“Well, that was easy…” Adam said.

Andal and Ylra had managed to unearth the goldarb with ease, partly due to the assistance of Adam and Lady Fate. It had taken less than an hour, which had surprised the dwarf and half-elf.

"Mistress Fate is a mighty mistress," Andal said. "We should all be thankful."

"We should offer her a sacrifice," Ylra said. Adam hadn't gotten a good look at Ylra, for she always kept her face hidden under a sash, which wrapped across her lower face and neck. The sash did not hide how beautiful her emerald eyes were, which shined at all times. The half-elf was tall, taller than most half-fey, and her body was quite lean, like a swimmer. Her hair was dark, like the Iyrmen, though there was a hint of copper under the sunlight. The beauty that she held was not to be understated though, the fey within her was obvious.

“A sacrifice?” Adam asked. “What kind of sacrifice would Mistress Fate enjoy?” Adam didn’t know anything about Mistress Fate, other than the fact she was more powerful than any of the gods he had met.

“Fortune,” Ylra replied. “Typically one would bury a gold coin into the ground for someone to eventually find.”

Adam furrowed his brows. Why would that… ‘Actually, that sounds pretty fun.’ “I’ll bury a coin for her in the next few days,” Adam said. He thought against doing so now. He wanted to find a place alone, without any prying eyes, to bury a coin. A private affair, as these things should be.

Elowen approached, unhelmed. “May I join your company?” she asked, motioning her head beside Adam.

Adam extended a hand and she sat down beside him. She looked at the small fire -pit that Jay had made and Imma had lit. Elowen remained staring at it for a long moment, and Adam could feel the awkwardness grow in the air.

“You follow Sozain, God of the Underworld,” Elowan said, her voice dry with the statement.

“I do,” Adam replied. He wasn’t sure if he followed Sozain in the way she had meant, but for the sake of simplicity, he didn’t expand on the words.

“We are familiar with Sozain in our Kingdom,” Elowen said. “He was one of the very first gods which accepted our offerings.”

Adam raised his brow. He didn’t know much about the relationship between the various gods and the nations of the world, so the topic certainly intrigued him.

“We follow many lesser gods as well, though Arya remains our most popular,” Elowen said.

Adam raised his brows. “Arya,” he said, “the Goddess of Swords?”

Elowen nodded. “She is far more popular in the east than within these lands.”

“I didn’t know that,” Adam replied back. “Do you follow her?”

Elowen nodded. “I do,” she replied. “I am a Sansant, though I am a few degrees removed from the main family. Many of the lesser nobility, like myself, follow Arya. The blade is our weapon, and there have been times when we have had to rely upon it in order to keep our lives.”

Adam nodded slowly, listening intently. He was surprised to learn about this, and suddenly he thought perhaps his goal wasn’t to defeat the guardians, but to assist the group.

“That’s interesting,” Adam replied. “I have been thinking about Arya recently. I prefer to use the blade, and I have been thinking about devoting myself to her as well, in whatever ways I can.”

Elowen turned to look at Adam, her lips slowly curling into a smile. “Perhaps it is fate that we have met.”

“I think it’s more than fate,” Adam replied. “I was told to come to the north, to defeat the guardians, but I don’t think that was my purpose.” There was no way that Arya would have asked him to come here without knowing that Elowen would be here.

“Has she ever spoken to you?” Elowen asked. “She speaks to me in my dreams.” Elowen looked back into the flames.

“What does she say?” Adam asked, not yet willing to divulge his relationship with Arya.

“She tells me of a blade long forgotten, whose story has not graced the lips of any mortal for at least a century.”

“She hasn’t really told me about that,” Adam replied.

Elowen snapped her head towards Adam, her eyes filled with intrigue. “So she has spoken to you.” She reached over and placed a hand onto Adam’s knee, the touch sending a jolt of warmth through Adam’s body. “What has she said?” Elowen asked, leaning in. Her eyes pierced into Adam’s eyes.

“She…” Adam wasn’t entirely sure what he could tell her, but the closeness of the woman was unnerving him. “She hasn’t really told me anything so far…”

“What has she told you?” Elowen asked, trying to get Adam to elaborate.

“She wants me to fight in her name.”

Elowen’s eyes widened. “She has asked you to become her champion?”

“Well… I’m not sure. That might be it, but I think she wants me to dedicate my glory to her.”

“Truly?” Elowen asked, her eyes wide, though her face was painted with delight.

Adam drew his eyes away from hers. “I don’t think it’s anything too important.”

“Not important? There are very few given the opportunity to champion for a god, it is a high honour.”

“I don’t want to be the champion of a god,” Adam replied.

“You don’t?” Elowen asked, tilting her head questioningly. The question hung in the air for a moment.

Adam shrugged. “No, not really.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to be a champion, I just want to be…”

“…” Elowen remained silent, staring at him.

“I just want to be me.”

“And who are you?”

“Adam,” he said. “A bronze ranked adventurer.”

Elowen stared at Adam for a long time, removing her hand from his knee. “Yes,” she said. “You are Adam, a bronze ranked adventurer.”

Adam nodded, appreciating her words and the sentiment behind them. They remained there, looking deep into the flames. Andal was currently unearthing a few of the frostamber, so tomorrow he had less to dig up. The rest weren’t able to assist much, they just kept an eye out for Andal, making sure he was safe and undisturbed.

“We’ll be heading back to Ironhall tomorrow,” Andal said once he was done with the day’s gathering. “It shouldn’t take us too long to return, but we’ll have to be careful in case we find any golems.”

“Golems?” Elowen asked. “The same guardians that we had faced earlier?”

“No,” Andal said, shaking his head. “The golem we faced was dwarven made. Only weapons that are dwarven made or magical can affect these golems.”

Elowen looked to her allies. “We should be safe,” she said. Then her eyes fell to Jay and Kay, flashing across their weapons. She didn’t say anything, but it was fairly obvious as to what she was thinking. Jay and Kay didn’t have magical weapons, and so they wouldn’t be quite so useful in the fight if it came to it. Elowen and her allies seemed to have some magical weapons and abilities, Redboulder, Ylra, and Rojer were able to use magic, and Elowen’s blade, currently sheathed, vibed with magic.

“With our groups, we should be able to handle several golems at once,” Adam said.

“We should remain careful,” Andal said, looking to Adam. “Such sentiments lead to short lives.”

“I don’t plan to die, yet.” Adam nodded to the dwarf.

“No one plans to die,” Andal replied back, “but they die anyway.”

Adam nodded. It was true enough, and he supposed that even if their relative strength had increased, they probably shouldn’t drop down their guard just yet. Plus, Adam wasn’t quite sure of Elowen and her group yet. So far everything seemed on the up and up with them, but that could be an outward facade. Though, Arya did tell him to go north to meet them. Just what did the goddess want him to do?

Adam summoned forth the tower for the group to sleep in, with Elowen and her companions both alarmed and intrigued by the tower.

“You know of such a spell?” Rojer asked.

‘Oh damn it.’ Adam looked up to the mage and nodded. The mage eyed him suspiciously, flashing a look towards the bronze token, and then he left Adam be.

He revealed the fact that he could cast second gate divine spells and third gate arcane spells, as well as the fact he was great with a blade. Thankfully they didn’t know about his Guardian abilities, though he wasn’t sure how long he could keep that information.

‘I should try a little harder in keeping such things secret…’ Adam thought to himself. He wasn’t sure how rare that was. He had been in the world for a little over two months and was already such a high level. He was unsure of how high of a level he should have after this time, especially considering all of his cheat abilities. If only he could ask someone about it, but he didn’t really have anyone to confide in. Perhaps the next time he met Belle he’d ask the god for his advice and knowledge.

It was at times like this he wished he had a wise god at his side to give him tips and answer his questions. Adam looked up to the top of his tower where he saw the dark form of his familiar, Bandlor.

If only.

The two groups took their watches separately. Elowen and her group remained off to one side in their own little camp, whereas Adam and his group remained within the tower. It was a cozy space within the tower, but it also provided them with much comfort.

Adam awoke fresh the next morning. He had wondered about levelling up, but decided against it. He was so close levelling up Wizard, he just needed that last sliver of experience. He hoped for a creature to slay in the day, but doubted that the others were as keen as he.

‘Oh wait…’ He recalled that he was able to gain experience through finishing his quest, and considering they were almost done, Adam assumed he didn’t need to wait long for the next level.

However, as he looked through the levelling screen, Adam had spied a particular spell he had completely forgotten he could cast.

Mana: 37 -> 34

Spell: Create Food and Water

Spreading forth across the camp came piles of food that the group could feast upon. Fruits, vegetables, meats, and gallons upon gallons of water. Adam probably should have cast this spell throughout the days, but the fact that he could cast the spell completely slipped his mind. He would need to have another good look at all his spells.

“I was wondering why you didn’t cast such a spell,” Andal said as he picked up a piece of meat. He tore into it and chewed it slowly.

Adam picked up a piece of cheese and then bit into it. It had the same texture of cheese, but it tasted like… nothing. He then cast his Tricks over it in order to flavour it like cheese, and continued to eat.

“You know how to cast third gate spells as well?” Elowen asked, walking over from her camp.

‘God damn it.’ Adam nodded. “You’re free to join us, though the food doesn’t taste too good.”

Elowen bowed her head. “Nothing a little saska can’t fix,” she said as her group joined them. Redboulder brought out a small pouch of red spice, which he then sprinkled all over the food, offering it to the rest of them too.

Adam and Rojer refused, and as Rojer cast some magic over his own food, he winked at Adam knowingly. Adam smiled. The groups both enjoyed their meal together.

“Here,” Redboulder said, bringing out a small cask from seemingly nowhere. He then started to pour in some red liquid for everyone, coming to Adam. “Do ya drink, brother?”

“Even if I didn’t, I know better than to refuse a drink from a dwarf,” Adam said, accepting the liquid from Redboulder.

The dwarf grinned wide, nodding his head. “Aye, yeh have some wisdom, don’t ya?” Redboulder chuckled and poured some more for Adam.

Adam sipped onto it, and almost instantly the drink filled him with a warmth. It was sweet, a little too sweet, but the flavour amplified the taste of the fake flavour of cheese that he had magicked.

“Aye, I’ll get to work then,” Andal said after the large breakfast.

“I am able to assist you, if you so require,” Ylra offered. “I have watched you gather the frostamber, I am certain I will be of use.”

“Aye, if you’re able to, I’ll appreciate it.” Andal nodded, and then the dwarf went off to gather the frostamber with the half-elf.

Adam couldn’t wait to return back to civilisation. He had been wanting to relax for a long while, this quest had been thrown onto him and he couldn’t refuse. Well, he could have, but he didn’t want to disappoint Paul.

Adam paced around the area, keeping an eye out for anything untoward. He would look across the horizon and sometimes flickered his eyes towards the skies. The sky was clear, a sea of blue that was unmarked by clouds. If anything was to come across it, everyone would see.

Perception

D20 + 5 = 20 (15)

Adam noted a single white cloud off in the distance, which was currently flying overhead towards them. He squinted his eyes a little and noted that the cloud actually wasn’t a cloud.

“What’s that?” Adam asked, pointing up at the approaching white speck.

The others looked up to check, and Elowen squinted her eyes in order to see. Yet it wasn’t Elowen that saw the whiteness, it was Kay. Kay’s eyes went wide and she clutched at her battleaxe.

“What?” Adam asked, looking back up to the white speck. “What is it?” Adam whispered to himself as the figure continued to grow closer. He could see the sides of the white speck flickering, as though they were a set of powerful wings.

They were a set of powerful wings. Not just a set of powerful wings, but also a powerful body, a mighty neck, a crushing jaw, great talons, and-

“Arya, take me,” Elowen said. “How did she find us? We were so careful.” Elowen drew her sword, though her face was already resigned to a gruesome fate.

“Who?” Adam asked, his eyes not yet moving from the form as he donned his shield and motioned a hand, readying a few spells in preparation. “Sozain protect us,” he incanted, filling Imma, Kay, and Elowen with divine health.

Mana: 34 -> 31

Spell: Aid

“Vandra,” Elowen replied. “She is seeking the merman child for her own machinations.”

“That doesn’t sound very nice,” Adam replied. “Andal!” Adam shouted. “Come!” He once again incanted, this time to encompass Rojer, Redboulder, and the child with the divine.

Mana: 31 -> 28

Spell: Aid

Jay, Andal and Ylra hurried to the group, which was preparing for their demise.

“What?” Jay asked.

“You’re going to need some health,” Adam incanted, raising a hand towards the trio that had appeared.

Mana: 28 -> 25

Spell: Aid

“Why?”

“Look up, you blasted moron!” Imma shouted, pointing up towards the skies, to the approaching figure.

Jay threw his head up to see. “Is that a…”

“Yes, yes it is!” Imma clutched at her core, her skin turning pale.

“Oh divines,” Jay said, pulling up his blade.

“Do you think we could talk to her?” Adam asked.

“If you can speak drakken, go ahead.” Jay turned to look at Adam, flabbergasted he would even ask such a thing.

“Well…” Adam said as he checked his status.

Languages: Basic, Elven, Dwarven, Drakken

“What?” Jay asked.

A roaring screech filled the air.