Chapter 33 - 33: A crash course in magic staves and rituals.

After that little speech, Voxea shrank back down to her original form and her dress went back to normal as well. "That takes a surprising amount of energy", Voxea said with a strong exhalation of air.

"Uh...What was that? And while I'm asking, why do I have a staff now?", I asked after shaking the stunned look off my face.

Before she answered my question, Voxea walked over to where the metal diwc was now laying and picked it up. "Oh that?", Voxea began, " Well the answer to both of those questions are related to that ritual we just performed".

"And that answer is...". I've been pausing a lot today, but then again this day has been so weird that if I keep asking questions I'd probably go nuts.

"Well my apprentice/binder, that ritual is plainly known as 'The Ritual of Staff Establishment'. It's one of many foundation techniques we maji used to start our journey into studying magic", Voxea explained.

Before I could interject a question, Voxea continued her explanation.

"This particular ritual allows a maji to help jumpstart an apprentice's ability and provide them with a tool for casting magic", she said with a flourish

"That sounds very convenient...what's the catch?", I asked. This entire day had taught me not to take things at face value...anymore. There had to be a catch to this ritual.

"Well...there are technically two catches to this ritual", Voxea hesitantly explained.

"Which are what exactly?", I asked with exasperation.

"The first is that both the maji and the apprentice have to some level of compatibility with their souls. If the maji's aether is incompatible with the apprentice receiving it, it might kill them".

"I-Wait. The maji or apprentice"?

"Yes".

"Well...that's disturbing".

"Oh don't worry about it. Because we're bonded via the majimonster to binder bond, we managed to circ.u.mvent that little condition. Side note, that's why I suddenly grew up. Part of the ritual involved the senior maji absorbing external aether and processing it into the staff and apprentice. I guess since I'm now made of the stuff, it allowed me to temporarily regain my true form", Voxea said to placate me.

"Alright...and the second catch"?

"You won't be able to use magic without that staff".

"What"?

"Alright so to use an analogy you're familiar with...imagine that you're aether channels are like a barrel and aether is the contents in the barrel. Normally, a maji is able to refill and remove the barrel's contents by just sitting there. However this takes a lot of time and a lot of practice, which we don't have. The staff ritual helps expedite the process by creating a magic staff that acts like a spigot to the barrel and a funnel to fill it. However, no staff means no spigot or funnel. You'll be able to not have to use the staff in the future, but that'll take a long time".

"So no staff means I can't replenish or use any aether my body stores", I replied.

"Exactly!", Voxea exclaimed.

"Well that's not too bad I suppose...I figured you'd say the staff could explode or something", I joked.

"It can".

"What"?!

"Well...sort of. The magic staff created at this moment is almost as indestructible as a drajule. The only way it can explode is if it's with a very powerful, 8th-class spell at least, or if you choose to do so. As long as those two things don't happen, you'll be fine", Voxea responded nonchalantly.

"Great..." I muttered while giving myself a facepalm. I now had a potential magic bomb in my hands that is simultaneously the most important thing in my possession. I'm not sure if this is a blessing or a curse.