Quest Complete: Slay Nightval Bear
+150XP
Stamps Gained: +1
Stamps: 7 -> 8
XP: 5480 -> 5630
“Not as much money as I expected,” Adam admitted, noting that each of them barely made forty gold coins at the end of paying for the Porters and splitting the loot with Fred, who had done nothing.
“Why are you paying me exactly?” Fred asked. “I did less than the Porters.”
“No, no,” Adam said. “You stayed with the Porters and helped Zeus out, so don’t worry about it. You did your part.”
Fred wasn’t sure if he should accept.
“I took the leftover five gold from the split and put it into the party fund, so you can accept the money in peace,” Adam said, dismissing the worries right away.
“We did not hunt this Nightval Bear for the money,” Jurot said. “We hunted it for training, and to bring it back to the Iyr.”
“Oh?” Adam said, glancing aside to him.
“It is best,” Jurot said.
“Sure, sure,” Adam said. “We’re taking the core too, another reason why you should just accept the money, Fred.”
‘Did I really just make forty gold for walking to a forest and back?’ Fred thought. ‘Rich people are scary.’ He recalled how much money Adam had given him last time too, which was far more than he expected. ‘Scary.’
“Now that we’re done with the Guild stuff…”
Adam bit into the jam bun, eating the delicious food, all the while watching Jurot speak with Pam as he told the tale of their exploits. They hadn’t gone to a bakery in a short while, so Adam made sure to splurge this time.
“You know, Adam,” Lucy said, biting into her jam bun again. “I don’t know if you’re smart or stupid.”
“I hear that a lot,” Adam said.
“I’m sure you do,” Lucy replied. “How long do you think it’ll take us?”
“To get a Dragon heart?” Adam asked.
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I might seem nonchalant about it, but I’m very serious about helping you out.”
“I know, I just…”
“I know,” Adam said, patting her back. “All this fighting has to make us stronger eventually.” ‘Though, the others are soaking up some of the XP. I’ll need to figure something out for that.’
With the Porters full of bread, carrying with them their baskets, Adam and the rest returned back to the Guild. Fred followed them like a lost sheep, unsure if he should be following them.
Omen: 1, 20
“I’m feeling extremely lucky today,” Adam said, his lips unable to contain his smile. “We should do something big.”
“What kind of big?” Lucy asked.
“I don’t know. We could aim for two Nightval Bears?”
“Two Nightval Bears may be too much,” Jurot said, feeling awkward that he was trying to keep Adam at bay. “You wanted us to train safely.”
“I’m just saying,” Adam said. “I might be able to do something insane today.”
Jurot wondered what Adam could do, and the other Adventurers nearby stared at the Half Elf, who seemed so chipper.
“Adam,” Paul called. “We need to talk.”
“I didn’t do anything this time,” Adam said. “Is this about Sir Landon? I thought we had an understanding with one another.”
Paul remained silent for a moment. “What’s this about Sir Landon?”
Adam stared up at Paul, who was keeping an eye on the Half Elf. “Nothing.” He cleared his throat, and motioned his head to the others. “Come on. You too, Fred.”
‘Me too?’
Paul brought them to a private room, offering them tea and snacks. “There’s a problem which needs to be dealt with today.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Adam’s ears twitched, and he could smell the gold. “Right?”
“There’s an Oyarth wreaking havoc in the Cherry Wood, which is going to pose a problem for the Adventurers who are trying to tackle it.”
“Cherry Wood? Is that the safer forest?” Adam asked.
“Yes. If it continues to wreak havoc within the forest, the inexperienced Adventurers will have a hard time.”
Adam nodded his head slowly. “Sounds like you need some experienced Adventurers to deal with it, but last time I checked, Jurot and I became Adventurers only this year, and Lucy here became an Adventurer about a month ago or so.”
Paul narrowed his eyes at Adam.
“So,” Adam said, leaning in towards the Vice Master. “How much are we talking?”
“Six hundred gold,” Paul said. “Untaxed.”
“I would accept but there’s a problem,” Adam said.
“What problem do you have?” Paul asked. He wasn’t sure if he could afford to deal with a problem Adam had, considering the kind of problems he had often brought upon himself.
“What the hell is an Oyarth?”
They followed the road out towards the Cherry Wood, with Jurot humming quietly. “A Nightval Bear and an Oyarth? We will bring back so many stories.”
“Is it better than a Dragon?” Adam asked. “Could we use it’s heart to help Mara?”
“No,” Jurot replied, stopping his humming. “It is a great creature, and it may be about as difficult as a Nightval Bear to assault.”
“Something that strong in the Cherry Wood? I wonder how it got there.”
“It happens sometimes,” Jurot said. “Though, it is a more powerful creature than a Nightval Bear in some ways. It could perhaps fight us all quite evenly all at once.”
“Really?” Adam asked, raising his brows. What could deal with three Experts all at once? “How does it manage that?”
“Tentacles,” Jurot said.
Adam stopped. “Excuse me?”
The others stopped, and Jurot turned to look into his eyes. “Not like those.”
Adam slowly nodded. “Well, there's another type of tentacles I’m not interested in either…” He shuddered.
“Uh,” Fred called out. “Should I really be here?”
“Yeah,” Adam said. “You’ll be keeping the Porters safe.”
Remy and Jeremy glanced between one another. The pair of them understood that it wasn’t Fred who’d keep them safe, but the monstrously strong Half Elf, who had grown so powerful since they had met.
“I will too,” Nobby said. “I will fight.”
“Relax, Nobby,” Adam said. “We’re heading to the Iyr soon, and we’ll start your training properly then.”
“Okay.”
“We should have brought Sir Vonda,” Lucy said. “She’s more useful than Fred.”
“Whether or not she’s more useful is irrelevant,” Adam said. “Fred’s got no scruples against killing. Ain’t that right, Fred?”
“Well, I’m no’ killing anything, but I don’t mind slaying no beasts.”
“See?” Adam said. “Sir Vonda may be more useful with her magic, but isn’t Fred more fun?”
“Sometimes, Adam, you really do make sense,” Lucy said. “Sometimes.” She wanted to make sure Adam’s ego didn’t grow any larger than it already had.
The forest seemed different.
It was quieter than before, that was for sure. The sweet chirping of birds no longer accompanied them. Jurot, who normally spotted all manner of small critters, did not manage to find quite so many on his journey.
“It’s close,” the Iyrman said, reaching for his axe. “I can smell it.”
Adam coughed, pulling back as he waved his hand in front of his helmet. “What the fuck is that?” A most foul smell had slapped him across the foul, the stench of rotten death.
“I told you,” Jurot said. “I can smell it.”
“Not that hard, mate,” Adam said, trying to breathe through his mouth instead.
As they approached the clearing, they head the noise of bones crunching, and wet slurping sounds, which stopped as new prey had entered its vicinity.
Through the trees, Adam could see it. He wasn’t sure what it was exactly, for it appeared to be a mole, with four tentacles which formed a tail. It’s eyes and nose were exactly where one expected them to be, but its mouth was where its stomach should have been, currently swallowing an Elder Wolf, several rows of teeth tearing it apart. It was at least twice the size of the Elder Wolf it was chewing on.
“Fucking hell,” Adam whispered, swallowing his saliva.
“He’s so cute,” Lucy said, her face puckering up as though she were staring at a newborn puppy. “Can we keep him?”
Adam blinked rapidly, before turning to look at Lucy. She could see the look of shock and disgust on his face through his helmet.
“We can’t?” The Demon girl frowned.
Battle Order
D20 + 1 = 7 (6)
The Elder Wolf dropped down, the half which had been inside it partly digested, as it screeched and charged forward towards the group.
Though Remy and Jeremy had been with Adam this entire time, and had seen how powerful he was, even they could not help but let their bladders loose at the nightmare which charged at them.
Adam brought up his shield, but the creature opened its mouth wide, revealing all the teeth and the red fleshy insides which threatened to tear him apart.
Omen: 1, 20 -> 20
The snow had piled high, but there was a small section of various alleys which held a make shift shelter with a sloping roof. However, the boy had found himself a small garden, having managed to evade the attention of the two elderly men who lived there. He straightened under his blanket as he heard the clattering of wood which had dropped before him, including some flint and steel, and some fresh bread before him.
The teeth tore across the Half Elf’s shield, all the while its tentacles kept the other two at bay. Jurot and Lucy had managed to cut two of the tentacles, causing it to scream right in front of Adam, its wicked breath splashing across him.
Constitution Save
D20 + 5 = 23 (18)
Adam managed to keep his breakfast in his stomach.
A tentacle slammed Lucy down before wrapping around her, trying to bring her to its open maw to consume her.
“You son of a bitch,” Adam managed to say without gagging, feeling the electric tingle flow through his body.
Mana: 18 -> 17
Spell: Hex
Attack (Flanking)
D20 + 9 = 13 (4)
Omen: 20 -> 0
20 + 9 = 29
Critical hit!
Phantom: 3 -> 0
Mana: 17 -> 14
2D6 + 22D6 + 8D6 + 6 = 123 (1, 4)(1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6)(3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6)
“Brush your fucking teeth!” Adam dared to shout, still feel the hot breath across him, bringing Phantom down across its front, bisecting the creature in half. It felt in two pieces on either side of him, as Adam pulled away towards the trees. He dropped down to his knees and began to vomit.
Victory!
Oyarth
XP Gained: +320
XP: 5630 -> 5950
‘It wasn’t worth it,’ Adam thought, heaving up again.