The food was excellent, I had never tasted nor smelled anything as heavenly. It could not have taken me more than moments to all but inhale everything on my plate. I sat back with a contented sigh, sipping very carefully from the lager I had been given. The taste was strange. The drink was a dark red, almost leaning toward brown, and I found the taste hard to pin down. It was slightly sweet and made me think of a kind of roasted nut, which I had occasionally gotten at the market as a child.

I was very careful not to drink too much, even though I definitely approved of the taste. It would not do to end up heaving on the floor to sate a craving I had just discovered. After another mouthful I put my tankard down with a sad sigh. While not needing to drink seemed to have upsides when it came to being out in the wilderness, back in the city it was not as much of a blessing.

As I sat there, forlornly staring at my forbidden drink, the imp stirred and quickly sat up. The haste of its movements made its ears flap in a very comical fashion, and I failed to stifle a giggle. The imp looked at me searchingly for a moment, and then took in the room. Its face moved through expressions, from confusion, to disgust and finally settling on something that seemed to be elation.

"I am getting Mana again!" As if the words themselves deflated the imp, it began to cower before me, pleading eyes meeting mine.

"Please Master, don't take away my Mana again!" It spoke loudly enough to draw attention from the other patrons, and while I did not look up to see what kind of reactions this had brought, I could feel their eyes on me.

The imp was playing yet another game.

"If you can refrain from trying to kill me, you deranged creature, there will be no need for any punishment." I replied in the same manner, making some patrons chuckle in response. I looked at the imp with an eyebrow raised, waiting.

Our contest of wills had barely begun when the innkeeper came down the stairs and headed straight for us.

"Your room is the second on the left, bathing chamber is down the same hall, clothes are on your bed." Having delivered her message she dropped a key on the table, shook her head at the imp that was gaping up at her, and left.

Leaving temptation at the table, I picked up the key, crossed the room and climbed the stairs. It did not take long before I could hear the imp flapping behind me. It was more than a bit confusing how I could both loathe it, and be comforted by its presence. It reminded me of mother, and the thought made me want to lash out at the creature, an urge it took some effort to resist. They really were similar in some ways, thankfully the imp was not that clever, mother had been truly frightening with her schemes.

The room I had for the night was sparsely furnished. There was only a bed, a small table and a newly lit lantern, its flame enclosed by a shimmering light. I crouched down, studying the lantern with rapt attention. I could feel how Mana spun a barrier around the flame, no doubt keeping it from accidentally starting any fires. I closed my eyes and followed the spinning Mana with my mind as it swirled. It did not take much to keep the barrier up, while I had never judged such things, I did not think it could take more than a few points per day to keep it going.

There was something more to it though. I opened my eyes as I marveled at the thought that had been put into the design. If the barrier touched the fire, it would collapse inward and take the flame with it. So if the lantern was turned on its side, it would go out.

"It is called fire, it gives off both heat and light at the same time! I understand the idea might seem foreign and magical to you, but do try to cope."

The imp's comment was not worthy of a reply, and I reminded myself that I needed to visit the Mage Guild library, and research familiar bonds. If I could get rid of the imp, that would certainly put my mind at ease.

I rose from my study of the lantern, and looked at the clothes left for me on the bed. It was a dress. I pinched the bridge of my nose, and let out a slow deep sigh. The imp spun giggling around me, taking full advantage of my consternation.

The most frustrating part of the dress was the lack of pockets, while I could use the rope I wore as a belt to tie my coin pouch, I had no idea how to deal with the stones of Fire Burst. Carrying a few in my hand everywhere I went seemed like a less than clever idea. With another sigh, I mostly cleared my pockets onto the small table, leaving all but some of the enchanted objects here for now. I shooed the imp out ahead of me, and brought the dress, as I left the room. The creature came off as less than pleased when I locked the door, grumbling unintelligibly under its breath.

I left the imp behind and headed for the bathing chamber, finding that it was indeed straight down the hall, in the room at the very end. There was a stairway going upward to the side of the door, and in the other direction the hallway turned and continued on, with more rooms.

The bathing chamber was slightly bigger than the narrow room I had for the night, and contained what I could best describe as a large wooden barrel. To my joy the door could be barred and I did so, before the approaching imp caught up to me. I wanted to take my bath alone.

While downstairs the interior had been mostly done up in wood, up here everything was the customary bare stone, as such it was quite a bit colder. Thankfully the water in the barrel steamed, and I smiled in happiness.

**

Having finished my bath I found myself considering my feet, they were far more torn up than I had expected, and it was even possible I might need to pay for a healing. It was a bit strange that it did not hurt too much though. I stared in dejection at deep gashes and wounds as I waited to dry, thankfully my hair was short enough not to be an additional hassle in that regard.

Before too long I found myself considering my new outfit. The dress was low cut. A blush had spread from my face and all the way down my neck. While I had seen far more scandalous things or lack thereof, as it were, this was me!

To be honest it was not that bad, but I had never ever worn anything like it and I was not appreciating the effect. I was accustomed to the loose coarse clothing I wore everyday, and the contrast to the comparatively flimsy garment I now wore was glaring. I was decidedly uncomfortable.

I repeated to myself over and over that I would buy new clothes tomorrow, while I waited for my blush to settle, so I could open the door and face the ever-annoying imp.

A loud knock at the door startled me into letting out a decidedly wimpy squeak. I gathered myself, someone no doubt needed the bath and since I was already done, I should be on my way.

When I opened the door, I came face to stomach with a very large man. Clutching my worn clothes to my chest and keeping my head down, I sidled past him with a mumbled 'excuse me' and rushed down the hallway to my room.

As I fumbled for the key, one of the stones of Fire Burst fell to the floor. I gaped in horror, while mentally shouting no over and over again, as the stone bounced, once, twice and then settled.

I stared at it.

I waited.

I walked up to the stone, and poked at it with my foot.

Nothing.

I bent down, still clutching my clothes, and looked at the stone. Was it a normal rock? I picked it up and inspected it.

Stone of Fire Burst

Will explode with a burst of fire when hitting a target.

Damage: 12

Quality: Average

Mouth slightly agape, I tilted my head this way and that, as if looking at the thing could uncover its mysteries. An idea began to slowly form, and I threw the stone into the air.

The stone of Fire Burst flashed, and fell to dust. A shimmering red light sped down the hallway away from it, impacting nothing, and so quickly faded.

The only thing left behind as a testament to my experiment, was a tiny amount of fine white powder on the floor.

I met the eyes of the large man, who still stood at the end of the hallway, staring in my direction. I smiled weakly at him, before getting my door unlocked and rushing inside. The imp dove through the door before I could close it, and looked at me as if I was some strange creature it had not figured out yet.

I threw my old clothes on the bed and fished out another stone of Fire Burst.

Stone of Fire Burst

Will explode with a burst of fire when hitting a target.

Damage: 12

Quality: Average

"Spells"

Fire Burst

Throws a burst of fire at a nearby target. Spell structure maintained by 10 Willpower.

Damage: 3 times Willpower, excluding structure requirement.

Cost: 125 Mana

Cast Time: 2s, Intentional

Range: 2 meters

Upkeep: N/A

But from my experiment, it seemed as if the description only told of the effect that the enchanted object held. That is, it described the spell Fire Burst, and not the enchantment itself. It implied nothing about how to activate the object in the first place. That had been an assumption on my part.I nodded slowly to myself. I had completely misunderstood how the stones of Fire Burst worked. I had assumed that the description on an enchanted object described the way the object worked.

The slight change in wording between the spell and the enchantment had reinforced my assumption. But as I had seen in the cave with the Unraveling Spirit, the spell Fire Burst did not work quite as I might assume from its description either. There was no fire until the shimmering light hit something.

An enchantment, as I just found out, was activated by will. It was something I now hypothesized I had done unconsciously, by expecting what I threw to activate on impact.

As such, my failure to hurt the Unraveling Spirit the first time I tried, was simply due to erroneous assumptions; I expected the stones to do nothing, as they passed through the creature and so they did. I felt a lot less clever now than I had moments ago.

"Why do you speak to the Order?"

Not even glancing at the imp, I closed my eyes.

Spells.

Fire Burst

Throws a burst of fire at a nearby target. Spell structure maintained by 10 Willpower.

Damage: 3 times Willpower, excluding structure requirement.

Cost: 125 Mana

Cast Time: 2s, Intentional

Range: 2 meters

Upkeep: N/A

I sighed deeply, in some ways, reading books was not that helpful when it came to the practical lessons of life. I did not need to speak out loud to bring up information from the Order. That should have been self evident, considering how I shifted my mind to bring up information about events and experience gained. But I had completely overlooked the connection, I rubbed my forehead and took deep breaths.

I undressed, threw my old clothes to the floor and lay my dress at the foot of the bed.

I very much ignored the imp as I tucked myself in.

**

I woke with a start at the loud banging on the door, wondering who it could be. But as the knocking seemed to come from further away a few moments later, I understood it had to be the innkeeper or someone else working at the inn, who were waking people up.

Your familiar, Zackary, has increased in power!

I looked around the room, quickly spotting the imp as it hovered in the air, eyes closed and a small smile on its face. I did not appreciate the idea that the creature would become more and more powerful, but there was not much I could presently do about that.

Health.

Health: 49/120

As expected I had regained my twelve Health when sleeping, matching my Constitution, and it would take me several days to recover completely.

The fact I had no pockets on my dress was a problem, if I wanted to bring my stones of Fire Burst. I looked at the smear left behind where my old clothes had lain on the covers for just a few moments, the evening before. I promptly decided, with a shudder of disgust, that wearing a dress was not that bad, and I could carry a few stones in my hand. After a moment of consideration, I decided that three would have to be enough.

Which made me wonder, could I hold them in my hand and activate them? While the idea was intriguing, I did not try. I wanted more Health, and a plan to save my fingers before I would go that far. I left the room, locking the door behind me.

I came down the stairs to an empty room, a stale smell was slowly dissipating, as cold air blew from the open front door. I needed to pay the innkeeper for another night, as I had left most of my stones of Fire Burst behind and I did not want to lose them.

I stopped in the middle of the room and listened to the smattering of rain from the open door. I pulled at the sleeve of my dress and sighed. Going outside in this weather wearing nothing more than I was, would be a really bad idea.

I walked up to the door, and stood there in silence as I watched the rain run in rivulets down the stone paved road. The light of the morning was dimmed by dark clouds.

A flash of lightning struck not too far away, and a tangible shock wave pushed at me. I took a step back, though more in surprise than at the force of it. With a slight chuckle I peered back out into the rain.

Though the impact was nearby and a lightning strike would without a doubt do damage, there would be no fire spreading in a city built like Logate, not any more; stone and magic had made sure of that.

I turned back inside, planning to find the kitchen. The innkeeper was not yet in sight and I felt no desire to wait for her to get my food.

It did not take too long to wind my way there, looking inside I found two people, neither of which was the innkeeper.

At the central table in the kitchen, a man sat eating. He was probably about a decade older than me, with broad shoulders and a rather muscular frame. The Guard tabard he wore and his physique, made it all but certain that he had a combat class, most probably a Warrior.

His face was angular, with a sharp, square jawline and bushy eyebrows. His dark hair was cropped short and his nose stood out like a beak, reminding me of the innkeeper.

I could not make out his eyes with how he sat, focused on his food, but I found him an almost comical caricature of a the quintessential Guard. No doubt he was also stern, fair and honest.

I grinned as I turned to the woman at the stove. I was a bit too far away from the stove to be able to pick out if there was anything magical about it, and I found myself moving into the kitchen, to get closer.

I was far more interested in the stove than food or the woman at this point. Though when I had first looked inside, I had noted that she was heavyset and had thin white hair. But now all my focus was on the stove, and after only a few steps into the kitchen I could feel that there was indeed Mana flowing through it.

I froze in mid step, as a familiar sick feeling washed over me. I clutched the stones of Fire Burst hard in my hand, and turned to the table, where my eyes fell on a few flakes of black glass that lay on top of a white cloth.