First snow

Today it started snowing.

The temperature took a dive from cold to freezing. It is time for me to get the cape that the elven tailor promised me. I was postponing going to his shop again due to that chatty elven lady.

I know she lives with Alvan the tailor when I went to decide the design and get the measurements for the cloak she kept talking into my ear.

The moment I stepped into the shop I heard a soft 'Well, well look who's here' right into my ear. Strangest feeling ever, after all, only one ear heard anything the other one was perfectly quiet.

It all spiraled downwards from there. While I was chatting with Alvan she kept warning me to not approach him or else...

The worst part was when Alvan had to take my measurements, that is due to him needing to get close to me and touch my body to get my sizes. The lady screeched into my ear like I just murdered somebody.

This encounter is what made me decide to learn about magic so I went right back to the good old library. Only it was not so easy this time, mainly because magic books aren't common, well they are, but it's not free, most of them are on the second floor, so I had to bribe my way up there.

The normal way of going to the second floor is by either working for the administration, training to become a mage, or becoming a member of their little literature club.

I bribed my way in, 50 coins and the doorman just scurried away quickly. Never to be seen until I left the second floor.

I learned quite a few things that day, mainly how that 'whisper into my ear from another room' works. It is a novice tier magic belonging to the wind affinity, problem is that it is no simple novice magic, it is a sort of graduation magic, in other words, once you learn how to do it you pretty much advanced to the next rank, basic magic.

The ranks are simple, at least the ones I have access to. They go like this, novice, basic, intermediate, adept, expert, and master. I am sure that there is more to this, mainly because in order to be acknowledged as a mage you need to be adept in several affinities or expert in at least one.

And mage is the lowest rank there is.

I also looked into my own affinity while I was there. It does pretty much what you would expect. Create things out of thin air, well more like mana. These things are not alive and the conjurer controls them with his mind, very simple this far.

The complicated part comes next, how the flying F do you control magic, the short answer is 'you just do', the long answer is 'you attune yourself to you surrounding, etc' there's a whole book explaining that.

It took me the better part of a day to even feel magic without touching an enchanted coin, if I had never obtained these coins I would have never known how magic actually feels, and it would not have been nearly as easy as this.

The next step is to figure out how to cast spells. The novice conjuration spell I chose is called 'Simple Conjuring' because it does just that. It creates a simple construct, the shape is irrelevant, as long as it is small.

So I chose to try and conjure a bird. Why? Because there were a few hanging out by my window so I just stared at them while practicing. I'm not going to lie, actually using the spell is extremely easy, just concentrate on the mental image of what you want to make and 'burp' out the magic.

Then it just 'poofs' into existence. When the bird is created I feel like I cracked my thumb, it felt stiff before but now I can easily move it, so I do, and just like moving a thumb, in an awkward jerky motion, I also move the bird.

It took a bit of practice but it is very easy, the bird is also immaterial when I want it to be so it can just pass through walls and the like.

The only big negative is related to the bird itself, not to my control or magic, the bird is very shiny, as in it shines with a purple radiance. When it flies outside it looks like a big purple firefly, when it is inside it looks more like a lantern.

I have yet to figure out its limits or how to make use of it but that will come with time, for now, I need to go get my cloak or I won't be able to walk outside anymore.

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I open the door on the third floor and head down the stairs, the guards must have heard me as they look up at me from their chairs next to the fireplace.

''We going out Boss?'' Ubam asks.

I nod.''I need to go see the tailor. The sooner the better, after all, it just started snowing, if it stacks we won't be able to get there anymore'' Ubam just shrugs at my words.

''No need to worry Boss, even if the streets become filled with snow it won't affect us at all, we can just carry you''. Yeah, no thank you.

''No need, let's get going, I also ordered you some cloaks while I was at it, consider it a gift''. this time Vun answers.

''Thank you sir Caspian, but we do not need any clothes, this weather is at most chilly for us''

''As I said before you can consider it a gift, don't wear them if you don't want to. Let us go''. And so we leave and head out towards the elven tailor's shop, it is not too far away.

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As we walk I can't help but notice something, a lot of homeless-looking people. I don't know where they came from but every now and then I can see them huddling together in a corner, probably to keep warm.

As I stare at the probably hundreds of people leaving on the streets my brain can't help but cook up a plan. What if I take a bit of inspiration from history and form my own league of beggars of sorts.

It is obvious that most of these people will die from the cold weather, that is probably how the city deals with them, they leave them to die in winter.

But what if I offer them housing in exchange for labor, it could work, maybe. I will not let them into my mansion, but what if I buy some other place and just let them live there.

No, that won't work, it will just be a waste of money, after all, they can't pay rent. What can I even use hundreds, possibly thousands of beggars for? I can't take their money, they don't have any. Maybe their skills, most of them are probably useless but what if some are hidden jewels.

No, I have no time to just ask each of them one by one if they know how to do anything useful. Even if they say they can, believing them is also an issue.

What did the league of beggars even do, probably gather information right? So spies, who would I even spy on. Maybe they can gather rumors, this would be more realistic. But what rumors are there, I don't know anything about this city.

---

That's it, I got it. I will offer them a roof over their head in exchange for information about this city and the people living in it. If what they tell me has enough value I will allow them to stay there for a few short days. Then, if they don't want to get kicked out they will need to tell me more information.

I can't help but smile at the idea of using these people living on their last leg for my benefit.

Am I a bad person now?

Probably not.