Nozomanu Fushi no Boukensha (LN) - Volume 5 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Making a Catalyst 

In the end, we went with a sword and dagger for Alize. We told Clope and Luka we would be away from Maalt for a while, leaving them time to finish the weapons. Alize wouldn’t get to use them until after Lorraine and I returned from Hathara anyway. That being said, we did have time for a bit of training before we left, but Alize could borrow a sword and dagger from one of us for that. We probably had some old, used equipment that would work for training but not so much for fighting monsters. That was good enough for the time being. 

I consulted Clope about armor as well, but he told me Alize would be better off with leather armor or robes. Since daggers and magic would be her primary means of combat going forward, something lighter would be better. Clope referred us to another armor shop, but since there wasn’t much time left in the day, we decided to visit another time. There was other business to attend to.

“Now it’s time to make a magic catalyst. Ready, you two?” Lorraine asked. 

We had left Clope’s and returned to Lorraine’s living room. Lorraine set up a big table and a writing board, and she held a stick as she walked us through it. The board was a magic item upon which words and images could be repeatedly drawn and erased. Lorraine felt the process of creating a wand would be most easily understood through visuals, so she had dragged the board out from somewhere. I couldn’t imagine it was cheap, but I wondered if all scholars owned one. Not that I would know, but Lorraine had one, so I assumed so. 

“Yes, I’m ready!” Alize shouted. 

Lorraine looked at her with satisfaction and then turned to me. “And what about you, Rentt?” she inquired. 

“I’m ready, yes,” I groaned. 

“Put some life into it,” she demanded, but I gave her a look of protest. She pointed to me with her stick. “Are you determined to refuse?” 

I gave up resisting. “Yes, I’m ready!” I screamed as loud as my lungs would permit. Alize laughed. 

We were, of course, joking around. Lorraine and I then returned to our usual demeanors, and the lecture continued. 

“Well, it’s nothing terribly difficult. Today I’ll show you how to produce a wand, the most basic magic catalyst. Rings and weapons can also function as catalysts, to name just a couple others, but those are somewhat advanced. Either way, you should learn the basics before you try something more complex. Are you following so far?” 

Lorraine watched us silently nod. “Good. Then let’s begin right away. First, let me give you a demonstration.” She reached into the materials I had collected and took out some wood from a shrub ent and the magic crystal from an orc soldier. 

“These are all the materials you need for a basic catalyst. Even this can have some depth if you want to go after the smaller details, but you don’t need to know about that for now. All right, here goes. First, I’ll draw a magic circle on this board,” Lorraine said and hit the writing board with her stick. A simple magic circle made up of circles, triangles, and squares appeared. Next, she used an ink brush to draw the same circle on a board on the table. The board appeared to be made of bronze, and the ink circle settled into the surface. 

“Give it a touch,” Lorraine said, so Alize did. The ink had already dried like the pattern was part of the board, much to her surprise. 

“Is there something special about this board?” Alize asked, but Lorraine shook her head. 

“No, it’s an ordinary bronze board. The ink is what’s special. It’s made just for drawing magic circles. Not that you couldn’t go without it, but it soaks into the material in such a way you don’t have to worry about it smudging or disappearing later. It raises the chance of success, essentially.” 

The ink was available at most magic item shops, but only mages and alchemists tended to buy it due to its high price. Besides, writing and erasing with it required magic, so it was hard for the average citizen to use. I assumed that was why Alize didn’t know about it. 

“I see,” Alize said with a nod. 

“Next, I’ll pour mana into the magic circle. Here goes,” Lorraine said, touching the board. 

The way she offered her mana looked effortless, but it wasn’t. Lorraine had just done it enough times to make it seem simple. Alize and I would need practice before we could do this, that was clear at a glance, but Alize didn’t seem to know that yet. 

“It looks so simple,” she said. 

It wasn’t. This alone would take a while to learn, but Lorraine was somewhat mischievous when it came to these matters. 

“Yeah, simple,” she told Alize. I didn’t know if she was serious or if she intended to make Alize toil to learn this in a short time. Either way, it was a frightening statement. 

“So, next,” Lorraine said when the magic circle had received enough mana. She picked up the magic crystal and set it on the circle. It began to glow. 

“Wow,” Alize whispered. 

“You can’t use raw magic crystals as catalysts, so we have them absorb these magic circles. We could simply leave it sitting for a while, but let’s get it over with quickly today,” Lorraine said and held her hands right in front of the magic crystal. She then manipulated the mana again. The magic crystal shone brighter for a few seconds before the light disappeared, at which time Lorraine picked it up and looked at it. 

“Yes, this will do. Would you like to have a look?” she asked and handed the magic crystal to Alize, who looked at it with mild shock. 

“What is it?” I asked. 

“The magic circle is in the magic crystal,” she proclaimed and then handed it to me. 

Just like Alize said, the magic circle was now rotating inside the magic crystal. This was what Lorraine had meant by it being absorbed. I was used to this sight, though, so it didn’t surprise me. I still couldn’t create any magic items, but I had gotten good enough at judging them. The pragmatic side of my adventurer spirit had to ask how much this might sell for. The wand this magic crystal was being used for probably wouldn’t be worth much. 

That reminded me of something. “Alize, have Lorraine show you one of her wands. It’s neat,” I suggested. Lorraine had a heap of staves, rings, and other magic catalysts. I thought it might be nice to let Alize see one she regularly used. 

“Right, that might make things easier to understand. Here,” Lorraine said and then grabbed a wand leaning against the wall and handed it to Alize. 

“Alize, look at the magic crystal on it,” I recommended. 

“Wow, this is amazing!” she exclaimed and opened her eyes even wider than a moment ago. 

“Right?” I said. 

Alize nodded and peered at the magic crystal again. “There’s so many magic circles, and they’re folded together so they look kind of spherical,” she observed as she gave me the wand. 

I knew what was there, but I took a look while I had the opportunity. Magic circles far more intricate than the one Lorraine had just created were packed inside. And they were all interconnected to form orbs, totaling three in all. Each orb remained far enough from the others to not touch them, and they all rotated in different directions. It was like looking at an hourglass, hypnotic enough that I could keep watching it forever. 

“These are called three-dimensional layered magic circles. By structuring the magic circles three-dimensionally, it’s possible to write in more information. Magic circles contain information in each individual pattern and character, and it’s a challenge to see how efficiently they can be assembled. Three-dimensional shapes can store far more information, of course. If you want to get more complicated, there are multi-dimensional layered magic circles, which are four-dimensional— Oh.” 

Lorraine paused when she noticed Alize was getting increasingly confused. I knew how she felt. I learned a lot from the books I’d borrowed from Lorraine, but Alize grew up in an orphanage, so this had to be rough for her to follow. Lorraine seemed to get the same idea. 

“Sorry. This would be easier to understand if I taught you math first. I was talking to you like I talk to Rentt. That’s not right,” Lorraine apologized. 

Alize shook her head. “No, I at least got the sense that it’s something remarkable. Rentt, do you understand this complicated language?” Alize asked. 

“More or less. Reading Lorraine’s books happens to be a hobby of mine. I’ve been doing that for a decade, so I’ve learned a thing or two,” I said. 

As to how much I’d learned specifically, a commoner would see me as fairly informed. For someone like Lorraine, however, I couldn’t do much more than talk to them. I did have a great deal of adventurer-related knowledge pertaining to this city, but academics were outside my field of expertise. Back in my hometown of Hathara, the mayor and an old medicine woman taught me some fundamental academics, which was enough to read Lorraine’s books by myself, but that was nothing special. 

Lorraine disagreed. “Rentt’s pretty good. How a man like him was raised in a village in the middle of nowhere is a mystery,” she said, complimenting me. 

It was a mystery to her because I mentioned very little about my origins or my hometown. I had mentioned the medicine woman and the mayor’s teachings in passing, but that was it. Lorraine never tried to pry either. Adventurers tended to have a history they’d rather keep secret. If one chose not to discuss their past, then others shouldn’t ask. 

“Well, enough about me. Let’s get back to making that wand,” I said. 

Lorraine took a step back. “Right. I stopped at putting a magic circle in the magic crystal, I believe. The next step is dealing with the grip of the wand, but there are many ways to go about this.” 

“Really?” Alize asked. 

“Yes. For example, the most old-fashioned way is to shave it down by hand. You can use a knife or other tool to shape it as you see fit. That’s how it was done in the past, but it takes ages, and mistakes can have disastrous results. I wouldn’t recommend it, but a skilled craftsman can create wands of the highest caliber that way. You could try it if you plan to become an artisan, but we’re focusing on the basics right now, so you don’t need to go that route,” Lorraine rambled. 

“The easier and more widely-known method is to shape your wand with magic. For example, you can do this,” she said as she began to pour mana into the shrub ent wood. She watched until it was filled with enough mana, and then she employed the mana to peel off a part of the wood and make it float in the air. It was the length of an average wand, around 30 centimeters. She manipulated the mana further to reshape that part bit by bit. Mana wrapped around the wood like a spiral, gradually shaping it into a wand. It was structured so the bark formed the outside surface of the wand, and the shape went from thin on one end to increasingly thicker as it approached the other. This could be called the work of a craftsman. 

“Here comes the hardest part. The magic crystal and the wand have to be combined. Here goes nothing.” Lorraine poured mana into the magic crystal with one hand and into the wand with the other, making them float and approach each other. Light blue sparks flew from the tip of the wand, and when the magic crystal drew near, it latched onto the wood. Once fully joined, the wood around the tip of the wand shifted and wrapped around the crystal. 

As Lorraine picked up the wand, the light from it and the magic crystal faded away. “Well, that’s how it’s done. It came out okay, I suppose,” she muttered and looked at the wand from multiple angles. 

“That was a strange sight to see. It was pretty, but sort of scary. I’m not sure I could pull that off,” Alize said timidly. 

“Alchemy is a skill set that helps us understand each step of this process. I know how you feel, but I’m positive you can do this. As far as alchemy goes, this is the most basic of the basics. In cooking terms, it’s like learning to use a kitchen knife. Getting further than this will depend on practice and talent, but anyone can do this with some training. Don’t worry,” Lorraine reassured her with a smile. 

Someone with no mana would have been bewildered by what Lorraine just demonstrated, but she wasn’t one to lie at times like these, so what she said must have been the truth. 

I questioned whether I could do what Lorraine demonstrated as well, so I was glad she said that to Alize. I had more nimble fingers than most, but if and how that might be applicable to alchemy was a mystery. I could never handle mana that well either, but I had at least gotten more efficient at it over the last decade. Chances were it would be fine, but I was uncertain. My top priority was to not let Alize see me fail. I didn’t know if Lorraine understood how I felt or not, but she moved on. 

“Now why don’t you two try it? Choose whatever materials you wish. All the goods Rentt collected are high quality, so anything should work.” 

Alize and I were unsure which materials to use, but we came to a decision after some time. I let Alize choose first, naturally. I gathered it all for her to begin with, so if I took the best goods before she had the chance, it would all be for nothing. I could live with the leftovers. Ultimately, I could collect more materials if I wanted to. 

Alize selected wood from a birch shrub ent and the magic crystal from a mine goblin. I recommended using the magic crystal from a terra drake instead. 

“This one is prettier, so I want this one,” she said, picking up the mine goblin’s magic crystal. It was a beautiful blue and was appealing to the eyes, but its quality was only middling. In contrast, the terra drake’s crystal was bright red and of high quality. It was nothing compared to a tarasque’s magic crystal, but out of what was available, the terra drake’s was the best. 

Lorraine seemed to pick up on my thoughts. “It’s not like we’re making the ultimate wand here. It’s her first one, so let her make what she wants. She’s more likely to succeed that way. There’s no need to make her use something better,” Lorraine said. 

In that case, I supposed it was fine. The terra drake’s magic crystal was my favorite of the bunch anyway, and I liked the ebony wood. 

“Now that you’ve both picked your materials, it’s time to paint a magic circle. Do you have brushes?” Lorraine asked. 

We both did. Two ink bottles were sitting on the table too. 

“Good. Then first of all, fill your brushes with mana. I did so earlier, but I’m sure you didn’t notice. You don’t need to use too much. If you overdo it, well, you just shouldn’t, so I suppose I don’t need to explain that. At any rate, pour mana into your brush little by little, then keep the mana steady as you dip the brush in the ink. Let’s begin.” 

I did as described and filled the brush with a small amount of mana. I was used to this type of work by now, so it was a breeze. It was no different from adding mana to a weapon. Alize, however, had never done this before, so she was having some trouble. A decade of experience made all the difference compared to a beginner, but Alize appeared to find that a bit frustrating. 

“You won’t beat me, Rentt!” she said and hyped herself up, but it was for nothing. 

“Uh-oh, don’t use too much mana,” Lorraine cautioned. 

“Huh?” 

Alize poured tons of mana into her brush and dipped it in the ink, causing the black fluid to quiver and burst out of the bottle like a fountain. I grinned, garnering a glare from her pitch-black face. 

I stifled a laugh and tried to act serious. “I see, so using too much mana will make the ink splatter. Better be careful,” I said. 

Lorraine nodded. “That’s right, but don’t fan the flames too much. And Alize, don’t get worked up. I do think competition is good, but not for this particular work.” 

“Why?” Alize questioned. She didn’t seem to understand, so Lorraine explained. 

“I assume you’ve never applied mana to a brush before, but Rentt always uses mana on his weapon when he fights. He’s been doing it for a decade. That means when it comes to this work, he’s far from a novice.” 

“What the heck? No fair!” Alize cried out. 

“What do you want? I can’t go back to being a beginner now. This is my first attempt at alchemy, but controlling mana is a specialty of mine. I’d give up trying to outdo me at this, if I were you,” I explained. 

It should have been obvious anyway, but Alize sounded a bit discontented. Still, she was obedient and amiable enough. “I thought we’d learn how to do it together,” she said. In other words, she hoped we would progress at the same pace. I knew where she was coming from. 

“We can still do that, but there are some areas where I know what I’m doing, is all. Magic and alchemy aren’t something you can use without learning them first.” 

“Are you sure, though?” Alize cocked her head, not entirely convinced. 

“He’s right,” Lorraine said. “You’re far better than Rentt was a decade ago. If you’re better than him in ten years, that means you win.” 

That was true, and I was sure she would leave me in the dust. I planned to keep getting stronger, but in a decade, Alize had the potential to become as strong as I was now. 

“I’ll do my best,” Alize responded sincerely. 

After that, Lorraine cast Linpio on her and brought out new ink so we could get back to work. It couldn’t have been cheap, so I wondered just how much she had on hand, but it didn’t matter. 

I succeeded in applying mana to my brush on the first try, but it was a struggle for Alize. Even so, she got it right after about an hour. Her talent was worthy of envy. Learning this skill took me much longer. The mana within your body was easy enough to manipulate once you became aware of it, but expelling it from your body required some different sensibilities. I managed to figure it out after around a week, nowhere near as fast as Alize. 

“Then let’s move on to painting the magic circle. You have to keep the mana in your brush, so this demands some concentration. Good luck,” Lorraine said. 

Alize and I got to work. Maintaining the mana in the brush was as natural to me as breathing, so I didn’t need to focus that hard, but Alize was straining herself. She could do it, but her struggle showed she had some things left to learn. If she had reached my level in a single day, I would never have been able to show my face again. Though if that did happen, it would only mean Alize’s aptitude was phenomenal, so I couldn’t complain. 

“You did it already, Rentt?” Lorraine asked. 

“Yeah, can you check if it’s good or not?” 

“I always knew you had good hands. You painted it perfectly. Speaking of which, are you a good artist too?” 

“I don’t know if I’d say I’m good. Average, maybe.” 

When I was out adventuring and had to describe the traits of monsters I encountered to other adventurers on the same job, I would draw on the ground to demonstrate. I got some practice from that. Having a variety of such experiences is what life is all about. 

“Then you shouldn’t have any problems. This is usable. Now let’s see Alize’s,” Lorraine said and peered over at her side. 

“How is it?” Alize asked. 

“Not bad, but this part is a bit misshapen. It’ll still work, but bigger mistakes can prevent the magic circle from working, or even produce unexpected effects. Try to be more careful,” Lorraine warned her. 

“What kind of unexpected effects?” Alize asked. 

“There are all kinds, but a story commonly told among mages is about a mage named Conra who had no artistic talent. Conra was so gifted in the art of persuasion he became a court mage, but one day, he was put in charge of one of his country’s rituals. That wasn’t a problem in itself, but the ritual involved creating a magic circle that generated fireworks. Conra knew he was hopeless when it came to art, but he decided that if the magic circle failed, he would simply use magic to send fireworks into the air instead. But when he made the magic circle and triggered it, something dreadful happened. What do you think it was?” 

“I don’t know, what?” 

“He summoned a fire dragon that burned the whole region to the ground.” 

The horrific conclusion turned Alize’s face pale. The possibility that her magic circle could have similar results must have scared her. 

“Well, this is just an old story we used to tell each other. Nothing so devastating will happen. Conra was bad at magic circles, but he was still an incredible mage with an immense quantity of mana. They say that’s why his mistake was so catastrophic. Your mistakes might summon a little slime we could just stomp on, at the worst. That or it could make a loud sound or a weak explosion that wouldn’t do any damage. You don’t need to worry about it. I’ll take care of anything that happens,” Lorraine said, putting Alize at ease. 

Even the process of pouring mana into the bronze board gave Alize a hard time. The object was different, but it was much the same as sending mana into the brush. That she would have difficulties with both was to be expected. It was the opposite case for me. Applying mana to weapons, brushes, or bronze boards was all identical, meaning my decade of experience putting a sliver of mana in my weapon at all times made this job simple. 

I almost felt bad for Alize, but it’s not like this came easy to me either. What she was attempting to accomplish in one day was something I worked at for years. If anything, it was unfair her skills were beginning to take shape so soon. Everything worked out when you had talent, but maybe my severe lack of talent was the real problem. Or maybe this was normal. I didn’t know. 

“All right, now place your magic crystal on the bronze board,” Lorraine instructed after we finished painting our magic circles. “I shortened the process in my demonstration to save time, but it’s too soon for you two to attempt that. You’ll use the basic method and simply set the magic crystal on the board. Eventually, it will naturally absorb the magic circle.” 

Lorraine had done something to get the work over with right away, but it sounded like a difficult technique. I was interested in trying it, but Lorraine said it was too soon for us, so I doubted I could pull it off. I decided to accept taking the normal route with Alize. 

If I were in a rush to learn alchemy, that would be another story, but I was a swordsman. Mastery of multiple skills could be convenient, but I wasn’t so sure about alchemy. It wasn’t a skill set that could get quick results for an adventurer. The ability to produce high-quality medicine on your own was valuable to be sure, but I learned how to make medicine from the medicine woman in my hometown, albeit somewhat weaker medicine than that of an alchemist. If I found myself in real trouble beyond that, I could also access divinity. 

I followed Lorraine’s instructions and placed the magic crystal on the bronze board. The dried ink of the magic circle appeared to peel off and get sucked inside. It happened in an instant for Lorraine, a flash of light and it was over, so I didn’t get the chance to watch this part. It was an unusual sight now that I could see it in motion, but not too extraordinary. Lorraine nodded as she watched, implying the wand production was going smoothly so far. About ten minutes later, the final piece of the magic circle entered the magic crystal. 

“All right, that’s enough. Check to see if your magic circles entered properly,” Lorraine suggested. We couldn’t wait to look already, so right as Lorraine closed her mouth, we grabbed our crystals and peeked inside. 

“Oh, I did it! It worked, Professor Lorraine!” Alize yelled. It sounded like hers turned out well. 

“Let me see,” Lorraine said and took the magic crystal so she could look inside. “Yes, it came out nicely. The magic circle is a little warped, but that shouldn’t be an issue. A job well done for your first time, Alize.” With that compliment, Lorraine rubbed her head. 

She shifted the discussion toward me. “So what about yours?” 

“Well, uh...” I stammered. I didn’t want to admit I felt ashamed, but I did. I could have sworn I followed Lorraine’s directions though. 

Lorraine looked at my odd behavior and furrowed her brow. “Rentt, what’s with you?” she asked as she approached me, snatched my crystal, held it over her head, and peered inside. 

“Can’t you do anything normally? You know this is weird, right?” she asked and gave the magic crystal back. 

I looked inside and saw a somewhat odd magic circle. I knew I had painted it on the bronze board with Lorraine’s ink and it had entered the crystal. It should have been like when Lorraine did it, where the circle remained the same color once inside, but my crystal contained a magic circle that had a blotchy yellow and green pattern. It was honestly not a pleasant color. 

“It’s not pretty, I’ll say that,” I muttered. 

“That’s not the problem, but these things happen on occasion. If you have peculiar mana or a divine spirit’s blessing, strange magic circles can appear in your magic tools. In your case, I think we know what the cause was,” she claimed. 

I knew what she was suggesting. I had divinity and the blessing of some divine spirit. My mana might have also been unusual due to my undead nature. Rather, after this, it was safe to say here was something off about my mana. I wondered if it was even possible for me to perform alchemy correctly. 

I began to feel depressed. “This is bad, isn’t it?” I asked Lorraine. 

“No. It’s a rare phenomenon, but it happens. Some people are born with abnormal mana, and there’s no shortage of those with divine blessings. But any wand you make is going to have irregular properties. As long as you’re prepared for that, there won’t be a problem,” she assured me. 

That made it sound like there would still be a problem, but I could at least learn alchemy. That was good enough, but I didn’t know what these irregular properties would be. That was the next question, but it couldn’t be answered until the wand was finished. 

“Show me your crystal,” Alize asked while I was thinking, so I looked to Lorraine. I wanted to see if showing her something so bizarre would be bad for her education, but Lorraine nodded, so I handed the crystal to Alize. 

“Wow, it’s beautiful. Mine is an ordinary black magic circle. I’m kind of jealous,” she said innocently. 

It helped to hear that, though. I was keenly aware of how abnormal I was, but when even this simple thing came out wrong, it saddened me a bit. It was the type of depression I could get over in a couple days, but this was still a wretched, desolate reminder I wasn’t human. My lack of need for much sleep and my ability to recover from small wounds in a few seconds made me feel the same way. 

But what Alize said blew those feelings away. What a wonderful disciple she was. I didn’t know who was encouraging who. These thoughts occupied the depths of my heart as we continued making our wands. All that remained was the wand itself. 

“Now it’s time to shape your wands and combine them with your crystals. You’re already mostly done, to be honest, but this is no way for a wand to look,” Lorraine said. 

“What does that mean?” Alize asked, cocking her head. 

“Oh, magic catalysts are perfectly usable with nothing but a magic crystal. But attaching a grip makes the mana easier to control, not to mention it raises your mana amplification rate, so it’s not just a matter of appearances, actually,” Lorraine answered. 

She went on to explain the reasons for grips further. “The wands we’re making today won’t work much differently than if you simply used a magic crystal, but more advanced catalysts will add other elements to the grip. For example, you can put materials inside or use multiple magic crystals that resonate with each other, among other things. The grip is like the foundation that holds your catalyst,” she explained. 

If a grip wasn’t necessary, then magic crystals were able to function as catalysts by themselves. But grips could enhance magic catalysts. That raised some questions. 

“Then are rings worse magic catalysts than wands and staffs?” Alize was quick to ask. 

Setting multiple magic crystals on a ring would be a challenge. It was the logical conclusion, but Lorraine countered this. 

“No, not necessarily. Well, wands and staffs are easier to make, but you can put multiple magic crystals on rings too. The ones you’re using are big enough it would be difficult, but monsters drop all kinds of magic crystals. Some are small enough that several could fit on a ring. If you use those, there’s no issue.” 

“But couldn’t you place a ton of small crystals on a staff, then?” Alize questioned. 

“That’s true, but there’s a limit to how many magic crystals a catalyst can hold, regardless of the amount of space. Most use one, but you can use two if you’re good. A quality piece of work might use three, and some unbelievably powerful ones use four. You can find catalysts with even more than that in some labyrinths. A Legendary-class artisan could surpass these limits, but most alchemists can only reach three no matter how hard they try. If you can make a stable catalyst with four crystals, that’s a skill you could make a living on. Want to try it?” 

I would have called that unreasonable, but I strove for goals that seemed absurd from an outside perspective, so I wasn’t one to talk. Alize seemed to have the same impression, but she was curious about something. 

“Professor Lorraine, how many crystals can you use when you make catalysts?” 

“Me? It’s a secret. I can use at least three though, I’ll tell you that much.” 

That seemed to imply she could make one with four crystals, too, but she didn’t confirm either way. Knowing Lorraine, she would have said this whether she could do better than three or not. 

Alize was about to ask something else, but Lorraine interrupted with, “Come on, let’s get back to work. Making the grip isn’t easy, so you’ll have to focus.” Alize never got to ask her question, but she seemed content enough. From her perspective, Lorraine was an amazing woman, so whether she could use three or four crystals wouldn’t change much in her eyes. I saw Lorraine the same way. 

At Lorraine’s urging, I went back to my shrub ent wood. The wood was in the same state as when I collected it, so it was more or less a log. 

“Pour mana into the surface,” Lorraine said. “Then control the mana to only peel off that part and continue until you reach the proper size. You’re working with fairly large materials, so you can make plenty of mistakes. Just try it.” 

Alize and I nodded and got to work. As expected, I had no trouble peeling away only what was necessary. Alize struggled, sometimes chopping off small slivers, sometimes cutting in a curved line, and sometimes removing nothing but bark. But in the end, she still managed to shave off only what was necessary. As impressive as ever. 

“All right, now to shape your wood into a wand. This is basically the same. Use mana to compress and round the wood. But you’re likely to fail the first attempt, Alize, so start by practicing on the pieces of wood you cut off. Once you get used to it, you can try the real deal. Okay?” Lorraine asked. Alize nodded. 

I looked at Lorraine to see if I should do the same. Her expression implied that I ought to decide for myself. I was quick to finish everything thus far, so she made Alize her priority instead. It was the right decision. I preferred to try things for myself anyway. 

I heard how to do it, so that just left some trial and error. The problem was I needed the material I had just stripped down, so I carved some excess wood of the same size and used that to practice shaping a wand. I tried a few approaches. It felt somewhat like playing with clay. I could practice by making more than just a wand, so I used my mana to shape something else. 

“Hey, look at this. Pretty good, eh?” I said to Alize and Lorraine. They looked at my handiwork with shock. 

“Rentt, nice work. I had a rough enough time just making a wand,” Alize said, holding a piece of wood shaped into a wand. Apparently she managed. 

“Even I couldn’t do that. Maybe you could sell these if you picked different models,” Lorraine remarked. 

Lorraine and Alize’s eyes were glued to wooden figures of the two of them. I even had them pose. Lorraine was holding a staff and casting magic in a cool fashion. Alize was kneeling and praying to god as if she were at the Church of the Eastern Sky. She was pure and solemn. I was satisfied with how they came out. 

“Take this lesson seriously. I’m confiscating these,” Lorraine said and took them away. “Alize, you can have this one.” She handed Alize the one modeled after her. 

I was miffed about that because of all the work I put into them, but I couldn’t complain after I ignored the assigned work during a class. I could have pointed out that this was a form of practice and relevant to the work at hand, but Lorraine would only see it as fooling around. If I could do this, I should have gone ahead and made the wand, as far as she was concerned. And she was absolutely right. I did screw around a bit. I felt bad about it, so I quickly shaped the wand. 

“What next?” I asked brightly. Lorraine gave me an appalled look, but she soon got over it. 

“Fine, this is the final step: combining your crystal with your wand. Do your best. You’re almost there.” 

“Put them together like I demonstrated. I shouldn’t have to explain this part,” Lorraine said. 

“Wait a second. You used mana to shift the tip of the wand around the crystal and hold it in place, I got that much, but what were those sparks about?” I interjected. 

Lorraine laughed. “Well, good question. I was only kidding,” she replied. “That part is important. I did everything at once during the demonstration, but combining your crystal and wand has a number of steps. You’ll do that after this. First, you need to send a line through the wand.” 

“What do you mean by that?” Alize asked. 

“Just what it sounds like. You create a path for mana to run through your wand. Mana can actually pass through regardless, but this makes it more efficient. This involves uniting the numerous winding mana paths that already exist in your wand into a single large, straight passage.” 

I understood what she was saying for the most part, but I had no idea how to do it. Alize must have felt the same way because she looked puzzled. 

“How does that work?” she asked. 

“It’s rather abstract, but when you actually try it, you’ll see it’s not that hard. It’s similar to how you shaped the wand. Start from the bottom of the wand, then slowly send you mana upward, focusing on the way it flows,” she instructed. 

Alize and I obeyed. I felt the mana separate as it ascended through the wand. Like water flowing through numerous branching paths, it traveled in different directions. I saw what Lorraine meant by this being inefficient. Alize seemed to understand as well. 

“Are these the lines?” she asked Lorraine. 

“Yes, but as I’m sure you’ve noticed, simply shaping your material into a wand caused the lines to stretch out and curve at random. If you make a wand like this, it won’t be much better than a stick. We avoid that by taking those chaotic lines and straightening them out. This is done the same way you shaped the wand, by having your mana flow from one end of the wand to the other as you move the lines together. Can you do it?” 

I didn’t know if I could, but now I knew the method. Alize and I nodded and got to work, finding that Lorraine was right in that it was mostly identical to the previous step. The act of moving lines that were hidden inside the wand seemed to raise the difficulty to a degree, but it involved largely the same kind of work. The difference was the lines in the wand all went in different directions. It felt like scooping every bit of scum from the surface of some soup. 

That said, I enjoyed simple, repetitive work. When I was still human, I would go to the Labyrinth of the Moon’s Reflection every day to hunt the same monsters until I tired myself out. This work was tolerable, and even fun, but Alize looked frustrated. She was young, so that was typical.

“Are you getting fed up?” Lorraine asked, startling Alize. 

“Oh, no, um...” she stammered with shame. Lorraine laughed at her. 

“I know how you feel from the first time I made a wand. I even threw my wand right at my teacher’s face,” Lorraine said, sharing a shocking memory. 

“At their face, really?” Alize murmured, doubting she could ever do the same. 

“Well, that’s how tedious the work was, but it has a strong influence on the quality of your wand. Be patient and do the best you can.” 

“Okay!” Alize answered with energy and returned to work. This time she kept calm and immersed herself in the task. 

I, on the other hand, was wondering something after that bit of encouragement. 

“So what did that teacher do after that?” I asked Lorraine. 

“Went into a furious rage. It was so terrifying I’d rather not remember it,” she whispered in my ear. Then she shuddered. 

I wondered what kind of teacher could make Lorraine say that, but much like me, Lorraine didn’t talk about her history from before she came to Maalt. I decided not to ask more questions. After that, Alize and I finished forming our lines. 

“All right, good,” Lorraine said after sending mana through our wands to check them. “You both did well for your first time. Alize, you straightened your lines as instructed, and Rentt, you’re always so good at detailed work that it’s sickening. There’s no room for criticism.” 

“Let me see Rentt’s wand!” Alize demanded out of curiosity. She borrowed my wand and sent mana through it. “Wow, what the? It’s nothing like mine,” she said with an astounded look. 

“Well, it may feel that way, but don’t let it get you down,” Lorraine said to cheer her up. “You should have known from those wood figures he made that Rentt is abnormally dexterous. I can’t do anything like that either. Even forming lines this meticulously is a challenge.” 

“It’s hard for you too, Professor?” Alize said with shock. 

“I wouldn’t say hard, but certainly tedious. You might realize this after trying it, but this is something you could do nearly perfectly with enough patience. But not so much in this short a time. 

“At any rate, that’s enough of that. Next is the final step, combining the crystal and the wand. This is a bit difficult. You have to handle your mana differently in one hand than the other. One hand sends mana into the crystal while the other does the same for the wand, but it doesn’t matter which hand is which. If you fill the lines in your wand with enough mana, light will burst from the tip of the wand like you saw in my demonstration. You do the same with the crystal, but because you didn’t mess with the lines in that, light will emit from the entire thing until it nears the tip of the wand, at which point the light will be drawn to that. Don’t mind it too much. Also, I had both the wand and the crystal levitate as I did it, but that’s a relatively advanced technique, so you two should do it by hand,” Lorraine instructed. 

We picked up our wands and crystals and began filling them with mana. 

Half a minute after I began pouring mana into my wand, sparks flew from its tip. “Lorraine, is this good?” I asked. 

“Yes, that’s fine, but you also need to fill the magic crystal with mana until it looks like I demonstrated. Keep the wand like it is. Can you do it?” 

“Well, it shouldn’t be too difficult.” 

Each hand had to perform a different task, making it too challenging for some to manage. With that in mind, Alize was performing well. She was a bit behind me, but she kept her wand glowing as she charged her magic crystal with mana. I might have been biased, but she was remarkably adept. 

“You may have realized this now that you’ve tried it out, but magic crystals require more mana, otherwise you end up in the annoying position you’re in now. Next time you make a catalyst, try keeping that in mind,” Lorraine suggested. 

“I see,” I said with a nod. Alize was focused on distributing her mana, so she had no time to respond. Doing this was like trying to juggle with one hand while writing a letter with the other. Adding a third task to that list would be difficult, so Alize’s silence was understandable. 

“Oh, my magic crystal looks good,” I remarked. At last, it began to glow as well. The light from the wand shone in only one direction, but the light from the crystal traveled everywhere. Lorraine said this was normal, so I had to assume it was. 

Lorraine looked at my progress. “You can move on to the next step, Rentt. Bring your crystal and your wand close together,” she instructed. 

When I did, the light from the crystal directed itself toward the wand. “Do I just stick them together?” I asked. 

“It’s not like you’re using glue. Reshape the tip of the wand around the crystal to hold it in place. However, you have to do this without ruining the lines inside the wand. This is fairly challenging, so be careful.” 

“Does it matter what shape I make it?” 

“No, and many people get creative with this part. I wouldn’t recommend getting too fancy with your first attempt, though, but—” 

“Professor!” Alize shouted. Her crystal had also started to emit light. 

“Anyway, you can figure things out yourself,” Lorraine said and turned to guide Alize. 

I focused on my own work, unsure what shape to make the tip of my wand. I did recall seeing some in shops with different decorations. If you had to shape the tip a certain way, then those presumably wouldn’t exist, but I didn’t know how far I could go without ruining my work. I started off simple and made steady changes, learning I could make huge alterations without an issue. There did seem to be a limit, though; I got the sense that too much movement would break the lines. It was like bending a stick until near snapping. If you were lucky, a little more bending might curve the stick a bit more, but in most cases it would break. Regardless, it was malleable enough to leave plenty of options. With that thought, I immersed myself in forming the tip of my wand. 

“All right, you’re done. Good work, Alize,” I heard Lorraine say, so I looked over. Alize was gripping her finished wand. The magic crystal was fixed in place, and I now sensed the stable mana of a magic item. 

“So this is my wand,” Alize said and stared at the stick with glee. She seemed tired, judging by her sweaty forehead and heavy panting. 

“Now you can try casting spells with it. You too, Rentt. Are you done yet?” Lorraine said and looked toward me. Her eyes opened wide with shock. “Again?” 

“What?” I asked. I had finished around the same time as Alize. I’d reached the last step sooner, but I spent more time on the wand’s tip. 

She pointed at my wand. “That. The tip of your wand. That’s some impressive work,” she muttered. 

Curious, Alize popped out from behind Lorraine and peered at my wand. “Wow, what the? It’s so detailed,” she said, startled. 

Lorraine picked up my wand and looked at it from different angles. “The dragon’s holding the crystal in its mouth. This is an incredibly detailed sculpture of a dragon. These sorts of decorations usually aren’t made with mana manipulation alone, you know,” Lorraine pointed out. 

Specifically, this was the dragon that ate me. At the time, I thought my life was over, so its appearance was so ingrained it was the first thing that came to mind. To be honest, I did think it was kind of gauche. Lorraine seemed to agree because she looked at me like I was crazy for picking the creature that devoured me. But that wasn’t something we could discuss while Alize was around, so I asked something else that was on my mind. 

“How do you shape the tip of a wand other than mana manipulation, then?” 

“Oh, decorations like that are usually made while you’re shaping the material into a wand to begin with. People tend to make the tip larger and then shave it down into the shape they want.” 

“Why go through that much trouble?” I asked. Mana manipulation felt like it provided more freedom with the shape. I assumed it was because something like this required obsessive focus, so it took a while. 

Lorraine held her head in her hands. “You can get by with mana manipulation to a certain extent, but this much detail isn’t normally possible. Unless you happen to be an expert at controlling mana, carving it by hand with tools specifically for the job will give you better results. But I guess the rules don’t apply to you,” she complained. 

“So Rentt’s really special?” Alize asked. 

“Well, that’s one way to put it. Of course, a top-class artisan could do this kind of work too, but Rentt’s never even done this before. I always thought he was dexterous, but now that I’m seeing him work in my field of expertise, I’m reminded of that all over again,” Lorraine said. 

“I guess I should be sorry,” I said, apologizing. 

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry about. In fact, this is magnificent. Next time I make a wand, I’ll let you handle the tip. If I did that, then I could...” Lorraine lowered her head and began whispering to herself before looking back up. “Well, in any case, your wands are finished. They both came out well enough. Now you can try them and see how well they work as catalysts.” 

“Okay!” Alize shouted, covering up Lorraine’s suspicious whispering. 

It was time to see the wand in action. I was about to cast a spell right then and there, but Lorraine stopped me. “Don’t try it in my house. Let’s go outside,” she requested in a surprising display of common sense. 

We headed out, but we only went as far as some empty ground on the outskirts of town. 

“Now you can cause all the explosions you want, and nobody will complain,” Lorraine said. 

Despite her reassurance, I couldn’t imagine the owner of the land being okay with that. And though it was a large space, there were houses visible in the distance. Maybe nobody would notice an explosion, but I wasn’t so sure. 

“Wouldn’t the owner of this place be unhappy about that?” I asked Lorraine. 

“No, I wouldn’t be. This is my land.” 

“Huh?” I blurted out. It was an unexpected response, but it explained why Lorraine wasn’t worried. If this was her land, then we could do anything we wanted. Unless we opened a doorway to Hell and let tons of demons through to attack the city. That would be a huge problem, but I didn’t anticipate anything that serious. Although mages in legends and fables tended to make those mistakes, I didn’t even know how that would be done. 

“I perform some experiments I’d rather not do at home, you see. That’s why I bought this land a while back. We’re far enough from the center of town that it wasn’t too expensive despite the size,” Lorraine explained. 

Despite what she said, the land was still too vast to be that cheap. I knew Lorraine was rich, though. She had always had a mysterious source of wealth. Buying a house was nothing to her either, so it wasn’t that great a surprise. 

At any rate, if this was true, then there was no need for concern. However, I wondered if this was so precarious it had to be done outside. 

“Hey, can your first wand really be that dangerous?” I asked Lorraine. 

“Not usually. Depending on the spell you use, most beginners can use elementary spells in the home without a hitch. In your case, though, I’m a bit uneasy. You’re good enough at mana manipulation that I don’t think it’ll be that bad, but you can’t be too careful. Also, Alize has a lot of mana herself, so she might find it hard to keep it under control. I don’t want you to worry about that while you test your magic, so I figured this would be the best place.” 

If more mana meant it was harder to control, then maybe it felt different casting magic with a wand than without one, considering catalysts were for stabilizing and amplifying your mana. Stabilization was one thing, but amplification could be a hindrance. Losing control as a result was probably the reason for Lorraine’s concern. 

“Well, whatever the case, give it a try. I’ve only taught you basic magic, so that’s what you’ll have to go with. It’ll be the easiest way to understand the power of your wand anyway,” Lorraine said. 

Alize and I nodded. 

“Alize, why don’t you go first? Remember your incantations?” 

“Yes, I’ll be fine!” 

“Good answer. Then Rentt and I will stand back a bit. Go when I say we’re ready.” 

“Okay!” 

We walked a short distance away, and Lorraine yelled to Alize that she could start. 

“Fire, use my mana as your fuel and manifest before me: Aliumage!” she chanted. The mana within Alize condensed and flowed to her wand. The energy swelled until flames burst from the tip. They were fiercer than I expected, to the point I questioned whether this was elementary magic. In my past experiences with this spell, the fire only burned from the fingertip, but this was more like the flames from a torch. 

“What? What is this?” Alize stammered, intimidated by the size of the flame. 

Lorraine approached and cast a spell to make the fire disappear, much to Alize’s relief. I walked up to her too. 

“That was awesome, Alize. I didn’t know you could make such big flames with basic magic,” I said, complimenting her. 

“I wasn’t expecting that either,” she replied. She was still a bit tense. 

Lorraine overheard us and butted in. “It sounds like you have the wrong idea. You don’t typically get flames that large, but like I said, Alize has a lot of mana. That’s why they were so big. Most beginners wouldn’t be able to do this without a wand, regardless of how much mana they had, but the wand changes everything. It helps you control your magic and use it more efficiently. This isn’t all good, though,” she said. 

“What’s bad about it?” Alize asked, curious. 

“If you rely on your wand too much, then one day you won’t be able to control your mana without it. You could also become unable to move your mana without a wand.” 

“Is that a big problem?” 

“Yes, a fatal one, you could say. You’d have to be in contact with your wand at all times to be able to fight as a mage. But the young people these days choose to depend entirely on their wands for magic anyway. It’s a much easier way to go about it. They start right off training with their wands, getting just good enough with it to go off adventuring. It’s pitiful,” she said as if she weren’t also young. 

I was going to joke about that, but she seemed serious, so I decided against it. She was past the average marrying age, so maybe you could say she wasn’t that young. I was about the same age, though, just a little older. But when it came to our mental ages, people often thought I was younger. 

“But I see mages around Maalt using magic without a wand all the time,” Alize pointed out. 

Lorraine nodded. “Yes, I see them levitating their purchases on the way home from shopping sometimes. The first time I saw that, I found it surprising as well. You don’t see things like that in the Empire anymore, so it had been a while,” Lorraine said, referring to her homeland, the Lelmudan Empire. They were supposed to be an advanced civilization with great progress in the field of magic, but maybe when it came to magic without a wand, that was somewhat in question. 

“How did the Empire end up that way?” I asked. 

“I just mentioned the disadvantages of wands, but there are advantages too. Detailed work is far easier with wands than without, as is larger scale work. The Empire engages in a lot of research on magical weapons and tools, so their mages keep wands on hand at all times. When you use something often enough, you start to depend on it. Do that even longer and people start to feel training with wands from the start is more efficient. As a result, that’s how thoughts have evolved in the Empire. Of course, some can still use magic without a wand, but they can never gain influence among the Empire’s mages. That includes me,” she explained. 

That was the fate of something that became too convenient, I supposed. But what Lorraine said seemed to imply some circumstances behind why she left the Empire. 

Lorraine changed her tone. “Well, enough about that. Let’s focus on your wands for the time being. I may have a lot of criticisms, but they’re still generally useful tools. Now, Rentt, it’s your turn. Alize and I will stand back.” 

I nodded, ready to try out my new wand. 

“Hey, aren’t you a little too far away? Just what do you think I’m going to do?” 

I couldn’t help but ask. Lorraine said they would stand back, but now they looked like specks from my perspective. It was about ten times further than the distance we stood at when Alize practiced. I wondered if I had done something to intimidate them, but when I thought about it more, an undead vampire was probably worth fearing. 

“We’re ready, Rentt!” Lorraine shouted from afar. That meant I could use magic now, I guessed. At that distance, something insane would have to happen to bring them any harm, so maybe it was for the best. 

I went with the same magic as Alize, a life spell called Aliumage. I knew what it should look like after watching Alize, so I figured it would be easy enough to pull off. Considering a wand could strengthen a mage’s control and amplify their mana, there was no reason I would fail. All I had to do was manage the power of the spell, but I had to try it at least once to get a feel for it. 

Honestly, this wasn’t my first time using a wand. But that was back when I was alive and had next to no mana, so there wasn’t much to amplify. A droplet multiplied several times was still only a few droplets. But now I clearly had more mana, so I could look forward to different results. With that in mind, I filled my body with mana, focused it into my hand, and poured the energy into the wand. 

“Fire, use my mana as your fuel and manifest before me: Aliumage,” I chanted, and fire spewed from the wand’s tip. It felt like the wand vastly amplified my power, so I frantically withdrew some mana. Regardless, an intense blaze burned. Thankfully no buildings were around. Lorraine’s decision to stand that far away turned out to be correct. I had been sure of my ability to control mana, but this incident made me less confident. 

I needed a bit of practice with the wand, but I didn’t panic in the face of the flames the way Alize did. That was the power of my extra 25 or so years of life. I stopped supplying the flame with mana and adjusted its direction as I stared at it for a few seconds. When I confirmed that the flames were gone, I waved to Lorraine and Alize. 

“You can come over now!” I shouted. 

They observed for a bit to see if that was true before they approached. They were cautious, but maybe that was necessary. Wands could trigger by accident, and if some mana had remained stored inside it somehow, it could cause some odd reactions. They wanted to see if that would happen. 

“Your Aliumage was super big,” Alize remarked. 

“Good thing we stood all the way out there. We would’ve been burnt to a crisp otherwise,” Lorraine said with a smile. In reality, she would probably have conjured up a barrier and saved them anyway, but mistakes could have occurred. She was right overall. 

“But that was a little oversized for Aliumage. I know you have a lot of mana, but that spell shouldn’t produce flames like that.” 

“Really? But you can’t deny what you just saw,” I pointed out. 

“True. Hm, Rentt, try another spell. You know a water-based life spell called Mah, don’t you?” 

Mah generated a cup’s worth of water. It was helpful for adventurers, and it was one of the few spells I could cast with what little mana I had. I got a sense of what Lorraine was thinking. 

“Yeah. I see, so I should test whether it’s the same for other elements?” I assumed. 

Some people excelled at specific elements of magic. Most humans could use all spells equally, but some leaned heavily toward certain types. There were many theories as to why that was true. If you were born near a volcano, for example, then you might end up more proficient at fire magic. The blessing of a divine spirit could also give you the capacity to specialize in spells of that spirit’s element. 

I had been blessed by a plant-type spirit, so if anything, I felt I should have been bad with fire. But maybe it didn’t work how I expected. It was strange, but Lorraine must have thought I should determine just where my specialties lay. 

I decided to test the Mah spell. Alize and Lorraine stood back again just in case. I was unsure whether that was necessary, but after what happened with the last spell, I couldn’t blame them. 

When I heard Lorraine give me the signal, I cast the spell. “Water, soak up my mana and condense before me: Mah.” 

All life spells had similar incantations. As basic magic, they were simple in their construction. However, that made them that much easier to mix up. That’s why when Lorraine asked if I knew the spell, I wasn’t perfectly confident. 

I wasn’t positive I said it right, but my mana focused into the wand, reassuring me. Then water appeared from the tip of the wand. It was a fairly large orb, but it was nothing compared to the ludicrous size of the flames I had conjured before. This was maybe a size larger than Alize’s flames, but that was all. 

I sustained it for a few seconds to watch it and then let it disappear. When they confirmed it was gone, Lorraine and Alize returned. 

“I knew it. You may be abnormally good at fire magic,” Lorraine said as she thought to herself. 

Judging by the results, I had to agree. “Better than I am at water magic, at least. But now I want to know about the other elements,” I said with curiosity. 

“I’d like to test more too, but you can’t test absolutely everything. Those are the only two spells you can use anyway, aren’t they? You could likely use other elementary spells right away if I taught you the incantations, but even having you test life magic is terrifying. That’s enough for today,” Lorraine said and put a cap on things. 

She was right about that. I had enough experience with those two spells to sustain them, but there was no telling if I could do the same with unfamiliar magic. I probably could, but if anything bad happened, it would already be too late. I didn’t know my body that well, so it wouldn’t hurt to be careful. 

That day, I was contacted by the Stheno Company. When I asked the messenger what they wanted, I was told they had acquired a magic bag I could buy if I wanted it. If not, it would go up for auction. They wanted me to come as soon as possible, so I rushed to prepare and headed to the Stheno Company. 

Magic bags were rare items. If you wanted one that could fit a few orcs or so, that wasn’t too hard to find. But what I had asked of Sharl, the head of the Stheno Company, was a bag that could contain a tarasque. Those were hardly in circulation, and whenever one popped up, it sold right away. I was delighted he even bothered to contact me about it. 

When I arrived at the Stheno Company, the employee who showed me around last time took me to the reception room like before. I again took the elevator up. It never stopped being fascinating. I wondered if Lorraine could put one in her house, but maybe a home didn’t need anything like this. The Stheno Company had to use all the connections at their disposal to get one in the first place, so if someone asked to get one in their home, they’d likely be turned down. Lorraine might try to make one herself if I brought it up, but I didn’t want one that badly. Sadly, I had to give up on it. My dreams were shattered. 

After I got off, I enjoyed some tea and snacks in the reception room as I waited. They had these little brown boards this time. I didn’t realize they were food when I first saw them, but then the employee spoke up. 

“That’s chocolate, a new treat that’s gaining popularity in the West. It can be solid or liquid depending on the temperature, so they serve it in all kinds of ways. It’s delicious.” 

I had never heard of chocolate before, but it smelled sweet. That was enough to assume it tasted good, but it still looked like a little slab. I could fit the whole thing in my mouth, but I didn’t know if I was supposed to. 

“Do you just eat it like this?” I asked. 

“Yes, of course.” 

I carefully stuck it in my mouth. The sweet flavor and a mild bitterness spread across my tongue. “It’s good,” I said with approval. 

“Thank you,” the employee said and left. 

I took that time to have my fill of chocolate. I never knew such delicious sweets existed. Just as I was told, the chocolate melted from the heat in my mouth. It went pretty well with tea, too, but I thought it might go even better with some strong alcohol. But I certainly couldn’t ask for booze here. It was good enough by itself either way. 

I kept chowing down on the chocolate until I heard a knock at the door. 

“It’s Sharl. May I come in?” 

I frantically looked at my fingers and noticed they were smeared with chocolate, so I pulled a cloth out of my magic bag to wipe them off. I figured my mouth wasn’t that clean either and wiped that too. I had no way to check how much I got off, so I reshaped my mask to cover the lower half of my face. 

“Yes, go ahead,” I said with feigned calmness. 

Sharl entered the room. “Good to see you again, Rentt. How have you been since then?” 

His question was vague, but based on my relationship with him, only one topic came to mind. Sharl must have meant what happened with Nive and the saint. He wanted to know if I’d had any problems with them since we last met. 

I shook my head. “I think it’s been fine for the most part, but maybe I just haven’t noticed anything,” I replied. 

I wouldn’t be surprised if Nive had some stealth skills. Actually, there was a 100% chance that was true, given the absurd number of vampires she had killed. But I hadn’t done anything suspicious since we last met. Or at the very least, nothing that would pin me down as a vampire. I even stopped going out late at night unless absolutely necessary. True, my magic training from earlier had surprising results, but it was nothing that abnormal. My most incriminating activity was I went around buying assorted items for my journey, but travel wasn’t uncommon, so that shouldn’t have been a problem. I assumed I was fine. 

“That’s good,” Sharl said. “After all the trouble you were put through, I was eager to know how business has been for you since then.” 

He was far busier than the average man, and not in any position to give a single adventurer his time, so I had wondered why he wanted to see me again. But his explanation made sense. Still, I didn’t think he needed to go out of his way. Maybe he was just affable, but Sharl hadn’t known the details about Nive’s suspicions of me in the first place. My guess was Nive wanted to capture and destroy vampires as quickly and subtly as possible, hence her secrecy. That was annoying for me, as her target, but vampires did tend to hide within crowds. If she had cause to suspect someone, then confirming her suspicions was the natural course of action. 

“You don’t need to worry, all her suspicions were cleared up. And I hear you even got a magic bag for me,” I said. 

“Oh, that’s right. I’ll have it brought out right now,” Sharl replied and rang the bell on the table. The employee came in carrying a silver tray holding a shabby bag, set it on the table, and left. 

“Is this it?” 

“Yes, a 1,800-gold coin magic bag, just as you asked. Or so I’d like to say, but...” Sharl trailed off. 

“Is this not that?” I asked, worried. 

“Not quite, no, but that doesn’t mean this is a poor-quality bag. The opposite, actually. These go for anywhere from 2,000 to 2,500 gold coins.” 

That sounded like a big difference to me. Not that I minded a better product, but I would have appreciated a thought about my wallet. 1,800 gold coins was 18 platinum coins, and that was expensive as it was. I could pay up to 20 platinum coins with the compensation I got from Nive, but I didn’t know about anything more than that. 

My concern must have been obvious, because Sharl laughed. “No, I don’t expect you to pay 2,000 coins. Rather, I’m greatly indebted to you, so I’ll sell this to you for 1,800 and we’ll call it even. How does that sound?” 

It wasn’t a bad deal for me, of course, but I didn’t know why he lowered the price so much. I understood Sharl felt like he owed me, but that was a big sum of money. 

Sharl seemed to know what I was thinking. “Well, I won’t claim I have no ulterior motives, but I promise I’m not plotting anything,” he said. 

I cocked my head. “What does that mean?” 

“First of all, if I give you this great deal, we can put the past behind us going forward, right?” 

He responded honestly, and I had to say he was probably right. Some might have wanted to cut ties with him after what happened, but I didn’t feel the need to go that far. It was all Nive’s fault anyway. And any other company would likely take Nive’s request the same way. The support for the Church of Lobelia was just that powerful, though that support seemed more like something Nive was dragging around. 

“That’s true, I suppose we can for the most part,” I answered. I still felt cautious around him, but if we cut ties, I would lose access to information. That would only be more frustrating. 

“For the most part, eh? Understood, I see you aren’t too trusting. Then secondly, and you can laugh at this if you want, but as a merchant, I suspect you might have some value to me,” he admitted. 

This sounded like the real reason for his offer, given the intensity in his voice, but I didn’t know what he was implying. Maybe I had some value as a vampire, but I didn’t think that was it. He meant it in a more abstract sense. 

“I don’t think I have anything to offer in particular, though,” I said. 

“Really? Then maybe my judgment is off, but I wouldn’t think so. Besides, you’re going to be a Mithril-class adventurer one day, aren’t you? If that comes to pass, then it’ll surely be worth staying connected with you. In other words, this is an investment of sorts,” he added, recalling what I had told him in passing. I meant what I said, but I didn’t think he took me seriously. Apparently he did. 

“I hope to reach my goal, but a lot of people say how difficult it is.” 

“I would believe it. Most Bronze-class adventurers never reach Mithril-class in their wildest dreams, but you’ll never make it if you don’t try. I started off with a modest store myself, but now I have this whole company. Anything is possible,” Sharl said. 

I never knew he was such a sympathetic person. “You accomplished that without any inheritance or anything?” I asked. 

“That wouldn’t be quite accurate. My father ran a store, but it was a tiny general store. I was the one who expanded it. I always said one day our store would be the biggest business in the kingdom, back when it was still only a dream.” 

This was the reason Sharl didn’t make fun of my ambitions when I mentioned them. As for Nive, I didn’t know what she was thinking. I doubted making fun of me was even on her mind. Saint Myullias was, of course, a saint, so she wouldn’t belittle someone for their dreams. Not that being a saint guaranteed a positive personality, but most of those who belonged to a religious organization tried to keep up appearances. 

“That sounds like a lot to invest in a dreamer, though,” I said. Selling something that went for up to 2,500 gold coins for a mere 1,800 meant a 700-gold coin loss. That would be enough to eat shish kebabs from street vendors every day for the rest of my life. Or it would be if I weren’t already dead. In any case, it was a lot of money, and yet he was willing to give it up. 

“Maybe this is a lot of money to you, but it’s not much to my company. Besides, I know your financial situation. Twenty platinum coins is the most I could wring out of you. Magic bags are hard enough to come by as it is, too. I tried to get an 1,800-gold coin bag like you requested, but none appeared on the market. This is what I managed to find, and I do hate to have to lower the price, as any merchant would, but...” 

It was true magic bags were hard to obtain. The only means an ordinary adventurer had of obtaining one was to ask someone who already had one or to find one at an auction or in a dungeon. Even then, few people would give up their magic bags. They were seldom spotted in dungeons, so auctions were the best bet. 

Maybe that was no different for a merchant. There were craftsmen who made magic bags, but nobody knew who they were, and gigantic companies kept nearly all of them to themselves. The Stheno Company might have been big compared to most in Yaaran, but they still didn’t have that many craftsmen or connections. Their only options were to search the auctions, check other businesses, or buy them off adventurers who happened to find one. That would make it hard to obtain one of a specific size. However, it didn’t take long for Sharl to get one that was close enough. That was a great accomplishment, excepting that I couldn’t afford it at full price. I could see why Sharl hated to sell it at a loss. 

“So what’ll it be? Will you buy it?” he asked. 

It was a difficult decision, but I might never have the chance to acquire one of these again. I still didn’t fully trust him, but this was just an ordinary transaction. There was no reason to expect him to make some unreasonable demand after I bought it. But even with all that, I couldn’t answer. 

“Oh, that reminds me, this magic bag has a special function. It can change its appearance,” Sharl said and picked up the bag. He focused on it, and it took the form of a leather bag. Then a knapsack. Then a box. “This is one reason for the price. The storage space by itself would only put it in the 2,000 coin range,” he continued. 

I had heard of items like this, but I’d never seen one before. Craftsmen’s products had a fixed appearance, so this must have been found in a dungeon. For Sharl to have obtained this so soon, he had to have been on the lookout. 

Now that I saw what the bag could do, I couldn’t contain my desire for it. I was almost set on buying it anyway, so this just sealed the deal. 

“I’ll take it. Here, 18 platinum coins,” I said and stacked the coins on the table. 

Maybe that was a waste of money. The thought occurred to me as I left the Stheno Company with the bag, but I soon shook my head. I needed this to begin with, and it was worth more than I paid for it. Even if I hadn’t bought this one now, I would still need one someday, so picking it up while I knew I could was the right choice. I could also use it to make the same amount of money I paid. I could always take down another tarasque, or hunt all the orcs I could find. Either way, I would make gold coins by the hundreds. 

But I was kind of forgetting how to handle money. Bronze-class adventurers never made huge purchases like this. I could only afford to because of my unique body, so I had to be thankful for that. I did want to become human again, but at the same time, I didn’t. It was a peculiar position to be in. 

With that important business taken care of, I had another objective. Before I left on my journey, there was a problem I wanted to solve. My appearance made it impossible to fix previously, but now I could at least pass for a human. There was likely no way to confirm I wasn’t one, as Nive proved, so I thought now was the time. 

The matter at hand was my position at the adventurer’s guild. It had yet to become an issue, but if someone like Nive caught wind of me again, it could get ugly. If possible, I wanted to get them to register “Rentt Faina” and “Rentt Vivie” as the same person by negotiating with Maalt’s guildmaster. It was a dangerous gamble, but I had a chance. The guild was by no means a squeaky clean organization, as I knew well. 

It would probably work out, I thought to myself as I set foot inside the guild.