Rose and the rest of the Red River Squad blinked, staring at the pair before them.

“You did not use Wraith?” Jurot asked casually, sheathing Phantom.

Adam did the same with Wraith, smirking at the question. “I didn’t feel the need to. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you use Mighty Roar before.”

“I would not have defeated it so easily without it,” Jurot said. He had never felt the need to use Mighty Roar, but considering there were six others who were with them, and Adam wanted them not to die, he had decided to use his shield’s charges.

“You killed three urkas?” Rose asked, her voice trembling. She could see the Iyrman was wounded, his body battered by the earth, but he stood tall, as though he could fight another urka. Adam, on the other hand, was fine, though his shield had been battered by the foe. It had somehow not managed to even land a glancing blow on Adam’s puthral plate mail.

“No,” Adam replied, motioning to them all. “We killed three urkas.”

‘We?’ Rose thought, looking to her companions, who were still unsure of what had happened.

“Ertas,” Jurot said, glancing between the three. In the back of his mind, he wondered how they had managed to defeat them so easily, but the answer stood beside him. “They are creatures which form for many reasons.”

The Iyrman began to walk around the area, his eyes glancing between the three creatures, trying to recall where they had formed. He began to dig with his hands, shifting through the loose earth, before grabbing something, pulling it out of the earth slowly. He revealed the item to everyone.

Adam could only spot earth, which looked like any other, but this earth clung together, and moved almost like jelly. “What is that?”

“Living Earth,” Jurot replied. “The ertas came to life to protect it. It would grow over weeks, months, and years. It was good that we were able to defeat them, or else the forest would prove too dangerous for the adventurers.”

“How strong are these ertas?”

“I was unsure if I would be able to defeat them, even with Phantom,” Jurot admitted.

“They’re that strong?” Adam replied, his brows raised in shock.

“Yes.”

“Oh. Why did we fight them then?”

“You wanted to.”

“Oh,” Adam replied, quietly. “Right. We really need to find a way to communicate that sort of thing. I don’t want to fight anything that’s strong enough to give you pause.” Adam felt his spell fade, the magic unable to find something to latch onto for too long.

“Okay.”

Rose blinked. He didn’t know they were that strong? Yet, he still somehow beat them with relative ease. The Half Elf had managed to defeat the creatures with an easier time than even the Iyrman. ‘What are you?’

Jurot picked up the shinier pieces of rock from around the area. There were three, one for each erta. He held the Living Earth in one hand, and the three cores in the other. “Three cores and Living Earth.”

“Living Earth, eh? What is that exactly?”

“A material which can be used for magical items,” Jurot said, giving nothing up. “It is worth a great amount.”

“How much?”

Jurot stared down at the Living Earth, which was about the size of the three cores together. “Less than one thousand, but more if it was auctioned.”

Adam whistled. “The cores?”

“A few hundred each, but more than one thousand if they were auctioned,” Jurot admitted.

“Good to know.” Adam looked to the other group. They stood stiffly, awkwardly staring at the pair who had shocked them. They were certain they had heard the Iyrman state that Adam had held back too.

“We’ll talk about how to split this at the guild,” Adam said, flashing a smile. “Jurot, hand the stuff to Rose.”

“To me?” Rose asked, more shocked by this than the fact Adam and Jurot had defeated two urkas almost by themselves.

“I think you’d feel more comfortable if you held them, right?”

Rose remained silent. She, like her companions, had been wary when the Iyrman had collected everything. However, seeing the Iyrman hold out the items to her, she wasn’t sure if she should be walking around with items worth thousands of gold.

“You can hold onto them, Iyrman,” Rose eventually said.

Jurot looked to Adam, who nodded, and he placed the items within his robes, where the letter remained. As they left the scene, Jurot cut into the trees, leaving a trail for them to follow.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

The town walls of Red Oak greeted them a few hours later, the guards noting the appearance of the eight.

“Rough day?” a guard asked.

“Not bad,” Adam replied, before holding out a gem worth ten gold. “We’ve got dire news for the Adventurer’s Guild, so we can’t stay and chat.”

“Found danger in the Cherry Wood?” the guard asked.

“Three ertas,” Jurot said.

“Three?” the raised up his visor, revealing his shocked eyes. “In our Cherry Wood?”

“Yes.”

The guard accepted the gem and let them go along their way. “Three ertas.”

“Ertas?” the other guard asked. “The Elementals?”

“Aye. Paula! Send word to the Countess’ estate. Three ertas spotted in the Cherry Wood.”

“Three ertas spotted in the Cherry Wood?” Paula shouted back from atop the gate.

“Aye!”

“Auroch shit,” Paula muttered under her breath before she hopped down, going to requisition a horse.

Adam and his group reached the guild quickly, making their way right to the front desk, where Tom was currently writing notes.

“Oh, it’s good to see you again,” Adam said, having not seen Tom since they had arrived. ‘Now that I think about it, Emma was taking pretty long shifts.”

“It’s good to see you too, Adam,” Tom replied, folding the piece of paper. “How may I assist you?”

“We killed three ertas in the Cherry Wood.”

“You killed three ertas in the Cherry Wood?” Tom asked, his eyes falling to Jurot.

“Yes.” The Iyrman placed down the three cores, which Tom eyed up for a moment.

The guild worker pulled out a sheet of paper, quickly scribbling something down. He refreshed his memory about what he knew of Adam, which explained the situation well enough. “Did you spot any more?”

“No,” Jurot replied.

“We will place up a notice, and we appreciate your work,” Tom said, before sealing the letter, placing it to one side. “I will sort your reward soon. What do you wish to do with the three cores?”

“We were going to discuss that between one another,” Adam said, motioning his head to the Red River Squad.

“I shall prepare a room,” Tom said, writing up a notice, before placing it on the board behind him. It was written in red, and would be one of the first thing any adventurer would see the moment they stepped in the guild. He led the group up from the ground floor, to the first floor, and then to the second floor. They walked past the library, to a private room the guild prepared to allow adventurers to speak discreetly.

The room was comfortable, with an assortment of snacks and drinks. Adam washed his hands in the basin nearby, before preparing some tea for the group. Tom bowed his head and left them, allow them to discuss amongst one another.

“So,” Adam said, reaching for a snack. “There are four items, and eight of us. Three items for you, one item to us.”

“What will you claim?” Rose asked, her tone cautious.

Adam looked to Jurot, who placed the cores onto the table. “We will claim the Living Earth.”

“Is that agreeable?” Rose asked, staring at the Half Elf.

“Yeah,” Adam replied, motioning with a hand to the cores. “We get the Living Earth, you get the three cores.”

Rose paused, waiting for them to speak up. There was definitely something more they were looking for.

“What will you do with the cores?” Adam asked.

“Is that your business?”

“Just a question from someone who did most of the work,” Adam replied, before elbowing Jurot gently, almost cackling. “I mean, if you were going to sell it, we might want to offer you something.”

“What do you need of these cores?”

“Well, that’s our business,” Adam replied. After a moment, he smiled. “No, really. It’s our business. We work for an enchanter, Jurot and I. They make decent enough weapons.” He tapped Wraith.

“You work for an enchanter?” Rose asked, looking to Jurot, who nodded. “I understand why you want these cores.”

“So, would you be willing to sell them?”

Rose glanced between her five companions. “For the right price.”

“What price would that be?”

“How much are you willing to offer?”

“Well, I could offer you a…” Adam thought about the flame swords which had been left in the Iyr. They were going to be sold one at a time, but the Iyr had its gates closed, so it was probably quite difficult to offer them. They were meant to be auctioned off for funds, funds which he would use to help with the business. The three cores were worth it, though, but he wasn’t sure how he felt offering the weapons, portions of which belonged to the Iyr. ‘Damn.’ He could have asked his Aunt, but he didn’t have the spell.

“How about this? We will place the Living Earth, and the three cores, to one side. We’ll pay you…” Adam thought about how much was in the party funds, and then the magical weapons they had found in the temple. ‘Could I offer the magical blade? I suppose I could, though I’m not sure if any of them use shortswords.’

Rose allowed Adam to think, while thinking about the Half Elf herself. This guy was definitely crazy. Everything about him was dangerous, from the way he talked, to the way he fought, and even all the people he surrounded himself with. Kadija and Mawan, their divine warriors, had confirmed that two of those he travelled with were Demons. Not Devilkin, specifically Demons.

“We will pay a hundred gold for delaying the full payment,” Adam said. “The full payment can be a magical weapon, one which the Enchanter will enchant in the next year. If they do not hand over a magical weapon by the end of the first month next year, you can keep the cores, and we’ll get the Living Earth, and you keep the one hundred gold.”

“What kind of magical weapon?” Rose asked.

“What were you thinking?”

“A Basic Enhanced magical weapon?” Rose asked.

Adam looked to Jurot, wondering if that was acceptable. Jurot knew that the prices of the weapons had increased due to the war, but there was also the matter of the cores. If they really wanted to, they could probably trade the cores for a Basic Enhanced weapon. It would have taken them some time, but it was not that difficult. He nodded.

“Alright,” Adam said. “Which weapon? What enchantment?”

“A greatsword,” Rose said. Equipping Mawan with a greatsword would have helped them greatly, though Antony and Raila could also use it if it was needed. “For the enchantment, it is up to the enchanter’s ability.”

“A flaming sword?” Adam offered.

“We would prefer something that is not fiery, since Aswadasad is home to many great creatures of fire,” Zishan said.

“We would like something akin to what your brother has,” Mawan said. “I did not see particularly well, but I’m certain his axe holds the ability to expend a charge to discharge even greater wounds onto the enemy.”

“Something like that,” Adam confirmed. “Alright. If it’s not fire, is anything else fine?”

Mawan thought about it, before looking to Antony, who nodded. “Yes. If the enchanter is able to enchant holy magics onto the blade, that would be preferred.”

“I’ll be sure to pass on the information,” Adam assured. “We keep the items in the hands of the Adventurer’s Guild. We’ll pay one hundred gold to the Red River Squad, and will hand over a magical greatsword that is at least Basic Enhanced, preferably with the ability to deal holy damage. If we do not hand over such a weapon by the end of the first month of the next year, the items will be released, the Living Earth to Fate’s Golden, and the three cores to the Red River Squad.” Adam held out his hand.

“You do not need to pay us the one hundred gold,” Rose said, bringing her hand up, though did not make to shake his forearm yet.

“Okay,” Adam replied, and the pair shook forearms.