Random 01

“The price of silver has gone beyond the sky’s reach.” Mylee Young said to herself. She was sitting behind the teller’s counter at this branch of the Adventurer’s Guild. Recently the guild had assisted the town in fighting off a massive force of mercenaries.

Mylee had heard a noble had gone so far as to lend the assistance of a personal servant. The Silver Witch they were calling her. The alleged savior gutted the mages on the enemy side. Quite a few of the female adventuring crowd had taken to wearing silver. The entire affair had developed into a massive bubble that pushed the price of pure silver to obscene cost.

I should sell the few silver coins I’ve saved. The going price for them is probably enough to pay my contract out. Mylee thought as she recited the standard stock phrases to another adventuring team leader. With the excess amount, I can look for a decent group to raise my current levels!

Serving adventurers had been a good career move when the alternative was starving in the street, but the shine was gone. Most of them were nothing more than glorified mercenaries that focused on monsters. Granted, the strongest ranked Adventuring groups made piles of gold, but for every top-tier team, countless bones were lying in unmarked graves.

Magic and steel could only take a group so far. Without the vaunted element of luck, it was hard to go further. Mylee had a small affinity for chalk, but there wasn’t much call for chalk specialization. She couldn’t exactly powder opponents to death, after all.

Finishing her shift, Mylee headed out from the guild to her favorite hang-out spot. It was a small café that managed to avoid the devastation of the invasion. The owner allowed free drinks and minor snacks while customers perused their choice of books.

“Ah, back for another volume of Chalk the Unwritten Terror?” the café owner asked Mylee with a grin.

Mylee nodded, accepting the medium-sized fictional tome the café owner handed over. The adventures within sometimes inspired her. While she never believed being a chalk mage was exciting, the series written by the author, ATON SMITH, was quite vivid.

She wasn’t reading it for the romance, though, only for research.

Yes. Mylee thought as she got a cup of tea and three tiny scone cakes. Just research.

The most recent adventures had the main character, Anton Smith, learning the incredible power of Summoning. The affinity of chalk could take this branch of magic to incredible heights. Where other mages would have to spend hours detailing a summoning circle, a chalk mage could do it in a fraction of the time!

Wouldn’t it be dreamy to summon up the perfect servant? Mylee thought with a far-off look. Just find Mr. Perfect with a snap!

Chalk the Unwritten Terror even had some fantastical summoning circles based on pentagrams. Looking at some of the exotic, barely clothed men summoned, her willpower was tested. Surely it wouldn’t hurt just to try one of these magic circles. The worst that could happen was nothing, after all. There was fine print that she couldn't make out, but Mylee wasn't worried.

Checking the various options, Mylee settled on a name that looked unique. Squinting, she deciphered the full name before speaking it aloud.

“Friend Ly-m-an?” Mylee managed to pronounce it. The individual appeared to be a specialist in cooking. According to the notes in the book, the Summon required consent from both parties. If she couldn’t agree, dismissing the summon wasn’t hard, either.