novelnext Chapter 30 Charging
Chapter 30 Charging
When Wilder emerged from the Spirit Forging Hall, it was already completely dark.
If it weren't for Baggins' incessant talking about his younger self, he probably would have already had dinner by now.
Back at the Colt Inn, the tavern on the first floor was busiest at that time.
Wilder glanced around the hall and didn't find Talia among the diners; she must have already eaten.
He found a corner table with only one person and sat down.
"What do you want to eat tonight?"
Seeing that Wilder was eating dinner alone again tonight, Ella's tone was noticeably lighter.
"Beef gravy with potatoes, a serving of roasted root vegetables, rye bread, and a cup of hot cider."
"You ate so little today?" Ella blinked.
"Hmm... I've been managing my figure lately."
"You've got a great body," Ella said, boldly scanning him over. "Here's a serving of marinated beef, on my treat."
Thanks.
Wilder smiled gratefully.
After spending ten gold coins, his entire fortune was once again less than one gold coin, and he returned to a life of careful budgeting.
After dinner, Wilder went straight upstairs to his room.
He lit the oil lamp and held the staff in his hand.
Ironwood has a natural grayish-white base and a surface that is not finely polished, but it feels very solid and heavy in the hand.
The top of the staff is inlaid with a ruby the size of a quail egg, which is dark in color and of average quality.
The staff was about two and a half feet long, much shorter than Fina's, but it was sturdy and durable.
Wilder even thought that even without casting spells, hitting someone with this thing would probably hurt quite a bit.
He sat on the bed, placed the staff flat on his knees, and stared at the crystal on the staff's head.
Baggins said the staff could be charged once, which was why he bought it.
Wilder took a deep breath, placed his hands on the ruby, and slowly channeled the magic power within his body.
As with normal spellcasting, you first gather mana in your palm, but before outlining the spell's structure, there's an additional step of injecting mana into the crystal.
As a faint white light seeped into the crystal, the ruby emitted a soft glow.
That's about enough.
He began to outline the structure of the spell.
The grease spell is relatively concealed, and as a control spell, it is less noticeable to enemies. Therefore, Wilder chose a more lethal spell.
[Burning Hand]
He had used this spell many times before, and he knew every node and every path of mana flow by heart.
However, etching the structure into a crystal and temporarily constructing it during spellcasting are two completely different things.
One is in one's familiar mind, while the other is inside a crystal outside the body.
As the spell was infused into the crystal, he could sense the crystal's internal space, which was vast and chaotic, like a piece of uncarved clay waiting to be shaped.
Start.
The magical energy flowed slowly within the crystal along the path projected by the brain, outlining its structural form.
Compared to sketching directly in one's mind, this process is slower and consumes more magical energy.
No wonder staves that preserve spells can fetch astronomical prices; this trade not only has technical barriers but is also physically demanding.
One by one, the nodes inside the crystal lit up, and the paths extended one after another.
Finally, when the mana returned to its original starting point, a closed-loop spell structure was completed.
The ruby on the tip of the staff flashed briefly before quickly falling silent again.
The whole process took a full hour, which was more tiring than casting the spell three times in a row.
"call."
Wilder let out a long breath, gently grasped the staff in his right hand, and raised it.
A faint fluctuation of magical power traveled from the crystal to the staff, causing his palm to itch slightly.
He could sense that with just a slight activation of his magic power, the crystal could instantly unleash a burning hand.
Instantaneous.
I'll try it when I get the chance.
……
The next morning.
When Wilde came downstairs, Talia was already sitting in the corner of the hall.
There were two earthenware bowls in front of her; one bowl only had traces of oatmeal porridge left, and the other was half-eaten.
"morning."
Wilder sat down opposite her and ordered two slices of black bread and a fried egg, which cost fifty copper coins.
"Good morning."
Talia swallowed a mouthful of porridge, pursed her glistening lips, and then responded.
With plenty of sleep and food, her complexion improved significantly, and her fair, porcelain-like cheeks glowed with a healthy radiance.
Wilder took a bite of bread, his face contorted in pain.
Dry and brittle.
He glanced at Talia's bowl and regretted not ordering oatmeal.
Just then, Talia's gaze was also fixed on him.
She stood up, went to the front desk and bought another bowl of sweet oatmeal porridge, then brought it back and placed it on the table.
Wilder was stunned, not expecting that this silly girl could see through his thoughts.
Then, Talia put the spoon into the freshly served porridge, scooped a spoonful into her mouth, and began to drink her third bowl of porridge that morning.
Wilder: "..."
Fine.
"Are you going to the association to pick up tasks again today?" he asked.
"Okay, go."
"Together?"
"it is good."
She nodded, then added, "Each person takes on one task."
"no problem."
Wilder smiled.
After breakfast, the two went to the Adventurers' Guild together.
Wilder has already completed three easy-level quests: the Kobolds, the Giant Spiders, and the Phase Spiders.
The gnoll wrote that note on the head of that unfortunate berserker named Cass.
In addition to one beginner gathering quest, there are a total of four.
It will take six more attempts to receive the association's Black Iron Badge.
Wilder plans to complete all remaining mission attempts by collecting plants before Cyril and Lyle recover.
"Before becoming a civil servant in the association, I'm afraid I'll have to become a botanist first."
In front of the notice board in the association's lobby, Wilder muttered something to himself.
Meanwhile, Talia was squatting at the very front of the bulletin board, intently selecting the types of plants she would collect that day.
"Wild, I choose this one."
She took down a task list for "Collecting Morning Dew Violets" and pointed to the parchment next to her.
"You choose this one."
Wilder glanced at the list; he was assigned to [collecting cloud-like cherry blossoms].
Both plants are located between A.11 and A.15.
"OK."
Wilder bent down to take the list and went with Talia to the front desk to register.
After the two of them left, a skinny man with an unremarkable appearance pushed through the crowd in front of the bulletin board and ran to a corner of the association's hall.
"Boss, they're going from A11 to A15."
"Did you see it clearly?"
A man over two meters tall leaned against the wall and asked in a gruff voice.
"Yes, you definitely didn't see wrong."
"Then what are you standing there for?"
The man straightened up from the wall and strode toward the association's main gate.
"Let's go! Let's wait for our rabbit."
The giant axe, a meter long, clashed against the thick armor on his back.
It made a rustling sound.