Mathew didn’t give the wolves a chance to strike first, and had his wisp hurl cold bolts of magic at the Alpha. Zack and Henderson took positions next to each other, with Leo and Brown behind them. Damien stood next to Mathew firing his crossbow.

The wolves surged forward, the two infernals going for Henderson and Zack. The Alpha went around the two front liners and attempted to go around Leo as well. It received round after round of shotgun pellets into its face and side for that. Forcing it to back away.

“Damien, focus on the wolf Zack is fighting.” Mathew said as he turned his staff toward the Infernal Wolf Henderson was fighting.

Brown was also helping, firing his gun as best he could without hitting her. Mathew couldn’t fire relentlessly like he could at a higher position. He was forced to time his shots when he saw an opening. In the past when he accidentally shot her, he felt true fear for the first time in a long while. Even more so than when his shoulder was being eaten.

Zack drew the short stick, and was forced once again to be on the defensive all alone. Stronger and faster than all the other wolves he has fought, the Infernal Wolf gave him trouble. “I need help here!”

“A little busy ourselves!” Leo shouted, as he dodged a meaty paw that would have gouged flesh from his side.

The fight was not going to plan at all. It was as if they were fighting three alphas all at once. Mathew knew they needed to change something up quick, or run away. “Damien, focus fire on the Alpha with me!”

“What about Za-”

“JUST DO IT!” He yelled as he commanded his wisp to fire.

Henderson let out a string of curses at Mathew to follow her orders, but he chose to ignore them. Instead he trusted Brown to keep her alive along with Zack long enough for them to kill the weakened Alpha.

Leo heard his plan, and chose then to jump back away from the Wolf, letting out three more shells of freedom seeds into it. Once he landed, the Alpha lunged forward and was able to pin Leo to the ground. It started to claw him up.

Mathew focused his attacks even more. “Brown, heal Leo!”

“Brown, if you don’t keep healing me and Zack, I will end you!” Henderson shouted. That caused Brown to hesitate and not heal anybody for a moment.

The Alpha chose to remain on top of Leo, gouging flesh out of his body. However it was a short lived plan, as a purple bolt of magic fired into its head, killing it. “Damien, go help Leo!”

Mathew shouted and turned his focus back to the wolf Henderson was fighting. He was starting to feel the effects of being low on mana. He knew they had to end it soon, or just ditch everyone for his own skin. He refused to be wolf dinner again.

“Henderson, if you are going to use your ability again, now is the time!” Zack shouted as he was pushed backwards and fell onto his back. He was able to wedge his shield into the wolf's mouth, keeping it away from him. He used his other hand to swing his axe.

Henderson cursed, as she already used it earlier. “Still on cooldown!”

Mathew saw Leo standing up. Blood was dripping from his wounds, barely standing on his own two feet, as he loaded shells into his gun. “Brown, some heals please.” He said scarcely loud enough to be heard.

“I can’t, I’m low on mana. If I use any more, I’ll be out.” Brown said worryingly.

Leo shook his head. “Fine, then you better be sure I don’t die.” He ran toward the wolf Zack was fighting and point blank shot his gun into its side. A loud yelp sounded as the wolf backed away in pain.

Mathew had to stop firing his staff, and instead command his wisp. He was lucky it had its own reservoir of mana. If not, he would have been out of the fight long ago. His knife was ready in his hand, just in case he needed to fight his way out of this mess. He wanted to get stronger, not die. If he knew Infernal Wolves were here, he would have never followed the Alpha.

Four more shotgun blasts combined with a solid hit to the head from Zack’s axe ended the first Infernal Wolf. With everyone able to focus on the one Henderson was fighting, the fight was quickly over from that point.

Leo collapsed to the ground. Brown rushed over next to him, using the last of his mana to heal him to ensure he didn’t die.

Combat Summary

1x Alpha Wolf, Level 9

2x Infernal Wolf, Level 8

Summon Wisp Novice 3 -> Novice 4

Skill Gained: Staves | Novice 1

Your chosen way to use Staves for purely magical attacks has improved through combat. Increased spell damage when using a staff as your spell focus.

Universal Currency Earned: 2,400

Congratulations on reaching Level 10. Please go to the nearest Hearth Stone for Class selection.

Mathew sat on the ground with a slight smile. “Finally.”

Mathew stood in line to go and use the Hearth Stone. After another private conversation with Mr. Melton about sharing all that he could about the class selection. Mathew was not the only one who was Level 10 however. Captain Henderson also reached it after the same fight. He would be going before her though.

“I want it in writing and for you and I to sign it this time Mr. Melton. I have a skill I never used outside of testing it for the fun of it.”

“What skill is that?” Mr. Melton asked curiously.

“My [Writing] skill. I told you what it can do. I want to make a contract, I have a few more requirements this time.”

“Like?” He asked with a glare.

“Firstly, what my class is, and everything about it is private information. Only you can know about it, and never share with anyone. Including the General. Secondly, I want a room upgrade. No more sharing, and Leo gets an upgrade as well. He helped both myself and Henderson reach 10, it’s the least you can do for him.”

Mr. Melton chewed on his tongue in thought. “Fine, but everything else from our previous agreement is repeated. You pick one that grants a spell, and you fill us in on your other choices.”

“Whatever those choices are, unless they are common ones like with professions you keep those secrets as well.”

“Fine, fine, write it up. I want to see how the skill works in action anyways. Two other people have the Scribe profession, but I haven't seen them use the ability to write things with it before.”

Mathew pulled out paper, an ink pen, and activated his ability. Luckily ink pens worked, which he discovered after some trial and error in the past. He never was able to increase it’s rank, but Zack and several of his friends from the nerd brigade seem to enjoy watching him use it.

It was as simple as thinking of the words. The pen would write them out as if controlled by a ghostly hand. Soon a simple and straightforward contract was written out. It didn’t have any of the nuances of a pre-system legal document. It was more a gentleman's agreement. Mathew made two copies, one for himself and one for Mr. Melton. Another ability of his skill.

Mathew signed both of them on his line and handed the pen to Mr. Melton. “Just need your signature, and I’ll go get in line.”

After signing the document, both Mathew and Mr. Melton received a blue box.

You have agreed to a legal document that has been approved by The Council of Order. Breaking the terms of this contract will be met with repercussions.

“So that’s what it meant by that last line of my profession. Nice.” Mathew thought to himself.

Mr. Melton was in shock, while Mathew was able to hide his emotions a little better. “Well Mr. Melton, I guess any thoughts of betraying my trust is now out the window. This is a very nice ability I have to say.” He said, refraining from smirking.

“You knew!” He pointedly accused Mathew.

“I honestly didn’t.” Mathew said with a slight smirk. “First time for everything though. Guess you have to keep my secrets, secret eh?”

Mr. Melton told Mathew to remain seated. He knew the General was going to be walking in the room in several minutes. So he went over the implications of what his new ability meant for his future.

“I can make contracts legally binding with magic. Oh so many people are going to love and hate me.” He muttered to himself.

Mathew wondered about the limitations of his ability. Would it work on slave agreements? What about trade agreements? Political promises? Could he enforce laws for the masses?

Then there was the flip side, what happens if an agreement was broken? Could he specify punishments, or was that something The Council of Order did. Who was the council anyways? “Something I can buy from Di I imagine.”

Mathew made a mental note to trade away some of his trade resources with Di when he went to do his class choice.

The door opened up and in walked Major General Payne followed by Mr. Melton and three guards. Mathew blinked, but didn’t stand up. “Well, hello General. How do you do?”

“Mr. Melton said some very interesting things. I wanted to ask you if they were true.” He glanced down at the papers on the table between him and Mathew. “Is this the contract?”

“It is, I can make you copies if you want any. I was just as surprised as he was. I hope this doesn't stain our relationship.”

“Can you make a new contract with me? To test it out.”

Mathew nodded. “What do you want it to say?” A pen started to float above a piece of blank paper.

“Put it in writing I owe you four thousand currency in the next three hours. Keep it simple, it’s a test afterall.”

After a quick bit of writing the two signed, causing the blue box to appear with the same text as before.

“I’ll be damned.” The General said in awe. “Mr. McGonalds, if you are willing, I want to hire you, officially. You will be my legal counselor and will pump out new contracts for all those under my command and civilian workers.”

Mathew blinked at such an offer. “And what do I get in return?”

“Whatever you want. Money, protection, luxury. You name it. Once you finish here, I want to employ your skills to the entire country. The boys up top at the white house have had problems with defectors and can’t trust people. With this, we can further enforce law to keep people safe.”

“Or you can just have me write contracts that force people to follow orders, and not be able to rise up to tyrants which our constitution allows. If you want, I can just rewrite that out for everyone to sign again. I imagine our government leaders would love that.”

“Now, we are in a new era. We will need new regulations and amendments of course. Talk of alien species able to coexist with us will cause years of work to do so. Unless we find others with your profession and skills, it will be difficult to pull off.”

Mathew nodded. “Very much so, which makes me priceless.”

The General smiled. “I hope you realize the offer I am making is hard to refuse.”

“Sir, I wouldn’t want to upset you.” Mathew said matter of factly. “I am willing to do some work for you, but I do not want to stagnate in my Levels. I worked hard reaching Level 10, and I want to continue to grow in power. You wouldn’t want to deny me that would you?”

The General tactically paused in thought. “No, I wouldn’t, but I won’t risk your life either. For this day forth, you will be on a different team. Filled with soldiers I trust, and have personally worked with. Trained soldiers who are all just under Level 10 currently. Once they do as well and obtain a class, you will join them out on excursions.

Mathew kept himself from frowning. “Why can’t I continue with the group I have worked with. Do you not trust Captain Henderson and Airman Brown?”

“Not a matter of trust, it’s a matter of results.” Major General Payne said, pointed at the table with each word. “Henderson and Brown do their job, but they pale in comparison to the task force you are going to be with. You are too valuable to the American people to let die. Your ability is priceless.”

Mathew shook his head. “General Payne. You can’t expect me to let you cage me up like a pretty bird to show off to your friends, do you?”

“It’s a very nice cage. Several walls. Room service. You even get 200 channels on Dish.” He said, trying to make a joke.

“I have to-” Mathew paused and thought about it. Then an evil and sinister idea showed up in his head.

Mathew looked over at the General, and the others in the room. He let out a sigh. “I’ll think about it. At least let me talk to Leo first. Can he join the team you are assigning me to?”

General Payne looked at Mathew, trying to see if he was really willing to take the offer. “I can put him anywhere he wants, and if he proves himself to be of equal skill, he can join the task force.”

“A political answer.” Mathew thought to himself. “I can swing that. So, how about I check my class, talk to my friend, then get back to you about my job as polly the parakeet.”

“You won’t be a prisoner Mathew, nor a slave, nor a monkey dancing for money. If you want a metaphor or comparison, you are going to be a dog given every bone he wants simply for being the goodest boy in the town.”

Mathew still didn’t like that analogy. “Better be a good bone.” He stood up and walked out toward the Hearth Crystal.