Morning came, and Ariel was completely recovered. She got emotional when she saw that John and Serena were alive and started to cry. Flustered John explained to her in a hurry about what happened and how a party saved them after she passed out.

She felt grateful for what they did and planned on thanking them if they ever met again.

That happened this morning. Right now they were on their way to the blacksmith after finishing breakfast. There was something John wanted to do.

“So John, what exactly are you planning?” Asked Serena as they entered the smithy.

“Nothing much, just improving our equipment.” John replied.

With their daily fees, food and advanced payment of their stay at the inn. They have exactly 106 gold coins left. Counting silver takes too long, so John didn’t bother. Instead, he exchanged all his silver to gold.

“Um, excuse me. Mr Blacksmith, you have customers.” John said out loud.

A muscular dwarf came out of the back room shortly after and said. “I’m the owner of this smithy, what can I get you?”

‘He reminds me of the blacksmith back in Halfaust. Coincidence? I think not.’ John thought.

“Well, I wanted to improve our current gear. I already have in mind what I want.” John said.

 “Is that so? What is it?” He asked.

John walked up to him and told him about the wand he wanted to make for Ariel while Ariel and Serena were looking around and what the man crafted.

“I see… However, for that you would need a strong magic stone, one that is able to be refined and has enough magic capacity.” He said.

“Will this stone do?” John asked as he pulled out the green magic stone from the box.

“!? T-This!” He said.

“This?” John asked “This stone will definitely do, no in fact, it’s more than enough. It’s great for the core, and will be able to be easier to use after refining,” He said.

“I’ve been wondering, what does refining a magic stone do?” John asked.

“If you refine a magic stone, it will be easier to use and you will be able to recharge the mana within it.” He said. “Oh! That sounds promising. Also, with this size I should be able to make more than 1 magical core right? Isn’t it too big?” John asked.

“No, it’s possible to compress it. You could split it, but that would also split the power, but in this case, it would still be too big, so you would have no choice but to compress it. Compressing keeps the power the same, so I recommend just compressing the entire stone.” The smith said.

“You can do that?” John asked with an astonished face.

“Of course, leave it to this old man.” He said.

“Gladly, but either way. I’m still planning on splitting it. Split it into 3 even pieces, It should be 30 cm in diameter in total so make each one a ball of 10cm in diameter.” John said.

“So you have plans for having 3 pieces?” He asked. 

“Not really, it’s just my party worked hard to get it so they all deserve a piece.” John said.

—————————-

“And so, what would you guys like to make?” John asked after telling them about the conversation he had finished having with the blacksmith.

“A magic stone… Hm… I don’t know, I don’t really have anything I’m missing.” Serena said.

“Neither do I.” Ariel added. 

“Ariel, I already told the Blacksmith to make you a magic staff with your piece as the core.” John said as he looked at the blacksmith.

He nodded at her to confirm it.

“Wha- But I don’t deserve it-” Before she could finish, John interrupted her.

“There you go again. We’re a party. We all worked hard and risked our lives to get it. So stop saying things like you don’t deserve it.” John said.

“O-Okay… Thank you, John.” She said as she tried to hide her happy expression.

“Good, now as for Serena, he’ll refine your stone for you and give you your piece so you don’t have to think of what you want right now, you can think it through over time.” John said.

“Alright, I’ll do that, thanks.” She said.

“And as for me… You know already, right?” John asked as he looked at the Blacksmith.

“I do, it’s honestly an insane idea, making gloves which act as a staff,” The smith said as he let out a sigh.

“You want him to make gloves which act as magic staffs?!” asked Serena.

“Yeah, is that bad?” John asked.

“No, it’s just it’s the first time I’ve ever heard of something like that. People who specialise in hand-to-hand combat such as martial arts prefer to enchant their melee weapons with magic.” She said.

‘Ah, I see, so there might be gloves, which increase the damage done, but it won’t really work as a wand like what I’m asking for.’ John reckoned.

“There are many people who use magic stones to improve their power, but they mainly put it in the form of a staff like me. Yet, you’re putting it in the form of gloves. That suits your style, it’s a good idea.” She said as she gave him a thumbs up.

‘That’s an exaggeration, isn’t it?’ John thought.

“Haha… So yeah, how much would it cost in total? To refine the stone split it into 3 equal pieces. Create a magic staff with one of them. Split the 2nd piece in half to make a pair of gloves and leave the last piece as is.” He asked.

‘There goes all our money.’ John internally sighed.

“Let’s see… Refining the stone and splitting it to 3 equal pieces is 5 Gold coins. Creating a Staff would require 2 Gold coins in total, because of the wood and compression of the stone. What sort of design would you like for the staff?” He asked.

“What would you like?” John asked Ariel.

“You can choose, I don’t really have any ideas of what the design would look like and you seemed experienced.” She said.

“Alright, As for your gloves…” He said as he looked at me.

“As for my gloves?” John repeated.

“You’re lucky you met me. I don’t mean to brag but there aren’t many blacksmiths here which are able to create magic staffs of quality as high as mine. I’ll be getting some help, but that’s not important. Connections are part of skill.” He said as he gave John a thumbs up.

‘Wow… This man is really running a business,’ John thought.

“Making gloves is no issue at all. Leather as a material should work. It’s the first time I’m making something like this. I usually either make staff, magically enchanted weapons or armour.”

“So there’s a chance of failure?” John asked.

“I doubt it, we’re making something new, but I should be able to use the same process I used to make staffs. As long as it has a core and it’s enchanted in the correct form, that’s all that matters. A staff is an enchanted well-designed long stick of wood with a core.” he said.

‘Ah, I sort of get it now.’ John thought.

“If we follow this process. As long as your gloves are able to be enchanted in the same way as a staff, and I do the compression correctly, then it should work.” he said.

“I see… Are you the one that does the enchantments?” John asked.

“No, It’s done by a friend, I simply do everything else, such as the designing and creating,” he said.

“How much would it be in total?” John asked.

“10 Gold coins for everything, including the magic gloves, it’ll be ready in a week,” he said.

“Well then, um?” John gestured.

“Frank, call me Frank.” Said the blacksmith.

“Frank, I’m John, these two are Serena and Ariel. We have a deal.” John replied.

————————————-

“Hey John, are you sure it wouldn’t have been better to just enchant gauntlets to do more damage when you attack?” Serena asked.

“Nah, It’s fine. Besides, I specialise in daggers. If it ever reaches hand to hand combat, then I’ll rely on my martial arts. But I only know a bit of MMA.” John answered.

“MMA?” Ariel asked.

“It’s something complicated, but don’t worry about it.” John said.

“More importantly, where are we going?” Serena asked.

“Training.” He replied.

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“Training. We’re going to train.” John replied.

“What kind?” She said.

“I’ll be teaching you the concept of fire magic, Ariel will be practicing on improving her concept of Wind magic and I’ll be creating new spells and doing exercises to strengthen my body.” John said.

John looked a lot less skinny than back when he met Ariel because he’s been properly eating his meals, but he hadn’t been properly working out. Which is why, he’ll need to start doing that.

“Huh? What is this? This person just said something about teaching me the concept of fire magic, something researchers still haven’t been able to grasp and said he’d be creating spells as if it were something normal. What’s wrong with this person?” Serena mumbled.

“Oi, I can hear you.” John said.

“It’s alright Serena, you’ll get used to it soon.” Said Ariel with an empty expression.

 “Ariel, not you too…” John muttered with a saddened expression. 

“D-Don’t be sad, John! You may not be normal, but you’re still amazing!” She said.

‘Please stop, you’re hurting my feelings.’ John thought.

——————————————-

“Where are we?” Serena asked.

John didn’t know. They were searching for a place where they could train in a kingdom surrounded by water and ended up here.

“We’re not too far from the port, but it looks like some sort of dock. It’s empty so it should be fine, right?” John asked.

“Well, it is spacious… It looks like it was recently used, but since it’s empty right now, I say we should use it.” Said Ariel.

“Well then, let’s start.” John said.

“Huh? Now? Wait, a moment, what if someone overhears us?” Serena asked.

“Nope, I’ve checked, there aren’t any people within a 50-metre distance from us.”

“What if someone has the ability to hear us from far? You should be paying more attention to these things!” Said Serena.

“Its fine, it’s fine. Look. Stand over there for a second.” John said as he pointed at a location 5 metres away.

“Fine…” She said as she walked over.

“Quiescis” John muttered.

“So what exactly are you trying to show me?”

“I’m trying to show you my new spell.” He replied.

“Huh? What did you say?” She asked.

“I said, I’m trying to show you my new spell.” He repeated.

“I can’t hear you!?” She said with a surprised face.

“Alright, I turned it off. Can you hear me now?” John asked.

“W-Wha- Don’t tell me you…” Serena muttered.

“That’s right. Unlike silentium, which stops sound from moving inside. Quiescis prevent sound waves from reaching outside a certain field. Ariel, who was standing next to me, could hear me perfectly, isn’t that right?” John said.

“Yes, like John said. I could hear him but you couldn’t, it was probably due to our positions. You were outside of the field so the sound wasn’t reaching you.” Said Ariel.

‘She’s a good learner… I wonder if there are any schools in this world… Wait, there was one in Halfaust. I heard it was called the royal academy or something.’ John wondered.

“Ah, that’s right… I forgot its John after all…” She said with a saddened look on her face.

“Oi, why are you talking about me as if I were some sort of lost cause?” John replied.

“Cheer up, Serena. On the bright side, you’ll be learning from him!” Ariel said.

“No. I don’t want to stop being normal.” Serena said.

“Alright, we’re outside, the weather is nice. Why don’t the two of you fight me?” John asked.

“You’re on, I’ve wanted a rematch since the day I lost.” Said Serena.

“I’d also like to fight John.” Said Ariel.

‘Wait, wait, wait. I was joking. Why would Ariel even want to fight me? Does she hate me… Where did I go wrong?’ John wondered.

“Before we start, just know that we are dueling to see how much we can improve over this week.” John spoke.

“Okay.” They both replied as they nodded.

“After this match, I’ll start teaching Serena the concept of fire magic. As for you Ariel, I will also help you improve your control over the wind element. Now, I’m going to flip this coin, when it lands we start. If you two can beat me now or after this week, then I’ll do anything you ask.” John explained.

“Anything?” Asked Serena with an evil smile.

“Really?” Asked Ariel with an excited expression.

‘I don’t feel safe. Should I not have said that? I did it to motivate them.’ John thought to himself.

“That is if you win.” John said as he pulled out a silver coin from the magic tool box.

“Well then. Good luck..” John said after throwing the coin into the air.