Omen: 1, 9

[I would like to make a deal.]

Adam wiped his brow, finishing his tenth and final Flame Blade. He had passively enchanted the last two over the course of twelve days. He stared down at the blade, before glancing off to one side.

“Well, well, well, how the turntables have turned table,” Adam said, butchering the phrase. He noted the way the nearby Iyrman looked at him, though they had been informed that sometimes Adam spoke to himself.

‘Well, well, well, how the-,’

[Yes.]

‘What is it that you want, little Bell?’

[I am not little. I am a system.]

‘Right, right. Are we going to get to the point?’

[Creating an enchanting formula should take much longer, and should require effort.]

‘I don’t like where this is heading.’

[I would like to make a deal.]

‘I’m listening.’

[I will allow you to make enchanting formulas. You may request a quest, and I will send you a quest that, upon completion, will grant you the enchanting formula as a reward.]

‘Sure, but…’

[I will grant you additional XP in exchange for this formula, and I will grant a special quest to you in the future in relation to enchanting.]

‘Will it be good?’

[Yes.]

‘Okay. Sure.’

Quest Complete: Deals Struck

XP Gained: +1000

XP: 9 700 -> 10 700

‘Should have said I would have gotten a thousand XP,’ Adam thought, before smiling slightly. He sighed, glancing over to the side. “I need to go speak with Elder Zijin, maybe even the Chief.”

Adam made his way through the Iyr, following his escort, the greyish skinned Iyrman. His eyes wandered about, noting the various Iyrmen moving about. Some pulled along rickshaws carrying bags of wheat, others carrying small crates. Some where adult Iyrmen, assisted by teens with their own rickshaws.

Eventually, Adam placed down the tenth flame sword in front of Elder Zijin, the Elder placing aside his book.

“Elder Zijin, a word?”

Elder Zijin smiled, waving a hand towards Adam’s escort to dismiss them casually. “Of course, Adam.” The Elder poured Adam a cup tea, and offered the Half Elf dried fruit he had managed to procure.

Adam chewed on the thick fruit, feeling the fibres break apart within his mouth, before chewing it further to swallow it down. It was as sweet as ever, and still mushy and juicy even after it had been dried out. He sipped the tea slowly, tasting the light flavour, something akin got berries, before sighing.

“That’s some good stuff,” the Half Elf said, smiling.

“Others prefer stronger tea, but I prefer my tea lighter,” Zijin admitted.

“I get that. Where I’m from, we have tea with milk and sugar. Pop on the kettle, and less than five minutes later you can sip your tea, ten minutes if you don’t want to scald your mouth.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Zijin said, sipping his tea. “Why did you wish to speak with me.”

“Well, you know, something awkward happened,” Adam fell silent for a moment, glancing downwards, thinking of how to say it. “The formula thing is a little harder than expected. I was denied the, uh, rights to the formula.” Adam winked at his little joke.

“Denied?”

“The baby,” Adam said, raising his brows slightly.

Zijin slowly nodded. He had heard of the tale, and about this baby which seemed to be connected to Adam in some way. “So you cannot make formulas?”

“I can, it’s just a little more difficult. Requires a lot more effort than just sitting at home and passively enchanting while kicking it.”

“I see.”

“So unfortunately, I am unable to hand over formulas quite as easily as I expected.” Adam smiled awkwardly. “However, I still finished the flame sword, and it’s still out to be sold. I can make more if needed, and whatever deal we made to split the gold, it can continue as per usual, and we can sort out any debts I owe.”

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“You may speak with the Chief to deal with such matters.”

“Yeah, that was the plan,” Adam replied, sighing. ‘Seriously, Bell, you couldn’t have warned me beforehand?’

[…]

“The baby made a deal with me, so perhaps I’ll get something in return for giving up the rights, something which will help the Iyr better than a formula for an enchantment it doesn’t want in the world.” Adam flashed a smile, hoping that it would at least help out with any thoughts the Iyrmen may have against him.

"What kind of deal?”

“I had to give up the formula, but…” Adam wasn’t sure quite how to explain XP. “It made me a little more experienced in the ways of life, and it offered me a chance for something else. I’m not exactly sure what it is, but it should be good.”

Zijin remained deep in thought, but still couldn’t figure out what Adam was speaking about exactly. “Okay.”

“I should go and speak with the Chief. Thank you for the tea and the fruit, Elder Zijin, and your company was wonderful too.”

“Do you have anything you wish to tell me?” Zijin asked, not liking how cordial Adam was being.

“I don’t believe so,” Adam said, seeing the look on Zijin’s face. “Actually…”

“Yes?”

“Did the Jin family also have babies?” Adam asked.

“…” Zijin narrowed his eyes slightly. “Yes.”

Adam made a face. Zijin could see the face Adam made, and he thought to stop Adam, but he decided against it.

Adam left the Elder to his thoughts, making his way to the Chief. The pair shared drinks and Adam explained the situation.

The Chief fell deep in thought. This matter wasn’t exactly that huge. He was certain that Adam wasn’t trying to get out of their deal. Adam may have been a fool, but he wasn’t stupid. He thought about whether he should mention that thing to the young Half Elf, but decided against it.

“I understand,” the Chief said. “We will take the flame sword you enchanted today.”

“Sure,” Adam said, before he was dismissed by the Chief. ‘That went smoothly…’ Adam frowned. He looked up towards the sky, seeing how it was beginning to darken. He sighed, returning back to the shared family estate.

Jirot babbled angrily towards Konarot, pointing towards the older girl, before crossing her arms. Konarot blinked in response and remained still and silent, like a tiny statue.

“Jirot, what’s wrong?” Adam asked, resisting the urge to start doting on his children.

Jirot twisted her body to look upwards, and almost tumbled over before she squatted to catch herself, and then shuffled her entire body to face her father. “Iz!” She pointed at her eldest sister and babbled noisily in her passion towards her father, before she let out a huff, and waited.

“I see,” Adam replied. His eyes glanced away to the side slightly. ‘Should I cast it?’

Spell: Comprehend Languages

‘No.’ “Konarot, what is the matter?” Adam asked, reaching down to rub her hair.

“Playing,” Konarot said.

“You’re just playing?”

“Yes.”

“What are you playing?”

“Iyrmen.”

“Oh, I see, you’re playing as Iyrmen?”

“No! Iz no!” Jirot said, pointing at Konarot. “No paying!”

“You don’t want her to play?”

“No!”

“Konarot is not playing with them,” Sonarot said, bringing some cut vegetables for Jirot and Jarot, letting them snack on the hard vegetables.

“Oh. Konababy, why are you not playing with them?”

Konarot turned, pointing up towards the bird that was resting on the edge of the building. “Bird.”

“Konarot, use your words.”

“Playing bird.”

“You’re playing with the bird?”

She nodded.

“I see…” Adam ruffled her hair again. “Jirot, your sister is playing with birds, so she can’t play with you right now.”

Jirot continued to bite into the vegetable, staring up at her father as she chewed noisily. She turned slightly to look at her sister. “Ater?”

“Later?” Adam asked.

“Paying?”

“Konarot, make sure to play with your sister later, okay?” Adam said, rubbing her hair, before also rubbing Jirot’s hair too.

“Okay,” Konarot said, before going off to the bird to growl lightly towards it, causing it to tweet in return. Kirot and Karot also followed her, while Jirot and Jarot sat and ate their vegetables.

‘Now that I think about it, Karot and Jarot are pretty meek. Should I try and play with them more often? I don’t want them to be too shy when they grow up…’ Adam lifted Jarot up, causing Jirot to stare up at him in shock. She turned, looking for her nana, before looking back to her father and brother.

“No!” Jirot held up her arms, still flabbergasted she hadn’t been picked up yet.

“Sure, sure,” Adam said, giving in to his youngest daughter, lifting her up so she could embrace him as she ate. He kissed her forehead, before rubbing his cheek against Jarot’s forehead. “Jarot, why do I never hear you cry?”

“No,” the boy confirmed, smiling slightly.

“What a good boy you are,” Adam said, nuzzling his nose. “If you want to act up a little, daddy will forgive it.”

“Jarot is a good boy,” Mirot said.

“I can’t believe you’d call your own father by his name,” Adam gasped.

“Do not corrupt him.”

“I can corrupt him, he’s my son,” Adam said, kissing his son’s cheek and ear. “Isn’t that right?”

“Daddy…” Jarot smiled wide, revealing all eight of his canines, and he quickly hid his head into his father’s chest.

Mirot glanced away from Adam, though the stupid grin on his face had seared deep within her mind. She looked towards her own son, Gurot, who was laying down and staring at the sky.

Gurot narrowed his eyes and frowned to the one who had picked him up, but upon seeing his mother’s face, he smiled and his eyes lit up with delight. “Mama.”

Mirot held her to his chest, holding his large form against her. She brushed his hair and his cheek gently, before planting a soft kiss against the side of his head. “What are you thinking so deeply about?”

“Mama.” The boy smiled.

Adam eventually let his children down when they were called to eat. The Gak family had finished cooking a meat soup, and had baked plenty of fluffy bread for dinner.

“Papa!” Lanarot said, reaching up with her bread in hand.

Adam took the bread and waited, raising his brows towards her.

“Peas.”

He tore the bread in half, and the girl grabbed the pair in each hand, dual wielding the bread. She dipped one into the soup and brought it to her mouth.

“What do you say?”

“Yummy!” Lanarot said.

“What do you say to me for helping you?”

“Thank you.”

Adam smiled. “What great manners my sister has, so polite, so polite. Do you hear how polite she is? You all need to be that polite too, do you understand?”

Konarot was handing out the bread she had broken apart to each of her siblings, before beginning to eat. She began to break up more bread for her siblings, and Adam thought to reach down to assist.

‘No, I can’t spoil them too much today. I should spoil them the next week instead.’