Chapter 164
Chapter 164
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Staff Reinforcement
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강화
The accident has already happened...
Will they come after us?
I'm not afraid of the pursuit itself.
It's just a pity for the troops that will get swept away trying to chase us.
What about Slumber?
'Will a wanted order be issued after all?'
From the Labenta incident, it seemed like news didn't spread that quickly... but the situation was different from Erpu.
In Erpu, it had been a somewhat concealed ambush, but this time, I did it out in the open.
I wasn't deeply worried... If Slumber ends up being inconvenient to enter, I can just slip in alone for a bit and come back out.
Enter the Abyss Erosion Labyrinth
🎁 Entry Reward: Skill, Hero Summon Guaranteed Ticket x1, Skill Points x10
The first quest would be completed just by entering the labyrinth.
Even peeking into the entrance would let me easily tell if it was the destination I was aiming for.
'Suni's on vacation, so no invisibility... Should I ask Lilliana?'
"Are you worried now about causing the incident?"
Ayla asked, seeing me standing there with my arms crossed, lost in thought.
"What's done is done. I don't regret it. If the same situation happened again, I'd punch that noble in the mouth all over."
"Then what's the problem?"
"This incident made me realize the limits of my magic."
"What?"
Inside the carriage, all the women gave me looks like I was spouting nonsense.
"It's not your limit. It's the staff's limit."
Lilliana snorted.
"Ahem, regardless, I want my magic to surpass its limits."
"How do you plan to surpass it?"
Lilliana asked, looking at me like I was ridiculous.
It was annoying, but now was the time to hold back.
"That's why I had an idea. If the staff could hold more mana, wouldn't my Explosion spell get even stronger? Lilliana, I'd like you to reinforce my magic staff."
Lilliana made a face like she couldn't believe it.
"You're... so... shameless... How long do you plan to rely on that magic staff? You can't call yourself a true mage if you're dependent on equipment like that."
How long...?
I planned to keep using it as long as nothing happened.
And coming from Lilliana, who was wrapped in high-end enchanted magic items, it held zero persuasive power.
"A mage can't reach the top by taking the easy path. Become my disciple now, and I'll teach you the true way of magic."
Absolutely not.
Forget how complicated magic looked, it would take forever to learn.
And did I even need to learn magic... when I had such a great item...?
If there's a hard path and an easy path, of course you take the easy one.
"So, can you reinforce it?"
Lilliana realized her words weren't getting through to me at all and shook her head.
"If I get compensated, sure."
"Mana stones?"
"A refrigerator."
...That was a problem.
I couldn't even return to my original world right now, so there were no substitutes for a fridge. And chilled drinks were a rare luxury.
"Hmm... How about something else?"
"Something else?"
She seemed to want electronics.
I didn't have as many as I thought.
Excluding the fridge, my electronics were just a laptop... a handheld game console... that was it.
'Can't give the laptop since there's only one... Should've brought spares if I knew this was coming.'
But I did bring two handheld game consoles.
A Santendo and a Storm Deck.
One of them should do.
I decided to give Lilliana the Storm Deck.
I could just buy another console and download the games anyway.
'I loaded up plenty of games before coming to this world, so she should be satisfied. It'll die soon without charging, though...'
To charge it, I needed electricity, and for that, a mana generator.
I brought two mana generators that could charge it.
One was already at the Hero's Haven, and the other was in my inventory.
If the game console's battery died and it became useless, I could squeeze another one out of Lilliana then—a wicked thought bubbled up.
"What's this?"
"A handheld game console."
"Handheld game console?"
"Simply put, it's an amusement device. Every image on this screen is its own form of entertainment."
Lilliana frowned.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. The fridge seems better..."
"Whoa, don't judge too soon. If you're not satisfied, you can tell me later."
I loaded up a simple game that didn't require knowing the language.
"Here, use this stick and buttons to move the character on screen. The stick controls movement, this button jumps. Reach the end of the screen to clear it."
"G-Give it here."
She snatched the game console from me, her eyes sparkling as she played with it.
"I-It really is an amazing item... How does something like this exist?"
"See? It's enchanted with technology... no, magic far beyond a fridge."
"Th-This is magic?"
I let her play with it mindlessly for a while before snatching it back.
"What are you doing?! I was at a crucial moment!!"
"This isn't yours yet."
"Y-You cheapskate..."
"Hmm... Should I find another mage...?"
"F-Fine! I'll reinforce the staff. Hand over that game console now!"
But I put the game console into my inventory.
"What?!"
"Reinforcement first."
"Argh!! F-Fine. Hand over your staff quickly. A promise is a promise, Un-ho."
"Don't worry. I'll keep my word."
The reason I planned to give it later was because I worried she'd get too absorbed in the game and neglect the staff reinforcement.
This was her first time with games.
There was a high chance she'd get hooked.
"It's impossible to make your Explosion stronger with the staff in its current state."
"What?"
Lilliana's words hit me like a bolt from the blue.
"But if I remove some functions, it's possible."
"What do I remove?"
"You choose. The simpler the functions, the more mana you can pour into Explosion."
"What was there...? Absolute Shield, right? Let's remove that."
"Absolute Shield? You sure? It's an 8th-circle spell. The staff's original owner must have put a lot of work into enchanting it."
"It's fine."
My biggest strength was defense anyway.
I couldn't say my materialized mana was weaker than Absolute Shield.
"I've been watching you... Your Explosion is different. I was sure after you blew down Labenta's city gate."
"How is it different?"
"Magic has aptitudes that suit each person. Even so, your Explosion has bizarrely powerful destructive force. City gates are designed not to break easily to magic. You shattered it with a single Explosion."
"Was that such a big deal?"
"Even if Explosion is strong, to destroy a city gate in one hit, mid-tier mages would need several preparing together, and even 7th-circle would struggle. Only 8th-circle makes it possible."
Lilliana's lecture mode made my eyelids heavy. But for my magic staff, I had to endure.
"Yawn... So I'm a magic genius, then?"
Her face twisted like I was talking nonsense.
"You idiot!! A guy who can't even cast Light magic is no genius! Your mana is unusual! It suits Explosion bizarrely well. Un-ho, watching how you handle mana, I get a rough sense somehow..."
"Ahem, so?"
"I'll make it a staff solely for Explosion, tuned to your mana. How's that?"
"Good idea. I'd like that."
She could've said that from the start.
The preamble was unnecessarily long.
Of course, I couldn't voice that complaint while she held my magic staff hostage.
Even though we took our time camping from the carriage, there was no pursuit from Barenta.
'Did they give up?'
I had broken a few things, but I hadn't killed anyone on purpose, so it wasn't a blood feud.
Maybe that's why they gave up.
Reinforcing the staff to break through my limits as a mage took Lilliana three days.
"Un-ho, this is a staff solely for Explosion, tuned to your mana. Other mages would mock it as barbaric."
Lilliana said as she handed me the staff.
The only big change was that the blue orb at the head had turned black. While she was modifying it, she'd told me to infuse mana, and it changed after that.
"Even an 8th-circle mage would struggle to draw out its max performance. But with your ridiculous mana amount, you should be able to fully utilize it."
Hearing that made my body itch to test the magic staff.