Chapter 6
Leon pushes himself off the shelf, leaving the store.
"Have a good day," the shop owner says as Leon leaves.
Leon looks towards the towers and starts to walk to the dead body of the burrow wyrm. As he gets closer, he sees more details of the burrow wyrm; its teal scales are shattered from the fight.
Leon walks around the dragon, scanning the area, looking for the stereotypical guy named Scott. He spots a man in a flannel shirt crouched near the Burrow Wyrm's body, scribbling notes.
"Uh… hey," Leon says. "Are you Scott? I'm… Leon."
The man looks up from his notes. "Which Scott?" He squints at him. "I make runes. If you're looking for the guy who ran the drill, you're a little late."
Leon shakes his head. "No. The shop owner told me to find you. Said you might help. With magic."
Scott exhales slowly. "Did he?" He studies Leon for a moment. "Alright. What do you wanna know?"
Leon hesitates. "Well… more about magic. I grew up with my grandpa. He only taught me body enhancement. We figured it out together, but…" He trails off. Leon's face darkens slightly.
Scott nods once. "Sorry." He thinks for a moment. "Well… basics are fire, water, earth, and air. That's what most people start with. Fog works kind of like oxygen, except it feeds the brain. That's how you move it. Shape it."
Leon blinks. "That's… a lot."
Scott takes a breath. "If you don't mind showing me what your grandfather taught you, maybe you could build off that."
Leon hesitates, then focuses. Purple fog gathers around his body as he activates his enhancement. "This. That's about it."
Scott watches closely.
Leon lets the magic fade.
"It's good," Scott says after a moment. "Pretty good. You could beat a couple of people here. You and your grandfather did well." He pauses. "Your technique's main color is already peeking through."
Leon looks up.
"You could build on that," Scott continues. "Maybe healing. Or earth magic. Body enhancement's good for defense, and they share traits."
Leon's face brightens. "So… could you maybe teach me?"
Scott shakes his head. "No. No, I'm not that guy. I only make runes. I can't channel fog properly."
Leon's expression falls. "Oh… okay." He sighs. "Well, if that's all you can tell me, could you maybe give me a tour? Or tell me somewhere I could sleep tonight?"
Scott's expression darkens. "Not for cheap. And you really shouldn't be here after dark." He gestures toward the ruined scrap where the towers once stood. "These attacks happen at night, too."
Leon frowns. "But it's nearly two hours back to my town. There's only a couple of hours of daylight left."
Scott doesn't answer. He turns back to his notes.
Leon guesses he'll have to sleep on a bench or something, though he has no idea how cold it'll get. He leaves Scott alone and heads back toward the shop owner, only to find the shop closed.
Leon looks around for a bench or somewhere to sleep. He chose an alley, small and narrow, protected from the wind, and which can slightly trap heat.
Leon pulls his backpack off and sets it on the ground, rummaging through it, pulling out a leather flask with water, then pulling out a few more things like food, and finally a small sleeping bag that's made from Fire Wyrm Scales.
He puts the stuff back in his backpack except the sleeping bag, and tucks the backpack into the sleeping bag as he crawls into the sleeping bag.