Chapter 101 - 100: Please Choose Your Master

Chapter 101: Chapter 100: Please Choose Your Master

Fevik nodded thoughtfully and cast [Pain Shield] again.

A familiar white light enveloped his hands.

The sharp, needle-like pain quickly subsided. Although the icy sensation remained, it was no longer unbearable.

The effect was similar to the first phase.

"About... still around seventy percent."

Fevik nodded in satisfaction and quickly jotted down in her notebook: *Low-temperature stimulus shielding is significant, approx. 70%, comparable to physical piercing pain shielding. Highly practical!*

After she finished writing, her mood was clearly good. "Alright, all tests are complete. The data is ideal!"

[Affinity with Ghostly Half-Elf Fevik QuickThought has increased. Decryption Points +2]

Hesia also let out a long sigh of relief.

’This damn experiment... It’s finally over.’

Fevik didn’t waste any more words. She stretched out her small hand and waved casually toward the wooden rack beside them.

Several wooden staves of varying lengths, thicknesses, and colors lifted from the rack as if pulled by invisible threads, landing on the wooden table in front of them.

"Here. Birch, oak, white waxwood, elm, maple, yew, willow, and black ebony. These are all common staff materials suitable for a new Mage."

"Of course, I also have some more unique staff materials, like cores made from bone, metal, or even the horns of certain Demons. But since this is a gift for you, we won’t consider those."

"Besides, with your current skill level, you wouldn’t be able to handle them anyway."

"Go ahead and take a look for yourself. I need to write something."

With that, she took out a sheet of letter paper and began writing, referring to the contents of her notebook.

Hesia, meanwhile, began to carefully examine the staff materials on the table.

Except for the Black Ebony one, which was clearly a size larger, the other seven staff materials looked quite old. Their surfaces were covered with fine scratches and marks of use, clearly samples that Fevik often used for customer testing.

He suddenly had an idea.

With a thought.

[Labeling Skill]!

The next moment, faint, ethereal text appeared beside each magic staff.

[Birch Staff Material]

Symbolizes rebirth, purification, and protection. Driving out the darkness is my mission! —Gab, a man determined to become the strongest guardian Mage.

[Oak Staff Material]

Affordable and durable. If you don’t feel a connection, don’t force it. —Left by a poor sod who couldn’t tell the difference, just like you.

[White Waxwood Staff Material]

Tough! Powerful! Remember to use Whirlwind Strike before spellcasting! —Milton Zachary, last bastion of the melee-mage build.

[Elm Staff Material]

My tutor says this wood is as brilliant as my head? —A nobody with a secret crush on the Water Magic Master.

[Maple Staff Material]

A good partner for Transmutation magic. The key is that it’s durable, so you won’t cry if you drop it. —Bell, for whom being a Mage is a job, but adventuring is life.

[Yew Staff Material]

Death is eternity... speak my true name... —G’n’rak!#?th’g@lhu

[Willow Staff Material]

Makes Water Magic twice as effective! Coco’s favorite material! When I use it to cast ’Silent Water Magic,’ the water seems to get a little hotter. How strange. —Coco, who doesn’t like dill.

[Black Ebony Staff Material]

Field-tested and proven to have an excellent feel when used to bash goblin skulls. —Personally tested by the Beautiful Girl Great Mage, Fevik QuickThought.

The labels were a motley collection in wildly different styles, clearly left by people who had handled these test staff materials before.

He had basically figured out the principle behind the [Labeling Skill]: casting it could "read" information attached to an object, but to "write" his own label, he had to physically touch the object. Furthermore, if a new label was written, the previous one would disappear.

Hesia’s gaze swept quickly over the labels, finally landing on the description for the last staff material.

"Fevik QuickThought?"

He noticed the familiar name, and his expression turned a bit strange as he looked up at the Half-Elf before him.

Although Half-Elves had longer average lifespans than humans, the one before him... clearly had nothing to do with the word "girl."

Fevik, however, didn’t seem to mind her little quirk being discovered at all. Instead, she said defiantly, "What’s wrong? You think only you young people learn the [Labeling Skill]?"

She pointed at the text and explained, "Most of these are reviews left by previous customers who came for testing. It works out for me. I can’t be bothered to waste my breath explaining things, and it’s much easier to let them see other people’s recommendations."

She paused, then muttered under her breath, "That old codger Bernhard... he really does come up with something useful sometimes."

Looking up and seeing Hesia still studying the labels with great interest, she suddenly frowned. "Speaking of which, as a Mage Apprentice, you haven’t only learned the [Labeling Skill] without learning the [Identification Skill], have you?"

Hesia’s blank expression was all the answer she needed.

"Oh, for heaven’s sake..." Fevik pressed a hand to her forehead in exasperation. "I have no idea what your tutor is teaching you. The [Labeling Skill] is just a parlor trick, extracted from the [Identification Skill] and modified for Muggles who can’t use magic. And you’re treating it like some kind of treasure?"

She casually recited a short, ancient-sounding Spell.

"Listen up. This is a modified Spell I developed myself. It combines the advantages of the [Labeling Skill] and the [Identification Skill]. Since you already know the [Labeling Skill], this should be very easy for you to learn."

The Spell itself wasn’t complex; it was even more refined than any other spell Hesia had learned.

He repeated it after her twice and grasped the knack of channeling Magic Power for it.

[Skill Learned: Identification Skill]

[You have comprehended a new Spellcasting technique!]

[Skill Fusion: Labeling Skill + Identification Skill = Fivik Identification Skill]

A storm of shock surged through Hesia’s mind.

’Skills I’ve already learned can be optimized and fused like this?!’

’More importantly, someone who can casually modify a spell and name it after herself is standing right in front of me!’

’Her identity can’t be as simple as just the owner of a Wand Shop in some remote alley!’

He forcibly suppressed his shock and tried casting the new spell on the pile of staff materials.

[Fivik Identification Skill]!

The structure of the text that appeared before him was completely different.

[Black Ebony Staff Material (Temporary Test Item)]​​

Category: Weapon (Club)

Quality: Common (White)

Description: Taken from the heart of a century-old Black Ebony Wood tree deep within the Gray Mist Forest. It has been shaped, hardened, and treated for Magic Affinity, making it extremely sturdy. Has a negligible amplification effect on spells.

Label: ...

Seeing that Hesia was about to use the spell on every other staff material, Fevik tapped the table impatiently.

"Alright, stop looking! The descriptions for the other staff materials are more or less the same. They just offer a slight boost to different schools of magic! Hurry up and try them out! What’s the use of just looking? The data is just for reference. What’s important is whether the wood is compatible with your own Magic Power!"

"How do I check for compatibility?"

"Simple," Fevik gestured for him to pick up a staff material. "Pick them up one by one and try to infuse a thread of Magic Power into them. If you can clearly feel the Magic Power flowing smoothly inside the wood, and the whole staff material feels like an extension of your arm, then it’s a good fit. Of course, the clearer and stronger that feeling is, the higher the compatibility."

Hesia did as she said, first picking up the birch staff material. He remembered that the ’Imperial Tutor,’ Hain, seemed to use this type of material.

’Purification, huh? I wonder if that Magic Staff can purify its own master.’

He tried to infuse a thread of Magic Power into it.

However, the Magic Power was like hitting an invisible wall, firmly blocked from entering, unable to penetrate in the slightest.

Clearly, birch was not for him.

He picked up the oak, White Waxwood, elm, maple, and yew in turn to try them.

The results were largely the same. The Magic Power either had difficulty entering or flowed sluggishly once inside. A few of them even faintly exuded a repulsive force that made him very uncomfortable.

...until he grasped the Willow Staff Material.

This time, the Magic Power finally flowed smoothly into it.

Hesia could clearly sense that thread of Magic Power flowing slowly through the network of Willow Wood fibers.

He increased the output of his Magic Power. Although he could still feel some awkward resistance, the entire staff material did give him the sensation of becoming a part of his body.

"This one seems to work," Hesia said.

"Don’t be hasty. Try the last one," Fevik gestured for him to continue.

Hesia placed his hand on the heaviest and most lustrously dark staff material, the Black Ebony Wood.

Once again, he guided his Magic Power into it.

In an instant, a completely different feeling washed over him!

The Magic Power surged into the Black Ebony Wood like a stream finding its way home, flowing within it with exceptional ease.

As more Magic Power poured in, Hesia could feel this Magic Staff rapidly becoming a part of his own body.

This feeling... was like gaining an extra, paralyzed arm.