Liam placed his hands on the nearly finished staff. He closed his eyes and reached deep within himself, calling upon the elements he had come to understand in the language of Quenya.
Fire. Air. Water. Earth. But there was space for elements to be added later. As Liam knew that those elements weren't the only one he would have access to. He let them flow through him, each element touching a different part of the staff.
Finally, he spoke a name—his own.
Magic surged through the staff, causing it to glow with a radiant energy. The runes Cathbad had etched ignited, threading lines of light across the surface. Liam opened his eyes. The staff rested in his hands, perfectly balanced, humming with a quiet power. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before—an extension of himself, a conduit of his magic.
"It is done." Cathbad said.
Liam gripped the staff and felt its energy resonate with his own. He gave it a small test, channeling a spark of magic through it. A pulse of energy shot from the tip, splitting a nearby rock clean in half. He felt himself like Fern or Frieren here. The chaos looked more streamlined in front of his eyes as he felt immense power in the staff and also the fact that the staff could also be upgraded.
Liam had decided to learn this craft of staff making and he would try to input more metal or wood into it. Maybe the Yggdrasil or Adamantium.
"A fitting weapon for a sorcerer of your potential." Cathbad said as he looked at the staff. Elie too hopped on to Liam's lap and smelled the staff. She seemed to approving of it too.
"And the strongest staff ever crafted by human hands." Liam said as he was sure that no staff would come close. Cathbad had already said that he would make a staff that even Vilgefortz didn't have in his prime days.
But Liam wasn't the strongest yet. He had much to learn still and that's what he did.
"Now I will give you a mission. A very important quest to gain more power for yourself and also your staff." Cathbad said.
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Liam trudged through the biting winds of the chilly mountains of Kovir, his newly forged staff clutched tightly in hand. The jagged peaks loomed like ancient sentinels against a slate-gray sky. Rumors of a lightning-attuned Djinn had led him here.
It had been couple more months since Liam had made this staff and Cathbad had gone back to his friends to get more ingredients to etch more runes around the place they had been practicing magic.
According to Cathbad, Liam's magical attunement was getting close to the Aen Elle and thus he needed protection. At least until he became powerful enough. According to Cathbad, Liam would graduate from his studies when he would be able to conjure magic without speaking the Elder speech at all.
He wasn't there yet and Cathbad also gave Liam the feeling that he was hiding something from Liam. Though he wasn't sure, but after years in the game, his instincts were telling him that Cathbad was definitely upto something.
Liam didn't trust Cathbad yet so he had kept his contingencies too. In this journey Liam had to bring Elie too.
Liam paused at the plateau's edge. In that silence, a deep, resonant hum emerged, almost as if the mountain itself were speaking. Suddenly, the air shimmered, and from a swirling vortex of storm and shadow, the Djinn appeared. Liam didn't actually expect to see the Djinn after such a long time of searching and scouring.
Thankfully Liam had his things inside his inventory. Thus he only needed to carry Elie and once Liam had sensed the chaos magic around, he had kept Elie a little further away, making sure Elie was safe and sound.
Towering and formidable, the lightning Djinn was a spectral figure of roiling energy, appeared before Liam. Sparks of raw electricity danced along its contours, and its eyes burned with the fury of a thousand storms.
"Morta cennas, se elenath úvë – You dare trespass in my domain, sorcerer?" The Djinn spoke in grey Elvish.
"Aiya, Eru, nai elenion anim," Liam intoned in Quenya—a greeting used by the Aen Elle. He knew that negotiating with such a being would require not only strength, but also the wisdom of ancient lore.
"Your tongue wavers with old magic, but your resolve is weak without proof of your mastery!"
Without further warning, the Djinn surged forward. Lightning flashed from its form, streaking toward Liam like jagged spears of pure storm. In an instant, Liam raised his staff.
"Quén elenion, ná tyelëa cirien; ananta lómelindëa, úva nórëa!" ("Children of the stars, be my shield; in the twilight of sorrow, grant me victory!")
The staff responded with a brilliant pulse, a luminous aura enveloping Liam as arcs of energy. The collision of magic was cataclysmic—an explosion of light and sound that reverberated through the mountains. The Djinn's lightning bolts clashed with the magical barrier, each impact sending shockwaves through the frozen air.
The Djinn wasn't to be trifled with. For minutes, the two forces battled in a display of raw power and arcane might. Djinn's each bolt of lightning were filled with ferocity and might. It was fast and relentless and Liam couldn't conjure a proper counter attack with just his knowledge alone. Though he wasn't to counter attack, he was able to defend well against this ever powerful Djinn.
"Eca, fëa rúmava! Karna axo!"("Begone, storm spirit! Forge fire!")
He slammed the base of his staff down, and from the ground, a massive pillar of blue flame erupted. The fire roared upward, engulfing the Djinn in a swirling inferno.
It emerged unscathed, its form absorbing the fire, turning its already luminous body into a walking storm. Liam barely had time to react as the Djinn's hand formed a spear of lightning.
It hurled the weapon forward—
Liam vanished.
Not teleported—moved at impossible speed.
"Tyelëa lintu – unquenta!"("Swift step – untouchable!")
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