Sir Vonda swallowed, reaching for her magical mace. Whatever this foe was, it was no doubt immune to mundane weapons, so she would need to use her mace to strike it. However, the fact that it was so eager to use spells of the fiery variety, caused her to grow cold.

“I haven’t had a good fight in a while,” Dunes said, gently swinging his blade, trying rid himself of his nerves. Whatever this foe was, he was great. Facing such a foe was a great honour.

“You too, Dunes,” Adam said. “Step back.”

“What?” Dunes asked, daring to throw a look to Adam. “You want me to step back from a battle? Have you forgotten who I worship, Adam?”

“You and Vonda need to step back,” Adam said, keenly aware that this old man was familiar with flame based spells. He couldn’t subject Vonda to such a thing.

“I can’t do that,” Dunes said, stepping forward confidently, feeling the adrenaline run through his veins. His sword, aptly named Dunes’ Sword, felt light in his hand. “If I back down now, how can I say I am a humble follower of Lady Arya.”

The old man sneered at the mention of the name, but he remained waiting, patiently. As long as he showed good faith, then that woman wouldn’t try to bother him about what happened here.

Adam placed a hand on Dunes’ shoulder. “You need to look at the bigger picture, Dunes. If something happens to all of us, it’s up to you and Vonda to make sure everyone else is okay.”

Dunes clutched his blade tighter in hand, his eyes falling back to the old man, who was allowing them to set up for the fight between them. He then looked back to Vonda, and to the younger members of their party. He and Vonda were both leaders, chosen by Adam himself. Though they hadn’t formally split off their parties, it spoke volumes about Adam’s priorities.

“We might lose this battle, but we need to win the war,” Adam whispered, patting Dunes’ shoulder as the Aswadian stepped back. He was under no illusion that this was going to be easy, though he was confident. However, there was another matter to deal with. “Fred. Do you want to step out too?”

Fred hadn’t expected the question, though knowing how Adam was like, he wasn’t surprised one bit. Adam had found Fred back then. He had been roasting under the sun, deep in a pit of despair after having lost everything during the massacre. He had spent a decade trying to find himself until one day, when he decided to give himself to the earth.

He had spent a year with Adam, and through his conversations with Vonda, and seeing Adam’s shenanigans, Fred wondered deeply about his position in this life. He looked to the old man, before looking back to Adam. He had been clung with the fear earlier in the day and it had revealed to him something he hadn’t expected.

‘I want to live.’

Fred raised his sword, pointing it towards the old man. He had been given the will to live, but he was not the type of person to run away from his debts. “I will fight, Adam.”

“Fight, not die,” Adam said. “Vonda, would you mind handing him the sword which is strapped to Zeus’ side.”

‘Zeus?’ the old man thought. He swore the name was familiar, but wasn’t entire sure where he knew the name from. He waited patiently, allowing Adam to hand Fred the magical weapon.

“Lifeblade,” Adam said, accepting the blade from Sir Vonda, allowing her to retreat. “I was going to hand it over when you officially accepted to work under me, but I think now’s a good time. It’s a Basic Enhanced weapon which holds three charges and can heal you a little with each charge.”

Fred wasn’t going to refuse, not when he was so unnerved by the old man. He was allowing them to prepare, as though it made no difference to him. The type of person who did that was either extremely foolish, or extremely powerful. Once he touched the blade, he could feel its magic instantly. This weapon didn’t require anyone to attune to it, which surprised Fred. He wondered if it only held three charges, those which did not recharge, but since Adam had passed it to him, he decided he should use them all if it came to it.

“Are you ready?” the old man asked, watching as they took their positions, allowing them to draw closer to him.

Adam held Wizard’s Axe in hand. “I appreciate you waiting, mister. I’ll be sure to hold back from killing you.”

“There is no need,” the old man replied, tilting his head back slightly, looking down at the group. “I will not die to children like you, even if some of you are Iyrmen.”

‘Damn, this guy’s confident,’ Adam thought.

“You may make the first move,” the old man said, holding out his own sword, with the handle made of gold and ruby, the blade long and thin. He brought his free arm behind his back.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Adam’s brow was full of sweat as he felt the pressure. He had all but guaranteed the lives of the others behind him, but he was still fighting with a handful of his closest friends, and his brother.

‘There’s no other way.’

Adam willed his magic forward as he shouted. “Explosion!” His Mana rushed from his heart to his finger tips, and a bead of fire shot forward, before engulfing the old man in a sea of fire.

Mana: 15 -> 12

Spell: Fireball

8D6 = 19 (1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6)

Damage resisted!

0 damage!

Adam hadn’t rolled so poorly before for his Fireball, and though he was about to call forth another Fireball, he saw the damage it had dealt. ‘What?’ His heart pounded in his chest. Summoning two Fireballs was the one thing which he kept in his back pocket, something which could deal with most threats. ‘No damage at all?’

“Careful!” Adam shouted, frozen in shock as the flame began to dissipate. “He’s immune to fire!”

The others were ready to charge in once Adam had finished his frenzy of Fireballs, but he was froze stuck. They all watched as the fire began to dissipate, revealing the old man once more, his forehead tattoo glowing as some of the flames circled towards it before it disappeared.

It wasn’t that the old man had taken no damage, for after having a Fireball engulf him, he seemed so much more powerful.

“It has been quite some time since someone dared to use fire against me,” the old man said, a patronising smile painting his lips. He could feel his strength return to him. Though he was still fine after dealing with the two Iyrmen, he needed to expend some strength to heal himself, but the flames which wrapped around him began to renew the strength he had spent.

“Damn it!” Adam shouted as he and his companions darted forward towards the old man, who brought up his blade to defend himself.

Onward Soar: 1 -> 0

Fighting Spirit: 3 -> 2

Attack - Wizard’s Axe, Flanking

D20 + 8 = 18 (10)

D20 + 8 = 19 (11)

Miss!

Attack - Wizard’s Axe, Flanking

D20 + 8 = 20 (12)

D20 + 8 = 27 (19)

Critical hit!

Mana: 12 -> 9

Ability: Divine Smite

4D6 + 8D6 + 8 = 46 (2, 3, 3, 6)(1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5)

46 damage!

Adam’s axe was going to strike the man’s chest, but the old man shifted his feet, and Adam almost tumbled past the old man, whose blade caught the blade of the other Half Elf, forcing the Guardian back.

‘I missed?’ Adam thought, though he quickly spun around, to strike across the old man’s back, barely managing to strike across his back. His blow was empowered by his spell, and though he had managed to deal a great amount of damage, which was empowered even by Jonn’s aura, somehow it seemed as though he hadn’t struck at all.

Jurot, full of rage, cut along the old man’s side with Phantom, but he could feel just how hardy the man’s skin was, providing even greater protection than his own rage. He had managed to strike with great force, but it was as though his blade had almost bounced off the skin.

Lucy’s greataxe, Great Destroyer, which was even greater than Destroyer, managed to slam squarely into the man’s chest, and yet it didn’t cut even a hair’s width into the man’s skin. She, too, was within her rage, but the shock of it almost brought her out of it.

‘He’s strong!’ Lucy thought, quickly realising the extent of her foe’s strength.

The old man’s blade blurred, having deflected a number of his assailant’s attacks with ease, before he pushed Lucy back, the tip of his blade almost piercing her shoulder. The self proclaimed Demon Lord skid backwards, having lost the bout of strength with only a simple jab.

Kitool leapt off Lucy’s back, her Seekerstaff swinging down, striking the old man across his head, though she could feel her weapon bend from the force. She spent her energy to try and freeze the old man in place, but he paid no attention to her as Jaygak appeared, Stormdrake in hand, crackling with lightning. She slashed downward, though her blade was caught by the old man’s sword, which fought the lightning with its flame, though it still crackled against his cheek and skin.

It had been so long since he had felt Stormdrake’s lightning, and in that moment, Fred had approached. The young man, whose thoughts were about living, struck the old man before him, his attacked fuelled by Jonn’s aura as he managed to cut the old man thrice. He, like Adam, could go beyond his limits for a moment, and he had done all he could to strike his foe.

Seven Experts had each spent all they could against the old man, and though he had dodged a few of their blows, he couldn’t escape them all. Yet, as their weapons clattered against his body, trying to break him, they had not yet managed to draw blood from him, nor had he broken into a sweat.

“I believe it’s my turn?” the old man said, while the others were making to slash towards him again. He leapt up through the air, floating in front of them all. His eyes fell to Adam, whose head tried to follow the blur of the old man’s body.

Dexterity Save

D20 + 4 = 20 (16)

His tattoo flashed for a moment, before fire engulfed the entire group, almost reaching the second group which stood at least twenty metres away. The flames surrounded the group, and Adam grit his teeth as the fire engulfed him. ‘Thank the Gods for Jonn,’ Adam thought, the aura from the Half Elf managing to assist him in his save.

Jaygak hadn’t managed to duck in time, but with her natural resistance to the flames, she had managed to stave away most of the heat. This flame was not something any of them could have withstood, not unless they had managed to step aside or had somehow managed to defend from most of the flames. She heard Kitool drop behind her, followed by two others.

“Adam!” she shouted, peeking up from her shield to see the old man, who still looked fine. “You need to take Lucy-,” she continued to shout, only to stop. Though she was against a great foe who had almost managed to deal with her in a single blow, she dared to look back over her shoulder.

It was not surprising that Fred had fallen, for he had very little ability to deal with with such great fire, his agility not quite up to the standards of the others. It was surprising that Kitool had fallen, as she was the most nimble of the group, though the flames had overcame her.

However, what was most surprising to those in the thick of battle, and those who were watching, was that a Half Elf had fallen.

The flames surrounded Lucy, but her natural resistance fought away most of the flames. Jurot’s rage had managed to deal with most of the fire, though he had also managed to duck in time. Jonn had raised his shield in time, and his magical aura had managed to allow him to suffer less from the heat.

Health: 65 -> 0