After a lot of effort and making use of some of the vines that were growing down into the cave, Ambrose finally managed to get the deer's carcass out of the pit. The result of much dragging and lifting, he stood over it, breathing heavily.

  He felt terrible treating the poor thing like this but if he was going to live in the wild, he had accepted he was going to need to hunt, though he probably wouldn't have called what he was doing now hunting.

  As he looked at the animal he had unceremoniously pulled from its grave, he had a sobering thought.

  What do I do now?

  He knew you could eat deer and that its skin could be used to make leather or other crafts but how was a question to which he didn't even know where to start.

  He decided the first port of call was to get it back to his camp, which meant much more dragging.

  Using the vines that were still tied around the creature, he started pulling it along the forest floor. The cave was only about a chain from the camp but it took him an excruciating amount of time before he was able to finish moving the body.

  After recovering from the effort, he took out his knife and began attempting to remove its pelt. He started with a cut at the top of its neck, trying to get the blade just under the top layer of flesh. His plan had been to see if he could start to get the skin away from the meat, eventually cutting around the whole neck, then continuing to remove the skin in three of four pieces but after a painful amount of attempts, his last knife snapped.

  He stood and looked at the mess he had made of the animals neck and he decided that this task may be outside of his range of ability.

  There is a butchers and tanners in town, maybe I could take it to them?

  He could ask them to process it for him, though he wouldn’t be able to pay them, maybe he could share some of the meat and skin as payment?

  The thought of dragging the corpse in front of him all the way back to town made Ambrose's body feel preemptively tired. He sighed and flopped down in front of the fire pit, which had gone out whilst he had been away, leaving just smoldering embers. He lazily threw some wood from the pile he had made on to the charred remains and lent towards it. He placed his hand close to the wood and tried to focus his magic. While he couldn’t shoot fire balls, he could make a very small yet consistent flame, he had even managed to use it to cook with in the past but today he just needed to keep it going for a few seconds. The dry dead wood he had added smoked and caught almost instantly, Ambrose adding larger bits from the pile as the flame grew.

  Within a short time, a healthy fire was burning in front of him, providing more than enough warmth to fight off the forest chill. He relaxed for the rest of the evening, thinking about his sudden situation, planning how in the world he was going to get the deer back to town and gathering small piles of wood to replenish the fire as it burnt down. The forest was quiet, besides the distant rumble of the river running to west. The soft sounds of rustling leaves, bird song and insect calls was all he could hear. Ambrose laid back onto the makeshift bed that had been left for him. He stared up at the sky, the bright blue of the day was starting to fade into the deep navy of the early evening. He let out a sigh and a deep calm came over him, one that he felt was only possible due to the fact that whatever magic had granted him right over this land, gave him a sense of overwhelming and complete safety.

  At some point, as he was basking in the warm embrace of home, he must have fallen asleep, as the next thing he knew he was waking up to the morning sun cresting the top of the trees.

  As he got up, washed in the river and ate the last of his food, the arduous task ahead lingering in his mind.

  Once he was ready he stood over the deer and took a resolute breath.

  "Ok you know this one, you can do this."

  The feather spell had been one he had been asked to demonstrate during his exam for entrance into the Mages Cohort of the Builders Guild. He should have been able to made a half ton stone brick light enough to be carried by one man. He had trained for weeks but apparently only reducing its weight by half wasn’t good enough. He now looked down at the deer carcass on the ground below him and wondered if it would be enough now.

  He had actually considered using the spell when getting the animal out of the hole it had died in but considering the spell duration, he didn't think it was worth expending the energy for the time it would take to get it back without it.

  A quarter of a day should be more than enough to get it back to town.

  He placed his hand on the deer and did his best to remember how to channel the magic. He hadn't had much use for the spell since his assessment.

  His hand glowed with a soft yellow light and he felt the energy start to leave his body. He closed his eyes and sensed as it began to fill the animal. For the spell to be complete it needed to fill all of the object it was being cast on, it was quite easy to fill a shape that was uniform like a cube but as Ambrose was finding out, a deer was not a very uniform shape.

  He grimaced as he felt the pressure starting the build in his head. There would be no point casting the magic if the effort it took made him too exhausted to travel back to town. He took a deep breath and focused. He was close; it shouldn't be too much more.

  The first inkling of pain in his skull was just manifesting, when he felt the tingle of overflowing magic that indicated that the spell had filled its target. He dropped his concentration and relaxed.

  Easy. He thought, sarcastically to himself.

  He drank some water he had collected when he was washing and rubbed his temples to try to relieve the pressure. He thought he had cast the spell quite well and for a moment hoped that he had reduced the weight of the deer by six, maybe eight times but by the effort it took to haul it onto his back, he deduced that three to four times was maybe a more realistic assessment of the outcome of his spell. Still, it was enough that he felt he could actually, maybe, possibly, get it back to town.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  With the animal on his back Ambrose decided to waste no more of the spell's time or the daylight and began making his way to the main path. The difficulty of making his way through the untamed forest implanting the mental note to clear a path of his own towards the main one when he got back.

  Once on the road he didn't see many people, walking for a good while before he did. When he did begin encountering travelers, the looks of confusion on their faces were almost worth the effort he was expending. Since it was common knowledge that hunting was not possible in the forest, he could only imagine how they thought he had gotten hold of his prize.

  He wasn’t sure if it was the amusement from the bewildered travelers, or because of panic caused by the possibility of the feather spell wearing off and the deer crushing him but Ambrose was able to get back to the city in what he felt was record time, though by the time he did he looked quite a state. It had only been a short time into his trek when he realised he had forgotten one rather important thing he should have done before he left, he had forgotten to hang the deer carcass to drain. Seemingly having all pooled inside the poor things body after it had passed, when he had tried to adjust the way he was carrying it while he had been walking, a viscous glug of half congealed blood, made lighter by his spell, had covered his back and left arm.

  As he entered the city gates, he thought for a second that the guards were going to stop him based on the looks they were giving but Ambrose gave them a friendly smile and nod and made his way to the first of his two stops today, the Tanner. Luckily for him the building he wanted was only a few minutes' walk from the gate he had entered from. He approached the entrance and placed the deer on the ground, considered his options.

  I could just walk in and drop it on the counter? He thought. Maybe if he acted confident enough, they would just…

  Ambrose let out a sigh. Being cocky probably wouldn't help him make any friends, considering he was going to have to try to barter into getting what he needed. He tidied himself up as best he could and prepared to enter.

  The building was one of the newer ones that had been built after the war and as such was built of a mix of new and old broken stone bricks with concrete holding them together. The door was wooden and was wider than most he had seen, which he assumed this was so animal carcasses could more easily be brought in. Above the door was a sign with the symbol of the tanner’s guild on it as well as three stylized letter Ts. Once the mild confusion of the signs meaning wore off, he gathered his nerves and pushed open the door.

  As he walked in, he saw a large counter about four paces in front of him, behind that he could see a working area with many different tools and equipment. Pinned to the walls were a number of different skins, furs and leathers with prices written in chalk underneath.

  Ambrose made his way to the counter and looked around.

  "Hello?" He said, his voice slightly raised.

  "Hold on, be out in a second." A voice responded from a door at the back of the shop.

  After a moment a women walked out. From her stocky appearance his first impression was she was a dwarf but after noticing her height he wasn't sure.

  "Welcome to the Tip Top Tanners, how can I help you?" The women said.

  "Ooh that's what the sign means."

  She smiled at him "It was a lot cheaper at the sign makers. So, what can I do for you?"

  The revelation of the mysterious sign had distracted him from his task, and now he had been caught off guard.

  "Oh, I um..."

  The shop keeper looked at him expectantly. "Do you want to buy something?"

  Ambrose shook his head "No, I have brought something that needs to be skinned." He stammered out.

  The women smiled and nodded in understanding "Ah ok" she said look at his belt "is it a rabbit or...?"

  "It's a deer." Ambrose blurted.

  "...A deer." the women replied flatly.

  "Yeah... It's outside."

  "Oooh." The women replied. "It's on your cart. Sorry I thought for a second that-"

  "No, it's just outside... on the floor." He interrupted.

  The women staired at him blankly for a few moments before laughing. "Sure, ok, bring it in then." She said smirking.

  Ambrose was confused by her amusement but decided to do what she asked. He exited the shop, picked up the deer, being thankful the spell seemed to still be in effect and carried it in.

  As it thunked on to the counter, the look of confusion and bewilderment on the women's face made him feel more and more that this may have not been the best idea.

  "How... how did you get this here?" She asked.

  "I um, carried it?"

  There was silence in the room long enough that Ambrose wasn’t sure if he should say more.

  "So, is the skinner available at the moment?"

  "I'm the skinner and the tanner here." The women replied flatly.

  She looked closer at the deer for a moment, before a sudden fear crossed her face. "Is this animal from the forest outside the city?"

  "Uum..." Ambrose wasn’t sure how to respond, he supposed he could lie but he thought that might just makes thing worse.

  Before he could answer she quickly darted towards a side door and shouted.

  "Guards! Guards!"

  Ambrose jumped at the sudden reaction and without really thinking vaulted over the side of the counter to try to stop her.

  "Wait wait wait." He said quickly. "I can explain."

  The women grabbed a small knife out of her belt and pointed it at him. "I don't know what you are but something that can kill an animal under the forests protection don't sound good to me."

  He raised his hands in a gesture he meant to show no harm.

  "Please, just let me explain."

  He proceeded to regale the women the strange events of the last few days. Her slowly lowering her guard as he did.

  Once he was finished she sat and looked at him, stunned.

  "That is certainly an insane story you got there..." She lingered as Ambrose realised, he hadn't told her his name yet.

  "Oh, Ambrose." He said.

  She continued to linger in silence until he realised she was expecting a surname from him.

  "Just Ambrose." He reiterated.

  She nodded in understanding "Ah, guildless, guess that explains the state of you."

  Ambrose looked down at his shabby and now dried blood covered clothes, which he now realised probably didn't help with the tanner's suspicions.

  "Sorry I didn't get your name either." He replied.

  "Arlon."

  "Arlon Tanner, I'm guessing?" Ambrose added.

  She nodded. "Been part of the Tanner's Guild since I was sixteen."

  "But you’re also a Skinner?" Ambrose asked.

  He knew that there was a separate Skinners guild, though they usually worked closely with the Tanners.

  Arlon suddenly looked sheepish at his question.

  "Uum, yeah, I probably shouldn't have told you that." She said rubbing the back of her head. "This is my shop, and I am supposed to employ a Skinner from their guild but I was struggling to afford one so I kind of... got hold of some guild training materials and taught myself."

  Ambrose was nodding in understanding when a sudden idea popped into his head. "Wait, so could you teach me how to skin animals?" He asked.

  Arlon shrugged, "I guess." She paused for a second to think. "But why should I?"

  He tried to think of a good reason but came up blank. He sighed. "You're right, I have nothing to offer. I don't even have any money to pay for you to skin the deer." He put his head in his hands. "I really have no idea what I am doing?"

  He was taking a moment to wallow when Arlon spoke up.

  "How about we make a deal?"

  He lifted his head from his hands and looked at the Tanner. "What kind of deal?"

  She pulled up a chair and gestured for him to sit.

  "If what you have said is true and for some reason I can't explain I believe you. You are the only one who is able to hunt in the forest."

  Ambrose nodded. "Yeah, I guess."

  "Usually, hunters have to travel a day or more out to be able to hunt, and then have to bring all of their kills back. If I teach you how to skin animals you have to give me the first refusal on your extra skins. I will even show you how to process the skin once it off."

  He only had to consider the offer for a moment before he stood and put out his hand "You have a deal."