Chapter Twelve

**The Saga of Adamaxus**

Long before the first Titon Empress sat upon the Floral Throne and at the twilight of the Age of Heroes, the earth god, Jord, continued to wander amongst mortals. Where the farthest tribes of the Braccians neighbored the barbaric Nor people, Jord seduced Rease, the eldest daughter of a chieftain.

Jord continued his journeys, but left Rease bearing his child. When the girl’s father discovered her state he banished her from their tribe immediately. In a burst of passion the servant Yelen followed Rease into exile. Rease could not understand Yelen’s compassion, but was grateful for his company for the world was harsh then. The two went north and settled in the mountains, safe from the Nors.

When the child was born, Rease and Yelen hid the child’s true parentage and Yelen raised the boy as his own. They named the boy Adamaxus after the mountain they made their new home on.

Adamaxus grew fast and strong. By his thirteenth name day he could best his adoptive father in a wrestling match and was hunting boars alone.

The family relied on the huntable animals and forgeable berries and vegetable of the mountainside to survive and such Adamaxus often had to travel far from their cabin. His mother, Rease, always warned him to never go too far up the mountain for it was known to host many monsters. Shortly after his sixteenth name day, a day which the Braccians believe a child enters adulthood, Adamaxus lied to his mother that he was going hunting, but instead ventured up his namesake.

With him he brought the bronze tip spear gifted to him on his birthday. Yelen had traveled far, as the nearest village was several days journey away, to trade for the spear. In his short life Adamaxus had only hunted the animals of the forest, wild boars and stags, and once even a small bear. Never before had he seen the monsters the gods had once used to battle over the heavens and the earth.

As Adamaxus was resting by a stream a giant serpent spewed from the ground. The creature was a muddy brown and its scales were like cracked dirt. The beast rushed at Adamaxus but the youth with his great strength was able to best the serpent with a clean spear thrust through the head.

Once dead the Dirt Serpent lay still on the ground. Adamaxus went to touch the beast but it broke apart like sand in a sieve and the earth that made up the creature fell back into the ground. All that was left of the serpent was a small dark amber stone. Adamaxus grabbed the stone and at one power flowed through his body like water bursting from a dam. All around him the ground rose and fell like liquid waves. The trees blew and their vines and roots whipped. Adamaxus fought against the awesome flow and eventually the world settle.

Adamaxus abandoned his journey and ran back down the mountain. However even in his haste he still did not make it back to his home until nearly nightfall. When he arrived he found the door of the cottage broken in. Panic flooded his mind and he lost control of the stone again. The earth rumble and in the distance he could hear trees falling. Adamaxus focused himself again and the earth calmed. He ran inside of the home to find what had occurred.

The scene he found was one only from nightmares. His father Yelen was sprawled on the ground, a line of red blood traced his throat. His mother Rease was tied to a chair, but still alive. Most frightening of all was the red robed man who stood and smiled when Adamaxus had entered. The pupils of the man’s eyes flicked like flames. Adamaxus’s mother tried to scream but her mouth was gagged.

“Hello, child.” The man said, his words from his mouth and popped liked embers.

“What have you done?” Adamaxus yelled, his control on his stone was already waning and he could feel the earth shake beneath him.

“Cleaning up Jord’s loose ends,” the man said coolly, he raised one hand towards Adamaxus’s and flames began to flicker off the hand’s fingertips. A funnel of flames streamed towards Adamaxus but before they could reach him a wall of earth broke through the house’s foundation and blocked the flames. The man stared dumbly at Adamaxus but before he could recover a second pillar of earth burst from the ground, consuming the man and dragging him into the ground leaving no trace.

Adamaxus rushed to his mother and began to untie her but he could see the man had tortured her with fire before he arrived. Tear’s ran down the boy’s face at the sight of his mother, he knew she did not have much longer before the wounds would consume her life force.

“My son,” she said weakly taking his cheeks into her meek hands, “you must quit your tears, there is much I must tell you before I pass from this world.”

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Jason closed his book when he heard the door of the hall open and looked to see the new arrival. He whistled playfully, “if you were sixty years younger, I’d ask you out on a date Vanna.”

“You wouldn’t even have a chance,” the warrior called back. All the grime and dirt that had accumulated on her hair and face was gone. She must have found a comb because her hair was also noticeably less knotted and rested evenly on her shoulders. “You should visit the bathhouse by the river. I got a twenty-four hour buff that gives me +2 charisma,” she bunched up her nose, “and you’re starting to smell, Honey.”

“Hey!” Jason growled. I am starting to smell, maybe a bath wouldn’t be such a bad idea. “I’ll think about it. We’ll see if it works into my budget,” he added, but he already made up his mind to visit the bathhouse the next time he had a chance.

Vanna rolled her eyes than asked, “what have you been doing?”

Jason lifted his book. “I’ve been reading this book I bought in Exton a few days ago. It’s kind of interesting if you want to read it when I’m done. Oh wait I have some notification.” Jason mentally drew up the notifications.

**New Skill: Reading (Beginner I)- +1% to experience gained from reading. 1% reading speed boost. +50 Exp.**

**System Alert: You have just unlocked your 11th skill. While there are no penalties for the number of skills a player has, it is recommended that players work on advancing currently held skills instead of earning more skills. Would you like to see a list of your current skills: Yes/No? You may look at this list anytime in your character sheet.**

Jason had an idea of all of his skills, but he still wanted to take a look so he chose yes.

Skill

Level

Effect

Bribery

Beginner I

+1% to bribery success

Perception

Beginner II

+1% to senses

Bartering

Beginner III

+1.5% boost in price when selling or buying

Appraising

Beginner II

N/A

Magic Channeling

Beginner 0

N/A

Magic Manipulation

Beginner 0

N/A

Magic Efficiency

Beginner 0

N/A

Dodging

Beginner II

2% faster when dodging

Sneak [Active Skill]

Beginner I

1% reduction to chances of being detected

One Handed Weapons

Beginner I

+1% damage to one handed weapon attacks

2% chance of being disarmed in combat

Reading

Beginner I

+1% to reading speed

+1% to experience from reading

I do have a lot of skills, Jason thought, but my bartering is only at level three and I need to get that to the next tier before I can rank up my class. He closed his skill chart and read his next notification.

**Note This! You have just read your first book. Books award experience and information based on their contents and player’s reading level. In addition, players can unlock things such as rare skills, hidden locations, quests, and more from reading. Players are rewarded based on the percentage of the book they have read in addition there is an experience boost upon completing a book.**

History of the Middle Kingdoms (Progress: 5%)

Experience Gain +51 Exp. (50*1.01)

Maybe this book wasn’t a bad investment after all. Jason did the quick math and figured the book had a base experience pool of 1000 plus whatever his reading skill boost gave him. I could level up by just reading, he thought giddily. After looking over his skills and the system message he decided he would focus on improving his bartering and reading skills. Jason hoped their tier requirements would be attainable once he ranked them up more.

Vanna coughed loudly bringing Jason out of his notification trance, “you done Honey?”

“Oh yeah sorry Vanna,” Jason apologized. He hadn’t expected to go through so many notifications. “Have you read any books yet?”

“I’ve never bothered, they’re too expensive,” Vanna replied. “I do miss reading though.”

“Well reading also gives you experience,” Jason said enthusiastically, “I’ll definitely let you borrow my book when I’m done with it.”

“Thank you honey,” Vanna said. “I saw some villagers returning from the fields when I left the bathhouse, but I still think we’ll be waiting around for an hour or two.”

Jason didn’t feel like reading anymore. “How would you like to learn a game I picked up in Exton?”

*****

It turned out Vanna learned how to play 39 Thieves while in the army, the game was contagious like Darrow claimed. Vanna hadn’t just learned the game, she mastered it and took over three coppers from Jason in just an hour when they were only playing quarter copper games. Just as Jason was about to call it quits after an unknowable streak of losses, Bryon came into the hall.

“Supper is ready, if you all would like some,” he announced. Vanna needn’t any more invitation and was quickly up from the table and following after Byron.

The dinner, prepared by Byron’s wife, Jule, was one of the best Jason ever had. A whole roasted chicken topped with blackened potatoes, carrots, and leeks. There was also fresh dark bread that they used to soak in the chicken juices. Jason had noticed a little herb garden in the couples yard and was sure that many of its yields savored his dinner. Byron had eaten his dinner fast and excused himself to gather the villagers interested in meeting Jason. Meanwhile Jason and Vanna got to talk to Jule. She told them about her herb garden and the prize chickens she selectively bred.

“I won the county purse last year at the fair. Ten silvers I got for my girls. The royal chef bought a half dozen to breed for the kings hen house,” she said proudly.

By the time Byron returned, Jason and Vanna were done there meal and followed the reeve back to the town hall where about two dozen people were ambling about inside. Jason was overwhelmed by the demand but Byron introduced him to each person or group.

No one bothered with prices as no one knew what the items were going for in the Capitol or if they were available. Instead Jason sat at the table essentially writing a shopping list for the village. This mostly included goods made by tradesmen such as leather strips, or nails, or lead weights. However he also wrote down some exotic request like limes, ginger, and squid ink. Jason worried that most of it he either wouldn’t find or wouldn’t be able to afford. None of the villagers seemed to trust him enough to take their money all the way to the Capitol to by their goods. After almost an hour of talking the last villager walked away from the table and a quest appeared in Jason’s vision.

**New Quest: Shopping List. The villagers of Finchead have given you a list of items to bring back from the Laxtar. Reward: Exp. and money based on how many of the items you bring back.**

Byron looked happy about the meeting, “if you pull through, you’re going to make a lot of people around here happy.” Most of the villagers left after giving Jason their request but one man still lingered around. Byron gestured towards the man and said, “this is Jon the headsman for one of the sheep raising families. Jon this is Jason and Vanna.”

The trio exchanged hand shakes then Jason spoke up, “I’m only looking to buy about two bags of wool today but I’m hoping we can work something out for the future.”

Jon smiled and Jason relaxed seeing he wouldn’t have to negotiate with a hothead. “We’re glad to unload any wool we can. Usually we have to store it all until spring when the wholesale traders come through. We have to run the risk of fires, mildew, and theft. I’ll sell you two bags for a silver each, but we can talk further once you return with the going price in Laxtar,” Jon finished flatly.

He didn’t give me much room to negotiate, Jason thought, but a silver each isn’t a bad offer. “That sounds good with me,” Jason said reaching out his hand.

Byron smiled, “thank you Jon. I’ll have Jason meet you outside you storehouse in the morning. Now why don’t we all go to bed, it’s been a long day and Jason and Vanna have a journey to start tomorrow.”