The Price of Power and a Wand
Wands are more expensive than you’d think.
“May I ask your name?”
“My name? Is that really important…”
“It is. If it’s you, at least you won’t be toyed with by the hands of the gods.”
The muscular warrior, who had been charging at me with a greatsword as if to kill me just moments ago, now looked at me with eyes full of hope. It was as if he had discovered a single ray of light in the darkness.
“You, who trample dragons and blaspheme even against the gods—you might at least be able to protect the human race a little from the endless war between gods and demons.”
“No, that’s a misunderstanding…”
He wouldn’t listen. I didn’t have that kind of relationship with Adrian. If anything, I was the one who should be offering tribute to her. Where did it all go wrong!
“Won’t you hand over the essence and the sword?”
As I pulled out the sword and the essence, he took the essence from my hand.
The Demigod, Leokan, and his weapon are now imbued within the Great Warrior's Essence!
Great Warrior's Essence (SR) has evolved into the Great Warrior's Token (UR)!
You can accumulate Divine Power within the Token! The more you accumulate, the stronger the Heroic Spirit becomes! However, the mana consumption required for manifestation will also increase!
“I am but a doll within the Tower. But the me contained here will be different.”
His body and sword turned into light and vanished.
“Look at him, just saying what he wants and leaving.”
The 'Summon Great Warrior' function has been added to the Great Warrior's Essence (UR)!
“…What?”
I could summon this guy? I gripped the essence and tried using it once.
“Summon Great Warrior.”
Leokan appeared with a fierce look in his eyes. He was even holding his sword, though I had no idea where he’d brought it from.
“Have you called for me, my master?”
Leokan knelt on one knee. Somehow, he was still taller than me. Seeing him kneeling like this, I had to admit, I’d gained a cool, legendary warrior under my command—a real man’s dream. Hmm. It wasn’t bad, but…
“Gah. I’m dizzy.”
But this thing was a massive mana hog. I’d only used it for a few seconds, and my mana pool, which had been half-full, was already scraping the bottom.
“My Lord, are you alr—”
“Dismiss.”
I’d have to boost my mana before using him again. I’d probably need four times as much as I had now to make him viable as a tank. Usually, every time a '+' is added, the stats double. Considering I’m at C+++ right now, my mana would need to be around B+ to be appropriate. That’s exactly a fourfold increase. I’ve got a long way to go.
As I checked my status window, the Skill (S) part of my stats caught my eye. Why was that so high? I wondered if I’d actually gained any benefit from it being that high. I closed the status window.
I looked back and forth between the portal leading to the exit and the entrance to the 6th floor. Maybe it was because of the error, but my health and mana weren’t recovering. Still, I could replenish my mana with the potions Isera had given me. With my current specs, I could probably push through to the 9th floor, but it would be a problem if another boss like that showed up.
“She said up to three a day was fine, so that shouldn’t be an issue, but this is the problem.”
My wand had shattered into pieces after I fed it just one spell using Dragon Mana. I carefully placed the corpse of my wand into my inventory. What a shame. Damn it.
“It’s a lost cause, really.”
I had tried using magic with my bare hands before. I’d seen the professors do it, too. But I couldn’t even get 10 percent of the original firepower. What the professors did sometimes was closer to a show of strength using massive amounts of mana. In other words, I eventually had to get a new wand. Until then, I had no choice but to use the wands from Reinheart. The Reinheart wands actually had better performance, too.
‘But I don’t want to use a rental wand.’
It felt like I was tied down, and I didn’t like that… and if I broke it, I’d have to pay for it. I’d heard it was a hassle in many ways.
I recalled the strike from earlier. Dragon Mana. Even though I’d channeled it through a basic attack spell’s magic circle, it had retired Leokan in one hit—a guy who hadn’t even taken a scratch from my normal mana. To use that, a proper wand was essential.
“Should I try buying one?”
“So, you went in without even telling me?”
Isera said, sounding just a little bit grumpy.
“I told you later, didn’t I?”
I’d reached out to see her face and ask for a favor.
“Didn’t you have work?”
“Not at all?”
Hmm. ‘Wait a minute. Ms. Jihyun, I’m not taking any jobs today. Tell them not to call me.’ ‘What, what!? An A-rank gate just burst!’ ‘There are plenty of other people who can go besides me.’ ‘W-wait! Isera-hunter-nim!!!’
According to the conversation I’d overheard, it didn’t seem like that at all. Well, she said she was really fine, so she must have come because she wanted to. Isera dragged me to a department store near the guild. The manager had glared at me, but the moment he saw Isera, his attitude did a 180-degree turn. Is this the power of an A-rank hunter?
And this was where we were guided. A cafe so bright it was dazzling. They said it was a modern reinterpretation of a historic European cafe. The sight was filled with cute accessories, afternoon tea sets, and high-end desserts.
“Ugh, the faint remnants of masculinity inside me…!”
“You didn’t have any to begin with.”
“Hmm.”
Was that so? Actually, I hadn’t changed much from when I was a man. I looked up at Isera. I’d said I wouldn’t go, but she’d dragged me along because she didn’t want to go alone. Her black hair tied back in a tight ponytail, her violent physique revealed under her dress shirt. Long, slender legs in black trousers. She didn’t look like the type to frequent a place like this, either. She was more cool than pretty. Well, good things are good.
Thinking that, I pointed at the menu and said,
“Pack everything from here to here.”
“W-what? All of this?”
“It’s no problem. Just do as she says.”
“A-alright!”
At Isera’s word, the clerk moved quickly. It would probably be ready by the time we left. First, I’d grab the local specialties. Exporting modern goods to another world was quite fun. Everything food-related had been a success so far, so wouldn’t desserts be popular, too?
“I don’t mind you going into the Tower, but contact your friends. It’s been weeks since you came out.”
“I did, though. Do you only have me as a friend?”
“I, I do have others!”
That was the reaction of someone who didn’t. Surprising. Come to think of it, this girl didn’t have anyone close to her even at the training center. That was why she’d quickly become friends with me, since I was always alone.
“Anyway, how was it? The first boss?”
“There was an error, it got buffed, it was a mess.”
“What?”
I briefly explained what I’d experienced on the 5th floor.
“…That’s unprecedented. A boss with a personality imbued in it…”
Isera’s expression turned serious.
“I’ll look into it and let you know later.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“Oh, and are you thinking of joining the guild…”
“No.”
It’s a hassle, and I’d have to come running whenever they called. It’s doubtful I’ll even be on Earth by then.
“Well, I thought you’d say that.”
Isera probably wasn’t being serious anyway. What would they do with someone who spent more than 25 days a month at Reinheart? Oh, right.
“Ah, by the way, are there any wand-type artifacts here?”
If I could get one here, I wanted to do it.
“Hm? There should be some here… do you need one?”
“I handled it a bit roughly and it broke.”
I held out the remains of my wand.
“Can’t you fix it? It looks like it could be repaired.”
“The circuits are completely fried. I can’t even cast with it.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying even when you put it like that.”
“Ah, right.”
There’s no magic here, so what is there?
“There’s a place that specializes in selling only artifacts. Want to go there?”
“Oh?”
My wand had definitely been a Tower artifact, too. I put the packaged cakes and other fancy desserts into my inventory.
“But do you have the money?”
“Hmm… would this work?”
I took out the magic stones I’d gotten from catching goblins and golems. Most were red, with a few orange ones mixed in. But I knew, too. Magic stones and artifacts were in completely different leagues of value.
“…I’ll lend you the money.”
“Okay. Let’s go!”
We headed to the department store’s artifact section. It was quite high-end. With an atmosphere that rivaled any luxury store, and gorgeous weapons enshrined in display cases. Checking with my Observation Eye, they were all around SR-grade.
“You can take your time looking from this side. The testing area is over here.”
I was excited because a lady in a high-end suit was guiding us. But when I actually checked the staff corner, I couldn’t hide my disappointment.
“Hmm…”
First of all, the wands… they’re huge. Wands that are almost bigger than a decent shortsword. And…
“What’s C-grade?”
“Hm? It’s Common, right?”
Isera asked back as if wondering what I was talking about.
…?
“Ah.”
I’d forgotten that such a grade existed because it never appeared in Hell difficulty. I wanted to say, ‘Are you kidding me… Common is a grade?’ but I held it back.
“Well, as long as it works well. But is it normal for them to be this big?”
“Hm? Aren’t they almost all like this?”
I picked up one of the wands. It was the Fire Magic Staff, which was at least R-grade. A body that looked like tangled tree roots held a red gem. It was so big I almost had to carry it in my arms. I went to the testing area and tried using a basic attack spell toward the target. I adjusted the power so it would barely destroy the target.
“Cast, Bullet.”
Mana gathered, a mana bullet was fired. It worked, at least. It worked, but…
—*Pew.*
But… it was pretty underwhelming. The circuit itself was bad, and the flow of mana wasn’t as smooth as a small wooden wand. Do Rare grades have tiers within them, too? It wasn’t unusable, but coming from using our school’s wands, it was too uncomfortable. And it was too big. In the end, for someone like me who fights by flexibly swapping, the size of the wand was a hindrance. It would be different if I were in a position where I only fired magic like a fixed artillery piece.
“Wow! You were a magic-type hunter!”
The lady who had been watching us reacted.
“Yes, well.”
I thought, ‘Isn’t it essentially melee-type?’ but there are ability users in this world who are called archers while fighting with swords all the time. If so, I could be a mage, too.
“If you’re a magic-type hunter, please take a look at our premium lineup!”
This time, there was something quite flashy. There were capes for mages, objects that increased magic damage, and so on, but there was only one wand.
“Would you like to try using this?”
The fact that it was about 50 centimeters long was a flaw, but the fact that it was a pure white, slender wand was good. Except for the fact that it had a star-shaped ornament that reminded me of a children’s anime.
“Uh….”
Should I be using that at my age? I looked in the mirror, and the shape turned out well. My pale skin and white hair blended well with the magic wand. Since my original clothes had gotten dirty after going to the Tower, I was in a state where I’d been forcibly put in a dress by Isera.
“Wow. It’s cute!”
Isera cheered.
“It’s a wand with such good performance that I don’t know why it isn’t selling!”
I think I know why it isn’t selling. I tried casting with it first.
“Oh?”
“Why? Is it okay?”
“It’s not bad!?”
It was still far worse than the school’s wand, but the sensation of handling mana was quite good. It felt like riding a decent used car after riding a dying scooter.
“The price is…”
I checked the price tag and immediately put it back in the display case.
“Why…”
“It’s bad. The price is bad.”
“How bad is it… hmm. I can’t lend you money for this.”
Isera quickly regained her reason. “It’s about the same level as my weapon.”
“I’m not buying it.”
It would be much better to just buy one from the Reinheart side.
Anyway, the wand really was a problem. If I didn’t have one, I couldn’t even do my assignments!! To solve that, I chose the school market on the weekend. I’d sold the potions I’d brought along just in time, and I had a few dozen silver in my hands.
“Welcome to the NameLife Magic Tool Shop! Ah! You’re a Reinheart student!”
The clerk with her hair tied back smiled and greeted me.
“Do you have the cheapest wand?”
Then, the clerk brought out a wand.
Oh, as expected, the other world is on a different level. Even the lowest-grade items are SR-grade or higher.
I held the luxurious-looking wand in my hand and let mana flow through it. I even tried using a basic attack spell. And I realized.
“It is good.”
The power was definitely good, and the mana flowed quite smoothly. It was a size that fit perfectly in my hand, and the grip was good, too. If the one from earlier was a used passenger car, this was just a luxury sedan. Naturally, it couldn’t be compared to the previous one.
“How much is this?”
“It’s 10 gold.”
Hmm. I bowed my head.
“Goodbye.”
“W-wait! If you’re a Reinheart student, I’ll give it to you for 9 gold and 90 silver with a discount…”
I ran away from the shop right then and there. Robert, who had watched the whole ridiculous scene, chimed in.
“Wouldn’t it be better to think of a realistic method?”
“What?”
“If you sign an exclusive contract with our firm, I can offer you a top-of-the-line wand with a 240-month interest-free installment plan…”
That was certainly true. I muttered.
“A realistic method.”
A realistic method, huh.
“Hey, Robert.”
“Why do you call?”
“Do you want to try buying some spices?”
I was tired of living broke. It was time to make money.