After eight hours of riding on top of a nobleman's fancy carriage and practicing magic, Will got the preparation time for Invisibility down to two minutes, and he didn't get a headache from the effort anymore. The trigger went down to five seconds, which was still clearly longer than canon.

Sadly, the effect of the spell had only grown marginally stronger.

First, it had actually become worse with the rapidly shortening casting time, and only when Will started to pay attention to quality instead of speed did it slowly improve past the initial level.

At the moment, the spell was something that could be somewhat effective for hiding even during daytime, and Will saw no way to improve the quality any further, so he decided to concentrate on shaving two more seconds from the trigger instead.

At least there's the fourth-level spell "Major Invisibility" to look forward to...

The journey took four days. It was long enough for Will to start familiarizing himself with a few other low-level spells as well.

He also thought about finally selecting the feat he was entitled to, but decided to keep putting the choice off. The obviously powerful options tempted him, but the goblins had scared him into thinking more cautiously. Besides, he didn't have a single healing potion yet.

When they arrived, Will was dismissed with a recommendation letter penned on some spotty, low-quality paper. For all he knew, it could be the best kind of paper around here.

Will wasn't deluded enough to think of the nobleman as his friend now, so the letter definitely wasn't a favor to him but rather for the recipient, someone called Viscount Jacob. Presumably, the viscount could use a mage of Will's apparent caliber for something.

It turned out he didn't.

"I'm sorry," the viscount's butler said, stepping out of his employer's study. "I guess you took the trouble of coming here for no reason. Would you at least like a cup of tea before you go?"

"Um, no thanks, but could I have the letter back? Perhaps I can convince someone else with, uh, Good Nobleman Heinrich's recommendation."

"I see. I shall ask my lord what he thinks." After a moment, the butler came back with the letter. "Lord Viscount said you can use it."

"That's good. Thank you."

Ah. I should visit a seamstress or something, Will remembered.

A few dozen minutes later, he finally stood in front of a tall mirror.

The face that stared back was himself from the past... except not quite. He had slightly more angular features, and he simply looked better than ever before. More symmetric or something. Probably.

No beard, though. Not even any stubble. It was sad in a sense, but grooming-wise it was a blessing, and the look of it wasn't a problem with his new, singular chin.

Will wasn't sure how half-elves aged in canon, let alone in this world, but he looked like he was around 25 in human years. Still young, but without the childish, rosy cheeks he remembered from the photos taken when he was twenty.

The nature of this world was yet another thing that had become very suspect. He most likely wasn't in the world of ASA, even if his abilities originated from that game.

He'd chatted this and that with the noble and his driver during the trip, and neither seemed to have heard of the drow race. They swore that dark elves actually had remarkably pale skin.

They knew of no Elmunchkin the archmage, of no continent named Faêria, and not even of any priests who could cast divine magic.

Will sighed in contemplation, still staring at the mirror. His looks were a bit strange, but they would be easy to get used to compared to everything else. Finally, he handed a few coppers to the shopkeep for the favor and left.

Next, Will tried to visit a merchant guild, but they didn't handle recruiting and told him to talk to individual merchants instead. Locating just two traveling ones ended up taking the whole day, and both of them promptly refused his services.

It clearly wasn't the way to find a job. Will knew he should go to the Mages' Guild at the Spire, but he wanted to avoid their scrutiny for now.

Finally, on his third day in town, he ran into something useful in a noisy tavern. It was well after the sunset, and the patrons were starting to get tipsy.

"If they make trouble, we beat them up!" a dwarf sitting at a nearby table suddenly shouted.

"Bloody hell, Adil! Don't be so loud," the human male next to him spoke in a low but exasperated tone.

"Why not? It's not some kind of secret, is it?"

"No! But this is a nice, classy place! You shouldn't shout."

Will, who was listening in, felt his eyebrows climb. If this particular watering hole was supposed to be a classy establishment, he never wanted to visit a seedy one.

"Whatever," the dwarf continued in a lower tone. "You shouldn't worry. We've done similar jobs all over the place."

"This isn't your typical bouncer gig, Adil. There will be some bigwig Spire associates in attendance."

"Hrmph! I have my hammer. There's no reason to be scared."

"That's the issue, Adil. We're supposed to avoid resorting to force."

"Fine!" The dwarf slammed his wooden pint onto the table with a bang. "You'll handle the talking. I'll just be a nonverbal reminder of the fact that we can fuck them up."

"I guess that works," the human said with a sigh.

Will decided to make his entrance there.

"Hey, it sounds like you two know how to find a job in this city. Mind if I buy you a round?"

Both men stared at him. The dwarf with a frown, and the human with a surprised expression.

"I ain't saying no to free ale!" the dwarf finally responded in a cheery voice, although he still kept frowning and glaring.

"I guess I could give you a hint or two," the other man also relented.

Will waved the serving girl over and gave her three coppers for some drinks and a fourth one as a tip. She arrived in just a minute with three big pints.

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"Ooh. You went for the better stuff," the dwarf murmured appreciatively.

"Sure. I don't want to get sick from some suspicious swill."

"Hmph. You frail elves and your sicknesses..."

"Just a half-elf. And I'm not particularly frail," Will argued, feeling some indignation. He had put 12 points into Constitution, which surely was plenty for a wizard.

"Anyway," Will continued. "I overheard you mention working in security. Think I could find a similar job somewhere?"

"Again, half-elf, you're pretty frail. I'm not sure you want to become a bouncer."

"I may not be as strong as you, but I have some magic. Chameleon spell, for example, and several others."

"A mage, eh?" The dwarf asked with a hint of contempt in his expression, but after a sip from his red ale, it turned into something thoughtful. "I don't think we have any mages with us. Maybe there's a chance..."

"No offense, mister half-elf, but I think our resident idiot fell for you because you gave him free alcohol," the human commented with a sneer.

"Shaddup, loser. I'm thinking," the dwarf retorted in a calm voice. "Yes. I think he could join us. We could even get some coin for the recommendation if we play this right."

"Boy," the dwarf turned to look at Will again. "Meet you here tomorrow at three o'clock. I'll do some talking on our end first, and then I'll present you as the perfect addition to the team."

Will was happy with that. Watching over some auction sounded easy enough.

Thanks to the Magic Academy DLC, he had a variety of nice, low-level spells to use on weak, normal people or even some small-time thugs.

The auction took place the day after the next.

Will woke up in his semi-nice room in one of the best inns of the city. After the breakfast, he made sure that his first and second-level spell slots were full. (As they should be in preparation for any foreseeable situation.)

The four second-level slots were filled with life-saving measures in case a massive war broke out while he was in the privy or something.

The four first-level spells he'd prepared could be used to both defend himself with and to perform the day's job, while the four cantrips were fully dedicated to handling unruly civilians. Perhaps there would be a drunken idiot in the auction Will would be tasked with taking care of nonlethally.

He had prepared one third-level spell two days ago—a painful chore he wasn't about to repeat soon. The headache had hit him even worse than the first time he'd cast Invisibility.

While it was a pathetic state for a supposedly level-14 wizard, Will decided to stick to honing his level-two spells for a little longer. At the very least, he seemed to be advancing at a steady pace.

Confident in his chances to handle the job and impress prospective future employers, he set out for the inner city.

The venue was one of the large buildings close to the Spire. It stood in a walled portion of the city where the rabble wasn't able to enter easily, unless they owned a set of fine clothes and knew how to look like they belonged.

Thanks to The Rise-up of the Slave Mage DLC, his black robe still looked immaculate. The spell selection he'd reincarnated with contained even household spells, albeit only two, since they were only meant to be silly props for the slavery setting.

Will cast a cleaning cantrip on his attire every morning, and it had remained mostly fresh, although Will was beginning to suspect that the spell didn't remove every possible contaminant from the fabric.

There was a faint, stale smell to the armpit area of his undertunic that seemed to be growing more obvious each day, but he extrapolated that it should still be good for a week. (Perhaps even three.)

The armed and armored guard blocking the employees' entrance wasn't a talkative fellow.

"Badge," he demanded.

Will obediently flashed the carved and stamped piece of white wood he'd been handed previously, and the guard moved aside to let him in.

Three people were already present, including Will's contacts.

"Morning, boy!" Adil the dwarf greeted him. He was wearing a chain shirt, and there was a somewhat heavy-looking warhammer tied to his belt.

"Hey there. What's wrong with Steve?" Will asked, noting the man next to the dwarf who was slumping on a stool.

"Him? He has these fits of weakness every morning after a happy night out. You can ignore him."

Steve raised his head to send a brief glare at the dwarf.

"I'm just a little tired is all!"

Two more people came in shortly, wearing some light armor like everyone else except Will and the big boss of the place. The latter was a man of perfect posture, but with his wrinkled face, he looked older than anyone else in the room and wore fancier clothes than even Will did.

"Everyone seems to have arrived," the graying man spoke after a while. "I'll now show you a few key spots. The job is simple, but I expect you to keep your eyes open," he said while shooting a glance at Steve.

"New guys, you follow me!"

Steve, Adil, and Will followed as commanded. The three other temporary hires stayed behind, likely already knowing the drill.

"Those are the customer entrances; here's the VIP seating. Over there in the back is the vault, but you don't need to worry about it."

"And over here," the man continued. "We have the showcase items. Just two, this time."

On the raised stage, there was an upright case placed on both sides with a speaker's podium in the middle. Both of the cases housed a weapon that could be observed through a wavy glass pane. A simple, wooden staff and a spiked, metallic mace. Both the weapons and the glass panes began to feel strange to Will's senses as he kept looking at them.

Enchanted, perhaps? he wondered. At least the weapons certainly were. The glass just felt faintly like it had something more to it than what met the eye.

"Even before the auction starts, your job is to keep the attendees in the audience area. Try to remain polite even if they are idiots. Push them back if you must, but apologize for having to do so. I hope you get my gist."

Will and Steve nodded in response, while Adil hummed noncommittally.

"Any questions?"

"Just the obvious one," Adil drawled. "What's the real job? You're paying us in silver. It can't be that easy."

"Smart," the man said with a nod. "While politeness is something I wish to instill in our employees, the more difficult part of the job is the fact that the audience today will include some wealthy but unruly members."

"Told you," Steve commented from the side.

"What kind of unruly?" Adil demanded.

"Besides the showpieces, we're auctioning a lot of arms and armor. We should expect to host mercenaries and adventurers of questionable repute."

Adil sighed. "And I can't just hammer people senseless?"

"Well... hammering should be the very final resort. After all, we can't legally take their money if we have beaten them silly."

Adil briefly raised his eyebrows. "A fair point."

"As for the really powerful people, they will be VIP's. You can forget about them. In fact, don't even look at them, in case they take offense. I shall take care of them."

"And mage boy... what's your name?"

"Will," Will answered obediently. It felt wrong to be called 'boy' when he had lived almost forty years, but he didn't mind. It made him feel youthful.

"Will, I assume you possess some nonlethal spells?"

"I can daze people momentarily without harming them at all. I can also stun them with weak lightning magic, but those faint of heart might be at risk of death if I do so."

In canon, his lightning cantrip was just a 1d2 damage spell—barely a tickle—with a decent chance to stun weaklings. But who knew how this reality operated? Tasers could be pretty risky back home.

"I doubt our customers would die to a little lightning. In fact, it should be perfect if you can generate enough of it."

"Oh? Well, that's a relief."

The doors to the hall were opened to the public, and prospective buyers began flooding the hall.

They were an unruly bunch as expected, but most of them seemed to respect the rules when they were made clear to them.

However, not each and every one of them was so orderly.

"Boy! Watch it! Don't concern yourself with this. I'm just gonna take a look."

"Esteemed customer, this area is off-limits. Please return to your seat," Will spoke, wearing a neutral expression as he blocked the customer's way to the stage.

The problematic fellow was pretty muscular, but for now he was just poking Will in the chest with a finger. As long as the customer didn't pull out a weapon, Will didn't think he needed to worry much.

"Just... get out of my way already!" the man finally snapped and shoved Will backward.

I guess that's enough to justify a reaction? Will reasoned.

He pointed a finger at the offender and activated one of the weaker Electric Jolt cantrips he had prepared. He'd purposefully cast the preparation phase sloppily in case some weakling was at risk of dying from it.

Electric Jolt (cantrip) triggered.

The man stumbled briefly. He glared at Will with visible rage.

"You little..."

Electric Jolt (cantrip) triggered.

In a non-canon fashion, Will immediately released a full-strength Electric Jolt. The brief and thin arc of electricity struck the man in the chest.

He faltered again, clearly affected by the electricity, but stubbornly kept approaching.

Electric Jolt (cantrip) triggered.

Will simply repeated the spell once more. Finally, the man fell down on the floor, face first.

In ASA, there would have been a cooldown period between spells, where a character could still run around but could not cast another spell before a certain time had passed. In this world, Will felt no need to take a break in between.

Will checked for the customer's pulse alongside his neck. Still beating.

"Adil! I could use a hand here," Will called out. He didn't want to carry the man out just by himself.