Omen: 1, 7

The morning came too quickly for Adam’s liking. He stared up at the ceiling, feeling the weight of his triplets up against him. They were all clung to him, grabbing at his clothing as they slept peacefully.

‘Bell?’

[Yes?]

‘Do you have children?’

[I am a system.]

‘So are they a bunch of viruses?’

[…]

‘Come on, even you know that was funny.’

[No.]

Adam sighed, thinking about whether he should Level Up now, or later when he leaves the Iyr. ‘Leave the Iyr?’ Adam’s heart pounded wildly, and his body grew cold. He clenched his sweaty plams and winced at the thought of leaving the safety of the Iyr. ‘No.’

Konarot’s face blocked off his sight as the girl stared down at him curiously, rubbing her eyes.

“Good morning,” Adam whispered.

The girl replied with a gentle grunt before she hugged her father. The other children awoke and cuddled with their father. He assisted with washing them up, before he changed them into their attire for the day, which was similar to his own.

As they prepared themselves, other Iyrmen appeared within the shared family estate. A gaze caused him to shudder, and he turned, seeing Cirot and Sirot, who were eyeing him up.

‘Oh no.’

“You two need to behave,” Jarot said to his grandnieces.

They narrowed their eyes up at their granduncle, wondering why he was trying to form a rift between them and Adam. Jarot shot them with a look, causing them to remain silent.

‘Do not ruin this for us.’

The twins looked at Adam, before their eyes fell to the Dragons, and then the Goblin twins. There was still an awkwardness between the extended Rot family and Adam after what had happened, though they had nothing to do with it.

‘How could grandaunt not accept them?’

‘How are we going to marry him now?’

Adam shuddered, causing his triplets to clutch at his clothing, wanting to feel the coolness against them too.

An older Iyrman had also arrived with them. She was tall and strong, and would have been a beautiful woman if it wasn’t for the huge scar across her left eye, which travelled down the side of her neck.

“Good morning, Otkan,” Adam said.

“Grandaunt,” Sonarot and Shikan corrected together.

“Ah,” Adam replied, flushing with embarrassment. “Grandaunt.”

“Have you been well, Adam?” Otkan asked.

“Yeah,” he replied, awkwardly. “Have you been well, grandaunt?”

“Yes.” The woman placed a hand on his head, rubbing it gently. She had heard what Adam had gone through with Lord Shama. “Are these your children?”

“Yeah,” Adam said, reaching back to his hiding triplets, rubbing their heads. “Come out and say hello to your greataunt.”

The triplets remained behind their father, but peered up towards the older woman.

“What are their names?”

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“Konarot, Kirot, and Karot,” Adam replied.

The old woman’s eyes fell to the Goblins, who were laying down in a shared basket, squirming and twitching as they stared up at the sky. They gasped, seeing the old woman’s face.

“They’re Jirot and Jarot.”

Otkan remained staring down at them, watching as the Goblins stared up at her, still shocked to see her.

“We should go,” Sonarot said.

“You three should enjoy the festival with your greatfather,” Adam said, embracing his children. He nuzzled them, making small noises. “Don’t worry, you’ll be safe. If he bullies you, tell me, and I’ll sort him out.”

“Do you think you have grown powerful enough to sort me out?” Jarot asked.

“The me of back then and the me of now are different,” Adam said, rubbing his children’s heads gently. “You had something that I didn’t possess, but now I have it too.”

“What is it?”

“Dad strength.”

“What is that?” Jarot asked.

The other Iyrmen stared at Adam, wondering what he was talking about. He was queer, and he had introduced many concepts into the Iyr, mostly for the better, but they hadn’t heard of this before.

“It’s a buff I received once I had children,” Adam said. “If there are watching, then I’ll have another buff too, of not wanting to lose in front of my children.”

Jarot slapped Adam’s shoulder and laughed heartily, causing the nearby babies to twitch and shudder, a couple of them even awakening from his laughter. With the looks he received from the extended families, Jarot quickly ushered the triplets away.

“Be good for your babo and nana, okay?” Adam called after them, watching them go. He sighed, hoping that they wouldn’t be too lonely without him.

Adam remained with the members of the various extended families, taking a seat near his Goblin children, with Otkan sitting nearby. His attention was entirely focused on the children, while the others chatted quietly between one another, some of them knitting and sewing, others drawing and writing.

“You have grown stronger,” Otkan said.

“Not strong enough.”

Otkan slowly bowed her head. “There are always those who are stronger than us. From Emperors of other Realms, to the Gods above. Such a terrifying foe is rare.”

“Rare for others, but I came across three of them already,” Adam said. “Lord Stokmar, Strom, and that guy.” He wondered why everyone who was so monstrously powerful had a name beginning with the same letter, only to recall Strom’s real name was Hadda.

“I am certain you will grow strong enough to rival them,” Otkan said, causing the nearby Iyrmen to pause what they were doing from the sheer shock of the statement.

“Yeah?”

“Jarot seems to believe so,” Otkan stated. “He has spent much time telling me how you are such a great grandson who will bring much glory to the Iyr and the Rot family.”

“I’m not sure if he’s right, but I hope he isn’t wrong.”

“Do you believe his words?”

“Well…” Adam wondered how he should respond. He smiled. “I haven’t heard of an Iyrman lie before.”

Otkan smiled at his response. “I believe you will bring glory to the Iyr and the Rot family too.”

“Why is that?” Adam wondered if the reason was because he had beaten her once before, when he wasn’t even an Expert yet.

“You committed yourself to these children of yours,” Otkan said, looking down to the Goblins. They were tiny, and would grow up with a far more difficult life than any Iyrman. It would be difficult for Adam to take care of them, even with the limited support the Iyr would provide them. “You, who adopted both Half Dragons and Goblins.”

“I adopted Goblins and Half Dragons,” Adam corrected, wanting to make sure the order of the adoption was known. It was a statement which held great importance, and was something Adam felt great pride in, though he wished he didn’t.

“What do you think of my little Naqokan?” Otkan asked, her eyes falling onto Adam’s once more.

“I am sure she will grow up to be a great warrior,” Adam replied, carefully. He could see the question in the old woman’s eyes, and the pressure he felt was the same pressure of when his Aunt would mention marriage to him.

“Would she not make a good wife?” Otkan asked, pressing forward, as though she were a marching soldier.

“I’m sure whoever she marries will be happy,” Adam deflected, trying not to offend the old woman.

“We, too, are good,” Cirot interrupted.

“I can sew well,” Sirot said.

“I can knit well,” her twin added.

The pair had tried to get Adam to marry them first, but they had been unsuccessful this entire time. They would not give in so easily to Naqokan, even if she was a great warrior from the main Kan family.

Cirot and Sirot knew of the best way to a man’s heart, it was through his ribs. However, if they wanted him to live, then it would be through his stomach. However, there was a mountain which they needed to surpass, and that mountain was Adam himself.

He was someone who had brought pizza to the Iyr, and it was already such a large hit within the Iyr. There was also the mythical beans on toast, which they did not completely understand, for Adam spoke of it with a great longing, and yet they had eaten beans on toast before, but it did not taste that good. They tried it with plain bread and it was much nicer.

‘How problematic,’ Adam thought. ‘Why do I have so many women who want to marry me? Isn’t it weird they’re both good at sewing and knitting too? Will I get cancelled? No, what am I talking about, aren’t they still too young?’ He shuddered at the thought.

“I have children which I need to look after, and I know how difficult it is for people to accept them,” Adam said, looking at his tiny children, who were staring up at the sky, twitching every so often. “I’m not so naive to think that they’ll welcome my children equally, since not even my family does so.”

Adam’s words hit Cirot and Sirot like a hammer, and they looked to their aunt from the shared family estate, who was looking after Gurot. There was a collective wave of shame which fell through the air.

Dunes stopped at the archway, noting the silence which had taken to the courtyard. ‘I feel as though I’ve come at the wrong time.’