"Cough, cough!"
Gauss ate several pieces of jerky in a row.
Only when warmth began to well up inside him did he finally relax.
Now he had time to think back on what had happened.
He closed his eyes and thought for a long while.
"I just..."
"I went into the quicksand vortex, and then..."
"What happened after that?"
Gauss muttered to himself, looking even more bewildered.
He'd discovered that he'd lost all memory of what happened after he entered it.
Theron thought he was talking to him and spread his hands.
You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?
Still, he had a rough idea of what was going on.
"Captain? Did you lose your memory?"
"Yes." Gauss nodded. "I only remember jumping in, and then what happened after I came out."
"I have no idea what happened in there."
Theron, the Half-snake person, shook his head. "Something must have happened, right?"
"Captain, you climbed back up on your own just now. Maybe you were trying to get away from something?"
Gauss nodded thoughtfully.
Then his gaze suddenly shifted to the Bone Staff beside him.
"Huh?" he exclaimed.
The changes to the Bone Staff were obvious. Not only had its length and shape changed, but a flawless white gem was set into the end of its handle.
It looked exquisite and beautiful, and had become a true wand in every sense of the word.
"What happened to my staff?"
He swung it a couple of times.
The wand felt much more comfortable in his hand now.
Besides, it no longer made sense to call it a Bone Staff. It had lost its jointed shape and was now a smooth wand, as lustrous as jade.
Then he'd call it the White Wand.
"Captain, this is how your wand looked