AI Model: gemini-2.0-flash
Chapter 10: 10. Two Choices
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
The old shopkeeper emerged from the back storeroom, holding a stack of several tall boxes. He smiled and greeted the two sisters.
"It's alright, good things are always worth waiting for."
Dorothy looked at the old man with anticipation, her gaze falling on the boxes he held. Even through these sealed boxes, specifically designed to prevent spiritual energy loss, her powerful senses could detect the preciousness of the materials inside.
"Hmm, these are all my proud collections."
Hearing Dorothy's words, the old man couldn't help but feel a little smug, but he quickly composed himself and seriously asked his customer.
"Regarding Miss Dorothy's staff materials, I have two proposals. Please take a look and see which one you prefer."
"One is based on your spellcasting habits. I've inquired with the spirit in your old staff, and you are the type with very high spellcasting precision. In that case, I personally recommend you use a Dragon-type staff, with Dragon Blood Wood as the main body, Wyvern nerve as the core, and a Wyvern's Dragon Pearl as the embedded gem."
"It's just that Dragon-type staffs are often more volatile and difficult to control, but their enhancement to magic quality is undeniable. I believe with your precision, you can completely master them."
"The second option is centered around the spirit of your old staff. It has only recently awakened and is still too weak. If it's made with materials that have a higher affinity with it, then it will adapt faster after changing staffs, and its growth rate will also be quicker."
"Here, I recommend you use Soul-Nourishing Wood for the staff body. As for the staff core, it follows the same lineage as your old staff. If it was a black cat's whiskers before, then the new staff can use these Nether Tiger whiskers, which are also excellent soul-nourishing materials. As for the embedded gem, I think this Dead Soul Crystal is a good choice."
"While such a staff may not provide you with a high initial boost, it can offer the most perfect growth environment for your staff's spirit. The most valuable aspect of a Psychic Staff lies in the growth potential of its staff spirit. An excellent Psychic Staff, once mature, will self-evolve to produce effects that perfectly align with its owner, though growth always carries some uncertainty, and you must take a certain risk."
After the old man finished speaking, he quietly watched Dorothy, awaiting her choice.
At this moment, Dorothy was also convinced that the old man in front of her was indeed a true staff master. The two proposals he offered were truly the most suitable for her.
Proposal One, the Dragon-type staff, could maximally compensate for her shortcomings of weak magic power and low quality, and combined with her already powerful magical precision talent, it would definitely provide an immediate boost to her strength.
As for Proposal Two, it promised a bright future. Sacrificing immediate benefits, it offered greater growth potential in the long run.
She had heard many legends about Psychic Staffs. Although these highly spiritual staffs were weak in their early stages, they would adapt themselves specifically to their owner's spellcasting habits during the process of accompanying their owner's growth, reaching that perfect state of human-staff unity.
A well-nurtured Psychic Staff could even awaken unique staff talents to better assist its owner in casting spells, existing like a cheat code.
However, she heard that nurturing such a Psychic Staff was not cheap; it required constantly feeding it various precious spirit-nourishing materials to maximize its spirituality.
Also, as the old man just mentioned, growth always involves risks. Even adorable children can grow up to be less attractive, and the same applies to Psychic Staffs. According to rumors, whether a Psychic Staff grows astray depends on its intimacy with its owner.
After all, this thing has spirituality; it's a living, intelligent staff with its own thoughts and cannot be treated as an inanimate object. If the intimacy is not enough, while it won't betray its owner, it will be difficult for it to be in sync with its owner's will. Who knows what abilities it might evolve then? It might not even provide a boost and could directly hinder you.
So, should she choose Proposal One, which offers immediate and relatively cheaper results, or Proposal Two, which is a bottomless pit for money, with an uncertain future, requiring a gamble?
"I choose Proposal Two."
Without much hesitation, Dorothy made her choice. She said firmly.
Anyway, she herself was the type of Demoness with promising future, so pairing her with a Psychic Staff with promising future would be a good match. Double the promising future, hopefully, when the future arrives, she would also reap double the happiness.
Of course, the most important thing was that she currently didn't have an urgent need to improve her strength. At least for the next twenty years, she should be studying at the Witch Academy. A student wouldn't go to the battlefield or anything; she just needed to study diligently. It was very stable. By the time she graduated, she believed the Psychic Staff would be well-nurtured.
"Alright, then Proposal Two it is."
Regarding Dorothy's choice, the old man nodded with satisfaction. He looked at the customer in front of him with even greater appreciation.
This is indeed a good child who treats staffs well. I must use all my abilities; I absolutely cannot disappoint such a good child.
The old man, Audel, thought to himself.
"Then, if I may be so bold, Miss Dorothy, what are your future career plans? Armed Witch or Research Witch?"
He confirmed cautiously once more.
"That goes without saying, elder sister is of course going to be an Armed Witch with me—"
Before Dorothy could speak, Alice on the side eagerly interjected.
However, before she could finish her sentence, Dorothy unhesitatingly covered her mouth, then said even more firmly to the old man.
"Research Witch. I'm walking the All-Knowing Path, so Research Witchsuits me better."
Speaking of the professional divisions of Demonesses, one must mention the structure of the Witch World.
This has never been a peace-loving race; quite the opposite, Demonessesare a standard War Race, and the entire society's atmosphere is extremely martial. This is beyond the level of a nation of soldiers; it's a nation of Warfanatics.
"I see, I conquer."
This is the motto of the Demonesses. Once a new world is discovered by the Demonesses, a plane-conquering War is inevitable.
There's nothing to be done about it. After all, the growth of a spellcaster is famously expensive, let alone the Demoness race where everyone is a spellcaster. The demand for resources for so many Demonesses to grow and become stronger is unimaginable.
Relying solely on the native resources of the Witch World would sooner or later lead to exhaustion by the ever-increasing number of Demonesses. At that point, there might be internal racial Wars over limited resources. Therefore, to alleviate resource pressure, outward expansion is inevitable.
Fortunately, the multiverse has infinite worlds, with an endless starry sky waiting for Demonesses to explore, discover, and conquer. Over time, such a War Race took shape.
To this day, Demonesses have become the fourth Calamity Race in the multiverse, on par with the three established Calamity Races: Angels, Demons, and Dragons.
However, unlike Demons and Dragons, those chaotic buffoons who only know destruction and plunder, and unlike the Angels' colonial rule where a conquered world is merely a resource warehouse, worlds conquered by Demonesses are directly incorporated into the Witch World, with the conquerors responsible for guiding and building them, emphasizing sustainable development.
Well, this isn't to say Demonesses are kind-hearted; that's truly not the case. The reason they do this is merely to expand the pie and gain greater benefits.
However, to be fair, the conquered alien races in the Witch World can at least drink some soup following behind the Demonesses, and if they're lucky, even get some scraps of meat. This is much luckier than encountering the other three Calamity Races.
After all, encountering Demons and Dragons basically means whether you live or not is left to fate.
And when angels are encountered, the entire world will fall into the despairof slow Death until the last trace of extraordinary power is absorbed by the angels, and the entire world becomes a dead world, which is what is called a magic-less world. Even at this point, it is not over. The churches established by the angels will continue to "educate" the people and harvest the power of faith formed by overflowing soul energy, not letting go of this last bit of utilization value.
Therefore, according to some proselytizing alien races under Demoness rule today, being a Demoness's dog is their honor.
It is precisely because of this Calamity Race characteristic that the professional classifications in Demoness society are mainly in two directions: one is the combat-oriented specialization that goes to the front lines to open up and conquer—the Armed Witch; the other is the logistics-oriented specialization responsible for new territory construction and technological innovation—the Research Witch.
From a social standing perspective, there's no doubt that Armed Witches hold a higher position. After all, the rule of foreign conquest in the Witch World is "whoever conquers, rules." Generally, only Armed Witches can become Witch Lords, while Research Witches usually work under these Witch Lords as employees.
For example, the Sea Moon Island where the sisters are currently located, and the vast territory below the sky island, this is the domain of the Great Witch titled Sea Moon Witch, an Armed Great Witch. And Dorothy's stepmother is a Research Witch, currently working under the Sea Moon Witch's name, responsible for territorial construction.
This structure is the most common in the Witch World. The entire Witch World is composed of countless large and small Witch Territories, and the ones who command and guide these Witch Lords are the Sage Council, formed by the thirteen most powerful lords with the largest influence.
Although Dorothy had jokingly said something like "A Great Witch should be like this, I can take her place" at the entrance of Sea Moon Island, those were merely temporary chuunibyou remarks.
For her to actually go to the battlefield is impossible; never in this life. Her magic talent isn't good, and she can't fight. In this life, she can only barely sustain herself by studying and doing research.
Dorothy, having transmigrated from a peaceful world, declared herself a pacifist. She had barely fought in her life. Whoever wants to be an Armed Witch can be one; she certainly won't.
Besides, War is so dangerous! While Demonesses are strong, they aren't invincible. What if she encounters other Calamity Races on the battlefield? What if she accidentally gets killed? She's only sixteen, with nearly a thousand years of wonderful life ahead of her. There's no need to risk her life on the battlefield.
In short, becoming an Armed Witch is out of the question. Even if Dorothywere to die of poverty, starve to Death, or jump off this sky island, she would absolutely never become an Armed Witch.