Chapter 25: Crafting a Mage’s Equipment

Joey didn’t dare let them stay there any longer. She drove her two sons back to town and found a hotel to spend the night.

But then another problem arose: they were penniless, unable to pay even for a single night.

Lin Xiao suddenly realized that, compared to becoming stronger, making money to support the family seemed far more urgent. If this state of poverty didn't change, what use was strength? Damn it, they were about to end up sleeping on the street.

“No, after I exorcise the Mind Flayer fragment from Will, I have to find a way to make money.”

He made up his mind. Right, he’d just learned a purification skill that could remove abnormal status effects—why not use it to scam a little cash, pass himself off as a miracle worker, and supplement the household expenses?

But these days were sensitive times; openly displaying miracles might only draw trouble. So, that would have to wait for now.

Meanwhile, Joey pleaded and argued with the hotel owner until her lips were dry. Only after she took out her engagement token—a gold ring—to pawn did the owner agree to let them stay.

“Mom, that’s your wedding ring. How can you use it as collateral?”

Lin Xiao asked quietly as he carried Will into the room.

Joey pressed a finger to her lips and whispered back,

“It’s a fake. Your father couldn’t afford a real one back then. He bought it from a street stall to use for the exchange—it’s only worth a few dollars.”

Lin Xiao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. How hard had things been for them back then, that even the wedding ring was fake? Then again, their life now wasn’t much easier.

No wonder, in the original plot, Will’s biological father had been prepared to use his son’s death to extort a fortune from the quarry—poverty breeds such desperation.

Damn capitalism!

Worried that Will might disappear again, Joey got a double room and planned to stay up all night watching over her son. Lin Xiao took a single, washed up, and lay on the bed, exhausted, not wanting to move a muscle.

Thinking back over the events of the past two days—constant running around, exhaustion, finally rescuing Will only to have him possessed by a Mind Flayer—it seemed tomorrow would bring no rest, either.

“No, the portal isn’t closed yet, and the Mind Flayer fragment is powerful. With my current strength, I probably can't deal with it. The only way is to borrow Number Eleven’s power.

But Number Eleven, for all her strength, doesn't have the means or methods to use it. I'm different, though—I've got a cheat. How about making her a piece of equipment?”

At this thought, Lin Xiao lay on the bed and opened the system interface. Glancing at his inventory, he suddenly remembered that when he killed the Mind Flayer fragment and Corrosive Vines, he’d been rewarded with a three-star miniature jar. Better open it first.

He clicked on the jar. A flash of light; a small interface popped up, displaying two items:

[Low-grade Elemental Crystal x3: Formed from the magical energy of Corrosive Vines, can be used for forging equipment or enchanting.]

[Orb of the Corruptor: Level 3 material, condensed from the core essence of Corrosive Vines, can be used for forging equipment or enchanting, mage-class exclusive; Effect: Increases magical attack by 10%, can release the special skill “Earthly Cage,” using supernatural power to trap a target.]

“Oh, this orb is quite useful—even has a special skill. If I forge a weapon for Number Eleven based on this, her power will be much enhanced. She’ll be able to put it to great use against the Mind Flayer.”

The idea of using loot from the Mind Flayer to take down the Mind Flayer made Lin Xiao secretly pleased. He eagerly opened the mage weapons tab and searched carefully, finally finding a suitable weapon.

Corroded Sapling Staff:
Class: Mage
Weapon type: Staff (enchantable)
Required level: 3
Rarity: Common
Weight: 2.4kg
Durability: 28/28
Physical attack: +10
Magical attack: +30

To forge this staff, the base materials required were fine wood, three elemental crystals, and a magic orb—he had the latter two, but was missing good wood.

As for wood? The hotel’s furniture would do. After all, the owner was a rotten man, demanding even a wedding ring as a deposit—fake or not, it was a symbol of his parents’ love. Now it was pawned off to him.

Scanning the room, the only decent wood was the ceiling beams.

Lin Xiao got up, pressed a hand to the ceiling, and with a thought, collected three main beams into his inventory.

Seeing the three wood icons in his inventory, he nodded in satisfaction. Ordinary wood like this couldn’t be used directly to make a staff; it needed to be processed first by the fabrication unit.

The system’s fabrication unit could synthesize ordinary materials into specialized resources for crafting weapons and equipment. Otherwise, most materials couldn't be forged directly.

To synthesize a staff blank, you needed three pieces of wood, one low-grade elemental crystal, and one batch of magical adhesive—a fairly involved process.

Lin Xiao didn’t have any magical adhesive, so he had to buy some from the shop. Luckily, it wasn’t expensive: one unit of source energy per batch. The stuff was a bit like superglue, but far more effective—a supernatural material in its own right.

He redeemed the magical adhesive, and with everything ready, put the staff blank, three elemental crystals, and the Orb of the Corruptor into the forge. As he clicked, a prompt popped up: forging this weapon would cost ten source energy points.

“Ten points!”

Lin Xiao drew a sharp breath. He’d just spent one point on magical adhesive, another two to synthesize the staff blank, and now only had ten left—was the system fleecing him on purpose?

“Confirm!”

Resisting the urge to cry, he clicked confirm. Number Eleven was powerful, but unable to use her strength properly—at level ten, she could barely bring out half her potential. Otherwise, she could have dealt with the Mind Flayer alone.

A flash of light, and a green staff icon appeared in his inventory. With a thought, Lin Xiao took it out—a real staff materialized in his hand.

The staff was a vivid green, as if carved from jade, shaped much like a wand from Harry Potter, though a bit longer—roughly fifty centimeters. At the end of the handle was set a deep green gem, like a droplet of flowing water, stunningly beautiful.

Lin Xiao was certain that Number Eleven would accept this staff immediately—girls were always drawn to glittering things, which is why jewelry and the like were so popular.

He raised the staff and tried to cast an attack spell, but the system notified him that his level was insufficient and the item was limited to mage classes. Although exorcists could cast magic attacks, they weren’t, strictly speaking, a magic class.

He put the staff away and settled in for a good night’s sleep. There was a tough battle waiting for him tomorrow; he had to rest up.

He slept soundly. The next morning, Joey was getting ready to take Will to the hospital for a checkup. They’d meant to go the night before, but Will had been sleeping so soundly they hadn’t wanted to wake him.

“Mom, I have some bad news to tell you.”

Seeing Joey carrying Will to the car, Lin Xiao turned and said solemnly—it was time to tell his mother about Will’s condition.

“What’s wrong with Will? Why hasn’t he woken up yet?”

Joey was worried too. Will still hadn’t woken up that morning, remaining in a deep sleep that didn’t seem normal, as if he’d lost all sense of himself.

“Will has been possessed by a monster.”

Lin Xiao stared at Joey and spoke each word clearly.