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With Hephaestus's expert guidance, Lucian rapidly completed the architectural design of the foundational rules.
While their date had unexpectedly transitioned into a brainstorming session, to both Lucian and Hephaestus, this wasn't rely work—it was a shared passion. Finding soone who resonated with the exact sa hyper-fixations was an incredibly rare and blissful experience.
For Hephaestus, this entirely unprecedented approach to world-building filled her with a profound sense of excitent.
Before they knew it, they had wandered into the Northwest district, arriving before a small, secluded storefront.
"Where are we...?" Lucian asked, snapping out of his daze as he read the wooden sign hanging above the door. "Witch's House?"
Wait, is the owner of this 'Witch's House' nad Elaina? "This is a specialized magic shop. The owner is a first-rate mage nad Renova. Her craftsmanship is undeniable." Hephaestus smiled. "Your Ga Board concept is astonishing. Building the foundational rules is arduous enough, but fleshing out the micro-details won't be easy either."
"I figured this place might give you so inspiration."
Hearing her explanation, Lucian offered a warm smile. Hephaestus was genuinely, incredibly invested in his success.
Craftsn who specialized in magic-related armants were officially titled 'Mages'—or more accurately, master wand-makers. Unlike close-quarters lee weapons, staves were designed exclusively to amplify an adventurer's 'Magic' stat and modify spell output. Because of this, the artisan forging the staff needed a profound, working knowledge of magic themselves. Consequently, there were very few blacksmiths in Orario capable of crafting them.
Standard weaponry and magical armants existed in parallel domains. Without imnse reserves of ti and energy, a normal blacksmith had to pick one path and abandon the other.
The Hephaestus Familia almost exclusively focused on the forr. But to Hephaestus herself, both disciplines were fundantally identical; mastering them was rely a matter of effort. However, because her Familia didn't actively operate in the magic item sector, she had brought him to a boutique that exclusively serviced high-tier magic casters.
"Welco."
A slightly raspy voice drifted from behind the counter. The speaker was an older woman with a distinct hooked nose.
Unfortunately for Lucian's knowledge, this was a legitimate, professional establishnt, and the owner was definitively not a wandering ashen witch.
"May we take a look around?" Hephaestus asked politely.
"Make yourself at ho, Lady Hephaestus," Renova replied respectfully, though she didn't seem overly flustered by the divine presence.
She instantly deduced why the Goddess of Forging had brought a young man into her shop, her eyes lingering on Lucian.
Strange. He doesn't look like he has the aptitude of a mage. Maybe my eyes are just getting old, Renova thought to herself.
She didn't question the goddess's judgnt. Compared to a mortal like herself, a deity's insight was inherently superior. Normally, when a veteran brought a rookie into her shop, the rookie was a newly awakened magic caster with three unlocked spell slots—a highly lucrative potential client.
But since Hephaestus was the Goddess of Forging, the boy she brought along was highly likely to beco a fellow artisan. The Hephaestus Familia had already amassed an imnse fortune before ever stepping foot in Orario, and they were currently in a massive expansion phase. Bringing the boy here ant they were likely planning to branch out into the magic item market and were actively cultivating new talent.
Because of this assumption, Renova didn't pay them much mind, rely watching Lucian out of mild professional curiosity. Instead, her focus remained locked on the young woman standing across the counter—her current, extrely wealthy client.
"Your staff has been fully tuned. That will be 1.5 million Valis." Renova slid the staff across the counter.
The young woman offered a polite nod to Hephaestus and Lucian before inspecting the staff. After a brief mont of inspection, she gave a satisfied nod.
"Excellent."
After settling the massive bill, she lingered in the shop, seemingly browsing the remaining inventory. However, Lucian couldn't shake the feeling that she was subtly observing them.
Is she curious about because I'm with Hephaestus? Lucian wondered.
He imdiately recognized her. Her appearance was far too iconic to ignore: possessing a beauty that rivaled the gods, draped in a pure, natural erald green, and exuding an aura of imnse, quiet nobility.
It was Riveria Ljos Alf. The very person whose unique magic, [Fairy Ring], had directly inspired his own [Ether Circulation] skill.
Riveria possessed three spell slots, but each spell could be cast in three distinct phases, granting her access to nine entirely separate magical effects. This absolute mastery over the arcane had earned her the alias 'Nine Hell', centing her as a vessel capable of housing the soul of a true Hero.
"Staves crafted by master mages often utilize sacred wood from the Elf forest, or highly specialized conductive tals and ores. The core objective is always to amplify the caster's baseline power," Hephaestus explained, effortlessly shifting into teaching mode as she picked up a display staff. "This specific staff, for example, is carved from the branch of an Elven sacred tree, with a high-purity magic stone set into its apex."
Hearing this, Lucian reached out and gently brushed his fingertips against the embedded jewel.
Over the past two weeks, alongside his nine primary active skills, Lucian had engineered a vast array of minor passives. Because these didn't occupy actual skill slots in his Falna, he had to toggle them manually, but they bypassed the need for tedious chanting.
Activating a sensory passive, he instantly analyzed the crystalline structure of the gem.
Are magic stones completely composed of condensed magicules? Lucian pondered.
Magicules were essentially the ambient 'ntal energy' of nature—the raw, untad lifeblood of the planet's ley lines. When a human converted their internal ntal energy (Mind) into a spell, the resulting magic eventually destabilized and broke down into raw magicules, bleeding back into the environnt.
These vividly colored gems were physically solidified magicules, forged through highly classified magical engineering. It made perfect sense why they could act as such potent amplifiers for spells.
"Correct." Hephaestus nodded approvingly. "However, it's crucial to rember that magic stones have strict quality limits. If a caster channels an overwhelming volu of hyper-dense ntal energy through a low-quality gem, the crystal lattice will shatter."
Just like human ntal energy, the 'quality' of a spell scaled with the user's level. The raw volu was dictated by their MP pool, but the density and purity were strictly governed by their 'Magic' stat. If the pressure was too high, the hardware would inevitably break.
The theoretical frawork surrounding staves and magic stones wasn't overly extensive. Just like traditional forging, the baseline chanics were straightforward; true mastery required decades of grueling, hands-on practice. Because of this, Hephaestus wrapped up her lecture relatively quickly.
Aside from staves, Renova's shop carried an assortnt of unique magic items that genuinely broadened Lucian's perspective. Theory-crafting a concept in your head was vastly different from physically dissecting a working prototype. It was the difference between looking at a photograph of a mountain and actually climbing it.
"Pardon the intrusion, Renova." Hephaestus offered an apologetic smile once they finished browsing, knowing full well they had zero intention of buying anything.
Renova had deduced as much from the start and waved it off easily. A high-end boutique catering exclusively to elite mages didn't operate on a high-volu retail model anyway. Making connections and finding a bit of daily entertainnt was more than enough to satisfy her.
. . .
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