No way you were going to trust someone else to change you to male. No you had to do this on your own. Unfortunately, magic school is expensive as all get out. You could only afford one basic magic book and that put you you square into bankruptcy. This timeline your mom was happy to let you crash at her place till you're back on you're feat but it feels bad to take a step backwards like that. Eventually you manage some basic spells.
Silver Tongue makes you a better liar, Minor Rot deals some damage to anything that's alive and Slip makes a surface, well, slippery.
It's probably enough for you to do a bounty, although your mother does protest against you doing dangerous work. Thankfully she doesn't actively try to stop you and you set off.
Later you meet up with someone traveling with a caravan. His name is Dennis, a stout mustached gentleman with sandy blond hair and a gruff voice.
"You're a magic type huh?" He asked looking you up and down, his eyes lingering on your chest filling you with an unfortunately familiar uncomfortable feeling. "You seem the type. Not very tough but still very confident.
You thank him since you want the job and he gives a grunt before continuing.
"It's pretty simple. We're moving a lot of meat from here to Portmine. It has a port and a mine." He points northward "It's only a three day trip but there have been more wolves here as of late. Just help keep'em off us till we get there. C'mon you should meet the other security."
You knew that there was going to be other people doing this job with you, but you were a little surprised to see that they were both woman. Lucky for you at least, they weren't leering at you.
"You three make nice." Dennis said before turning back to the caravan "We leave at noon."
as Dennis left you alone one of the woman approached you with a friendly smile. "Howsit! M' names Elly!" She shook your hand energetically. Her dark read hair matched the colors of the now falling leaves and her lean frame made you wonder if she could draw the crossbow on her back to take a shot. "Nice to meet ya, Miss! The tall and strong drink behind me is Delia. She's a piece of work but a right hoot once you know her better!"
The stocky woman behind her just grunted. Despite her silver hair, she doesn't seem that old. Not much for words either as she stares you down. It's very evident that she could tare you in half if she wanted.
Nervously, you introduced yourself to the polar opposites before you. Elly did the majority of the talking until Dennis let you know that it was time to move out.
Two of you stood on look out at once, switching out in shifts through out the day. Luckily you didn't see any wolves yet but it would be dumb to let your guard down when you're being paid to stand guard. On your off time you studied the only magic book you had and wondered about what other spells you should try to learn. If you're going to be a magic mercenary than it might make sense to find more combat spells.
The day comes to a close and you and the others take shifts staying up to stand guard. You went last and got to watch the sunrise, which so far had been the highlight of your first job. You and Elly shared a shift together and just like usual she dominated the conversation.
"My moms been a workin' gal her whole life, but after she had me her looks just didn't win the bread no moe'." She said, somehow convinced that you would like to hear her life story. "So I was sen' off. We don' talk much nowadays."
You inquire if she's supposed to be a stealthy type, seeing as how she's thin and uses a ranged weapon.
"You know it! I can go unnoticed in an all men barbeque even with looks like mine!" She said loud proud, refusing your hint that she should be quiet. "You need any sneaking done, you come see me al'ight?"
You tell her that you'll do that while internally hoping to never meet her again. Next is your shift with Delia who gives you no conversation whatsoever. At first it's nice to not have the red head's voice bouncing around your ears it quickly gives way to boredom. You try to ask Delia questions but you are met with silence. Eventually you give up and wait for your break.
It's a little while into your down time when the wolves attack. You rush out of your wagon to try and help but there hardly seems to be a need. Delia has charged with an axe roughly the size of two of you, and sliced a wolf clean in half vertically. Before the other wolves could run away they were all struck down with arrows, seemingly from different vantage points. Elly must have been moving around to make it seem as if there were more archers than just her, but you couldn't spot any signs of movement. You couldn't even see where she was shooting from, its as if the arrows were materialized from the forest it self.
With only one wolf standing you cast Minor Rot on it, but unlike the other two it doesn't die instantly. It just becomes sickly and limps a round until Delia swoops in and knocks it's head off. It became very clear to you that you were the weak link.
"All clear!" Elly called out, walking out of the woods with a smile "I reckon that we can make some good use out of this, even! With these wolves we can make some mighty nice coats! Cept the rotten one looks like."
You bite your lip, less than pleased with how this encounter transpired.
Elly slapped you on the back and happily said "I gotta say, that's the first magic I ever did see! How'd you make the wolf get all sick outta nowhere?"
You explain the basic points of the spell but Elly says that it's way over her head. You didn't think you'd be pitied by a redneck whore's child today but that is where you are at in life right now.