"Level two, level two, I can't wait to be you!" The half-elf to my right kept repeating.
Tael has been singing to himself 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 aimlessly. I think I'm going to explode if I keep listening to his singing, so I decided to start a conversation.
I looked Tael up and down, trying to think of something to talk about before I noticed a white stick sitting at his hip. "Hey… I noticed you used a wand. I don't know much about magic, but why do you use a wand and not something like a staff or something?"
"Hm?" He looked over to me and felt at his hip. "Oh... My wand is my magic focus. I got it when I was really young..." Tael looked forward with a thousand yard stare. "I... don't remember how I got it. All I remember is being told that I did something incredible by my father before I was sent to Ruks."
That's a lot to unpack at once. How do I handle that...
"So... You didn't get that wand at a store or something?" I looked over the wand as Tael showed it off to me. It was intricately carved out, sporting minor carvings and symbols. "Masterwork" is the only word that does this item justice.
"No." He placed it back at his hip. "From what I was told, this wand is some special item that's unique to me. You can't find something like this at any store."
Well... Now that the wand dialogue was exhausted, what else should I ask about? I can't just let him get back to singing after all...
"So then... what exactly is with the get-up?" I asked as I pulled at Tael's robes.
Tael seemed to take offense to this. "I-I'll have you know that as a wizard it is my duty to appear as visible as possible!"
"And the hat?"
Tael's expression suddenly changed. It wasn't anger, but some type of distant sadness.
"It's..." He began fiddling with the brim. "The only gift I've ever received from my mom."
Okay. As much as I want to know more, I can tell that pushing further will only cause problems. Tael's family is definitely a sore spot...
I'll ask him about it in the future.
Despite the fact that I felt I should back away from Tael and his family, something else is burning at me.
I looked at Tael's pointed ears. "You mentioned that you're a half-elf. Are half-elves rare or something? I don't think I've met another half, or for that matter, full elf."
"I doubt you would have. Us half-elves are beyond rare now. As for full blooded elves... Well..."
Tael is fidgeting a bit. I think I just inadvertently stumbled upon a touchy subject. I should swap topics.
"Nevermind that." I waved my hand to change subjects. "Do you need a wand to cast spells?"
Tael grasped his wand as he looked away. "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…" I scratched my chin as I looked towards my hip. "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…"
We continued walking for a moment before I realized something.
"So... will someone with a magic focus always be weaker than someone with one?"
Tael shrugged. "Once someone gets a handle of magic well enough, they can cast magic with or without a focus without a problem. Think of a focus like training wheels. It's the same premise." Tael shook his head around for a moment before he chuckled and looked at me. "You could, theoretically, shoot firebolts out of your dick if you really wanted to!" He made a pelvic thrust as he explained.
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.
After around an hour of walking, we finally reached the forest edge. The shifting and shaking of leaves overhead, followed by the darkening of the forest floor intimidated me.
"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?" Tael pointed upwards.
"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!" Tael began flicking his wand around as if he was casting fantastical spells.
"Stop bringing up flags!" I stamped my foot onto the ground.
This guy is going to get us into trouble, I can feel it.