“Well, at least forewarned is forearmed,” I said, standing with a hand on my hip and leaning slightly on the shepherd’s hook. I had a forced confident smile on my lips.

  Two other large wolves joined the first at the edges of the tall grasses.

  “Well, that stinks,” I said, losing the smile and fake casualness of my posture.

  “Yes, if you let them close on you, it is doubtful you will survive.” He noted in a bland, academic voice.

  “Your advice?” I asked as my sweaty palms slipped a little on the shepherd’s broken staff.

  “As a mage, you can access dozens, perhaps hundreds, of offensive spells.”

  “That is excellent news,” I said as hope began to lift my spirits slightly.

  “Yes,” he agreed, “unfortunately, you only chose to acquire one attack spell, so we must work with what you’ve got.”

  “Oh,” I said, a slight panic rising as the hope slipped down a few notches.

  “You took Mage Blast I. It is weaker than Magebolt, even though both are first spellbook spells. But at least Mage Blast I is an AOE or area-of-effect style spell. You can place as many as five casting points into it and decide how you want the effects to work. Each casting point will release one weak bolt. You can send all five at one target or one of the bolts at five different targets. I suggest you try doing something now.” He urged, his voice rising slightly to encourage immediate action.

  I suddenly remembered how my spell worked, and while other spells seemed to be temporarily blocked, I could use this one to good effect.

  I focused my will and sent out a five-point Mage Blast. I focused on the wolf I had already injured and one on each of the other two.

  Three yelps of pain resulted from my attack, and all three stopped advancing.

  The little man smacked the ground with his cane. “Not bad, not bad. Had you fired all five at the injured one, there was a good chance it would have been eliminated. But it was already injured, and the shock of your choice to attack each gave them all reason to pause.” He commented.

  But I could sense they were gathering for another charge at me.

  “Because I like you, I have decided that they will all be at the lower end of the range of health that they could possess. A single dire wolf could give you trouble. Three is quite unfair for an enchanter to encounter during orientation. I do believe someone is out to get you.” He remarked happily.

  I cast another five-point spell at the wolves, this time directing two to the injured wolf and three to the one on its right.

  The first wolf dropped, unmoving. The second one flinched backward, clearly injured by the attack, and leaped to the side. However, the third I had not targeted ran toward me at speed.

  I lifted my borrowed shepherd’s staff and swung at the wolf’s side as it lunged at my legs. We both connected. It bit my leg hard. I smacked its side harder.

  I limped backward, nearly falling over some roots. It fell, still at my feet.

  Its attack injured my leg, but not so seriously that I could not stand and defend myself. The other wolf at the edge of the grass began rushing away from me toward a flock of sheep I had not noticed before.

  The boy yelled out, “Not the sheep! Protect them!”

  I sighed and focused on another spell attack. I sent four casting points into Mage Blast I and struck the sprinting wolf with four bolts of magic. The wolf collapsed in a long, dramatic slide right up to the back of a sheep that was chewing grass and oblivious to the wolf’s approach until the dust and pebbles rolled around it. After a moment of surprise, all the sheep began bleating and scattered.

  The boy cheered and climbed down. “Thank you, mage! I’ll be right back.” He went off after the sheep, trying with limited success to herd them back toward the tree. However, they would not go near the fallen wolf, and the boy had his hands full, gathering them in.

  “Nicely done.” The little man said. “You were injured, but not seriously. You used fourteen of your available casting points, leaving you with more than half remaining. You have a healing potion on you, but with only six points down, you are not in immediate danger, and the healing potion has an all-or-nothing effect. You must drink it all to get the effect, and in your case, that would result in a healing of twenty points.”

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  “Can I bind my wound and get any of my health back?” I asked.

  “You don’t have that skill, but yes, it would have been a way to get some health back without using any potions or spells.”

  “How would I get that skill?” I asked.

  “The skill is accessible under several professions, but the easiest is from a doctor, an alchemist specializing in apothecary services, or perhaps a cleric could possess the knowledge to train you. It is a basic skill that is learned at the apprentice trade level.

  I nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind. It might be worth learning at some point in the future.”

  “True, it is a valuable skill open to anyone, whether they are in the healing professions or not.

  “So, does this mean that Phase I is completed?” I asked.

  “Not exactly. Depending on your choices, there could be more combat, and there is always more to learn. But that won’t be for a while yet, if at all. For now, you earn a reward for vanquishing your first foe. In your case, three of them, and so the reward is higher.”

  He stared at me and tapped his chin with his right pointer finger.

  “I recently helped out a young ranger with a similar idea. I can’t share that option, but as an enchanter, I think you will appreciate this.

  The AL whispered into my ear. Enchanter Gwydion earns a spell or skill point to be placed as desired for successfully accomplishing Phase I Orientation. Spell and skill points must be reclaimed at a guild hall or sanctuary, or in this case, from a sanctioned avatar. Additions and notes have been added to your Book of Quests that remain unread.

  “That was your voice,” I said.

  “Of course it was.” He replied.

  “Then, why didn’t you just tell me that yourself?” I asked.

  He opened his mouth and then shut it with a snap. “I never thought about it. This is just how we do it, I guess.”

  He stared off into the distance for several heartbeats before he once more collected himself and said, “You have a choice. You may hold on to your earned spell or skill point for later use, or I can offer you access to a first spellbook, generalist mage spell called Reveal Magic, or a specialist enchanter's first arcana spell called See All Magic and Enchantments. The choice is yours.”

  “What do the spells do?” I asked.

  “Well, it is pretty technical, but let me try to explain it in a way an apprentice mage could understand.” He drew near and put his hand to his mouth like he was about to tell a secret. “They reveal magic.” He said.

  I was waiting for more details, and from the look on his face, I saw that he wasn’t giving me any more.

  I laughed. “I was right about your mischievous streak. But I appreciate the offer, and given other options you could have chosen, I trust you because your insights have been spot-on for me so far.”

  The avatar looked surprised and also quite happy. It was almost as if he didn’t get many compliments.

  “I think I will go with the specialist spell. It was one I had overlooked. I overlooked both, actually.” I admitted.

  He waved his hand and said, “Congratulations. You now have the first arcana enchanter spell, See All Magic and Enchantments, and have a full understanding of its features and uses. However, knowledge is not the same as wisdom. And wisdom comes from experience.” He added.

  I used a casting point and cast the spell. The expenditure of another casting point took me to fifteen used and twenty remaining. The light of the day dimmed slightly, but there was no less clarity as I looked around. Knowledge of the spell filled my mind.

  “It appears that this spell is beneficial in identifying objects as magical or mundane, and it can also tell me what guild a magic or combination of magics originated from. That is especially useful for an enchanter!” I said. “I should have learned that during my apprentice training.”

  The avatar shrugged. “It was an option during your training, but you leaned toward making weapons magical, which, unless I miss my guess, will be helpful to you before this orientation is over. But for now, you clearly and succinctly expressed your knowledge. I will now share wisdom.”

  He walked over to where the first dire wolf that attacked me had lost a fang when I smacked it, and broke the shepherd’s hook off his staff.

  “Come over here and look at the fang.” He directed.

  I did and noticed that it glowed with a faint white outline.

  “Neat. What does this mean? I don’t get the feeling that it is magical.” I said as I examined the tooth.

  “It is safe to pick up.” He replied.

  I did so and held it in my hand.

  “What you hold is not a magical object but a magical component. It is a wyrd for mage spellcasting. In this case, it is an ingredient for an alchemist’s potion. Most of the magical components you locate will be alchemical ingredients, but there are plenty of exceptions.”

  “Is this valuable, then?” I asked.

  “It would be to an alchemist. They pay others to gather their spell components for them, which is a good way to earn some coins early in your adventuring. You can put it in your backpack or pouch for later use. You also may want to check out each creature you defeat in combat to see if they have components. It is a random effect, although the more powerful the creature, the more likely these component drops are to occur. If you defeat named bosses, the most powerful of a creature type during a quest, there are always components and often something more.”

  I walked around and checked out the other two dire wolves. The wolf closest to me had no part of itself that glowed, but the far wolf had three claws on one paw that glowed.

  I drew my fine steel dagger and bent down to remove it when the avatar cleared his throat.

  I paused and looked up.

  “You can use that blade to remove components, but there is a chance that the magical nature will be removed or weakened with each component. However, if you use the silver dagger in your backpack for this, there is only a slight chance that such diminishments would happen.”

  “Thank you. That is very helpful, and as an enchanter, I should have known better. Thank you for sharing more wisdom.”

  I retrieved my silver dagger, used it to remove the three claws, and, after wiping them off in the grass, placed them, along with the fang, in a belt pouch.

  “How long will the See All Magic and Enchantments spell last?” I asked.

  He said, “Typically, it lasts around four hours. It is similar in that regard to the generalist spell. After that, it will fade and require a recast if you still want it running. Given the magical nature of the Shallowlands, you never know when having magical sight will help you and your companions. Some things can only be seen by such a spell, and your enchanter’s version is one of the most advanced of its kind despite its low level and casting cost.”

  “Sounds good!” I said. I did not expect the spell to last that long, and it's good to know that I may be able to see some things that other mages could not.

  We walked back to the tree together. “Congratulations,” he said. “Now we can move on to Phase II.”