A Staff Is More Expensive Than You'd Think

"May I ask your name?"

"My name? Is that important..."

"It is important. If it's you, at the very least you won't be toyed with in the gods' clutches."

The muscular warrior who had been charging at me with a giant greatsword as if to kill me just moments ago was now looking at me with hopeful eyes.

As if he'd found a sliver of light in the darkness.

"You, who ravage dragons and even insult the gods, can at least protect humankind a little in the endless war between gods and demons."

"No, that's a misunderstanding..."

He wouldn't listen.

I'm not like that with Adrian.

If anything, I'd be the one offering tribute.

Where did it go wrong!

"Would you hand over the essence and the sword?"

When I took out the sword and the essence, he took the essence from my hand.

[Leokan, of the demigod race, and his weapon are imbued within the Great Warrior's Essence!]

[The Great Warrior's Essence (SR) evolves into the Great Warrior's Mark (UR)!]

[The mark can accumulate divinity! The more it accumulates, the stronger the heroic spirit becomes! However, the mana cost required to manifest also increases!]

"Inside the tower, I am nothing but a doll. But the me contained here will be different."

His body and sword turned into light and disappeared.

"Look at him, just saying what he wants to say and leaving."

[The Great Warrior's Essence (UR) gains the 'Summon Great Warrior' function!]

"...What?"

I can summon him?

I gripped the essence and tried using it once.

"Summon Great Warrior."

Leokan appeared with a fierce glare.

He was even holding a sword, somehow.

"You summoned me, my lord?"

Leokan knelt on one knee.

Somehow, he was still taller than me even like that.

Sure enough, seeing him kneel like this, it felt like I'd gained the kind of cool general every man dreams of having under his command.

Hmm.

Not bad...

"Guaaah. I'm dizzy."

But this thing eats mana like crazy.

In just a few seconds, half the mana I had left was already gone.

"My lord, are you all righ—"

"Dismiss."

This is something I'll have to use after raising my mana.

At four times my current mana, it might finally be usable as a tank.

As a rule, every extra + doubles stats.

Considering I'm at C+++, B+ mana should be about right.

Exactly four times higher.

I've still got a long way to go.

As I was looking over the status window, the Technique (S) portion of my stats caught my eye.

What did I do to make that so high?

I wondered if it had ever actually benefited me.

I closed the status window.

I looked back and forth between the portal leading to the exit and the entrance leading up to the 6th floor.

Maybe because of the error, my HP and mana didn't recover.

Still, I could replenish my mana with the potion Isabel gave me.

At my current specs, I felt like I could push straight to the 9th floor.

Though it'd be troublesome if another boss like that showed up.

"They said up to three a day is fine, so that shouldn't be a problem, but this is."

The staff that shattered to pieces after I used dragon mana for one spell.

I carefully laid the staff's corpse to rest in my inventory.

What a shame. Such a shame.

Damn it.

"Yep, it's toast."

I'd tried using magic with my hands before.

I'd seen the professors do it too.

But it never came out at even 10 percent of its normal power.

What the professors occasionally did was basically a strength act powered by absurd amounts of mana.

In other words, I'd ultimately need to get a new staff.

Until then, I'd have no choice but to use Reinhart's staff.

Reinhart's staff also had better performance.

'But I don't want to use a borrowed staff.'

I also didn't like the feeling of being tied to it...

And if I broke it, I'd have to pay for it.

I heard it would be a hassle in all sorts of ways.

I thought back to the strike from earlier.

Dragon mana.

Even after feeding it into the magic circle for the basic attack spell, it had knocked Leokan out in one hit without so much as scratching my mana.

If I wanted to use that, a proper staff was essential.

"Maybe I should buy one?"

* * *

"So you went in without saying a word to me?"

Isera said with just a hint of irritation.

"I did tell you later, though."

I had called her both to see her face and to ask for a favor.

"You weren't busy or anything?"

"Not at all?"

Hmm.

'Wait a second, Jihyun. I'm not taking any work today. Tell them not to call me.'

'Yes, yes!? An A-rank gate just burst open!?'

'There are plenty of people who can go instead of me.'

'J-just a second! Hunter Lee Se-raaaaaam!!!'

Judging by the conversation I overheard, that didn't seem to be the case at all.

Well, if she was really fine, then I guess that's why she came.

Se-ra took me to a department store near the guild.

The department store manager had shot me a dirty look, then did a complete 180 the moment he saw Se-ra.

This is an A-rank Hunter?

And the place we were guided to was here.

A café so bright it was almost blinding.

Apparently, it was a modern reinterpretation of a historic European café.

Cute little knickknacks, afternoon tea sets, and upscale desserts filled my field of vision.

"Ghk, the faint masculinity that was left inside me...!"

"There wasn't any to begin with."

"Hmm."

Was that so.

Come to think of it, not much had changed from when I was a man.

I raised my head and looked at Se-ra.

I said I wasn't going, but this jerk said she didn't want to go alone, so I got dragged along.

Her black hair was tied back in a tight ponytail, and her killer figure showed through her white shirt.

Long legs stretched beneath her black pants.

She didn't really seem like someone who'd come to a place like this often.

She was more cool than pretty.

Well, good is good.

Thinking that, I pointed at the menu and said,

"Please box up everything from here to here."

"Y-yes? All of this?"

"No problem. Just do whatever she says."

"Ah, understood!"

At Se-ra's words, the clerk moved briskly.

It would probably be ready by the time we left.

Let's grab the local specialties first.

Exporting modern items to another world was pretty fun.

So far, all the food items had been a success, so I figured desserts would be popular too.

"I don't mind you going into the tower, but at least contact your friend. You haven't shown your face in weeks, have you?"

"I did, didn't I? Do you have no friends but me?"

"I-I do, you know?!"

That's the reaction of someone with no friends.

Interesting.

Come to think of it, Se-ra didn't really have anyone close at the training camp either.

Thanks to that, Se-ra and I, both loners, quickly got close.

"Anyway, how was it? Your first boss?"

"It glitched, got powered up, and was ridiculous."

"What?"

I briefly explained what had happened on the 5th floor.

"...Something like that has never happened before. A boss imbued with personality..."

Se-ra's expression turned grave.

"I'll look into it and tell you later."

"Then thanks."

"Ah, and as for joining the guild..."

"No."

It'd be a pain, and if they called me, I'd have to go running.

Though there was also the question of whether I'd even be on Earth then.

"Well, I figured you'd say that."

Se-ra probably hadn't been serious in the first place.

What would they even use someone for who spends more than 25 days a month in Reinhart?

Ah, right.

"Oh, by the way, do you have any staff-type artifacts here?"

If I can get one here, I'd like to.

"Hmm? There should be some here too... do you need one?"

"I handled mine too roughly and broke it."

I held out the staff's remains.

"Can't you fix it and keep using it? I think it could be repaired."

"The circuitry's completely wrecked. It can't even cast."

"Even if you say that, I don't understand."

"Ah, right."

There's no magic here, so what exactly do you have?

"There's a place that specializes in artifacts. Want to check it out?"

"Oh?"

Sure enough, my staff was a tower artifact too.

I put the packaged cake and the flashy desserts into my inventory.

"But do you have money?"

"Hmm... couldn't this work?"

I took out the mana stones I'd gotten from goblins and golems.

There were mostly red mana stones, with a few orange ones mixed in here and there.

But I know one thing.

Mana stones and artifacts aren't even remotely comparable in value.

"...I'll lend you the money."

"Okay. Let's go!"

And so we headed to the department store's artifact section.

It was a fairly upscale place.

The atmosphere was on par with any luxury shop, with splendid weapons displayed in glass cases.

Using my Observation Eye, I saw that everything was around SR grade.

"This way, please. Feel free to take your time looking around, and testing is over here."

Since a woman in a luxurious suit was guiding us, I got my hopes up.

But when I actually checked the staff corner,

I couldn't help but be disappointed.

[Fire Magic Staff (R)]

Enhances the power of fire magic.

[Cube Staff (C)]

Enhances the user's mana and the effects of magic.

[Golden Staff (C)]

Built-in magic circles enhance mana efficiency.

.

.

.

"Hmm..."

First of all, these staffs are... huge.

They're bigger than most short swords.

And...

"What's with C-rank?"

"Huh? It's Common, isn't it?"

Se-ra asked back as if wondering what I was talking about.

...?

"Ah."

Since I'd never seen it appear in Hell difficulty, I'd forgotten even that such a rank existed.

"You don't mean..."

The words 'Common is a rank?' almost came up to my throat, but I swallowed them.

"Well, as long as it works, that's enough. But is it normal for it to be this big?"

"Huh? Aren't they pretty much always like this?"

I picked up one of the staffs.

It was the Fire Magic Staff, the only R-rank one.

Its body, which looked like tangled tree roots, held a red gem.

It was so big I had to practically carry it in my arms.

I went to the test area and tried out a basic attack spell on the target.

I adjusted the power so it would only just destroy the target in the test area.

"Casting, Bullet."

Mana coalesced, then the mana bullet shot out.

It does work. It does, but...

—Pew.

But...

It's kind of underwhelming.

The circuitry itself is poor, and the mana flow isn't as smooth as it is in a small wooden staff.

I guess even Rare-grade items have their own tiers.

It's not unusable, but after using our school's staff, this is way too inconvenient.

And it's too big.

Ultimately, from the perspective of someone who fights by flexibly swapping gear, the staff's size was a hindrance.

If I were the type to sit in place and just fire magic like a turret, maybe it wouldn't matter.

"Wow! So you're a magic-type Hunter!"

The woman watching us reacted.

"Yes, well."

In a sense, wasn't I more of a close-combat type? I thought, but...

Somewhere in this world, there are ability users who fight with a sword every day and still get called archers.

Then I could be a mage too.

"If you're a magic-type Hunter, please take a look at this premium lineup too!"

This time, there were some fairly flashy options.

There were cloaks for spellcasters, objects that boosted magic damage, and more, but there was only one staff.

"Would you like to try this one?"

[Magical Heart Staff (SR)]

Its only flaw was that it was about 50 centimeters long, but I liked that it was a slender white staff.

Except for the star-shaped ornament that made it look like something from a magical-girl anime.

"Uh..."

Do I really have to use that at my age?

When I looked in the mirror, the look was pretty good.

My pale skin and white hair went well with the magic wand.

Since my original clothes got dirty after I went to the tower, Se-ra had forced me into a dress.

"Wow. Cute!"

Se-ra let out a cheer.

"It's such a high-performance staff, I don't know why nobody ever buys it!"

I think I know why.

For now, I tried casting with it.

"Oh?"

"Why? Is it okay?"

"It's not bad at all!?"

It was still nowhere near the school's staff, but the feel of handling mana was pretty good.

It felt like going from riding a nearly dead scooter to a decent used car.

"The price..."

After checking the price tag, I put it right back in the display case.

"Why..."

"It's bad. The price is bad."

"At that price... hmm. I guess I can't lend you this one."

Se-ra quickly came to her senses.

"It's about the same level as my weapon."

"Then I won't buy it."

It'd be much better to just buy one back in Reinhart.

* * *

By the way, the staff really was a problem.

I can't even do my assignment without it!!

To solve that, I chose the weekend school market.

Conveniently, the potions I'd brought along sold off, and I ended up with several dozen silver in hand.

"Welcome to NameLife Magic Tool Shop! Ah! You're a Reinhart student!"

The clerk with her hair tied back greeted me with a smile.

"Do you have the cheapest staff?"

Then the clerk brought out a staff.

[Mahogany Staff (SR+)]

Whoa, as expected, the otherworld really is on a different level.

Even the lowest-grade items are SR or above.

I took the luxurious-looking staff in hand and let mana flow through it.

I also tried a basic attack spell.

And I realized.

"This is nice."

The power was clearly good, and mana flowed through it quite smoothly.

It fit nicely in my hand, and the grip felt good too.

If the one from earlier was like a used compact car, this was just a luxury sedan.

Of course, it couldn't even compare to the previous one.

"How much is this?"

"It's 10 gold."

Hmm.

I bowed my head.

"Goodbye."

"W-wait! If you're a Reinhart student, I can give you a discount—9 gold, 90 silver..."

I fled the store on the spot.

Robert, who had watched the whole embarrassing spectacle, chimed in.

"Wouldn't it be better to think of something more realistic?"

"What?"

"If you sign an exclusive contract with our merchant guild, we can specially offer you a top-grade staff on 240-month interest-free installments..."

True enough.

I murmured.

"A realistic plan."

A realistic plan, huh.

"Hey, Robert."

"What is it?"

"You want to buy some spices?"

I'm tired of living broke.

It's time to make some money.