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Considering the convenience of carrying it, Aresia made a retractable folding magic wand for Amos. The wand could extend to about 30 centimeters with a distinctive pattern on it, different from Aresia’s enchanted wand.
Near the handle, Amos’s wand had several polished magic crystals embedded, providing additional power. When the crystals were depleted, they could be replaced with new ones, making Amos’s wand look even more splendid.
In addition, Aresia drew a miniature version of a golden gryphon on the handle, which instantly caught Amos’s eye and made him fall in love with it.
However, unlike Aresia’s wand, which had magical properties and functions as a staff, Amos’s wand was more like a “toy” with several solidified spells. Besides the five spells it already possessed, Amos couldn’t use it as a wand for casting magic. Aresia had added a magical contract to the wand, binding it to Amos. Only he could activate it, even though he wasn’t a mage and didn’t need to perform any spellcasting.
Excited about receiving the wand, Amos completely forgot to ask Aresia about her own materials and started tinkering with his wand nearby. Aresia finally gave up on dealing with him and focused on handling the materials in front of her.
Her peculiar actions in the wilderness, resembling an experimental laboratory, caught the attention of those around them. It seemed odd to witness someone manipulating magical materials on a makeshift alchemy table in such a place. Anyone who witnessed this scene couldn’t help but look at them with curiosity.
Although the onlookers were intrigued, Aresia didn’t pay much attention to them. These people were the Duke’s carefully selected individuals, loyal and trustworthy. Moreover, Amos had subtly hinted to them that they had signed a confidentiality agreement and should not disclose any information about Aresia.
Aresia trusted that they wouldn’t dare to act against her, including the leader, Duru. They prioritized Aresia’s commands and were reminded by the Duke to do so. Aresia didn’t worry about their reactions to what she was doing.
The hunting team soon returned with their prey, and a strong smell of blood permeated the camp. The contracted beasts, still in their early stages of domestication, began to grow restless at the scent of food.
Since they had recently acquired these beast companions, replacing their former warhorses, the contracted beasts had become their new partners. The bond between them was even stronger, and they would rather go hungry than let their beast companions starve.
The captured prey, with its fur and bones intact, was directly fed to the beasts. The beasts devoured the food, and the humans’ meals couldn’t compare to their feast. While the team enjoyed their lunch, Aresia placed her thoughts on the alchemy table. She didn’t pay much attention to eating and left the food there. She didn’t bother asking Luna to eat either.
Luna had grown accustomed to Aresia’s changes and, in this wilderness, knew to wait for the knights to finish their meal before resting for a short while and continuing their journey. The break provided them with enough time to rest and eat, but they couldn’t afford to delay.
As soon as Luna left, Aresia quickly finished her food and returned to the alchemy table to continue working with the materials. The members of the escort team started discussing among themselves.
“Our Duke’s daughter doesn’t seem like the rumors say she is.”
“Is she doing her homework assigned by the school?”
“It’s quite fascinating.”
They speculated on what Aresia was doing. Since she still wasn’t a true mage and they weren’t familiar with the work of alchemists, they couldn’t determine the exact nature of her actions. But their attention soon shifted. Compared to the Duke’s daughter, whose intentions were unknown, their teammate, the young master of the Duke’s household, was doing something even more intriguing.
Aresia processed the required materials and immediately started shaping them into a mold. She then inserted the mold into the alchemy table, infused it with magic through the embedded magic array, and ignited the magical flames on the array. With meticulous precision, she added and refined the materials in specific proportions, purifying and extracting them. Finally, she obtained a solid, metallic substance that resembled a molten gold shield.
Aresia took the object and held it in her hand. It was a metal piece shaped like a shield with a design similar to a badge. The mold wasn’t finely crafted, as she had rushed the process, so the resulting item appeared ordinary, like a cheap toy from a children’s store.
The shield badge had a pattern of a magic array engraved on it, but it was purely decorative and had no practical use. Aresia quickly mixed the required magic ink from several bottles on the side, sucked the ink into a pen without putting on the pen cap, and directly dropped the ink into the groove of the shield badge. The ink flowed along the groove throughout the magic array, filling it completely. In an instant, the magic array flashed, and the ink that had been dripped seemed to be absorbed and disappeared.
The shield badge wasn’t something extraordinary, but Aresia could sense a stable wave of magic emanating from it.
“What are you doing?” Amos, who was showing off by using the activation magic of his wand to cook a meal, approached Aresia while dripping ink onto the shield badge.
Aresia checked it briefly and confirmed that the shield badge was well-done. She tossed it to Amos and said, “It’s too windy here. Use this as a makeshift windbreaker.”
Although Amos was not a mage, being the heir of the Rogest family, he had seen many things. The magic array on the alchemy tool seemed somewhat familiar to him. He carefully examined the shield badge and asked, “Is this a second-level wind magic, Wind Shield?”
“Yes,” Aresia confirmed.
Amos turned to Aresia, but she had already started making more shield badges using the mold. She had made five and was continuing to make more at a rapid pace. Amos was amazed at her speed and began to doubt whether the scarcity and high price of alchemy tools were due to manufacturing difficulties and limited quantities. Aresia’s efficient production method made him wonder if it was all just a marketing gimmick by merchants. Was it really difficult and rare to produce them?
Seeing Amos still standing there in awe, Aresia asked, “Have you finished eating?”
Amos replied, “Yes.”
After delivering some food to his sister, he came back to help her. When he returned, Luna had already finished her meal and was assisting Aresia with dripping ink. Seeing Amos, Luna greeted him with a nod and continued working.
Amos quickly grabbed another pen and started dripping ink. With their combined efforts, Aresia’s speed increased even more. A large amount of metal liquid was transformed into three hundred shield badges, filling the alchemy table with identical badges.
Duru, Kelly, and three other knights unfamiliar to Aresia arrived to lend a hand. Although they were a bit late and could only watch, their eyes were filled with admiration as they witnessed Aresia’s remarkable speed.
Amidst the ongoing production, Duru asked, “What are these for?”
Aresia handed him a bag containing the badges and said, “These are wind shield badges. They are disposable alchemy tools. As long as there is wind, they will activate automatically. When the wind subsides, bring them back to me for replenishment.”
Duru asked, “Do we need to inject a certain amount of magic into them?”
Alchemy tools usually required a specific amount of magic to activate.