Chapter 28: Intelligence on the Wand
Seeing his teammates’ “fancy” armor, Gauss couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Luckily he had upgraded his armor; otherwise, standing next to them, he wouldn’t have looked like part of the same aesthetic.
But even now, he still appeared to be the “poorest” member of the group.
Fortunately, the others only glanced at him and then diverted their gaze, not paying too much attention to his equipment.
He didn’t know whether they were judging him, indifferently ignoring him, or politely avoiding scrutiny.
Perhaps all of the above.
Although Gauss was a “mage,” without any clear indication of strength, this group of experienced low-tier adventurers wouldn’t look at him differently.
For many adventurers, the only way to earn respect was to show superior strength!
Gauss had to admit that someone like him—who had only been on one mission—despite earning considerable rewards last time, still lagged far behind these seasoned low-tier adventurers financially.
Of course, that was not counting the Life Magic Stone he wore around his neck and under his clothes.
If that were included, he might be the wealthiest in the team.
But it was hard to be sure; there might even be a second-generation wealthy member in the party, and he didn’t have the acuity to assess how much his teammates’ gear was worth.
From another perspective, teammates being “wealthy” was good for him.
It would reduce the chance of being stabbed in the back.
That didn’t mean rich people had no bad individuals or higher moral standards; it just meant the temptation to break rules would need to be higher—it was unlikely that petty gains during an adventure would cause conflict.
“All the members are here; let’s head out for combined training.”
Levin slung his large shield behind him and announced to the group.
The group walked toward the outskirts of town.
Along the way, they attracted many curious glances from local residents.
Although their equipment and demeanor didn’t yet match real professionals, among low-tier adventurers, they ranked as elite—and combined with their varied gear and unified movements, ordinary people subconsciously stepped aside in both respect and fear.
A well-equipped adventuring party like this, if they chose to do harm, ordinary folk would have almost no ability to resist.
They reached outside the town and continued walking a fair distance.
Gauss silently observed the others along the way.
He discovered Levin’s claim of being an elite squad was not empty boasting, and the others were likewise nothing but façade.
Take Levin, for example—wearing full metal scale armor and carrying a heavy oak shield, but moving like the wind, demonstrating excellent strength and stamina.
Actually, after reaching 6 Con and supplementing his diet with meat for a time, Gauss’s body had undergone secondary development and was much stronger than before.
Even if he hadn’t fully absorbed all benefits of 6 Con, he was definitely no longer weak.
That was why at the guild hall recruitment site, people had mistaken him for a swordsman.
But even now, he felt his physical strength lagged behind Levin considerably.
He silently estimated that if Levin had a stat sheet, his Strength and Constitution would both be level 6—and strong level 6 at that.
The swordsman Doyle also had good Strength and Stamina, but not as strong as Levin; their builds differed—Levin was around 1.9 m tall, Doyle just over 1.8 m.
As for archer Oliver, ranger Meiva, and priestess Daphne—though their “professions” weren’t heavy melee types—their stamina was still very good; after walking such a long way, none showed signs of fatigue.
Even the seemingly frail priestess Daphne maintained light and steady steps.
Noticing this, Gauss, who had been a bit prideful about his rapid growth, immediately realized there were many powerful individuals in this world.
Although Levin kept emphasizing their squad was “elite,” the fact remained that it was still an unrated adventuring party.
Yet even so, each member was outstanding, with almost no glaring weaknesses.
Experienced adventurers would always try to cover their shortcomings.
Professionals would be even more terrifying.
Returning his thoughts, Gauss walked alongside priestess Daphne.
Looking at the plant-made staff she held, he hesitated for a moment.
He still couldn’t help but ask.
“Daphne, is that staff of yours a magic wand?”
“Ah?” Daphne, who had been enjoying the scenery while walking, seemed startled by his sudden question. “Sorry, what did you just say?”
Gauss repeated his question.
“Oh, no, it’s just a piece of wood suitable for channeling mana, it helps me cast divine spells but doesn’t count as a real staff or magic wand—it’s just a base material,” Daphne explained without reservation.
That was also why Gauss chose to ask her—he felt Daphne was the easiest to talk to in the team aside from Levin.
In fact, in the morning, he had already noticed from her gaze that she was a little curious about him.
Probably because they were both “magic-based classes.”
There was a natural sense of closeness.
“I’m currently syncing with this piece of wood, and once that’s done—”
“Embedding it with a suitable attribute-aligned magic stone and having it crafted by a specialist will turn it into an actual staff, and the resulting staff will have the best compatibility with me,” Daphne added quickly. “Better than buying a ready-made staff.”
“I’m saving up to buy a Life Magic Stone now, but it’s too expensive— even the cheapest one costs two and a half gold coins.”
“Oh?” Gauss’s heart skipped a beat.
There was a Life Magic Stone hanging under his clothes, around his neck.
Two and a half gold coins.
Groln’s price estimate of two gold coins had been an underestimation, though understandable—he had been away from the professional world for many years, so it was normal for his valuations to be a bit off.
“What’s wrong?” Daphne noticed his long silence and asked curiously.
“Nothing,” Gauss waved his hand.
Naturally, he wouldn’t just blurt that out carelessly.
First of all, they had only just met and didn’t know each other’s personalities well yet—it was only reasonable to keep wealth hidden.
Secondly, there was no benefit to revealing it—was he supposed to sell it cheaply to Daphne in exchange for a favor?
Daphne lacked a staff, but he still needed a magic wand himself.
Whether or not a caster had a wand made a huge difference.
From Daphne’s explanation, it sounded like the core component of a wand was a properly attributed magic stone.
Even if he wouldn’t need a Life Magic Stone for his future wand, he could trade it for another required magic stone.
From Gauss’s basic understanding, converting magic stones directly into gold coins would be a loss; bartering with someone and cutting out the middleman could be much better.
Which meant, before finding the right trading partner, all he needed was the money for the wand base and the cost of having someone craft it.
Just as Gauss was about to ask Daphne how much a wand base would cost—
The team arrived at the training location, and he had to temporarily shelve the question in his mind, intending to ask later when time allowed.