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The calendar of Shimulir had 360 days in a year. The year was divided into twelve months, and each month was split into weeks. A week consisted of seven days, which were named sequentially after the Six Gods.
Specifically, Monday, the Day of Origin, was named after the Earth Mother Goddess Traia, who was rumored to have created this world. Tuesday, the Day of Order, belonged to Taita, the God of Order who ruled and maintained order in the world. Wednesday, the Day of Awakening, belonged to Herheim, the Goddess of Life who brought vitality and vigor to the world. Thursday, the Day of Harvest, was dedicated to Mitchester, the God of Hunting, who symbolized freedom and the hunt. Friday, the Day of Baptism, was for Sotto, the God of War, who presided over smithing and the flames of war. Finally, Saturday, the Day of Enlightenment, belonged to Wisos, the God of Wisdom, who symbolized mysteries and wisdom.
As for the seventh day, it was the Sabbath, the day when the gods rested.
Mente Town,
On the Day of Enlightenment (Saturday).
There were no classes at the preparatory school on this day.
While many establishments only took a holiday on the Sabbath, it was more common to have both the Day of Enlightenment and the Sabbath off together. For instance, the preparatory school operated on a five-day school week with a two-day weekend.
Taking advantage of the holiday, Shulim and Collette arrived at their meeting place.
Mente Town's only magic item shop—the Foxtail Magic Item Shop.
“Student Shulim, you've arrived so early~! There's still quite a bit of time before our scheduled appointment, isn't there?”
Collette had changed into casual attire today, looking just like any ordinary lady out shopping, though she still carried her wand with her.
“Hello, Teacher Collette. It's just that my home is rather far from here, so I left early and ended up arriving ahead of time. Also, I'll be in your care today.”
Shulim replied politely.
As mentioned before, the Hayeral estate was located on the southeastern outskirts of Mente Town, while this sole magic item shop in town happened to be on the northwestern edge. In other words, Shulim had to cross the entire town to get here.
Although the preparatory school was also located in the northwest of the town, its position was essentially near the town center, so Shulim usually only had to walk about half of today's distance.
“Alright, no time to lose. Let's head inside!”
With that, Collette took the lead and walked toward the magic item shop.
Tinkle~!
The wind chime at the entrance made a crisp sound.
“Welcome! How may I help you two today?”
The moment they stepped inside, a young woman greeted them with a warm, welcoming smile.
Shulim looked around.
Spacious, bright, clean, and tidy, with a warm and friendly shop assistant—it was hard to believe that two completely opposite kinds of shops could exist in the same small town.
It really wasn't without reason that the stingy old man had no business.
As she was thinking this, Collette had already struck up a conversation with the assistant.
“We're looking to purchase a wand. Do you have any?”
“A wand? Of course we do. Please follow me, ladies.”
The clerk led the two deeper into the shop.
Even before they drew close, Shulim could already sense multiple fluctuations of mana coming from that direction.
“These are all...”
Shulim's eyes lit up slightly. In the depths of the magic item shop, behind a transparent counter against the wall, wands of various shapes and designs were on display.
“Oh~! Not bad! This shop actually has some pretty good wands!”
Collette praised. Before coming here, she had worried whether a decent wand would even be for sale in such a small town.
“Thank you for your praise, ma'am. Our shop was established here during the development of the Mente mine. Since there were many security tasks to guard the mine at the time, it attracted a large number of adventurers, creating a high demand for such equipment. As a result, both the quality and quantity of our wands are superior compared to those in average towns.”
“Although the depletion of the Mente mine's resources in recent years led to a sharp decline in demand, we have kept a substantial inventory of wands for various reasons. While I cannot guarantee we have the absolute perfect wand you desire, we should certainly have one that is suitable.”
“Oh~, quite confident, aren't you? Then how about you bring out a wand suitable for a Second-Tier or Third-Tier mage for us to look at? You have those, right?”
Seeing how confident the clerk was, Collette decided she wanted to test one out.
“Of course.”
The clerk nodded with a smile.
“What type of wand would you like to see, ma'am?”
“Hmm... Student Shulim, what kind of wand do you want?”
Collette turned back and asked Shulim.
Shulim thought for a moment, then looked up and said:
“I don't know much about wands. Do you have any recommendations, Teacher Collette?”
“Is that so? Let me think... You currently have Fire, Light, and Non-Elemental affinities... In that case, I recommend you choose a Fire-attributed wand.”
The reason Collette recommended a Fire-attributed wand directly was not because she wanted Shulim to walk a single-element path, but rather because of the nature of wands themselves.
Among the seven basic elements of Shimulir, Non-Elemental was typically considered the exclusive domain of warrior classes, so individuals with this affinity did not use wands; they usually wielded physical weapons like swords.
Besides Non-Elemental, the Light and Dark elements were also highly unique. The number of people possessing these two affinities was overwhelmingly low compared to the other five elements—so few that they were rarely ever seen in daily life.
Furthermore, it was worth noting that once Light magic reached the Third-Tier, healing spells would begin to appear. Consequently, Light magic was also regarded as healing magic, and most individuals whose Light talent reached C-Class or higher would be recruited by the Seven Heavens Church to become clerical candidates.
The wands they used were also different from those of the four natural elements, consisting mostly of holy wands that could enhance healing magic. Such holy wands were almost exclusively controlled by the Church, making them virtually unseen among the populace.
As for the other, Dark magic, while there was no centralized organization like the Church, Dark spells of C-Class and above would also feature curse-type spells. Combined with the fact that most Dark magic leaned toward concealment, users of Dark magic generally preferred to operate in secret.
Under these circumstances, a prominent wand like those of the four natural elements was obviously unsuitable. Hence, Dark-attributed wands were almost always extremely compact—so tiny that they could be hidden on one's body. In many cases, by the time other people realized the user's identity when they drew their wand from their breast pocket, it was already too late.
“A Fire-attributed wand... Miss Clerk, could you bring one out for me to look at?”
Shulim pondered for a moment and looked up at the clerk, intending to make a judgment only after testing one in practice.
“Certainly, please wait a moment, miss!”
The clerk replied with a smile, then turned to walk behind the counter and took down a wand with a red magic crystal embedded in its tip.
“Please have a look, miss.”
The clerk handed the wand to Shulim.
Shulim took the wand and weighed it in her hand. It felt slightly heavy, and a warm sensation emanated from her palm. The length was a bit too long compared to her current height, but it should be just about right in another two years.
“May I try it out?”
Shulim looked up at the clerk again and asked.
“Of course. There is an empty courtyard behind the shop. If you would like to try it, please follow me.”
The clerk led Shulim and Collette to the courtyard behind the shop.
Glancing around the courtyard and finding it spacious enough, Shulim raised the wand while looking over at Collette.
Collette advised, “Just activate it like you normally use magic, but visualize the spell launching from the tip of the wand.”
“I understand, Teacher Collette.”
Shulim nodded and focused her mind on the wand in her hand.
Should I use Second-Tier magic? No... Let's start by trying a First-Tier spell first. I can always test a Second-Tier spell later.
With this in mind, Shulim rapidly chanted her spell.
And the very moment she began chanting, Shulim discovered the difference from chanting without a wand; she felt her mind become much clearer, her concentration sharpen, and even her thought processes speed up considerably.
“【ᛓᚠᛟᚾᚲתᛖᛜᚢᚪᛖᛡᛞᚠᛟᛃᛜᚣᚲ 】”
“Ignition!”
Whoosh!
A ball of fire ignited at the tip of the wand, its casting speed at least a third faster than usual.
Watching the spell manifest, Shulim noticed other differences. First was the consumption of mana; although First-Tier spells consumed a miniscule amount of mana for her now, she could still feel that it took slightly less mana than usual.
Second was the power; the size of this flame was noticeably larger than when she cast it barehanded. If the First-Tier Ignition Shulim cast before was somewhere between a flame and a fireball, this one could now be fully considered a fireball.
The effects of a wand... were truly astonishing.
Rate on N.U.
