They had caught up with Kay not long after, she had been carrying two bodies so it was difficult to move too quickly. She slowed down when they called out to her, and looked back to them. She surveyed the horizon to see whether or not the golem had been destroyed, or whether they had run from it. Seeing that nothing was blasting them, she remained still, waiting for them to catch up to her.

Adam was panting by the time he had reached her, grabbing his knees to keep himself from dropping over. He inhaled deeply for air, trying to catch his breath before he spoke. Andal, the dwarf, just looked at him with a raised brow.

"Well, that was fun," Adam said, standing up to his full height under the judging eyes of the older man.

Then there was a flash of blue-white. Adam looked to Andal, who slowly turned to look behind them. Where they had just faced a golem, another stood. It scanned the area and then looked towards the party.

Adam exchanged a look to Kay and then Andal. Kay was unable to carry the pair for long, and so Adam did what only he could do.

Mana: 31 -> 29

Spell: Cure Wounds

“Let’s get you up, shall we?” Adam said, the warm energy flowing through his body as he slapped Jay’s back.

Jay awoke with a start, looking at the ground. Kay dropped him and he rolled onto his side, looking up at the group.

Mana: 29 -> 27

Spell: Cure Wounds

“You too,” Adam said, about to slap Imma, but then gently placed a hand on her shoulder instead. She wasn’t wearing armour, and he wasn’t sure if he should get a reputation for hitting people to bring them to life. It was already ungentlemanly to touch a woman who was unconscious, but he supposed that it would be appreciated at this moment. Also, Kay had been glaring at him through her helmet.

“We should get going,” Adam said.

Kay let down Imma and she looked around, though confused as to why she was here.

"There's another golem, come on." Adam looked behind to see that the golem had begun walking their way. They fled away in a panic. It did not speed up to chase them, instead stopping and scanning the horizon. It then turned towards the mountains and started marching.

Eventually the group returned to the hills, walking up a steep incline to rest at the top. Standing at the top now, they all had a decent vantage point to look all about. No one would be creeping up on them. Well, other than invisible creatures, and those which could move between various realms, but other than those, nothing would be creeping up on them.

"I need a bath and a meal," Adam said, holding onto his knees.

"I don't see any baths," Jay said, smiling towards Adam. "How long until you get your herbs?" he asked, turning to Andal.

"At least half a day," Andal said, looking out towards the horizon before he looked back towards Adam. "What are you doing?'

At this point Adam had pulled out his die and had been examining the area. "Making a bath," he said and then began chanting, calling forth the magical energy once more.

Mana: 27 -> 24

Spell: Tower of Adam

Shooting out from the earth, a tower appeared. Tall and wide, the sight of comfort to Adam. He couldn’t help a smile, which painted his lips quickly.

“What’s that?” Jay asked.

“It’s a tower,” Adam replied.

“I can see that, but… what is it?”

“It’s a third gate spell,” Imma said, narrowing her eyes towards Adam. “You can cast third gate arcane spells?”

“Something like that,” Adam replied, vaguely.

Imma stared at him suspiciously. “Aren’t you a Priest?”

“Yes.”

“Aye, but his blade skill ain’t too bad either,” Andal said. “You thought about using a hammer?” Andal asked, changing the topic.

“I can use most weapons fairly well,” Adam replied, “but I don’t have an enchanted dwarven hammer right now.” He shrugged.

“You’re quite the enigma,” Jay said. “Divine spells, arcane spells, and decent with a blade…”

“Bronze ranked as well,” Andal said. The dwarf looked up at Adam, staring at him for a long moment. “Lucky for us, and lucky for my purse as well.” He left it be at that.

"I'd love to chat with you a little longer, but the baths call to me.” Adam started towards the tower. “I'll need an hour to rest up and recuperate, though I'll leave Hades on watch and he'll let you know if he sees anything amiss.”

Adam made his way up the bedroom and then towards the baths. He stripped out of his gear, though kept his shield and sword nearby. He was able to enjoy his bath in peace, letting the warmth fill him entirely.

“Man, that was rough…” Adam whispered to himself. He thought about the fight, and how he wasn’t able to use some of his strongest abilities. He was glad he had taken Battle Caster, it had been so useful during the fight. It worked well with his Spectral Sentinels spell, which could last for a while, and would hurt multiple people around him. It was one of the best spells to use as a solo adventurer, it made you into a being that could harm multiple assailants in one go.

Adam thought about his current allies. He hadn’t been able to see them in combat just yet, though that wasn’t their fault. They were typical adventurers for their rank, probably around fourth level, and a golem of that ability would be something a party of around eighth level would face with some effort. They were nice, at least.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Adam could smell something delicious, and he quickly changed into his spare clothes. He cleaned up the rest of his gear before heading down to the group and the delicious smell.

They were eating at their rations and sharing two birds between the four of them. There was another, a whole bird.

“The bird’s yours,” Jay said.

Adam didn’t complain. He picked it up and then began to tear off strands of the bird to eat. It was juicy and wet, not much flavour, but that was to be expected. He ate some of his rations in between.

“Thanks,” Adam said. “Ah, here.” Adam tossed two of the core shards over to Imma. "This is for your assistance during the fight."

Imma flashed a suspicious look at him before she realised what she had been given. Two cores! "You're giving us these? Why?"

Adam stared at her. He had already said it once, he wasn’t sure why he was asked again. "For your assistance during the fight," he repeated.

Jay raised an eyebrow. "Assistance? We were knocked out instantly! I’m not sure we can say we assisted you at all…"

"Sure,” Adam said, “but you also took away its attention long enough for me to prepare a few moves in advance. Otherwise I would have had a much tougher time. I have two cores myself, it's only fair you get two between the three of you."

Adam had mostly done this in order to foster good relations with the group, and partly because they would feel far more indebted to him. Not only had he saved their lives, but he had given them hundreds of gold through the cores. It could backfire, but Adam finally felt strong enough to deal with whatever issues might come his way.

"We can't accept this," Jay said. "We barely did anything."

"Accept it," Andal said, tearing into his half of the bird. The dwarf held much sway in their party, and so the pair chose to accept the crystals. Kay remained silent though, glaring at Adam. Adam chose to not notice her glare, eating the meal quickly.

"We can sleep in the tower tonight.” Adam said. “If you prefer, I can keep casting it during the evenings from now on, so we can sleep in relative comfort. I'll make a bath and a bedroom, and, with some snuggling, we can all squeeze into the bedroom."

"Can't you make two bedrooms?" Imma asked.

"I could, but I want a bath. Don't you?" Adam asked, raising his eyebrow.

Imma chose not to refute the point, and instead she and Kay went to bathe next, once they were done with their meals.

“You know third gate arcane spells, huh?” Jay asked.

Adam nodded.

“That’s amazing.”

Adam shrugged.

“Why are you bronze still?”

“Just…” Adam shrugged.

“I get it… don’t want to say.” Jay nodded. “Well… I’m glad you are on our side at least.”

Eventually Jay and Andal were able to use the bathroom, heading away to do so once the girls had come out.

When the watches came, Adam was surprised to see that Andal was on watch with him. They were walking around together, with Bandlor remaining atop the tower, his owl eyes scanning the horizon.

"You could make more money if you were higher ranked," Andal said, whispering. "Steel would double your income. I'd be more than happy to pay you for your true rank."

"I'm happy at bronze," Adam replied, whispering back to Andal. "I'm just a kid."

Andal nodded. "There are few like yourself. Anchors we call them. Those that want to remain at a particular rank for whatever reason. We can't understand your type."

"That's fine by me,” Adam replied. “I like my life at bronze. If I want to rank up, I'll rank up when I feel like it." Adam shrugged.

"Steel would do you good. It's the perfect rank. You'll command enough respect, and you'll be able to quest alongside those of the higher ranks when they need support. Silver and higher is when you're famous, that's when the issues start propping up. Got to be careful then."

Adam nodded, heeding Andal's words. If that was the case, then perhaps steel would be more appropriate. He'd speak with Paul when they finally return to Red Oak. There was the flash of blue-white far in the distance.

“Another one?” Adam asked.

“Aye, there are many…” Andal nodded.

Adam tried to look out to see if the creature was coming, but couldn’t see anything. The rest of the watch passed by uneventfully, with Andal and Adam returning back to the room. Andal woke up Kay before he sat down and relaxed.

Level up!

XP (8270) -> XP (2270)

Level (20) -> Level (21)

Warrior (5) -> Warrior (6)

HP (210) -> HP (222)

Charm (12) -> Charm (14)

Adam figured it would be a good idea to increase his Warrior and Wizard simultaneously. Warrior first, just because of the bonuses that it would give him. If Wizard gave him stronger spells, he’d probably have picked that, but he didn’t need the extra spells just yet.

He had a decent enough base, even if it was a little weird and out there. He didn’t need to go both Priest and Guardian, though he supposed having Priest had actually saved him in the fight against the golem. He had taken the Guardian class for a single spell, and he wasn’t sure if it was worth it, especially considering he didn’t currently have a subclass within it at the moment. He really should complete a few quests in order to receive the subclass for access to the free spells.

Though the smite was a beautiful addition to his abilities. It gave him decent health, and of course the immunity to disease too. Guardian was actually a good idea after all…

When morning came, Adam had a quick bath and then changed into his gear. The women and the men also used the baths again, enjoying the luxury. Adam smiled, glad that everyone was as cultured as he was.

Andal then led them ahead, heading north-west to find the herbs. He would sometimes stop, plucking a few herbs here and there, even offering the party some.

“Herbs that can be used for cooking. Cut them up, sprinkle them into some water or on the meat, and it’ll add flavour to it.”

“Is that harbark?” Jay asked, grabbing some of the herbs.

“Aye, harbark it is!” Andal nodded, surprised that Jay knew what it was.

“This is becoming quite the lucrative quest,” Imma said. “Harbark and some cores?”

“Well, the cores are worth more,” Jay said.

“Obviously,” Imma replied, annoyed.

They continued on, the sun beating above them. Eventually they could see a small woods in the distance, not unlike the last they had moved across. Yet this one led into a much deeper forest, the greens so stark against the plains and the greys of the mountain.

Andal checked the trees, poking and prodding them, before finally patting one approvingly.

“Aye, I think we’ll be getting ourselves some frostamber!” He exclaimed as he then moved further in, far more confident with his stride now. They had to move slightly slower with the dwarf, though they all knew he could move on forever without them.

Adam glanced around, keeping an eye out for any signs of warning. He didn’t want his charge to be in much more danger, the last time had been awful. Then Andal rushed off to a cluster of white trees, though Adam quickly followed him, not letting him go too far. It wasn’t hard, Andal did move like a dwarf.

“Here we are!” Andal said, dropping down to a knee in front of a bunch of herbs. There were many different herbs around, but there was one herb, one which Adam recognised. Long, a thick lower stalk which then split into three, orange bulbs at the end of each stalk.

Frostamber.

Andal pulled out a small spade and then began to dig into the dirt, digging a little around the frostamber before he lifted it up and then placed it into a pouch, letting it slurp into the bag that he had. A magical bag, of course…

Adam walked around, keeping an eye out for anything untoward. Jay, Kay and Imma each took a direction, and Adam walked out towards the last.

Perception

D20 + 5 = 25 (20)

Success!

Adam strode left to right a few times before spotting something glowing in the distance. Adam cocked his head to the side, trying to see what it was. Then he slowly made his way towards it. The glowing called to him, asking him to draw nearer. The woods moved to invite him inside.

‘Oh no,’ Bandlor thought to Adam.

‘What?’

‘I won’t be able to go with you.’

‘Why not?’

‘I don’t want to.’

‘Is it safe?’

‘Safe enough.’

He stared at the woods, wondering what it was that was calling to him. “What’s beyond?” Adam whispered, unsure of whether he should go. Yet… he felt this tug towards it. He should remain, to protect Andal, and yet…

‘If you wish to go, go. I cannot tell you, for that would spoil the surprise.’

Adam paused, looking at Bandlor.

“Fine.”