EXP Gained

Bone Aurochs (+400)

Bone Dragon (+4200)

Various Bone Creatures (+1470)

Subtotal

6070

Shared with Party (-4860)

Otherworlder Bonus (+1210)

EXP Total

2420

Current EXP

2920

Level up available!

Adam was sitting down, his back against the wall, panting for air. He was in the hillfort, which hadn’t been too difficult to enter using the steps, though he did need to spend a few seconds extra in order to climb up the steps. It wasn’t the steps which made him breathe so deeply, it was the giant bone dragon that had terrified him to his core.

“Are you alright?” Asomin asked, bringing Adam some water in a clay cup.

Adam drank it eagerly, wiping the back of his mouth. His skin was pale, his brow covered with sweat, his breath still ragged. He wasn’t sure how hard his heart was beating, either too much or too little, all he knew was that he was still freezing.

“I could really do with a biscuit, mate,” Adam said, unable to keep up his sensibilities.

Asomin looked down at him, raising his brow, a question within his eyes.

“I’m fine,” Adam said, clearing his throat, recalling his sensibilities once more. Adam stood on shaky legs, before making his way towards the centre of the hillfort. Buildings of stone littered the fort near where the fort met the hill, and then there was a large open space that people gathered, before there was an even larger open space before the half wall began.

Adam’s eyes fell to the four Iyrmen who had dropped onto the bone dragon, their glory ill-timed as Adam had barely managed to destroy the beast right as they landed. Heinov had said the bone dragon had begun to crumble before they landed on it, and the four accepted it. The four, two men and two women, had left it at that, giving quite some respect to Heinov to make such a call. Yet it wasn’t quite so much that, as they were also honest folk, the Iyrmen.

“You are of the Bronze?” Heinov asked, glancing down at the bronze token against Adam’s neck as the half-elf sat nearby.

“Yes I am,” Adam replied. “I became bronze a couple of days ago.”

“A couple of days ago? How are you not higher? With your abilities you would be equal to steel, if not higher.”

“I only became an adventurer a month ago or so…” Adam replied, surprised that Heinov would consider him so high ranked. Steel was the same rank as Asomin, and Paul had been steel ranked before he joined as a Vice Master of the guild, which had taken quite a while.

Heinov narrowed his eyes. “A month ago?”

“Yeah, uh, I just have been really lucky during my fights.” Adam shrugged, trying to throw Heinov off the scent. He was awful at trying to deflect attention to his abilities.

“It is not luck,” Heinov said. “It is skill.”

“Oh, no, I’m not skillful at all.” Adam found himself to be unlucky, but tried to make it appear to be the other way around.

“You know of the divine magic, arcane magic, and you know how to wield a blade. You are skilled, though many would not wish for you to join their party.”

“That suits me just fine,” Adam said. He didn’t really feel like joining a party at the moment, he wanted to explore the world at his own pace, beholden to no one but himself… even if he was currently in a party.

“Why so?”

“I don’t really feel like joining a party.”

“I have heard you also do not wish to marry.”

Adam blushed. “Oh? Who told you that?”

“Asomin.”

“Word travels quickly in the Iyr…”

“It is so,” Heinov said with a nod of his head. “Why so?” The man stared at Adam expectantly.

“I would prefer to remain as free as I can be,” Adam said. “That is the life I currently wish to live.”

“Curious. I have met a number of your kind, half-fey, and all of them are peculiar in their own way. No doubt you find me peculiar as well, but I find that you are more peculiar than even the typical half-elf.”

“Perhaps I have more elf blood in me than I thought.”

“Or human blood,” Heinov joked.

Adam smiled. “Yes, that could be it as well.”

Robert arrived, sitting nearby. He took off his helmet and placed it aside himself. He drank from his waterskin and then turned to look at Adam. The man eyed the half-elf up for a few moments.

“You can cast second gate Priest spells?” Robert asked.

“I can,” Adam replied. There was no point in hiding it, all of them saw his abilities in that last fight. He realised it made little sense to call himself lucky when he was able to cast such spells, but he decided that if he blagged it hard enough, he could probably convince some of them. Adam had been terrified during the fray, and so let slip a great many of his abilities, even if the bone dragon had died anticlimactically to his fists.

“Was it Aid that you cast on myself and Alten?” Robert’s eyes remained on Adam.

“I cast it on myself as well.”

"Why us?"

"I didn't want to offend the Iyrmen, I'm not sure how they feel about magic being cast on them. I thought the three that needed the spell most would be those that were the weakest members of the party, the three of us."

Robert stared at Adam, trying to read the half-elf's face. Adam remained still, unsure of what Robert was doing. The man in plate was staring at him as though trying to find answers from Adam’s face.

"If it was unpleasant I'll refrain from doing so," Adam said.

"No," Robert said. He paused for a long moment after, still staring at Adam. "Thank you."

The awkwardness grew as Adam’s cheeks flushed a gentle peach. “It was no problem…”

"You have proved yourself a true warrior," Robert said.

"I appreciate your words… they're very kind."

Then there was an awkward silence that rose through the air. Robert reached out a hand and Adam took it, the pair shaking hands. Their touching moment was ruined by a groan and a wail.

"What sorrow is this?" called an Iyrman. He was tall and lean, like most Iyrmen, though atop his head was a crown of near white, even though he was not older than twenty or so. His eyes also possessed a youthfulness within them. Around his neck was a bronze token with a dozen stamps at least. He was one of the Iyrmen that had fallen into the pile of bones. He faced Adam.

"You,' he said, an accusatory finger pointed at the half-elf. "You took my prize from me! A beautiful bone dragon! Do you know how rare they are?"

"I assume that they are quite rare," Adam said.

"I've only seen the one!" the man exclaimed, dropping into his back. Adam could see the other Iyrmen around him sighing, as though they were fed up with his antics already.

"There may be another bone dragon," Adam said. "There was one that flew by last night, it could have been a different one?'

"Pray it is, so I may bring a story to my family. Telling them that I fell bottom first onto a dead pile of bones, it's not a story at all!" The man crossed his arms and leaned over to one side, as though an inner turmoil tugged at his soul.

"Sounds pretty impressive to me," Adam said. "I'm not someone who jumps down from a hundred feet."

"No, no," the man said, "just someone who slays bone dragons."

"I didn't do it alone. It was seven against one, I just happened to deal the finishing blow." His experience points had told him that much at least considering how it had been split.

The Iyrman nodded, shuffling towards the group. “So what were you foreigners doing in the Iyr?” he asked, leaning in.

“Show some respect,” Oshgar slapped the man against the back of his head. “He had guided Jurot home, and returned to me my axe.”

The man’s eyes flash towards the black axe and then he looked at Adam. “Balrog? You? You don’t say!”

“Well, myself and Paul.”

“Oh, that makes more sense.” The man frowned, no longer quite so impressed.

“It was him,” Oshgar said. “From what Paul has said, and I do not expect you to claim that Paul is a liar.”

“He has yet to speak of the story,” the strange Iyrman replied, raising his brows.

“He speaks of it in another manner, a polite manner.”

“Ah.”

Adam flushed and then rubbed his face. The tone of voice conveyed that emotion, an emotion Adam was used to whenever he would speak to anyone who wasn’t British.

“I am certain Oshgar speaks true, though those torn lips of his,” the man joked, prompting another slap from Oshgar. “I am Rendor.” He extended his hand towards Adam.

“A pleasure to meet you,” Adam said, shaking the Iyrman’s hand.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“So speak of me this Balrog battle, was Jurot there with you?”

“No,” Adam said. “He had passed away before that.”

Rendor pulled back. “What? He had passed away.” His brows furrowed, confused.

“I had said so,” Oshgar said, slapping Rendor across the back of his head once more.

“Yes, to a pair of brown bears.” Adam began to recount the tale to the man, though Heinov listened as well. Rendor listened intently, though his face betrayed all of his emotions. First from joy and pride, and then to sorrow and sadness. He began to sob by the time he mentioned how he had guided Jurot home with Robert.

“Damn it,” Rendor said. “I didn’t expect him to die! I had heard he was leaving soon to adventure…”

“Did you know Jurot well?” Adam asked.

“No, but I have heard of his father. To think he has yet to return to the Iyr as well…” Rendor’s tears flowed down his face.

“Stop crying,” Oshgar said, patting the man against his back.

“I’m not crying,” he said, sniffling. “I’m sweating from my eyes.”

Adam coughed, trying to contain his laugh.

“I am but a wounded man!” Rendor cried out. “First the bone dragon, and now hearing that one of our nephews has died! Woe is me! What sadness is it that is brought to me this day?”

Adam wondered how someone like Rendor was a man of the Iyr, he seemed so… different. Yet there was something else about him that grew on Adam, an unsettling feeling. There was something about his very being that caused him some discomfort.

Yet that was not to be dwelled on, as a new figure approached. Adam turned to glance at them, noting a figure dressed in a breastplate, carrying at their side a longsword. They were tall and lean, but not like those of the Iyrmen, and the way they walked was so graceful. Along their back was a long cloak of silver, outlined in the blue-silver of mithril, as thought the metal was cooled over the hem of the cloak.

“Good afternoon,” the figure said as they sat near the group. Their voice was as sweet as a summer day.

The Iyrmen nodded their heads in a hello, but otherwise did not engage with them. Heinov narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the new figure, and Adam agreed as he couldn’t help but feel something was off. The figure removed their helmet, placing it down beside themselves, before Adam understood why.

Their eyes were slightly slanted, shimmer emerald. Their nose was thin and straight, going down like an arrow tip, and their lips were even thinner. The elongated ears that jut out the side of their head went straight up, pointed, though like a leaf. Their hair was long, like liquid copper that fell down to their shoulders. The unnatural beauty that Adam had only seen once before.

An elf.

“The stars have graced our path, oh dearest nephew of mine, whose steps twinkle on the land.” The elf smiled towards Adam.

“The night is ever bright with your presence, oh aunt of mine, whose magnificence does bless me so.” Adam bowed his head towards the woman. The way she spoke and inflected certain words implied she had been a woman, though she looked androgynous.

“I do hope I’m not interrupting anything,” she said. “I spoke with your Asomin, and I have been given Right of Stay,” she said to the other Iyrmen.

“It is so,” Heinov said. His eyes glared at the woman like daggers, as though he wanted to stab the woman to death. “If you are welcomed by Asomin, then I too will welcome you.”

“I am here as an ally,” she said. “There is no need for such, oh son of Nov.”

Heinov scrunched up his face as though he had bitten into a lemon pie that was two weeks out of date, though he did not respond after that. He remained on alert though, pushing aside his short swords obviously.

“You need not worry,” the elf woman said, “for I have no intention of going against so many Iyrmen.” She flashed the sweetest smile, though it did little to ease any of them.

Adam’s eyes flicked between the pair of them, wondering what was happening. Were they going to fight? Were they going to kiss? Just what was happening? He was sandwiched between them, in the most awkward spot.

“Excuse me,” she said, “I didn’t mean to be so rude. My name is Entalia.”

Heinov huffed. “Indeed,” he said, narrowing his eyes further.

Adam’s eyes darted between the pair, feeling the tension in the air rise. ‘What do I do? I need to defuse the situation…’

“Enough,” Oshgar snarled. “The Right of Stay is in effect, and even you, brother Heinov, will respect it.”

Heinov did not respond, keeping his eyes on Entalia still. Heinov didn’t seem like such a bad guy to Adam, he assumed there must have been something going on. He threw his gaze back to the elf woman, who caught his eye and smiled.

“I hadn’t expected to meet you here,” she said. There was something unnerving within her gaze, as though she knew things, things he wouldn’t ever come to imagine.

“Uh, well, there was a situation…” Adam said, unsure of what she had meant by such a statement. There was another look in her eyes, as though he was an open book she was reading the story to.

“Aah! This is so boring! When are we going to fight the undead? All thirty six have finally joined, can’t we go now?” Rendor cried aloud.

“I would love to join in the matter,” Entalia said in her sing-song voice that was of elven nature.

Rendor eyed the woman up suspiciously for a moment. Then he smiled. “It would be a pleasure to fight alongside you,” he said, extending a hand. Entalia took it, quite daintily, and shook hands with the man.

“We will rest for now,” Asomin said, emerging as though from nothingness, though in reality it was because Adam had been too distracted to notice the Iyrman walk up. “Tomorrow morning we will head out, in our groups of six.” His eyes fell to Rendor, as though warning him. It seemed Rendor’s stories had made their way to Asomin, or he had already known Rendor was so.

“Will you join our group?” Rendor asked.

“I was hoping I could join my nephews group, if it is fine?” she asked, looking to Adam once more.

Adam looked to Asomin, who had looked at the half-elf expectantly. “It would be a pleasure,” Adam replied, though he was fairly uncertain himself.

“Wonderful,” the woman smiled, so brightly that Adam had to turn his gaze away. He was feeling all hot within his armour, and it wasn’t his armour that was making him so hot.

The groups all remained intermingling, though they were all assigned different areas to sleep in. Asomin had brought his group together in the evening to discuss their plans.

“We will move together, the eight of us,” he said, looking over to Heinov, “to try and whittle down the amount of undead. Our goal is to find where the true source is coming from so we can eventually deal with it. We of the Iyr have already brought their numbers down to a manageable level, and I have spent some time with Paul finding that the source is coming from the west.”

“Do you know what is causing it?” Adam asked.

“We have gathered it is no necromancer,” he said, “which makes this the more difficult. We must find out what the true origin is and exactly where it is. Then we can send our mages to deal with it, for no doubt it will require some magic to rid of it.”

“I will be able to deal with it,” the pure-blood elf said. “I have such powers.”

Asomin’s eyes darted towards her. “Is that your goal?”

“My true goal, yes. The magic here,” she said, looking around the air, “denotes something beyond that of just undead.”

“Do you have more that you can share with us?” Asomin asked.

Entalia looked to Heinov, who narrowed his eyes at her, his lips a frown. “Very well,” she said, “as a sign of goodwill. From what I can gather, this is definitely not a necromancer, as you say, and though I have noted there have been minotaurs, those of the demonic nature, it is not quite their doing either. This is something far beyond just those of the abyss, it is an actor that holds far more power.”

She remained silent for a moment, though she looked as though she still had more to say. She looked to Adam for a moment and then to Heinov.

“This… this is not the only one that has opened in the world. It seems as though…” her eyes fell to Adam for a moment again and then to Asomin, “there was a catalyst to such an event. Many portals have begun to open in our world, some to other realms, realms which we are familiar with, and some realms which are new, never before seen, or at least, not that most histories have spoken of.”

“Ill news,” Asomin said.

“Grave are your words,” Heinov said. “I trust them to be true though,” he said. “We will work together in this matter.”

“I’m glad you have offered me such trust, though… there is more.”

“More?” Adam asked.

“Many of these portals, from what my sources have gathered, are seemingly unrelated. The opening of it was the work of the god of chaos, Belle, but the portals themselves each are independent, though I am certain some are connected. There may be several portals that are connected, though first we must make sure they are dealt swiftly, lest they become permanent fixtures like those from the abyss.”

‘Belle?’ Adam reached up to clutch at his amulet. What did Belle have to do with this?

“They are not just undead, but also aberrations we have never seen before, creatures that are completely foreign to this world. It is like the Breaking from millenniums ago.”

“The Breaking?” Asomin asked. “The very Breaking which introduced a great many creatures, those of the wyrms, the dragons, the rocs and so on?”

“Yes, exactly.”

There was a wave that fell through the Iyr, a wave of merriment and utter glee. The Iyrmen all smiled, even Heinov couldn’t help himself, as murmuring began.

“What news!” Asomin exclaimed, clapping his hands together. “Wonderful! Do you hear that, brother?”

“Creatures never yet to be seen by Iyrmen of ages past, creatures to slay for new stories…” Heinov said, his eyes wide with delight. “This must be fate.”

They all exclaimed in their language, one of them throwing out the battle-cry that Turot had given to Adam. Adam smiled at the way they all did so. Entalia looked at them and her lips grew to a smirk. This was how she expected Iyrmen to behave, no doubt.

After a few moment, Rendor arrived, poking his head into the home. “What are you shouting about? I could hear you all the way from our home… don’t leave me out of such fun!”

“The gracious Entalia speaks of a new Breaking, of new creatures coming to the land,” Asomin said.

“What?” Rendor smiled wide. “New creatures? What kind of new creatures?”

They all looked to Entalia. “I’m afraid I am uncertain.”

“So new that even she does not know…” Asomin whispered, loudly, as Iyrmen tended to do.

Rendor grinned wide. “I will spread the good news!” With that, he was off, gone to let the rest of the Iyrmen know of the good fortune that had come for them.

“How fortunate for you as well,” Asomin said, “for you will be here and your stories will be told everywhere.”

Adam smiled. That sounded pretty cool, his stories being told to the children of the Iyr. He wondered if the stories would be told to Lanarot too. The thought of it had given him joy, though it quickly disappeared. The stories would be told to a little girl who had lost her brother because of him. He had enough shame left in him to be guilty.

The hillfort was filled with the smell of meat as boars were being spit roasted. There were all sorts of wild fruit which were handed out as the Iyrmen began their festivities, completely changing the course of the day. Having heard of what awaited them, they couldn’t help but want to celebrate, and the few non-Iyrmen had been roped in.

Adam watched as Iyrmen sparred with one another, either hand to hand or blade to blade. There were many bronze and steel ranked adventurers, but he managed to spy a few Iyrmen with silver tokens. All were at the very least bronze, though almost as many were steel. Silvers were rare, but he did note he didn’t see any that were mithril, the rank between silver and gold.

“Are you still getting used to the Iyrmen?” Entalia asked, sitting beside him.

“A little,” he said. “It’s very different to what I’m used to.”

“Yet, it is not surprising, don’t you agree.”

“No, it’s not too surprising. Every time I learn something new about them, I can’t help but think it makes sense. I thought they would have disliked mages, but they have hundreds of them within the Iyr, for they hold great reverence for the gods. They kill each other due to feuds, but it is to guide their people home to the Iyr, to allow no Iyrman to be alone after what had befallen them so long ago. They’re all about their community, their family, and their stories for that very same reason.”

“They continue to live through their stories,” Entalia said. “The Iyrmen have always done so, and will continue to do so.”

Adam nodded. “Men die when they are forgotten.”

Entalia smiled. “In the Iyr they are never forgotten.”

“I can see how.” Adam thought to how every child learns of the stories, hundreds upon hundreds of them. Even he had picked up a few.

“Where are you from?” Entalia asked.

Adam turned to face her, seeing her beautiful face. He pulled away from her visage, staring at the sparring Iyrmen. “I’m from far away,” he said. He said no more.

Entalia stared at him for a long moment and then bowed her head. She left it at that, allowing him his peace. Adam wasn’t sure if he trusted her as of yet, and he had yet to tell anyone of where he was truly from.

Nightfall and watches were doled out. One from each group, as well as a few from the groups that would leave later on. Heinov also chose to take watch, and Entalia had volunteered to do so as well.

Adam lay in his bedroll, staring up at the stars for a long while. He had chosen to sleep outside the buildings, as most did. The stars provided him with some comfort, though he wasn’t sure why. He would gaze out into them and day dream. He would day dream about all the creatures he would face, the magical items he wanted to make, and the quests he wanted to undertake. Then he was taken by the blackness.

Level up available.

‘Oh, right.’

Battle Caster had been the most pressing ability he needed to acquire, and he had already picked it the last level up, forgoing the increase in statistics that was usually given. He hadn’t expected to gain so much experience in one go, but he knew which class he needed to level.

XP (2920) -> XP (420)

Level (12) -> Level (13)

Wizard (4) -> Wizard (5)

HP (122) -> HP (130)

Mana (18) -> Mana (24)

3rd gate arcane spells available!

Otherworlder feature unlocked!

Movement Speed (30) -> Movement Speed (40)

The last bonus hadn’t really come into play, but he could see how it may be useful in the future. That wasn’t the bonus he was most excited for, as 3rd gate spells allowed him to do a great many things.

‘I am become death, destroyer of worlds.’