Omen: 4, 14

Mana: 18 -> 16

Enchanting Check

D20 + 7 = 16 (9)

Omen: 4, 14 -> 4

14 + 7 = 21

Adam plucked a Thread of Fate.

There were many of them, the anomalies which had entered the world. This world which held inhabitants of various lands, even those of other realms. However, the world itself was connected to the realms, and thus allowed travel between the various worlds between. Yet, every world was insulated, and was under the pantheon of gods, each related to one another, from a time long forgotten.

This was something else. All these strangers, the anomalies, who had appeared in this world, all on the same day, they were not the same. They did not come from the various connected worlds. They came from outside. They broke the Order.

Though he had come to claim the soul of a dying old man, the Champion stopped. It was nearby. It, which was the most dangerous of all the anomalies. The Champion, who was travelling westward, turned, and marched towards a particular cave, not a hundred miles away.

Thus Fate was forever changed.

Omen: 4, 7

“You should take a break today, Adam,” Sonarot said. Adam had been working too hard from the beginning of the year. It had been almost two weeks, and he had spent so many days enchanting. A magical weapon a week was gruelling work, and though there were Iyrmen who could enchant, and enchanted at such a rate, it was still awkward to see her Nephew like this.

“I wasn’t planning on enchanting today if that was what you were wondering,” Adam replied, sipping the soup.

Sonarot sighed with relief. “You should rest for the day.”

Adam stared down at his bowl. “I wasn’t planning on doing anything strenuous today.” ‘I wish I had rolled better. I still have four magical weapons to make, and one of them will take me an entire week.’ There were the three weapons he had promised to the Ban family, and the weapon he had promised to Elder Zijin. ‘Being in debt is so stressful.’

“What will you do today?” Sonarot asked. From the way Adam spoke, it didn’t sound like he was going to stay here to play with the children as he usually did.

“I’m going to keep my promise,” Adam said, finishing the rest of his soup. “I won’t be able to play with you today, Lanababy, so don’t miss me too much.” He tickled his sister’s chin, which was half covered in spit and bread. She looked up at him, sticking bread and her hand into her mouth.

Once he had finished his meal, he made his way through the Iyr. However, as he tried to enter the estate, he was blocked by an older Iyrman with one arm.

“What are you doing?” Adam asked.

“Nothing,” Jarot replied. “You have not visited in some time. Shall we go for a walk?”

“Maybe another time, I’ve come to-“

“Then let us drink,” the older Iyrman said, wrapping his arm around the back of Adam’s neck, trying to lead him away.

‘This old man is so annoying,’ Adam thought, not admitting they were cut from the same cloth. “Stop bothering me, and let me teach him already.”

“We can drink for today and you can teach him another day.”

‘Should I borrow Phantom to teach him some manners?’ Adam thought. He didn’t dare to fight the old man without Phantom, which would allow him the chance to at least not lose so easily. He had only been beaten once, and he still remembered how embarrassing it was.

“Leave him,” Mulrot called. The older Iyrman, Jarot’s wife, walked up to Adam and brushed his hair. “Come.”

Adam followed her, and Jarot followed after him. Churot was nearby, reading a book, or rather, he was pretending to read a book. Once Adam arrived, the Devilkin boy placed down the book and stood up.

“Are you ready to learn today?” Adam asked.

“Yes,” Churot replied.

“While I’m teaching you, you have to call me mister Fateson,” Adam said.

“Yes, mister Fateson.”

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Adam narrowed his eyes, feeling the peculiar gaze from the Iyrmen beside him. However, there was something off with Churot’s response. No, it wasn’t Churot’s response, but his own response to Churot’s response. “No, nevermind. Call me Cousin Adam.”

“Yes, Cousin Adam,” Churot said.

“Alright, so…” Adam fell silent, and the older Iyrmen beside him stared at him, wondering why he had grown so silent.

Churot stared up at Adam patiently, and as the seconds passed, the other Iyrmen nearby crept closer. There were mostly children, but a handful of teens too, whereas a few of the adults nearby remained at their seats, eating their snacks and reading their books.

“Hold on,” Adam said. “How do I teach someone how to use magic?”

“Since you do not know, then there is no need for you to teach him,” Jarot said, with far too much enthusiasm.

“How did you learn magic?” Mulrot asked.

Adam looked to the old woman. “I…” His eyes scanned around towards the other Iyrmen nearby. He trusted the Rot family, but it was best to keep his secrets to only a handful of people. “Hold on. Before one learns magic, they must first have the aptitude. Since my magic is based off of how intelligent a person is, I need to first make sure Churot is intelligent enough as to not waste his time.”

Churot’s eyes twitched slightly, thinking Adam was trying to get out of his promise. However, since he was Jurot’s brother, the boy had to give Adam a chance to not out himself a liar. “Okay.”

Adam thought deeply about what he should test the boy on. “Can I have some paper and some stylus, please?”

Before Jarot could complain, Mulrot bowed her head. “Of course.” She left to find some paper for them.

Jarot sighed. It was too late to complain, so he stropped about nearby, watering his plants.

“If I can’t teach you magic right away, I’ll try and teach you a few other things,” Adam said. ‘How the hell am I meant to teach magic?’

Once Mulrot returned, Adam went to work on forming a test for the boy. He focused on math, since that was the easiest thing to test. Adam checked everything at least three times to make sure he had all the mathematics correct, though didn’t include anything to do with angles.

Churot stared down at the paper, before he began to jot down the answers to the questions.

Adam sat down, wondering how he could teach Churot how to use magic. ‘I can’t really tell him that I have a system and that I don’t actually learn how to use magic, I just buy the ability to do so.’

“Adam,” called a voice from nearby.

Adam looked over to see another Devilkin, an older Iyrman, who wore thick furs and a mace at his side. It took him a moment to realise who it was. “Elder Teacher,” Adam said, as respectfully as he could.

“I have heard that you have decided to teach young Churot your magic,” the Great Elder stated.

“Yeah-s,” Adam replied, awkwardly. ‘I should probably show the Great Elders as much respect as I can, otherwise they’ll get all suspicious of me again. Unless acting politely will make them even more suspicious?’

Elder Teacher remained silent. The first time he had seen Adam, it was when Jurot had used magic. Though he had been able to use magic thanks to the weapon Adam had created, it was still quite a surprise.

There were mages in the Iyr, a larger number than most people may expect, though they were all Blood Mages, those with magic given to them through their bloodline. Most were Devilkin, though there were a few Orcs and Humans too. However, there were no scribe mages in the Iyr.

Elder Teacher could see Adam was deeply thinking about something, and he also noted Jarot’s hopeful expression. Jarot was quite the troublemaker, especially after losing his arm. Though Jarot was Churot’s grandfather, he was not the Family Elder, that great responsibility rested at his wife’s shoulders.

It was difficult.

Churot chose to learn magic, and had sought out the Half Elf recently to learn. That was something which couldn’t be ignored in this matter. Mulrot had decided to trust Sonarot. Jarot refused, and though he was once the Family Head, he retired from that position due to the death of Churot and his parents.

Adam was a Nephew of the Rot family, which entitled him to some trust. He was also treated as a sibling of Jurot and Lanarot, and he seemed to treat his Cousins well too. Adam had accepted the matter without a second thought, so he was told, though the Half Elf had yet to come and discuss the price of the teaching.

A thought passed through Elder Teacher’s mind. ‘Does he understand he’s to be paid?’

“Adam,” Elder Teacher called.

Adam snapped back to attention, his eyes quickly meeting the Great Elder’s. “Yes, Elder Teacher?”

There was something odd about how formal Adam was being. It was unlike him, but there were other matters which were more important. “How much is the price of Churot’s tutoring?”

“I get paid?” Adam asked, letting the question slip through the surprise.

“Yes.”

“How much would you pay Aunt for tutoring him?” Adam asked.

“We would not.”

“Then how come you’re paying me?” Adam asked, furrowing his brows in confusion.

“You are not…” Elder Teacher noted the looks that both Mulrot and Jarot were giving him. Though Jarot had been against Adam teaching Churot, the Iyrman also thought Adam to be his grandson, the same as Jurot. The blatant disrespect Elder Teacher had shown, had caused the pair of Iyrmen to glare at him with quite the harsh look.

Elder Teacher sighed. In fact, all of these considerations were truly inconsequential. There was one consideration which had weighed on Elder Teacher’s mind above all else. It wasn’t that Adam had chosen to teach Churot without speaking to the family, or the Elder, Zijin, who was in charge of making sure Adam stayed out of trouble, and it wasn’t the fact that Adam was still extremely suspicious.

In all of Elder Teacher’s years, he had never seen the Chief so spooked before. It was especially queer considering the Chief had encouraged Elder Gold and Elder Forest to speak with the tinkerer.

Adam remained quiet, wondering what was weighing so heavily on Elder Teacher’s mind.

“Adam,” Elder Teacher finally said.

“Yes?” Adam replied, cautiously.

“If you require anything to assist in teaching Churot, then speak with Elder Zijin.”

“Okay.”

Elder Teacher looked down to Churot, before saying something in the Devilkin tongue, before he left.

Adam decided against calling for the Great Elder, and forgot everything about his payment. ‘Seeing Churot sling a Fireball is its own reward.’