The celebration went peacefully, and without the infernal dragon elixir, we refrained from attempting any heroic feats. Soon, it was time for gift-giving.
Algo and Leira stepped aside, and I noticed how they exchanged beautiful rings with each other. I remember at the wedding, they couldn't afford expensive jewelry, so they made a vow, exchanging simple rings. Now, they had enough money for something grander, and it seemed their thoughts perfectly aligned in this matter. After exchanging the rings, they kissed, and it appeared that their battle with the empire had brought them much closer. Perhaps they would no longer merely share a room but something more.
Seleria joyfully hugged all the girls and presented them with exquisite ornaments. Small gold and silver amulets with precious stones for Katrina, Ragni, Levris, Rumy, Kurone, Aileen, and Rizel. Not knowing where to hang his, she wrapped a chain around the skull on her staff and patted the girl on the shoulder. Even Levris and Grain exchanged gifts quietly in the background. It was time for me to present my gifts.
I called Rumy, Asura, and Aileen to me and took out two items wrapped in fabric from behind the wall.
"Well, it's time for us to congratulate them, Rumy, Asura. They turned out beautifully," I said, extending a spear to Asura and taking a bow, heading towards the twins.
"I request everyone's attention," Asura called out to everyone present. "We have prepared gifts for Vivien and Miriam. You bravely fought against the Empire's guards, and we would like to give you something that would allow you to improve your skills further."
The surprised twins approached closer.
"Vivien, you're a magnificent warrior," Rumy spoke up. "You are strong, agile, and brave; you possess all the qualities to become a mighty warrior. But after being defeated, you walk like a defeated soul."
"S-Sorry," the twin shyly lowered her eyes.
"No-no-no, there's no need to apologize for fighting to the end, even when the enemy was stronger. You didn't surrender to the enemy's mercy; you fought even when your weapon was broken," Rumy winked at the girl. "I saw it all; you did great. So, allow me to gift you this weapon."
Asura removed the covering from the spear, revealing a beautiful iridescent weapon with a black handle. The handle looked like two intertwined rods with small runes barely visible, a shining white tip at the bottom, and a light blue blade.
"This weapon!?" Vivien recognized the blade's form right away.
"No, Vivien, it's not just any weapon. It's the weapon that has been passed down in my clan for generations, a naginata, albeit slightly modified. I'd be thrilled if you fought with this weapon," Asura reassured the girl.
"Ha-ha, and I'll help you learn to use it. I have a couple of excellent ideas on how you can fight with such a weapon," Rumy embraced the twin warmly. "Thank you so much," Vivien lowered her head, and her ears turned red.
"And oh, this unusual spear, when the right moment comes, I'll tell you about its hidden properties," I winked at Vivien and turned to her sister. "And now, a gift for you."
"But I seem to be doing just fine already? Why this sudden generosity?" Miriam asked.
"Oh, no, not at all!" Rumy interrupted the archer. "You do well if you prepare for the battle in advance, but you must always be ready. That's why."
Rumy cut her off and gestured to Aileen and me.
"With the great help of our overseas master," I pointed at Aileen, and she proudly nodded, "we made you a bow with which you can fight under any conditions."
I removed the covering from the second gift, revealing a longbow almost as tall as a person. It had the same iridescent shade as Vivien's naginata, with only the middle part being black. The top and bottom of the bow had thickened sections where the string was attached, and small reels were also present there to draw the string.
"A beautiful bow, but what did you mean by it?" Miriam took the gift in her hand; it was light and flexible, a magnificent bow.
"Let me explain," Aileen approached closer. "Press here, and here."
The engineer pressed a small latch in the center and pushed the edges of the bow, with a soft click, it folded to a size just shorter than the hand. Also, with a light whistle, the reels pulled the string into a combat position.
"This is a short bow?!" Miriam's eyes widened in surprise.
"No, it's both short, long, and medium at the same time! You can use it as a short bow, and like this," Aileen pressed two switches on the inner side, and the bow first unfolded to a length just over a meter and then returned to its original state. "You can use it as a long bow. Its strength and the tension of the string are perfect for shooting both at long distances and for rapid shooting at close range."
"Now you won't have to carry several bows, and you can fight to your fullest potential," I added.
"This is incredible! I never thought something like this could be made!" Miriam was very pleased with the gift.
"But that's not all!" I took out a leather glove and handed it to the archer. "The string on this bow isn't just strong; it's incredibly sharp, so you'd better use this."
"What is this?" The girl tried the glove on, and it emitted a faint metallic jingle. "It looks like leather, but is there something else inside?"
"Ha-ha! This is also my invention. A metallic thread is woven into the fabric, enhancing its strength, so it can withstand many shots, unlike your fingers. Oh, and there's one more thing I made," Aileen took out an elongated, flat item and opened it. "This is a quiver where you can store many more arrows than usual. The arrows are arranged in four rows, though you can't access the next row until you remove the previous one. But I think you'll get used to using it. It can hold up to a hundred arrows."
"Thank you so much. I heard that you're also an archer; I'd love to train with you," Miriam said with a warm smile, hugging Aileen, who seemed a little embarrassed. This was the first person in the academy who treated her like a friend.
We had already distributed gifts for the twins, but I had something else. I approached Katrina and handed her a small box.
"Princess, this is for you."
"Huh? Mmm, Krito, I wanted to apologize to you," Katrina caressed her wrist. "I don't know where, but it seems I lost the bracelet you gave me."
"Oh, don't worry about it. I took it; I needed it to make you a gift."
"Eh?" Katrina's face brightened, then turned red with anger. "Youuu!!! That was my gift, and it was very important to me! And YOU!!!"
"Hold on, hold on. First, look at the gift," I shielded myself from the furious princess with the small box.
"Mmm, so what's in there?" Katrina opened the box, and inside were a pair of thin white gloves. "This..."
"Mmm, a beautiful gift, well done, Krito. You know how to take care of a lady," the bold red princess peeked over Katrina's shoulder, and everyone else stood behind her. "Come on, try them on, Kat."
"You've been here for a while!?!" Katrina blushed to the tips of her hair, jumping away from the crowd of guild members.
"Phew, well, we were curious about what Krito would give you. Now, put them on, don't be shy," the others chimed in.
"Huh? I... no, I..."
"Let me help you," I approached Katrina and smoothly put the gloves on her hands. "Good thing I guessed the size right, and here's the clasp. Your bracelet goes on here."
I fastened two small red metal bands on Katrina's wrists. They were two thin silk gloves that tightly covered the princess's hands, but on the outer side, they had a golden ornament. With a golden thread on the back of the palms, a lightning bolt was embroidered, from which five thick stripes extended to the fingertips, where sharp golden claws were positioned.
"What?? What is this?!?" Katrina straightened her palm and looked at the gloves. They were very beautiful and would even complement a wedding dress, but the claws at the tips spoiled the whole picture.
Everyone around also stared at the unusual ornaments on the gloves.
"Hmm, Krito, no matter how you look at it, this is too much," Seleria gave me a surprised look. "If you wanted to give her jewelry, a simple ring would have been better."
"Oh, you just don't understand. These are not just regular gloves," I approached Katrina and put them on her hands. "These are combat gloves, like the ones some inquisitors wear, like Miguel, for example. They replace staves and magic wands while not hindering movements."
Katrina clenched and unclenched her fists a few times. The gloves fit like a second skin, and it wasn't clear what the strap was for; only the tips of the fingers were noticeably heavier than the rest.
"They are certainly quite cute, but what do I need them for? I already use magic perfectly," the princess peacefully took off the gloves and handed them back to me.
"Don't rush to refuse. Try casting the Lightning Network spell. I've heard that it doesn't require a huge amount of mana, but it's challenging to control."
"What? Do you want me to do it right now?" Katrina hesitated. The spell was very complex in terms of control. It involved releasing several small lightning bolts that would intertwine and change polarity to create an electric network on the ground. It could attract large metallic objects to the ground and paralyze living opponents.
"Come on, be brave. Just try it on the training grounds."
"Well, okay," Katrina walked to the edge of the roof and took a deep breath. "Alright, here goes nothing."
The princess extended her arms forward, and two lightning bolts of different colors were released from them: blue and golden. It was a spell similar to the one Leira used to subdue the queen of the underground monsters, only much more extensive. The lightning covered the training ground, spreading in different directions and intersecting to form a network.
"But there's a problem," I looked at the intersections; the lightning there was particularly weak and ready to break. "See?"
Katrina was distracted by my words, and the network immediately broke in several places. One after another, the threads began to snap, and the accumulated mana exploded with a light pop.
"Oops," Katrina looked at the field behind the house; it was now plowed with rows of even furrows. "You see, power without control leads to problems. And now, try to do the same," I confidently put the gloves back on Katrina's hands and fastened the straps.
"Wait! But what if it gets even worse? Grain will have to clean up so much."
"It's okay; just imagine the whole spell, each line separately, and don't worry."
"But this is the last time," Katrina extended her arms forward, and the lightning began to gather in her hands. First, the golden lines on her fingers started to glow faintly, then the claws, and finally, the bracelets emitted a soft hum. In the next moment, lightning bolts shot out of Katrina's hands; each claw released a medium-sized bolt, smaller than in the first attempt but looking more even and stable. The training ground began to be covered with a network of small lightning bolts, and soon the entire area sparkled with electric discharges. "I did it!"
"Beautiful," Leira looked thoughtfully at the spell.
"Now, create a discharge cage," I commanded Katrina, and she looked at me with wide eyes.
"Are you insane!? This is one of the most challenging spells! I won't be able to do it!"
This was a very complex spell, unlike the network; it had to be done in the air without support on the surface. It was a three-dimensional version of the network. If you added too much mana, the cage would turn into a huge spherical lightning bolt, and if too little, it would disintegrate.
"Try making it from the existing network; just control it with all ten fingers, as if they were separate wands," I suggested to Katrina.
Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, the sorceress raised her hand palms up, forming a cup-like shape with her hands. Gradually, she raised her fingers, bringing them closer together, and the network responded. Starting from the edges of the training ground, the network, as if lifted by invisible ropes from the edges, rose into the air. Then the ends began to converge, and soon a perfect ball of threads woven with electricity hovered in the air. Only then did the princess open her eyes.
"This is incredible; I could never do this before," Katrina exclaimed.
"That's not all; the ball is fully under your control. Can you beautifully finish the spell?" I teased her a little.
"Alright then," Katrina slightly shifted her hands and crossed her fingers. Responding to her movements, the ball turned into a beautiful flower-like shape. The princess swiftly spread her hands apart, and the flower disintegrated into thousands of tiny sparks, showering down on the ground. "I never thought I could do something like this."
"And you couldn't before," I puffed up with self-importance. "It's all thanks to me. Your main strength lies in producing a tremendous amount of lightning mana, but that's also your drawback. You can't control all that power, so the most you can do is unleash it all in one go. Of course, your most potent lightning is dangerous, but you can't handle complex spells. You couldn't use wands or staffs because they would melt from such energy. That's why I made these gloves so they could divide your power into parts."
"But why do you need my bracelet?!"
"It's simple. I bought that bracelet because it was made of adamantite. It was quite simple, and the price was mainly for the material. I convinced the blacksmith that such a small piece of metal wouldn't be suitable for any weapon. Adamantite is good because it can accumulate large amounts of mana, though very slowly. The straps on your wrists contain your power. At the same time, gold is the best conductor for lightning magic and also light magic. That's why I made these ornaments; they allow you to evenly distribute mana between all ten of your fingers. Thus, you don't have to focus on suppressing your power and can direct all your attention to casting the spell. But that's still not all the benefits of these gloves."
I circled around Katrina from behind and gently pushed her towards Grain and Kurone. The girl tried to resist, but I firmly took her hands and placed them on the shoulders of the guild members, and nothing happened.
"Huh? Is everything okay?" Katrina touched her friends, and her magic didn't affect them. "Krito, how is this possible?"
"You can call me the Great and Revered Krito. I managed to suppress some of your power, at least partially. After using powerful spells, the bracelets will accumulate your power, and your aura will disappear for a few hours. Of course, if you don't want your protection to disappear during a battle, you can simply leave the straps unfastened. In everyday life, you only need to release discharges from the gloves periodically, and you can interact with your friends without worrying about their safety."
"Krito!! Thank you!!" Katrina joyfully threw herself into my arms. "This is the best gift in my life!!"
"Hmm, Krito, I take back my words. You know how to give gifts to girls," Seleria smiled happily and hugged me and Katrina. Following the red princess, all the guild members rushed to hug us.