Roland was genuinely curious about just what the gift Pollas had mentioned would be.
Only after the wedding ended and the banquet began, when Pollas invited Roland behind the hall for a private conversation, did Roland see him take out a mage staff fashioned from a tree branch.
The staff was plain and unadorned, but its wood brimmed with the rhythms of life, as though it were alive.
"Is this a branch of Tiniara?"
Roland immediately recognized its origin.
Of all the divine trees in Lainer World, this was the most precious and extraordinary.
When his gaze fell on the fist-sized gemstone at the tip of the staff, he was even more astonished.
The gemstone before him constantly radiated a soft glow.
Though not bright, that glow seemed to possess a power that penetrated the heart, resonating with the mind.
"This is..."
Roland could not resist reaching out.
At once, boundless magical power surged toward him.
Roland felt as though he had plunged his hand into an ocean, as though he possessed infinite magical power!
"This is Lainer World's magic crystal mother lode, a wondrous object containing the essence of an entire world's ley lines. It is something that truly deserves to be called a 'source of magic'!
"The value of this single stone cannot be measured in money. It is genuinely priceless.
"I named it the 'Star of Lainer'!"
Pollas introduced it solemnly.
"This is far too precious."
Coming to his senses, Roland spoke with lingering astonishment.
Pollas said, "It was refined from this world's magic crystal veins and contains the wellspring of an entire world's magical power.
"Holding this staff grants its wielder vast magical power comparable to being in direct contact with those veins. For an individual, it is effectively limitless!
"This is a treasure on par