“Psst, wake up,” I felt myself being shaken awake by small hands and I turned moving my body and seeing the image of Betty who had placed her hand on my shoulder. “Mommy and Daddy have prepared breakfast,” she said choosing her words carefully. “They told me to get you and that you wanted to set out early today.”

“That was my intention, yes,” I said stifling a yawn. I only got three cycle of sleep last night but I had operated on less at certain times. I never really required a lot of sleep. I pulled myself out of bed and put on my boots as the young girl shyly ran off towards the kitchen.

“Morning,” I said as I stepped into the kitchen smelling the oats that were placed on the table next to a bit of cheese. I slipped into the chair left for me and started to eat.

“You’re heading out today,” the Nephew said. He had already finished his own plate and it looked like he was just waiting for me. Rusk had apparently left to who knows where and his wife also wasn’t there. Only Betty still sat at the table eating the rest of his breakfast.

“I am,” I said as I wolfed down my food. “I just have to pick up some stuff from the market beforehand.” I ate quickly noting that the sun had probably been up for the past cycle judging by the light coming through the windows. In silence I finished off my meal without any more discussion before I stepped outside and headed out to shop.

Well, the term market was a bit of an exaggeration as there were only a few stores Emberhearth. The folk were rather friendly and I soon got directions to a little shop called the Travellers Rest. The owner greeted me jovially while shaking my hand. He was a rather old looking fellow with a large belly adorned in well-made if inexpensive clothes and the two of us immediately sat down to discuss the cost and conveniences of travel.

“You see the rainy season’s coming up so if you’re heading off roads at all you’ll need some sorta tent,” he said offering me some home-grown tobacco that I politely waved off. “I have some waxed wool cloth; all you would need are the sticks. Are you going by horse?”

“No I’m travelling through the Tulpa jungle,” I admitted getting some raised eyebrows.

“Well then you’ll definitely need a tent,” the man said adjusting his glasses. “That place gets wet during the year. You’ll need a traveller’s cloak and a good walking stick that can do double duty in setting up the tent. Do you need a tinder box or some burn dust?”

“Nope,” I said smiling as I snapped my fingers watching as a small spark danced to life above them. A somewhat amazed look came over the eyes of the shopkeeper and he nodded in understanding as he leaned forward his pipe and I immediately set his pipe smoking.

“Water is also taken care of then I suppose,” the man mused. “You’ll need some travel rations. Have you already picked those up? If not then we I can give you a list of things to pick up as well as a location of things to get them. I would offer to sell you some of the food in my house but I’m too attached to it. There’s a lovely place down the road that can supply you. I like to go there sometimes when my wife’s cooking gets a bit too much.” The last sentence was said with a conspiratorial wink.

As he spoke he went to and fro grabbing a piece fabric before taking a pair of blankets and a pair of rugged spare clothes and wrapping them together into a bundle. A weighty looking travelling staff was selected after some consideration and then placed by the bundle. He picked up a torch and some soap and then placed them next to each other followed by an empty container; for food the merchant asserted. I gladly took the lot which came to just over a silver, a sizable portion of my funds leaving me with only two silvers and 42 copper pieces left after my reward from the guards.

“Now just remember to stick by the forest paths,” the old man said. “Take the second path off the main road and you’ll head into the Tulpa forest and if you continue along that path you will eventually run into the town of Ambergreen after two days travel. They can give you further directions.”

“Thanks for the help,” I said as I started to pack the items away into my bag jostling around the contents to try and fit everything inside. It took me a few minutes but I got everything squared away pretty nicely in the end and I managed to sling the backpack over my shoulders with minimum difficulty.

“It’s my job,” the older man said. “If you’re ever back in Emberhearth just tell me how your journeys went. “I used to travel a bit in my youth,” he said before grabbing his stomach. “You know back when I wasn’t fat.”

“I’ll keep it in mind,” I said smiling as I placed the bag on my back and headed down the street to the place recommended for food.

“Hello,” I said as I opened the door taking a look at the rather small building. The room was unoccupied with the exception of a single person; a swarthy lady who was dressed in plain white fabrics. “I’m looking for some travel food.”

“We have sweet bread, quina salad, salted meat or would you like something more exotic,” the woman said favouring him with a grin full of sparkling white teeth. “We have Falavel fresh from the vast lands of Azam-Lindel.” That sounded interesting even though I hadn’t really heard of Azam-Lindel so I nodded while making a note to look it up later. The lady seemed to understand my disbelief and her smile grew wider like she was about to tell a really good joke.

“Azam-Lindel is mainly known as Land of Shadowed Sand nowadays,” she explained causing me to wince almost instinctively. The country, colloquially known as LOSS, was well named and probably one of the most dangerous places in the known world and not a place that I would want to go, at least until I finally became a powerful wizard. Just hearing that somebody was from that cursed place might cause them to be feared as an outcast… on the other hand.

“How much for the Falavel,” I said. “And what other exotic food do you have.” I absolutely loved bizarre and striking dishes and any food that was different enough. I couldn’t tell when next I would be able to get actual food from LOSS. I basically opened up my lunch box and told her to fill it up until either money or space ran out. She seemed gratified by my business and so she gave me plenty of samples of her home food that I relied on to top off my breakfast. Eventually I was stocked with a series of unique dishes that I would have to severely ration myself for or else risk running out within the first few days.

Finally after almost two whole turns of shopping and a significantly lighter coin pouch I found myself at the outskirts of the town heading off the path towards the Tulpa Jungle.

xxx

“I should have got some type of machete,” I mused to myself as I came across the third instance of a bunch of branches blocking my way which I once again pushed away with my staff (walking stick). It had been just over two turns since I had seen the first crops of trees and just over one since I had found myself in Tulpa proper and in this cycle I had run into three instances where the path was overrun with foliage. Either I had taken the wrong route or people avoided this forest like it was full of Elves. I shuddered at that thought. Even a single Elf and every human in this forest would be history.

So far I had seen very little wild life which was equally relieving and disappointing. Tulpa forest was not known for frequent monster attacks and any monsters which had made themselves known in the forest were quickly killed by the local hunters. Still the paths were just not wide or well-maintained enough for large carts or parties to travel through so most travellers tended to instead journey through the checkpoints and suffer the additional tax.

Still this place was nice and cool if a bit humid. I had been trying for the past turn to try and move the water vapour away from me but the spell just wouldn’t what I wanted. I could use Shape Water to freeze pools of water but water in the atmosphere resisted any control that I tried imposing and I had tried imposing a lot. The sudden sound of howling wolves broke me from my thoughts and I turned towards the source only to see a flash of yellow feathers.

“A Liar Bird,” I mused out loud. I had heard stories of them growing up and of their prodigious ability to mimic the calls. They featured in more than a few stories that I listened to. However the one constant was that there calls were a recent mimicry. There must be wolves about.

Most wolves didn’t attack humans but they were also one of the creatures with the highest chance to birth monsters among their populace. If there was a wolf monster then it could have easily rallied the pack around them and led them somewhere else or it could be just a league away already catching my scent and stalking after me with a troop of wolves, wait was troop the correct term. I might have to sleep in the trees tonight if this continued or maybe I should just skip a night of sleep; it won’t kill me.

Ambergreen was still a day and a half away at my travel speed and I should still be able to make it before I started feeling unbearably sleepy. I had heard very little about Ambergreen despite the fact that it was just out of my range. I knew that it was a town of hunters and that the people living there were apparently a hardy folk to live so deep within the forest.

I sighed as I took a brief break leaning against a nearby tree and opening up my food container before taking a few bites of quina salad, an odd dish that looked like a potato and was stuffed with herbs that had a very different taste to what I normally ate. I wolfed down the last bit of the meal filling myself up as I debated on what process to follow. One day as a powerful wizard I would be able to soar through the skies or ride a summoned creature or even teleport to wherever I wanted to go, but that day was just not today.

“Hydraulic Blast,” I said feeling the field given off by my Magite crystal as I raised my arm towards a nearby tree. I had already learnt both the Create Water and Shape Water cantrips and the next logical step would be this tier 1 spell but life as usual proved to have a different opinion. The spell half formed before the water collapsed lifelessly a few feet away from my outstretched arm causing me to sigh in disappointment. There was still an element missing and I’m fairly certain by this point that it related to the thrust forward of the water into a physical force. I probably needed to see if I can learn a cantrip with a more forceful component.

I looked through the pages of my spellbook looking at the various cantrips before I sighed and put it away. Tier one spells were one of the absolute minimum requirements to be a wizard and if everybody could do them then being a wizard wouldn’t really mean anything. I stood up from my spot on the tree shaking the bark off my back, when the ambient noises of the forest were suddenly split by a human scream and my feet took off before my head even properly registered it.

I tore through the undergrowth my feet barely touching the ground as I held my staff (walking stick) in front of me to ward off any encroaching vegetation and the vegetation was encroaching to a degree incomparable to its cousins on the path. I slowed down my movement to fire off a Detect Magic only to receive no response and so I accelerated once more bursting through the tree line and into a clearing. Dusting off the remains of a bush I immediately caught a flash of yellow causing me to take a breath in relief before I immediately became alert again. The Liar Bird can only mimic sounds and coupled with its allegedly poor memory I had a chill up my back that indicated that this really wasn’t a safe spot to be. I started edging back towards the forest path moving my head back and forth like a nervous prey animal; which in this foreign place I may just be.

That wariness may have just saved my life as a slight rustling of the leaves caused me to immediately leap forwards while lashing out with my walking stick. I felt it connect as the momentum slowed and whirled around to see a snarling Lumber Wolf falling to the ground with its teeth around my stick. Did the wolf stick around the Liar Bird waiting for the mimic to ensnare animals?

That thought came second into my mind as I realised the opportunity. Any child who grew up in areas in which wolves were common were told what the most dangerous end of them was; and the creature biting into my stick gave me just the opportunity. I clenched my fist with the skills of a person that grew up with five older brothers and punched down upon the wolf’s snout.

The animal yelped in pain releasing the stick and falling to the floor twitching in an odd, almost unnatural manner and I stowed my curiosity before I picked up my stick and started beating into it. The thing twitched as I laid into its body aiming for its neck with all my strength until a satisfying crack caused the thing to cease twitching. I took deep breaths as I tried to recover from the sudden exertion and the burning in my arms which told me that maybe I had been slacking off on my farm work a bit too much in the past months.

A slight crinkling in the undergrowth caused me to whirl around holding my stick aloft and in front of me and I was confronted by a horde of glowing red eyes staring at me. Half a dozen Lumber wolves stood staring at me in eerie silence; it was a pack of wolves, pack was the correct term. That was far, far too many wolves for me and I started to regard the nearest trees looking for any that were close enough to be scaled easily.

“Blast,” I said to myself as I looked at the dearth of climbable branches around me. I couldn’t fight six wolves, even if I was able to cast Hydraulic Push it would be a bit of a tossup. Still wolves didn’t attack people like this and I raised my walking stick taking a step backwards and towards the path as the wolves stepped forward moving as an unnatural unit. I took a breath before I raised a hand attempting to cast Hydraulic Push while clutching my stick with my other hand.

The water gushed forth from my right hand at the same time that the lead wolf leapt forward and he collided with the surge of water. I lashed out with my walking stick a second later only to hit nothing causing me to almost overbalance. I swiftly regained my footing only to blink as in front of me lay the wolf on the ground bleeding and twitching.

“Did I do that?” I asked myself examining my hand. “Did I just cast my first spell? Oh nope some jerk with an arrow took it out,” I said as I looked closer at the thin piece of silver metal that had pierced itself expertly through the creature’s head. In a second more and more bolts appeared from some spot behind me drilling through each of the canine’s skulls and causing them to instantly drop. I turned around to see a short burly man, about my height, with a green mossy beard and matching hair step out holding a shortbow that looked like it was composed of silver ornate metal that was still drawn, but aimed towards me this time.

“Identify yourself,” the man said with a hoarse voice that commanded attention.

“My name’s Marvin,” I said raising my arms to show I meant no harm. “I’m an apprentice just passing through this forest. Can you tell me what is going on here?”

“You picked a particularly poor time to visit us here,” the man said lowering his bow by a fraction as he stepped forward and I moved backwards at the same speed taking a step back as he approached the body of the wolf. He gave me one last look and then I gasped in shock as his bow broke down into the form of thin metallic strings that swiftly wrapped around his arm.

“A magic weapon,” I said looking at the now compacted bow with amazement. The short man looked at me with an almost tired wariness but after a few moments of his judging gaze he knelt down to focus on the wolf. I wasn’t going to annoy him; magical weapons were unbelievably rare. The fact that he owned one told me immediately that he was rich enough able to afford one and powerful enough to walk around without any fear of people attacking him due to greed.

“Got it from a wizard pal of mine,” the man said as he reached down to grab a hold of the arrow before yanking the whole thing out. I watched in amazement as a clump of squirming thorny vines writhed around the silver bolt leaking red fluid from the wounds. “Do you have any clue what this thing is is?”

“Some sort of plant type monster,” I said looking at the squirming vines that were trying to lash out at everything around them. “It looks parasitic in nature.”

“It’s been riling up the wolves something fierce,” the shorter man said as he reached out to the thorny vines before grabbing them and with one movement he crushed the whole squirming mass before dropping it on the floor and flicking off the red sap.

“Oh,” I said dully before I reached down and gingerly touched the twitching vine. A minute spasm caused a thorn to scrape against me tearing into the skin of my palm and causing me to suck in air through my teeth. That was a very stupid thing I did.

“You’re not very restrained lad,” the dwarf said grabbing my wrist before he took a look at the cut spewing blood. He immediately reached into his pants pulling out a clean looking rag. “Just hold still,” he said but he needn’t have bothered. His grip was so strong that I couldn’t budge even if I put all my force into it.

“So you’ve been hunting this plant monster,” I said trying to make conversation only to receive a grunt in response as the man pulled a thin tube of paste before rubbing it into my hand causing another wince as a cold pain burned through the cut on my palm.

“Honestly if you’re going to be jumping out at monsters then you need to be sure that you can least endure a bit of a knock,” the smaller man said condescendingly. “Willy may have been a skirt wearing pansy but at least he could take a punch.”

It was slightly offended but not enough to challenge a guy who could crush that thorny plant creature like it was made with paper. I can’t even crush paper like that without the severe risk of getting another annoying paper cut to slightly worsen my day. So I let him bandage my wound with a practiced ease that spoke of somebody who had fixed up more than his share of cuts and injuries. Eventually he gestured for me to sit down somewhere and then he went stabbing into the other wolves and crushing the thorny vines while I watched him trying carefully to keep any look of awe out of my face. It would only make me look like a complete amateur. Eventually he deplanted the last corpse and then he walked up to me and took a seat uncomfortably close.

“You smoke,” he said pulling out a pipe before stuffing it with the tobacco.

“No,” I replied. “Do you need a light?”

“Appreciated,” he said holding out his pipe and I snapped my fingers causing it to Spark alight. “Heh you’ve got me nostalgic now. Willy never let a chance go to cast that little spell.”

“Cantrip,” I corrected only to receive a snort in exchange.

“Wizard semantics,” he said. “So have you got any clue as to the identity of that monster plant?”

“None,” I admitted reluctantly. Tegram had come across a few plants but none of them that I had read about resembled these spiked vines that could embed themselves inside another’s head. “Do you know what the plant is?”

“Never met one exactly like this,” the man started. “But I’ve run across a few that are might close. It shouldn’t be a problem to track down. Plant monsters tend to repose at night. Just have to follow a wolf back to the nest kill it and then it’s pay day for Old Gack,” the man said chuckling somewhat unenthusiastically which I managed to pick up.

“Not so excited about the pay?” I asked slightly interested in the process. Who would even pay him for taking care of the monster? Did some noble hire him or was there some guild.

“Fifty silvers,” the man, Gack, said. “Practically charity but it’s all that a place like this can afford. They barely see a gold coin around these parts or in fact outside of cities. I think it has something to do with economics, but I never understood the stuff. Trust me kid,” he said looking around conspiratorially. “Make your money in the cities. Become a big wizard and kill a few monsters, fight in a few campaigns. The money you made will easily provide for a generation or two after you if you’re smart.”

“I’m not looking to retire,” I said politely. I had only just got out of the village and I was in no hurry to head back.

“Just don’t be one of those people whose only retirements that end in the dirt,” the man said blowing smoke from his mouth before he shook his head. “Wait what the hell am I doing sharing my wisdom with a chick that just jumped out of the nest. Get a few dozen battles under your belt and then we’ll talk again if both of us are still alive.” He stood up stretching out his body causing little cracks to sound out before he shook off his hands.

“Going to track down a wolf now?” I asked watching as he put out his pipe before sliding it into his pockets.

“Aye, that’s the plan,” the man said. “I know what you’re going to ask and the answer is ‘no’. Until you manage to cast a tier one spell decently you’ll just be dead weight. If you want my advice given to me by an actual wizard then learn a few Prestidigitations; they have a lot of variant effects and they will help train your brain to cope with the stress from learning new spells.”

“That’s much appreciated,” I said trying to recall the section under Prestidigitations. “My name is Marvin,” I said.

“Well good for you,” Gack said. “Did your mother give it to you?”

“You’ll hear it often in future,” I said seriously. “I owe you one for the save and the advice.”

“Well then don’t die before you pay me back,” the man said looking directly into my eyes before he turned away and disappeared into the forest leaving my standing in the middle of a clearing of corpses with inspiration churning through my brain.