Adam awoke in a sombre mood. He exhaled deeply within his small room, before hopping out of bed, dropping into a deep squat. He fell into deep thought, as though meditating.

“Ha!” He shot up into a stand, punching his fists up towards the ceiling, his fists cutting through the air with a mighty swoosh.

‘Let’s work hard today too! Money money money! Let’s go!’

He out hyped his sadness, quickly heading to the bath to start the day off right. The warmth of the bath always calmed his soul.

‘I wish I had some tea…’ He swallowed down the sadness of missing the taste of the tea his mother, the food that she made. Even the terrible meat and potatoes his father made, he missed that too. He didn’t miss his brother’s attempt at beans on rice though.

He donned his heavy chain, feeling how it pressed down against his body. He grabbed the sword belt, staring at it for a long moment. He unsheathed his sword, staring at the blade, seeing his amber eyes against the steel. The unfamiliar eyes stared back at him, filled with grim determination. He blinked, trying to force his eyes to lighten up, before sheathing the blade and strapping it to his side.

His noisy steps were drowned out by the noisiness of more adventurers gossiping and chin wagging between one another. He glanced over to see Jurot, who was eating some bread, deep in thought.

Adam brought a bowl of meat stew and bread, sitting down opposite Jurot. He ate the salty stew, dipping the soft bread inside, staring at the Iyrman. His arms were crossed, emphasising his powerful biceps, and his face was contorted in a mixture of annoyance and numbness.

Jurot suddenly opened his eyes to glare at Adam, with a wickedly vicious look in his eyes. Adam’s eyes widened slightly, his jaw frozen half way into biting the soggy bread. Their eyes continued to meet. A long moment of silence later and Jurot blinked several times.

“Adam son of Fate,” he said.

“Jurot son of Surot,” Adam replied.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes. You?”

Jurot glanced upwards, thinking about his dream last night. “No.”

“What happened?”

“A nightmare.”

“What about?” Adam asked, chewing into the bread.

“…” Jurot tilted his head, squinting his eyes. He started to think again, which was difficult for him to do so in rapid succession. “Softness.”

“…”

“…”

‘Softness?’ Adam stared at Jurot, who did not elaborate on the word. The question mark in Adam’s eyes did not leave, but that did not stir Jurot one bit.

The glances of the other adventurers caused Adam to finish his meal earlier than he would have liked. He approached the board, checking the various quests. Appearing busy typically meant others wouldn’t try to bother someone.

“Have you picked a quest?” Jurot asked.

“Let’s just stick with boars until we get bored,” Adam said, smiling at Jurot.

Jurot nodded, applying their small wooden tag to the poster before they set out on foot.

“Jurot,” Adam said, whispering towards the Iyrman. “I’ve noticed you don’t seem to mind that I’m a half elf.”

“Yes.”

Adam waited for Jurot to elaborate, but he remained silent for a while longer. ‘Shouldn’t you at least tell me?’ Adam shook his head. “Why is that?”

“I’m an Iyrman,” Jurot replied back simply.

“…”

“Right, but what does that have to do with you treating me well?”

“We Iyrmen do not care for your race. What matters to our people is who you are as a person. We have no qualms with any race in particular. Beast, man, undead.”

“That’s manly as hell,” Adam said, tapping Jurot’s back. “You’re so cool.”

“I am the perfect temperature to fight,” Jurot said, flexing his muscles to Adam in an attempt to relax him. “We Iyrmen are always at the perfect temperature to fight.” He reassured the half elf again.

“Not quite what I meant, but that’s good to know.” Adam chuckled.

“We’re heading to the bakery?” Jurot asked.

“Once the-“ Adam noticed Remy and Jeremy approaching towards them. “Guess we’re going now.”

The pair’s muscles were rippling as they carried their palanquin. Their sweat glistened, but their faces were eager with large grins. They could taste it, the sweetness of a gold coin.

“You’re looking lively,” Adam said, smiling at the men.

“We’re ready to make gold!” Remy declared.

“Gold!” Jeremy laughed like a hyena.

“…” Adam blinked. ‘Just how poorly were you treated that you’re excited about one gold coin?’

Remy and Jeremy could alright taste the sweet ale they were going to buy with the extra silvers which would break from the gold.

“Ah!” Remy managed to pull himself out of his stupor. “We have someone who is willing to work as a porter.”

“Who?”

“My cousin’s nephew,” Remy said. “He’s a young lad, but build like an Iyrman.”

Jurot raised his brow at the comparison. “Only Iyrmen are built like Iyrmen.”

“What about me?” Adam asked.

“Not built like an Iyrman, but very good.” Jurot nodded.

“I didn’t mean no disrespect.”

“How young is he?”

“Fifteen.”

“That’s a little young,” Adam said. He wasn’t sure they should take a youngster to work somewhere dangerous. ‘Isn’t that illegal? Ah, right. Fantasy world.’ He turned to Jurot. “What do you think?”

Jurot stared at Adam. ‘Too young? I heard half elves age differently…’ He blinked, turning to the porters. “How strong is he?”

“He’s as tall and as wide as Adam.”

“Very, then.” Adam smirked.

“Let me see.” Jurot was curious to see what kind of strong youngster was born in this place.

“Meet us at the bakery with your strapping young man and we’ll check him out there whilst breaking bread. We’ll make sure he’s well fed for the trouble.”

“It’s no trouble!” Remy looked to Jeremy with a smile.

“Let’s go!”

The pair left whilst Adam and Jurot went to the bakery, the sweet smell enticing them in.

“Good morning,” Pam said, seeing the pair.

“Morning,” Adam said, with Jurot nodding his head towards her. “Did you enjoy the meat?”

“It was delicious, thank you.” She smiled.

“Did someone say meat?” a man’s voice called from the hallway behind Pam. The hallway moved lengthwise, and the wall behind was the same colour as the walls behind Pam, which made it appear as though it was blended in together.

He was a tall man, thickly built as though he had ate bread all his life, with large forearms. He was clean shaven, with a bandanna over his head. He looked to see the two towering men before Pam, narrowing his eyes slightly, before noticing the tattoo on Jurot’s forehead. “An Iyrman?”

“Pa, this is Jurot, and this is Adam.”

Adam waved a hand. “Good morning.”

“Good morning. The name’s Bam. I never expected us to receive such a blessing.” Bam smiled, looking towards Jurot mostly.

“Jurot brought us the meat last night.”

“Oh? You did?” He asked Jurot.

Jurot nodded. “We like the bread here.”

“You do? I hope that you’ll come by! Let’s get you a basket shall we?”

“I don’t think I can afford that,” Adam said, chuckling lightly. “It’s my turn to pay, so…” Adam paused to think for a moment.

“You don’t have to worry about the money.” Bam turned to his daughter. “Have you been charging an Iyrman?”

“Do you think we can afford to not charge Iyrmen?” Pam puffed out her cheeks to her father.

“What kind of daughter have I been raising?” He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her down slightly with his great strength.

“It’s not like I overcharge them like normal adventurers!”

“You’d better have not!” Bam kept pushing her down, with his daughter trying to fight up against him.

“Since we will be feeding a few guys, why don’t we pay for a basket of bread, whatever you recommend.”

“No, no, you don’t have to worry about the money at all.”

Adam looked to Jurot. “How about you give us a small discount since we’ll be regulars. Whenever we go on a quest from Red Oak, we’ll swing by before for some bread, and after for some jam buns.”

“Since you’re our valued customers,” the baker said, giving him a thumbs up. “I’ll go sort the bread out.” Bam went around back to find a small basket he could fill with bread.

“Since you’re ordering a basket, should I also fill it with some tarts and jam buns?” Pam asked, flashing her silver sucking smile.

“Sure!” Adam chuckled. “We might be getting a new worker and I hear he’s as big as me. We should feed our junior well, shouldn’t we?” He turned to Jurot and lightly jabbed the Iyrman with his elbow.

“If he’s big.” Jurot crossed his arms.

“Then I’ll make sure to place in lots of tarts for all of you.” Pam’s hands were already grabbing at a large number of tarts and jam buns. Adam recalled their price, and wondered if she was trying to empty his wallet. ‘I should break a gold for more silver and copper.’

Bam brought the basket of bread, placing it down in front of Adam and Jurot. It was mostly full, though Pam was quickly working on taking out the cheapest bread and replacing it all with tarts and jam buns.

“What are you doing?”

“They wanted tarts and jam buns,” she said, smirking up at her father.

‘Is she really my daughter?’

“That will be eight silver and seven copper!” Pam declared quickly.

“Copper? What’s a bunch of copper.”

“I’m not charging for the basket so that should be good enough!” Pam shouted, being pushed down by her father again.

“Can you break a gold for me?” Adam asked.

Bam quickly snatched it from his grasp before his daughter could, who was a half second behind.

“Don’t forget to charge the copper!”

“Don’t forget who your father is, you little cow!”

“Cow?” Pam gasped, turning red in the face as she looked at Jurot and Adam. “You! You!” She stormed away from the pair.

Bam was beginning to sweat. ‘Oops.’ He quickly parted out the coin for Adam.

Currency

25GP, 10SP, 4CP -> 24GP, 11SP, 6CP

“Is everything alright.”

“We’ll see.”

“Uh, I’ll see you tonight for some jam buns.” Adam waved, taking the basket and stepping out with it.

“She seemed to be upset being called a cow,” Jurot said as they embraced the cool air outside.

“Jurot, don’t call any woman a cow.”

“Why not?”

“It’s bad.”

“Cows are great. Very meaty. Lots of milk. Delicious.” Jurot nodded his head.

“Yeah, but no woman wants to be called a cow. What if I called you a dog, would you like it?”

“Dogs are great beasts, very loyal companions.”

“…” Adam shook his head. “Just trust me on this?”

“I think Pam is very much a-“

“Jurot!” Adam cut him off quickly. “I’m saying this for your own good! There are some things you can’t say! Like calling an Iyrman a coward, or a woman half of that.”

“Half a coward?”

Adam sighed.

Luckily for him, Remy and Jeremy were approaching. Behind them was a man with a baby face and short dark hair. He was built as wide as a bull, and was thick with muscle all over. On his back were two wooden boxes, tied to one another in a way so that they were leveraging each other. He had three javelins at his side, as well as a hatchet and a buckler.

“Heave!”

“Ho!”

The cousins placed down the palanquin.

“That’s your nephew?” Adam asked, staring at the baby faced stranger who was as tall and as wide as he.

“He is, isn’t that right, Nobby?”

Nobby nodded.

“You’re fifteen?”

Nobby nodded.

“He doesn’t talk much,” Remy admitted.

“What have you been feeding this kid? Did you jack him up on some TRT?”

“I’m sure he’s ate a few tarts,” Jeremy said.

Jurot walked around Nobby, nodding his head. ‘He has more talent than me. Did he have any Iyrmen parents? Or maybe some giant blood?’ He looked into Nobby’s eyes. “Will you train to become a warrior?”

“Nobby isn’t the kind to fight,” Jeremy said. “He can toss a couple of javelins well enough, but that’s all.”

“If he learns to channel his rage, he will be stronger than me.” Jurot turned to the cousins with sparkles in his eyes.

“Ehehe,” Remy chuckled nervously. “Oh, I’m sure he’s thankful for the compliment, but Nobby’s just a boy.”

“A strapping boy, with powerful muscles.” Jurot nodded his head. “If he became a warrior, he would bring great honour to his family.”

“We’re worried about food on the table, not our honour,” Remy said, chuckling nervously still.

“Nobby’s a good kid, but he’s a little slow. He might be able to join the guard and assist in the future, but for now he’ll just be a porter.”

“We could train him,” Adam offered. “We could train him when we’re not questing. It’ll give us something else to do. We’ll train him in exchange for his labour.”

“No,” Nobby said, his voice low and childish. “I need money.”

Adam raised his brow. “What do you need money for?”

“Dad is sick.”

“Nobby’s father, my cousin’s husband, came down with something not long ago.” Remy sighed. “He’s been managing with a few herbal drinks, but it’s not going to get better like that. We’ve been dropping a few coins here and there, but it’ll take a while still.”

“I’m sorry to hear. What kind of sickness is it?” Adam’s eyes fell to Jeremy.

“It’s got some name which a scholar is able to say, not we working folk. They say it needs magic of the second gate. It’s about a hundred gold coins to fix him up, which is already quite a cheap price for that sort of magic. Nobby’s been working for a short while, but adventurer’s pay a little more for porters so we thought we could bring him along.”

Adam whistled. He was only a quarter of the way there himself, but that was with a high paying job. “That is a lot of money.” He turned to look at Jurot, who nodded his head. “Alright. We’ll pay in you cold hard silver, you don’t need to worry about that.” Adam wondered how long it would take him to get to Level 3, which was when he’d be able to learn the spell to help Nobby.

“We’ll pay you eight silver coins, but if you do especially well, we’ll increase that to a gold.” Adam held out his hand.

“Thank you,” Nobby said, taking Adam’s hand and shaking it. “Is it true?”

“Is what true?”

“That you’re an elf.”

Adam looked at Nobby and nodded his head. “I am.”

“Please don’t take my money.”

“I won’t, I won’t.” Adam chuckled.

“You won’t eat me neither?”

“I- excuse me?”

“They say elves eat people.”

Adam turned to Jurot. “They do?”

“I have heard that too.”

“Well, I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a person. I won’t eat you, Nobby.” Adam chuckled.