I am the Enchantress!

Chapter 28 The Staff

Wilder never expected that such a tactic would be used.

He didn't have the registration form for the Gnoll quest.

Based on the ratio Gru mentioned last time, he'd be lucky to get fifteen out of the sixty silver coins he'd be paid.

Clearly, Martha falsified her accounts.

She credited the berserker from before as the recipient of the gnoll ear payment.

Indeed, finance offers a lot of room for maneuver in any world.

"Thanks."

Wilder counted out twenty silver coins and pushed them back, saying, "I'll buy you a drink."

"Twenty silver coins? You want to get me drunk?" Martha raised an eyebrow.

"Drink with Cyril," Wilde smiled.

"Alright."

Martha did not refuse.

After saying goodbye, Wilder and Talia left the counter.

In a corner of the guild, Wilder handed Talia the seven silver and fifty copper coins that belonged to her.

As for the forty silver coins from hunting the gnolls, he didn't intend to split them with her, since she hadn't done anything, and there was no reason for him to do so.

While Talia was happily counting her money, Wilder quietly opened the system panel.

A semi-transparent light curtain slowly appeared before his eyes.

Name: Wilder

[Class]: Mage

[Level]: Lv2 (290/300)

……

Wilder's slightly expectant look disappeared, replaced by a frown.

isn't it...

Here we go again?

Is it really necessary to lack that little bit of experience?

That gnoll was so useless. Would it kill him to give me ten more experience points?

Oh, he died soon after.

Therefore, hunting gnolls should be like hunting giant spiders, both belonging to the easy level of tasks, and both providing 30 experience points.

Wilder was itching to level up, seeing that he was only ten experience points away from leveling up.

Today's hunt for the gnolls was extremely dangerous. If I had released Burning Hand a second later, their claws would probably be stuck in my neck.

This demonstrates the importance of casting speed.

The last upgrade added two points to Intelligence, reducing the casting time from ten seconds to eight seconds.

If this upgrade adds two more points, the casting speed should be reduced to six seconds.

From now on, there won't be a death countdown in battles.

Are there any other ways to reduce casting time...?

"Wild?"

Talia's voice interrupted his thoughts.

Wilder blinked, and the light screen in front of him gradually disappeared.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" he asked.

"Shall we go back?"

Talia subconsciously touched her flat stomach beneath her robe; she was probably hungry.

"Hmm...you should go back first." Wilder thought for a moment, "I still have some things to do at the association."

"it is good."

Talia didn't ask any further questions and left the Adventurers' Guild on her own.

Wilder then went up the stairs to the second floor of the association.

It was getting late, and there weren't many people taking professional level assessments on the second floor. He walked straight to the room at the end of the corridor and knocked on the door.

"Please come in."

Wilder pushed open the door.

"Long time no see, Miss Fina."

Fina was sitting in a chair by the window, studying a magical book. When she saw it was Wilder, she raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Why did you come here? Didn't I say that the mages who were doing the lower-level evaluations wouldn't be back for a few days?"

As he said that, he still pointed to the chair across the table, gesturing for him to sit down.

"I know." Wilde sat down. "I came today to ask Miss Fina a question."

"Oh? What is it?"

"Do you know what kind of practice a mage needs to do to shorten casting time?"

"Of course." Fina nodded, her gaze sweeping over Wilder.

Casting speed is one of the important criteria for evaluating novice mages, and it seems he has realized this.

"Can you tell me about it?" Wilder scratched his head and grinned.

"There are two methods."

This is no secret; Wilder was not born into nobility and probably did not have a teacher. Fina was not stingy in giving him some pointers.

"The first is meditation."

"By constantly circulating the spell structure in your mind without releasing it, you train your conscious memory and speed up your spellcasting."

Wilder was taken aback: "It's that simple?"

"Of course not," Fina shook her head. "Practice cycles can at most reduce casting time by a fraction of a second, which isn't very useful."

"Quantitative change is needed to trigger qualitative change. After a lot of meditation, the mage has a chance to gain enlightenment and greatly reduce the speed of casting spells."

"According to the theory of Karenso Valerius, president of the Mage Association, this kind of enlightenment actually enhances a certain attribute called intelligence, but there is no reference to it."

Wilder was stunned when he heard this.

intelligence?

Is it the Intelligence stat in my system panel?

After adding two points last time, the casting speed was indeed reduced by a full two seconds.

"How often do you usually meditate to have an insight?" he asked.

"It could take a year or two, or at most... the entire life of the mage," Fina replied calmly.

"It's been so long..."

Wilder was secretly taken aback.

The system's mechanism for increasing intelligence is that points are added as the level increases.

It seems that the best way to improve my spellcasting speed is not through meditation, but by accumulating experience points through combat.

Seeing Wilder remain silent, Fina assumed it had dampened his confidence in becoming a mage, so she added:

"Of course, there is a second way."

"What is it?" Wilder came to his senses.

"Use the staff."

Fina pulled a slender staff from under the table. Its lines were clean and crisp, its texture clear, and a pale yellow crystal was inlaid at the top.

She held it up in her hand for Wilder to see, but didn't hand it over.

Wilder, of course, didn't want to take it either; this thing looked expensive.

"Can using a staff... increase casting speed?" Wilde asked.

"Yes, but only to a limited extent." Fina retracted her staff. "Even the best staff currently available can only extend the duration by less than two seconds."

"Um……"

"But the staff can be charged, meaning the spell structure can be pre-arranged inside the staff." Fina smiled slightly. "After being charged, the mage can use the staff to cast spells instantly."

"You can do that?!"

"It is said that the best staffs can be charged up to twenty times."

Wilder was stunned.

Wouldn't that mean I could cast Fireball twenty times in a row?

It's too ridiculous.

"Of course, those kinds of staffs are all made by archmages themselves, and they are very rare to see. The ones commonly found on the market can only be charged three times at most."

Wilder nodded, then asked, "Where...?"

"I sell them right here."

As if guessing what he was going to say, Fina immediately chimed in, "The association's staffs are of high quality and highly versatile. They will also be adapted to your needs before you purchase them to ensure that you choose the most suitable one."

"Well……"

Wilder paused for a moment. "What I actually wanted to ask was...where would be a good place for meditation?"

"oh."

Fina sighed softly, "There aren't any special requirements. Just find a quiet place."

"Thank you, I apologize for bothering you, and thank you for your guidance."

Wilder said goodbye and left the room.

Good grief, I almost got scammed again.