Omen: 16, 20

‘Man I wish I was back in the Iyr,’ Adam thought. ‘I could have made such a great magical weapon.’

Adam yawned, getting out of bed, before bathing and changing, heading down to find Jurot, Lucy, and the Porters already hanging out.

“Morning,” Adam said. “Where should we head to today?”

“Red Wood?” Jurot asked.

Adam threw a look to the Porters, who nodded. “Red Wood it is, then.”

Once they had finished breakfast, Jurot led the way towards Red Wood. He was the one who knew how to spot tracks and figure out what to do in a forest. Remy and Jeremy stuck to their own job, and Lucy…

Lucy yawned. “So bored.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Adam said. “You’re always bored.”

“Cause it’s boring.”

“They say if you’re constantly bored, then you’re probably a boring person,” Adam said.

“Who said that?”

“My teacher.”

“Your teacher is a fucking idiot.”

“Whoa!” Adam exclaimed. “I mean, he was, but still. We need some respect for teachers. The amount they work, and considering how little they get paid.”

“Teachers get paid little? Since when?”

“Forever,” Adam said.

“Are you joking? Teachers make gold.”

“Yeah, maybe in a fantasy world,” Adam said.

“How much do Teachers earn where you are from?” Jeremy asked.

“About…” Adam tried to maths in his head. “The average is about three hundred gold a year, but it starts around one hundred and eighty.”

“That little?” Jeremy said, his voice full of shock. “For Teachers, really?”

“What do you mean that little?” Adam scoffed. “Three hundred gold was about the average wage where I’m from.” Adam assumed that a copper was about roughly a dollar or so. ‘Wait, so that would mean… twenty percent more, right? Or was it thirty percent more?’ He recalled when the Queen’s moolah was fifty percent greater than the dollar. ‘Those were the days.’

“Teachers earn a minimum of five hundred gold within the Kingdom,” Remy said. “Otherwise you wouldn’t even see a Teacher.”

“Many earn at least a thousand,” Jeremy added.

Adam shook his head. “This world really is built different.”

“I would hate to be where you’re from,” Remy said, honestly.

“Hey!” Adam growled. “At least we had paid leave. Twenty eight days, I think.”

“Paid leave?”

“Yeah. We could take twenty eight days off and get paid for it. You don’t see that kind of thing in Amer-, I mean, Freedomland.” ‘Man, making up names for all these countries is going to suck.’

“Twenty eight days?” Remy asked.

“Paid time off?” Jeremy wondered.

“Lying is bad,” Nobby said, piping up.

“I’m not lying!” Adam shouted. “We really di-“

Jurot’s roar cut Adam off.

It was so abrupt, but almost instantly the group reached for their weapons, the Porters dropping their packs and palanquin to reach for their shields and spears.

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Another roar filled the air. It was a deep roar, one which caused even the trees around them to shake.

Unfortunately for them, the huge creature slammed across the pair of porters, barely managing to miss their palanquin. However, it shred both Remy and Jeremy with its mighty claws.

It was huge, thick with muscle, it’s heavy fur white as snow. Adam would have called it a Bear, but no Bear was this large, nor quite so ferocious. Its eyes were icy blue, and its breath let out a soft frost, and as it roared at the group, the trees shuddered around them.

Battle Order

D20 + 1 = 6 (5)

“I’ll get them back up!” Adam shouted, his heart thundering with panic. The amount of blood on the floor didn’t fill him with any ease. “Nobby! Get back!”

Nobby was staring at his uncles, who had treated him so well. They were the ones who had allowed him to work when his parents were sick, helping him make money to bring back for his family.

Though Adam had warned him, Nobby could only see red. He charged forward, wildly swinging his axe. “You! Bad! Bear!” He managed to sink his axe into the side of the creature, which turned to try and strike him with a claw.

Yet, it found two shadows had enveloped it.

Lucy, who was almost as wild as this creature, swung her Destroyer and cut it across its chest, managing to land quite a heavy blow across it.

Jurot had done the same, his axe cleaving right through its shoulder, managing to save Nobby from a lethal blow which would have no doubt killed him.

Mana: 18 -> 17

Spell: Healing Word

1D3 + 3 = 6 (3)

Trick: Stabilise

Adam had half tossed himself to the Porters. “Get up!” Adam shouted, his voice full of magical energy, filling Remy’s ears. “Damn it! Up!” He grabbed onto Jeremy’s shoulders, filling him with magical energy to try and close up his wounds.

Lucy, overwhelmed by her rage and glee, swung wildly again, but found the Bear’s claws striking her across the front.

“More!” she screamed with delight, before the Bear bit into her side, its frosty breath managing to freeze her hot body, which grew limp under its blow. It had managed to somehow strike true and had almost killed the girl.

Nobby, still enraged by how it had torn apart his uncles, hacked wildly, with unpractised rage filling his arms.

Jurot, who was glad that Nobby was beginning to embody the spirit of a Rage Dancer, swung his Flaming Sanguine, tearing apart the creature’s leg. ‘This is not enough. It is a Nightval Bear, and it will not fall to just this much.’

“Adam!” Jurot shouted. “Come quickly!”

Mana: 17 -> 16

Spell: Healing Word

1D3 + 3 = 6 (3)

“Lucy,” Adam called, seeing her limp body on the ground, as the creature reared up a slash towards Nobby. “Get up.”

His voice was full of healing magic, which tickled the Demon’s ears, allowing her to open her eyes to stare at the roaring Nightval Bear.

Attack (Flanking)

D20 + 9 = 26

Omen: 16, 20 -> 16

20 + 9 = 29

Critical hit!

Phantom Charges: 3 -> 1

Mana: 16 -> 13

2D6 + 14D6 + 8D6 + 6 = 105 (3, 6)(1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6)(3, 3, 3, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6)

Adam, who had left his attack to Fate, rushed into the heat of battle, and swung his axe to bisect the creature in half, from head to hind, causing the Nightval Bear to drop on either side of Lucy, who blinked rapidly at the air above them.

“Is everyone okay?” Adam asked, sheathing Phantom, and walking towards the remaining Porter, who was still unconscious.

Mana: 13 -> 12

Spell: Healing Word

1D3 + 3 = 4 (1)

“Don’t sleep on the job,” Adam said, his heart still pounding hard within his chest, though the cool air was beginning to calm him down.

Victory!

Nightval Bear

+150 XP

XP: 3375 -> 3525

Jeremy gasped for breath, staring up at the sky above him, before seeing the familiar face of the Half Elf.

“I’m… alive?” he asked. He barely recalled the shadow which had almost sent him to Lord Sozain.

“Yep,” Adam said, casually. “Now, let’s carry the Bear back, yeah?”

Jeremy continued to blink wildly, trying to understand what happened. Remy was up against a tree, looking around, feeling the bark against the back of his head. He was also trying to ground himself in the real world.

Adam spent more Mana healing each of them, making sure that the two Porters were feeling healthy. He had much more Mana for Lucy to make sure she was feeling well enough to move. Considering she was an Expert, she probably held a similar amount of Health as him, so she probably still felt terrible even after a few Healing Word spells.

Jurot pulled out the core from within the Nightval Bear. It was about as large as his hand, and pulsed with magic. “This is the core.”

Adam nodded his head. “That’s a big core.”

“It is the core of a Nightval Bear,” he said. “It is worth quite some coin.”

“How much?”

“Over a thousand,” Jurot said.

Adam whistled. “Though…”

Jurot nodded his head slowly. “It is best to use it in crafting.”

“Yeah,” Adam said. “I guess we should keep it until we find someone who can use it.” He smiled.

Jurot nodded his head.

“Alright, come on,” Adam said, stretching out his back against a tree. “Let’s head back before we get jumped by something else.”

“We should refrain from shouting,” Jurot said. “It will be difficult to deal with much more considering how much it required to deal with that Bear.”

“Did I use too much to deal with it?” Adam asked.

“Yes,” Jurot said. “You could have killed me within a single blow if you had struck so harshly.”

“Well, don’t think you’re safe,” Adam joked. “If Lanarot tells me you’re bullying her, I’ll be showing the other end of Phantom, just like your gramps.”

Jurot let out a soft sigh, shaking his head. “Let us leave before you bring forth a greater power with your confidence.”

A low growl filled the area.

“That’s on you,” Adam said.