Ashes of the Fallen

"Where, are we going?" she questioned with some concern showing on her face. A petite girl with cute features, she would be quite the catch for one of the other NPCs. At least, that's what I thought. There was no telling if her personality was decent yet, but I recruited only the best.

High Potential ratings were the most important feature of course. The second most important feature though, at least for me, was their character disposition. I picked those with Optimistic or Neutral Outlooks, and those that had positive traits listed.

There wasn't a single Pessimist in this village.

Well, maybe not, I could be considered a pessimist at times.

Excluding me though, and there was only optimism.

"We're going hunting my dear," I stated rather casually while activating my [Keen Sight]. "All of you are going to become advanced magic users, within short order."

Eyeing the girl that had spoken up, a quick inspection showed me all of her details. She was only level one with a base proficiency in Lightning Magic. Effectively, she only knew how to use [Lightning Bolt] and nothing else. Everyone else in the group was the same, minus the Dark Magic users.

The Dark Mages were able to use [Shadow Flare] as their first spell… which according to the description, was a straight-line skill shot that looked, essentially, like a flare. Exploding on contact in a small radius with the possibility of being chain cast, it was a fairly standard, efficient spell.

I couldn't teach them anything else, nor did I know of anyone that could… so for now, they were going to get dual training from Katherine.

Actually, everyone was.

"What's your name," I asked as I raised a brow while looking at the female caster.

I already knew her name, so this was formality.

As the one who ruled Dragon's Breach and in turn, ruled her, I was privy to such information. But, I wanted to be realistic. I would ask, as normal people would, rather than cheat like a stalker and come out already knowing everything.

That sort of behavior, was painfully awkward.

"My given name is Astrid, Sir Sigurd," she answered tactfully.

"A lovely name," I said playfully with  a smile. "Alright, Astrid, there's a wolf just behind that bush, between the three pairs of trees. The one with the white flower. I want you to cast a Lightning Bolt directly into the center of that bush."

"Ah-h as you command Sir Sigurd," she stuttered, clearly scared of attacking a beast much stronger than herself. She had little reason to worry though, I was here after all.

Astrid took her stance and began to build up electrical energy between her fingertips as I carefully watched. Two seconds later, and she extended her palms and shot the pathetically small ball of lightning out with little force.

The lightning, thin as it was, almost failed to cut through the air as it impacted the wolf on the other side of the bush. Not visible to those without [Keen Sight], the other casters looked on with confused expressions.

Angered by the weak attack, the wolf burst through the brush as the casters jumped back in fright. Their legs shook as they wanted to run, but most knew better and froze in place. They watched with terror in their eyes as the wolf charged forward.

Then, at the last moment, when hands had been thrown up to shield their faces. In utter panic, some screamed and jumped, while others fell to the floor. But nothing had happened, no noises could be heard except for the sound of crackling electricity.

The confused recruits opened their fingers to take a peek.

There, in front of them, was a wolf completely immobilized as a single tether of electricity extended from my hand and connected the two of us. A few seconds later and the wolf collapsed to the floor with nary a sound.

Amazement, shone from their eyes.

"Sir Sigurd!" shouted one man. "You, you must be a master magician!"

"Lightning Magic of such strength!" yelled another.

"Will we be able to do that too, Sir Sigurd?" asked Astrid as she tried to regain her composure. She was trembling. She was the closest one to the wolf and feared for the worst, right up until electricity shot forth from my hand. She didn't retreat though.

She didn't cover her eyes either.

Astrid, was the most promising one here.

"To a degree, you will all be capable of this," I started to explain. "I have… many years of experience and a lot of time, too much time, ahead of you. But, I can help you develop, to the point where wolves, bears, and maybe even trolls will cower before you."

"What would you ask me to do?" followed up Astrid as she stared at me with her large blue eyes. A cute blonde haired and  blue eyed girl, she was going to be a hit.

She was already a hit with me.

I liked her willingness.

It was an endearing trait.