment, until finally, after nearly thirty seconds, I released the constraint holding the magic in that spot. All the accumulated power burst out as a concentrated beam that swept along the ground, leaving a scorched trail of lava in its wake.
"That's… impressive," Indiana commented.
"And with the right charged staff, it'll also be instant," I said proudly. Although I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd seen mages somewhere who cast spells by creating a dedicated staff for each one of them.
While Indiana was sharing his impressions, with Greyrat silently approving, Cecilia, to my surprise, sank into deep thought.
"Cecilia?" I called.
"Tell me, Lona. How realistic is it to hand a magic staff to someone without mana and expect that person to fire at least one or two shots?"
"Um, well, if the staff is of good quality, it might be enough for three, and if you add mana potions, then a lot more—but I don't know how strong the effect of a sudden influx of that much mana would be on an ordinary person," I answered a bit uncertainly.
"If, say, you were given the materials to make a couple dozen such staffs, would you take on that job?" the girl suggested, and I was already starting to understand where she was going with this.
"It won't work. Every truly high-quality staff needs, besides good materials, one more component that you can't just get, and I'd rather not say what that is. Just know that you won't be able to obtain it."
"I still doubt they'd be happy to learn that creating reserves through artifacts basically uses the life force of living beings—and in this case I barely managed to pull it out of the system, delaying my level-up."
"And if not high-quality ones, but just something suitable for more or less mass production?"
"…I'll need to think about it and test a couple of things," I said, choosing not to refuse outright this time.