Adam’s eyes fell to his little sister, who was currently clutching her hands together tightly, shaking with a thirst for more blood to be spilled.

‘We’re such a bad influence on my Lanababy,’ Adam thought, wondering how to accept that his sister may be too zealous about spilling blood.

He spent more Mana casting Healing Word to bring the Iyrmen back up.

“You guys okay?”

“I am fine,” Nirot said.

“You are strong,” Naqokan said, helping Laygak up.

“Yeah,” Adam replied, smiling at the pair of Iyrmen who were getting to their feet. “I am.”

“Did you need to use magic against them?” Kaygak asked, checking on her son.

“Yeah.”

“They are not Experts, and they are no threat to you.”

“No threat?” Adam asked, his eyebrows raised. “They’re Iyrmen.”

“Yes, but they are still young.”

“Yeah, and they almost downed me,” Adam said. “You might be used to it, but I don’t forget how scary Iyrmen are. Naqokan there is probably stronger than Jurot physically.”

Naqokan’s nostrils flared, her lips twitching up into a smile. “I am quite strong for my age.”

“I have no shame using my Smites against any of you. Plus, my little sister was watching so I couldn’t lose.” Adam shrugged his shoulders. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have used any. Plus, I could have ended the fight earlier if I didn’t hold back so much.”

“Adam, let us marry,” Naqokan said.

“I refuse,” Adam said, almost reflexively.

“I am strong as you said, and our children will be-“

“Aaaaaah!” Adam butt in. “I will not marry yet, not for a few years. It doesn’t matter who offers to marry me, whether it’s you, Cirot and Sirot, or Entalia, or even Mara.”

“Entalia?” Naqokan asked. “Queen Silvari, The Silver Terror?”

“Yeah.”

“You know her?”

“Yeah.”

Naqokan looked to her mother first, before looking to her uncle, and then finally to her Aunt, who nodded her head. “Are you certain you do not wish to marry?”

“I’m certain,” Adam said. “You’re too young for my taste.”

“How old are you?”

“The same as Jurot.”

“I am sixteen,” the Iyrman said. “That is not much younger.”

Adam winced. “I refuse.”

“Okay,” Naqokan replied, simply, leaving Adam be.

“Is Lanarot okay?” Adam asked, looking to the baby, who had finally calmed down.

“She enjoyed the fight,” Sonarot said.

“Yeah, I could tell. Should she be so excited for fights like that?”

“It is fine.”

“If you say so.”

“Adam,” Laygak called.

“Yes?”

“Do you not like men?”

“No,” Adam replied. “I don’t.”

Laygak slowly nodded his head. He had only heard the names of women when Adam spoke about refusing to marry, so he assumed.

Naqokan furrowed her brows at him. “You are an Elf?”

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“Only half.” Adam sighed.

“How did you become so strong?” Faool asked, seeing that Adam was not enjoying the topic at hand.

“I enchanted and beat some monsters,” Adam said.

“He relied on Jurot and the Iyr to become so strong,” Mirot said.

“Yep,” Adam replied. “I was given a taste of what you all received, and it helped in boosting my strength quickly.”

“You became an Expert so quickly?”

“Jurot, Jaygak, Kitool, and I, yeah.”

“You as well, cousin Kitool?”

Kitool bowed her head, confirming Adam’s words.

“That is extremely rare. Usually it requires at least two years, even at the quickest of paces,” Faool said.

“Adam does not know how to rest,” Sonarot said. “He goes from quest to quest, and does not take weeks in between each quest.”

Faool raised his brow. “You do not take a quest and then take a week off? How do you allow yourself to stabilise your experiences?”

Adam shrugged his shoulders. “I have my own system.” He smirked knowingly.

Faool merely nodded. “Then, did my Cousins become so powerful because you trained with them?”

“We all adventured together for a while,” Adam said. “We slew a Dragon, and that helped a lot.”

The trio of Iyrmen all looked to their family for confirmation.

“Very strong boy,” Katool said, stating it as a fact.

“Which reminds me, I should probably hand out Dragon scales to you all too,” Adam said.

“Today is for gifts,” Faool confirmed.

“Right!” Adam said, snapping his fingers. “I’ll go and get the stuff.” He quickly turned away from the group to head to the warehouse, wanting to put some distance between the awkward conversations and himself.

‘Seriously, what’s with all the Iyrmen who love to make everything awkward?’ Adam sighed, making his way to the warehouse.

“Did you really want to marry him?” Halikan asked.

“He is strong, and has many skills,” Naqokan said. “Our family will certainly rise greater with cousin, myself, and him.”

“It’s a shame he doesn’t have horns,” Laygak said, recalling how the Half Elf had taken both he and Naqokan out simultaneously. ‘Jaygak will not want him.’ “It is also a shame he is not into men.”

Faool nodded his head. “If we could have seduced him, then our families could rise once again. We do not have someone with the same calibre as Cousin Amokan, Naqokan, Nirot, or Cousin Jurot.”

Sonarot beamed with a smile, radiating against the dark expressions of the other Iyrmen, who were not pleased that Adam had seduced their children.

“He has many who wish to marry him, but no space in his heart to accept any other,” Sonarot said. “Perhaps he will only marry the woman Lanarot points him towards?”

The Iyrmen couldn’t help but feel that was the case, considering how much he adored his younger sister.

“He is not like that, is he?” Kaygak asked, only to find Sonarot glaring at her.

“If you wish to ask him, you may do so to his face,” Sonarot replied, simply.

“Adam, Nephew of the Rot family?” an Iyrman asked.

“That’s me,” Adam said. “Did you need something?”

“We have packaged the items,” the Iyrman said, motioning to a box made of wood to the side.

Adam picked up the box, nodding his head to the Iyrman. “Thank you very much.” With that, he was gone.

“Adam?” Sir Vonda called.

“Hey Vonda, what’s up?”

“The sky?”

“Right,” Adam said. “What’s, uh, how are you?”

“Well, and you?”

“I’m good.”

“What are you doing?”

“Carrying a box.”

“Yes,” Vonda said.

Adam smiled. “Well, if you want to know, you can come with me.”

Vonda felt as though it was going to be something queer, so she followed him back to the estate. “The Iyr is such a lovely place.”

“Right? I hope I am welcomed here forever.”

“You are a Nephew, are you not?”

“I am, for now,” Adam said. “That might change.”

“You are strange, but I think the Iyr considers you as someone who benefits them more than you endanger them.”

“We’ll see how long that lasts. If they welcome Strom here, then I should be welcomed here. I’m pretty sure he’s strong, maybe even a little stronger than the Chief.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Isn’t that how it goes?” Adam asked. “Some cool old man that even the Chief has to respect, who talks about being over a thousand years old. No, maybe he’s much stronger than the Chief. I wonder if he could handle multiple monstrous Iyrmen.”

“Are there beings who can deal with multiple powerful Iyrmen?”

“The Gods?” Adam asked, raising his brow at her.

“Fair point.”

When they finally returned, the children were already being given their gifts. Mostly clothes and weapons made of various different materials, though nothing which could cut them accidentally, or purposefully.

Adam cleared his throat. “I just spoke with Uncle Snowiyr, and he sent me here with his gifts for all the good boys and girls.”

The children looked up to Adam, before swarming around him, staring up at him with expectant eyes.

“Where is Uncle Snowiyr?” Katool asked.

“He’s really busy right now, so he sent me in his stead,” Adam said. “I’ve heard that you’ve all been good, so I’m here with the gifts he has sent me.”

He placed down the box before unravelling half of it, revealing the various little packages within. He peeked through one and handed it to Raygak, who revealed the peppers.

“Red peppers!” Raygak said, excitedly. “My favourite.”

“Right, and they’re all yours,” Adam said.

“All of them?” Raygak asked. There were ten, one for each day of the week, and more.

“Yep. If Jaygak tries to steal any, you let me know and I’ll sort her out,” Adam said, winking at him, before his eyes snapped to Jaygak, narrowing them at her with a glare.

“Okay,” Raygak said, grabbing a pepper before biting it. He winced from how cold and spicy it was, but continued to eat it.

He handed out the cheese to Turot, the nuts to Taygak, fruit for Katool, and another set of peppers for Saygak. Damokan and Kalokan were harder to shop for, since he wasn’t sure what they were really into, so instead there were a pair of small wooden contraptions full of sugar.

The children all ate some of their gifts, sharing some of them between one another. Adam had tried to make sure they each received roughly the same amount, not wanting them to feel as though he favoured one over the other.

The trio who had only just met Adam stared at him. They weren’t sure what Kaygak had meant earlier, but they did now.

‘He is quite the young man,’ Halikan thought, signalling her daughter with her eyes.

Naqokan shook her head. Adam had already refused, so she wouldn’t press the issue. ‘I need to be stronger so that he will accept me.’ Then, a thought passed in her mind, and her eyes fell to Lanarot, whose head was pulled back towards Jurot’s chest as she stared up at her older brother. ‘It is not Adam’s heart I need to penetrate.’