“Look,” Adam said, revealing the amulet to his brother and the rest of his companions. “I prayed and got this from Baktu.” Adam’s voice was a whisper, not wanting to bring too much attention to himself.

Jaygak’s eyes remained glued to the symbol for a long while, before glancing towards Kitool, communicating with her companion with her eyes, before her eyes finally landed on Jurot. The Iyrman’s lips were twitching ever so slightly constantly, as though he were keeping in laughter.

Jurot crossed his arms, bowing his head slightly. ‘He is my brother.’ The others could feel the thoughts enter their mind from Jurot’s response.

“It seems Baktu likes me quite a bit,” Adam whispered, staring down at his amulet as he brushed his thumb along it, feeling the ridges of the symbol. The day had been far too eventful for his liking already, so he decided against leaving the guild.

A group of adventurers entered the guild during the evening, and Adam threw a look their way. He smiled and waved towards them. Once they had finished with their dealings at the counter, they joined Adam’s large group.

“How was your adventuring?” Adam asked.

“It’s been going well,” Rose admitted. They had spent a few days adventuring, spending some time in other inns so they could experience for of the city, but they finally returned to deal with their business with Adam. “We will no longer be adventuring for some time, so shall we split our loot?”

“Sure.”

Rose’s brow was full of sweat as she stared down at the items which would be shared with her group. Everything had to be split twenty six ways, twenty five for individuals, and one for the group of youths. Considering the shares, very little would truly go to each person, however, many of the items were of great value. Adam went down the list, using some parchment and ink provided by the guild in order to sort out the items.

“Alright, so technically you should be getting between a fifth and a fourth of the loot, so why don’t we just call it a fourth?” Adam asked.

Rose sighed, but paused, realising a fourth was a greater number of items for her group. “A quarter? You are certain?”

“It just makes math so simple,” Adam admitted. “Knowing how to split in fifths and fourths is easier than six of twenty six parts, don’t you agree?”

“I do.”

Adam looked to Jurot, who nodded his head, allowing Adam to make the call. It was technically a small hit for the group, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. He had to rework the split within his own group in order to make it easier to split, with Rose’s group still earning a quarter of the loot.

“We will do as you say,” Jurot reassured.

Adam still felt guilty since the rest of his companions would be out some of the loot. The way he split it was awkward after suggesting to split it into fourths, but Rose allowed them to split it less awkwardly in order to allow them to split everything smoothly.

It took a short while for them to deal with their items, with Adam splitting the loot as best as he could between the two groups. However, there were certain items which didn’t split cleanly, and though some of them could easily be dealt with, a few of those items were very important.

“Okay, so how should we deal with the cores?” Adam asked, leaning back. He really wanted to buy them, but he wasn’t sure if he could afford it, and nor could the party fund. The Red River Squad currently had almost three cores claimed as part of their loot.

“We will trade them for one more Basic Enhanced weapon,” Rose replied simply, extending out her hand to shake Adam’s forearm.

“Well, damn,” Adam said, extending out his forearm, shaking the woman’s forearm. “Quick and easy.”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“We will write up the contract and I assume your business will not shirk us when we come to collect the weapons,” Rose said.

“Of course not,” Adam reassured with a nod of his head. “Do you have any specifications for the weapon?”

“Another blade of identical specification.”

“Done.”

The group managed to deal with the contract quickly, completing it through the guild. Adam decided to also give out shares between his party, which was far simpler, as he only needed to split everything into twenty pieces. The farmers and porters sold most of their loot, trying to earn more coin for their families. Though there was very little to go around, they all shared in the loot from the entire group, not just those they were present for, including the hydras and wyvern. Adam claimed half of the porters’ shares, however, marking it against their debt.

Once the matter was dealt with, Adam made his way to bed. He held the amulet within his hand, rubbing along it still. He wondered if he was doing the right thing.

‘I mean, I could make so much more money…’ Adam was certain he could pay a gold or two a day for each porter and farmer, and sharing the loot and quest rewards with each member would give them more gold overall, most of the time. ‘No. I can make gold pretty easily. I need to look after my own. If I want them to be loyal to me, I need to treat them right.’

He thought of the future, not just of his business, but of him and his family. He thought of his children while rubbing Baktu’s symbol. He pressed the symbol against his chest, feeling the coolness of the obsidian against his chest. He was acutely aware that it was the symbol of the God of Death.

‘How much would it cost to create a unit of Experts to protect them? No, not Experts, Masters, right?’ Adam tried to recall what decision he had come to previously. ‘Grandmasters, obviously.’

Omen: 3, 8

“Why do we even need to participate in this stupid tournament?” Adam grumbled quietly over breakfast. He had spent the last night thinking of the children waiting for him at home. Not just his triplets and twins, but his adorable Cousins who would be growing up far too quickly.

The others remained silent, allowing Adam to complain as he pleased, as it was probably just that kind of day for him.

“I just want to pinch Lanababy’s cute, chubby cheeks,” Adam said, holding up his hands as he made the motions to pinch an imaginary Lanarot’s cheeks. “How dare a tournament take away such a pleasure from me?”

“We should hunt tomorrow,” Jurot offered.

“Yeah,” Adam replied, frowning. “We’ll hunt and kill everything.” He reached down to the obsidian holy symbol which hung against his chest.

Jurot nodded, glad that Adam had finally perked up. Vonda, sitting in the corner near them, sighed gently, wondering if she should speak up.

‘If we’re going to adventure tomorrow, I should probably just take the main group,’ Adam thought, glancing around. ‘Nobby and Brittany need to stay behind. I should let the teens rest too. They’re all already so close to our Level, so I should focus on us.’ Adam’s eyes then fell to the pair of Demons. ‘I need to deal with Lucy’s bloodlust too.’

Adam relaxed during the day, though as he thought about their adventuring, he wondered if he should take some Abilities from other Classes. ‘What should I take?’

Adam scanned the vast array of options. Each option was pricier than other options from his current Class, but he was sure many of them were well worth their price. However, he didn’t want to spend all of his XP on random things that might seem fun, not when he was still fairly weak.

The back of Jaygak’s neck tingled as her eyes fell to Adam, who had his arms crossed, and was deep in thought. He was certainly thinking something stupid.

XP: 10 800 -> 10 300

Gained Blessing of Forgia!

‘Now that I look at it, do I even need Baktu for that ability?’ Adam asked.

[No.]

‘Oh.’ Adam decided to leave it at that.

XP: 10 300 -> 9 300

Gained Fighting Style: Defence!

XP: 9 300 -> 7 300

Gained Fighting Style: Dueling!

‘I really should have taken those all before,’ Adam thought, glancing between everything he had gained.

Mara’s eyes fell across Adam. “…”

Adam eyed up a few more of the Abilities he could buy with his XP. There was one which tempted him, but it was far too pricey, though it may have been useful for him during noonval. ‘No, I should keep some XP in my back pocket, just in case.’

Adam checked out his Stats and eyed up the various Abilities he had taken. ‘Hold on a second.’ Adam tilted his head slightly, causing some of his companions to stir slightly, wondering what he was doing.

Puthral plate mail. Strong Shield. Defence. Blessing of Forgia.

A combination of all such effects would place his Defence at 24.

24 was great, so great, that very few creatures would ever reach such heights. However, Adam also possessed Shield, the First Gate spell, which would put his Defence to 29.

Then he thought about Wraith, and the potential damage it could put out with Smite.

Then he thought about how he could Critically Hit much easier than the typical person.

Then he thought about his healing abilities with Lay on Hands.

“Jurot,” Adam whispered, opening his eyes, which were full of shock. He glanced towards his brother, who met his eyes.

“Yes?”

“I’m so fucking strong,” Adam whispered, as though he had only just realised how crazy his power was.

“Yes.”