Chapter 54: Designing a Magic Wand
"Is that not the case?"
Serie turned her head, somewhat puzzled. Her expression carried that particular confusion of someone who thought they understood a situation perfectly.
In her opinion, Kurtz was looking for dwarf forging masters and commissioning a Holy Sword, so wasn't it for his own use?
Although a mage using a Holy Sword felt strange, if Kurtz were to use it, it might bring her an unexpected surprise.
"Hmm… it is now."
Kurtz's original intention was to forge a Holy Sword. After all, he had the materials, and they weren't short on money now. Carrying a Holy Sword would be like cosplaying at a hero's party.
He'd never actually thought of using it, at most, just for hero cosplay. The idea had seemed absurd at first. What mage wielded a sword?
After all, he planned to be a mage, so wielding a Holy Sword for close combat... wasn't something wrong there?
Besides, he didn't have the monstrous stats of a hero so that the Holy Sword wouldn't achieve its maximum effect in his hands.
But with Serie's request, this Holy Sword had an additional function, which gave Kurtz different ideas.
Perhaps he could really create a Caliburn. The legendary weapon's potential suddenly seemed within reach.
"The traditional method of continuously releasing small spells to improve one's magic power efficiency is too low, so that you can use this Holy Sword. As long as you inject magic power into it, it can achieve the same effect."
The best way to refine magic power was to continuously use magic, consuming one's own magic power to stimulate the body's potential.
Now this Holy Sword also had this effect.
Moreover, at critical moments, the stored magic power might even produce unexpected effects. The possibilities were intriguing.
Kurtz was deeply moved by what Serie said, touched that Serie had considered this point. Her thoughtfulness caught him off guard.
The child has grown up.
"By the way, since that's the case, how about I forge a magic staff for you?"
Kurtz had never seen Serie need a staff to use magic, but he remembered that in the original work, mages needed staffs when casting spells, including Frieren herself.
Could it be that magic staffs hadn't been invented in this era? The timeline implications were fascinating.
"What is that?" Serie's words indirectly confirmed Kurtz's guess. Her blank expression said everything.
"A long staff with a magic crystal embedded at the top, which can better assist mages in casting spells and maintaining balance between spells."
"I don't need such a thing!" Serie felt this thing was useless to her, but she still wanted to see what it was. Curiosity won over dismissal. "But you can make one for me to see."
Kurtz didn't dwell on whether Serie truly wanted it or was just curious.
Anyway, if she didn't use it, he or Eric could use it later. Though the mental image of Eric wielding a staff was admittedly amusing.
"Alright, I'll go find that old dwarf tomorrow."
The difficulty of making a magic staff shouldn't be high; instead, a simple magic staff was easy to make.
As long as he didn't make a staff similar to the arrogant Water Dragon King's level, he should be able to manage it.
The next morning.
Kurtz arrived at the old dwarf's forging workshop early. The sound of hammering and the heat of forges greeted him like a familiar embrace.
The old dwarf, or rather, Duller, was directing the dwarf apprentices to build a special magic furnace, prepared explicitly for Kurtz's Holy Sword.
To melt eternal ore, the furnace temperature in his workshop wasn't enough. Only by building a special furnace could the temperature meet the standard. The construction looked intensive, requiring precise stonework and magical runes.
If it weren't for the generous payment Kurtz gave, Duller wouldn't have been willing to expend so much effort.
Duller saw Kurtz and greeted him. "Mr. Kurtz, are you here to activate the magic crystal?"
"No, I'm here to entrust you with another task."
Kurtz took out a rough sketch, his design for the magic staff, drawn the previous night. It was crude but recognisable, functional over artistic.
"This is..." The old dwarf took the sketch, squinted his eyes, and examined it carefully. "Strange structure, with a magic crystal embedded at the top, and magic patterns to be carved on the staff body? Is this thing called a magic staff?"
"Yes, can you make it?"
"I can, but what is this thing for? Is it perhaps to store magic power?" Duller's professional instincts kicked in, already analysing the design's purpose.
"I don't plan to have that function for now."
One Holy Sword that could emit light waves was enough. Kurtz still wanted this magic staff to be simpler. Too many enchanted items might complicate things unnecessarily.
He pointed to the drawing. "The staff body should be made of light but sturdy material, preferably light enough for a small girl to hold."
A magic staff was for casting spells, so it should naturally be light. Kurtz didn't want to make it too heavy, as if it were meant to hit people. The image of Serie struggling with an oversized staff was both amusing and impractical.
"If that's the case, it won't take much time, but the magic crystal still needs Mr. Kurtz to activate it."
The magic crystals they'd provided earlier were pure enough and large enough that a small portion could be used to create a magic staff.
Duller was very fast, or rather, Kurtz's request wasn't tricky. His decades of experience made the simple commission seem almost trivial.
It only took a day to produce the magic staff, needing only the magic crystal to be embedded at the top.
"How are you preparing, Mr. Kurtz?"
"It's ready."
Kurtz handed the activated magic crystal to Duller. The process had been surprisingly smooth.
At this moment, the magic crystal emitted a faint blue glow, but according to Duller, this situation was only temporary; the glow would disappear after a while.
It would only reappear when you injected magic power into it again.
"By the way, if you make magic items, what do you do if there's no mage nearby?"
Duller carefully embedded the magic crystal while taking a moment to answer. "We have other methods."
He pointed to a strange device beside him, which looked like a large oven. Steam and magical energy leaked from its seams in thin wisps.
"This is our dwarf's unique magic resonance device. It can generate magic power using special ores, and combined with special runes, it can also achieve the effect of activating magic power."
"Then why do you still need mages?"
Kurtz was puzzled. Since they had this thing, wasn't it redundant for him to spend half a day activating the magic crystal? The logic seemed backwards.
Duller smiled awkwardly. "This thing can only handle ordinary magic items. The activation efficiency is too slow, and the magic power isn't pure enough."
Listening to Duller's many explanations, Kurtz always felt that the old dwarf was still hiding something from him, so he tentatively asked, "There wouldn't be other reasons, would there? Like high consumption?"
"How could that be!?"
Duller hastily defended himself, but under Kurtz's increasingly "kind" gaze, he finally whispered, "Indeed, there are reasons in that regard."
Kurtz said thoughtfully, "So you can actually make them independently, right?"
"That's true, but..." He lowered his voice, shame colouring his words. "Crystals personally activated by a mage will be several times more effective."
Only after Duller's later explanation did Kurtz understand.
It turned out that the magic crystals on his side were too pure. If they used the dwarf's method to activate the magic power within, the amount of ore consumed might be astronomical.
Moreover, the magic power inside wouldn't be pure enough, and the amount of magic power the forged Holy Sword could contain would also be reduced.
Considering many factors, Duller decided to let a mage like Kurtz personally activate the magic power.
It was definitely not about trying to save money. The dwarf's pride demanded that disclaimer, even if his practical nature suggested otherwise.
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