Last of The Fae Chapter 106: Crafting Session Finale

The moment Thane's hand came into contact with the staff a surge of mana flowed into him, slightly replenishing his drained reserves, "Oh yeah that's the good stuff." 

After a moment the surge stemmed off into more of a trickle, but only because Thane's reserves were absolutely monstrous. Had anyone else his age tried to hold the staff it would have been the equivalent of grabbing onto live wire. Not that they were capable of using the magical artifact after Thane bound it to him by blood. A necessary precaution, due to the immense power the staff could grant its wielder. 

Like all magical foci, the staff amplified the effect of any spell channeled through it. Thane had also imbued the artifact with all three of his magical affinities, life, earth, and fire allowing him to use the foci when casting intrinsic magic. 

But what truly made Thane's staff stand out, was the fact that unlike other foci it was truly living. While some wands possessed quasi-sentient qualities such as choosing their master or performing certain schools of magic, Thane's staff was a living growing organism. 

The elder tree seed Thane had used in the ritual hadn't died, the pure life mana Thane had poured into the seed allowed the plant to not only survive but thrive as it was transformed by the various other magical forces imbued into it. Over time the seed would continue to grow, in ways that not even Thane fully understood but at the very least its ability to generate mana would increase significantly with each year. It was the reason why Thane had to use mithril as a core, it was the only magical material capable of storing the immense amount of mana the elder staff would generate over its lifetime. 

Tightening his grip around the staff Thane braced himself before dismissing the mana keeping the foci aloft. The moment gravity took effect Thane's eyes widened and an involuntary grunt escaped his lips as the full weight of the staff hit him like a truck. 

It was only thanks to Thane's enhanced strength that he managed to keep the staff aloft with one hand, but after a view second Thane's veins stood out against his skin. Eventually, Thane lowered the staff to the ground, and the pointed end rang like a tuning fork as it tapped against the stone floor. 

While the staff may have appeared to be made of solid wood, the earth-attributed mana Thane channeled into ritual had changed its composition, making it incredibly resistant to physical blows and nearly indestructible. Which was vital for Thane's fighting style as a spellblade. 

Taking his staff in both hands Thane settled into a fighting stance before he slowly moved through one of the various fighting forms drilled into him by Elara. Going at half speed Thane spun his staff through the air carving wide arcs through the air powered by his unusual footwork. Instead of lifting his feet, Thane glided across the ground as he channeled his mana into the earth. 

Despite his almost painfully slow swings Thane's staff whistled as it passed through the air and bending as he twirled it around his body. Each strike carried tremendous force enough to shatter solid stone. When executed properly Thane would be an unstoppable force walking down his opponents whose only option was to dodge or test their luck trying to block or parry his staff. 

There were no feints or evasive moments in the martial form, only pure overwhelming strength that would only cease when everything in Thane's way was crushed to dust. 

Reaching the final movement of the form Thane swung his staff down in a slow overhead slam. Despite Thane's staff moving at a snail's pace the ground buckled and cratered as Thane channeled his intrinsic mana through the staff amplifying its potency. 

Grinning at the shattered earth Thane grinned as he stood upright and let go of his staff which moved to hover by his side, 'One, down three more to go. Hopefully, I can get them all done by Christmas.' 

---

"Thank you again for having me over for the holidays Mr. Lovegood," Rose said politely as she addressed Luna's father Xenophilius Lovegood, an eccentric-looking man with shoulder-length white hair the texture of candyfloss. He was slightly cross-eyed, but his silver orbs shone with burning intelligence. 

"It's no problem at all Rose, my dear," Xenophilius replied with a beaming smile, "I'm just glad that my Luna made such a wonderful friend, and I only hope that you take my gift as a token of appreciation." 

"Y-you really didn't have to get me a gift," Rose stammered. 

"Oh I could always take it back then-" 

"W-what no!" Rose exclaimed as she grabbed the heavy tome titled, 'History of Magical Shinobi' resting on the table in front of her and clutched it to her chest. 

Only when Luna and her father started laughing did Rose realize they were playing with her and she couldn't help but blush heavily. 

"Forgive me my dear I could resist," Xenophilius apologized. 

"Bad dad!" Luna chastised waving her finger at her father even though she was laughing as well. 

Xenophilius held up his hands in surrender, "Alright, how about I apologize by cleaning up in here while you girls go enjoy the rest of Christmas." 

Rose and Luna nodded as they both moved to stand but before they could get up there was a sharp knock on the window and everyone in the room looked over to see a large owl pecking at the glass. 

"That's odd who could that be from." Xenophilius thought out loud as he moved over and opened the window letting the owl fly inside before depositing two parcels wrapped in colorful paper with bows on top onto the center table. The moment the two parcels hit the table they suddenly grew in size as the shrinking charm cast on them broke. 

"They're from Thane!" Luna announced excitedly as she leaned over and read the tags attached to each gift, "This one is for you Rose." 

"And this one is for you," Rose replied as well offering Luna's gift to her and vice versa. Both girls eagerly tore open their gifts and both their eyes widened as they gazed at what lay inside. 

Luna took her's out first, revealing a slim scepter made out of a cream-like metal with golden accents and a large shard of crystal set into the very end. 

Rose was right behind her and couldn't suppress the smile that spread across her face as she stared at the twin blades that rested in her hands. One looked awfully familiar with a straight narrow blade while the other had a slight curve and ended in a hook like a bird's talon. 

At the same time across the countryside, Daphne rested in her room tired after hosting her family's annual Christmas Ball. As always it had been a draining affair, but more so than usual as Daphne had to fend off multiple suitors and their parents trying to court her. Unfortunately for them, Daphne's standards were far too high and only one man was capable of meeting and exceeding them. 

Daphne sighed as she thought of Thane from what must have been the hundredth time that night, only for her thoughts to get interrupted by a peck at her window. 

Less than a few moments later Daphne was blushing as she stared at the elegant polearm sat across her lap made out of a teal-ish tinted metal with swirling silver accents that looked like gusts of wind, "Oh Thane, you really know the way to a woman's heart."