Omen: 17, 17

The guards watched as the group returned, a giant elk dragging along a sled across the stone road, the skins of the aurochs tied over its back, stacked a dozen high. Jurot, too, carried a large pack, filled to the brim with the skulls of the creatures.

The guards leaned over, noting the sled was covered in pelts, each brown and green. “Forest wolves?”

“Forest wolves,” Adam confirmed, smiling politely. They had disrupted Adam’s bath, but quickly found themselves dead from the Experts of the group.

“How many?”

“Six.”

The guard slowly nodded. “No trouble, I assume.”

“None at all.”

“How many aurochs?”

“Twelve.”

The guard nodded, glancing to his companion. “They fared awfully well.”

“That they did.”

Adam narrowed his eyes from behind his helmet. ‘What are they doing?’

“You all fighting in the tournament?”

“We’re planning to.”

“It’s a month earlier, in case you didn’t know,” the guard informed.

“We did, but thank you kindly.”

“What’s the name of your party?”

“Fate’s Golden,” Adam replied.

“Are you fighting under a noble?”

“Sir Landon Littlesea,” Adam said.

“Third son of Baron Ramon Littlesea,” Jurot completed.

“Ah! My uncle’s cousin works at the estate,” a guard said. “Third son, eh? I would have expected you to work for the Baron himself, killing so many aurochs with so few of you.”

“It’s partly thanks to our weapons,” Adam said. “Made by the Enchanter who works with the Iyr.”

“What do they do?”

“A few of them are Basic Enhanced, some are Greater Enhanced.”

The guard whistled. “Willyseas, ain’t that something! Greater Enhanced? I don’t think I’d be able to earn enough in my lifetime for that sort of weapon. This Enchanter, he looking for any more guards?”

“I’ll be sure to ask,” Adam said. “They’re planning on expanding the business over the next few years.”

The guard chuckled. “Well, if they’re handing out Greater Enhanced weapons, even Basic Enhanced weapons, I don’t suppose he’ll be looking too hard for guards.”

Adam returned with a chuckle. “True enough.”

“Would you mind if I held one?” the guard asked. “I’ve never held a Greater Enhanced weapon before.”

Adam looked to Jurot, nodding his head. Jurot handed Phantom out to the guard, who grabbed it by its shaft.

“Oooh!” the guard said, almost gasping. The tingle was greater than the Basic magical sword he had held before. “Now that’s a magical weapon!”

“Hey, let me have a turn!” The other guard grabbed it and felt its great magic, almost dropping it. “I thought you were joking, but wow. This really is a Greater Enhanced weapon, eh? I heard only nobles carry weapons like these, some adventurers too, but they’re usually at least Silver Rank or so.”

“A benefit of being high up in the business,” Adam said. “Jurot here is the son of the President, who holds the same rank as the Enchanter.”

“Ah!” The guard nodded his head, handing the weapon back. “My father was a guard, like his father before him. Guards for about ten generations now, I think. Had a magical weapon too, a couple hundred years back. Gleamsteel, named after the steel it was made from.”

“Gleamsteel?” Jurot asked. “The axe?”

“Yeah, that’s right. You heard of it?”

“It was the axe of one of my ancestors,” Jurot confirmed.

“Your ancestor?” the guard said, full of doubt.

“Fasrot the Unbending. He fought off Brysear the Blood Fang.”

“Ah,” the guard said, nodding his head slowly. “Brysear, the Red Dragon? Went around the nearby villages, back when there were villages, and tried to rule over them.”

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“Fasrot cut off the wings of the Dragon, but had been knocked unconscious during the bout.”

“Yeah, that’s right. My, uh,” the guard waved his hand, “grandfather, going that far back, saved someone during the fight. He knew a little about caring for wounds and such.”

“Once Fasrot had healed, he slew Brysear a short while later. He returned to the Iyr to tell the tale, and returned to the village.”

“The old man had passed away, and during the fray, most of his kids too,” the guard said, nodding his head.

“There was still a girl, the youngest granddaughter,” Jurot explained. “Fasrot trained the little girl, Paula, and brought her to East Port. He gave her Gleamsteel, and she became a guard. He retired within East Port, to make sure the weapon was not stolen for at least a generation.”

“That’s right,” the guard said, nodding his head. His companion beside him slowly shook his head, surprised to hear the nonsense his friend had been telling him for years had been true. “I heard the man’s name was Fezoh.”

“Fasrot,” Jurot corrected.

“Well, ain’t that something,” the guard said, a large smile on his face. “It’s a shame about losing the axe. It was a lovely axe, I heard.”

“It was Greater Enhanced, with the ability to glow,” Jurot explained. “If I find it, I will return it to your family.”

“Oh gosh,” the guard said, taking off his helmet, a large smile on his face. “That’s mighty kind of you. Say, what was your name?”

“Jurot, son of Sonarot.”

“Brody,” the guard said, shaking Jurot’s forearm. “I can’t help but this is Fate. You know, I was going to bet on you before, cause of the aurochs, but I think I’ll bet a little more on you.”

“I aim to win,” Jurot stated.

“I’m sure you do,” Brody replied, chuckling. “Ah, shuck, I didn’t mean to keep you from your business. There’s eight of you, but you can just pay a single gold. I’d say none, but with the war going on, we have to charge at least one.”

“Understandable, and greatly appreciated,” Adam said, handing over a single gold.

“Many blessings to you all,” Brody said, tipping his helmet again, allowing them to enter into the large city.

“You know, sometimes I wonder if I’m the only normal one here,” Adam said as they made their way back to the Adventurer’s Guild.

Korin and Sara could see the faces their companions made when Adam spoke. They were glad they weren’t the only ones who thought the same way.

The smell of food welcomed the group back, who could see the soups and bread the guild had made for the adventurers, many of whom had returned from their adventuring. Adam smiled, inhaling the smell, before heading to the desk to deal with the matters. Remy and Jeremy passed him by, assisting in bringing the furs inside.

Quest Complete: Aurochs

XP Gained: +100

XP: 12 050 -> 12 150

Quest Complete: Forest Wolves

XP Gained: +50

XP: 12 150 -> 12 200

Stamps: 17 -> 19

Adam stared at the stamps, realising he was only about half way to being able to rank up. ‘So I need about forty then?’

The group gained one hundred gold for taking the auroch quest, but also an additional twenty gold for the wolves, which was on top of the coin they received for slaying each creature, at least ten gold for each head. The group had to give up some of the parts they had butchered, but that was only to be expected.

As the group split the gold, Adam realised if he included the party funds as its own share, the gold would be split nine ways into sixty nine gold. ‘Nice.’

Adam stretched out his neck, rubbing the side of it. “I’ve been thinking about how we should adventure. I think taking half the group out should work. We’ll go out and adventure for a week, and return with all our bounty. If we kill too many, then we’ll return sooner.”

“Is there a need to adventure so much?” Sir Vonda asked.

“I’ve got kids to feed, you know?” Adam said, before his eyes darted to Jurot. “Ah, well, no, it’s not for me, I suppose…” He cleared his throat, realising that his joke may have made it seem that the Iyr wasn’t doing it’s role well, and more importantly, he was spitting on the Rot family’s assistance.

“I think it’s a good idea for me to take everyone around, making sure they grow stronger. We’ve got a little while before the tournament begins, and I want to make sure we earn enough money beforehand so we can survive during the tournament. Plus, it’ll give everyone a chance to do whatever they need to do during their days off.”

“I will follow you,” Jurot said.

“Depending on how blood thirsty some of you are, I can take some of you with me at all times, and split the rotating group into three different groups. I’d like to take Nobby with me, make sure he’s an Expert before the tournament.” Adam paused. “Nobby, do you want to join the tournament?”

“Okay, mister boss.”

“I’m not telling you to join, I’m asking you if you want to join the tournament,” Adam said.

“…” Nobby remained silent, unsure if he wanted to enter.

“If he enters, he will fight in the same grouping as we Iyrmen,” Nirot said. “We, too, want to adventure with you.”

Adam looked to the teen Iyrmen, who he had promised to take with him last year, only to cut the adventuring short because of the monster they faced. “Then, I suppose the permanent grouping will be me, Jurot, the teen Iyrmen, Nobby, Lucy, and Mara?” Adam said, looking to the Demons.

“We will join you since we will be unable to fight during the tournament,” Mara said. If Lucy wasn’t able to fight during the tournament, then there was no doubt that her blood thirst would need to be dealt with before it started.

‘So it’ll be me, Jurot, Nirot, Uwajin, Naqokan, Faool, Laygak, Bavin, Nobby, Lucy, and Mara? That’s quite a few of us, plus we’ll take a Priest, and then a handful of the others? Cycle them every so often so they all get the appropriate amount of XP, and can spend their time relaxing. I’ll take a few days off between adventuring too, so I don’t burn out, and then we’ll stop adventuring a few days before the tournament…’

“I guess we can do three cycles of seven days,” Adam said. “Take a few days between to rest up, and then the last week to relax…”

“It may be difficult to remain outside for a week,” Jurot said. “We may face creatures daily.”

“I plan on taking one of the porters with each group,” Adam said. “One Priest and a porter, that way we have someone who can heal and carry each time…” Adam glanced between everyone. “Let’s make two groups. One with Vonda, Jaygak, Brittany, Rick, John, Jonn, Fred, and Remy. The other will have Dunes, Kitool, Ivy, Charley, Greg, Korin, Lady Sara, and Jeremy.”

Adam had to take into consideration not only the strength of the parties, which were similar, but also the composition. Ivy, Brittany, and John were archers. However, Ivy, Charley, and Greg also preferred to be together, the same with Korin and Sara. Jonn and Fred were more powerful, but he guessed that Dunes and Kitool would beat Vonda and Jaygak, though he wasn’t really sure how well they each fought. Technically, Vonda did not like to kill, so he put Jonn, who did not mind it, in the group, since his abilities were greater than Korin’s. Plus, he supposed the pair would like to be with Dunes.

“What of the Red River Squad?” Sir Vonda asked. “Will they not join us?”

“They are free to join us,” Adam said. “It’s too awkward to split them into the two groups, so they can join either one. We’ll be splitting our loot with them anyhow, since I gave them my word.”

“Even if they do not quest?” Rick asked.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I said I would. I’ll take care of them, in the same way I’ll take care of everyone else within the group, at least, for the next few weeks.”

Rick slowly nodded his head, and said no more.