Sitting around the fire was the party of White’s Grace. Each of them looked so different than before, and Adam had almost not recognised them.

“You guys look like crap,” Adam said, his brows raised in surprise.

“We were trying to return back to the Iyr before the Twilight Month, but it seems we were unfortunate,” Lady Elowen said, a cloth tied over the left side of her face, bandages peeking through from underneath. She, and Ylra, were in their Half Elf forms.

“Damn,” Adam said, shaking his head.

Rojer’s body was heavily wounded, though he had been patched up by the Iyr, and the magical potions had worked wonders. Ylra’s leg had been wounded heavily too, and as she sat, it was out at an awkward angle.

Adam tried not to look at Redboulder, whose beard was half missing, seeing the Dwarf’s bare skin.

“Who would have thought that there would have been a small Beast Wave on the way?” Ylra said, crossing her arms. “You Iyrmen, I bet you designed it that way!” She laughed with joy, however.

“Are you guys okay?” Adam asked.

“We are fine, though we have been better,” Elowen said. “Once we return home, we will be safe. Our task will have been completed, and no one will refuse our retirement.”

“I’m sorry to see you all injured,” Adam said, frowning. “What about you know who?”

“The Princess is safe,” Elowen said, motioning a hand to the corner of the courtyard, where Princess Mina was currently sitting up, holding a block in hand.

Princess Mina was the colour of the ocean, as she was the last time he saw her. Her webbed hands were clutching the block tight. A toothy smile was plastered across her face, her teeth near jagged, as she tossed the blocks about and crawled after them.

“What the hell?” Adam said. “When did she get so big?” Adam was sure she had been less than half the size when they had first met.

“She is growing well, thanks to you,” Lady Elowen said, nodding her head to him.

Adam picked her up, causing her to stare up at him in shock first, but then recognition filled her eyes. She squealed up at him, before reaching up to try and grab his face, her hands, which felt like leather, pressed against his scruffy beard.

“Why did you grow up so quick?” Adam asked, brushing her hair gently, which came out curly. She babbled, though the babbling sounded like popping bubbles and the waves. “Do you want to meet my little sister?”

Lanarot was currently sitting by herself, playing with her own blocks, but she jolted upright when another baby appeared. Lanarot stared at the blue baby, and then up to Adam, confusion in her face.

“Lanarot, it’s Princess Mina. You have to be a good girl and play with her, okay?”

Lanarot babbled, holding up her block, before throwing it and crawling away. Mina looked up at Adam, before smiling with her jagged teeth, before she continued to play with her own blocks. The pair of babies played by themselves, though remained near one another.

Adam sat down, crossing his arms and watching them. His heart was filled with a sweetness, consuming a delicious dessert with his eyes.

“Adam?” Elowen called.

“Leave him, Lady Elowen,” Naqokan said. “He is currently recharging.”

‘What does that mean?’ Elowen wondered, but she left the Half Elf be.

Dusk had fallen across the Iyr some time ago, but it remained dusk for some time. There was a purple glow all across the Iyr, and that did not change, even as the hours passed.

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‘Weird,’ Adam said, looking towards the sky. The night sky above was full of activity as usual, stars twinkling, comets flying, the multiple colourful phenomena which remained a secret to Adam.

Dinner was louder than usual, but Adam noted that there were only half the usual amount of adult Iyrmen about. The Iyr, no longer white from Nightval, but purple from the Twilight Month, seemed so different.

“Will you be safe on the way back?” Adam asked, breaking some freshly baked bread for his sister and the Princess.

“We will be fine,” Elowen replied. “The Iyr will assist us on our return.”

“That’s good,” Adam said. “I’m glad you’re all safe.”

“Thank you.” Elowen smiled.

“You sorted out your alliance stuff with the Giants?” Adam asked, cheekily.

“We did,” the Half Elf replied, before pausing. “The Giants also seemed to have heard of you.”

For a moment, Adam frowned, recalling how they had quite a rough relationship in his last life. Some of the Giants trusted him, whereas others did not like him. ‘Should I become a Prince like last time? Am I even strong enough? Hold on. How do they know of me?’ “Really?”

“They say that Queen Silvari mentioned you to them.”

“Oh,” Adam said, nodding his head. “Right, right. Entalia. She’s a friend of mine.”

“A friend?”

“Yeah,” Adam replied, smiling. “Though, she’s very different in comparison to before. Though, Princess Mina is as cute as ever, that’s for sure.” Adam reached down to tickle her cheek, causing her to look up at him as she chewed her bread, before she giggled. “You need to grow up well.”

“You said before that you would answer her call,” Elowen said. “Do you still have the intention to help her?”

“Of course,” Adam replied, as though it were obvious. “I need to take responsibility since I’ve come this far.”

Sonarot wondered how many times Adam would chain himself. He had already chained himself once to his sister, and once to the Princess, but he had done the same for all the other children too.

“Thank you, Adam,” Elowen said, smiling at him warmly.

“Any time,” he replied, biting into some bread. “At least someone trusts my word.”

They continued to eat, and the children began to dance as some of the Iyrmen played music. It was rare that this would happen, but Adam wondered if this was something they did for the current month.

“Master Redboulder, are you a Smith by chance?” Adam asked. ‘Is that racist?’

“Aye, ah’ve some ability in smithing,” Redboulder said with a smile, reaching up to his beard, frowning when he only felt half.

“Could I ask for some assistance? I’ve been designing some weapons and shields, and was hoping for some input from someone who has a greater ability. It’s for a future project I’m working on, something which will require me, or someone else, to smith many copies of the same design.”

“A uniform design?”

“Yep,” Adam said. “I need a shield, sword, and spear.”

“I’ll assist ye, lad,” Redboulder said.

Adam showed the Dwarf his current work, which the Dwarf nodded towards. “Not bad, ah say.” Adam’s designs were fairly basic, and would be fine enough to smith.

For a Human.

“Yeah, but I feel like there’s something missing, and I don’t dare to say I want something with Dwarven quality, but I do want something that would make Dwarves not sick at the sight of such terrible weapons and shields.”

Redboulder chuckled, before nodding his head. He assisted Adam in reshaping some of the weapons, working on every aspect of the weapons and the shield.

Smithing Check (Intelligence)

D20 + 5 = 6 (1)

D20 + 5 = 23 (18)

Smithing Check (Intelligence)

D20 + 5 = 16 (11)

D20 + 5 = 21 (16)

Smithing Check (Intelligence)

D20 + 5 = 7 (2)

D20 + 5 = 9 (4)

“Master Dwarf, I hope you don’t mind me saying, but…” Adam looked down at the design of the shield. “Don’t you think the shield seems a little awkward?”

Redboulder stared at the shield design he had made, before looking up at Adam. “Ah seem ta have made a Dwarven shield,” he said, rubbing his chin, wincing. “Apologies, young lad.”

Smithing Check (Intelligence)

D20 + 5 = 16 (11)

D20 + 5 = 22 (17)

Once they had fixed the shield, Adam stared at the three designs. Each were fairly basic, and they had made notes on materials which would be required. Redboulder, who was more familiar with the materials, made a long list of materials which would be useful for the different weapons, as well as some ratios for different alloys.

“I can’t thank you enough, Master Redboulder,” Adam said. “Is there any way I can repay you?”

“Consider it a thank you, lad,” Redboulder said, patting Adam’s back. Thanks to the distraction Adam had provided him, he forgot that his beard had been ruined for a short while.

“If you say so, Master Redboulder. If you ever need anything from my end, please do call. I’m an Enchanter too, so if you ever need magical weapons, I’ll always be willing to assist you, if you’re not looking for Dwarven make, that is.”

“Yer an Enchanter?” Redboulder asked, his eyes flashing up towards the Half Elf.

“A better Enchanter than I am a Smith,” Adam said, nodding his head. “I’ve made quite a few. If you’d like to see my best, I can ask my Aunt to show you, though I can’t use it any more.”

“Why not?”

“I’m too dangerous with it,” Adam said.

Redboulder chuckled, expecting it to be a joke, but the look in Adam’s eyes revealed it was no joke. He recognised the look, the look of a crafter who had lost his greatest piece. He pat Adam on his back, sharing in his loss.