By the time the sun started to set, Will had earned 25 coppers. As people took note of his service, he was able to ramp the price up, and they still paid him without complaints.

Ten of the coppers went to the innkeeper that same night, when Will rented a single room for himself.

The night did not end up passing peacefully.

Will woke up to the sound of bells when it was still dark. At first, he wondered if it was anything to worry about, but when people in the neighboring rooms started to make a lot of noise, he decided to dress up and get out.

Outside of the inn, he saw people with weapons at the ready—mostly bows and spears. Two men also carried wooden shields.

The full moon was shining brightly. Will realized he could see almost as well as during the day, although colors were more difficult to discern.

"Goblins!" someone running toward the inn shouted. It was a greying man whose stride didn't look particularly stable.

When the runner reached the people gathered in front of the stall, he doubled over to catch his breath.

"Raiding party...sighted...on the northern road!" he finally got out between wheezing breaths.

That elicited some murmurs, but nobody seemed to be busy to rush anywhere.

"Anyone think this is gonna affect us?" A man with short and pointy bed-hair asked with a frown.

"Maybe?" Another man answered. "It's a small place. If they hit the north side, they'll be right next to us."

That got some murmurs of agreement from the small crowd, but Will could sense the reluctance of the people around him. The customers seemed to be mostly travelers, and they weren't eager to risk their lives for the village they had stopped at for the night.

A few minutes later, three large figures emerged from the inn. They were clad in some armor and carried swords on their waists and helmets under their arms.

"What seems to be the problem?" one of them demanded, and the greying man eagerly reiterated the news from the north.

The previous speaker frowned.

"We must go support the north side, people!"

"I mean no disrespect, sir," a well-dressed man carrying a long sword on his waist spoke up. "But we don't know how many goblins there are. Retreat could be a wise option."

The armored man glared at the new speaker silently for a few seconds before responding.

"Perhaps, but if there's a handful of wolf riders going after your fancy carriage, you're going to have to fight anyway. And it won't be on your terms."

"Ahem... A--a fair point, sir," the stylish man conceded, stuttering slightly.

"Everyone, you should come with us and see if there's anything you can help us with. If we fall, you'll soon find yourself smoked out of the inn into waiting spears," the armored man persuaded the crowd.

People remained reluctant, but many seemed to agree to follow him tentatively anyway.

"Tall sir, you don't seem to be armed?" he finally spoke to Will after pleading with a few others.

"I... I am--ugh." Will almost bit his tongue due to his nervousness. "Sir, I can cast Magic Arrow a few times."

"Oh, I see. I don't know that one, but I'm sure any spells you can spare would be greatly appreciated."

I can't believe I'm about to agree, Will thought nervously to himself. The rough-looking warrior—or paladin, or whatever—was a smooth talker. He's gotta have a high Charisma score...

"Al--alright, sir. I'll come with you and take a look."

The discussion had taken a few minutes, but the ragtag band of men and one tall woman started for the north.

Five minutes later, Will could hear shouts, cries and the occasional ring of metal.

Shit, shit, shit! I really need to take a piss! Will thought to himself while he spun his head around wildly, trying to detect threats.

A goblin sauntered to the street from the far side of the bakery and took one look at Will's group. It promptly turned to flee while shouting something.

An arrow from the tall woman felled the creature before it had taken more than a few running steps. Two more arrows struck the ground near its fallen, writhing form.

Will briefly glanced to his side, taking note of the two wide-eyed peasants who stood frozen with their bows raised, and only begun to relax when the goblin's death throes slowed down.

"Let's move on," the armored, goody-good warrior spoke, and the group marched on toward the sounds of battle.

Soon, they reached the far side of the village. The majority of the fight was taking place along a waist-high fence.

"Good! Let's get them!" The leader roared, gaining the attention of everyone ahead. He then continued in a slightly lower voice. "There don't seem to be too many of them, but remember: if we fall, you'll be soon to follow us!"

With that announcement, he and the two other men in proper armor ran ahead.

The rest of the group hesitated for a moment, until the tall woman started shooting while steadily moving forward between her shots. The peasants followed after her, letting their own arrows loose with considerably less accuracy. The remaining four spearmen followed along hesitantly, opting to cower in the backline with the archers.

Will spied a short man or a teenager accosted by a single goblin who had managed to get over the flimsy fence. The boy jumped back each time the goblin made a move. Clearly, he had very little skill or confidence at fighting.

Magic Arrow (I) triggered.

Will took aim at the hostile creature and shouted the short trigger of his spell. A silvery orb raced forth and struck the goblin just as unerringly as it would in the game.

Cast by a wizard at level fourteen, it should have been enough to one-shot the goblin, but that wasn't what happened here. The goblin got up and turned to run back toward his allies.

"So fast!" One of the spearmen commented, his eyes fixed upon Will.

"Fuck yeah! Hey, mage guy! You're the fastest caster I've ever seen!" a bowman cheered him on.

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"Umm. Thanks," Will replied weakly, trying to ignore the small amount of wetness in his pants. He had relaxed a little too much when he'd shouted the verbal trigger.

Instead of letting loose another slotted Magic Arrow, Will started to prepare the spell again, while keeping an eye on the fighting.

He took forty seconds to get the spell ready, and immediately let it loose at another goblin.

The magical projectile seemed to glow a little more brightly than previously. Perhaps Will had shaped the magic better this time around?

The goblin had seen the spell coming, and it managed to remain upright even when the glowing arrow struck its right shoulder. Will saw it move its weapon to its left hand and promptly retreat from the peasant it had been facing.

Broke its arm, maybe? he encouraged himself. Even his pants remained at the previous level of dampness. I might be decent at this!

"Why were you so slow this time?" The spearman next to him asked.

Why are you just watching? Will almost wanted to reply. "I can't rapid fire them," he said instead.

"A shame. I thought you some kind of prodigy."

"Hmh," Will snorted in reply, filing the peasant's opinions away. The less they expected of him, the better.

Perhaps the man hadn't seen any mages before. Or perhaps Will was truly acting too flashy in some way?

An arrow came flying from somewhere and hit the annoying commentator in the chest. The man promptly fell down on his knees and clutched the protruding shaft.

"Fuck!" Will immediately dropped down into a low crouch. The wounded man finally fell on his face and didn't get up.

Will wanted to move a few dozen meters back, but nobody else in his group had chosen to run, yet.

What do I have... He was briefly stunted by the relatively wide selection he had. Arcane Shield... that one should work!

Will begun casting the new level-one spell. He tried to skip at least a few of the redundant parts, but it still took almost two minutes to finish. It couldn't be helped, since it was his first attempt at the spell.

All the while, his eyes remained on the goblins further back, many of which wielded bows and arrows. The night was bright enough that he could perhaps notice an incoming arrow, abandon his spell, and dive to the side.

The spell finished. He triggered it immediately with a short incantation, and an invisible shield sprung up in front of him. It wasn't impenetrable, but it should sap most of the punch out of a normal arrow.

Besides, the arrows weren't coming fast at any rate. Two more had struck the ground further ahead during his casting, but both of them had probably been meant for someone at the front.

Magic Arrow (I) triggered.

Will released another stored Magic Arrow when he saw someone faced with three goblins. The projectile struck the target in the head, and the goblin didn't get up again.

The human fighter immediately gained ground against the two remaining goblins, and he proceeded to stomp the fallen goblin on its face.

Will watched someone get impaled by a goblin spear while he prepared yet another Magic Arrow. He could have abandoned the spell and triggered a stored one instead when he noticed the unfortunate man's predicament, but he opted not to. It was safer for him to hold on to the two slotted Magic Arrows.

Since nothing obviously critical was going on when the spell was finally ready, Will simply slotted it before beginning to cast the preparatory portion once again.

The next spell was the best one so far, seeing as it mangled the leg of the goblin it struck. The second one after it wasn't as impressive, but the third one made a goblin's face explode in gore.

I'm definitely getting better at this, Will realized. The whole fight seemed to be shifting heavily in the favor of the defenders. Will's need to take a leak didn't feel as pressing anymore.

Finally, what looked like a full squad of goblins broke into a panicked run. Soon, the whole goblin front followed them in retreat. Relief and triumph flooded into the hearts of the defenders, who cheered maniacally at the sight. Even Will and the other customers from the inn joined in full-heartedly.

By now, Will once more had four full slots of Magic Arrows, and he felt a pang of regret. He had watched at least two people die while he could have done something about it, if only he'd de-prioritized his own safety a little.

Some of the defenders ran after the short figures shouting battle cries, but the goblins were pretty quick on their short legs, and only a few limping ones plus one heavily armored creature got caught and skewered.

I should try out "Mend Flesh!" Will soon realized, as he watched some wounded peasants starting to shamble back from the fence.

The 1st level necromancy spell from some silly DLC was famous for how bad it was. Wizards weren't supposed to be healers, after all.

It turned out the spell sucked in this world even more than it did in the game. Will quickly gave up and made way for a woman with some good old thread and a needle.

---

The following morning, Will bought the breakfast for one copper at the inn. After receiving some bread and watery soup, he decided it was overpriced compared to the food at the marketplace, where the bread was even fresher. But, he could definitely afford it, so it didn't matter too much.

"Good morning, Mister Mage!" The well-dressed man he'd seen last night interrupted Will's solitary moment.

Will put down his spoon and glanced at the man who fidgeted nervously under his attention. He looked like a classic, pampered noble or something, but he still had his longsword tied to his belt.

"Morning, sir." Will decided to add the honorific at the last moment in case the man really was some kind of lord. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Heh, you can, indeed. See, I noticed your spellcasting last night..." The man left the sentence hanging.

"Yes? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no," he waved his hands. "That's not my meaning. It's the opposite. I'd like to employ you temporarily."

"Hm? For what exactly?"

Will was interested. Scraping together some more coppers at the marketplace was a way to put bread in his stomach, but ideally he should be making some gold.

Assuming gold here had the same, fairly low value it had had in ASA, he would need loads of it to buy life-saving potions et cetera.

"See, those goblins last night. You wouldn't think they're around anymore, would you?"

"Probably not. Why?"

"It never hurts to be sure! I think it would be safer for both of us to travel together. You wouldn't be heading east, would you?"

I see. He wants additional protection, Will realized.

Will, too, wanted to get out of the village at some point, but he didn't really know anything about anywhere else.

"I, uh-- I have a few options, but traveling east is one of them." He decided to give a vague answer.

"Great, great! I plan to leave in an hour, so if you'd be able to make the decision soon, we could have a deal."

"Where exactly are you traveling?"

"All the way to the border, but I would only need you to accompany me until Spiretown."

"I see." Yep, I have no clue. "What can you pay me?"

"My budget is a bit tight, but I can offer you twenty silver."

Will frowned. Silver? But I need gold! Still, it should beat extracting coppers from poor peasants, assuming he didn't get killed by goblins.

"Don't you think twenty is a tad low for a mage?"

"Ah, excuse me. I took you for an apprentice from the strength of your display yesterday. I understand if you must reject an apprentice's job."

"I am a little bit better than that. I just... didn't have all of my spells prepared last night."

"Prepared?" The man asked with a tilt of his head. "Does your style depend on preparing your magics? If you don't mind me asking, of course."

Isn't spell preparation common knowledge? Will wondered. As a noble, surely the man shouldn't be as ignorant as peasants?

"It does, to an extent. If you give me some time, I can have two Invisibility spells ready for us."

"Invisibility? How? For what?"

"Uhh. For me and you, for example. In case we need to hide, you know."

"Invisibility sounds like something rather powerful," the man argued with a disbelieving expression on his face.

Dude, it's a level two spell! It's good, but not that special, Will thought to himself.

"It's a useful spell, sir," he said instead.

"I'm sorry, but I would need to see a demonstration before I can employ someone of such illustrious merits."

"Fair," Will conceded. "I can show you, but perhaps we should do it somewhere else."

Will finished his wood and followed the noble guy behind the stalls, where there didn't seem to be any onlookers present.

"Alright. Just give me a second," Will said and begun the trigger sequence, managing to keep it pretty short even though it was his first attempt.

Invisibility (II) triggered.

When the spell took effect, the nobleman raised his eyebrows.

"Hmm," he spoke. "I see. This could be fairly useful. By the way, I think you should call this a 'chameleon technique'. At least that's what I was once taught by my tutors."

Will looked down at his own body which had become partially transparent. His presence still remained very obvious to anyone who looked at him directly.

"Umm," Will stalled. He should have seen something like this coming, really. "This is just the bare minimum. I can cast it better if I can get more time to prepare."

"How much time? How much better?"

"Considerably better. Give me just a couple of hours," Will guesstimated, until he remembered the headache. "Err. Give me a day, maybe," he amended.

"A day I don't have, Mister Mage. But you have convinced me to an extent. I'd be willing to raise my offer up to fifty silver if you can demonstrate this spell once more by casting it on me."

In the end, Will only managed to haggle it up to sixty before accepting the deal.