The flames did pretty much what Lucas hoped they would. After holding the spell for 5 seconds, all of the wolves were down. Not all of them were dead, but they were all down.

As soon as the flames died out, the guards turned their swords on Lucas. “Overpowered son of a bitch, What the hell do you think you are doing casting flames at us!” shouted one of the guards, presumably the leader of the guards that were up here at the moment.

“I defined you as allies, there was no risk to you,” responded Lucas

“What do you mean you defined us as allies, that little shout in the middle of the fight? Is this something you do often, running up to random people who are in battle and scaring the piss out of them by coating everything around them in flames?” replied the angry guard.

Lucas replied, “Well no, this was the first time.”

But before Lucas could continue his sentence the guard burst in “What do you mean this was your first time, how did you know it was going to work?”

“Well if I didn’t interfere you were dead when the wolves routed you, and then they would have turned on me. I wouldn’t have been able to keep them close enough together to burn them to a crisp, and it is likely I would have died too. I could take the risk and kill the wolves, to protect your town, and maybe get you help if I had burned you, or let you fall to the wolves, get killed by the wolves myself, and then have the wolves go attack your town.”

Thoughtfully the guard responded, “Aye, well when you put it that way...I guess thanks for the help. On to guard business then. Where are you headed?”

“I’m headed to the town just a few kilometers away on the other side of the river. I would like to buy some supplies if possible, possibly barter skills for a night’s stay and some information,” replied Lucas.

“Do you have coin then?” asked the guard with the limp.

“Not as such, but I think I can offer some services. I have unlocked enchanting and I can perform the luck enchant. I have unlocked a number of other enchants but I haven’t been able to practice them yet.” With that, Lucas pulled out his dagger.

After a quick inspection by the leader of the guard, the guard scoffed “I guess that will do. Since you have no coin, the fee for crossing the bridge will be a single enchant to one of our weapons. We will let you know which one once you have agreed to the price. Unless you also have some magic which can heal our wounds to go with that fancy fire magic. Then we will consider the fees paid in full and let you go on your way.”

“While I don’t technically have enough affinity for it, I can see if I can string together a healing spell,” replied Lucas.

“No, No, that’s alright. No need to test flame-based healing on us. You may go,” replied the head guard, clearly intimidated at the thought of experimental magic.

As Lucas started over the bridge, the guard who hadn’t yet said a word turned and shouted at Lucas, “Aren’t you going to loot your kills?”

“What do you mean loot my kills, I don’t have time to skin the wolfs and pick through them to see what is salvageable...”

“You haven’t heard of Looting where you are from...you must really be from the Stix. Put your hand against the dead wolf and think loot. The body will disappear and a bag containing loot is left. Everything stays compressed in that bag until after you open it. They’re bigger on the inside, but once you empty them, the bags disappear. Instead of 14 wolfs, you just need to carry 14 bags of wolf bits”

“That does sound really handy, and I can always use the extra meat,” commented Lucas as he walked back to the site of his wolf massacre. “Thanks for the tip”

One by one Lucas put his hand to the charred wolves and thought “Loot!” the same way he would think about casting one of his spells. One by one the wolves disappeared and left a bag. That is until he got to the last few wolves. “Uh, guys… I can’t loot these three.”

“Those must be the ones that we killed before you cast flames. That means the system recognizes that the loot is ours,” replied the head guard.

“That makes sense. Thank’s guys!” said Lucas. As he headed away he handed each of the guards one of the loot bags.

“For your troubles.”

“Thanks, mister. You make sure to visit the traders’ hall with the rest of that loot!” replied the last guard as Lucas walked passed.

“I plan on it.”

Status Screen:

Changes since the last view are bolded.

Name

Lucas Eckles

Health

280

311

Stamina

270

300

Total Affinity

22%

26%

Mana

264

312

Strength

14

14

Endurance

27

30

Agility

12

16

Charisma

10

10

Intellect

12

12

Luck

13

17.2

Armor

75

Bonus Armor

5

Damage

9

20

Bonus Damage

5.58

12.4

0 Point Unassigned

Active Skills

Inspect

Beginner 8

Locate Loot

Beginner 4

Dash

Beginner 7

Rapid Fire

Beginner 3

Stealth

Beginner 8

Disenchant

Beginner 5

Enchant

Beginner 3

Passive Skills

Combat Professions:

Non Combat Professions:

Rogue

Lvl 5

Salvager

Lvl 4

Magus

Lvl 2

Enchanting

Lvl 1

Major Outstanding Quests (Hidden)

Grantor

Affinities (Hidden)

Spells

Haste

Beginner 2

Slow

Beginner 2

Mind over Matter

Beginner 2

Flames

Beginner 8

Ice Bolt

Beginner 4

Cleanse

Beginner 1

Windshield

Beginner 3

Ball of Light

Beginner 1