Chapter 1: An Unremarkable Ambush

After two months at sea, Marcus decided that he would learn how to travel through portals. Seafaring was by far the most boring method of transportation, and omnipresent nausea did little to assuage the dreariness. However, on a far more positive note, Marcus had now made it to his destination, the port city of Finford, a bastion of glory in the once mighty Xerian Empire, and the beginning of his tale. As he looked towards the city, he was impressed that such a large metropolis had stood for so long in spite of the collapse. Although he couldn’t make out much from the ship, it was more than enough to impress him. After all, the last big city he saw was all the way back in Tevaria. 

As the ship steadily crept closer to the docks, Marcus could more clearly see some of the details of Finford. Unfortunately, one unpleasant detail he found was the presence of soldiers crawling over the dock, and checking everyone who left. As he looked out from the dock, he heard someone speak to him.

“So, what do ya think of Finford? Is it as magnificent as I told you?” 

“Yes, but I imagine it was far more magnificent before the collapse.” Marcus turned to face the man who spoke to him. The captain was an older gentleman, and the years out at sea had taken their toll, but the man seemed lively enough.

After a brief conversation between the two, Marcus went to his cabin to gather his belongings. He didn’t pack much for his journey, considering that he planned on staying in Xeria for a while. After gathering his belongings, he left the cabin and waited until the ship docked.

When the ship docked, the soldiers on the dock stood by the exit and checked all the passengers as they disembarked. Fortunately, for Marcus, the soldiers weren’t diviners and didn’t discover his real identity.

One hour after arriving in Finford, and Marcus had already situated himself in an inn. The innkeeper offered him a cheap price for a room, and the food was great compared to what he had on the ship. After having a bit to eat, Marcus checked his surroundings to make sure that no one would hear him, and cast a few spells. Suddenly, a flood of information came in, as what was previously idle chatter became coherent conversation in his ears. With this sensory improvement, Marcus began directing his mind toward the various discussions his fellow patrons were having. 

Most of it was unremarkable and provided little knowledge, but there were some useful pieces of information. Such as who had taken over Finford after the collapse and the local warlords, as well as some comments about a dragon. Unfortunately, the patrons did not go into great detail on these people, making Marcus’ eavesdropping less effective, but still useful overall. However, his eavesdropping was interrupted when he noticed someone approaching him.

“Excuse me, but are you a mage?” Marcus turned to face the direction of the voice. It was a woman with lightly glowing red eyes.

“You already know I am. May I ask what you are doing?” Marcus then allowed his hearing spells to fade away, he wouldn’t be needing them anymore.

“I would like to recruit you for a job, may I ask what circles you studied?” The woman asked before sitting down across the table.

“A sane mage doesn’t just tell someone what circles they studied,”

“I understand the secrecy of mages, but we have a lot to offer you, and we need to know your expertise before you join us,” The woman raised a bag of coins and placed them on the table.

“May I at least know your name and who you work for?” Marcus began looking around the inn, seeing if there was anyone else involved.

“My name is Cotrana, and I work for the Finford Council. Although you aren’t from Xeria, I’m sure you have already heard about the magnitude of threats to Finford,”

“I’m vaguely aware. So you want to hire me to protect Finford from all of these warlords and factions. Alright, I studied all major circles of Arcane magic,”

“What’s your specialty?”

“I am a generalist, I have mostly just mastered the basics for the circles,” Marcus answered, hoping she didn’t have lie-detecting magic.

“That sounds useful, do you mind coming with me to one of our buildings?” Cotrana asked, and began to rise from the table.

“Is it far away?”

“Not really, it will take just 15 minutes to get there,”

“I’ll go, it seems like this might be a good job,” Marcus answered and also rose from the table. He paid for his food and drink before walking out the door after Cotrana. At this point, it was late in the evening, and the sun was down. Marcus raised the hood on his cloak and began to rapidly cast three spells. The first and third caused a few small lights to appear around Marcus and Cotrana, illuminating the way, and catching strange looks from everyone else. However, the second spell allowed him to sense the density of mana and spells nearby.

“Did you need that many spells to just create some light?” Cotrana asked.

“Yes, the first spell creates the lights, the second spell extends the duration, and the third spell lets me control them,” Marcus lied again, although this time he was confident she had no lie-detecting magic.

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“Alright. On another note, can you teach magic to other people? It would help us tremendously, and we’d pay you more money,”

“I can teach others magic,” Marcus answered.

The rest of the walk to the building was uneventful. As they got closer to the building, Marcus noticed that the number of people nearby was gradually decreasing. Eventually, the two of them arrived at their destination, and Marcus could sense the presence of eight people within the room. From what his spells could detect, they were all mages and had basic wards placed on them.

“I’ll go inside and tell them you’re here,” Cotrana said. She then opened the door to the building and closed it behind her.

“This has got to be an ambush,” Marcus mused aloud to himself. After a bit of waiting the door opened and Cotrana gestured for Marcus to enter. When Marcus entered, he saw that everyone was wearing armor and that two of them were holding spears. Cotrana then raised a sheet of parchment and presented it to Marcus.

“We’ll need you to sign this contract, once that is done, you will be part of the Finford Council,” Cotrana said, handing him a quill.

Marcus grabbed the quill and then looked over the contract. His magic detection had revealed a series of runes and inscriptions on the parchment. Spiritual magic? I can’t decipher it, but it seems to make the contract outlined in the parchment binding.

Marcus then began to read over the contract, it was similar to the contracts that he had seen in Tevaria. Most of it outlined his expected duties and how he would be compensated. Although, buried in the fine print, was a section that detailed that he may never disobey or harm the Finford Council, or the person who created this contract.

At this point, everyone else in the building had surrounded Marcus, but none had pointed their weapons at him, yet. Marcus looked up from the parchment to the mages surrounding him. He then handed the quill and contract to Cotrana.

“I can’t sign a magically binding contract like this,”

“We outnumber you nine-to-one. You will sign the contract.” Cotrana said with a glare in her eye. The other mages then drew their weapons or readied spells to attack.

“This is going to be a pain,” Marcus said. He clasped his hands together and teleported outside the building. Next, he placed his palms on the ground and sent a spell through the pavement. The walls to the building crumbled away, causing the building to collapse, threatening to crush everyone inside. 

The building fell down and a wave of dust rose up, Marcus stood back and watched as most of the mana signatures vanished. When the dust settled, Marcus saw two people rising from the rubble. The first was Cotrana, who was cloaked in a red veil of energy, and other than a few scratches was unscathed. The other survivor, a young elven man, had suffered more debilitating injuries. There were cuts all over his body and his left arm was broken. Marcus then looked toward the elf and said.

“Now that the fight is over, can you tell me your name?”

“Neivan,” The elven man answered.

“Alright, so who created and enchanted that contract?”

“Zarcur wrote the contract and told us to get mages to sign it,” Neivan answered.

“First, how many mages have signed this contract?” Marcus asked, tapping his foot on the ground rapidly.

“We managed to get 10 mages to sign this contract,” Cotrana answered.

“Alright, and my second question is who Zarcur is?”

“Zarcur is a minor leader of the Finford Council,” Neivan answered. Marcus paused for a moment, lost in thought, before clasping his hands together.

“Can you two bring me to Zarcur?” Marcus asked.

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