I looked down at the apple in my hand, and then out over the mass of people on the street. None of them seemed to have much interest in me at all. I could not see the young man who threw the apple at me anymore, and from all appearances he just walked away. The grin I still wore on my face was probably not a very nice one, but it felt so very appropriate.

It would be conceited on my part to believe that the Order did not want me in particular to have this apple. Which led to the conclusion that the Order did not want it around, period.

Yet the young man had not been struck by lightning, the earth did not swallow him, nor did hordes of people rush to kill him.

I got the quest to destroy the fruit, even though it should be quite clear to the Order that I was not about to do anything just because I was told to. While there were some people glancing at me curiously, it was rather obvious that no one nearby had gotten a quest to steal or destroy the apple. The quest implied a want or a need: Ergo, there were limitations or rules in place of some kind, or the Order would have done something else, with a more assured outcome.

The very idea that the Order could not act as it pleased, pleased me.

My thoughts in the swamp gave support to my reasoning. I had seen the undead abomination, gotten the quest, and wondered: why not give a quest to the Temple directly. Now, I believed that the Order might not be able to do that.

Just how far did these supposed limitations or rules extend to the interactions I had with the Order? I believed the Order could not state an outright lie, an idea I felt somehow very strongly about even though I could not say why. Beyond that, I had no clue.

I looked in the direction the man had disappeared once again. While it did seem as if the Order was unable to act directly, I would not risk pushing that idea too far without stronger proof than this.

What kept the Order from handing out a more general quest though? Rob that woman of her Fruit! Was that not allowed either? It seemed too strange to be a limitation of the Order's power. So a rule then? Set by whom?

Quest!

Destroy the apple.

Reward: 800 Experience.

My musings were cut short as I tried to come to terms with the implications of the change to the quest.

I admitted to myself that none of this had to mean what I thought it did; I might truly be mistaken and being led along by the nose. There was also the possibility that I was correct, to some extent, and the Order actually wanted me to figure this out. Just because I could not see a reason, did not have to mean there was none.

I wondered, just how many apples were there? I nodded slowly to myself, as I worked on this jigsaw puzzle of ideas. If I had been targeted in the library, as a potential new Mage, and if what Stravos told earlier was correct about the rarity of Mana sensing among weaker Mages: I should not have been able to know that the apple held a spell, had I been a Mage.

Was that it then? A person having specific information was the key that determined how the Order could interact with them? That would also be supported by the fact that I had told the presumptive Cleric on the road about the undead abomination before he shouted that he 'got it'.

It was not too bad of a theory, I thought. A bit weak, heavy on assumptions, but it seemed to line up with the few pieces of information I had. For now at least.

That led me to a different thought: I did not think the Order just wanted to hand out opportunities for experience through quests, that notion sat really badly with me, just like the idea of the Order lying did. Quests would be commonplace if that was the case. So were they limited to when the Order itself wanted something then? Which led to the next question, what did the Order want?

I shook my head, now I had left the realm of putting pieces together and taken a step into pure guesswork. For now, it might be best to keep the apple and wait.

Quest!

Destroy the apple.

Reward: 800 Experience, a choice of a Trait.

Just how long would this keep happening?

It was a good plan though, at some point what the Order offered would outweigh any curiosity I had. The plan was especially good if the first quest reward was truly lowballing it, as the increments would give me a sense that I was getting a progressively better deal.

Which considering that I had no idea what the apple was worth, should not be too difficult. Was it even correct to think of it as having value? Would it be beneficial for me to eat it? Was that what the Order did not want? Or the complete opposite? Was the goal of the quests to make me rebel and eat the thing?

Information, that was what I needed, I mused as I rubbed my forehead.

Quest!

Destroy the apple.

Reward: 800 Experience, a choice of a Trait, Information.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as I tried to sort through my thoughts. It was hard to outplay someone who by all indications could read your mind.

Was information, reaching level eight and a new Trait worth more than the apple? I doubted that.

Would I ever dare to eat the apple? I doubted that too. I had done enough spur of the moment risk taking for a while, be it bonds, portals, or rituals. Eating the apple was not on the table.

Was keeping it though? That seemed uncertain. Would I have to keep it safe? Would it rot? Would that ruin the spell and potentially any reward? To what purpose should I keep it? To eventually get an even better deal from the Order? At what point did I accept, and complete the quest?

That seemed like a slippery slope of almost extortion, based only on a vague assumption of value. In the end that might end up being just as foolish as eating the thing. I stood there, going over everything once more, but coming up with nothing new.

I crouched down and put the apple on the ground, before fishing out a stone of Fire Burst from a pocket. Destroying the thing seemed the wisest choice, with the most certain and positive outcome.

The world started shimmering brightly, and I ...

... stumbled slightly, steadying myself with a hand to the ground.

I shook my head at a strange sensation as my eyes fell on the apple resting on the cobblestone near to me.

Imbued apple of the Archive

This apple has been imbued with a spell, forming a connection to an Entity originating on a separate plane of existence.

That was both informative and confusing. What was the Archive and what did it want with people here, if it was from another plane of existence? I brought up my quests, feeling more than a bit suspicious at the kind of information I had previously only been able to get from items I had enchanted.

Quest!

Destroy the apple.

Reward: 800 Experience, a choice of a Trait, Information.

So that was it then. It felt a bit like a trap that I got a reward before I had completed the task. If my assumptions earlier were correct about the Order being held to rules, then I did not want to find out what would happen if I seemed to break an agreement.

I considered the Imbued apple again. My understanding of my enchanting had led me to believe that when a spell structure was disturbed, it would do unpredictable things. I was not completely convinced of that though, nor did I know if it even applied to something like the apple.

With that cheerful thought I fished out one more stone of Fire Burst. I bent down and placed both of them near the fruit. I stepped back several long steps, and then utterly failed to make anything happen.

I gradually stepped closer and closer again, trying to set off the stones of Fire Burst. I did so until I was at a range where I could sense the magic in the apple once more, meaning I was within two meters now. I grumbled under my breath, if this apple made a huge explosion I would be so mad. This was supposed to be the safe option!

The stones of Fire Burst vanished into dust and the apple burst into flame, splattering mush for quite some distance. I held my breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

After a few moments I let out a ragged breath, it seemed this had worked out. Nothing strange had happened.

Now I also knew that the range at which I could activate the stones of Fire Burst and the range of Sense the Flow was the same, or close enough that I could not tell the difference.

'...e really does not like apples, dear!'

I heard a older woman speak to the man next to her, as they moved past. I took a look around, and my antics had drawn quite a bit of attention. Ah well.

You have completed a Quest! You have been awarded 808 Experience!

Congratulations! You have advanced to level 8!

You have unallocated Attributes! You may choose a new Racial Trait!

You may choose a Trait!

For the first time ever, I did not feel like I had to sort out my level right this very moment, there was no hurry. It was also possible that this was the first time I was not under any kind of impairment either, be it Twisting Minds, hunger, or tiredness.

I could allocate Attributes and choose my Traits at home, in peace. I smiled widely at that thought, I liked my home.

**

I spent another half an hour walking down streets, being rather lost, before I spotted the familiar sign of a Scribe's shop. With a grin I walked inside, and was faced with much the same as I had the first time in such a store. Except this time two older women stood talking quietly with the Scribe at the counter. I looked around at what I could see.

Here too contraptions hung from the ceiling, there were glass vials full of sparkling things or gross looking dead creatures. There was also the multitude of things I had no idea what they were, just as last time.

The women spent quite some time talking to the Scribe. I waited with what was probably visible impatience, once I realized they were chatting about everyday things, rather than actually buying anything.

Eventually they did leave though and I moved up to the counter. In this shop it was less imposing, compared to the shop where I got my first spell. This one looked newer, with a far lighter color, more towards light brown than black. Behind this counter stood another thin man of moderate height. He was of advanced years and almost completely bald. He was pale faced, almost pasty, but with alert eyes as he took me in, just as I had him.

"Good day! I would like to buy the spell Light, how much is it?" I asked with a smile and the man smiled in response.

"Ah, the most common way of making a Mage Light! Another youth setting out on the path of Imbuing I take it!? A hard path to take, but quite lucrative for those with the patience and fortitude to stick with it!"

I looked at him in confusion. I was not quite sure how to react to that statement. I felt a bit silly, I could Enchant things, but I had never even thought about how other magical items were made. I had assumed it was something similar or even the same, but I had no knowledge about the how of it.

"Ah, was I incorrect then?" The man looked confused in turn, and I considered what to say for a moment.

"I am sorry, I am not yet on that path. I would appreciate any guidance you might have!"

The old man grinned widely, showing white teeth. A few of which were missing, making him seem a bit creepy to be honest.

"Certainly! Imbue is a skill that allows the user to place a known spell, and a charge of Mana, into an item for later use. Once the charges are used up the spell fades and the item can not be used again." I considered that, it seemed similar to Enchant, sort of.

"So the item is destroyed when the charges are spent, then?"

The man looked at me askance.

"Certainly not! Whatever gave you that idea? The item is just a vessel in which a spell is contained. Why would an item be destroyed when the magic fades, that does not make sense!"

I nodded again, so there were differences then, clearly. My enchanting connected the spell structure to the item used. As far as I had understood it, when I enchanted something I used up all the Mana spent to form the wave like thing, which I had sensed in the slave pen. That wave then crystallized into something like an anchor for the spell structure, connecting it to the material used. It was not a store of Mana for the spell. Admittedly, my understanding of what I did was probably flawed.

"Can any spell be placed with Imbue?"

"Almost, there are spells that can be cast on an item without the Ability Imbue, those are called temporary spells and fade with the magic rhythm of the world, at midnight. Those can not be Imbued, but everything else can. Though some spells might not make sense when used that way, though it can be done."

I was fascinated, and kept asking more.

"What about Cleric spells, they lack the same kind of structure that Mage spells do?"

The old man snorted loudly.

"They do not! You have been reading that swill Maxwell Weston writes, he might be famous, but he is an idiot! All spells have a structure, or they would not do anything. Clerics structure their magic differently from Mages though, and use chants and even gestures as mnemonics to make their process of casting faster. They could cast spells without them, it would just take longer and require more practice, but it is quite possible."

I felt almost ecstatic.

"Do you have both Light and Minor Healing?"

The old man nodded, though his confusion was clear.

"I do, a gold two silver for Light, a gold seven silver for Minor Heal. But I thought you were a Mage? You do know you can not learn, much less cast, a Cleric spell, right?"

I nodded enthusiastically, taking his correction in stride, and lied.

"It is for a friend."

"Ah, both of you just starting out I take it then. I have a book on imbuing, outlining how to improve your chances of getting it as an offered Ability when leveling up. Only a gold!"

I grinned at him and shook my head, before I made what turned out to be a futile attempt at haggling.

I handed over the coin and got two new spell books. I then leaned in towards him and asked what I really wanted to know.

"Do you have any first Sphere spells?"

The Scribe blinked in surprise, seemingly shocked by the idea before rallying.

"I have one or two, but there is no way a wisp of a thing like you have the Attributes to cast one, never mind afford it. The cheapest is fifty-two gold!"

My shoulders slumped somewhat at that, I should have guessed that higher Sphere spells would be both expensive and need higher Attributes. Fire Burst only needed ten Willpower for its structure, but even then you needed more than ten Willpower before the spell did anything.

"How high Attributes do you need in general for the first Sphere spells?" I asked out of curiosity and the old man looked lost in thought for a moment.

"I would say thirty is probably a good guess in general, but there are variations. There are a lot of open Sphere spells though, which become far better with higher Attributes. There is no rush to get to the first Sphere, take your time girl."

I nodded, it was true, even Fire Burst would do a lot more damage now than when I first got it. But my enchantment of the spell had not changed, it was still the same as the first time I made it. Perhaps I was missing something, my enchanting had not improved as my spell casting did. I needed to spend some time experimenting! But first, I should finish up here.

"Are there any offensive or defensive spells from the open Sphere you would recommend for a new Mage?"