The days continued to pass.

Adam spent some days relaxing, running a game for his Aunts so they could play, and sometimes the children would watch. They were a captive audience, cheering for their mothers and aunts. Sometimes they would assist their mothers with the game, speaking of what they had done previously.

Asoyah remained with Sonarot, who would often take him with her as she went about her business. Adam would sometimes spend time with him, though he felt it was awkward. He pampered Lanarot because she was his sister, and he would sometimes spoil his Cousins, but only because he beat some of their parents to earn that right.

Asoyah was different. He was a boy who wasn’t related to Adam, but the Half Elf was meant to mentor him. He wasn’t entirely sure what he could or couldn’t do, and wondered if that was the point.

In the same way Adam didn’t really understand his relationship with Asoyah, perhaps the Iyr didn’t understand their relationship with Adam.

‘Am I thinking too much?’ Adam thought. ‘Probably…’

Asoyah was like Saygak in some ways. Quiet, speaking only when he was spoken to. When Asoyah played with the other children, he played to win, and spoke more often then, enjoying the moment with the children.

Adam continued to assist Churot with his Mana and XP, however, there came a few days where his Omens were just too good to pass up, and he plucked a Thread of Fate, and thus Fate was forever changed for the Iyrman who had left, as well as the small Dragon children.

[Would you like to name the shield?]

‘Strong Shield.’

Strong Shield

You gain an additional +2 bonus to your defence when wielding this shield.

‘I’m going to be unkillable,’ Adam thought. With this shield, his Defence would increase from 20 to 22 with the Shield equipped, which was about the Defence of some of the most powerful creatures. ‘Even the strongest Dragons would have about this much, right?’

Adam wasn’t sure if he wanted to test that theory just yet.

Adam returned with the shield, placing it down to the side. “Turot, you can no longer bully me. I’ve finally finished enchanting my shield!”

Turot looked at the shield, which was almost blood red, and then up to Adam expectantly. “I can hold it?”

“Sure,” Adam said.

“It is done?” Sonarot asked. The Rot family was in charge of cooking that week, so she was over the pot, with Asoyah nearby, nibbling on some fruit.

“Yeah,” Adam replied.

“This is only the third time you enchanted the shield,” Sonarot said.

“Oh,” Adam said. “You’re right…” Adam thought about the shield again. Usually a greater enchantment required three rolls, and then four days of no enchanting. ‘It’s a +2 bonus, cost me a thousand gold and 500XP. It doesn’t require Attunement, though, so that’s good…’

Adam shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t really know how it works, and I don’t think I’ll find out any time soon.”

‘Right?’

[Yes.]

Adam smiled.

Sonarot decided against pushing further into the matter, after all, it was Adam.

The Great Elders had met together in the evening, speaking of Adam once more.

Elder Gold sighed. “I believe he had no idea.”

“I believe the same,” Iromin said.

“Is that possible?” Elder Wrath asked. Every time they talked about Adam, it was as though they were talking about… something beyond the realm of Iyrman understanding.

“He is Adam,” Iromin said, and that was the end of that discussion.

Zijin stared down at the book, wondering if this new knowledge was something that went in the reasons to kill or the reasons not to kill pile. ‘Oh, Adam.’

Adam continued to spend days relaxing, and enchanting the first step of the weapons for the Iyr. As the sixth month came, so did Asoyah’s birthday, which was the first of the sixth month.

‘Uh oh,’ Adam thought. ‘What do I give the kid?’

Adam hadn’t made a gift, and he had no idea what he should give to the boy he was meant to be mentoring. ‘Should I Awaken him? Should I give him Sky? Ah, no, don’t I have one of those?’

“Here you are, Asoyah,” Adam said, handing out a platinum coin. “This is your coin, and no one can take it away from you. Spend it on whatever you want, okay?”

Asoyah looked up at Adam confused, but he accepted the coin. “It is platinum?”

“Yep,” Adam said, smiling. “What do you think?”

“It is pretty,” the boy said, clutching the coin tight in his hand.

“You don’t have to hold it so tightly. No one can take it from you.”

Asoyah looked up at Adam, suspicious, but he didn’t reply. He continued to hold the coin tight.

Strom also appeared, finding any excuse to come and stir trouble in the shared family estate. “Another birthday?” Strom asked, smelling a familiar scent. He looked down at Asoyah. “It appears I need to offer you a sword too.”

Asoyah looked up at Strom, who he knew was a great figure, since Shaool was beside him. He quickly hid behind Sonarot.

“Don’t scare the poor boy,” Adam said.

“Scare him?” Strom asked, before looking down at the boy. He was certain the boy was that man’s descendant, so why was he so meek? He didn’t think too deeply on the matter, offering the boy a greatsword made of starsteel, as he had the others.

“Stop troubling my family,” Adam berated the old monster. “If you keep appearing, they’ll be too stressed. Can’t you see that they’re trying to live in peace with their children?”

“How can you speak?” Strom asked.

“Oh? What have I done?” Adam asked. “I’ve not done anything insane recently.”

Strom sighed, giving his Aunts a sympathetic look.

“What? Why are you looking at them like that?” Adam asked. “You better stay away from my Aunts.”

Strom lifted Lanarot up, brushing her hair. “You have much trouble ahead of you, little one. If my brother was so stupid, I’d have to kill him. Don’t worry, if you want to kill him in the future, the Iyr will help you.”

Adam stared at the old man with a cold look. “You can’t corrupt my sister, so you better think otherwise.”

Lanarot placed her head against the old man’s shoulder, sucking on her thumb.

“Lanarot, come,” Adam said, extending out his arms.

Lanarot looked back at Adam, and then reached out for him.

Once she was in Adam’s arms, the Half Elf smirked. “As if you could steal my Lanababy from me.”

Strom smiled. “One day you’ll leave and then I’ll spend all my time with her. Then, when you return…”

“You wouldn’t.”

Strom smirked.

‘Should I beat him up?’ Adam thought. ‘No, even with my new shield, I don’t think I could.’ Adam looked to Jurot. ‘Not alone.’

Jurot looked to Adam, and then back to Strom. He understood what Adam was thinking, but he wondered if he was allowed to fight Strom. His fingers twitched. He really did want to fight Strom, but he had to let the matter go, since Strom was quite the Guest.

As the hours passed, Adam leaned in to whisper into Sonarot’s ear. “Is he not going to go to the Yah family?”

“He is here, now,” Sonarot replied, simply.

“Oh?” Adam stared down at the boy. “What about his other family? Won’t they celebrate with him?”

“It may be that he is here to fit within our family, as one of our children,” Sonarot said.

“Like Wazool?” Adam asked, referring to the boy who had been sent to live with at the main Ool family estate.

Sonarot stared down at Asoyah. She had no idea why the boy was here, truly, but she knew what Iromin had told her, and the other Iyrmen. “Perhaps.” She didn’t feel comfortable keeping this secret from Adam, but since it was in relation to keeping him alive, she had to keep her silence.

Of course, if the Great Elder would try to kill him without a reasonable explanation, they wouldn’t be able to, not while she, Jurot, and Jarot would complain.

“Asoyah, do you want to play with my shield?” Adam asked, lifting it up for the boy.

Asoyah held it up, smiling slightly. He could feel the gentle tingle of magic. He remained with it, and played with it along with the other children, who may soon end up as his brothers and sisters.

The days continued to pass during the last month of noonval, until…

Mana: 18 -> 8

XP: 10 800 -> 10 300

Health: 65 -> 33

Exhaustion: 0 -> 1

Adam panted out heavily as the Mana left through his finger tips, and coalesced within his Cousin. He pulled back, leaning back against the ground, half sitting up.

Churot remained frozen still, his eyes closed. Previously, he had been conscious enough to speak, but this time he was sat still, deep in meditation. His hair was fluttering, as though he was in a vortex.

Jarot watched cautiously and Vonda watched in awe.

They could feel it. The magic which was heavy within the air. There were faint strands, blue and silver, which began to seep out of the Devilkin, before his entire body was faintly glowing in the colours.

Adam watched too, and as the moments continued to pass, turning to minutes, the faint glow slowly faded away, before Churot sighed, opening his eyes.

“Are you okay, Churot?” Adam asked.

Churot reached up to his head, and tilted his head around. He turned to face Adam, his eyes wide. “Cousin Adam.”

“Yes?”

“Magic,” the boy said.

“Yeah?”

Churot looked down at his fingers, and then reached for his heart. There was a faint, gentle warmth. It felt as though he was sitting on his grandfather’s lap without sitting on it.

Churot spoke words which had never once left his lips, and then, on the palm of his hand, danced an image of an axe, his grandfather’s axe.

Jarot stared at the image, and then to his grandson. “Churot!” He wrapped his arm around the boy, pulling him in close.

Vonda stared, wide eyed. ‘You did it. You really did it. You…’

“Nice,” Adam said.

Strength Save

D20 + 5 = 12 (7)

Stength: 19 -> 17

Dexterity Save

D20 + 2 = 21 (19)

Constitution Save

D20 + 4 = 23 (19)

Intelligence Save

D20 + 4 = 16 (12)

Wisdom Save

D20 + 2 = 15 (15)

Charisma Save

D20 + 2 = 3 (1)

Charisma: 16 -> 11

Exhaustion: 1 -> 3

Adam felt his entire body convulse for a moment, as the heat and cold flooded through him, rushing through his entire body, but he clenched his fists and fought the onslaught off. It disappeared as quickly as it had come.

“Adam?” Vonda said, worriedly. She reached out to grab his hand, and even with the dim candle light nearby, she could see how pale he had become.

“I’m alright,” Adam said, smiling, revealing the slight hint of blue against his teeth. “I’m going to need a few days to recover.”

“Cousin Adam,” Churot called, as Adam tried to stand, only to fall as Churot hugged him tight. “Thank you.”

Adam smiled. “Any time, Cousin Churot.” He was trapped under Churot, and he decided to let the boy hug him as he pleased. He couldn’t fight Churot, and even if he had the strength, he wouldn’t have. He smiled, closing his eyes.

It had cost him days of enchanting, and 5000XP, which had been about as much as he gathered from his entire outing in the year, but it had been more than worth it.

He slept peacefully as the Great Elders discussed whether to kill him once more.