(Day 167) Aprilis 12th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment

“Good morning Adaline. The first question, before we get on to other business, how are you feeling?” Adam asked.

Adaline took a sip of her tea before she answered, “Considering I was a hair's breadth from death, I feel great, you?”

“Good. Thank you for getting the gems without question. My time frame was limited because of how high-level they were, and I really wanted to capture each of their souls.

“Did you?” she asked.

“Oh yes, they are my permanent little bitches until I find a way to destroy them forever or, if that’s not possible, turn them into something that can champion good, like a sword for a Holy Knight or something.”

Adaline frowned.

“Not that Holy Knight, he’s an asshat. The idea is because they were so evil, I’ll have them made into something that is used to promote good. Yeah, I know. Hey, if someone good ever fucks up and pisses me off that bad, I’ll make a weapon of evil for you” Adam said.

Adaline laughed “We both know what the odds of a truly good person, coming into your home and trying to kill you are,” she said.

“Well, there is that” he returned.

“To recap quickly on everything leading up to yesterday. I made my way to the city and met with an Academic. I learned a lot, became a Monk and a Cleric of Serena, and then visited the company stocking this Tower. I also upgraded so we have more choices. Then I went to the Dungeon, cleared it, and recovered the Item of Power. Then I went to rest for the night and when I woke up I received a prompt that the Tower was under attack and teleported back to find you in the foyer bleeding out.” He paused for a moment.

“By the way, I am starting to grow fond of you and would miss you so if you’d be so kind as to not almost die again that’d be great, “he said with a hint of sarcasm as he smiled.

“Well, you know us girls, always looking for a good time with the boys until they break our hearts in the end” she quipped back.

They both laughed at that.

“Seriously though. I was worried. I had to pray to my Goddess to heal you. She’s a Good Divine. When I first tried my prayer of healing it didn’t work. I had to let her know that I considered you like family, which both my Goddess and I know in my heart is true. So, when I say I care you know I mean it, because if I didn’t my Goddess would not have healed you as you are neither good nor neutral.”

Understanding that Adam was sharing how he felt about her Adaline said “I understand, I will try to be more careful. Enough of this mushy stuff, what happened with the Holy Knight and his friends” she asked.

“Well, after my first Prayer for healing on you to get the bleeding stopped and stabilized. By the way, I hadn’t realized your level was so high and you had so many hit points. Anyway, I took you up to the guest bedroom, made sure you were safe, and then went out the terrace door in my room. I flew up to the top of the tower, looked down, and asked them to stop. The Holy Knight tried to shoot me with a crossbow, I explained to him the error of his ways and it would seem his God agreed. Eventually, he calmed down enough for me to ask him why a Holy Knight was attacking an unarmed, obviously not evil person, which stopped him in his tracks, especially since I’d helped one of the followers of his God earlier that day in the Dungeon. If you know how to, and you’re not evil, at least in my world, it’s really easy to fuck with a Holy Knight by using their honor and goodness against them. Once that was worked out, I sent them on their way.” Adam paused for a moment.

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“Next thing I did was come inside, check on you, and spend a full 54 minutes healing you to full health. When I was done, I pulled a blanket over you, locked the door then went up to my room for a hot bath and some rest. About 3 a.m. the two idiots you saw downstairs broke in through the terrace entrance and tried to taunt me after they’d poisoned me. I’m completely immune to poison. That was true before I came to this Universe and it’s still true now. Then they started to taunt me about how they’d killed the party I went to the dungeon in and their families. Oh, they were most definitely evil.”

Adam paused for a moment as his eyes went distant for a moment. The thought of what he’d done seemed to haunt him for a moment but the hint of anger entered his gaze and he continued, “You saw the damage I did to them. Mostly to make sure they couldn’t use magic to escape. So, I asked you for two gems, snatched the hearts out of their bodies while they were still beating, and made them watch them stop as the spark faded from their eyes, and their souls were captured by the soulstones I made with the gems you brought me. I think we’re all caught up, Any questions?”

“A couple, but they’re not important right now. The big one is What would you like to trade for the Gems” she asked.

“Well, I picked up a lot of magic items over the last couple of days. I found some armor, weapons, wands, and a couple of staves. I don’t know what the value of the items is. Though there’s one item you’d probably like. A Ring of Holding that has a 100x100 grid with a 95% weight reduction. I don’t even care what the equivalent cost is, If you want it, it’s yours, I have two.” Adam said.

“Well, those two gems were worth a lot, and I really liked that diamond you made. How about another gem and the ring? Two Items for two items?” she asked.

“Well, I did say I was going to spoil you.” He said as he had his nanites create a copy of The Heart of Eternity, a beautiful blue diamond valued at about $16 million back home. He also took off the Ring of Holding as he walked around the table and handed both to her.

Adaline’s eyes looked at the ring briefly then focused on the gem, “What is it?” she asked.

“That is a replica of a diamond on my home planet called the Heart of Eternity” he answered.

“It’s a diamond, but it’s blue?”

“It is a diamond, and it is blue,” he agreed.

“She stared at it a little longer then said “I love it! None of my other friends have anything like this, though we haven’t talked in ages. Still, this diamond is unique, making it priceless, meaning that you really did spoil me. Thank you, thank you, thank you” she said excitedly.

"You are quite welcome. Now I'd love to sit and hang out today but I’m now a Dungeon Master and I have 11 hours to replace an Item of Power or I’m going to lose that dungeon forever which would be really bad for my relationship with the King of Venoran. I will be back as soon as I can though. When I get back I would like you present for when I release the Divine from a Soul Gem”

“A what from a what, you didn’t mention that?” She said, removing her gaze from the gem.

“I did. The Item of Power from the Dungeon. That was the Soul gem of the Divine Detrik. I have a quest to either free him or destroy the gem and let his spirit pass on. If I free him in a Place of Power I might get a reward. Depending on what that is, I’d like you to be present just in case its nothing I can use, maybe I can help you reach another level. Just a thought I had” he said.

“Okay, I’ll stick around until you get back or 10 days have passed. I saw that pool downstairs and that hot bath that was next to it. I will have plenty to do.”

“Yes, you will, Eric!” he called.

“Yes Master,” Eric said as he materialized near Adam.

“Eric, I’m giving Adaline access to the upstairs study. Please respond to her requests and bring her any books that she asks for.” He said as he granted Adaline access to the library.

“Library?” She asked.

“Apolyn has two libraries in this tower. The first contains a lot of information about this world’s history as well as some basic books on magic and other Lore that might come in handy. If you get bored there is plenty of reading material in there. Also, if you need help or you’re looking for a specific subject Eric can help. Just ask him to bring you a book on that subject and he’ll make it happen. Now, this is important. There is a staircase that opens in the middle of the upstairs Library, and it leads down to the treasury and another library. The door to the library downstairs is the one I cautioned you not to try to walk through. It might not kill you, but it is definitely going to hurt.” Adam said.

“Thank you, Adam, I’ll see you when you get back. I think I’m going to go for a swim” she said as she put the ring on and then put the diamond inside it.

“See you when I get back.” Adam as we walked to the entrance and left the tower.