"The Weston Clan used to be a rather traditional, staunch Knight Clan. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been stationed on the northern border of Thousand Masts City."

Edwin continued, "However, about a hundred years ago, a Mage became the head of their family. Afterward, the clan’s style became a bit more flexible and pragmatic. This ring is one of the creations of that Mage patriarch.

"Of course, to this day the Weston Clan still isn’t fond of that pragmatic style. The succeeding family heads have all hoped to restore their former knightly conduct, but in my opinion, they’ve overcorrected somewhat."

"So is this an antique?" Colin asked.

"It is, but its value is more than that," Edwin said. "Although the Enchantment technique on this ring isn’t that sophisticated, I recall its effect should be quite practical for Mages.

"Of course, you don’t have to think this means the Weston Clan doesn’t value you. It’s not a good thing for Adventurers who aren’t strong enough to possess overly powerful Magic Items—I’m sure you’ve experienced that firsthand this time. Besides, the ring’s significance is also quite important."

Colin nodded.

’Besides, this ring definitely couldn’t be considered weak.’

’All the Magic Equipment my party has acquired so far has been "Ordinary" Magic Items,’ Colin thought. ’This "non-Ordinary" one seems to be a whole tier stronger.’

In any case, this was a pretty great item.

Looking at the items before him, Colin’s impression of Albert and the Weston Clan improved a bit more.

They had clearly considered the circumstances of the user. At least for Colin, these gifts were all things he badly needed and would be extremely useful.

’Of course,’ Colin thought, ’if the family wasn’t going through a rough patch themselves, getting some cash would have been even better.’

"Oh, right." Edwin turned, took a gold-inlaid ring from his desk drawer, and handed it to Orelia. "I almost forgot your ring, madam."

"Thank you, sir." Orelia took the ring and carefully placed it on her little finger.

With this, she was now officially a member of Colin’s party.

Seeing that Edwin appeared quite busy, the group felt it would be impolite to take up any more of his time. They promptly left Horn Castle and headed out onto the main street.

By the time they returned, it was already getting dark.

"So, are we going to find those dwarves now?" Kase asked.

Colin glanced at the sky where stars were beginning to appear. "Let’s skip it for now," he said. "We applied the Antiseptic Oil, so one more night won’t hurt. I want to take a bath and get some sleep first."

"Then what time should we meet tomorrow?" There was a hint of anticipation in Orelia’s voice.

’Should I check out my new equipment first?’ As Colin thought this, he said, "In that case... Kase and I will find you at the Divine Hall tomorrow afternoon."

The group made a stop at the Morninglord Hall to leave the items with Orelia for safekeeping, then they all went their separate ways home to sleep.

Before going to sleep, Colin put the ring on his finger.

That way, when he woke up, the item would have adapted to his soul’s fluctuations, making it usable.

「The next day.」

After washing up, Colin found a tavern, filled a waterskin with beer, bought a loaf of bread, and hurried back home.

He dropped his things on the table and took out the box from yesterday, placing the ink and the Spellbook on the tabletop.

Come to think of it, Donkexes had indeed told him that every Mage needed a Spellbook to record their spells, but the Dwarf never specified what to write for it to count as a valid entry.

Although Colin hadn’t felt any kind of limit to his spell memory yet, it was probably best to start recording them.

He thought for a moment and decided to start by recording the Flaming Arrow spell his body’s previous owner had learned.

Then, pen in hand, he referenced the Dwarf’s spell records he had seen before and wrote down the hand gestures and the incantation.

Next up was the spell’s formula. ’Speaking of which,’ he thought, ’the formula is...’

The moment Colin had that thought, his hands moved unconsciously, writing down several strings of what looked like mathematical formulas, along with things like the derivation process.

’What’s this? Automatic formula transcription?’

’It felt strange, but it wasn’t like there was any harm in it.’

’Anyway, who knows when I’ll hit the so-called memory limit for recorded spells. When I get to the point where I can’t seem to remember any more, I’ll go ask Donkexes.’ 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

With that in mind, Colin went ahead and recorded the incantations, gestures, and derivation formulas for his other spells in the book. After writing for the better part of the day, his head started to feel fuzzy.

Looking at the densely filled pages, a strange sense of pride welled up inside him.

’I guess this makes me a real, honest-to-goodness Mage now...’ As he was thinking this, Colin realized the sun had already climbed high into the sky, and his empty stomach was protesting loudly.

He stuffed the food into his mouth in a few quick bites and headed for the Black Heart Tavern, fiddling with the ring’s Water Manipulation ability on the way.

The Black Heart Tavern was the same as always—filled with a crowd of Low-tier Adventurers looking for work and the occasional drunkard. It was as if time had stood still in this place for the entire past month.

"Long time no see, Colin! What’ll you have?" Old Black Heart called out from across the room.

"Nothing for me, I had a late breakfast today."

Colin found Kase in a corner, stuffing his face. In front of him sat a mug of beer and a giant roasted pork knuckle. He held a piece of bread in his hand, his mouth slick with grease.

Using what he’d figured out on the way over, Colin stared intently at Kase’s beer.

As he prepared to cast the cantrip, he felt a faint, almost imperceptible pull on his right hand. He relaxed his body, letting his hand follow the sensation, and pointed his index and middle fingers at the mug.

’Control, control...’

"Stop staring. I’m not sharing."

"Weren’t you just going on about a Warrior’s promise?"

"That’s a different matter." Kase squinted and took a sip of his beer. "Right now, this mug of beer is more precious than my life."

Colin took a deep breath.

With a thought from Colin, the beer in Kase’s mug suddenly "floated" up and formed a small figure with arms and legs, its head a cap of foamy beer for hair. The little figure danced comically on the rim of the mug, looking for all the world like a living creature.

"Is that a new trick you learned?" Kase asked. "What’s it capable of?"

"I can control a lot more if it’s water, though I can’t say exactly how much. With beer, I can only control about a mug’s worth. The spell seems better suited for pure water," Colin said. "And it can also do this..."

The words had barely left his mouth when the beer fell back into the mug. Now, a few cubes of frozen beer floated on top.

*[Water Manipulation], Cantrip: For one hour, control any visible body of water within ten meters. Can cause the water to freeze.*

Seeing this, Kase’s eyes went wide.

"My gods! This spell... this spell is incredible!"

"You weren’t this amazed when you saw your ’big bro’ here putting on a show of real power."

Kase was too excited to even retort to the "big bro" comment. Staring at his mug, he shouted excitedly, "With this spell, I can have every beer ice-cold! This is amazing!"

"Hurry up," Colin said with a yawn. "We still have to go find Orelia and get our things."