NotEvenMyFinalForm
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Goblin Chapter 36: Unique Wands
🕑 Added 2025-07-18 17:34:53 +0000 UTC"So, Gauss, what brings you to me today?"
"Don’t tell me… you're here to buy a magic wand?"
Andeni had clearly noticed how Gauss had been eyeing the wand rack ever since he walked in—with that unmistakable expression of longing all over his face.
"Uh, senior… could I ask how much they cost?" Gauss asked cautiously.
He deliberately called her “senior” because, in his mind, anyone who owned a collection like this definitely wasn’t some regular shopkeeper—she was probably a seasoned professional too.
"Second one from the left—shortest one. Cheapest I’ve got. 20 gold coins."
"Hsssss... that's insane."
Expensive.
She tossed it out like it was nothing, and Gauss just about inhaled a lungful of cold air.
Twenty. Gold. Coins.
That meant he’d have to complete 280 missions like the one he’d just finished—at least—just to afford one. And that’s not even counting living expenses.
Mages really are on a whole other level...
Even their gear was luxuriously overpriced.
"Expensive? That’s just the base cost. Honestly, even if you threw 20 gold at me, I wouldn’t sell it. All these are mine. Not for sale."
Andeni gave him a bright, amused grin as she crushed that little dream.
"But—do you have anything else you’re looking for? Or something you want to sell? I can help appraise it for you."
Gauss hesitated for a moment, then reached under his shirt and pulled out the Life Mana Stone.
"Senior… could you help me estimate the value of this Life Mana Stone?"
"Come closer, I can’t see clearly from here." Andeni sat up in her vine chair and waved him over.
Gauss stepped forward, carefully holding out the stone.
She leaned in and gently tapped the surface with a pale finger.
Gauss instantly felt a strange ripple in the air.
Before he could process it, the sensation disappeared as quickly as it had come.
"Standard quality. Slight energy loss. I’d buy it from you for 2 gold and 40 silver," Andeni said smoothly, not missing a beat.
2 gold 40 silver. That lined up pretty closely with what Daphne had told him too.
"Senior, if I wanted to commission a wand using this Life Mana Stone as the core… how much more would I need to pay?"
"You already have a suitable wand base?"
"No."
"Then, factoring in testing and crafting costs, you’d need to pay at least 1 more gold coin."
"That’s at least. The final cost depends on which wand base matches your mana signature."
One gold coin…
Compared to that absurd 20-gold price tag earlier, that was actually doable.
Roughly the cost of a small house.
His current funds were around 19 silver.
If each mission earned him 7 silver, and he spent around 2 silver on living costs per job cycle, that meant he could save around 5 silver per cycle.
Which meant… roughly 16 more missions.
Assuming nothing goes wrong. And no bonus loot.
Still feels like forever.
Money’s hard to come by.
Andeni watched him quietly as he did the math on his fingers, lips twitching as his face slowly soured into a frown.
She found it kind of adorable.
She remembered being in his shoes—broke and calculating every last copper coin when she first became an adventurer.
Most new adventurers were like this.
Adventuring sounded fun and exciting, but once it turned into a job, it became a grind.
Weapons, armor, repairs, daily food, healing supplies, survival gear…
The expenses were endless. You'd come back from a job only to realize your payout didn’t even cover maintenance.
Even she wouldn’t want to relive those days.
Luckily, she’d already made enough to retire comfortably.
After thinking it through, Gauss looked back up at Andeni.
"Senior, I’d like to sell this Life Mana Stone, and buy a wand base that matches my mana flow."
He figured there was no point letting the stone just sit there.
Might as well sell it, get a wand base, and start bonding with it.
First, it would save time later when he had the funds to craft a real wand.
Second, even a wand base could help boost spellcasting performance—just not as much as a full wand. Still, it was way better than casting barehanded.
Getting the wand base now would instantly raise his combat effectiveness and make practicing Magic Missile more efficient.
"Absolutely." Andeni nodded in approval.
"Come with me."
She hopped down from the chair—barefoot—and headed for one of the rooms in the back.
Gauss followed her inside.
She pushed open a wooden door, revealing a room that looked like a storeroom.
Shelves lined the walls, filled with all kinds of materials and items.
After rummaging around for a while, she pulled out a bundle of wooden rods of varying lengths.
"These are the most common wand bases."
"Let’s see which one suits you best."
They returned to the main room, where she laid the rods out on a table one by one.
"How do I test them?"
"Easy. Just pick one up and try channeling your mana through it. If it feels blocked, it’s not for you."
"If the flow is smooth and effortless, then it’s a match. The smoother it is, the better the fit."
Gauss nodded. Simple enough.
He crouched down and grabbed the nearest rod—a deep brown, slightly curved piece about half a meter long.
After weighing it briefly in his hands, he closed his eyes and focused.
He took a deep breath, centered himself, and began channeling mana toward the wand.
The moment the mana touched the wood—
He felt resistance.
A repelling force pulsed from the wand, pushing his energy back.
He pushed harder, and eventually forced his mana into the rod… but the flow felt uneven and clunky, like little gremlins inside the wood were fighting him every step of the way.
He withdrew his mana and put the rod back down.
"How was it?"
"Didn’t feel right," Gauss said, shaking his head.
"Try the next one."
Andeni didn’t seem surprised. It was rare to get a perfect match on the first try.
She’d selected the most common materials—ones that typically matched well with most mages.
Gauss tried another rod. Same result.
Then another. Still not right.
He repeated the process five or six times.
Finally, after setting down the last wand with a disappointed sigh, he looked up.
"None of them worked?"
Andeni rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
"Huh… that’s rare. Looks like your mana is… unique."
"So what now?"
"Hmm… let me think…" she closed her eyes, deep in thought.
After a while, she snapped her fingers.
"Got it. I’ve got a few special wand bases stored away."
"Wait—they’re not crazy expensive, are they?" Gauss asked quickly. He was worried that even after selling the stone, he still wouldn’t have enough.
"Don’t worry. They’re cheaper than the ones we just tested."
"They’re just unusual materials. Most people don’t need them, so I stashed them away in storage."
She turned and headed toward another room.
"You wait here. I’ll be right back."
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