Chapter 27: New Opponent

“Alright, Miss Corit.”

Shulim took the wooden magic wand in her hand. It felt light and easy to swing—well, of course, it was made of wood after all.

Looking up from the bottom end of the wand, she noticed that its tip wasn’t as straight as the shaft. Instead, it curved into a semicircular arc, as if something could be hung there.

Seeing the puzzlement in Shulim’s eyes, the shop assistant added from the side, “Ah, as for that shape, rumor has it that the craftsman who made this wand originally wanted to inlay a magic crystal at the tip. But no matter what crystal he tried, it would disrupt the internal attribute balance of the wand. In the end, it was best to leave it empty.”

“So, that’s why it looks like this.”

A balanced attribute, huh… Well, let’s see if it really doesn’t reject any attribute.

Thinking this, Shulim raised the wand.

“【WPタ+nMonF.】”

“Flame.”

After a while, Shulim finished her experiment, quite satisfied with the wand’s performance. Whether it was fire, light, or non-attributed magic, the wand’s feedback felt exactly the same. Although it wasn’t convenient to test other attributes here, she figured the results would be similar.

“Shulim, how’s that wand?” Corit asked curiously.

Shulim nodded in response, “Yes, this wand suits me well. Its casting speed and mana efficiency are decent. The increase in magic power isn’t very high though—the amplification is less than the previous two wands.”

“Ah, about that…” the shop assistant interjected again.

“As I mentioned before, since this wand can’t be fitted with a magic amplification crystal, it offers compatibility with all attributes but loses out on strong amplification for any single one.”

“I see.”

To gain something is to lose something, after all…

“Um, if you’re concerned, you can try some other wands too,” the shop assistant said, “but most of the others are geared towards amplifying specific attributes…”

Shulim fell silent, pondering. Should she choose versatility, or pick one that amplifies a single attribute for a trump card?

“That’s true,” Corit chimed in, “choosing a wand requires caution. The strongest isn’t always the best; the key is whether it suits you. If you really can’t decide, following your intuition or preferences is a good way too. After all, the wand that appeals to you is sure to answer your expectations.”

Answer my expectations…

Shulim quietly looked at the wand in her hand, which looked just like a stick.

That’s right—hadn’t she already made her choice? The path she wanted to take was one of versatility. Since that’s the case, why chase after the power of a single attribute? And besides… being versatile is a trump card in itself.

“I’ve made my decision, Miss Corit. I’ll take this wand.”

Ding-ling~!

“Thank you for visiting! Please come again!”

With the shop assistant seeing her off politely, Shulim hugged her new wand and left the magic tool shop. Although it took quite some time, she had learned a lot in the process. Most importantly…

She finally had her own wand.

“Ahaha~! Shulim, you look like you never want to let go of that wand!” Corit teased from the side.

Shulim glanced silently at Corit, her gaze falling on the wand that never left her teacher’s side.

Feels like Miss Corit isn’t really in a position to say that about me…

“Sigh, by the looks of it, you can’t wait to find a place to try out your new wand, can you?”

“Well, in that case, Shulim, why don’t you head home for today?”

“Huh? But Miss Corit, aren’t you going to do the home visit today?”

Shulim looked at Corit in surprise.

“A home visit… don’t make it sound so serious. It’s just a casual drop-in! That can happen anytime. More importantly, you should get to know your wand better. Don’t worry about me.”

“Um…”

Shulim hesitated for a moment, but eventually agreed.

“Then… tomorrow? Is tomorrow okay for you, Miss Corit?”

“I’m fine tomorrow. But Shulim, is today enough for you?”

Shulim nodded. “No problem! I’ll get familiar with my wand today!”

After all, there’s someone helping me.

“In that case, if you’re sure, then… see you tomorrow, alright?”

“See you tomorrow, Miss Corit.”

Inside the forest.

“Sigh~, so this is your wand, huh?”

Semiris examined Shulim’s new wand with a peculiar expression and a distinctly deadpan tone.

“If you have something to say, just say it.”

“Alright, I’ll be frank! This stick is honestly so weak. Is this really a wand? Who’d use a random wooden stick as a wand, anyway!”

Shulim: “…That was harsh.”

“Enough, Semiris, stop it. It’s my fault for expecting anything nice from you. That was like two hits in one.”

“Two? Why two?”

“No reason!”

Shulim snatched her wand back from Semiris.

“Geez, stingy!”

Seeing her empty hands, Semiris pouted.

Shulim didn’t care at all, checking her wand for any damage from Semiris’s handling, while saying:

“A tree wand isn’t just some random stick. It’s made from the trunk of a Mist Swamp Dryad. It might not be strong, but it’s the best fit for me right now, and it’s a rare all-attribute universal wand.”

Since it was crafted from a dryad, Shulim named the wand the Tree Wand.

“You’re right—Shulim, even if you had a powerful wand, you probably couldn’t use it properly yet!” Semiris seemed to realize.

“But how much does this stick… uh, I mean Tree Wand, actually boost you right now?”

“Well…” Shulim replied, “I tested it a bit in the shop. The magic amplification isn’t great—about a ten percent increase. But since it works the same for all attributes, that’s acceptable. As for spellcasting speed and mana savings, they’re about the same as other wands.”

“I plan to do some tests today to see the details.”

Semiris nodded. “Sure, go ahead and get used to it.”

With Semiris’s agreement, Shulim started practicing with her new wand.

She focused her mind and channeled mana into the wand, then quickly recited spells.

【APRFTOK’MIMIF O’A‘R’N.MyNnM.TMM】”

“Water Arrow!”

【Brnク※。MMNFM’N※○CTX‘+BF·APyH·MA”N4】

“Stone Shot!”

” 【 BPT4oNPTM*ATPK이M+PK야PM[야”RA】 “

“Featherlight!”

“

】’

“Invisibility.”

After a while, with much of her mana consumed and traces of spent magic lingering around, Shulim sat down to recover her mana and reflect.

After all the spell tests, she had a solid grasp of the Tree Wand’s effects. There was no concrete way to measure mental focus, but spellcasting speed had increased by about a quarter, and mana consumption dropped by about twenty percent.

This kind of improvement might not show in a single spell, but in situations requiring lots of magic, the effect would be obvious.

Besides getting a clear understanding of the Tree Wand’s universal boost to all elemental spells, she was also getting more skilled at using it—the initial awkwardness was gone.

A few more days and she’d have it fully mastered.

Noticing Shulim had stopped practicing and her mana was almost recovered, Semiris said, “Looks like you’ve got the hang of it.”

Shulim nodded, then stood up. “I guess so. By the way, Semiris, what are we dealing with today?”

Since the wand practice was done and her mana was back, it was time to start actual combat training.

“Well, today’s opponent isn’t a monster.”

“Not a monster?”

“Yeah… Funny thing, Shulim, you just got a universal wand, right?”

“And today’s opponent also happens to have universal resistance to all attributes~!”

Universal resistance? Just what kind of opponent is that?

Crack! Crack! Crack…

While Shulim was still wondering, strange sounds came from the jungle behind her.

Turning to look in the direction of the noise, she saw a dull-gray humanoid construct, seemingly carved from rock.

“Beep beep beep! Intruder detected, commencing purge!”

The humanoid stone construct had a glowing orb embedded in its head. The orb spun erratically at first, but when it locked onto Shulim, its gaze seemed to fixate on her.

So that’s it…

This really doesn’t count as a monster.

It’s a Golem!