《Adam is the Protagonist》Chapter 4: Four Years Bad Luck
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Under the cover of moonlight, Adam was running on the rooftops of the buildings. His destination was the inner city, the place where the nobles reside.
After arriving at his destination, he saw a grand mansion throwing a party.
"A little festive for a secret meeting, isn't it? Doctor."
"Ah Adam, you wound me. At least pretend to not notice and let me feel some kind of victory."
"Let's go in."
The doctor and Adam entered the iron gates unhindered. The guards ignored them, the maids treated them as if they didn't exist, and the guests had never seen their shadows.
At the very top of the mansion, a middle-aged man was sitting there as if he was anticipating their arrival.
"Welcome to my humble abode, dear guests."
"Ahahahaha, my dear friend. This is my son, would you be so kind as to engage him to your-"
The doctor got kicked in the gut.
Both the middle-aged man and Adam said aloud, "Not happening."
"Four years of hiding, three years of planning, two years of setting it up, and an entire year for creating an artifact. You've spent these years quite well, doctor."
The middle-aged man sighed deeply. In the end, he lost the fight for the right to control the underground.
"I've been waiting for a few weeks now. I thought you would never show up."
"Well, I am here now. Now if you excuse me."
The doctor happily frolicked as he went beside the middle-aged man and took an ominous-looking crystal. The doctor was beaming.
"Doctor, give it back. I changed my mind."
The doctor looked completely surprised as he looked back at Adam.
"Are you insane? I know you much you helped but it doesn't mean that-"
Adam ignored the doctor's rantings.
"In exchange, the doctor gains your full financial support, 3 favors and, I want a person fitting my requirements."
The doctor was furious but still felt it to be fair. He could have never gotten here in the first place. Besides, he was going to milk it dry anyways, might as well give the responsibility to someone else.
The middle-aged man thought for a while and nodded. It was a better alternative than losing so much power.
"Ah, I see where you are going with this. Mason, you are going to have a rough time. I actually pity you."
"Doctor, give me the device."
The doctor gave Adam a scanner.
"Listen very carefully, the person I want is extremely hard to find even to the point that I bet that he or she not existing is more probable. Use this device find a person that shows this exact symbol."
Afterward, Adam wrote an extremely odd symbol that could easily be mistaken for a child's doodle.
"Careful, Mason. That's quite the artifact you got there. It scans a person's trait, pretty cool huh? It took me an entire year to make that."
"Don't even bother figuring out how it works, even I don't know! What a joke, I spent years of my life on this research only to find Adam completely plow through and make a breakthrough. Life is so unfair."
"Stop playing around. We'll let you keep the position right now but fail this and you die. The time limit is a week. It must be a child aged roughly 10-12, at worst 15. Worst comes to worst, use your daughter's trait."
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The middle-aged man was now visibly scared, "You know?!"
"Of course I would know. Why did you think I was so sure that it works? Karma, quite an interesting trait she got there."
Now the middle-aged man was even more sure that Adam wasn't lying.
"An ungodly amount of luck but an equal reciprocal fee is needed. You already used her to get here, what's one more use?" Adam smirked as he and the doctor left.
The following day, Adam got in class unseen.
The teacher used a wooden stick and directly slammed it on the board cracking both of them.
"I don't like it either but I still have to teach the class once in a while or we will both be in trouble."
"Today, we are going to be discussing the difference between wizards, magicians, and sorcerers. Anyone have any ideas?"
Not a single student felt interested and considered it a bore.
"Ahem, anyways. wizards are seekers of knowledge, they use arcane spells and these usually require a chant. Anyone can become a wizard through hard work and dedication. Though powerful spells they lack in versatility since they are limited to what spells they know."
"Next are the magicians, they are also known as wielders of magic, they can be considered as chantless wizards. They can use magic at will and are extremely versatile since they control mana directly and needs no medium to cast spells. As a drawback, they have usually weaker spells than wizards."
A random student asked, "Isn't Lady Isabelle an Elementalist? Where does she fit in?"
"Ah, good question, finally some interactivity! Elementalists are a sub-class of magicians. They control all the elements in the world namely: earth, metal, wind, electricity, water, fire, wood. Unfortunately as of now, Lady Isabelle is considered as a pseudo-Elementalist. She does have the ability to use these elements but she needs a chant to use them, though in the near future she will be a true Elementalist!"
"Now finally, sorcerers are also known as children of mana, they are naturally born children with an innate ability to use mana, able to utilize all available magic, create spells to create or destroy life and, as a matter of fact, our king is a sorcerer! Though this is considered as a public secret, you shouldn't know this yet so let's keep it quiet!"
The ringing of the bell signified the end of the class. But before any of the students could get up from their seats, the teacher was long gone. Though he was quite thoughtful, there was a goodbye note left on the board.
Adam immediately left, he was not taking any risks with Richard. He never makes the same mistake twice.
Unfortunately for him, Lady Isabelle was already there. She was waiting for quite a while just to meet him.
"Where were you?"
"What do you mean?"
"The school sent the students to the dorms after school. Where did you go?"
"I got lost in the city, I am quite ashamed of that though."
"That's the best you got? Nevermind, follow me. It's not a request, its an order."
Adam meekly followed Lady Isabelle outside.
As they were walking, Adam asked Lady Isabelle, "Would you please enlighten me as to where we are going?"
"Where else? To my household to properly compensate you."
She rode on a carriage and signaled Adam to come inside.
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Adam smiled afterward, silently got in.
As they were traveling, the silence was a little unbearable for Lady Isabelle. She was quite curious about these new students that recently joined.
After a few minutes in, she asked breaking the silence, "So, Adam, would you mind telling me a little about yourself? Someone that managed to enter that class would surely have some ability."
"I came from the wasteland, so there is nothing notable to note. If anything I am sure that there was some kind of mistake in where I got in."
"Is that so? So you are telling me, Sir Steward, an envoy of the king, made a mistake? I remember him telling me that both you and Richard are quite the prodigies. Your intellect is above and beyond while Richard has enough ability to clash with an elite."
While smiling on the outside, Adam sighed on the inside. It was good that he didn't tell her more than that but at the same time, he wanted Sir Steward to praise Richard, even more, to get rid of the attention from himself.
"Well, I just matured more quickly than an average person, other than that I really have nothing else. I have no combat capabilities nor magical affinities so I would consider myself quite useless."
"If you want someone who has actual skill, that 'Beast King Richard' would be a more suitable person to look for."
"Aren't you downplaying yourself a little too much? Infiltrating enemy camp and successfully escaping without causing a scene is quite a marvelous achievement, is it not?"
"It truly is, as well as surviving an all-out attack from yours truly."
Lady Isabelle got a little embarrassed for hearing that.
"Never mind that, here we are."
Lady Isabelle and Adam entered a familiar mansion.
"I will call my father to give you proper compensation and a position here as well. That way you can get on your feet easier than the other students."
Adam slyly smiled, I wonder what his reaction would be. Ever since I heard she was going to train I had always looked forward to this moment.
Lady Isabelle behind a middle-aged man came out from a fancy looking door. When he saw Adam he shocked but quickly gained back his composure.
"So, you are the one who saved my daughter?"
"Yes. I don't need any title nor position, just the gold would do."
Lady Isabelle was furious, this was the head of a noble household yet Adam just wantonly spat out arrogant words. She looked at his father but he retained his composure, signaling her to let it go.
The middle-aged man threw a sack of coins towards Adam. Right after, Adam left.
"Father, why did you not get angry at him? He was out of his place to-"
"Let it go, in the future don't go near him. If anything, go to that lad Richard, he seems to hold a grudge towards Adam but he hasn't disappeared yet so that's a good sign. Don't tell anyone, make sure this stays between the two of us."
Lady Isabelle felt an ominous air appear, "Disappeared? He's just a kid, I know he is talented but this-"
"He has the doctor's backing. Right now, his goal isn't to cause trouble but to go on and silently fade into obscurity. That Steward really wants to die if he keeps on troubling him."
"Anyways, I need your trait again and I promise this would be the last time."
"You told me you would never use it again for that kind of business!"
"It isn't, its to find someone. Let's hope that person really does exist or in a week, the Mason Household would be your brother's to inherit."
There was an ominous look in her eyes when she heard that.
"Well, things just seemed to roll out for you. I guess this is one of the fees that I paid, I was wondering why nothing happened yet as of late."
"What do you mean? Did you use your ability? No, nevermind I am sure it was 'insignificant.' This isn't too dangerous, I think."
Lady Isabelle nodded and went into her father's office. She used her trait and threw 5 darts into the air while holding the symbol Adam drew. Four darts collided mid-air and the last one barely hit the map in an obscure spot on the map.
Lady Isabelle's face darkened, during her fury, she disregarded all respect, "Just what the hell are you making me look for! The backlash this time is at least a hundred times stronger than before! Dammit, everything makes sense now but why is this so demanding!"
"I don't know either. If making you look for a priestess, nearly took your life. Then who is he looking for? Is he possibly looking for a god's descent? No, the priestess already has half a god's power and the backlash is a hundred times stronger. Just what trait is it?"
As the middle-aged man thought on who Adam would be possibly looking for, his daughter felt something amiss and the ceiling broke down directly on her.
Her father ran to protect her while he shouted, "Quick! Spread the cost throughout 4 years. It's better than dying outright!"
Lady Isabelle closed her eyes and the squeaking noises around her stopped. Right after, she took a deep breath and drifted to sleep.
"Rest, Isabelle. You've done well."
The middle-aged man took her to her room and let her rest. He then called his men and ordered to set forth to where the person Adam was trying to find.
Unbeknownst of their situation, one other dart dropped off at a faraway region from the map and another one directly dropped cleanly dropped on the other side of the room.
"There are still three more favors after this, I can't let Isabelle in any danger anymore."
Using a magic scroll he swiftly opened it and lights flickered. The doctor was sitting down while eating food.
"I found where the person Adam was trying to find is. I'll follow through the rest but I won't Isabelle in any more danger in the future."
"Ah? Just that?"
The doctor gulped down the food in his mouth.
"We weren't planning on using her anyways. I just wanted financial support and Adam wants god knows what. Still, considering that Adam knows her trait then I know Adam already calculated it in his plans."
The middle-aged man sighed with relief.
"Though I was sure Adam was trying to kill you. Your daughter's trait is almost as a tenth of good as Adam's though, hahahahah!"
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