“Hello?” Adam asked the owl, staring at it in surprise. ‘It definitely talked, right? That wasn’t my imagination?’

“Hello?” Hades replied.

Adam stared at the owl, dumbfounded. ‘It did! Oh my- what is going on right now?! Wait, wait… relax. Maybe I’m just delirious, probably the Feyded. Just… relax.’

“Uh… hello?” Adam called out again.

“Yes?” Hades replied.

“You can talk?”

“Of course I can!” Hades scoffed, letting out a sharp breath as he clicked his beak at Adam.

Adam stared at his owl familiar for a long while, blinking a few times. “Why?”

“I’ve always had the ability to speak,” Hades said as he looked about himself. “Though this… this is new.”

Adam was fairly certain Hades couldn’t talk. “What’s new?” he asked, not entirely certain what Hades meant.

“This body, boy! This body is new! Where are my glorious muscles? My beautiful blade? Oh! Woe is me!”

“Your what? Your muscles? Your sword?” Adam asked, raising his brow. Hades didn’t have either of those things, he was an owl that appeared out of magic. Did Hades have a backstory? Was he a great warrior? Was he a legend?

“Elaveil! Come to me! Balance this at once!” the owl exclaimed, though his voice was quite quiet still.

Wait a second. Elaveil? Muscles? Sword? The dots began to connect inside his head.

“Bandlor?” Adam asked.

“Yes?” Hades replied. Not Hades, but Bandlor.

Adam stared at the owl for a long moment. “What are you doing in my familiar’s body? It’s quite rude to do that sort of thing…”

“Do you think I wanted to take this form?” Bandlor replied, flapping his wings out. “I had rippling muscles, men and women were in awe of my physique! Yes, I’m a god, but I worked hard for that body.” The owl hopped about the night stand.

“Before hydras were hydras, I slew scores of them!” Bandlor moved his wings in such a way, as though to tell a story with them. “Do you know why there are so few dragons that managed to make it to this world during the Breaking? That’s because I wrestled them to the ground and beat them! My mount, Orzogor, the mightiest black dragon of his time, I beat him mindless until I had made him my faithful mount!”

Bandlor stopped hopping and looked down about himself. “Now what am I? An owl? An… owl?!” He flew up and then slammed his head into the ceiling before dropping. “I was made to fight, not fly! Ack!” Bandlor lay on the floor, staring up at the ceiling.

Adam blinked. How did the god become his familiar? Last he recalled, he had disappeared. “So, uh, do you know how you became like this?”

“Mistress Fate, no doubt,” he said sourly, as though he had ate a lemon. Adam wondered what that would have looked like for an owl to eat a lemon and the face one could have made.

“Mistress Fate?” Adam asked. “Is that what happened to you? Why would she do such a thing?”

“Probably because I drew my sword,” he grumbled. Adam wasn’t sure if that was the whole picture, but it seemed that Bandlor understood. “Well, it’s like this now.” He hopped onto his talons. “No need to complain about it. So I’m your familiar? I guess I have to live with this until she is satisfied…”

“How long will that be?” As much as Adam thought this was cool, it was a little awkward. Wouldn’t the god be mad at him? He was the God of War after all, not the best god to piss off.

Bandlor shrugged with his wings.

“So… I guess you’re just going to be my familiar… are you hungry? Do I need to feed you?” He was fairly certain he didn’t need to feed Hades, but what about Bandlor?

“I don’t know,” he said. “I only hunger for battle.”

“Right.” Adam stared at the owl. A random through strayed through his mind. He raised a hand and then snapped his fingers. The owl disappeared, no longer where it had been moments ago. He waited, staring at the spot, and then snapped his fingers again for the owl to return.

Bandlor gasped for air, snapping his head as owl’s did to look behind himself. “What did you do?!”

“I sent you… back.”

“Back where?!”

“I don’t know, where did you go?”

“It was horrible! The worst nightmare imaginable! I was… I was… nowhere!”

“Damn… did you feel the passing seconds?”

“I couldn’t feel anything! Tell me, boy, how long as it been?! Decades? Centuries?”

“About six seconds.”

“Ack! How terrible!” Bandlor stood up and then inhaled deeply. “Don’t do that again…”

“What happens if you die in this form?”

“I don’t know…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Don’t.”

“I wasn’t thinking about it,” Adam said. He was thinking about it. The owl didn’t reply, and he assumed that the god couldn’t read his mind.

‘Phew.’

“Uh, so… I guess we’ll be together for a while,” Adam said.

“I suppose so.”

“Cool.”

“Cool?”

“It means… good? Something like that.”

“I see…”

“Uh,” Adam looked to the window and noticed how dark it was. “We should probably go to sleep…” He was exhausted, the sleep hadn’t done much for his body. He didn’t have the disease any longer, he could feel that, and when he checked his status, his suspicions were confirmed. No Feyded status, he was fine in that regard. The gods had kept their promise at least. He also noticed he had more Mana than before too.

‘Oh, cool.’

He went to bed, looking over at Bandlor, who had become all stroppy in the corner. “Good night,” Adam said.

“Yes, yes, night.”

Adam smiled and then fell asleep.

Level up!

XP (9270) -> (6770)

Level (16) -> Level (17)

Priest (4) -> Priest (5)

HP (164) -> HP (174)

Mana: 30 -> 36

3rd gate Priest spells available!

Level up!

XP (6770) -> (6020)

Level (17) -> Level (18)

Guardian (2) -> Guardian (3)

HP (174) -> HP (186)

Mana: 36 -> 37

Subclass: Locked

Level up!

XP (6020) -> (4770)

Level (18) -> Level (19)

Guardian (3) -> Guardian (4)

HP (186) -> HP (198)

Attract (10) -> Attract (12)

Level up!

XP (4770) -> (2270)

Level (19) -> Level (20)

Guardian (4) -> Guardian (5)

HP (198) -> HP (210)

2nd gate Guardian spells available!

He breathed in deeply when morning came, the crisp air filling his lungs. He was now level twenty, level five in several classes, with so many abilities having been granted to him. He had so much health now, able to rival most creatures which one wouldn’t fight unless well into their adventuring career. He wondered if he had more health than the bone dragon, and thought he could probably fight against it with relative ease with his newfound strength, even if his luck was quite poor.

Omen

4, 18

‘Oh yeah, today’s going to be a great day!’

“A new day, another adventure,” Bandlor said, noting Adam was awake. “So what is it today?”

“You know… I think you probably shouldn’t talk,” Adam said, but then realised it was impolite. “I’m not sure I could explain that, that’s all.”

“It is simple.” Bandlor straightened, nobly. “Tell them I am a god.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“That’s a bad idea.”

“Are you telling me, a god, that my idea is bad?” Bandlor asked, standing up tall, as tall as his owl form could allow.

“Yes.”

“Hmmm. Then it must truly, truly be a bad idea.”

“Sorry.”

“It is fine. It is good to hear you are a man of great mind.”

“Thanks.”

“It will be difficult, but I will try my best.”

“If you talk, I’ll send you to the other realm.”

The owl stared at him, eyes wide.

‘Oh wait, I can talk to you like this,’ Adam thought to him.

‘That’s convenient.’

‘I can hear you too.’

A moment passed. ‘Did you hear that?’

‘No.’

‘Good.’

Adam narrowed his eyes, but left Bandlor be. He then went to bathe, as the sweat had covered his clothes with a smell, and he wasn’t going to walk around reeking. He cleaned up the clothes easily with his Tricks trick and then wore his normal clothing, which were a little ragged after all the fighting.

He made his way down to see Emma at the counter, and a few other parties around, none which he recognised. Adam nodded towards Emma as he grabbed breakfast. Breakfast was soup again, with some fluffy bread. He ate is quickly as someone approached.

“Hey, you’re a martial?” she asked. She wore scale mail, and a longsword rested at her hip. She was tall, tanned, with blonde hair and green eyes.

“I’m a martial and a mage,” Adam replied back, drinking from his water skin.

“A martial and a mage? A Priest?”

Adam was about to say no, but he was actually a Priest. “A Priest, yes,” he nodded his head.

“Oh!” she said, surprised. “I didn’t see your holy symbol anywhere, sorry.”

“Yeah, unfortunately it was… lost.” Adam rubbed the side of his neck. “I just need to buy one and I’ll be fine.”

“Oh?” She raised her eyebrow. “Never heard a Priest losing their holy symbol.”

Adam shrugged. “Sometimes things get a little rough, and then the holy symbol needs to stay behind.”

“Fair enough,” she smiled. “You interested in joining a party to deal with a dungeon?”

“Uh, not sure. I’ve got some quests I need to get doing first for some… for some spells that require certain components.”

“Alright, well we wouldn’t mind a Priest, or any kind of anything really. We’re a man down, we’d rather go in with five.”

“Why five?”

“It’s our lucky number, and it’s easier to split loot that way.” She shrugged.

“Ah, right.” Adam nodded. “Makes sense.”

“Well, if you’re up for it, let us know. Diva, of the Roaring Winds,” she said, extending a hand over to him.

“Adam, of the Bronze,” he said.

“You an Iyrman?” she asked, raising her brow, surprised.

“Ah, no, I just spent some time with them, that’s all.”

“Oh?” she said.

“Yeah…” Adam replied.

“Well, see you around Adam.” She waved and then made her way back to her group.

Adam finished up his meal and checked out the quests. He saw a handful of quests he could probably do, from wolf pack hunting, boar hunting, bear hunting, though he also noticed some undead quests remaining too. ‘I could get some cores from the undead quests…’ He thought about the banshees and the wraiths, shaking his head. ‘Nevermind…’

Wolves might be a little too rough, they could probably drag him down and make life difficult. Boars and bears would be much easier, though didn’t pay quite as much as he wanted them to. They were fair prices, but he needed a few hundred gold pieces quickly.

“If only there was something strong that wasn’t creepy…” He tried to see which quest would be best. He supposed he could take it a little easy today.

It was then the guild doors slammed open. Standing in the doorway were silhouettes of darkness, bringing about an ode to terror. A broad devilkin, skin as red as flowing blood, with large horns that jutted out the side of his skull, led the pack. His hair was black, eyes black, and the long blade at his side was blacker still. He was donned within plate mail, dark too. He had a tattoo over half of his face in a much deeper red, which caught the light and shimmered, though it didn’t shimmer nearly as much as the mythril token on his neck.

To his right was a halfzer, a little woman that was close to her mid-thirties. She was a monk, that much was obvious, as she wore very little in the ways of armour. Her hands and feet were wrapped in bandages, though she also wore sandal-boots that went up to her knees. Her robes were dark too, as dark as her eyes and hair, and Adam could feel an unsettling feeling coming from her. A mithril token kept her robes together near her neck.

To his left was a half orc woman, wearing very little other than some pieces of fur that allowed her to remain decent enough to walk around. The furs were thick, and covered in bits of scale, though they were more decoration than anything useful. She had short hair, shaved up towards her the ridge of her head, where she had short curly hair. She had on her back a great-axe made of something dark, like steel which had been dipped into charcoal. Her mithril tag upon her belt, gleaming right below her belly button.

Finally, there was another woman that brought up the rear, and Adam was getting the feeling that this guy had his own harem. She was a giant woman of some kind, though her features were quite pretty. Her skin wasn’t quite the same as a human though, a little more silver in complexion. Her hair was copper-blonde, and her eyes were even brighter, though she wore dark armour with an even darker heavy cloak. She had a large shield at her back, one of those shields which was long, as though the shield had been stretched, and cut flat at the top, which he could spy the edges of, and at her side was a sword that was purple and black. Her mithril tag was right beside her holy amulet, that of a skull, though it was stylised, with what looked like a throne around the skull.

Religion

D20 + 8 = 27 (19)

Success!

‘Oh, that’s the symbol of Sozain.’

They walked in as though they owned the place, and the other adventurers left them a wide berth, as the mithril group walked up to the counter. Adam could hear whispers beside him of the other adventurers talking about the new arrivals

“Isn’t that the Dark Harvest?”

“I heard they were in Alethal to deal with a dragon?”

“Where’s their fifth member?”

“Yeah, where’s their mage?”

“Think they ate them? Ow! What was that for?”

“Devilkin and orcs don’t eat people, moron.”

“Yeah, lizardkin do!”

Adam shook his head and then kept an eye out on the adventurers, remaining near the quest board, though much more conspicuously than he would have liked.

“Hey, do you have any special requests?” the devilkin asked Emma.

“We might do, though you’ll need to speak to the Vice Master.”

“Obviously,” he replied. “Where is he?”

“I can call for him if you’re willing to wait.”

“Sure.”

Emma smiled that business smile of hers and then left the desk, heading around to the back. The devilkin motioned his head to follow after her, and they stepped up to the door. They stopped when Paul emerged, almost walking into them. He sighed.

“Just a moment,” Paul said, his face filling with a tiredness. “Why don’t you take a seat,” he said, motioning with his head.

“No time. Just give us a quest that we can do and prepare our reward.”

“I’m afraid I can’t just give you a special request just like that,” Paul replied, his lips taut.

“I don’t care about your ineptitude, I just want a quest.” The devilkin man did not move from his spot.

Adam raised his brows, surprised that they would behave in such a way. This was basically Paul’s guild, how dare they just barge in and behave so rudely to him. The woman in the heavy plate caught Adam’s look and smiled towards him warmly. he just nodded his head in return, even if she was pretty, Adam couldn’t just let them walk all over Paul.

“You can wait, or you can leave,” Paul said. “If you’re unable to even wait, I doubt you’ll be able to even finish this quest.”

The devilkin man snarled, though the orc woman beside slapped the growling devil man across the chest, growling something in another language, before the devilkin retreated to a nearby table, where a group of sitting adventurers stood.

“Get your own table,” the human man said, also adorned in heavy plate, with a blade at his side.

“I quite like your table.” The devilkin man grinned wide.

“We got here first. Should have come by quicker if you wanted this one,” the human man said, puffing up his chest.

“The table isn’t worth your life,” the devilkin man growled.

“It’s not worth yours either,” Adam said. He had meant to think it, but it slipped out of his mouth, like drool which one hadn’t expected.

The devilkin man turned to look at Adam, narrowing his eyes. “Who the hell are you?”

“It’s very rude to not introduce yourself first,” Adam replied.

“Oh, a smart boy?” The devilkin turned and sauntered over to the half-elf. “What’s a knife-eared boy talking out for?”

“Because a devil boy doesn’t know his place.”

The devilkin snarled. “Perhaps you should know your place, bronze ass, before I show you it.”

“Any boy can talk big hiding in plate mail,” Adam replied. “Real men talk big without it.”

The devilkin narrowed his eyes. “You’re lucky I’m a friend of the fey, otherwise you’d be on your ass.”

“You’re lucky we’re inside, otherwise I’d show you how much fire can really hurt.”

The devilkin narrowed his eyes further, though this time there was a question inside his eyes. “What?”

“What?” Adam replied, suddenly growing less brash. He had hoped the threat was obvious.

“What does that mean? You some kind of mage?”

“Among other things.”

“Oh yeah? What kind of mage are you?” The devilkin man raised a brow.

“A Wizard,” Adam replied.

“You’re a Wizard?”

“Among a number of things.”

“So what, Burning Hands? A Flame Bolt?”

“Fireball.”

“Excuse me?”

“Fireball.”

“Uhuh, right. And I know Immolation.” The devilkin brushed Adam’s hair harshly, tugging on it before he turned around. “You keep to your bronze quests, kid. Let the adults deal with everything else.”

“Big talk for a man running away from a Wizard,” Adam said.

The devilkin stopped. “You should really watch your tongue,” he said, drawing his sword as he began to turn.

“Enough!” Paul exclaimed. “Adam, I have a special request for you, go get your stuff!”

Adam turned to look at Paul, surprised. Paul just motioned with his head, and Adam replied with a nod. He stepped past the devilkin man, nodding to the three women he had brought with him, before he left the scene.

‘Man, what a prick. I hope I don’t have to ever adventure with him.’