I looked at Sheena and Albert expectantly. Waiting for them to explain the secondary function of the Mana Stone.
"Fu... Alright. Listen well, cause I'll only say it once!" Sheena let out a mouthful of breath, and start to explain, "The original purpose of the Mana Stone is to recover the user's Magic Power using the mana it collected from the surrounding."
Albert continued from where Sheena left off, "But, the Mana Stone can also act as a secondary mana tank for the user!"
"A secondary mana tank?" I tilted my head while poking my right cheek with the index finger.
"That's right. Instead of drawing the mana from the stone to recover your Magic Power, you can directly draw the mana from the stone to cast the spell." Sheena answered me while crossing her arms below her breasts.
"I see... that would be helpful indeed. So how does one draw the mana directly from the stone to cast the spell? Is it related to why the stone needs to me modified?" After understanding the secondary function of the Mana Stone, another question comes to my mind.
"That is correct. Normally, one cannot draw the mana directly from the stone while casting a spell. That is only possible if the Mana Stone is embedded into a special alloy." Albert explained.
"Mhm... they are normally attached to the tips of a wand or staff. But there are some that are attached to jewelries, such as a ring or a bracelet." Sheena nodded and continued the explanation.
Shortly after Sheena and Albert finish explaining the secondary function of the Mana Stone to me, Sheena started, "Well, how about we go test your affinity for other elemental spells while waiting for Uncle Sebastian? You just fully recovered your Magic Power after all."
"Sure! Better than doing nothing here while waiting! Let's go!" I was the first to run to the back door of the store.
We weren't able to finish testing my affinity with fire, earth and water element earlier because we were worried that I might run out of Magic Power due to my special ability, but later we found out that as long as I don't have enough Magic Power, the ability won't be activated and the spell will not be registered. But that's another story in the future.
Sheena asked me when we reached the empty field at the back of the store, "So, which elemental magic do you wish to test first?"
I replied enthusiastically, "Fire magic please!!"
"Fire? Why?" Albert asked.
"Fire magic is compatible with wind magic right? If I fused fire and wind magic together, I can create an even stronger fire!" I answered.
"I see... you do have a point, but I think it is still too early for you to think about fusion magic!" Sheena rebuked.
Albert on the other hand seems pleased, since he is also a practitioner of fire and wind magic.
"Huhuhu, if it's fire magic. I can teach you! Here, take this wand and chant after me!" Albert passed over the beginner wand to me enthusiatically.
I took a hold of the wand and saluted, "Yes, Master!"
*Mumble, mumble*
I started to chant the incantation after Albert and shouted the name of the spell.
"......FIREBALL!"
And as expected, after I successfully cast a fireball, I started to feel slightly dizzy as my Magic Power is being consumed at high speed by the special ability. I was able to instacast fireball later.
"Huff... huff..." I breathed heavily after the spell has been registered.
"Are you okay?" Sheena was genuinely worried about me.
"Yea... no problem, just a little dizzy...... Man, just learning to instacast a basic elementary spell is already taking such a huge toll on me, I can't even begin to imagine just how much Magic Power will the higher level spell consume." As higher level spells are more complex and powerful, it will inevitably consume more time and Magic Power, I shudder at the thought of it.
"Hehe, I guess you just got to work hard to increase your Magic Power capacity. You have no other choice, you can't rely on the Mana Stone forever." Sheena giggled charmingly.
"That's true... but how do I increase my Magic Power capacity?" I faced Sheena and asked.
"Well... that's easy, you just got to keep using your magic until you run out of Magic Power...... Since your ability consumes so much Magic Power, I guess your Magic Power capacity will increase much faster than an ordinary mage..." Sheena answered honestly, but then she felt a little depressed in the end, after recalling all the harsh training she went through to increase her Magic Power.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
"I see... that sounds easy indeed..." I grabbed my chin and was in deep thought for a while.
"Sigh... You sure have it easy......" Sheena pouted.
"Well... anyway~ Can we proceed to test my affinity for earth and water?" Seeing Sheena like this, I quickly diverted the topic.
"What's the rush. Sebastian hasn't even finished embedding the Mana Stone, and your Magic Power is really low right now." Albert tried to stop me but I refuted, "I want to find out whether my ability will activate or not when I do not have enough Magic Power to register a new spell."
"No! I won't allow it! It's too reckless! It's one thing to run out of Magic Power and faint. But it's another story when you go over your Magic Power capacity, you will damage your dantian, and lose the ability to use magic. At worst, you can even lose your life!" Sheena got angry and shouted at me.
Lose my life? Seriously? I guess I shouldn't try this unless I'm in a life and dead situation. That means I will be stuck with basics elementary spell for a while until I get enough Magic Power to register the intermediate and advanced level spell.
I stayed silent for a while and apologized to Sheena for being so thoughtless. With that, we went back inside the store.
We waited for a while and finally saw Sebastian come back from the workshop, carrying a pair golden earring on his left hand.
Sebastian approaches us and showed us the golden earring. It looks like of like a golden teardrop with a hint of blue stone embedded in the center of it. I guess that's the Mana Stone.
"What do you think?" Sebastian looked at Sheena, then at me.
"It looks... beautiful..." Sheena was flabbergasted at the aesthetic of the earring.
"It looks beautiful indeed but I don't think I can wear it? I don't have ear-piercing..." I grabbed the lobe of my ears to feel for any piercing hole.
"Hahaha, don't worry lass. You don't need to pierce a hole in the lobes of your ears to wear these earring. These are non pierced earrings." Sebastian laughed out loud.
"Oh... that's great, because I am not about to go pierce my ears. NOT ever!" It's definitely not because I'm scared of pain alright? Defintely...
Sebastian handed the Teardrop Earring to me, and I put them on immediately. After I equip the earrings, I can feel a surge of power flowing into me. I guess aside from the mana tank function, it also increases my magic attack?
"This is..." I turned over to look at Sebastian.
"Hahaha! So you noticed it, lass?" Sebastian was feeling rather proud with these pair of earrings.
"I feel a surge of power flowing into me when I put on the earring. Aside from my Magic Power capacity, it feels like my magic attack also increased." I explained the weird but pleasant sentation I felt after wearing the earring to the others.
Sebastian boasted happily, "Hahaha! Indeed, I have enchanted these earring to increase the magic attack of the user."
Sheena frowned, "Uncle Sebastian! You are being too lenient. You are already selling the Mana Stone to us for ten Silver coins less, how can we ask you for more?"
"Hahaha, don't worry. I know your personality. That's why I'm not giving this for free. I will charge you five Silver coins for these earrings! How about it? Hahaha! Surely you have enough right?" Sebastian know Sheena's temper very well so he didn't try to push it.
"Hmph, that sounds fair enough." Sheena crossed her arms under her twin peaks, and turned her face to the other side.
Wow... Five Silver coins for this earring. That's equivalent to 5,000 USD! It's quite a luxury item. With the Mana Stone embedded in it, the total value of this earring is a whooping 95,000 USD! I feel anxious just to have this around.
I have to get stronger, and quick! So that I can overcome my anxiety.