Stellar Echo: Heart of the Myst

The reality about the staff was that, despite being made from relatively common materials as Erik claimed, it was crafted by highly recognized artisans of the faction. These artisans adhered to military-grade safety standards to precisely prevent what Erik had done. While the staff's security fell far short of the highest safety standards for specialized artifacts, it was significantly superior to that of a common artifact.

On the other hand, only common materials were used for its creation because it wasn't worth using anything more expensive. These were items meant to be used exclusively by Revealed-level individuals under 300 years old in a single tournament, never to be used again. Hence, there was no need to worry about durability or anything of the sort, making it unnecessary to use rarer materials or more complex techniques. At the end of the day, none of the participants were supposed to so much as dent it, let alone modify it.

"What can I say? Erik is a very dedicated disciple who makes us proud. As for artificery, he's taken it very seriously and is already a certified one-star artificer. I gave him a couple of books on creating more complex artifacts as a reward, and he's been studying them. Occasionally, I explain some concepts to him—nothing extraordinary."

After setting her teacup down on the table, Eleonora responded with an expression full of pride and vanity, though she tried to hide it a bit—unlike Sigrún, who quickly added, in a manner that could only be described as the epitome of haughtiness and shamelessness, while attempting to sound elegant.

"Eli is right. Our Erik is very curious and investigates all kinds of things in his spare time, which allowed him to see an opportunity born from the artificers' lack of skill this time and take advantage of it. Simple as that. Next time, hire better ones if you don't want the same to happen again."

As she brought her teacup to her lips, Sigrún's gaze swept over everyone present with an air of arrogance and disdain, prompting eye-rolls from the group. None of them were willing to entertain the troublesome blonde, as doing so would likely result in her bragging endlessly about how great of a master she was, even at her age, and who knows what else.

"... Well, I suppose I'll wait for him in the final chamber of the palace. He shouldn't take long to arrive with the modifications he made to the staff." Ngozi spoke in a resigned tone as she rose from her seat. But before teleporting to the location, she heard the director's voice chuckling.

"Make sure to congratulate him for finding a secret trial or something; otherwise, you'll be the one facing the embarrassment of not planning the tournament properly, hahaha."

Upon hearing the shameless director, Ngozi could only roll her eyes before quickly vanishing from the room like a mirage. As she did, she faintly heard Sigrún 'apologizing,' brimming with boastfulness and pride.

"I apologize for the trouble caused by our disciple. I will ensure he learns to restrain himself properly, so such incidents don't occur again. It truly becomes a problem when someone's abilities so thoroughly exceed expectations, leaving their peers far behind."

"Hmph!!"