Elas flicked his staff up and sent a molten projectile high up into the air before slashing down at the direction of the boulder. The projectile instantly changed direction plunging down towards its target.

The boulder exploded, spraying stone shards in all directions as the Firebolt hit it from the top. Elas activated his kinesis spell to shield himself from the shrapnel.

He had spent the entire day getting his body and mind to synchronize. Finally he felt like he was back in control of his body once again. He had taken his time only casting a spell once every several minutes in order to not strain himself. Moving mana was similar to doing physical labor. A person can lift a weight once every few minutes throughout the entire day and never be tired while doing the same number of lifts all at once would have one's muscles complaining for days after.

The sun had traveled the sky while he trained and was now dipping down into the horizon. Soon it would be night and he would begin to overstay his welcome. He could already feel animosity directed at him from all directions. His rather disruptive activities had no doubt grated at the patience of his hosts.

He grabbed his bag and rummaged for some cheap magical materials. He arrayed his offerings onto the ground then sent a mana pulse to signal his intention to leave peacefully. Finally he mixed salt and sulfur together into a small pile and set it alight with the heat component of his staff while chanting a short spell with soundless words. The salt and sulfur pile exploded into thick shimmering smoke that crawled on the ground moving towards the direction of Farhaven.

Homeward guide was an ancient spell known to most people that spent any real time out in the wilderness. Normally such a spell would be a complicated affair but the wilderness dislikes trespassers and would much rather guide them back whence they came than risk having more come in to look for their missing compatriots.

Elas followed the smoke trail until he came upon the last stream he had to cross to get back to Farhaven. The sky was already turning dark but it was as good a time as any to take a bath. He downed the potion of warmth in his bag before undressing and leaping into the freezing waters. By the time he had scrubbed himself clean the sun had already set and glittering stars shone through the trees.

He finished his bath and wore a new set of clothes before recasting the homeward guide spell once again. He followed the shimmering smoke trail until it stopped. The shimmering smoke swirled on the ground seemingly having lost its way.

Elas immediately lifted his staff and scanned the surroundings. The forest was far darker than it should be on a starry night. Elas grabbed his bottle of sulfur and poured the contents into the ground while chanting the incantation for mage light. Brilliant white light drove away the darkness of the surroundings.

The creatures hissed and roared as the sudden illumination blinded them. Elas was surrounded by more than a dozen creatures of different size and shape. They looked like twisted recreations of wolves, deers, owls and other mundane creatures of the forest. Their teeth and horns were like daggers and spears covered in dripping blood while their bodies were gaunt and their heads were nothing but clean white skulls. Ghostly blue flames flicker within their empty eye sockets. Decades ago he would have thought of these manifestations as the work of necromancy but he knew what they were now. Baleful spirits were the brutal representation of death and danger within the wilds more akin to elementals than living creatures.

“Why do you challenge my path, forest spirits?” Elas directed his voice towards the direction of one of the larger trees where he could feel the strongest malice.

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A gigantic white bear's paw came from behind the tree and groped its trunk. The leader of the spirits, a five meter tall bear with a stag skull for a head, peaked at him from behind the great tree.

Elas felt the creature's answer as it leaked its intent through the surrounding mana.

Overstay, unwelcome, pay, land. The mana told him.

This bastard is trying to extort me! Elas thought to himself.

Seems like the creatures had been watching him and assumed he would be too tired to fight them after a long day.

“No! Now leave me be and let there be peace.” He replied to the baleful spirit.

The creature roared as the mana in the surroundings carried its anger.

Overstep! It told Elas.

Elas pushed so much mana into the heat spell in his staff that it turned the air surrounding the grasping hand into plasma. The creature growled and hissed as they stepped back from his display of power.

“No you overstep! I will walk where I please as the right of my strength!” Elas spat at the creatures.

The creatures bared their teeth. The wolves howled while the deers stomped on the snow. The bear spirit glared at him, its eyes turning into blazing torches of blue fire.

Elas stood his ground exuding confidence in his ability to defeat them all. He knew he had already won. If the creatures were willing to fight they would have charged him the moment he disrespected them. They were now just showing a brave face so as to not look weak.

The show continued for a minute before the bear spirit gave a loud roar.

Leave No Return! The creature told him.

“That is not for you to decide.” Elas retorted as the forest spirits faded back into the woods.

The guiding smoke that was spiraling aimlessly found its way and resumed heading towards Farhaven. Elas sighed in relief. He was honestly not sure if he would have defeated the creatures. Mages were not known for being good at fighting while surrounded. If he was wielding his family heirloom it would not be a problem but with just his firebolt staff the situation could have turned deadly.

The spirits also knew that they would win. They were not fools. But they also knew not all of them would come out of the fight alive and it seemed the bear's authority wasn't strong enough to order the others to die for it. Or more likely the relatively cheap materials he carried were not worth the price. Even if Elas managed to win, killing forest spirits within their domain would basically guarantee Farhaven would face retaliation from the other denizens. The relationship between the great forest and towns that border it was one of tolerance and respect. Any disruptions to the uneasy peace can easily lead to violence.

Elas trudged back home, his body ached with each step. He had overdone his exercise. Even with the potions of vigor he was still old and moving like he was young came with consequences. He consoled himself at the fact that after tomorrow's ritual he could start recruiting for his faction. Which meant less walking and more sitting and doing paperwork.

He planned to create an alchemical workshop in town as a front for his faction. If it was like the game the crown should consider employees as faction members even if they weren't aware of the factions existence themselves. Workshops and stores should also be considered part of his domain so he could scan the customers for talented individuals.

He went inside the cabin and plopped himself down on the bed after consuming another ration bar. He would have to slightly overdose on the vigor potion again tomorrow. This was probably taking weeks of his life. The average person would have already died a horrible death at his current potion consumption but a life as an alchemist had raised his resistance by a substantial degree.

He closed his eyes as he prepared to sleep.