The minotaur roared and Adam shouted back as the monstrous foe charged him. The roar had unnerved him, and Adam lifted his shield ahead of him to catch the horns of the minotaur. Unfortunately for him, he had brought it far too high and those horns slammed against his chain.

HP 104 -> 60

Might Save

D20 + 8 = 23 (15)

Success!

Adam’s entire body screamed with pain as the horns pierced through him, though he planted his feet firmly into the ground. He was pushed back a few inches, but he kept his wits about himself as he brought up his shield, pushing the minotaur out of him.

Unfortunately for him there was more than one foe, and he found himself surrounded by a pair of skeletal bears that rattled and clattered against him, striking him with their bones.

HP 60 -> 44

In a single round he had found himself utterly broken, his body was flooded with a torrent of hot pain and fear.

“Adam!” Lazina called out from behind him. “Don’t just let them hit you!” Her voice was slightly musical, and Adam could feel those soothing tones fill him deeply.

HP 44 -> 50

He had wished they had filled him even deeper, but he had found his footing now. He looked up at the first bear and then the minotaur. He was surrounded, and he didn’t have much of a choice when it came to what to do next.

Omen

3, 14

No, not yet. He had so much he could still do before he went kamikaze. If he had more strength, perhaps he could have, but…

No. He still could. Not only could he still do so, but he could negate most of the damage. Adam raised a hand up and then stared at the Minotaur. “That was rather rude of you, don’t you think?” he said. The electric energy pulsed through his body as he raised his hand and then made the motion to crush.

Mana

11 -> 9

Spell: Shatter

4D6 (1, 1, 6, 6)

14 thunder damage!

Tough Save

9 + 6 = 15

Failure!

HP 50 -> 36

The air around them became dense before the world shattered around them, the thunder and rumbling echoing through the forest. Adam stepped back, pain flooding through his body as his armour jangled. The bone bears around him shattered into shards of bone, flying away to leave only the minotaur and the half-elf.

Tough Spirit

D10 + 5 = 12 (7)

HP 36 -> 48

Adam inhaled deeply, filling his body with great strength as he then looked up the minotaur, who was readying a mighty swing.

“I’m not quite done yet,” he said, his voice laced with poison.

Onward Soar

1 -> 0

Samurai Spirit

3 -> 2

HP 48 -> 53

Attack

D20 + 8 + 1 (Lesser Moonblade) = 13 (4)

D20 + 8 + 1 (Lesser Moonblade) = 14 (5)

Hit!

D8 + 6 + 1 (Lesser Moonblade) = 8 (1)

8 damage!

Attack

20 + 9 = 13 (4)

20 + 9 = 14 (5)

Hit!

D8 + 7 = 14 (7)

14 damage!

Adam drew his blade in a single, fluid motion as he struck the minotaur through, not once, but twice, with a pair of glancing blows. If he had been off by a single hair’s breadth, he would have missed the creature entirely, and yet it seemed he wasn’t out of luck just yet.

The minotaur flexed, grabbing it’s greataxe with both hands as it snorted and then wildly swung towards Adam. He managed to force Adam’s shield up with the heavy blow, almost causing his shoulder to dislocate. Adam winced and let out a grunt as the pain flared through his arm, and he could feel himself grow light headed.

HP 53 -> 33

This creature was not to be taken lightly. He didn’t have much left in him, and he had now wished that he had cast a few spells in order to deal with it.

Yet, he had so much more that he could do now. He recalled a number of new abilities granted to him by the divine.

Adam raised his blade, ready and eager to face the creature now, recalling to him a number of great powers at his disposal. He inhaled deeply, calming himself. He had more than enough Mana to get by in this fight.

“That was quite the hit,” Lazina called out behind him, filling him with her healing tones once more.

HP 33 -> 38

Samurai Spirit

2 -> 1

HP 38 -> 43

Attack

20 + 9 = 13 (4)

20 + 9 = 23 (14)

Hit!

D8 + 7 = 11 (4)

11 damage!

Attack

20 + 9 = 13 (4)

20 + 9 = 27 (18)

Hit!

D8 + 7 = 12 (5)

12 damage!

This time his blade cut through the air as though it was gliding across the sky, like a bird darting through the forest, finding its way true. He cut into the minotaur, spraying the air with red mist. His body continued to ache with a great pain, and yet it did not bring him distress. He could see the minotaur’s eyes were filled with confusion, though it grabbed its axe once more, ready to strike.

HP 43-> 18

It burrowed deep into Adam’s shoulder, and he twitched. The pain had now reached every inch of his body, but he did not give in just yet. He buried his feet deep into the ground and he raised his blade once more.

“I don’t have much left in me,” Adam said, mostly to inform Lazina behind him, “but I know you don’t have anything left either.”

Samurai Spirit

1 -> 0

HP 18 -> 23

Attack

20 + 9 = 11 (2)

20 + 9 = 19 (10)

Hit!

D8 + 7 = 9 (2)

9 damage!

Attack

20 + 9 = 11 (2)

20 + 9 = 19 (10)

Hit!

D8 + 7 = 14 (7)

14 damage!

Adam forced his blade through the minotaur’s chin and then pulled the blade out towards him, causing the shower of blood to spray him. He didn’t watch the minotaur drop, as he stumbled backwards, gasping for air, trying to not let the blood seep against his tongue. He looked back to see that the camp had been surrounded by a great number of skeletal creatures, and a handful of minotaurs, which the Iyrmen were dealing with.

With Adam now able to help, his Flame Missile trick making short work of the various skeletal beasts that were plaguing the group, the group had dealt with the last of the creatures.

EXP Gained

Minotaur (+700)

2x Skeletal Bears (+150)

Subtotal

850

Shared with Party (-150)

Otherworlder Bonus (+700)

EXP Total

1400

CURRENT EXP

1400

Level up available!

Paul noticed just how rough Adam was looking and quickly made his way over. “Are you alright?” he asked, placing his hands on the half-elf’s shoulders.

“I’m fine,” Adam replied, “just a little tired is all.”

Paul helped Adam down. Adam’s wounds had been mostly stitched up thanks to the healing magic that came through the songs from Lazina’s lips.

The group settled down once again, though now the camp was on high alert, well except for Adam. The fight had taken quite a bit out of him, and he realised that the world was quite cruel. Even with his level, his strength, all his abilities, if he was unlucky for even a moment, he could die. He lay there in his thoughts.

“That should be the lot of them,” Paul said.

“We shouldn’t be bothered more tonight, but we’ll keep post watches,” Mirot said as she directed the other Iyrmen.

The children were obviously shook, keeping with one another. They remained near Lazina and Adam for safety, though they could see that Adam wasn’t at his strongest.

“I just need an hour,” Adam said with a nod of his head. “Then I’ll be in fair shape, almost as good as I was before we faced them.”

Adam thought about it for a moment, eyeing his abilities. He’d be almost in perfect shape after a quick nap, though the issue was if he could rest for that long. If the creatures did appear again during that time, he would have to deal with them with what the abilities he had remaining.

Mirot was confident in her words, and so everyone remained where they were, keeping an ear and eye out on anything that could have crept up on them. Those of the Iyr piled up the dead bodies nearby, removing the weapons.

“We should be careful,” Adam said. “Those are dead bodies, and it seems that creatures don’t stay dead about these parts.”

The warning did not go unheard as one of the Iyrmen thrust in arrows through the creature’s head and then tied the creatures up with rope around some trees, binding their limbs together as well.

Lunch went by uneventfully as they ate and Adam recharged many of his abilities. He did a quick check, his eyes glancing about the place before he went back to helping everyone pack up. Everyone was quick to move, eager to continue along their path. The creatures had not slain their mules, which was rather fortunate for them. Paul had managed to arrive at their aid in time and had dealt with the minotaur that had tried to, and Adam was rather glad. This journey would have been quite the issue if they had managed to slay their beasts of burden.

The group marched on throughout the day, near silent. They found a small cave to camp in for the night, hidden by vines that covered the open entrance. It went down a few feet and then spread out to a room that was able to keep most of them hidden. Mirot and her Iyrmen chose to remain outside, both so they could keep watch, but also to look after the mules.

“I’ll keep watch as well,” Paul said. “The darkest hours will be the most harsh.”

“I will as well,” Robert said. The undead had shaken the man.

“I’ll take first watch, it should be fairly dark around then. My eyes can see well, but I’m not so good at using that to my advantage.”

Adam remained outside with Mirot for first watch, remaining fairly close to one another.

“You are iron rank?” Mirot asked, her voice barely a whisper.

“I am.”

“You are far more powerful,” she said. “You are able to keep up with Paul and our own, as though you are steel.”

“Well, there’s a lot to it.”

“You possess great magic, and yet you can fight with your blade as good as any of us.”

“Thank you for the compliment,” Adam said with a small smile.

“Are you not afraid of the undead?”

“I am, a little.”

Mirot remained silent, leaving it at that. Adam spent some more time with his thoughts before he realised he didn’t need to cast Shatter on himself. He could have just caused the creatures to run away from him with his new divine abilities. He rubbed his forehead at the thought of that, sighing to himself.

For a guy with such intelligence, he sure was dumb.

He passed the next watch along to Paul and then went right to bed.

Level up!

XP (1400) -> (650)

Level (10) -> Level (11)

Priest (2) -> Priest (3)

HP (104) -> HP (114)

Mana (11) -> Mana (16)

2nd Gate Divine spells available!

Level up available!

He decided it was probably best to reach the next level for Priest since the benefits he received from the level up were just too much to ignore, especially the increase in Mana. There weren’t many more abilities he was really interested in, as the spells were fine, but he really only needed a couple of them.

Divine Spells Available

Guardian Shield, Bane, Half Life, Gentle Repose, Enfeeble Ray, Spiritual Weapon, Aid

Omen

6, 9

The morning had come uneventfully, with the Iyrmen waking up everyone for breakfast. Breakfast was quick, with everyone eating whatever vegetables were on hand and then the leftovers from last night. Then they marched along, following Mirot as she led the group once more.

“We will arrive at the Iyr by late afternoon,” Mirot said, looking up towards the sky. “We should skip lunch in order to arrive quickly.”

“We can’t skip by lunch, we have some chil-”

“We should move,” Thunderhammer said, interrupting Paul. The other teens nodded, ready and eager to arrive at the mythical Iyr. They still seemed to be shaken up from the day before, and the safety of civilisation called to them.

“It seems you have been overruled,” Adam said as he glanced around them.

They continued along their path, Paul not protesting about such a matter. If the teens didn’t want to rest, then they may as well continue onward.

“How are you feeling?” Paul asked. “You had taken quite the blows.”

“I’m feeling better,” Adam replied. “That magical healing sure is impressive.”

“You were looking pretty rough after the fight. Did you Shatter yourself?”

“Yeah, I did. I thought it was the best way to get rid of the skeletons and deal with the minotaur.”

“Why didn’t you just-”

“I know,” Adam said quickly, throwing up a look to Paul. “I know.”

Paul just smiled. “Well I’m glad to see you’re still up.”

“Me too.” Adam thought about his level up. He was far stronger than yesterday, meaning he could handle far more. He thought about whether or not to cast Aid, but decided to keep it in his back pocket for now. He didn’t need to reveal any more than he needed to, not now at least.

The people around him already knew that he was more powerful than he let on, though it was more of a matter that he was growing power rapidly, more than anyone would have expected. He wondered just how much he should have explained to them, but decided against revealing anything. It would only cause trouble. Paul seemed to want to say more, but thought against it. Instead he left Adam to himself.

Adam thought about his sword, the Lesser Moonblade. He had the ability to enchant, and he wondered if he could transfer the enchantment of this blade to another, or at the very least enchant the dwarven sword that was currently waiting for him back at the guild. He had received quite the payday from the guild, and he knew how to cast 2nd Gate spells, meaning he could at the very least create something similar to the Lesser Moonblade, but since it was a weapon for himself, he could customise it exactly as he wished.

There were a great many enchantments he wanted to place on his weapon. Of course there was the flat bonus that would allow him to hit harder and easier, but there was so much to magical weapons. They needn't be only about doing more damage, there was also the utility that some magic could provide. He wondered if perhaps he could create something that would allow him to deal with multiple opponents at once, or to give him a way of healing repeatedly. That kind of enchantment was rare and hard to do, but he was a Priest, so perhaps it would come easier to him?

Adam fell lost into his thoughts, daydreaming about the magical weapon he wanted to create. He had been so lost that he didn’t notice that the day was getting on and that they had arrived at the Iyr.