They had spent a few days within the village with Strom, buying some food and gear from the villagers before they eventually made their way out. The travel through the forest and towards Red Oak was surprisingly uneventful.

Omen: 15, 17

“We’re not too far out from Red Oak, but we are going to make our way into the Blood Wood,” Adam said.

“The Blood Wood?” Jurot asked.

“That’s the name of the deadly forest, right?”

“The Red Wood?”

Adam sighed. “I knew it was something like that.”

“The Red Wood?” Brittany asked. “Isn’t that forest dangerous?”

“Yep.”

“We’re going into it?”

“Yep.”

“Why?”

“Because,” Adam said. “That’s our goal.”

Suddenly, Brittany was no longer quite so eager to adventure. “The Red Wood is a dangerous place.”

“Yep.”

Brittany stared at him, wondering if he was going to expand on what he said.

“Any questions?” Adam glanced around the group, before he turned to face Jurot. “We’ll leave our lives in your capable hands, Jurot.”

Jurot nodded.

The party took their places, with Kitool and Jaygak bringing up the rear, while Jurot and Adam led up front. The rest were towards the centre, with Nobby and Brittany flanked by the more experienced members of the party.

Somehow, they hadn’t found anything dangerous on the way. They had come across a bear with blood red fur, and though it eyed up the magical elk which stood nearby, carrying a few of the party’s supplies, it retreated away, not wanting to fight such a large group of adventurers.

That evening they had made camp, with half of the group chopping wood to form a small fence around their encampment, while Adam spent his precious Mana on a particular spell.

“Are you sure you should be wasting your Mana on the tower?” Lucy asked.

“If you don’t want to use the bath then you can stay outside,” Adam stated, already taking off his equipment. The ground floor of the tower was a bath, and the first floor was a bedroom, which one person on watch would use to keep an eye out, since it was a great position to keep an eye out.

“I am in awe of your great wisdom,” Lucy corrected.

The groups morale was high, since Adam had made sure they got to each bathe in the warm water, and they were able to eat something decent thanks to Jurot’s hunting and foraging, allowing them to add fresh food to their rations.

“I’ll take first or last watch, but you guys can figure out the rest of them between yourselves,” Adam said. He threw a mental command to Zeus, the magical elk, to keep an eye out too, as well as to Hades, his owl familiar, who was perched in the window of the first floor of the tower.

‘I hope nothing goes wrong this adventure.’

Omen: 4, 7

“What’s that?” Adam asked, donning his shield.

Jurot, who was also donning his shield, wondered if Adam was joking. ‘It is exactly what it looks like.’

It was indeed, what it looked like.

It was large, easily five times as long as Adam was tall, covered in red scales which were almost the colour of fresh blood. Its skull was large and flat, and jutting out from its jaws were large fangs, which would tear apart any man with ease.

“A giant snake,” Jurot replied, drawing his axe.

“I can see that,” Adam replied, nodding his head.

“You asked the question.”

“It was rhetorical.”

The giant snake, a crimson python, hissed at the party as it slithered towards them, uprooting trees.

‘So that was probably a skeleton version of this?’ Adam thought.

Battle Order

D20 + 1 = 11 (1)

Attack - Wizard’s Axe, Flanking

D20 + 8 = 10 (2)

D20 + 8 = 13 (5)

Miss!

Attack - Wizard’s Axe, Flanking

D20 + 8 = 16 (8)

D20 + 8 = 19 (11)

Hit!

Mana: 18 -> 17

Ability: Divine Smite

2D6 + 2D6 + 5 = 18 (3, 3)(3, 4)

18 damage!

Onward Soar: 1 -> 0

Attack - Wizard’s Axe, Flanking

D20 + 8 = 21 (13)

D20 + 8 = 23 (15)

Hit!

Mana: 17 -> 16

Ability: Divine Smite

2D6 + 2D6 + 5 = 15 (2, 3)(1, 4)

15 damage!

Attack - Wizard’s Axe, Flanking

D20 + 8 = 23 (15)

D20 + 8 = 26 (18)

Hit!

Mana: 16 -> 15

Ability: Divine Smite

2D6 + 2D6 + 5 = 25 (5, 5)(4, 6)

25 damage!

Adam had no idea how powerful this creature was. It was huge, yes, but that didn’t necessarily mean it was powerful. As it crashed towards them, the group sprang into action.

Arrows and javelins fell across its form, before steel, magical and mundane, clattered and cut across the creature’s body, marking it. The Priests also used their magics, calling out their tricks to deal with the creature.

Jaygak cut across it with her new blade, which crackled with lightning, and Kitool slammed her staff across its body, causing it to seize up. Jonn managed to cut deeply, his blade flashing white hot as he cut across its side.

Thanks to Kitool’s ability to cause a creature to freeze up momentarily, it allowed the entire group the ability to attack something which did not threaten them, giving them a chance to strike truer.

Though it may have been greater than any of them individually, save perhaps the Half Elf who was beyond average, it was still heavily outnumbered. A dozen wolves could kill an elephant.

Adam’s axe cut through it with ease, slicing through with his magical axe, flashing white hot with his divine magic. Even without his smites, it would have fallen, since Jurot and Lucy were both eager to strike it down too, but Adam wasn’t sure just how truly tough it was.

It had taken only moments before the creature was no longer held by Kitool’s great ability, and it dropped.

“Well,” Adam said, blinking at the large red snake, “that was easy.”

“It is quite powerful,” Jurot said. “I would have some trouble facing it.”

“You?” Adam asked.

“Not with Phantom,” he assured. “We are fortunate that it was not able to pierce us with its fangs. It holds both poison and acid.”

“Good job, Kitool,” Adam said, nodding his head to her.

She bowed her head, accepting the gratitude. With her ability to stun an enemy, they would be able to deal with most living things easily.

Brittany stared at the large snake. ‘We killed it?’ She blinked multiple times. She had heard rumours of the great snake. Even her Chief would have had trouble facing it, so to think that she could play a part in slaying it, it filled her with great pride. ‘If I stay with Adam, won’t I become more powerful?’

Victory!

Giant Blood Snake

XP Gained: +150

XP: 8825 -> 8975

‘Wait, what?’ Adam blinked. There were at least ten of them, eleven if Adam’s maths was correct, but it had given them so much XP? “Jurot, just how hard does this bad boy hit?”

“Bad boy?”

“Sorry,” Adam cleared his throat. “I mean, how much damage does it do?”

“It may be able to kill Kitool or Jaygak within moments,” Jurot said, thinking about how powerful he assumed the creature could be.

“I’m good with fire, not poison or acid,” Jaygak said.

Kitool also nodded her head. “It can strike as rapidly as I or you.”

‘Damn, that’s a lot of attacks.’ “Good thing we killed it so quickly then.” Adam looked to Nobby and Brittany, who were probably seconds away from dying if they hadn’t managed to kill it so quickly. ‘I have to be careful.’

Jurot and Kitool began to work on carving the creature. They would feast on its meat that evening, and the various parts of the snake would be useful. The fangs could be used to make weapons, its leather to made armour and shields, and if they were able to find its poison glands it would sell for a pretty penny.

The rest of the group chopped the nearby trees to form a small encampment, as they had been doing so ever since they left the village and would camp outside. Adam wondered if he should get a trick to assist with making camp, but if the group became reliant on his magic it may have been an issue.

“Why are you thinking so hard?” Lucy asked, slamming a post down into the ground. She noted the look on his face, which wasn’t just Adam thinking, it was Adam being an idiot.

“I was thinking about using less magic with camp,” Adam admitted.

“Why?”

“I don’t want you to be reliant on my magic.”

Lucy furrowed her brows in confusion. She looked to the side, where there was one tower, and then to the other side, where there was another. Adam had summoned two towers that evening, spending a third of his Mana, which formed a bathroom and three bedrooms for the group.

Lucy wasn’t sure what she should say, but since she wanted to bathe that evening, she only gave him a look which suggested he was an idiot.

Jurot had told Adam that the blood of the snake would assist in keeping them safe, though it wouldn’t guarantee that they’d be safe.

‘I hope nothing bad happens,’ Adam thought again, surrounded by hot, soapy water, and muscular men.