I picked up a glass bead and an iron bead, both of Minor Shield, and activated them. I held one in each hand and slowly moved them toward each other, to observe what would happen.

As they got closer and closer the ambient Mana they drew started to fluctuate, more of it moved towards the glass bead and away from the iron bead. As they got ever closer the Mana started swirling violently and small cracks formed on the beads, starting with the glass one but soon followed by the iron. Just as my hands were about to touch, both beads swiftly fell to dust.

It was very curious and I felt sure there was more to gather from this. I now only had Iron beads of Minor Shield left. But rather than continue with Minor shield, I picked up a bead of Acid Splash. I was not sure what the difference might be between conjure and create, as that was where the descriptions between the spell and the enchantment differed, but there was no duration mentioned either. Surely the acid could not be permanent from the enchantment, could it?

It did not seem a wise plan to test that idea indoors though, having a pool of acid eating through the floor did not appeal in the least.

My stomach growled angrily and I noticed for the first time that I was both hungry and parched. I must have been distracted by what I had been doing for quite some time to feel like this. The thirst was a comforting return to what had been normal, not too long ago, even though it was slightly unpleasant. I peered over my shoulder out the window, seeing a bright day outside.

I shrugged and turned back to the piles of beads on my bed. There were at least thirty of each enchanted spell. That translated into several hundred attempts in total, as I had to learn the materials to have any reasonable chance of success. That amounted to quite a lot of hours of work, as I also had to wait for Mana every so often. An enchantment took between one and a few minutes to complete, and the Mana used varied between thirty-five and forty, when an enchantment was successful. Which was also interesting, there was very little difference in the Mana needed for the different enchantments. It also took longer to enchant a bead compared to a common stone, something I had a hard time coming up with a reason for.

The door banged open once more and Charles stood there staring at me yet again.

"Why are you not ready yet?!" He growled out. I noticed that he was pale, sweating slightly, and he had dark circles under his eyes. All in all he looked terrible.

"What do you want, Charles? You look like something the cat dragged in, what have you been doing to yourself?" I received only a glare in reply, as he moved out the doorway.

"Meet me in the kitchen!" Having said that, he slammed the door shut even harder than the first time and I could hear his heavy footsteps as he left, all but stomping away.

Had something happened to him? Deciding that it was not really my concern or problem, I checked my clothes. Finding them mostly dry, I dressed with a grimace. It was always uncomfortable to dress in not quite dry clothes.

Now dressed, I considered if I should bring my satchel. If Charles was here he might have work for me with the Guard, and so I decided to bring it along. I left the piles of unenchanted beads on the bed. I doubted Sharon would steal them and if I needed to enchant more than I had with me, I was in trouble anyhow.

I had kept the Stones of Fire Burst in my coat pockets, and filled the four smaller compartments in the satchel with Ice Lance, Acid Splash, Minor Heal, and Minor Shield respectively. After a moments consideration I put out the four Light enchantments and dropped them into the large center compartment of the satchel. I could not quite see myself needing them, but I would be annoyed if I did and had not brought them.

Being done with that, I cast Minor Heal on myself to restore some of my missing Health, before leaving.

Status.

Ewynne

Age: 18

Level: 9

Experience: 241/10000

Race: Aberration

Class: Enchantress

Strength: 4

Dexterity: 10

Agility: 8

Constitution: 10

Endurance: 8

Intelligence: 22

Wisdom: 19

Willpower: 24

Perfection: 14

Charisma: 12

Health: 71/100

Mana: 15/650 (13/minute)

Stamina: 80/80 (18/minute)

Unallocated Attributes: 0

Charles and Sharon were sitting at the kitchen table. Sharon was drinking tea and Charles was looking annoyed and generally grumpy.

"Finally!" He all but erupted, as I entered the kitchen.

"Have a seat, dear, and I will get you something to eat." Sharon spoke over him.

"We need to be on our way!" Charles responded with overt annoyance. What was his problem? What had happened to have him acting this way?

"Nonsense, the girl has not left her room for close to a day, she will eat before going anywhere, and that is all there is to say about that." Sharon delivered this with enough finality to make Charles sit down and wait. I was quietly impressed.

An excessive amount of food later, Charles shooed me out the door as I shouted my goodbyes to Sharon. We set off down the street at a quick pace.

"Where and why are you dragging me off in such a hurry?" I asked, as Charles glared down at me.

"There has been several murders, a small village worth of murders. We think we know who did it, but we are hoping you will tell us it was a strange spell gone awry. Anything other than what we believe would be good, to be honest." The more he spoke the more tired he sounded. I was not exactly feeling spry myself, not having slept, but Charles seemed downright haggard. Not knowing what to say or do, I kept walking in silence.

We took a turn out on Merchant's Lane and kept moving towards King's Road, which made sense, if we were leaving the city for a village. There were no villages all that close to the city though, so it would be quite a walk to get there.

My thoughts about walking turned out to have nothing to do with the plans of the day. Charles led us to the side of the Guard post at the main gates, where there apparently was a small stable.

Riding was not quite prohibited in the Merchants' Quarter, but there was a charge to pay in order to do so; which meant that other than on King's Road, where messengers rode to the High Quarter or the Noble Quarter, horses were rarely seen in Logate. Most of the carts of goods were brought into the city in the early mornings, and oxen were the common beast of burden for those.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Riding out of Logate was not a pleasant experience, it seemed to me as if my horse was intentionally making me bounce all over the place, whereas Charles seemed to follow the horse's movements smoothly and without any issue. The bloody thing was tall too, Charles had seen me try to get a foot into the stirrup to mount, and he had simply thrown me up on the thing rather than wait for me to manage on my own.

I hoped we were not going too far. Charles kept glancing at me with amusement, which was in a way preferable to his earlier mood. But still annoying. Eventually, as we had moved some distance away from Logate one of his glances at me turned into a frown.

"Did you increase your Perfection?"

The question took me off guard, being quite strange.

"No."

"You really shouldn't increase your Perfection." He was shaking his head and disapproval was all but radiating off him. It was he who suggested I should increase Perfection or Wisdom in the inn not so long ago, and now he was lecturing me on the opposite!

"I have not increased my Perfection, and even if I did, why would that be wrong?" I snapped back at him.

It took him long enough to answer that I thought he would not do so.

"You should make sure to settle your other Attributes first. Preferably branch more than one, before increasing Perfection. Even if you are saving unallocated Attributes for it, you should wait for the others to branch first."

I took that in for a moment, not getting the issue.

"For a Mage, the relevant Attributes are only truly Wisdom, Willpower, and Intelligence; that should not take too long to branch, what makes you think I have not done that already?" I asked, curious.

Charles had already thought me several levels higher than I was, at the inn a few days back, though admittedly that might have been a ploy of some kind.

If I had focused only on those three Attributes I could have branched them all by now. Even for someone without Mental Focus, that would only add a few more levels.

Charles though, looked very serious.

"You should not say that where anyone else can hear you," he replied while shaking his head.

"I am not sure how much of an advantage your Bloodline gives you, but for a Mage; branching one, never mind two Attributes before level twenty, would require high starting Attributes. I do not know of anyone who has branched three before then." He kept shaking his head as we rode on, and he seemed lost in thought.

I was not about to tell him my reasoning. It seemed as if I was getting more Attributes from my class than was common, judging by what had just been said. I would have to figure out a way to ask about that, or read about it somewhere, without drawing undue attention. Charles took up his lecture once more.

"Perfection is the strangest of the Attributes, it makes you more of what you already are. It is less predictable compared to other Attributes; two people living similar lives, having the same Attributes, and classes, can get completely different results from branching Perfection."

Charles shrugged in the saddle.

"Make sure to settle your other Attributes first, to get the most out of Perfection. It is not worth the effort to level, if you spend rare unallocated Attributes, just to look prettier."

That was both informative and scary. Was unallocated Attributes rare? Did that mean that most Attributes others got were allocated then? As in preassigned to an Attribute? There was no way I could ask that though, I would have to get back to the library at some point.

We rode in silence for some time, among the now mostly harvested fields. The situation and our previous conversation was quite awkward to be honest.

I had the discomfort of trying to stay in the saddle to take up my time, but after a while with nothing else to focus on, I noticed that Charles had something magical on him. On his belt he wore two small flasks, both of which had quite a bit of Mana in them, but no structure I could discern. Curious.

"I got my first ever quest about you, to bring you to see the deceased Lord of House Bressling." Charles broke the silence with that statement, which I considered with more than a bit of confusion.

I did not know what to say, 'Congratulations on a quest'? 'Sorry, I know the Order can be a bit of a bother'? I settled for a slight nod and kept quiet for the rest of our trip, something Charles seemed to think a good idea too.

**

We rode for the better part of two hours with my discomfort from both the horse and Charles' manners grating on me, before we rode through a narrow strip of forest that opened up into a beautiful valley. The colors of the abundant flowers and trees were really remarkable and the sight brought a smile to my face.

We rode downward for a few minutes, until a man-height palisade came into view just after a bend in the road, showing two-story buildings inside it.

The houses were, as opposed to Logate, mostly wood. But I could see, as soon as we passed through the open gate, that the foundations were made of stone.

The idyllic view was shattered by the rows of bodies that lined the main, and probably only, street in the village. Two Guards were carrying out yet another body from a house, whilst a third Guard stood taking notes.

My relief at standing on my own two feet was marred by the gruesomeness of the scene. Charles spoke without getting down, "I will return before dark for your report, I have other things to do." Having said that, he turned his horse and quickly rode off, leaving me there stunned.

"Well, I guess you are the special investigator we have been told to expect." I turned to the Guard who had been taking notes, and was now leering at me instead.

"Is Charles always so... pleasant to deal with?" I could not help wondering if his previous behavior had just been an act, and this was what he was actually like.

The Guard scratched his unshaven face, and looked in the direction Charles had left.

"Na, not really. Normally easygoing for one of the prissy ones. Didn't quite seem himself today. Don't know why, he's seen worse than this." He shrugged as if it was not his problem and turned to stare at me again.

"So, darling, what do you need?"

I very deliberately did not set the man on fire, instead I looked over at the line of remains.

"Nothing, just leave me be so I can finish this and go home." With that, I set to work, wondering if this was really worth the coin. At least the Guard did not bother me further.

I moved from one body to the next, sensing what I could find, which was nothing at all for a time. It was not until the twelfth body, which was not even halfway down the line, that I found Mana. By this point I was sweating from the strain of not running away screaming. Keeping my face impassive added to the effort, but I did not want to show the already obnoxious Guard any weakness, which was probably immature of me.

The people who were dead had been chopped apart; men, women, and children alike. Until the twelfth, where his face had been melted by magic.

Refraining from taking a deep breath, I took in the remnants of a spell structure, something I had not known I could sense before now.

There was always Mana around, to one degree or another. But just like how I had not noticed the bottles Charles had until I had nothing else to focus on, I clearly did not always pay attention to what I could sense. I mused that it was a bit like how sight worked; One always see what is ahead, but to pay attention to it all for any length of time is impossible.

This structure was so weak and frail though, that I had to really focus on it to make anything out, which made me curious as to how many of its kind I had passed by without taking note.

It was hard to understand the structure as well, there were parts of it that made sense, and then there was a nothingness that I could not get a handle on. I sat back on my heels, in my crouch, and considered this. The structure seemed to be fairly simple and straightforward: it threw something. It was what had been thrown, at the mans face in this case, that was strange. It was like a blank had been left in the remnants of the structure.

It could be a limitation of Sense the Flow; I could only perceive 'basic Powers', and this could possibly be something other. What would constitute a basic Power if that was the case though? Mana and Force, maybe? It was also possible that one part deteriorated faster than the others, I supposed. It was all just speculation though, and this was my first time studying something like this.

I sighed and rose, to look down the line of bodies. Hopefully there was no magic on any more of them and I would be able to leave this horrid place soon.

That was when I heard the horses. I looked up to see that the three Guards had mounted and were riding off, without even a backward glance at me.

A sense of dread settled in my stomach, but I reminded myself that this did not have to mean anything. They might just have been done with their work, and now left. Leaving the rest to me, and eventually Charles, when I told him what I had found.

They had left my horse, so I could just ride away myself, which I now fully intended to do. I did not have to mention I did not look at every body. I could just tell Charles what I had found on the one.

A skittering sound made me freeze, and cursing under my breath I turned to the building the Guards had been carrying a body out of, last I took note of them. There, I could see a rabbit.

It was a rabbit with a missing front leg, its head hanging twisted and limp, with black eyes that seemed strangely intelligent. I thought that the angle of the creatures neck should have meant it was dead, but it still moved. The most unsettling part though, was that it also had a small clawed arm growing out of its back. The thing was waving back and forth in a macabre parody of a tail.

I had a bead of Ice Lance in my hand before I consciously thought about it; I threw and activated the bead.

A mostly flat and sharp looking blade of ice formed all but instantly in the air, as the bead was consumed. The lance shot towards the creature and skewered it lengthwise. The rabbit-monstrosity let out a horrible squishy sound before slumping to the ground.

You have been victorious! You have slain an enemy! You gain 0 Experience!

You have defeated an Undead: Rabbit, you have been awarded 101 Experience!

I took a deep breath as my mind raced through that. Was this the Order's way of giving as much, or as little, information as possible? Why did the undead creature seem to not give experience in and of itself; it rather appeared that experience was awarded after the fact, by the Order, presumably? Just like with the Unraveling Spirit in the cave.

I looked at the skewered rabbit with a frown, the ice lance was still there. Was it not supposed to fade away? It seemed more like it was very slowly melting.

While the word undead was not that hard to understand, the concept was strange. What kind of world would have creatures about that were not alive, but not dead either?

Truth be told, I did not really care, I was getting out of here.

Quest!

Find the source of the Undead and destroy it.

Reward: 8000 Experience, Sense the Flow: rank 2.

Well, crap.