"Wait,"

  "Wait,"

  "Wait."

  "Are you fug saying this staff is a living being? And if it is, why didn't you refuse it the first time I stored it in my iory?" Himmel raised an eyebrow and asked the system suspiciously.

  [Ding! Host, it wasn’t alive when you first stored it. When the system detected a living being, it immediately removed it,] the system expio Himmel, who had a suspicious expression on his face.

  "Where am I? Didn't I die to that hobgoblin?"

  The staff suddenly spoke. Himmel, who was holding it in his hand, was shocked.

  "Who are you?" He immediately put the staff down and took two steps back.

  "Me? I'm Sophia. Are you Himmel?"

  As the words reached Himmel’s ears, he became even more surprised.

  Sophia? Of course, he knew her. He had buried her body not long ago, and now her staff was g to be her? Himmel, who himself was a reinator, wasn't too surprised by such things happening. But being cautious wasn’t bad. Let’s listen to her first, he thought.

  "Aren’t you dead? I just buried your body. And what are you doing inside your staff?" Himmel asked, curiosity fshing in his eyes.

  "Ah, so it worked, huh?" Sophia sighed in relief.

  "Well, it's a long story. Where do I even start?" She poo herself, thinking of a way to expin.

  "I didn’t tell you before, but I’m actually the st desdant of the Bckwood Duchy," she said with a solemn tone.

  "Who are they?" Himmel asked nontly.

  [+50 anger from Sophia]

  Huh? Why is she angry? I really don’t know them, Himmel thought as he saw the notification.

  "Well, that’s natural because they do anymore. The nd is now called Graf Granat’s Domain, and over 300 years have passed since my family was destroyed by Aura the Guillotihere’s not much history left about us," Sophia expined in a sorrowful tone.

  "And what does that have to do with you being ihe staff?" Himmel asked.

  "Let me finish first. Before our family was destroyed—"

  "Stop the info dump ao the point," Himmel interrupted, his face expressionless.

  [+50 anger from Sophia]

  "This bastard… Well, our family ied this staff and passed it down to our desdants. The user had to drop their blood to form a tract with it. It save you in life-threatening moments, so it's a life-saving artifact," Sophia expined in a pissed-off tone.

  [gratutions, Host, for accumuting 1050WP. The shop feature has been unlocked.]

  Himmel saw the notification and became excited. He immediately opehe shop, only to find intermediate spells and potions.

  [Shop]

  [Spells]

  Earth Spell (Intermediate) – 5,000WP

  Fire Spell (Intermediate) – 8,000WP

  Water Spell (Intermediate) – 3,000WP

  Defensive Spell (Intermediate) – 10,000WP

  Arrows of Iephtear – 20,000WP

  [Potions]

  Healing Potion – 100WP

  Mana Potion – 100WP

  Seeing the shop options, Himmel furrowed his brows in disappoi.

  "Is this all? Nothing new? Only intermediate spells and an ice arrow spell?" Himmel muttered.

  [Ding! Host, this is only version 1.0 of the shop feature. You need more WP to unlock additional options. You get anything—as long as you have enough WP.]

  Hearing the system’s expnation, Himmel closed the shop window and looked back at the staff—now Sophia. He picked it up.

  "So this is the life-saving artifact, huh?" He smirked sinisterly.

  "As I expined, it's a life-saving artifact. Let me warn you—if you're thinking of doing something bad, this only works with my Bckwood family bloodline," Sophia said with pride.

  "Tsk tsk, that’s too bad." Himmel clicked his tongue in disappoi.

  "Well then, goodbye."

  He pced the staff on the ground and turo leave.

  "Wait! Don’t leave me in this pce!" Sophia cried behind him.

  "And why should I carry you around? I'm already struggling with my life and have too many pursuers. If I take a soul-possessing staff with me, I’ll only attract even more attention. Besides, I ’t store you in my iory because you’re a living being," Himmel expined his situation to her.

  "Iory? What’s that?" Sophia asked curiously.

  "I mean a space bag. Ah, right… your space bag is also here."

  Himmel suddenly remembered the space bag he took when he was at the campfire. He waved his hand, and a small space bag appeared in his palm. He tossed it toward the staff and walked away.

  Sophia, who could hear Himmel leaving, ched her ent hands. Then she cried out desperately, "Please don’t leave! I’ll do anything!"

  "Oh? And what you do?" Himmel asked curiously.

  "Ah… that…"

  Sophia, realizing she no longer had her elegant body, was stunned. What I even offer him? This was her only ce to survive. If she was left alone in this unknown forest, what would happen to her? It ossible no one would ever find her.

  "I… I'll give you all the magic spells in my space bag!" Sophia finally said in desperation.

  Himmel's ears perked up as curiosity overtook him.

  "But on one dition," Sophia interrupted his thoughts. It was natural that she didn’t trust him. Who knew what he would do if he took the spells and ran away? To protect herself, she offered a tract.

  "Bey master and use me as your staff. You may specialize in swordsmanship instead of magic, but that’s fine—I transform into a sword. It will be useful for you."

  Himmel sidered her offer and asked again, "Are you sure you want me as your master? Besides, I already have a staff. I don’t need another ht now."

  "Are you a mage? Didn't you use a sword fhting?" Sophia was surprised by Himmel's words.

  "Well, I’m a begiier mage," Himmel admitted. He looked at the staff Sophia was in, waiting to see her rea.

  "Ah, so that’s how it is. When I first met you, I sensed mana fluctuations but thought I was mistaken," Sophia said with a ed tone.

  "Ah, that was the day I formed my first Ma Circle," Himmel answered.

  "Wait, you made a Mana Circle? How long did it take you?" Sophia asked.

  "Mm… I think it took me about four hours? I don’t remember exactly how long I meditated, but it was around that."

  "Pft… Who are you fooling? Just admit it if you’re embarrassed," Sophia said teasingly.

  "What do you mean?" Himmel frowned, fused.

  "Are you serious?" Sophia's tone suddenly became serious.

  "Yes, I’m serious. Tell me what’s wrong."

  "Hold on… Are you saying that you formed a Ma—a process that takes months—in just four hours?"

  "Wait… What do you mean it takes months to form a Ma?" Himmel asked.

  "That’s exactly what I said. Mas are so difficult to create that most mages don’t evehem anymore. Only a few mao form them, and even then, it takes them over two months." Sophia expined.

  "..."

  "Wait… What?"

  ---

  To be tinue.

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