Chapter 694: Isolde’s Wand

Mira took several heaving breaths as she let her hand fall to her side. A sheen of sweat clung to her brow, and simply remaining on her feet felt like it required a great deal of effort.

"Damn it," she cursed under her breath.

’Even with the ring helping my spellcasting and mana recovery, I’ve already exhausted my reserves!’

She looked around to check on the others just as their vanguard cut down the last chittering desert rat.

Dealing with rodents was something she would never enjoy, but this had been their life for the past few weeks.

They had spawned in a desert, surrounded by barren land with nothing but sand and dry air for leagues on end. It was terribly hot during the day and unbelievably cold at night, making even their hours of rest an ordeal.

As a fire mage, Mira could easily have provided a fire to warm them whenever they camped.

However, after making that mistake on their first night, they had never lit another, choosing to endure the biting cold instead.

She didn’t even want to recall the harrowing battle against the monsters that lurked in this desert after dark.

"Good work, everyone!" Rina called as she walked back towards the rear, spinning her spear in her palm before holding it behind her.

She was a second-year, and the person Mira would consider the leader of their little group of nine people.

Rina walked straight towards the exhausted Mira and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Perfect spellcasting and a good eye, as always, Mira. You too, Isolde. You saved Tessa and me more times than we could count."

Mira nodded lightly without speaking, choosing to save her breath.

Rina went on to commend the others for their hard work, though she frowned upon noticing William cowering to one side, holding a gleaming sword in his trembling hands.

In the end, she merely shook her head and said nothing, though the sight deeply angered Mira.

It was clear that the bastard was a liability, yet no one had said anything about it so far.

Things were becoming more dangerous with every passing day, and everyone was already on edge because of the terrible weather and steadily mounting exhaustion.

It was clear that William had lost all his spine; even a novice mage would do a better job than whatever it was that he had been doing these past two weeks.

The guy was constantly looking over his shoulder, as if some invisible hand was incessantly trying to reach for him.

It was getting sad to watch, honestly.

Mira had already stopped Tessa from beating the poor guy into a bloody pulp countless times.

Not out of pity, of course, but because they would then have to drag his battered body around afterwards. She needed him alive, at least until a certain someone could finish him off himself.

Just thinking about Elion sent a tingle through Mira’s lower body. A soft whimper escaped her throat, and a melancholic smile slowly appeared on her face.

’Come to think of it, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? I’ll make sure to prepare myself properly for the next time he takes me to bed again.’

She was already imagining all sorts of scenarios.

’Maybe I should tie myself up with rope. He seemed to like it when I did that.’

A perverted expression gradually crept upon her otherwise perfect features as her thoughts wandered further. The exhaustion certainly wasn’t helping her keep them under control, either.

Suddenly, an elbow nudged her side, snapping her out of her daze. "Your thoughts are written plainly on your face," Tessa whispered into her ear.

Mira glanced around and realised that almost everyone was looking at her strangely. She cleared her throat, trying to recover her composure.

"Sorry, I zoned out. I must be tired."

"You moaned," Tessa whispered again, suppressing a laugh. "No need to be shy... Its quite obvious what and who you were thinking about..."

Mira’s cheeks flushed as she wiped away the bit of drool that had leaked from between her lips, though she tried not to let her embarrassment show too much.

The others seemed to realise that her skin really was that thick, and the guys could only blush on her behalf before reluctantly turning their attention to extracting whatever they could from the defeated monsters.

"You really miss him, huh?" Tessa asked, watching her with an amused expression.

"Don’t you?" Mira replied.

Tessa crossed her arms. "And why would I miss that perverted, shameless scoundrel? He’s probably out there seducing those poor girls who went with him."

Mira laughed, finding herself unable to argue with that particular accusation.

"Unfortunately, I can’t defend him there, though I have noticed that he’s been practising a little bit of restraint in that regard."

Tessa laughed boisterously, her overwhelming breasts jiggling with the motion within their confines just as Isolde approached them, a light flush colouring her cheeks. "Oh, if it isn’t our newly minted sister," she said, nudging Isolde teasingly with her elbow.

Isolde blushed, her eyes darting around without knowing where to look as she clutched her wand tightly. Tessa’s grin only widened at the sight.

"You know that scoundrel won’t let go of you now, right? So, welcome aboard."

She continued laughing while the rest of the group gave them strange looks. Mira ignored her incessant laughter, turning her attention towards Isolde instead.

"I’ve been meaning to ask, Isolde. Where did you get that wand? I thought those were too ancient for mages to use anymore."

Isolde’s eyes brightened when she realised she had been offered an escape from Tessa’s teasing. "My father gave it to me as a birthday present when we had our break from school," she said, presenting the wand to Mira.

"Wait, when was your birthday? I didn’t realise..." Mira asked as she accepted it.

"Ah, it’s no big deal." Isolde waved off her concern. "It was actually a while ago. He gave it to me as a late present because he’d missed it, since we’d been away at school for so long."

"Oh..." Mira lowered her gaze to inspect the wand. Someone unfamiliar with its capabilities might have mistaken it for an ordinary stick, but she had already witnessed just how utterly ridiculous this particular ’stick’ was.

Between Tessa’s gauntlets, Isolde’s wand, and Mira’s epic-grade ring, the three of them were doing a good job of keeping up with the second-years despite the difference in skill. Their equipment had certainly helped them hold their own during the battles so far.

"As for wands being ancient, my people think differently," Isolde began to explain. "Most mages do prefer using staves. Their length allows for more inscriptions, which means they can hold more enchantments to assist with spellcasting."

"And in some cases, those large orbs you see at the ends of staves can store mana, giving the wielder additional reserves," she continued. "All of that makes ordinary wands rather obsolete."

"This, however..." She pointed towards the wand in Mira’s hand, a proud expression appearing on her face. "Was made from a branch of the World Tree itself. You simply can’t compare the two."

Mira’s eyes widened in surprise, while the second-years, including Rina, looked over with interest. The declaration had clearly caught their attention.

"But I thought the World Tree died eons ago," Mira said. "According to the stories, at least."