COMPLETED! Since she was a little girl, Velvet has been reading stories about great wizards and witches of Rumerra's past, wishing every night to wake up one day and be blessed with the affinity for magic herself. Unfortunately, the odds are stacked...
"It's been a while since this one has been in anyone's hand," he commented upon opening it and taking it out, caressing it gently like it was a living being. Velvet was already reaching out her small hands for him to give it to her, but he waved his finger.
"Ah, ah, not yet. Before I let you hold it, I want to make sure you understand how staffs work. You as well, since you are her guardian." He turned to her father.
"They increase your magic output!" the girl blurted immediately. The man chuckled at that.
"Not necessarily," he started. "You see, a staff merely functions as a conduit. A way to cast your spells without it wearing you out so much. It basically makes casting spells easier. But the thing that plays the most crucial role in this process is the crystal. As I am sure you have noticed all of the staves have one or more. They are of different colors too. That, however, is not only to look pretty. It is through crystals that magic is most easily transferred. And different types of crystals can handle a different amount of magic flowing through them. The weakest one is sapphire. It is followed in terms of strength and magic affinity by emerald, ruby, diamond, dragonstone, and finally, onyx."
"What if the staff has no crystal?" her father asked. "I made her a wooden staff as a toy. That was no good then, right?"
"That's worse than no staff at all!" the man quickly responded. "If you use a staff with no crystal and enchantment, then you are forcing your magic through solid matter with no affinity for magic. It would only make casting spells even harder and more exhausting because you are lengthening the path your magic must travel. It would be better to cast barehanded in this case."
"Oh. I see," the other man said, scratching his chin. "She was practicing with the wooden staff all the time. So you think if she practiced without it, she could get her magic even sooner?"
"Most certainly. Her magic was only being inhibited by it."
"I cast my first spell without the staff," Velvet chimed in. "The bandits took it away."
"You see?" the shopkeeper was delighted that his point was proven. "It's a good thing that you tried casting it without your staff. You could have probably never pulled it off with it." He started thinking out loud again. "But that means she could have developed magic even sooner than this. Astounding."
"Crystals good, no crystal worse than nothing. Anything else we need to know?" her father quickly cut in, stopping him before he wandered off in his mind again.
"It's important that you use a crystal that is appropriate to the strength of your magic," the staff seller continued. "If you use a crystal that is too weak for your magic, it will do you no good, because it will not be able to transfer all of it, effectively inhibiting you once again. If you use a crystal that is too strong for you, on the other hand, you will not be able to cast spells at all, because you will not be able to produce enough magic to push through it. It needs to be just right."
"How do we figure out which one is right for my daughter, for example?"
"It's mostly trial and error. You try casting spells with different crystals and see which one fits your current magic level best. Beginners like her always start out with a sapphire, so no need for testing. It's pretty much a given. As you grow and your magic gets stronger it's important to upgrade to a better one, though. But this staff is special..."
"How is it special?" Velvet piped up. The man smiled like he is about to reveal a great secret.
"This, my dear, is an adaptable staff. It adapts its shape to your casting style and its output to match your current one. It's exceedingly rare to find one of these as they are extremely hard to produce. My father was fortunate enough to get his hands on this one, but he told me not to sell it to anyone for any price."
The girl stared at the item in his hands with increased interest. Seeing it up close, she noticed the small details and engravings on it. It was beautiful. She could already see herself casting spells with it.
"I'm going to let you hold it now." He awoke her from her daydreaming, leaning over the counter and presenting it to her. Hesitantly, afraid she would break or damage it, she extended her hands and held on to it.
"Don't get startled now," the shopkeeper reminded her. "Nothing happened when I held it because I possess no magic. But with you, it will start changing to fit you."
And sure enough, just after he said that the engravings on the staff started shifting their position and Velvet felt the staff slowly turning in her hands. It got shorter and shorter until it was light enough so the girl could easily hold it in one hand. She let go of it with the other hand as she watched the engravings replace themselves and stand still once more.
"Hmm, one-handed.« He looked at the staff's new form and commented on it. "One-handed casting is harder to master but gives you more flexibility. The staff sees promise in you."
"How can the staff see promise in her?" her father jumped in. "This is absurd, it can't think!"
"Welcome to the world of magic." The other man laughed at him. "I see you are new to all of this. There are a lot more crazy things you'll see now that your daughter is a witch. You better get used to it. Pssst, the staff is scanning her now." He placed his finger in front of his mouth. The two black crystals at each end of the staff shone a dark violet before disappearing as if they were sucked into the staff itself. In their place, two blue crystals emerged.
"Sapphire. Well, that is how everyone starts out," he said, placing his hands on his hips. But the sapphires disappeared just like the onyxes before them and after a few seconds, a pair of green crystals emerged. They shone brightly for a few more seconds before the glow slowly receded and vanished into nothingness, leaving the crystals sitting motionless at the ends of the staff.
"Emerald?!" He looked at the staff dumbfounded. "How long did you say you have your magic for?!"
"Um...a week? Maybe a bit more," the girl said after thinking a bit, counting the days from the forest incident in her head.
"A week?!" He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "A week and you're up to emerald?"
"Is something wrong?" Velvet's father was concerned. The way he said it made it sound like this is a bad thing.
"Wrong? If by wrong you mean your daughter is way too powerful for her age, then yes, something is very, very wrong! Emerald! And I thought I've seen everything!" Once again he started pacing up and down the room, talking to himself. "If she's at this level now, what kind of beast is she going to be in five years from now? Or ten years from now!"
"Did you just call my daughter a beast?"
"My apologies," he quickly said. "I meant she's going to get very strong."
"Is that bad?" Her father was once again starting to feel anxious.
"Not if she knows how to control her magic. You need to enroll her into a magic academy as soon as possible, preferably right now."
"Right now?!" The concerned dad jumped up. "But she hasn't even finished school yet!"
"Forget about school!" the shopkeeper said almost angrily. He looked the man directly in the eyes. "You don't realize what you have here, do you?"
"What do you mean?" He was confused. "I'll show you what I mean!" He seemed to be furious at the man for his ignorance. Turning to Velvet he changed his demeanor completely. "Do you want to try casting some spells to show daddy what you can do?"
"Yes! I'd love to!" she exclaimed happily. "Can I do it with this staff?"
"Of course! Follow me!" He lead them out the front door and around the building to the back of it. There was a large field with some apple and pear trees planted here and there.
"Do you see that dummy target over there?" He pointed to a few bags of hay stuck up on a wooden cross about twenty meters away from them, barely resembling the shape of a human. "I want you to hit it with a spell. Any spell you know will do. You do know some don't you?"
"Can I do Light Nova?" Her eyes lit up at the thought of trying out the new item she acquired.
"Perfect! Light Nova will do just fine!" A brief silence fell over them as Velvet closed her eyes and steadily breathed in and out. "Whenever you're ready..." she heard the man say.
"Are you sure this is alright?" Her father seemed nervous. "I mean, doesn't she need to get used to this thing first?" Before he could get an answer though, his daughter already went forward and cast the spell. Holding the staff in her right hand, she swung it back like she did her arm in the forest and exclaimed the words: "Light Nova!"
A ball of light formed at the tip of the staff, a bit larger this time. She flung the staff forward, sending the sphere flying towards the target. It swirled close to the ground before gaining a little bit of altitude again, hitting its mark and exploding in a blazing light that made both men cover their eyes. Velvet on the other hand stared directly into it, marveling at her work. "Awesome!"
Her father unshielded his eyes and looked first at the girl jumping in joy and then at the target. Only there was no target anymore. Bits of the burning sack and hay rained down from the sky and the wooden cross toppled over, burned to a crisp.
"Is this normal?!" he asked the shopkeeper, who was also observing the destruction.
"Of course not," the man answered casually. "This is what I am trying to tell you. Your daughter is a prodigy. With the proper training, I am certain she can become one of the great witches of our time. I bet she can even give the old Argus Finkleshore a run for his money if she applies herself. That is why I urge you to enroll her in an academy as soon as possible. Iron needs to be molded while it's hot."
"But her schooling..."
"Forget it! She knows how to read, write and do basic math, no? Well, that's all she is ever going to need out of that. They will teach her everything else she needs to know at a magic academy. Squandering a talent like that is a grave sin if you ask me! Take her out of school and get that girl enrolled into an academy where she can develop her magic further for goodness' sake! Everdale if possible. That one is considered the best in Ardor. Finkleshore himself is the headmaster and most of the best mages in our kingdom have graduated there."
"That sounds expensive..." the father said, considering the financial aspect of it.
"Oh, trust me, it is! But if you want the best for your daughter and can spare the money, I highly recommend it. I mean look at her..."
Just as he turned around the girl cast another spell, however, this time Piercing Ray. She lost her balance from the unexpected recoil and fell on her back, the ray of light whizzing across the sky and cutting through a nearby tree.
"Whoops!" she said, repositioning her hat and looking at any damage she may have caused. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until the tree she hit slowly started tipping to the side, its canopy toppling over and hitting the ground with a loud crash.
"My apple tree!" the storekeeper shouted.
"Sorry, sorry!" the girl quickly apologized.
"What the heck is going on?!" Her father couldn't really process what just happened. "How the hell did you do that, Velvet?!" He turned to the man holding his head and pulled out his pouch of money. "Terribly sorry, sir! Don't worry, I will pay for it!«
"Alright, I think we've seen enough!" the staff seller shouted, taking the item from her hands. "And don't worry about paying for anything. I'm the one who told her to cast spells anyway. Besides, I have bigger problems than missing one apple tree," he said jokingly, but with a hint of concern in his voice. His business was failing after all. They went back inside the shop and he replaced the staffs he had previously discarded on the floor back on the walls and placed the one Velvet used back into its display case.
"Wait, shouldn't we pick out another one for her, since this one is not for sale?" her guardian asked the man as he was closing the lid on the display case. "Or are you so angry with us that you don't want to sell anything to us anymore? Should we leave?"
The shopkeeper only laughed. "You think I'd kick the first customers I got in ages out over a dead tree? No way. And regarding the staff..." he walked around the counter and handed the case to the surprised man. "I think this one will do just fine!"
"You're selling us this one?!" the father was confused. "But...you said it's not for sale? If you would really be willing to part with it though, tell me how much I owe you?"
"You don't own owe me anything. I am giving it to you," the merchant answered, adding to the man's confusion. "Excuse me? You're giving it to us?"
"I said it's not for sale, because such was the will of my father," he explained. "His wish was for me to give it to a great aspiring witch or wizard, should I happen to come across one. He wanted to see it in good hands. And well," he looked at Velvet, "I think I just found one."
"I can have it?!" The girl jumped up. "Are you serious?!"
"It's all yours." He smiled. "I hope it serves you well, young one!"
"I have to at least give you something for it!" Her father felt bad taking such an expensive item from him free of charge.
After arguing about it for a while the man finally gave in and he paid him a modest amount of money to at least keep his business afloat for some more time. He waved at them standing in the doorway as they left, Velvet waving back at him with her new staff in hand. Her father carried the empty display case realizing full well that he will probably never be needing it again. This girl was going to sleep with the staff for all he knew.
I wouldn't let her practice at home with it though if you want your house to stay in one piece. He remembered the shopkeeper's words and took them to heart.
Thank you for reading! I appreciate you!
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