Morning had come to him and knocked the weariness out of his bones. His dreams had been peaceful, though restlessly so. He had the kind of night where one did not dream, instead there was a blackness all around and the surrounding void accompanied his slumber.

He changed into his now dry clothes and then his heavy chain before lumbering down the steps as quietly as he could, seeing Emma at the counter and the keep at the bar, wiping down the mug as keeps tend to do in fantasy worlds.

He turned to his right though to see what kind of quests he could do. He hadn't spent much time here, he didn't really need to since he was in no shape to actually quest yesterday.

Giant rats, herb picking, and not really much else at copper rank. There were a few quests where a few shops needed some guards that paid a few silver a day, which he could certainly do though he was unsure how much a nights stay at an inn would cost, and then of course there were meals too.

He wasn't sure whether or not to take the quest either so he returned back to the table and then just sat there. He had some idea of a plan of action. He wanted to buy a spare change of clothes and quest. That was it. He'd get some measurements done today and then he'd go and slay some giant rats in the sewers.

"Hey Adam, found a quest you want to do?" Jurot asked as he sat down opposite the half-elf.

"I'm planning on doing some rat slaying, what about you?"

Jurot gave a queer look as he raised a brow. "Rat slaying?" he almost scoffed. "You won't catch me dead slaying rats."

"Hopefully not, you're too strong to be slain by rats."

Jurot smiled. "That's right," he said with great pride, "I'm too strong for that! I'm waiting for a quest that will challenge me!"

Adam watched as Jurot flexed his great barbarian muscles. He had quite the physique, he wasn't sure if Jurot was stronger than himself, but the youngster certainly looked it.

"I don't think you'll find many copper quests to challenge you, isn't that why we should rank up to iron as quickly as we can?"

"I won't do anything that is below my strength," Jurot said confidently.

"Then how will you rank up?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you don't do any copper rank quests now, then how will you rank up?"

"I will wait until there are quests worthy of me…" Jurot said quietly.

"What if you find none? Then you'll be forever a copper rank?"

Jurot remained silent. Adam felt a little bad about it since Jurot seemed a little confused.

"I'm going to go giant rat slaying, but I'll be at peace knowing that you'll be there fighting at my side," Adam said quietly, wondering if Jurot would get the hint.

Jurot puffed up his chest. "If you need my help then I will be there, Adam!" he exclaimed with a nod of his head, crossing his arms.

The bell for breakfast rang and so they lined up. The breakfast was a mass of eggs, toast and some fruit. There was ale again of course. The eggs were slightly overcooked, but that was to be expected, though the toast was crunchy on one side and quite soft on the other due to the butter. He loaded up the toast with the eggs and then continued to eat as Jurot wolfed his food down. He dunked down his ale and then leaned back and placed his hands on his stomach as though he was a dog that had eaten too much so he needed a rest.

Once Adam was done with the food he stood and placed the dishes aside before he headed over the desk.

"Hey Emma, can Jurot and I do the same quest?"

"Do you want to form a party with Jurot?" she asked.

"A temporary one if that's alright."

"That's fine. Jurot are you okay partying up with Adam?" Jurot nodded and then pointed upward before Emma accepted the sentiment. "Which quest do you want to do?"

"The giant rat slaying quest in the sewers," he replied.

"Alright, though we will ask you to take off your armour and then myself or another guild worker will clean it for you whilst you go bathe. I understand your fey blood may make it difficult for such smells to cling to you, but it's for good measure."

Adam smiled and nodded, accepting the sentiment before he chuckled.

"Then that will be three silver per giant rat. Please do be careful. We'll need confirmation so please bring back the tails for each one you slay. You can bring back the rat bodies and we'll dismember them and offer you an additional one silver plus half of what is dismembered, but we don't recommend that unless you are desperate for coin."

Adam nodded and then she brought out two sheets and then handed him over two small wooden blocks with pins out of them.

"These are copies of the quest in case you forget, and please pin these against the quest on the right side across from the rank required so people know that there's two copper ranks on the quest."

Adam did as she asked, pinning the blocks where he saw holes from previous adventurers taking the quest. Then he turned and saw Jurot was ready to go, the barbarian motioning with his head towards the door.

The pair stepped out onto the street, with the sun high above beating down on them with it’s warmth, the sounds of the city nearby giving him some comfort. There were instructions on how to get to the sewers on the quest sheet they had received and so Adam followed the way.

“I wanted to go and get my body measured at the tailor, but I’ll do that when my armour is being cleaned later…” Adam said to Jurot, who didn’t seem to be paying much attention to such civilised talk. Clothes and such? For a barbarian?

“Hey Jurot,” Adam called out, “maybe we should get some bread?”

“Bread? Are you still hungry?”

“No, it won’t be for me or for you. I’m thinking about getting some bread so we can entice the giants rats near our way.”

“Oh,” Jurot said as he nodded his head. “That’s a good idea.”

“That’s my job,” Adam grinned at Jurot. “I’m the idea man.”

With that the pair went towards the centre of the town to see if they couldn’t find a place that sold bread. A bakery was preferred, but a stall that sold some food was fine too.

“This way,” Jurot said as he motioned with his head.

Adam raised his brows in surprise wondering just how Jurot could lead the way by his sniffing alone, but behold, they had indeed found their way to a baker. It was shocking to say the least.

The bakery was a large building with a small front, a small door that opened to a tiny room that revealed some of what the bakery had to offer, but the room behind was separated by a sheet. Adam guessed that there was a large oven behind and they kept quite a large number of ingredients there. There was a young woman, who very much looked like a woman that grew up on bread, at the front current packing a number of breads. She was a young woman, barely an adult. Adam guessed that she probably was an adult in this world, but he couldn’t quite see her as such yet as she was still in her early teens. She was full bodied and looked as though she smelt of pastries, with copper touched hair and acorn eyes. She noted the two stronger looking men enter and threw a wary glance before it softened when her eyes fell on their chests, seeing their adventurer tokens.

“How can I be helping you?” she asked as her fingers continued to work the parchment over the breads. She worked in such a way that Adam could tell she had been doing this since she was young.

“Uh, I’d like to buy a loaf of bread,” Adam said awkwardly.

Jurot remained silent, sniffing the various scents of the bread.

“I can do that for you, what kind of bread would you like?”

“What kind of bread do you have?”

“We have seeded bread, honey coated bread, buttered bread, we have egg washed bread, we have bread filled with jams too, apple jam and raspberry jam, and an orange marmalade too, then of course we do Ikkil-bread, with the roasted peanuts inside of it, and also-” she continued for a long while until the number of breads she had listed were longer than the list of spells Adam could have possibly known.

“Uh…” Adam paused for a long moment and then said, “how much is the seeded bread?”

“What kind of seeded bread do you want? We have-” and once again she continued for a long while and he wondered just how many seeds these people have access to.

“Do you have a seeded bread already made and ready to sell?”

“Of course we do mister, we have roasted blossom bread if that’s what you’re hankering for.”

“Sure, how much is that?”

“That will be two copper pieces that will be,” she said as she then dropped down for a moment and returned with a large loaf of bread that was covered in black seeds.

“Uh I only have gold, do you have change?”

The baker nodded her head and so Adam handed over the gold coin and received back change.

CURRENCY

24 Gold

9 Silver

8 Copper

Base ten, that was easy enough.

“Is there anything else we can do you for?” she asked with a large smile.

Adam cleared his throat and turned back to Jurot. “Do you want some jam filled bread? I’ll pay.”

“I will pay, it is fine.”

“No, no, don’t worry about it.”

“I insist.”

“You can buy them next time, I already have my coins out.” Adam then turned to look at the baker. “Yes, uh, can we buy… how big are these jam breads?”

The baker held out the palm of her hand. “Each are this big and are two copper pieces each,” she said with a large smile that intended to sell the adventurer as many as he could possibly afford.

“Then six please.”

“Six? That is not enough to share between us,” Jurot complained.

“We don’t want to much jam going in to the quest and we’ve already eaten breakfast,” Adam argued with a whisper. “Let’s not argue in front of the baker.”

“Alright.”

With that Adam handed over the money and the baker forked over the goods, the sweet goods that would soon disappear from the world.

CURRENCY

24 Gold

8 Silver

6 Copper

Soon the pair were out of the bakery with half a dozen balls of bread that had been filled with jam.

"She is pretty," Jurot said as he began to pop a jam ball into his mouth.

Adam had almost taken a bite of the ball before he stopped and then his head snapped lightning quick to Jurot.

"Pretty?"

"She is not like these others," Jurot began with a tone that was the start of an epic rant, "she knows how to eat. A woman should eat as much as she can in order to be big and strong."

Adam couldn't help but feel that was a weird thing to expect, though he supposed this could have been Jurot's culture. Then a thought crossed Adam's mind and before he could stop himself with his British sensibilities it slipped out like vomit.

"What about the barkeep?"

Jurot paused for a long moment as he chewed on the ball. Adam eventually popped the ball into his mouth and felt the cloudy ball easily give in to the might of his teeth as the thick liquid spurt out in a waterfall of tart sweetness.

"She is a great woman," Jurot concluded with a nod of his head. "With great skill in cooking."

"Is that so…" Adam mused aloud as the pair jauntered to the edge of town. On the way Adam had been struck with a brilliant idea.

"A sack," he gasped. "We should buy a sack."

"A sack?"

"Yes, to keep the rats in once we've killed them. Then we can bring them to the guild to make more money."

"We can get the meat from the rats," Jurot grinned wide like a beast.

"R-right, sure…"

With that the pair each bought a sack from a nearby merchant before continuing along their way to the edge of town.

CURRENCY

24 Gold

8 Silver

5 Copper

There was a guard looking inward towards the town, idling beside the large gate. He gave a nod to the pair of adventurers noting their tags.

"Got a copper for the way back?" he asked.

Adam nodded. "I do," he said.

"I do too."

"Alright then, take care of yourselves."

Adam threw a nod before they marched their way along the wall before they finally came to the tower. There were two guards atop the walls. They called out to the pair who returned the enthusiastic greetings before they continued along their way to the sewer entrance within sight.

The guards whistled once more.

"Oi, your business?"

"Adventuring! Giant rats!" Adam shouted back.

"Good luck!" the guard exclaimed in return before nodding their head.

With that the pair opened up the crate and then were welcomed by a blast of not so fresh air, that smelled like an athlete's sock that had been left out to fester for months.

TOUGH SAVE

D20 (16) + TOUGH (2) + TRAINED (2) = 20

SUCCESS!

Adam had managed to keep those jam balls inside of him, they probably helped keep his taste buds alive and concentrated on the jam rather than what had come out from the sewers.

He threw a look towards Jurot who seemed fine with the smell, watching as the barbarian leapt into the sewer with ease. Adam climbed down the ladder half way before dropping down beside Jurot, leaving the grate opened for an easy escape.

Adam’s eyes blinked to get used to everything, the small bit of light from outside illuminating almost the entire area around them in low light, allowing him to see everything as clear as day whereas the distance was a little less clear, but he was still able to see it well enough. Everything was shaded grey as though he was wearing sunglasses, but he supposed it was fine considering his fey heritage gave him such a great ability.

Jurot grabbed a torch from his pack and lit it up, then grabbed an axe to keep his other hand company.

"I'll start dropping the bread," Adam said as he started tearing bits and pieces off the bread and tossed them aside. He kept the loaf pinned to his side as he continued to toss the bread about as though he was leaving a crumb trail of death.

Jurot stopped and raised his axe. He motioned to a pipe that was taking some garbage out another way. Adam donned his shield, smushing the bread in it’s little package between his sword belt and his side. He then raised his blade as three giant rats about the size of a man's head emerged from the pipe. They were nasty little things, which reeled at the light but the smell of the bread urged them forward.

BATTLE ORDER

D20 (2) - QUICK (1) = 1

Giant rats attack first.

Jurot attacks second.

Adam attacks third.

The giant rats were savage creatures that bolted towards Jurot, who had an axe in hand ready and eager for a fight. They were far more savage than even Adam expected as they struck Jurot with great zeal, tearing into the man's body with their bites.

Jurot’s body was hot red and flush with great anger. He roared like a tiger and with a single swipe he erased the existence of one of the giant rats, his body flexing as the splatter of red mist struck the walls. The flames of the torch licked at the area to show the scene in its full glory to the half-elf, who stood in awe of the beautiful strike.

ATTACK

D20 (2) + MIGHT (4) + TRAINED (2) = 8

MISS!

Adam did not want to embarrass himself so he leapt forth and swung his blade, aiming to cut the head of a giant rat clean off, but as he swung his blade it accidentally clattered against the wall beside him, the moments distraction causing him to glance over at it.

How embarrassing.

The two remaining beasts nipped at the barbarian once more, sinking their teeth’s deep into his muscles, and yet they tensed against the teeth and with a might swing of his axe, the bear like Jurot bisected the pair and they fell dead against the walls, all four halves sinking down against the floor.

"Behind!" Jurot exclaimed, spinning on his heel with axe and torch at the ready, illuminating six more rats off in the distance.

Oh no. Five more? Jurot wasn’t exactly in the best of situations and Adam was forced to act. This was the perfect time to test out his spells, his true spells and not just a trick.

"Perhaps you should take a slumber?" Adam incanted as his fingers waved ahead of him, revealing the wizard’s die, the faces of which shuffled around.

SLEEP

7D6 (24)

Mana reduced by 1.

2 - 1 = 1

1 mana remaining.

A wave of sleep took to the rats and all but one fell to the void that was slumber. The final rat, undeterred, sniffed at the air and screeched out with a tiny roar and then bounded towards the heavily armoured Adam.

Rat Attacks!

Rat hits!

HP reduced by 4.

20 - 4 = 16.

16 health remaining.

The rat darted forth, scuttling off the walls before it managed to strike Adam against his neck, biting through the armour which pinched at his skin. Adam let out a hiss as the pain filled his body.

What the hell? This rat was some sort of super rat! Was it the time in the sewers that caused it to evolve?

Jurot appeared a moment later and struck the creature down with great ease, his axe slicing through the body as though it had been made out of butter. He looked at his four rats that he had slain and then the other four which slept.

"Four and four," Jurot said. His ears twitched and his eyes darted towards a pipe. “More come."

Adam had been cutting through all the sleeping rats before Jurot readied himself, axe at the ready as it swayed with his stance.

"Tell me when," Adam said as he raised his wizard's die, the sides of which began to shuffle around and spin as the arcane powers flowed through it.

"Three, two, one…" Jurot said but Adam had already began to hear the shrieking squeals of the rats as they bolted forward, another five appearing from a pipe, dashing all the while like ballerinas on the sides of the pipes.

SLEEP

7D6 (24)

Mana reduced by 1.

1 - 1 = 0

0 mana remaining.

Again all but one fell to the glorious grasp of slumber for a merciful death, though the last was cut through by an axe through the skull as Jurot had prepared to. One by one Adam cut through the giant rats, going right through their skulls as they gave in so readily to the point of his blade.

"Thirteen rats is a good haul," Adam said, "what say you?"

Adam was tapped out of his mana and Jurot seemed to be looking a little rough, panting from the effort of forcing his axe through various giant rats. It wasn't that they were strong, it was that Jurot had no armour so his defence was quite low.

Jurot shook his head, motioning a head towards a pipe. "There is another approaching."

Adam raised his hand as Jurot motioned a hand towards a pipe, counting down once more. Then out from the pipe appeared a much larger rat, one that was twice as big as the others, which screeched with delight as it found the bread it had been looking for.

"My flame strikes true," Adam declared in surprise at the size of the creature. Now that was a super rat.

FLAME MISSILE

D20 (2) + SMART (4) + TRAINED (2) = 8

MISS!

The missile that formed dissipated as Adam let out a shout of alarm at the blinding speed in which the creature moved, but Jurot had readied his axe as the rat shot towards the heavily chained Adam, spurred on for it's want of that delicious, thick, seeded bread.

Unfortunately for Adam, Jurot was unable to anticipate the speed in which the rat was going to move and so missed with his blow.

“Ack!” Jurot exclaimed as the rat leapt up to attack Adam.

Super rat attacks!

Super rat hits!

HP reduced by 9.

16 - 9 = 7.

7 health remaining.

Alarm flooded through Adam as the super rat bit into his arm before he drew his blade once more and rained down a furious blow upon the super rat.

ATTACK

D20 (18) + MIGHT (4) + TRAINED (2) = 24

HIT!

D8 (4) + MIGHT (4) + DUELING (2)

10 damage!

The blade tore into the hind leg of the creature, which held onto Adam’s arm with it’s teeth. Jurot swung wildly against the creature, though somehow managed to strike it and now Adam as the super rat squealed and then fell to the ground, dead.

Adam threw a look towards Jurot, both of them sharing a nod before Adam tossed the bread away and then quickly scrambled to get the rats into his sack.

"Let's get out of here," Adam quickly said as Jurot nodded, helping him gather the thirteen giant rats and the super rat that had attacked them. Then they climbed out of the sewers in which they had spent no more than fifteen minutes inside, welcoming the rush of the fresh air within their lungs.

Adam gasped for air and then looked to Jurot. He began to chuckle and then laugh.

“Do you think it’s still beneath you now?” Adam joked.

“That rat must have paid visits to the bakery…”

“I bet it ordered more than six jam balls,” Adam laughed.

Jurot grinned and began to laugh with him.