()°Materials for a Wand's Core
"..."
"..."
Frieren and Fern stared in shock at the ball of light hovering inside the carriage.
Of course, they weren't shocked by the magic Annie had cast. That kind of illumination spell wasn't rare. Both Frieren and Fern knew similar spells, and theirs might even have been brighter and stronger.
The real shock was that Annie had smoothly cast, with very little magic, a spell that the two of them had tried many times but had never managed to use successfully. That was what mattered most!
"Wow!"
"W-what kind of wand is that?"
Fern compared the elegant wand in Annie's hand with the clunky piece of wood in her own and immediately realized that what Annie had said might well be true. She didn't even have time to think about the fact that Annie could use magic, and went straight to reaching for Annie's wand, eager to try it.
"How can it be so small?"
"Is it a short wand?"
"It's so tiny. How can it handle powerful spells?"
Fern knew about short wands, of course, but she had never seen one as small as the one Annie was holding.
In this world, most wands were either the excellent kind used by powerful mages, like her teacher's, with their magical gemstones, or apprentice wands like her own, made entirely from a single piece of magic-conductive wood.
That was because a wand had to be big and long enough to bear certain spells. Otherwise, even a surge or a boil of magical energy might shatter it before the spell could be cast.
"Annie!"
"Let me try it!"
As she spoke, she reached out without so much as a hint of politeness, intending to take the wand from Annie and try one of the Hogwarts School