“Right away, Ms. Colette.”
Hulim took the wooden wand. It was light and well-balanced in her hand, easy to swing around—unsurprising, given that it was made of wood.
She ran her eyes along its length from base to tip. Unlike the straight shaft of the wand, the tip curved into a smooth semicircle, as if it had been designed to hold sothing.
Seeming to notice her puzzled glance, the shop assistant chid in with an explanation. “Oh, that design? I heard the artisan who made it tried to inlay a magic crystal at the tip. But turns out, any crystal would disrupt the wand’s internal elental balance. As it turns out, leaving it plain was the best option.”
The result was the simple, unadorned wand she held now.
Balance for all elents...... Then let’s see if it really lives up to its claim of no elental resistance.
Hulim thought to herself, lifting the wand in her hand.
“【??????????......】”
“Flas, heed my call......”
After a few minutes of testing, Hulim lowered the wand, a satisfied look on her face. Whether she cast fire, light, or non-elental magic, the wand felt exactly the sa—smooth, unobstructed mana flow. She couldn’t test the other elents here, but she suspected the result would be identical.
“Hulim, how do you like this wand?”
Colette asked, leaning in curiously.
Hulim nodded in approval. “It’s perfect. It gives a decent boost to casting speed and mana efficiency, but the power amplification isn’t all that impressive—not as strong as the previous two wands, anyway.”
“Ah, about that......”
The assistant spoke up again.
“As I ntioned earlier, since we can’t embed any power-amplifying magic crystals in this wand without ruining its balance, it trades off raw elental power for compatibility with all affinities. No strengths, no weaknesses.”
“I see.”
So it’s a case of gains and losses, then......
Hulim mused silently.
“Um, if you’re not satisfied, we can certainly try other options! Though I should warn you—all our other wands are specialized for specific elents......”
Hulim fell into thought. What should she choose? Should she go for all-around versatility, or single-elent power to use as an ace in the hole?
“Take your ti deciding, Hulim. The strongest wand isn’t always the best one. What matters most is whether it suits you. If you’re stuck, go with your gut— a wand that speaks to you will never let you down.”
A wand that speaks to ......
Hulim stared down at the plain wooden wand in her hand.
Her choice had been clear from the start, hadn’t it? She’d always aid to walk the path of an omnipotent mage. There was no point in chasing raw power for a single elent when versatility was her greatest strength.
“I’ve made up my mind, Ms. Colette. I’ll take this one.”
......
......
Jingle~!
“Thanks for coming! Do visit us again!”
With the assistant’s polite farewell ringing in their ears, Hulim left the shop, clutching her new wand tightly to her chest. The trip had taken longer than expected, but she’d learned a great deal about wands—and more importantly......
She now had a wand of her own.
“Hahaha~! You look absolutely smitten with it, Hulim~!”
Colette teased, grinning at her obvious fondness for the wand.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“......”
Hulim shot Colette a flat look, her eyes drifting to the wand that never left Colette’s side.
Sohow, she doubted Colette had any right to tease her.
“Heh, I can practically see you itching to find a quiet spot to test it out, can’t I?”
“Alright then—off you go. You can head ho for today.”
“Huh? But Ms. Colette—weren’t you going to co over to my house today?”
Hulim blinked in surprise.
“Co over? Oh, don’t make it sound so formal—it’s just a friendly visit! I can drop by anyti. Right now, the most important thing is for you to get used to your new wand. Don’t worry about !”
“Um......”
Hulim hesitated for a mont, then nodded in agreent.
“Then...... tomorrow? Would tomorrow work for you, Ms. Colette?”
“Tomorrow’s fine by ! But are you sure one day will be enough to master it?”
Hulim nodded firmly. “Absolutely! I’ll have it fully mastered by tonight!”
After all, she had help......
“If you’re that confident, then...... see you tomorrow?”
“See you tomorrow, Ms. Colette.”
......
Deep within the forest.
“Ehhh~, so this is your new wand, huh——”
Semiris twirled the wooden wand between her fingers, eyeing it with a strange, unimpressed look on her face, her tone flat and monotone.
“......Just say what you’re thinking.”
Hulim sighed, already braced for the worst.
“Fine, if you insist! This stick is so useless! Is this even supposed to be a wand? Who in their right mind would use a random piece of driftwood as a magic tool?!”
Hulim: “......”
Ouch. That hurt.
“Okay, okay, you can stop now. I should’ve known you’d say sothing like that. You just managed to insult
twice with one sentence.”
“Twice? How is it twice?!”
“Never mind!”
Hulim snatched the wand back from Semiris’s hand, shooting her a glare.
“Tch, stingy!”
Semiris pouted, staring at her empty hands with obvious disappointnt.
Hulim ignored her, carefully inspecting the wand to make sure Semiris hadn’t broken it. “It’s not just a random stick, you know. It’s made from the trunk of a Mist Marsh Treant. It might not be powerful, but it’s the perfect fit for
right now—it’s a rare all-elental wand.”
She’d taken to calling it her Tree Wand, thanks to its origin.
“Oh right! Even if you did get a super powerful wand, you wouldn’t be able to use it yet anyway!”
Semiris suddenly perked up, as if she’d just realized sothing obvious.
“But still...... this tree stick—ahem, I an this Tree Wand—how much of a boost does it actually give you?”
Hulim thought for a mont before answering.
“I tested it a bit in the shop. The power boost isn’t great—only about ten percent, tops. But since that boost applies to all elents equally, it’s acceptable. The casting speed and mana efficiency improvents are on par with the other wands, though.”
“I’m going to run so more tests today to figure out its exact capabilities.”
Semiris nodded. “Go for it! Practice as much as you want—I’ll watch.”
With Semiris’s permission, Hulim began her practice session in earnest.
She closed her eyes, focusing her mind, and channeled her mana into the wand. Then she chanted her incantations in quick succession.
“【??????????????????????????????????】”
“Water Arrow!”
“【??????????????????????????????????????】”
“Rock Bolt!”
“【??????????????????????????????】”
“Lightness!”
“【???????????????????????????????????】”
“Concealnt......”
After a while, her mana was nearly depleted, and the ground around her was littered with the traces of her spells. Hulim sat down to catch her breath and recover her mana, ntally tallying up her findings.
After dozens of spell tests, she’d gotten a clear grasp of the Tree Wand’s performance. ntal focus was hard to quantify, but she estimated her casting speed had increased by about twenty-five percent, and her mana consumption had dropped by roughly twenty percent.
Individually, these improvents might seem minor—but in a prolonged battle where she needed to cast spell after spell, their cumulative effect would be massive.
What’s more, she’d grown far more comfortable wielding the wand, shaking off the initial clumsiness of using a new tool.
A few more days of practice, and she’d have it mastered completely.
Seeing Hulim pause her training and her mana pool refill, Semiris spoke up. “Looks like you’ve gotten the hang of it.”
Hulim nodded, standing up and brushing the dirt off her clothes. “More or less. Say, Semiris—what kind of monster are we hunting today?”
Now that she’d finished practicing with her wand and her mana was back to full, it was ti for their real combat training.
“About that...... Our opponent today isn’t a monster.”
“Not a monster?”
“Mmm...... Funny how things work out, isn’t it? You just got yourself an all-elental wand......”
“......And our opponent today just so happens to have all-elental resistance!”
All-elental resistance? What on earth could it be......
Crack! Crack! Crack......
As Hulim frowned in confusion, a strange scraping sound echoed from the bushes behind her.
She spun around toward the noise—and froze.
Erging from the trees was a humanoid figure crafted entirely from rough, gray stone. Embedded in its “head” was a glowing orb that whirred and clicked as it rotated. The mont it fixed its gaze on Hulim, the orb locked onto her like a target.
“Beep beep beep! Intruder detected. Comncing elimination protocol!”
So that’s what it is......
This definitely wasn’t a monster.
It’s a Golem—a stone golem!
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