Magic Staff

"Brother..."

That night, in the rest room beside the dwarf laboratory, Richard woke from his stupor several times, each time calling out for his brother.

"It's alright, it's alright. Master Ada said you'll recover soon. You'll be able to start training again before you know it."

Donald had been watching over Richard the whole time. Under the combined effects of Dean Devis's potions and Adarua's Orange Healing Potions, his injuries were no longer life-threatening, though his palms were still badly swollen.

Richard stayed awake for a while, then fell back asleep to Donald's soothing words.

"Donald, you should get some rest too. There's still the competition tomorrow. I can take care of Richard here." Kelly still had her arm in a sling with a splint, but aside from that, she could move freely.

The tournament hadn't ended until dusk. Donald didn't return to the academy's assigned lodgings but instead came with Kelly to the dwarf laboratory. Before they arrived, Adarua had already given Richard proper treatment.

As a delegate sent to the Middle Continent responsible for the ambassador's safety, Adarua clearly had extensive experience in emergency care. The healing potions he carried were no doubt extremely precious. Without his brutal training beforehand and his timely treatment afterward, Richard would have been in grave danger.

Donald sat for a while longer. The gnome sisters crept in from outside, tiptoeing over to Richard's bedside. Adarua must have told them to keep quiet so they wouldn't disturb Richard's rest, worried they'd chatter too much. But the dwarf's instructions had been interpreted by the two sisters as sneaking around.

Watching their cautious, furtive movements, Donald suddenly thought of something and beckoned the sisters out of the rest room.

"Did the last experiment results come out?"

"Ah! We were just about to tell you! Adding two-thousandths of Fine Steel to Devil King Light Iron doubled its strength!" Ailimanda said.

"Yes, yes! And adding three-thousandths of Mithril made it even stronger. Too bad... the cost is much higher." Ailimiya added.

"Doubled again? So it's much harder than ordinary iron now? Would this material be useful for mining?" Donald asked.

"Mhm! Much harder than iron, only a third of the weight, and not expensive. But we've never been to a mine, so we don't know if it's useful."

"Yes, yes, we've never been to a mine. Miya thinks it should be useful though. Can we send the research results back?"

"Of course." Donald answered readily. This research was completed in the dwarf laboratory, so it rightfully belonged to the dwarves. He paused, then continued, "I'd like to ask you both for a favor, alright?"

The gnome sisters agreed happily without even asking what it was.

Donald carefully drew several blueprints and handed them to the gnome sisters.

"It's best to use a harder material. If you can make it entirely from Dwarf Fine Steel, that would be ideal. Can you finish it tonight?"

"Sure! We'll definitely finish it tonight!" Ailimanda said cheerfully, clearly excited by the intricate blueprints.

"Yes, yes, we'll finish it! Donald the Great Demon King, what exactly is this thing?" Ailimiya seemed even more curious than her sister.

"...A magic staff." Donald replied.

"Wow, Miya, we're making a magic staff!"

"It's Donald the Great Demon King's magic staff!"

The gnome sisters' eyes went wide as they exchanged a look, then bounced off to start the machines.

Thinking about how he'd put two child laborers to work on a personal project, Donald felt a bit embarrassed, but the sisters hadn't complained at all.

Even though he was exhausted, Donald still spent over an hour completing his meditation.

While Donald meditated, Kelly, who was watching over Richard, just stared at him dumbly.

In just over half a year, this young man had already accomplished so many incredible things. He was already a remarkable Magic Apprentice, and had even miraculously killed a peak Squire in direct combat. And judging by how Adarua and the gnome sisters treated him today, he clearly wasn't just some simple worker in this laboratory. It was obvious that her grandfather's family's recent specialization in dwarf weapons was thanks to his efforts.

For the first time, Kelly stared at the young man's peaceful face from so close, without restraint, and felt a strange sensation. The Donald before her no longer seemed like the shy, quiet boy in her heart. He was far more outstanding than the one she had imagined.

That boy who sat quietly in the blacksmith shop, smiling as he listened to her talk, had been the repository of her youthful feelings. He was so wonderful, even if a little gentle.

But the Donald in front of her now already had a chest and arms she could safely lean on. Though, in front of him, she felt so fragile, it was precisely this feeling of being able to accept his protection that made her heart flutter with happiness.

Lost in these girlish thoughts, Donald suddenly snapped awake, clutching his head as if in pain. This was the pain Donald experienced every time he meditated, a pain that slowly tempered his character, making the heart beneath his easygoing exterior more resolute.

Kelly only knew Donald had been meditating; she didn't know why he suddenly showed such a pained expression. In her panic, she rushed to Donald's side, knelt, and hugged him.

"It's fine. It's a natural reaction when Spiritual Power grows." Donald patted Kelly's back gently, whispering to comfort her.

Still worried, Kelly held him tightly, her beautiful hair brushing against Donald's nose.

Breathing in the unique fragrance of a girl's hair, Donald felt the pain ease.

"I can't let you bear everything alone... Kelly has to become strong too..."

Saying this, Kelly actually started crying. She suddenly felt her earlier thoughts had been too selfish. Yes, she had to become strong too. She couldn't let him face everything alone while she just hid on the sidelines like today.

"Mhm, Kelly will become a dashing Female Knight." Donald said with a smile, his lips brushing against her hair.

Morning. When Donald woke up, the first thing he saw was an exquisitely crafted magic staff.

Made of an unknown light gray material that faintly shimmered with a dark blue light, the staff was engraved with mysterious patterns. The grip had deeper cross-hatched lines for traction. With a slight twist, the handle rotated with just the right amount of resistance, clearly machined with extreme precision.

But the whole staff was very light, not like it was made of Dwarf Fine Steel.

Seeing Donald's puzzled expression, the gnome sisters grinned proudly. Their cute faces showed obvious exhaustion, clearly having stayed up all night.

"Miya, I told you the Great Demon King wouldn't guess what material we used. Oh, and Miya insisted on carving the patterns, so now there's no room for a Magic Array. That's not my fault."

"Hmph! Didn't you say it would be too ugly bare? You're in charge of the lab's materials, and you only prepared so little Mithril. This time we only used a quarter Mithril, and you're blaming me."

"A quarter Mithril? That's far too expensive!" Donald couldn't help exclaiming. Mages only used Mithril, which could bond with all Magic Elements, on the most critical parts of magical devices. And now, these two little ones had used that much Mithril to make such a simple magic staff. It was outrageously wasteful.

"Mother said this lab has a budget of twenty thousand magic crystals a year. Over these past few months, aside from buying materials, we haven't spent much at all, and we've already produced such amazing results. Too bad there wasn't enough time to buy more, or we would have used half Mithril to match the Great Demon King's status!"

"Right, right! Mother also said that if we produce results, we can increase the budget. Once we send back the Devil King Light Iron data, it'll definitely earn us quite a bit more funding. These Mithril cost less than half the budget, so you don't need to worry about not having enough money. Oh, and also, Mother said that on the Middle-earth continent, this lab has the highest standards, which is why we genius engineers get to be your assistants." When Ailimiya said "genius engineers," she didn't blush at all.

Twenty thousand Magic Crystals?! Hearing that number, Donald almost felt dizzy. As far as he knew, Tris Magic Academy's annual Magic Crystal quota was only around ten thousand. This small lab under his charge actually had a bigger budget than the massive magic academy—no wonder they'd managed to gather so many types of metal so quickly when he'd asked them to prepare various metals earlier.

"Forget it, I won't inscribe the Magic Array for now. Why did you prepare so much Mithril in the lab?" Donald said as he stroked the Magic Staff in his hand. From Ailimiya's tone just now, this thing had cost several thousand Magic Crystals, and Donald suddenly felt it become extraordinarily heavy.

"Because Mother said Donald is a Mage, and we thought Mages must need a lot of Mithril."

"And shipping it from home is too slow—we were afraid of delaying things, so we prepared extra. If we don't use it, we can return it."

Donald only then remembered that the Extreme North Country, besides producing Magic Crystals, was also a major source of Mithril. The Gnomes' purchase price for Mithril was likely much cheaper than on the Middle-earth continent. Calculating this way, the price of this Mithril on the Hells Continent was probably even more staggering than he'd imagined.

The reality was indeed the case. Even in the Extreme North Country, Mithril output was extremely low, and with export restrictions, its price on the Middle-earth continent was more than ten times what the Gnome sisters thought it was. Yet even so, demand still outstripped supply.

This legendary, most magical material, besides being magic-friendly and lightweight, also possessed physical properties far harder than other metals. Even adding a tiny bit of Mithril to ordinary steel could yield performance close to Dwarf Fine Steel.

And the Magic Staff before him, made from Dwarf Fine Steel mixed with a quarter Mithril, had reached an unimaginable level of strength. It was probably capable of matching most divine weapons if used as a weapon itself.

Faced with such goodwill from the Gnome sisters, Donald had no choice but to accept this overly extravagant gift. Holding the Magic Staff, he found Adarua, and the two studied it outside for quite a while. Even the Dwarf couldn't help but praise Donald's genius in natural history.

"How did you come up with that? A Magic Staff without an inscribed Magic Array—pretty interesting."

After breakfast, Kelly was left behind to take care of Richard, while the Gnome sisters, at Adarua's insistence, stayed in the lab to sleep. Adarua, responsible for their safety, naturally remained as well. Before Donald left, Kelly repeatedly urged him to be careful.

By the time Donald arrived at the Martial Magic Tournament venue, the competition hadn't started yet, but all the magic academy students were already seated. In the very front row of the academy, Lucia sat conspicuously among the professors, with Crimson Knights leader Kaz beside her.

"I heard about yesterday's events. Be careful today." When Lucia saw Donald, she immediately walked over, her face showing undisguised worry. Kaz followed her like a shadow.

"Mm, I'll be careful," Donald replied softly.

Lucia suddenly didn't know what else to say, but she wasn't willing to let Donald go just like that. She stood foolishly in front of him, and he quietly waited for her to speak. Under everyone's watchful eyes, the atmosphere between them quickly grew awkward.

"Good fight yesterday!" With a faint blush already spreading across her face, Lucia forced out one sentence before returning to her seat with Kaz.