Wynn grunted as she pulled the wagon behind her, making sure to keep it stable. She couldn't afford to let the contents fall, as she needed the contents to be in good condition for the inspection at the bar. If she was successful... Wynn felt a twinge of excitement before pushing it back down. She couldn't get her hopes up - after years of delivering fresh produce to the bar, the barkeeper had only agreed to teach her a single spell, and it was one that benefited him. Wynn breathed a sigh of relief as she got to the top of the hill, only to yelp as she tripped on a stone, releasing the wagon.

The wagon began to roll down the hill, gaining speed as it went. Faster and faster, it kept going, intent on going down the side and into the bushes below. Wynn ran after it, barely managing to grab the handle as it hit the bottom of the hill and stop it from falling. As it was, the wagon swung sideways, falling on its side and letting some of the vegetables inside fall out, an Wynn groaned.

"You might as well be one of the Rotten," Wynn muttered, biceps straining to get the wagon off its side. After a good ten minutes, the wagon was upright again, and Wynn picked up the food that had fallen off. Closing her eyes, Wynn channelled her mana, using her hands to guide it to the wagon in front of her.

"[Disinfect], [Disinfect], [Disinfect]," Wynn chanted, gasping as she pushed her mana towards the wagon. Opening her eyes, she saw the entire thing glow green for a second, before the dirt fell off the produce and there was no evidence that anything had happened.

A slow smile spread across Wynn's face. Using mana was so satisfying! It was too bad her family were [Farmers]; Wynn had always wanted to become a [Mage], but she knew her parents would make her become a [Farmer] when she got old enough for a class. Once you received a class, you couldn't learn spells unless you were a [Mage]; although you could still use the spells you learned before.

Grabbing the wagon, Wynn made her way to the town nearby. She got a few odd looks - she was a sweaty, muscly, skinny fifteen year-old pulling a cart full of vegetables, after all - but she ignored them, making her way to the large wooden building near the middle of the town.

The Silver Bell was easily the busiest building on the street. A crowd of travellers stood outside, clamouring to get in. A tall, wooden tavern, fifty metres away Wynn could hear the cheers, the shouting, the sound of drunk people trying to sing. The sound of a lute played, and though it was only sunset, several men staggered outside, laughing at some joke only they understood.

Wynn knew she would be staying the night - it had taken her an entire day to drag the wagon to the tavern, and there was no moon to light up the way back. Rolling her tense shoulders, she took the wagon around the back of the building, before knocking on the small door near the corner.

Golden light flooded out as the door opened. Wynn looked up to see a portly man frowning at her, a brown hat covering the fact he had no hair.

"You're late," he snapped, and Wynn groaned internally. No new spells today, then.

"Sorry! The wagon fell over, and I had to use the [Disinfect] spell on it," Wynn knew she was making excuses, but she really wanted that new spell. The man stepped out, and Wynn helped him to unload the wagon, before dragging it under a bush so it didn't get stolen.

"In!" he snapped, holding the door open for Wynn. She dutifully stepped inside, salivating as the smell of roast chicken and spices hit her.

"Wynn!" A loud voice roared behind her, and she turned to see the barkeeper standing there, a big man whose orange beard showed the faintest hint of grey. He clapped her on the back, and Wynn couldn't help but smile. He seemed to be in a good mood today.

"What took ye so long, huh? Wasn't those thieves again, was it?" Wynn shook her head, remembering how Gerdo had single-handedly fought off six thugs trying to steal her few coins.

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"No, I just tipped the wagon over. Don't worry; I used the [Disinfect] spell you taught me, so no dirt got into it."

Gerdo stroked his beard, looking at her. "You used [Disinfect] on that entire wagon, did ye?" Wynn nodded. "Well, I might teach ye a new spell while yer here. Hows that sound?" Wynn couldn't keep the smile from spreading across her face. Just when she'd given up! He chuckled and clapped her on the shoulder again.

"Now go to room eight. I'll be taking some from yer pay, of course - we gotta save money where we can!"

Wynn ran up the stairs to her room, the same one she normally stayed in at the tavern.

It wasn't big, but it was bigger than her room at the farm, and Wynn loved the cosiness of it. She'd heard travellers sighing about how rare it was to find a tavern without bedbugs, and this was one of them.

Wynn kicked off her shoes and sat on her bed, practising moving her mana along her pathways and back to her mana pool. Another thing Gerdo had taught her - he'd claimed it was a necessary skill if she'd wanted to learn any spells.

After a while, Gerdo came in and began teaching her the spell.

"The spell is called [Levitate]," Gerdo said. He showed Wynn the hand movements, which was similar to [Disinfect] but with a slight flick of the wrist at the end. Once he was satisfied, Gerdo managed to produce a feather from somewhere, making it float up to the ceiling and back down again.

He passed it to Wynn, who barely managed to make it twitch. He corrected her, showing her where she went wrong, before passing it back.

Wynn closed her eyes and concentrated, pushing her mana towards the feather in front of her. She did the familiar movements of [Disinfect], and then flicked her wrist as if flicking the feather into the air.

Wynn opened her eyes, delighted at seeing the feather a few centimetres above the ground, only for it to fall back down.

"Focus," Gerdo said, "Ye don't just need to cast it, ye need to maintain it."

Wynn closed her eyes again, re-casting the spell, before opening her eyes and holding her hands in place, keeping her mana a continuous stream. She gasped as the feather fell, her mana pool drained after mere seconds.

Giving up until Wynn's mana pool regenerated, they began chatting; Gerdo asked how her dad was, as they had been friends since before Wynn was born, and Wynn asked Gerdo about the latest news.

Gerdo sighed. "The Rot's getting closer. Nobody knows how long we have; the Guild has been focusing on the other side of the Hole, keeping it away from the major cities."

Wynn sat there, digesting the news. Almost like a giant stab wound in the land, the Hole was the source of the Rot, a disease-like force that emanated all the wrongness of the world. It killed everything it touched; the land, buildings, even the rocks themselves. If a person got infected by the Rot, they would carry it around for a few weeks, sometimes months, becoming almost like a zombie; attacking people, spreading the Rot, until they inevitably died from seizures or taken down by the Guild.

Countless villages, sometimes entire cities had been taken down by the Rot. There was no known record of anyone surviving an infection; although wards and elixirs could prevent the Rot from infecting someone, most people didn't have access to protection, and once you were infected elixirs couldn't help you.

It was widely agreed on to be the worst way to die.

"Gerdo! We need you!" A voice floated up from downstairs, and Gerdo sighed before getting up and leaving. Wynn began to practise levitating the feather in front of her, refusing to let herself think about the Rot; she'd always known they would have to move eventually.

><><><><

Wynn groaned, rubbing her eyes. Whitish-gold light filtered down through the gap in the curtains, illuminating the room. Down below, she could hear Gerdo laughing at something, as well as the quiet murmur of travellers getting ready to leave. Wynn pushed her blankets back, before grabbing them and going back under as the cold air bit into her skin. Snuggling into the blankets, Wynn let herself go back to sleep.

><><><><

Wynn woke up with a yelp as her blankets left her body. Shivering, she tried to grab them, but they were out of reach - Gerdo was levitating them, letting the cold air rush in between her and the blankets. This was Gerdo's normal way of waking her up - and she hated it. Wynn silently made a vow to one day wake him up like that, before sullenly following Gerdo down to the wagon.

The sun wasn't even visible above the buildings yet, and she was already leaving. Normally getting up at dawn, Wynn had been looking forward to a sleep in, but that wasn't to be.

"See ye in a few weeks," grunted Gerdo. He handed her a pouch full of coins, and Wynn looked up in surprise - he must not have taken much off her pay. Wynn waved Gerdo goodbye before stepping out onto the street, wagon in tow. Wynn glanced back one last time at The Silver Bell, before turning her attention to levitating leaves on the side of the path.