2 The Fight

The consequences of communicating with the headman about me having magic became noticeable the next day. People looked closely at me, and not seeing any peculiarities that magicians should have, they were disappointed. Sometimes, during evening gatherings, one could hear the words "liars" and "lie." This made my father angry, but he couldn't do anything about it. Nobody else took our jam after that, and I began to save it for the caravan's arrival. It should arrive pretty soon, and I have hope that the merchant will bring the knowledge I need, so I can exchange it for my jam or buy it for a certain amount of money.

The study of magic from my great-great-grandfather's books began for me when I read his diary, which told what magic is and what possibilities it opens up to its user.

In general, magic is the energy that this world is the source of. It is omnipresent. Only in some places its saturation will be higher, and in some less. The reason for this was not explained, so I put for myself the first checkbox for the future. To cast spells, you need to gain at least some control over this energy. In the diary of my great-great-grandfather, there were several exercises of different difficulty levels.

The very first exercise was training to dose magical energy that goes out into the real world. You can train it regularly since it also causes the growth of the source-reserve itself. Of course, this growth slows down over time, but it is still there.

The diary contained subjects named the source and the reserve. The source generated energy, and the reserve stored it. They worked in tandem, the rupture of which could lead to death. My source was tiny, as was the reserve. It will increase over time, but without training, this process will be very slow. The first training session will allow me to strengthen a little and start learning the simplest spell, which almost does not require magical energy.

It took me two weeks of active training to reach this level. In general, with that activity, I should have started learning the first spell at the end of the first week, but I decided to play it safe. Feeling empty of the reserve is not pleasant but very memorable. Suppose you cross a specific border in using it. In that case, magical energy will be transformed from the physical elements that are in the body. Everything from fat to bones and skin will go for energy.

The first spell to appear in my arsenal was the Fire Spark spell. This spell was the simplest one and did not require much knowledge. It created a spark that could ignite something. Starting with brushwood and ending with paper. A handy spell.

The first time I used it, I felt such a boost of vivacity and a surge of desire to work as never before. I used this spell until my little reserve sank completely and showed the bottom. After that, I had to plunge into meditation and wait for the restoration of energy.

Time continued to run, and I became more and more immersed in the study of magic. There was quite a lot of information in the books and diary that was useful to me. All knowledge was systematized and easy to understand. And it depended only on me how quickly I would develop and how quickly I would understand all this information. All the books that were in the chest were divided into different directions of magic. There was a book with the basics of magic combat, as well as seven combat spells. Also, there was a book on healing here. There were only two spells, but that was enough for me to fall out of reality. There was a book on artifacts as well as runes. There was a lot of theory there, even more than in the book on healing. There was also a book with everyday spells.

Six months before the merchant caravan's arrival, it was impossible to study all this, although I tried. Life in the village imposes its own limitations on this. I needed to help my father in the field, and also rarely go hunting. On the hunt, I managed to practice fighting spells and collect some herbs, which I later used in potions and alchemy. All this knowledge did not make me a powerful archmage or a great wizard. Not a drop. In general, it seems to me that all that I have learned is entirely insufficient to be a magician.

On the other hand, I don't know what starting conditions other magicians have. Of course, suppose they are from a wealthy family in which there are already magicians. In that case, the possibilities for such children in magic will be broader. But something tells me that luck really smiled at me, that I had the opportunity to gain at least some knowledge.

Village life was getting harder and harder. At first, I did not understand why this was happening, but with the use of magic and caution, I managed to find out that the headman plans to squeeze my father's land and transfer it to his relative from the city. It is not known what the second plans to do with this land are. To say that I didn't like it is to say nothing. But I couldn't do anything yet. Just become more attentive and careful. I didn't think that this small village also had its own intrigues.

I continued to train in spells and continued to learn everything available to me from my great-great-grandfather's books. He was a really great teacher, as the presentation in books was excellent.

Combat spells included Chain Lightning, Fireball, Fire Arrow, Arcane Blast, Barrier Wall, Slow, and Fire Touch. Judging by what kind of spells were in this book, I can conclude that the great-grandfather was very eager for various Fire Spells. Each of them had its own characteristics and, if used correctly, could do a lot of harm. In general, this is not the game's world, where damage will be reflected in hitpoints, and until you lose all hit points, it is impossible to die. The opposite is valid here. The hit of even the simplest offensive spell can lead to both death and injury.

There were much fewer healing spells. More precisely, only two. Most of the book was dedicated strictly to the theory of healing and the human body's structure. For injured members of other races, the spell must be modified, since humans' physiology and morphology are different from other races. Sometimes not very much, but different. And this is understandable ... I will not use the spell that I use on a human on the same tauren or murloc. Two spells that were there allowed me to save from death after being wounded. The Barrier of Treatment was applied to the entire body and treated in a complex manner. On the other hand, the Harness of Life could grow almost any lost limb, not counting the head. I did not have enough magical power to perform these spells. I need to raise my reserve at least five or even six times.

The book with everyday spells was more spacious and had many more useful spells in everyday life. There were many spells here, like one for establishing a security perimeter. Even if I don't understand what it does in this book, I still learned it. There were spells to purify the air, create food from energy, and many other spells useful in life and travel. But all this study, of course, takes time.

I didn't even open the book on artifacts, as I well understand that I simply don't have time for this. Yes, I have reduced the time in the field since I learned the spell to create food. This freed me up some time, but then everything started to run into my source and reserve size. I had to train them too. Yes, they grew by leaps and bounds, but even that was not enough for me. I needed everything to grow much faster.

Potions and alchemy have become an easy outlet for me. I went to collect some herbs and brew the simplest potions to restore magical energy and speed up its regeneration. The potions that remained from the great-great-grandfather have already become spoiled, and you can drink them only if there is a desire to die a rather painful death. I had no such desire, so I put them aside. After a long study of books, I will not say that I became an archmage and equaled in power with the Gods. Not at all. I just became a little more dangerous than the inhabitants of my village, and I can, if necessary, protect myself from some of the dangers from which an ordinary peasant cannot protect himself.

Two days before the merchants were to arrive, I went hunting. My goal was to get some kind of meat along with leather for dressing and sale. I don't think it will bring me much profit, but I still have hope for it. There is a belief that luck will smile at me one more time, just as it was with the books from my great-great-grandfather. But I'm not going to expect anything like that. If I catch something, it will be good. If not, then nothing can be done about it.

"Father," I turned to my father, who was now chipping something out of wood. He put it aside and looked at me questioningly. "I'm going. Don't forget to check the kegs."

"Of course, Ali," he nodded and returned to his business.

There was a jam in the barrels, which I would sell to merchants or exchange for books from Argar. But only if they have them. If not, then I'll just put the money aside and save it for later. If I cannot sell the jam, it will continue to stand with me, and my father and I will eat it ourselves. It's simple.

I left the village when the sun was just rising in the sky. I checked all my ammunition with quick movements, ensuring everything was in a place like hooks, bandages, and all other essential things. After that, I straightened the quiver with ten arrows. The bow, which was attached to the quiver, and at the same time to the back. There was a tricky connection that I would not have thought of so quickly.

As soon as I took two hundred steps, the forest swallowed me up. It was big and attractive. The silence around was broken by the light sounds of animals running around. The wind was sometimes howling, birds were singing their songs.

The ground in the forest was not even a drop. There were holes and small hills with clearings. When I reached the lake, where I was collecting reeds, I stopped for a while. It was one of the reference points that my father and I used. Other people who went hunting had different spots. Sometimes, it is impossible to find them without knowing what and where to look.

For me, this forest was no longer new, but it still remained mysterious and unusual. I tried to catch every step, every breath of wind, every movement of the bush. Since I was a magician, my sense of the surrounding space was excellent. The noise could be anything that only the mind can imagine, from a flock of badgers to some mystical creatures. One could see how birds and other animals moved through the trees. Hunting birds circled high in the sky. It was not possible to estimate their size so quickly, but I tried. When a bird saw its prey, it fell down like a stone and caught it.

The clouds that floated in the sky did not care for ordinary people, sometimes obscured the sun, causing a shadow covering the surrounding lands. I won't say that it scared me, but at some moments, it just became uncomfortable.

I reached a small clearing at this pace, which was surrounded by forest walls on all sides. Frozen on its border, I began to carefully study this clearing. Before going out in the open, it was necessary to understand if any dangerous or unfriendly animals and creatures were there. After several minutes of observation, I realized that there was nothing there and calmly left.

Quickly sitting on a protruding rock, I pulled out food for my snack. I was not hungry, but I wanted to throw something inside myself. It is quite challenging to stay hungry in the forest. Especially if you know this forest well. If there is no weapon, you can try to make a trap and catch some hares or other creatures with live bait. If all else fails, then you can always eat berries, which are abundant here. Of course, you need to be careful not to eat something poisonous. Still, knowing the precautionary methods, you can protect yourself and keep away from hunger.

After having a bite, I got up again and hit the road. It is after this glade that the paradise lands for hunting begin. Here you already need to be more careful, as the number of dangerous creatures is increasing exponentially. And if I wanted to catch at least something and return alive, then I need to be careful. I have no desire to die, but I must bring food.

As soon as I walked back a few hundred meters, I felt a sharp and unpleasant smell. It was blood mixed with the scent of something bizarre. Reflexively, I grimaced. I started to breathe through my mouth, pulled out my bow, and put an arrow on it, ready to open fire to kill and destroy any enemy. Besides that, I was prepared to use the spell.

Walking a little forward, I froze. Through a small clearing, one could see a mountain of corpses covered in blood. A cloud of flies flew around, making a slight noise. But that was not what caught my attention, not that at all.

The pile of corpses stirred somewhat. From there, several small creatures climbed out and climbed inside, which, with chomping and grunting, devoured pieces of meat. I managed to examine these creatures pretty soon. They were short freaks with a pig face and large lower fangs. Each of them had a weapon with which they could kill their opponent. Ah, disgusting creatures.

Then the wind changed its direction of movement and blew from behind my back. A few moments later, the mountain of corpses froze, and the heads of these creatures began to show from it. There were few heads, but it was enough to make me a little worried and afraid. Their pork muzzles spun in all directions, and then they all stared straight at me as one. I don't know if they see me or not, but I realized that I need to get out of here as quickly as possible, since the problems that await me may be incompatible with life. I need to get out, but something tells me that these pig-faced creatures won't let me go so easily. They were already drawing their weapons and began to approach the place where I stood.

Without thinking twice, I drew my bow, and an arrow flew out of it at high speed. The pig-faced did not have time to understand anything, and one of them fell to the ground. The arrow pierced his chest, coming out the other side. Pig-faced tried to get up, but could not do anything. His legs buckled, and he fell. Only this time becoming another corpse.

"Grua-oink!" growled one of the pigs and started running at me, waving his small sword.

Drawing another arrow, I aimed and fired. Only this time, the pig-faced managed to jump to the side, and my arrow flew past, piercing the ground. The attacker was already close enough that I didn't try to shoot. Adrenaline spurred my consciousness, and I reflexively released a Fire Arrow.

She hit the approaching pig-face, leaving a large, burnt hole in his stomach through which you could see quite a lot. To say that I was terrified is to say nothing. I almost pooped my pants and opened a brick factory.

The last two stopped, and then one began to sprint in the opposite direction. I shot another Fire Arrow at one, but I missed it. She left a burnt hole in the tree. After that, the fleeing pig-faced monster disappeared from my view. I could not pursue him, since the last monster that remained to cover the other's retreat was approaching me.

In his hand was a small ax, which he threw at me without a twinge of conscience. Time slowed down again, but I still barely had time to put a barrier in front of me. It's good that I was working out in my head a plan for a possible battle using magic. This is what helped me now. Without this, I would have caught this ax in the chest, and that's it ... My song has been sung.

The barrier, with a slight hum, shattered into millions of silvery shards that reflected light. They slowly fell to the ground, reflecting the light in millions of rays. But I was not standing still. An old sensei-style phrase sounded in my head: "Standing still in battle is equivalent to death."

Jumping to the side, I created another Fire Arrow spell. After releasing it, I jumped to the side again, feeling that I had not so much magical energy left. Pig Face dodged, rolling on the ground. But I managed to predict his movement and already created another spell. The Fireball turned the pig-face into a torch.

"Oink-A-ah!" a terrible squeal of pain was heard through the forest. Pig-faced fell to the ground and tried to extinguish the fire, but he failed. After a few seconds, he froze and did not move, continuing to burn with a slight crackle.

I sat down on the ground and tried to catch my breath. The sweat ran down my face in streams. Such a skirmish was very, very unexpected for me and filled with emotions, as well as reflections of great fear. There was nothing I could do about it. I tried to calm my breathing.

I cannot sit in one place, since the likelihood of the pig-faced return is high. I don't want to die because I was just in shock. Exhaling, I got up with the utmost effort of will. I swayed a bit but managed to grab a tree and therefore did not fall. My legs were wobbling. My reserve was almost completely depleted and was slowly filling up now. When I am safe, I will need to think about this fight to understand what I did wrong and what I could have done to make everything much faster and safer for myself. I am sure if the local battle mages saw this fight, they would just grab their heads ...

After some time, I returned to the clearing, and there I again fell to the ground and stretched out. I tried to calm my still throbbing heart, but nothing worked. It didn't work until I immersed myself in meditation. That's when I more or less came to my senses. And you know, I did not feel any remorse about the fact that I killed these pig-faced. Perhaps if people were in their place, I would feel something different.

When I had completely calmed down, I quickly returned to the fight-place and picked up those arrows that I managed to shoot. There is no need to leave them there. Having examined the pile of corpses again, I decided that it should be burned. There is no need to leave the possibility for something strange to appear ... especially in this world.

I did not go back home because I couldn't until I caught at least some game. Besides the fact that people will call me a loser who was scared of something, I need it to continue to work on my future. So the hunt continues.

The hunt was quite tricky and not very pleasant for me. I had to calculate the situation several moves in advance. It was necessary to carefully look around in the hope that I could find at least some beast. Of course, I knew some of the tricks that hunters used. First, you need to find a place where the animals are going to drink water. There are several such places in the district.

Finding a small lake was not difficult. There were large trees that could easily hide an ordinary person from observation. Besides, the smells of the swamp overpowered my scent. It would be better if I had a spell that would allow me to hide from any observation. A Concealment spell, or even an Invisibility spell, could do the whole thing.

Exhaling, I decided to wait. Wait for the moment when some deer or elk come up to drink water. After that, I will need to hunt down this animal and kill it. I had no choice but to sit patiently in ambush.

It took quite a long time to wait. It so happened that I did not manage to arrive on time, and all that remained was to sit in one place motionless. Several hours passed in this way. Flies and other blood-sucking creatures flew around me. Sometimes a small flock of rabbits or hares ran past. The birds continued to hunt and fall like stones from heaven. The clouds continued on their way and did not even intend to stop to look at the ground below them.

The arrival of the beasts was noticeable. At first, quiet steps were heard. I sat down even more quiet, trying to hide as best as possible in the bushes. Seven deers came out into the clearing near the lake. Not a single wounded or old was among them. All of them were as if on a podium, young and healthy. Sighing, I prepared to wait for them to drink their water and go back to their business. Killing near the lake is not the correct action because blood will frighten off future prey. Of course, this problem will disappear over time, but why create it if you can prevent it and shoot the roe deer a little later.

When the animals got full, they went back, almost wholly repeating the path they had come here. I began to follow them, trying to act very carefully, leaving no traces. The roe deer did not notice me, so I can observe more closely and prepare to fire a shot.

The animals stopped between the trees and began to chew on the luscious, green grass. The shadows fell almost perfect for me. Rising slowly, I stood in the shadows so that I was covered somewhat. Then I drew my bow and took aim. Take a deep breath, hold your breath. Two heartbeats and an arrow with a slight trick fell into flight. A moment later, the roe deer falls to the ground, with an arrow piercing its neck. Other roe deer almost instantly looked around, and after a few moments, they were gone.

I did not wait long but immediately approached my prey. I now have a few hours until the meat becomes unfit for food. Throwing the roe deer behind my back, I quickly headed home. If I didn't have a body trained by hard work in the field and if I didn't have mana, I would not be able to get home quickly.

***

Thank God, my father was at home and, it seemed, was just waiting for me. As soon as I was back, we got down to skinning a deer. The first step is to drain all the blood from the animal's body. To do this, you need to make incisions in the largest blood vessels. Then, as soon as the blood comes off, you need to start initial skinning. This process is quite complicated, and if you do it inattentively, you can easily damage the carcass, thereby spoiling it. Also, the race against time begins here. If you delay, the meat will go bad. Skinning must be done quickly while following specific rules. After the skin has been removed, you can proceed to the analysis of the body itself. Before dividing it into several parts, you need to pull out all the guts. Guts are an important part of any living organism and have various essential functions. Damage to at least one of the organs will lead to the fact that the meat loses its taste or deteriorates. The second option is just the most probable.

The organs should be placed slightly away from the whole body. When all the previous steps have already been taken, then you can start cutting the meat itself and transporting it to a cool place. After that, you can get meat from this place for cooking or trade.

The skin of any animal is also a pretty important part. In addition, you can get some good money for it. But for it not to foul, you need to take an elementary step. For this, it must be salted. Salt should not be more than a third of the weight of the skin itself. After that, you need to roll it up and hope. Hope that everything was done correctly and that it does not deteriorate.

"Nice work," my father said as we put the last piece of meat in the vault. It was freezing there, as I was not ashamed to use magic and create ice blocks. Yes, perhaps this is not enough, and the magicians have knowledge on how to create an ordinary refrigerator. I don't have this knowledge, so I don't hope for anything.

"Of course," I told him. "Luck was with me."

Luck is an integral part of the hunt, because if a person is unlucky, then he might or may not have hit, or did not wound fatally, and the prey would have escaped. It could also happen that another predator would attack him, who would want to take the carcass for himself. Many things could have happened.

The next day was the day of preparation for the arrival of a caravan with merchants. The villagers were very excited about this event. Many had something to sell, and many wanted to buy something. Our contacts with other villagers have recently become very rare. They consider me a liar because I could not show my mastery of magic at the very beginning. After that, I lost this desire to show them anything. If they are stupid, then only the grave will fix them. Or not.

I've been here for a little less than two years now, and I know what I'm talking about. Most of the village people are very simple ... Although, I compare with people from my world, where many have already grown up in a colossal information world, with tons of data that needs to be analyzed in order not to drown.

The caravan arrived early in the morning. I felt a little excited and hoped that Argar had managed to get the knowledge for me and, I hope, he would not raise the price for it. I didn't want it to be too big, because then there is a possibility that I will not be able to pay it.

So as not to wait long, I went to the merchants as soon as they were ready to shop or exchange things. My father also went with me, but after a short time, we parted ways. I looked for Argar with my eyes, but for a while, I could not find him. Somewhere deeply, I even had a worm of doubt that he did not come this time. But then I saw him standing by the wagon and talking to a very short, robust man whose beard was braided in several braids.

"Argar," I greeted the merchant. The man looked at me and then narrowed his eyes. It was only a moment later that I saw recognition in his eyes.

"Ali," he said, reaching out to shake hands. I answered him. "Glad to see you well."

"Me too," I answered him with a smile.

The strong man just turned away and went somewhere quickly. I did not ask Argar about him. If necessary, he will tell me everything himself. And so ... I have nothing to do with this.

"How are you?" I asked him.

Argar looked at the small barrel in my hand and only smiled. There was a jam that I wanted to exchange for knowledge or money. There wasn't much of it just to try it.

"Let's go inside," he told me, nodding his head toward his tent. I had no choice but to follow him.

The inside of his tent was simple and sparsely furnished. There were no jewelry or expensive fabrics here. An ordinary camping tent, in which you can spend the night. Argar pointed to the table for me, and then quickly put a snack and some wine there. I refused the treat as I had no desire to pay for it later. Perhaps Argar would not have demanded anything for this, but still ...

"In general," he said after a light snack. The young merchant got up and went to the corner of the tent. From there, he took out a small box and put it on the table. Then he opened it and started pulling out books and some kind of notebooks. I immediately felt a surge of magic that was coming from them. Here they are ... knowledge. "This is all the knowledge I was able to acquire in the Kirin Tor. Don't ask me how I did it ..."

"Wow," I said in admiration. I am sure that knowledge here is vital to me. "Here's my product."

I held out a rather beautiful keg, which was decorated by hand. Even from my own world, I well remembered the postulate that the buyer buys what is inside and what is outside. The box or other covers should be pleasant to the touch, pleasing to the eye, and pleasing overall. Suppose the customer is pleased with the outer picture of the product. In that case, the probability that he will buy it increases by several orders of magnitude.

The cask containing the taste of the jam was quite nice. It was decorated with carvings, which were filled with fine, white dust, which gave light reflections in the sun. This dust was synthesized by me from a herb that closely resembles hemp. After that, the carving was filled with a special resin made of wood, which gleams in the sun's rays. In general, I did everything to make the "packaging" beautiful and pleasant to the touch. Even a slight smell from this barrel did not drive you crazy but already made you wonder what was inside.

Argar opened the keg and quickly stuck his finger inside. Scooping up some of the jam, he put it in his mouth and licked it off. After a few moments, he nodded contentedly. I relaxed internally. The most important part went well.

"In general, I liked this jam of yours," he said, closing the keg. "I'm ready to exchange these books for ten large barrels. "

"Seven and fifty bronze coins," I told him. "I don't have ten large kegs. So you have to bargain."

"One hundred coins," Argar corrected me at once.

"Okay," I said with sadness in my voice. Yes, the amount of money I was going to pay with was not small for a villager. One hundred bronze coins are equal to one silver. And such money, fortunately, I have. "But only for knowledge from the Kirin Tor itself."

"Fine," said Argor, and we hit our palms, agreeing with each other.

After that, Argar called several people. We quickly went to our cellar, where they promptly unloaded all the barrels and took them to the merchant's wagon. I just looked after them sadly, tapping the books with my fingers. Well ... not a bad exchange for me, I tell you.

My father was already waiting for me at home. He sat and just looked at the stars. I, too, looked up, wondering how far these luminous balls are. I would like to be near them to see and study these bodies. But for this, I need to have tremendous knowledge of magic ... So ... why not make travel to the stars one of the goals for me.

"Son," said the father. "I hope what you got was worth giving back so many barrels of jam."

"Of course," I told him. "I got quite a lot of magical knowledge that will definitely help me achieve more."

"That means knowledge," he said, continuing to look at the stars. "That's the right decision because, with it, you will have many more ways opened—definitely more than before. Then you can become a big person."

"Of course," I answered quietly. "When I do, I will definitely take you away from here to more beautiful places."

"To the elves?" He asked me with a grin on his face.

"Yes, to the elves," I answered him with a smile.

We laughed together. This person has truly become my family, and my words are not blank. I have a desire to make my father's life a little better so that he no longer has to work so hard in the field. Perhaps I will be able to teach him to read and write, thereby making him a literate person. But only if he himself wishes it. If not, then I will not force him.

The books and records I received were really worth the seven barrels for them. No, if I could, then I would easily give more for this information. The notebooks contained reflections, as well as various notes. They explained to me some places in the theory of magic that I did not understand before. There was knowledge, but there was no understanding, and now it has appeared. In the books, the information that I already knew was told in a completely different way. They paid attention to some points, ignorance of which greatly complicated a wizard's work with magic. In addition, there was a book with other knowledge that I consider essential for myself.

I was not going to put off studying them until later and immediately sat down to study. There are many things you can't learn overnight, but even what I learned opened my eyes to some questions.

The next day I also continued to study. I spent only a few hours in the very communication with the merchants and buying some useful things. Yes, I had little money, so I could not buy everything I needed.

For some reason, it seemed to me that danger reigns around me, but that's where it came from, I could not understand in any way. It was a strange sensation ... A feeling of excitement, a sense of death, and some kind of musty smell. I could not find a place for myself and just started preparing for possible problems. I hope that this is only an exacerbation of my paranoia, and nothing like this will happen.

Nothing happened, so I was able to breathe out in relief. The caravan with the merchants was about to set off. I managed to agree with Argar that he would bring me some more information in exchange for jam of a different taste. He agreed to such a deal, as he probably expected to make a much larger profit from my jam's sale.

In the evening, when the noise of entertainment died down, and most people went to bed, my intuition started to warn me about something. As I was about to go to bed, I heard a sharp howl of a horn and increasing screams.

"Get up, Ali!" shouted father loudly, and quickly climbed into a small closet. From there, he drew his bow and arrows, as well as a short sword. Realizing that something was happening, I tried not to panic. Nothing like this has happened here before. Grabbing the bow, I tried to put on my pants, but I could not easily do it. There were several explosions, from which even the walls shook. For a few seconds, everything was quiet, and then the screams became stronger and more desperate.

Finally, dressing, I went after my father. The sound of the horn meant only one thing: someone or something had attacked the village. Fear slowly rose from my soul's depths, but I crushed it in the bud with a willful effort. Fear has no place now.

Bacchanalia was going on in the street. The merchants with their guards, as well as the villagers, fought against strange short creatures. Torches were burning everywhere, which made it possible to see the surroundings a little, as well as to defend themselves a bit better. The attackers were the pig-faced creatures I already knew. For a few moments, I froze like a pillar, as I did not expect them to attack at all. I even forgot about them. But it couldn't go on that long.

One of the pig-faced noticed me, and with a wild scream-squeal, rushed at me. He had some kind of weapon in his hand. I did not have time to really see it, as a Fire Arrow fell from my hand, leaving a hole in the head of this "pig" the human eye's size. It's good that I was able to train some of the spells. Now this speed becomes for me an added advantage in the battle.

Exhaling and catching my breath a little, I came to my senses. Now I had to make my way forward hoping that I would not be hit by a stray arrow or a blow from a weapon. The light could be seen ahead, and explosions were heard. This interested me, and I dared to come closer to observe. It was a clash between two magicians. One of the magicians was human and was from a caravan of merchants. I saw him but did not realize that he was a magician. He was dressed in the most ordinary merchant clothes. His opponent was a pig-faced magician with a large staff at the end of which was a small skull. The skull's eye sockets glowed with dangerous red lights.

So far, the magician has been losing. He was a young guy, maybe a little older than me. On the contrary, the pig-faced had grey hair. He deflected the spells of a human magician with ease and without much strain. The boredom could be seen on his face. If the human magician is not helped, he will lose. The loss of a magician in this battle will be tantamount to most, if not all, of the inhabitants. And I can't let it happen so easily. Our relationship may not have been very good, but I cannot allow people to be killed by these monsters.

Having made this decision, I began to prepare for the fact that I would need to act. Drawing my bow, I took aim. The pig-faced magician had no idea about anything yet. I was hiding in the shadow of the house, and so far, I have not shone. Drawing an arrow, I was ready to open fire.

Swosh.

With that sound, the arrow left my bow. A moment later, she struck the pig-face. Well, that's what I thought. A purple wall appeared around the pig-snout magician. The arrow was instantly stopped and turned into ash. There was a lull for a few seconds. This was enough for the human magician to collect his thoughts. He whispered something under his breath, and then a stream of fire appeared from under the ground, under the pig magician. He rose several tens of meters up, illuminating the area. This spell was really powerful.

Only it didn't kill the pig-face. The human magician again had to go over to the defensive. It was obvious to me that he would not be able to hold out for so long. It seems that I will need to intervene myself, to enter into an open magical confrontation.

After exhaling, I released several Fire Arrows. They were consumed by the protection of the enemy magician. But at that time, I had already changed my disposition. A rather massive fireball landed on the spot where I was, which left scorched earth behind. This distracted the pig-faced mage somewhat, but not enough.

The next spell I cast was slow. The enemy magician began to move slightly more slowly. But even this could not hold him back for long. But even that minimum of time was enough for me to weave the Fireball spell.

The red sphere slammed into the magician's defenses at high speed and exploded into a fiery dome. I turned to my reserve and noted with sadness that there was not much magical energy left. If I want to fight further, I will need to be much more careful, since the magic will definitely not be with me. Exhaling, I jumped forward. The pig-faced mage was very angry and was now looking at me with all seriousness and a desire to kill. The barrier that I wove on reflexes protected me from the strange, black arrow. And then I was very close. I grabbed the mage by the face and cast a Fire Touch spell.

A grayish smoke began to rise from the face of the pig-faced. He screamed in pain. He grabbed my arm with one hand and tried to take it away from his face. With his other hand and his staff, he hit me in the ribs. It hurt a lot. But I didn't let go. The magical energy went out like water through a sieve.

"Away!" shouted the magician. I felt that he had time to prepare something even more lethal. At full steam, I jumped to the side and rolled. At the same second, the pig-faced mage was struck by a snow-white, thick beam. He was unable to defend himself and most of his body simply evaporated.

Only then could I breathe out with calmness. The magician who fought the pig-faced began to dust himself off. Taking out several bottles, which glowed with a slightly bluish light, he uncorked the first and poured into himself in one gulp. Then he wiped his mouth with his sleeve and closed his eyes.

I did nothing. I just stood there. It looks like it was a mana recovery potion. This would not hurt me since my reserve has already shown the bottom, and it will not be soon to fill from the source. The magician seemed to read my thoughts. He opened his eyes and examined me carefully.

"I never thought that I would meet another magician in such a dusty village," he drawled thoughtfully. After that, the magician pulled out another bottle from his bag and handed it to me. "Here, recover ... You will still need mana in battle."

"Thank you," I replied, taking the potion from his hands. I didn't think about it for a long time. I just checked to make sure it was actually a mana recovery potion. This could be identified by smell. Such alchemical potions always have a small effect when inhaled, namely mana restoration. I found this information in a book by my great-great-grandfather. And now she will help me.

A quick check revealed that it was indeed a mana regeneration potion. But I did not immediately pour it into myself, but I waited for a little at first. I did not find any effects of poisoning. I don't think there could be anything dangerous here ... And making poison from a mana restoration potion is pretty stupid, I think. But what can I know ...

After drinking the potion, I immediately felt the energy flow into my reserve. I tried to grab hold of the sensation I got from doing this. It became interesting to me because I felt how energy comes from outside and fills my reserve.

But I could not do anything with this feeling. All I had to do was try to catch him the next time I drank an energy recovery potion. Now is the time to get down to the destruction of this pig-faced. I don't like them at all. I didn't want to admit that it was because of me that they could have come here.

"My name is Izaval," the mage said. "I am a graduate of the 3rd Academy of Dalaran."

"Alistair," I answered him. To say that I generally learned magic myself, that is, from books I did not want to. I do not know at all how things are with strangers in this city of magicians. Let the stories in my world say that they are ready to welcome any wizard who wants to continue his path on the path of knowledge of magic. Perhaps this is partly true, but do not forget about the various pitfalls.

"I see," the magician said, and then asked. "What Academy are you from?"

"From the old one," I answered him. Lying to sorcerers is a pretty bad decision, as they can easily recognize a lie. In my answer, I was not lying, since I can really be called a representative of the "old" Academy in which my ancestor studied, from which I got the books. Moreover, I also thought about the school that I graduated from in my previous life. It was also called an academy and was rather old compared to other such buildings.

"Hmm," Izaval drawled, but after that, he didn't ask me about it again. "It looks like we need to go help others.

"Yep, I agree."

The two of us walked quickly towards a place from which the sounds of battle were still heard. On the way, we saw the corpses of both ordinary people and pig-faced. I searched among the corpses of my father but did not find him. Every time, after examining the body, my heart moved away. Among the bodies were the villagers, as well as the representatives of the caravan. It seems to me that after such an attack, there will be no one left to live in the village. She was already small, and now she will be even smaller. In addition, some houses were already burning down, while others were just starting to burn.

For a few seconds, I stopped and looked in the direction where the house stood, in which I lived all this time. And thank all the gods, alive and not, he did not even start to burn. The nearest fire was two houses from him. But you still need to hurry and try to somehow extinguish the fire to protect yourself from fire. I would not want the knowledge of the ancestor of this body to disappear so quickly. I have not yet learned everything from there.

Throwing these thoughts away from me, I prepared for a fight. A few minutes later, a pig-faced jumped out on Izaval and me. He did not have time to understand anything, as in an instant he turned into a carcass, chopped with invisible blades. The Kirin Tor mage did not stop for a moment.

I just had to follow him. The smell of burning was very strong here. Puffs of smoke rose slowly into the air, filling all the space around. Shouts and noise were around, preventing from orienting. I exhaled and tried to remove my consciousness from the surrounding world, leaving only pure mind and reflexes.

Izaval had already entered the battle, throwing spells as if from a machine gun. After a few tens of seconds, the battle was over. The last pig-faced was hit by a Fire Arrow, which punched a hole in his head.