Adam flew around, pulling the Outbreak slightly to the sides, causing it to zig and zag along the road and field. He had allowed the group enough time to form their defences.

They kicked over the carts, the items spilling out, and used the carts to form a barrier ahead of them. They piled the hides high, forming a step for those with ranged capability to look over them, with magic and arrows at the ready.

Arrows and bolts whistled past Adam as he dropped down, turning to face the creatures, shooting out his own Flame Bolts.

Trick: Flame Bolt

D20 + 5 = 14 (9)

Hit!

2D6 = 2 (1, 1)

Trick: Flame Bolt

D20 + 5 = 25 (20)

Critical hit!

4D6 = 14 (1, 2, 5, 6)

There were dozens of guards on the wall, each with crossbows or bows at hand, raining down death against the horde of creatures. Yet, there were still at least fifty of them, each ready and eager to tear into the group.

They were no more than a moment away now, and as magic and ammunition flew, it seemed that the group would still be outnumbered at least two to one.

Adam sighed, trying to calm his pounding heart. “It’s going to be a rough fight.” Several arrows and bolts would strike one creature, but it would still bound towards them.

“A good fight,” Jurot corrected, nodding his head, Phantom in hand. It wanted to spill blood. Behind him was Nobby, with his own axe and shield.

Lucy held Destroyer in both hands, her own heart pumping wildly, and she stared at the Outbreak ahead. “You sure have a lot of guts to try and attack me!”

Adam swallowed. “I’ll deal with the middle third.”

“I’ll take the left,” Lucy said.

“I will take the right,” Jurot added.

“Hey,” Jaygak grumbled, Stormdrake crackling in her hand. “Don’t forget us.”

Kitool held Seekerstaff in hand, and she was fresh for a fight. ‘I can stun and force back a number of them away from the group.’

Twobones exchanged a look with Ironblade, and the pair were about to step forward to let the creatures swarm them, when a horn was blown.

“Get down!” the guards shouted from the walls. “On the floor! On the floor! Get down!”

The gates behind the group shook open, and they could hear the gentle hum of chanting. The opening gates revealed the Priests, who were chanting a spell, holding amulets and shields adorned with their deities symbols.

The exhausted group fell to the floor as beams of light shot out from through the gates. Ten Priests blasted out their spells, striking the horde of monsters, which glowed with light. The guards from atop the walls shot the monsters again, this time their ammunition striking truer thanks to the glow.

“Through the gates, quickly!” Vice Master Paul shouted, his voice causing Adam’s heart to jump.

The group quickly scrambled through the sides of the gate, as the Priests shot forth another round of light beams. Beside them were a dozen guards, and rushing past them came at least twenty adventurers, each wearing Bronze and Steel tags, leaping over the hides to enter the fray.

The most bloodthirsty of Adam’s group remained outside, leading the fray.

Adam dropped down against the town walls. “Oh, you beautiful, beautiful walls! Oh how I’ve missed you so much.” He pat the walls beside him, feeling guilty that he ever thought they were inadequate compared to the Iyr’s great walls.

Shamia stared at Adam from beside him, but nodded her head, leaning back against the wall. These walls were perhaps the most beautiful walls she had come across, more beautiful than even the outpost’s walls.

Victory!

Outbreak

XP Gained: +1000

XP: 13 300 -> 14 300

“I had expected you to stay and fight,” Paul said as he returned back from the slaughter, covered in blood.

“If any of you killed as many as me, I’ll give you my axe,” Adam said. “I slew at least fifty myself, maybe a hundred.”

Paul smiled, but noticing that Adam wasn’t joking, his lips grew taut. He turned, looking into the horizon, noting the piles of dead bodies in the distance, some spaced apart. “You killed them all?”

“Fireballs,” Adam said. “I flew over and blasted ‘em with a bunch of Fireballs.”

“Of course you did.” Paul’s eyes then fell to Lady Shamia, and he bowed his head. “My Lady?”

“It is good to see you again, Vice Master Paul,” she said, offering her hand.

Paul took it, and brought it up to his face, but he didn’t kiss it. “I am glad to see you are well. It seems you had found good fortune.”

“The best.”

Paul looked to Adam, who was still laying against the wall. “I had thought you’d have gone to bathe.”

“You’re a genius, Paul,” Adam said. “Vice Master,” he quickly added, not wanting to sound rude.

Adam sank into the bath not a half hour later, feeling the hot water all around him. He relaxed within the heat for a long while. ‘I take it back. The heat isn’t so bad, after all.’

Once he was done, he met with Paul and the rest of the group. The adventurers had assisted in bringing back their stuff, partly because they could claim a greater cut of loot.

“Though you killed most of them,” Paul said, glancing to Adam for a moment, “you will only be able to claim half.”

“Will they all be burnt?” Adam joked. He didn’t care about any of that loot, he was just glad he was alive.

Paul nodded. “Not everything was ruined, so you will still gain something.”

“He’s always ruining our loot,” John, the punk, said.

Adam inhaled deeply. “Paul, Vice Master. You ever send me on a quest with those two parties again, and I’m just letting you know now, you will not find their bodies.”

“Adam,” Paul snapped at the Half Elf. “I understand your frustrations.”

“No, you don’t,” Adam snapped back. “These dumb fucks have been starting fights with me pretty much every day we were together. I even made a second outpost and I still heard them fucking complain. I’m just warning you so if you ever see us together and you find that only I’ve returned, you know why.”

“You can’t threaten me!” John shouted, standing quickly.

Adam stood, his ring shifting into an axe. “Shut the fuck up, kid. I beat you once before, and I’ll beat you again.”

“Mind your words, leaf ear!”

“Enough!” Paul shouted. “Sit down, the pair of you!”

Adam’s eyes met Paul’s. He wondered what he should do, with different thoughts crashing in his mind. He was sick and tired of this kid, and now they were back, he was happy to teach him another lesson.

“Adam,” Jurot called. “There is no fighting in the Guild.”

Adam sat down, his axe shifting back onto a ring onto his finger.

Paul sighed, rubbing the side of his head. “You will all be paid a bonus, and we will remove the Guild’s cut. We will prepare your rewards in a moment.”

Quest Complete: Outbreaks

XP Gained: +500

XP: 14 300 -> 14 800

Stamps Gained: +3

Stamps: 12 -> 15

[Due to surviving a dangerous situation, the Level Up XP penalty has been reduced to 10%.]

‘Nice,’ Adam thought. He hadn’t realised that Bell would tell him things. He supposed him chatting with Bell every evening had its perks.

“Rick,” Adam called, motioning with his head. The pair stepped away to the side. “Would you mind meeting us tomorrow morning?”

“Alright,” Rick said. “Is it important?”

“To me, a little,” Adam said, nodding his head.

“Alright. Tomorrow, in the morning. Dawn?”

“Uh, no,” Adam replied, chuckling. “I want to sleep in after all that. A couple of hours before noon at the latest, please.”

“Alright.”

Adam returned to his party. “The Guild’s going to cut our pieces together and then we’ll split them between ourselves. There’s not as much as I’d like, and it’s going to be awkward maths, but it is what it is.”

Remy and Jeremy glanced between one another. They were just glad they had made it back in one piece. A hundred gold each was great, the hide cut between them was a nice bonus.

“I’ll pay you some gold today, so you have something to go back to your families with,” Adam said, handing each porter fifty gold pieces. “You two swing by in the morning, alright?”

“Aye, mister boss,” the pair replied, before leaving, taking Nobby with them at Adam’s insistence, who had also sent him away with fifty gold.

Fate’s Golden met together in one of the Guild’s rooms, which allowed many of them to meet together. “That was terrifying, eh?”

“You didn’t even bathe in blood,” Lucy said, shaking her head.

“Say that when you kill as many as me,” Adam shot back.

Lucy narrowed her eyes. “You used magic. That’s cheating, obviously.”

“The great Demon Lord is making excuses?” Adam asked.

“Hmph.”

Adam looked to Brittany. “I’ll pay you fifty gold too, otherwise I’ll feel guilty.”

“I wasn’t in danger, much,” Brittany replied.

“Sure, but I’d feel bad if I didn’t pay you the same as Nobby. Even if you weren’t in danger, your arrows helped a lot.”

Brittany knew they hadn’t, but she decided to accept Adam’s fortune.

“You know, I wanted to chat a bunch, but…” Adam yawned.

“Let us meet in the morning,” Sir Vonda said.

“Yeah…” Adam fought his eyes as he dragged himself to bed.