23 This Hero Can't Find Monsters!

"Level two, level two, I can't wait to be you!"

Tael had been singing to himself for the past hour ever since we killed the slime. We haven't encountered any other monsters aside from the slime so we've just been wandering around the plains. I think I'm going to explode if I keep listening to his singing, so I decided to start a conversation.

"Hey… I noticed you used a wand. I don't know much about magic, but why do you use a wand?"

"Hm? Oh, my wand is my magic focus. It was carved out of the tree that resides in my family's ancestral yard and was given to me when I developed a level in wizard."

"You have an ancestral yard?"

"Most people with elven lineage do. I may be a half elf but even I get some privileges!"

That makes sense. Elves from my games usually were ancient people with a lot of ancestral lineage business. I suppose the elves of this world aren't too different. Despite what I just learned however, Tael said something that gave me a strange feeling.

"Are half elves looked down upon or something?"

"...Not exactly. It's not that I'm looked down upon but…"

Tael is fidgeting a bit. I think I just inadvertently stumbled upon a touchy subject. I should swap topics.

"Nevermind that. Do you need a wand to cast spells?"

"T-Totally not! A lesser wizard than me might need one, however! My wand is just a magical focus and as such is just used to help me focus the magic in my body to a specific point."

Despite getting the feeling that he's blowing a lot of hot air, I decided to continue to listen as Tael took a deep breath and continued with his explanation.

"Without a wand it becomes much harder to cast spells. An unskilled caster would even lose the efficacy of their spells, if they can even manage to cast at all."

"Does a magic focus need to be a wand?"

"No. A magic focus just needs to be something that the user is familiar and comfortable with. I could use a staff if I wanted to. Druids typically use tree branches or sticks while clerics often use amulets. Like I said though, they're not required."

"Hmm… Could a magic focus be a sword?"

"As long as the user is both familiar and comfortable with it, then yes. When I was younger, I turned my pillow into a magic focus because I thought there were monsters in my closet."

"I-I see…"

Ignoring that strange statement, we forged onwards towards the forested area since we couldn't find any monsters in the open plains. On our way, we encountered a few adventurers that were walking back into the city. Some were carrying dead wolves, while others had nothing on them. We didn't get into any conversations with the passing adventurers, instead we only exchanged brief glances to one another or sparingly said "greetings" back and forth. It seems that the majority of adventuring parties don't like to intermingle with those that they don't know.

"Woah. Kenji, look! These trees are huge! You think there are monsters sitting at the top of the trees that are waiting to drop on us?"

"D-Don't set a flag like that! What is wrong with you?!?"

"Oh, sorry. I just think it would be cool if we fought against all odds when we're ambushed and brought our enemies down!"

"Stop bringing up flags!"

This guy is going to get us into trouble, I can feel it.