Omen: 9, 20

“Damn,” Adam said, staring at the numbers. “My rolls have been so good the past couple of days.”

“Rolls?” Jurot asked.

“I would be two third away to the next perfect weapon,” Adam said. “I could have made such a great weapon before we left.”

Lucy whistled as she looked away.

“Can I summon my familiars, or should I wait until after we leave the Iyr?” Adam asked.

“You should do so once we are out of the Iyr,” Jurot said.

“Alright,” Adam replied.

They went through the motions that morning. Adam was glad he could have another bathe that morning, especially since they warmed up the water for him.

‘Damn, they’re so nice.’

Soon the trio left, saying their goodbyes to the Elders, and making their way to the village.

“Are you sure you do not want to say goodbye to your nephew?” Lykan asked.

“Who is my nephew?” Tonagek’s nostrils flared angrily.

“Jurot is not your nephew?”

“Oh,” Tonagek said. “I spoke with him last night.”

Elder Lykan smiled. “What of the other?”

“I have heard what he has done, but I will not accept him so easily,” Tonagek said.

“Not even for your sister’s sake?”

His nostrils flared once more.

Soon the evening sun tickled the trio’s backs as they arrived at the village, which seemed to be awaiting their arrival.

The Chief, Merl, came to meet them quickly. “My, my, what handsome guests we have.” Her eyes fell to the Devilkin woman, or what she assumed to be a Devilkin. “A Devilkin who isn’t an Iyrman?”

“She’s our friend,” Adam said, patting Lucy’s back.

“I’m a Dem-“

Adam slapped her back harder. “She demanded to come along with us to have some fun.” Adam chuckled. ‘Oi! What the hell are you doing?’

Lucy rubbed her back. ‘What was that for?’

Adam raised his brows and glared at her.

“Anyway, it’s a pleasure to see you again. Have you been well, Chief?”

“I’ve been well, but my old bones have be chattering due to the cold,” she replied, sighing.

“Old? You don’t look a day over forty, Chief,” Adam said, flashing a charming smile her way.

“Oh, you! If only I was forty years younger.” She jabbed him with her finger.

“You’re travelling out during Nightval?” Merl, the young and beautiful granddaughter, asked.

“Yeah.” Adam shrugged his shoulders. “What better time to train than in the most dangerous conditions?”

“As long as we train safely, we will survive,” Jurot said.

She glanced between the pair of them. “Yes, dangerously safe.”

“Anyway,” Adam said, clearing his throat. “I need to summon a few things. Do you mind?”

“Summon?” Merl asked.

“I want to summon an Elk and am Owl,” Adam said. “Friends of mine.”

“Can you control them?”

“Can we truly control anyone?” Adam philosophised.

Merl raised her brows.

“Yes,” Adam said. “I can.”

“As long as you can control them. If they act up, we may be forced to put them down.”

“If you leave them be, they should leave you be. I’m their master, so they should obey me. That Owl, though, he’s a troublemaker, just like Jaygak.” Adam smiled innocently.

Merl squinted her eyes at him. “Please make sure they do not bother us.”

Adam nodded, before heading aside to cast his spell.

Mana: 16 -> 14

Spell: Find Steed

Adam drew something on the floor using a stick he had found, a set of runes, chanting quietly over the course of a few minutes. He tossed the stick aside.

“Arise, my trusted companion!” Adam declared.

The runes glowed for a moment, before flashing white repeatedly, and within a few seconds, there came a large Elk, formed of light at first, before it seemingly formed flesh.

The Elk stared at Adam.

“Yo,” Adam said.

The Elk bowed its head.

“Wait a second and I’ll go summon your older sibling,” Adam said, before going off to find a brazier.

“Wait…” Adam snapped his finger and the Owl appeared. “Sorry, Hades. I forgot.”

Hades stared at Adam.

Adam cleared his throat. “Now, what should I call you?” He pet the Elk. “Athena maybe? No, that doesn’t make sense. I should have called you Athena,” Adam said, looking to Hades. “Plus it’d be weird if the one I’m riding is a girl.” Adam rubbed his chin in thought. “Zeus? Because you are as fast as lightning?” Adam smiled.

“Since when could you summon an Elk?” Lucy asked.

“A while ago,” Adam said. “Well, I learnt it recently, but I could have learned it before.”

Lucy narrowed her eyes. ‘If I only I could summon my baby.’

“Though, I do need more Mana…” Adam said. He checked to see how much Experience it cost to increase his Mana.

‘Oh, that’s pretty cheap.’

XP: 3825 -> 2325

“If only it was so easy to increase your Mana,” Lucy said. She smirked. “That’s why I don’t use magic.”

Adam stared at her. “Yeah. If only it was so easy.”

Mana: 16 -> 18

“If only,” he repeated.

The next few days passed by uneventfully as Jurot led the way through the villages. Brittany’s village asked about her and checked up with Jurot, but otherwise left the group be. Adam made sure to drop three gold to each village for looking after them, which they eagerly accepted.

Omen: 13, 17

The group was pretty close to Red Oak when they heard screaming off in the distance.

“We should probably check that out,” Adam said, before Jurot and Lucy darted away, Adam following behind, though the distance between them began to widen. ‘I should get some more movement somehow.’

Zeus bounded beside him, slowing down to keep beside his master. Hades circled around, still quicker than the Half Elf.

As they charged forward, heading towards the area where they were going to sleep at, they found four people, each attacking one another.

“What the hell?” Adam called out as Jurot and Lucy waited, wondering what they should do.

“We should not get involved,” Jurot said. “If it is a fight between a group.”

Adam’s eyes snapped around, seeing the utter rage on some of their faces, half drooling as they struck one another.

“No,” Adam said, grabbing his axe. “Something’s wrong. We need to stop them.” Adam leapt into the fray.

Battle Order

D20 + 1 = 9 (8)

Attack

D20 + 8 = 9 (1)

Miss!

1D6 + 1D6 + 6 = 9 (1)(2)

9 damage!

Attack

D20 + 8 = 26 (18)

Hit!

1D6 + 1D6 + 6 = 12 (5)(1)

12 damage!

Adam swung his axe towards the young woman in the robes and staff, but he slipped in the earth, before swinging the back of his axe to strike across her back, catching her as she fell.

Jurot struck one down, and Lucy beat the third.

Adam watched as the man in the chain reached out for Lucy’s face, his hand completely black, filled with deathly magic.

Mana: 18 -> 15

Spell: Counterspell

“Do you really think you can do that in front of me?” Adam chanted, causing the man’s hand to turn back to its fleshy colour.

Adam was glad that he had taken it back in the Iyr. ‘Damn, sometimes I’m just so smart.’ Although he had Fireball, his other Third Gate spells were defensive or held great utility.

Lucy head butt the guy, causing him to stumble back. “What did you try to do to my face, you bastard?” She head butt him again until his body fell still, and she let him drop to the floor.

“Relax,” Adam said. “They didn’t seem like themselves.” Adam was about to heal the girl in his arms, when he saw the glowing symbol on the ground.

“Hey, look after them,” he said, before dropping down and creating runes around the symbol, trying to cast his spell.

After a few minutes, the symbol on the floor disappeared, before he could manage to cast his spell in time.

“Damn,” Adam said, staring down at the ground. ‘How did I know I needed to prepare that spell? Seriously…’ He glanced towards the group of Adventurers that Jurot and Lucy had moved to the side.

“What do we do with them?” Lucy asked.

“Well… they might still be under the magic, so it’s probably best to tie them up,” Adam said, looking around to the camp nearby. “Take away their weapons and magical stuffs, and tie ‘em up. We’ll interrogate them when they wake up.”

Adam moved their packs to the side, and placed their weapons beside them, and tasked Zeus and Hades to watch over them.

“Should I heal one of them, or should we wait?” Adam asked.

“I’m a little hungry,” Lucy admitted.

“I will hunt,” Jurot said.

“Take Lucy with you,” Adam said. “I’ll send Hades too, and if you get into trouble, Hades will come back to me.”

Jurot nodded, taking the Demon with him.

Adam stared at the Adventurers.

‘Should I mess with them?’