After a satisfying meal at the inn, I met up with Darya and Amelia in the abbey’s kitchen. Both seemed unusually cheerful, engaging in lively conversation as they served lunch to the children. They were having hearty potato and meat stew with bread.

“What happened to your lip?” Darya asked me.

“I uhm .. nothing. It’s fine,” I said. I totally didn’t smack myself in the face while practicing.”

“It's swollen and bleeding. Let me sort that out for you.” Darya reached into a pouch and pulled out a tiny glass potion with green liquid. She dipped her finger in it.

I backed up before she could smear it on my lip. “Whoa, what is that?”

“It’s just a healing balm.”

“What sort of a healing balm?”

“It's something I whip up from trailside. We slap it on the kids here whenever they get cuts and scrapes.”

“Uh-huh. No, it’s quite alright.”

Why was she all smiles and acting so caring all of a sudden? Earlier in the dungeon she was all business, but now? It all seemed super suspicious to me. My spider sense was tingling.

“Are you sure? Because it can-”

“It’s fine, thank you. Are you an alchemist?” I asked her.

“No, I’m a [Chandler.]”

“And Amelia?”

“She’s a .. she’s-” Darya turned to Amelia. “Well, you could ask her yourself.”

Amelia glared at her sister, making it clear that she didn’t want anyone asking about it. While it piqued my interest as to what it could be, I decided not to pursue it.

“Well, you make do with what you've got, right?" Darya remarked. "Not many get a say in the matter. What about you?”

I gestured to the couple of oak branches sticking out of my backpack, and smiled. “Wandcrafter.”

She beamed. “Ooh, can you make me one?”

“I don’t think you want me to. It’ll come out terrible as I uhm .., never actually put any work into it for years, but now I finally decided to try it out.”

“So, ditching the bow to become a wander?”

I nodded. “I think I would like that very much.”

“Well, you know what they say, not all who wander are lost.”

I chuckled. “That’s cute.”

After chit chatting a bit more, I went to my room to do some crafting. I set the components to make an [Oak Wand] on the desk. Three oak branches, five quartz crystals, copper wiring, and minor power crystals. I had enough to make five wands.

The schematic didn’t show sizes or dimensions for the oak shaft, so for starters I decided to carve two different sizes. One thin as a flute, and another like a baton. The knife I had bought from the smith was surprisingly sharp and perfect for the job.

Attaching the power crystal into a divot at the handle and the quartz at the tip with copper wiring took a bit of work. Duct-tape would have come in super handy. Once finished, I was thrilled with my handiwork and admired it with pride in my eyes. [Keen Eye] showed similar stats for both wands with one major exception.

* [t1] [Lesser] [Swift Oak Wand][Charge: 100/100]

* Damage: 23 [Size: 66%, Wandcrafter: +15%]

* Power up time: 1.7 sec [Size: 66%, Wandcrafter: -15%]

* Cooldown: 1.5 seconds

* Speed: 20 yd/s

* Duration: 1 sec

* Range: 20 yards

* [t1] [Lesser] [Bolstered Oak Wand][Charge: 100/100]

* Damage: 46 [Size: 133%, Wandcrafter: +15%]

* Power up time: 3.4 sec [Size: 133%, Wandcrafter: -15%]

* Cooldown: 1.5 seconds

* Speed: 23 yd/s

* Duration: 1 sec

* Range: 23 yards

It looked like the size of the wand had an effect. The baton had larger damage, but at the cost of a longer power-up time. Projectile speed and range stayed mostly the same, but what caused the minor difference? Maybe there was a quality difference between the two quartz crystals, but not one that I could see.

Wondering if there was a limit to the size of the wand, I decided to make one as big as I could. I picked out the largest oak branch and went to work. When I finished crafting it, the “wand” looked more like a staff that I could use in a bar fight.

* [t1] [Lesser] [Heavy Oak Wand][Charge: 100/100]

* Damage: 103.5 [Size: 300%, Wandcrafter: +15%]

* Power up time: 7.65 sec [Size: 300%, Wandcrafter: -15%]

* Cooldown: 1.5 seconds

* Speed: 19 yd/s

* Duration: 1 sec

* Range: 19 yards

To test minor variations in the projectile speed, I swapped out the quartz crystal from the ‘baton’ wand to my new staff-wand. As a result, the projectile speed and range changed accordingly. This showed that quality of the material mattered for wand stats. It meant I had to take extra care to seek out the best quality components if I wanted to make the best wand possible.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

For crafting the third wand I was awarded with a new schematic for an Ivory Wand. It had all new components except for the power crystal, and even an addition of leather for the handle. I was eager to make the new variant, but getting ivory and some amethyst would be problematic. I hoped the villagers had some I could buy.

[t1][Ivory Wand]

* Amethyst tip

* Ivory core

* Sinew binding

* Leather grip

* Power Crystal

Like a kid with brand new toys, I was eager to test the new wands. So, I hurried outside to the lake. On the shore, I was greeted by the strong scent of fish hung up on drying racks. Out by the piers, women and children were untangling fishnets and mending the damaged ones. A number of others were also scattered about the area using simple fishing rods.

They watched me approach, and a few of the children still pointed fingers in my direction while talking to their parents. I wasn’t going to disturb their peace by unleashing my wand arsenal. It would spook them and all the fish alike. Instead, I walked south and found an open area with a massive, moss covered boulder sticking out of the ground.

I started with the smallest, the flute sized wand, and tried using it without [Power Shot.] Getting it to fire wasn’t complicated, but simply a matter of touching the power crystal embedded at the handle of the wand. I placed my thumb over it and the wand started to hum and gently vibrate. The longer I held, the louder the tone of the hum grew and more high pitched. The vibration increased and the crystal started to shine. I knew the basics of pistol safety so as not to point the thing in my face. I aimed for the boulder.

It only took a couple of seconds for it to fire. I felt a slight recoil as a bright, basketball sized projectile burst out of the wand with a woosh. It hit the boulder with a thud, blew the moss right off the top, showering the area with bits of green dirt. Without the [Power Shot] skill, the impact by itself wasn’t anything to write home about -- just enough to knock over an adult if they were hit dead center.

Next, I tried using [Power Shot] and the difference was immense. The brilliant projectile shot out with a hefty recoil and a boom. Yet, with the boulder fifteen yards away, I still missed it by a good margin. To aim, I’d used a similar method as shooting a bow. With my arm straight out and holding the wand at eye level, I used the tip as my aiming point. It was the added vibration of the wand as it powered up that made aiming challenging.

All along, the projectile had flown in a straight line, seeming to ignore gravity, and then simply vanished upon reaching its maximum range. This wasn’t a long range weapon, that’s for sure. If the bow and arrow was a rifle, then the wand was a shotgun. The power-up also created noise and light which meant it wouldn’t work well as an assassin’s weapon.

I walked a lot closer to the boulder and tried again. This time, it smashed the front with an audible thud, sending splinters flying in every direction. The damage was greater than shooting with a bow, and it wasn’t focused in a small area, but several times larger.

Next, I switched to the baton sized, Bolstered Oak Wand. This one had double the power-up time of four seconds, but twice the damage. It built up gradually, and the resulting shot was far stronger. The impact gouged out a chunk of the boulder twice as big as the last shot.

For my last test, I was very eager to try the Heavy Oak Wand. Aiming proved much easier as its heavy weight dampened the vibration, and I also used both hands to hold it like a spear. The nine second power-up time was brutal. I would have been long dead before I could fire it if a bear was charging me at that moment. While the power-up was listed as nine seconds, it felt less than that. It must have been my [Wandcrafter] bonus, +15% damage and -15% power-up using wands you have crafted.

The resulting projectile was the same size as the previous one, but red. It hit the boulder dead on, and I had to shield my face as splinters peppered the area. I grinned to myself as I walked up close to examine the damage. This boomstick was amazing. The boulder had a crack down the middle and was missing a large chunk. This wasn’t a tree either, but solid stone.

While the wand lacked in some aspects compared to the bow, the clear advantage seemed to be the sheer power of it. The wand projectile didn’t arc but traveled in a straight line so I didn’t need to aim higher. Also, it flew a bit slower than an arrow and didn’t go as far.

A thought occurred to me, I had three wands, could I shoot all three at once? Turns out the answer was no. Only the first two that I touched actually worked. So much for the cool idea of making a gatling gun.

I checked the stats on the wands and saw that the initial [92/100] charges were reduced. Each shot from this boomstick took nine charges out of the wand’s power crystal, or the same amount as the ‘power-up’ time. Fortunately, I had spare power crystals, and would get more in the void dungeon.

Now, I just needed better target dummies. Also, I needed to work on my aim, and learn the timing of the wand based on how it sounded and felt before shooting.

Darya came out to watch me practice. “Ya ready?”

I nodded. “I need to get some ivory and an amethyst. Any ideas how?”

She tapped her lips. “The boar we killed earlier had tusks, but nothing of the sort was granted.”

“Why would it be?”

“The gods are supposedly aware of our professions and often cough up fitting items. We could give the Arid Canyon dungeon a shot. The boss there has gigantic tusks, and I just so happen to have that dungeon orb.”

I grinned, eager to use the wands. “Let’s do it.”

*** Milu ***

Milu paced from side to side, wobbling, humming along to an old song playing on her audio box. She couldn’t recall where she heard it first, as many years of her long, long life seemed to have blended together. Most of it gone and lost. Even the memories of her home world were but a faint glimmer of what they used to be.

The oven beeped in the kitchen, and it put a smile on her face. She was baking cookies. Oatmeal and raisin – her favorite. Then she sighed, as she often did when she remembered that she couldn’t share it with any of her co-workers. They were all dead. Only she remained alone. Alone, all these years.

It’s okay, she thought with a toothy smile, more for me. And she had quite the voracious appetite, that’s for sure. Cookies weren’t exactly the sort of a diet for someone like her, but … who would tell her otherwise? Her masters have long vanished too, or at least they hadn’t ventured down to her level to prove otherwise. What went on at the top was anyone’s guess, and she didn’t care, she had her own problems to deal with.

These endless days, she preoccupied herself with bio-engineering, and knitting. It was an odd hobby for her, and you would agree if you saw her. She didn’t have any arms, a neck … or well, a body that was suited for scarfs, cardigans, socks, mittens, or many other garments she had made by the hundreds. She had an entire chamber devoted to it. No, the only item she ever wore when she was in her fanciful mood was her favorite shawl. It reminded her of home, or at least that’s what she told herself. It was the size of a rug – it had to be.

An alarm blared in the monitor room. Milu whined. She was already in a sour mood. Another experiment had gone to crap. Dead on arrival. She had dumped it out the chute with the trash. It was a perfect combination of races too. Maybe even her best one yet. Fortunately, she had plenty of time to keep trying.

She flew up to see what all the noise was about. In the cluttered room, she was greeted by the mechanical hum of dozens of monitors. They hovered, fanned out across the space showing various parts of her home and the perimeter outside. The one with the alarm showed a swarm of grublings. They were getting ready to head out.

She wriggled her two front tentacles in frustration. These meddlesome pests were a constant thorn in her side, clogging up the works, destroying her brainless minions. Thankfully, the bipeds would thin their numbers from time to time. Milu considered warning the villages outside of the coming danger, but it never went well. Last time she got close they threw rocks, and tried setting her on fire.

Before flying down to munch on the cookies, she checked the maroon monitor – as she always did. It confirmed that the displayed monstrosity, one of the minor horrors that had somehow managed to escape the confines, was still slumbering. And if the bipeds knew where it was now, they’d step lighter.