“Right away, Ms. Colette.”

  Hulim took the wooden wand. It was light and well-balanced in her hand, easy to swing around—unsurprising, given that it was made of wood.

  She ran her eyes along its length from base to tip. Unlike the straight shaft of the wand, the tip curved into a smooth semicircle, as if it had been designed to hold something.

  Seeming to notice her puzzled glance, the shop assistant chimed in with an explanation. “Oh, that design? I heard the artisan who made it tried to inlay a magic crystal at the tip. But turns out, any crystal would disrupt the wand’s internal elemental balance. As it turns out, leaving it plain was the best option.”

  The result was the simple, unadorned wand she held now.

  Balance for all elements...... Then let’s see if it really lives up to its claim of no elemental resistance.

  Hulim thought to herself, lifting the wand in her hand.

  “【??????????......】”

  “Flames, heed my call......”

  After a few minutes of testing, Hulim lowered the wand, a satisfied look on her face. Whether she cast fire, light, or non-elemental magic, the wand felt exactly the same—smooth, unobstructed mana flow. She couldn’t test the other elements here, but she suspected the result would be identical.

  “Hulim, how do you like this wand?”

  Colette asked, leaning in curiously.

  Hulim nodded in approval. “It’s perfect. It gives a decent boost to casting speed and mana efficiency, but the power amplification isn’t all that impressive—not as strong as the previous two wands, anyway.”

  “Ah, about that......”

  The assistant spoke up again.

  “As I mentioned earlier, since we can’t embed any power-amplifying magic crystals in this wand without ruining its balance, it trades off raw elemental power for compatibility with all affinities. No strengths, no weaknesses.”

  “I see.”

  So it’s a case of gains and losses, then......

  Hulim mused silently.

  “Um, if you’re not satisfied, we can certainly try other options! Though I should warn you—all our other wands are specialized for specific elements......”

  Hulim fell into thought. What should she choose? Should she go for all-around versatility, or single-element power to use as an ace in the hole?

  “Take your time deciding, Hulim. The strongest wand isn’t always the best one. What matters most is whether it suits you. If you’re stuck, go with your gut— a wand that speaks to you will never let you down.”

  A wand that speaks to me......

  Hulim stared down at the plain wooden wand in her hand.

  Her choice had been clear from the start, hadn’t it? She’d always aimed to walk the path of an omnipotent mage. There was no point in chasing raw power for a single element when versatility was her greatest strength.

  “I’ve made up my mind, Ms. Colette. I’ll take this one.”

  ......

  ......

  Jingle~!

  “Thanks for coming! Do visit us again!”

  With the assistant’s polite farewell ringing in their ears, Hulim left the shop, clutching her new wand tightly to her chest. The trip had taken longer than expected, but she’d learned a great deal about wands—and more importantly......

  She now had a wand of her own.

  “Hahaha~! You look absolutely smitten with it, Hulim~!”

  Colette teased, grinning at her obvious fondness for the wand.

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

  “......”

  Hulim shot Colette a flat look, her eyes drifting to the wand that never left Colette’s side.

  Somehow, she doubted Colette had any right to tease her.

  “Heh, I can practically see you itching to find a quiet spot to test it out, can’t I?”

  “Alright then—off you go. You can head home for today.”

  “Huh? But Ms. Colette—weren’t you going to come over to my house today?”

  Hulim blinked in surprise.

  “Come over? Oh, don’t make it sound so formal—it’s just a friendly visit! I can drop by anytime. Right now, the most important thing is for you to get used to your new wand. Don’t worry about me!”

  “Um......”

  Hulim hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

  “Then...... tomorrow? Would tomorrow work for you, Ms. Colette?”

  “Tomorrow’s fine by me! But are you sure one day will be enough to master it?”

  Hulim nodded firmly. “Absolutely! I’ll have it fully mastered by tonight!”

  After all, she had help......

  “If you’re that confident, then...... see you tomorrow?”

  “See you tomorrow, Ms. Colette.”

  ......

  Deep within the forest.

  “Ehhh~, so this is your new wand, huh——”

  Semiris twirled the wooden wand between her fingers, eyeing it with a strange, unimpressed look on her face, her tone flat and monotone.

  “......Just say what you’re thinking.”

  Hulim sighed, already braced for the worst.

  “Fine, if you insist! This stick is so useless! Is this even supposed to be a wand? Who in their right mind would use a random piece of driftwood as a magic tool?!”

  Hulim: “......”

  Ouch. That hurt.

  “Okay, okay, you can stop now. I should’ve known you’d say something like that. You just managed to insult me twice with one sentence.”

  “Twice? How is it twice?!”

  “Never mind!”

  Hulim snatched the wand back from Semiris’s hand, shooting her a glare.

  “Tch, stingy!”

  Semiris pouted, staring at her empty hands with obvious disappointment.

  Hulim ignored her, carefully inspecting the wand to make sure Semiris hadn’t broken it. “It’s not just a random stick, you know. It’s made from the trunk of a Mist Marsh Treant. It might not be powerful, but it’s the perfect fit for me right now—it’s a rare all-elemental wand.”

  She’d taken to calling it her Tree Wand, thanks to its origin.

  “Oh right! Even if you did get a super powerful wand, you wouldn’t be able to use it yet anyway!”

  Semiris suddenly perked up, as if she’d just realized something obvious.

  “But still...... this tree stick—ahem, I mean this Tree Wand—how much of a boost does it actually give you?”

  Hulim thought for a moment before answering.

  “I tested it a bit in the shop. The power boost isn’t great—only about ten percent, tops. But since that boost applies to all elements equally, it’s acceptable. The casting speed and mana efficiency improvements are on par with the other wands, though.”

  “I’m going to run some more tests today to figure out its exact capabilities.”

  Semiris nodded. “Go for it! Practice as much as you want—I’ll watch.”

  With Semiris’s permission, Hulim began her practice session in earnest.

  She closed her eyes, focusing her mind, and channeled her mana into the wand. Then she chanted her incantations in quick succession.

  “【??????????????????????????????????】”

  “Water Arrow!”

  “【??????????????????????????????????????】”

  “Rock Bolt!”

  “【??????????????????????????????】”

  “Lightness!”

  “【???????????????????????????????????】”

  “Concealment......”

  After a while, her mana was nearly depleted, and the ground around her was littered with the traces of her spells. Hulim sat down to catch her breath and recover her mana, mentally tallying up her findings.

  After dozens of spell tests, she’d gotten a clear grasp of the Tree Wand’s performance. Mental focus was hard to quantify, but she estimated her casting speed had increased by about twenty-five percent, and her mana consumption had dropped by roughly twenty percent.

  Individually, these improvements might seem minor—but in a prolonged battle where she needed to cast spell after spell, their cumulative effect would be massive.

  What’s more, she’d grown far more comfortable wielding the wand, shaking off the initial clumsiness of using a new tool.

  A few more days of practice, and she’d have it mastered completely.

  Seeing Hulim pause her training and her mana pool refill, Semiris spoke up. “Looks like you’ve gotten the hang of it.”

  Hulim nodded, standing up and brushing the dirt off her clothes. “More or less. Say, Semiris—what kind of monster are we hunting today?”

  Now that she’d finished practicing with her wand and her mana was back to full, it was time for their real combat training.

  “About that...... Our opponent today isn’t a monster.”

  “Not a monster?”

  “Mmm...... Funny how things work out, isn’t it? You just got yourself an all-elemental wand......”

  “......And our opponent today just so happens to have all-elemental resistance!”

  All-elemental resistance? What on earth could it be......

  Crack! Crack! Crack......

  As Hulim frowned in confusion, a strange scraping sound echoed from the bushes behind her.

  She spun around toward the noise—and froze.

  Emerging from the trees was a humanoid figure crafted entirely from rough, gray stone. Embedded in its “head” was a glowing orb that whirred and clicked as it rotated. The moment it fixed its gaze on Hulim, the orb locked onto her like a target.

  “Beep beep beep! Intruder detected. Commencing elimination protocol!”

  So that’s what it is......

  This definitely wasn’t a monster.

  It’s a Golem—a stone golem!