“You punk! Who gave you permission to have such cute kids?” Adam grumbled.

“They are not kids, they are pups,” Sky replied.

“You see how he talks back to me?” Adam glanced towards Jurot, frowning slightly. “He’s lucky these kids are so cute, otherwise I would have sorted him out.”

The nine pups twitched lightly beside their mothers, who licked at their fur, and nuzzled against their sides. Adam watched with quivering lips, doing his best not to fawn over them too much.

“Nine pups,” Jurot said. “The Iyr will wish to claim some, but there will be enough for your children.”

“Five pups for my kids, and four for the Iyr?” Adam said. “No, it should be six for us, one for Lanababy.”

“She likes to play with Sky. I will give Sky to her.” Jurot has already spoken to Sky about the matter, since Lanarot enjoyed laying against the Awakened Wolf’s side.

“That’s good, but what about your children?”

“My children?”

“I’ve already given your grandfather five children, won’t you?” Adam asked, raising his brows, his lips almost smirking slightly.

Jurot blinked.

“Where are the other pups anyhow?” Adam had completely forgotten the existence of the first batch of the wolves, which were born to the same Awakened Wolf and pair of dire wolves the previous year.

“They have been gifted to the Iyr, since they were raised during this time,” Jurot said, glancing up towards the sky.

“This time?”

“The time the Iyr closed its gates.”

“Oh…” Adam hadn’t heard that they had been stolen from him, but he supposed he shouldn’t begrudge the Iyr, not since they did so much for him already. “Alright.”

Jurot nodded, having expected that Adam would understand, especially since he was willing to give the Iyr so much. Jurot kept an eye on the little pups, wondering if they would be taken from Adam too. There was only so much the Iyr could take from Adam before the Rot family would need to speak up.

“Jurot,” Adam whispered.

“Yes?”

“I’ve been thinking about making Jaygak a weapon. Raygak seems to like Stormdrake, so maybe he should play with it in the Iyr.”

“Raygak is too young,” Jurot replied. “Stormdrake would be best for Jaygak.”

“I don’t actually mean that Raygak should play with it, but that Stormdrake, which is apparently this great weapon and catches so much attention, should probably remain here.”

Jurot grunted, relenting with a nod. He should have realised Adam meant something else, even he wasn’t that… ‘No, it is an Adam thing to do.’

‘Should I go ask Elder Zijin for a sword?’ Adam thought. ‘I probably should.’

Adam approached the Elder at his estate, waving a hand towards the Elder. “Elder Zijin.”

“Adam,” the Elder replied, closing his book. “Did you enjoy your time with the wolves?”

“I did, I did, thank you,” Adam replied, nodding his head lightly. His eyes flickered slightly, the Half Elf trying to refrain from reading anything he wasn’t allowed to. “I’ve got a favour to ask you.”

“A favour, from me?”

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“Yeah…” Adam paused, trying to think about how to word it. ‘I should have thought about it on the way here…’

Elder Zijin waited for the Half Elf, allowing him to think in peace. Though he was busy with all the situations forced into his hands, especially due to the fact the war had ended and the negotiations had ended, and what with the Iyr’s gates still being closed, he still gave Adam his peace. Adam was Adam, after all.

“Raygak seems to like Stormdrake, so I was thinking it should stay in the Iyr so he can play with it.”

Zijin blinked. When he had heard Adam needed a favour, the Elder hadn’t expected the Half Elf to be so… Adam about it. “It is a good thought.”

“So, yeah, I need a decent sword to enchant so that it can stay here.”

“What kind of enchantment will you place onto it?”

“Something that works well with the Gak family’s abilities,” Adam said, vaguely. He had no idea what he wanted to enchant onto it, but he had the night to think it over.

“Okay,” Zijin replied, bowing his head. Adam had been rather well behaved recently, and he had already assisted the Iyr so much. “How long will you be enchanting it?”

“If I enchant at around the same pace, probably a month?” Adam said, thinking about it. ‘If I enchant three times a week, then I’ll be done by the end of the month. No, wait, don’t I also have to do that too?’ “I’ll enchant every other day or so, and then I’ll take the last few weeks of the year off. Ah, I mean, the twelfth month, not the year. I’ll probably take the last month off too.”

“You have been resting well,” Zijin almost accused. “Even I was shocked you had decided to take days off from working.”

“It’s a little awkward since the Iyr asked me to make stuff for them, but I thought I should probably spend plenty of time with my kids. Everyone knows how cute they are so I’m afraid the Iyr will steal them from me.”

“The Iyr will only take them if you allow it,” the Elder stated.

“How can I allow you to take my greatest treasures?”

Elder Zijin smiled. “I will find you a blade. You may come to the estate in the morning to pick it up.”

“Thank you again, Elder Zijin,” Adam said, bowing his head, before leaving.

“Adam,” Zijin called as the boy left.

“Yeah?” Adam asked, turning half way to glance at the Elder.

“Your children may be cute, but you should be careful,” the Elder began. “It is the cutest children who are most difficult.”

“You’re telling me,” Adam replied, letting out a low sigh. “Jirot keeps bullying me.”

Zijin smiled, nodding his head.

Adam returned back to the shared family estate, where he found his triplets rushing up to him. “You’re always spoiling the surprise.” Adam hoisted them up one by one to hug and kiss them, before letting them down to follow him.

Jurot glanced his way, noting the lack of a sword, but returned back to whittling at his wood. Adam sat opposite the young Iyrman, yawning, before stretching out his back. He stared at Jurot’s figurine, that of an elk. He blinked towards it and then thought about Zeus, who remained at the village, along with the cart.

‘Zeus is way too useful,’ Adam thought, thinking about how much the elk had helped him. ‘I should try and get more steeds somehow.’

The evening passed uneventfully, with Adam reading to the children and playing Warriors and Wanderers with the older children. It was a routine that Adam had become used to, wondering how he had managed to work so much in the past.

“Oof,” Jirot said, dropping down beside her father, before half climbing on top of him, placing her head on his stomach. She placed her hand towards his chest and she gripped his shirt.

“I guess I’m sleeping with you two today?” Adam asked, reaching for the girl’s hair, before brushing Jarot’s head too.

“Babo?” Jarot asked.

“Babo? He’s at the other estate,” Adam replied, rubbing his head.

“Oo?”

“That’s right.”

“Okay,” the boy replied, before sucking his thumb as he rested up against his father.

“You two are a little close with your aunt, right?” Adam whispered. “What do you think? What kind of sword do you think Jaygak would want?”

“Ogoo,” the boy replied.

“No,” Jirot said, before she sucked against her thumb. She looked up at her father and then pointed up at him.

“I know I’m your favourite, but that wasn’t the question,” Adam whispered, rubbing their backs gently, before he rested his head back, and he stared at the ceiling.

‘I need to make something that’s at least as good as Wraith,’ the Half Elf thought. ‘Can I? I mean, it is passive enchanting…’

Jurot wondered what Adam was planning. Phantom was a weapon that would be coveted by the entire land, and Tigerstaff and Wraith were equally as impressive. Perhaps Wraith was a slightly toned down version, but for someone who used magic, Wraith was worth much more.

‘A flaming sword would be kinda sick,’ Adam thought. ‘Very thematically appropriate, but would that be weird? What about lightning instead, just a weaker version of Stormdrake? No, it has to be a stronger than what Stormdrake can do right now.’

Adam looked down at his children. ‘You’ll probably like it with the fire since it will look cool, right? She’ll be cooler than daddy, though…’ Adam sighed lightly, causing his daughter to stir slightly, looking up towards her father. She crawled upwards towards her father.

“Daddy,” she said, looking down at his face, placing a hand against his chin, her we thumb pressing against the side of his neck. She felt the softness of her father’s beard, which had been growing slowly during nightval.

“Don’t worry,” Adam said, reaching up to brush her hair. “Daddy will think of something.”

“Okay,” she said, resting her head against his shoulder, pulling the pillow under her head, before pinning her father’s arm down.

‘Am I allowed to be this happy?’ Adam thought, smiling.