Turot grumbled something at Adam, sniffling. The young boy was currently eating a buttered bun, sometimes dipping it into his meat soup, which formed his breakfast.

“He called you a betrayer,” Jurot said, biting into some cheese, which had been denied to Turot.

“I’m sorry, Turot,” Adam said, staring down at the young Iyrman. He was still young, in his mischievous years, so of course he would touch the pillar which he wasn’t allowed to. He hadn’t expected Adam to betray him, though.

Adam had expected the night to calm him down, but it seemed that Iyrmen continued to simmer in their rage, something he should have expected.

“Lying is bad, you know?” Adam said.

“I wasn’t lying,” Turot grumbled, sniffling still. “I didn’t say anything.”

“That’s lying by omission.”

“I don’t lie by mission!” He cried, his face twitching into anger.

‘How adorable,’ Adam thought. He was eating two breakfasts that morning, one for his stomach, one for his heart.

Jurot stared at Turot and shook his head, eating the cheese which should have been the boy’s. “I didn’t expect you to lie, Turot.”

Cheese which did not belong to him tasted the best.

“I didn’t lie!” Turot squeezed the bread tight in his hand, about to toss it, when Sonarot grabbed his wrist, gently.

“It’s okay, Turot.” Sonarot pulled him up onto her lap and kissed his forehead. “You’re going to answer properly next time when I ask you, yes?”

Turot sniffled once more, but relaxed his grip on the mangled bread. “Yes…”

‘I should try and get back his favour somehow,’ Adam thought. He bit into the cheese, which was thankfully mild. ‘I need to keep him on my side if I want to be accepted by the Rot family.’ He continued to eat the cheese, noting Turot’s covetous gaze.

“Do you like cheese?” Adam asked, trying to hide his smile.

Turot narrowed his eyes, looking away. He bit into his bread angrily.

Adam stared at the bread for a moment. “Here, let me do something for you,” Adam reached over, waving his hand over the bread.

Spell: Tricks

“There,” Adam said.

“What did you do?” Turot asked, bringing his bread to his chest, having thought Adam would take this from him too.

“Why don’t you take a bite?”

“Is it poison?” Turot asked.

“Do you think I’d be stupid enough to poison an Iyrman in his own home, surrounded by two people who could hack my head off?” Adam asked, raising his brow.

Turot narrowed his eyes, his face scrunching to suspicion. Sure, no one would dare to do that, but Adam had betrayed him once before.

“No, Turot, it isn’t poisoned.”

Turot looked to Sonarot, who nodded her head, before he bit into the bread. Sonarot believed Adam wouldn’t try anything funny, either.

The boy’s eyebrows dropped as he broke apart the bread and ate it. He stared at the bread, looking it up and down, before tearing into the centre. He said something in his tongue, mouth still full of bread, his face filled with confusion.

“Cheese?” Sonarot asked, turning to look at Adam.

“Magic is a wonderful thing,” Adam said. “I flavoured some of the food when we were making our way. I thought, since he can’t eat cheese, I could flavour his bread for a moment.”

“Ah, yes,” Sonarot said. “Tricks?”

“Yeah.”

“He flavoured some food to taste like chicken tikka masala,” Jurot said. “A dish from his home. It was nice.”

Adam stared at Jurot, brows raised. “How did you remember that?”

“You told me,” Jurot said, simply. “Why would I forget?”

“I just didn’t expect it.” Adam smiled slightly.

Turot kept eating the bread, but soon it returned back to tasting like bread. He stared at Adam with wide eyes. “You can do that again?” Turot asked, raising the bread towards Adam.

“Maybe another time, when you aren’t being punished.” Adam didn’t want to undermine Sonarot any more than he already had.

Children needed to be punished properly. To his surprise, the Iyr didn’t hit their children. He thought that they would, and they wouldn’t make excuses about it, dismissing it as spanking, but they were much nobler than he had expected.

“Okay,” Turot relented after a moment, still staring at his bread, wondering if he could find some cheese in it. He was still unsure how Adam had flavoured it, and then kept an eye on the half elf. ‘Must be an elvish thing.’

Once he had earned Turot’s favour again, he went off to enchant. He followed another Iyrman, still to be watched. He noted a large number of small creatures about, which seemed to be very common in the Iyr.

‘Spies for the Iyr?’ Adam wondered. ‘They couldn’t be spies for someone else. The Iyr surely has thought of it.’

“You have a lot of animals around,” Adam said to the Iyrman beside him, an orcish Iyrman.

“Yes,” she replied, bluntly.

“Doesn’t that worry you?”

“Life is abundant in the Iyr,” the woman replied, unsure of what he was saying.

“Don’t you think they could be a familiar for others? Or perhaps they are spies for others.”

“We work closely with the animals,” she said. “There have been times when animals have tried to scout the Iyr, but we have dealt with them.”

“All of them?”

“Yes,” she said, confidently.

Once Adam was at the shrine, he clapped his hands together and rubbed them. “I don’t need to try today, how fortunate!” He grinned wide.

Mana: 3 -> 2

Enchanting

D20 + 6 = 21 (15)

Omen: 6, 20 -> 6

20 + 6 = 26

Adam went through the motions of enchanting, expending his mana into the item as the gems burst into dust and flowed towards the axe head.

He pulled on the Thread of Fate, taking away the fortune of an assassin, who crept up towards the noblewoman, only to find a blade pierce through their heart. The blade, translucent white, pulled away from the assassin’s heart. The noblewoman stared at the assassin as they dropped.

The entire process went by in the blink of an eye, and he could feel how drained his mind felt. Still, it was a productive day, and the feeling of accomplishment filled his soul. He wasn’t sure what kind of enchantment he wanted on the axe, so he decided to leave it to Fate.

He returned in the evening, when the Iyrmen were joining together for dinner. Jurot was with his friends, as always, and Sonarot rocked in her chair with little Lanarot in her arms.

“How is she?” Adam asked, walking over to Sonarot, staring down at the tiny baby. She was much bigger than before, but he recalled that children usually did grow fairly large in the first week after birth.

“Well,” Sonarot said. “Do you want to hold her?” Sonarot offered.

Adam stared down at the girl. “I can’t,” Adam said.

“You can’t?”

“I’m too strong.” Adam flexed his muscles. “I might accidentally hurt her.”

“You’re just a feeble mage,” Sonarot said, standing and offering the girl to him.

Adam chuckled and took the baby carefully. ‘Light,’ he thought, a hand holding the back of her head.

“She’s so small, isn’t she?” Sonarot said, noting how cautiously he was holding her baby.

“Very.”

“One day she will be as big as you or I,” she said. “Hopefully as big as you.”

“I want her to stay small and cute forever,” Adam said, noting how Lanarot’s eyes would barely open as she yawned.

“She should be big and strong so she can fight.”

“Stay small, Lanarot,” Adam said. “Jurot and I will fight for you, alright? Jurot wants to be a Gold Rank adventurer, so he’ll be really strong. Now, he’s going to be so strong, they’ll make a new tier for him.”

“A new tier?” Sonarot asked, smiling at him.

“Diamond Rank,” Adam joked.

Once he had finished eating dinner, Adam checked his recipe book, which he was adding to nightly. He was trying to remember all the food he enjoyed, and how to make them.

‘Maybe the Iyr will accept me as a chef?’ Adam thought. He stared down at the last recipe before crossing it out. He doubted the Iyr would accept him if he brought up beans on toast. ‘Fish and chips?’

Omen: 1, 14

“Are you feeling lucky today?” Sonarot asked, preparing for breakfast. She had started to sleep in a small cabin some ways away, where Lanarot could cry in peace, but always returned in the morning. The other families in the estate also assisted her, swapping out so she could sleep in peace for most of the week.

“A little,” Adam replied. He thought about the minimum roll he wanted, and considering the bonus the shrine gave, he figured it should be enough. “Lucky enough that I can enchant today.”

He spent some time with Turot, who played with the other Iyrmen, hide and side, before they practised throwing a ball at a target to see who get the most points. Adam didn’t bother competing against them, but did join in on the fun.

“I thought you’d be better,” a little girl said to him. She was Kitool’s younger sister, and she stared up at him smugly.

‘So, you have chosen death,’ Adam thought, before winding up his arm.

Spell: Guidance

1D3 = 1 (1)

Athletics Check

D20 + 4 + 1 = 10 (5)

Adam managed to hit the target, but only the edge. He stared at the target for a long while before his face turned entirely red. ‘How embarrassing.’

He remained alone when he bathed, letting the water wash over him, cooling his embarrassment. The other Iyrmen noted how sullen he was.

“He must be feeling unlucky,” Jurot said. “We should leave him be.”

The other Iyrmen nodded their heads, not knowing the tale of the morning’s games.

Sonarot had finished making the meat and vegetable soup, pouring it for each of them. There was also some bread, as there always was, and some cheese.

“I heard you had a lot of fun with the children this morning,” Sonarot said. “Katool was especially happy.”

Adam’s face soured. “It’s hard being an adult,” he mumbled.

Sonarot tilted her head in confusion, and the other Iyrmen gave him a side glance.

Today he was escorted by another Iyrman, but he wasn’t in the mood for small talk.

“You understand me, don’t you?” Adam said to the axe, rubbing along the handle and then the head. “I would have used Omen, but…” He placed the axe down and sat on the stool, sighing out his worries before he began enchanting.

Mana: 3 -> 2

Enchanting

D20 + 6 = 18 (12)

Omen: 1, 14 -> 1

14 + 6 = 20

Once again he pulled the Thread of Fate, causing a bard’s lute to snap during his performance, causing all the people to jeer. He quickly scooped up his hat, full of copper coins, and slipped away, sighing.

Once he was done with the enchanting, he rubbed along the axe’s head. Adam could feel the magic already form within the axe, which was warm to the touch. “Fire?” Adam wondered, staring down at the axe head. He brushed the handle tenderly, before carrying it back to the Rot family.

He continued to add to his recipe book that night, adding in fish fingers, which he wasn’t exactly sure how to make. ‘Fish, cut up in rectangles, breaded… right?’

Omen: 8, 11

Sonarot threw him a glance, wondering how lucky he was that morning. Adam paused for a long moment, trying to use maths to figure out the average quality of the weapon if he used the 11. Adam smiled, nodding his head.

This morning he was prepared to face against Katool and the other other children.

“Bring it,” he said.

Spell: Guidance

1D3 = 3 (3)

Athletics Check

D20 + 4 + 3 = 18 (11)

This time he ran laps around them during catch the Iyrman, and when it came time to toss the balls at the target, he hit the centre more times than not.

He stared down at the children, who had been unable to keep up. Katool stared up at him, seeing the wicked grin on his face.

‘M-monster,’ the child thought.

“You’re in a good mood,” Amokan said, sitting down beside Adam as he bathed.

“Yes,” Adam said, recalling the beating he had given the children. “In the best mood.”

“Are you feeling lucky?” Amokan asked.

“Quite.”

“How powerful is your magic?” Amokan asked.

“I’m just at the First Gate,” Adam said. “I should be close to Second Gate spells soon, but I’m not sure.”

Amokan slowly nodded his head, unsure if he should believe the half elf. He was strong, physically, could he truly be so close to Second Gate spells at his age? If he was, then he’d be far more powerful than Amokan and the other Iyrmen had assumed.

Adam clapped his hands together once he was at the shrine, and he grabbed onto the axe handle. “Come on! Big money! Big money!” he shouted, eagerly, causing the Iyrman assigned to keep an eye on him to peek in to see what he was doing.

Mana: 3 -> 2

Enchanting

D20 + 6 = 20 (14)

[Would you like to spend XP to empower the weapon?]

‘Oh, this time you’re asking me?’

[Yes.]

‘Right, well, let’s spend…’ Just how amazing did he want this weapon? He didn’t want it to be the best weapon he had made to date, he wanted Little Paw to be amazing in its own right still. ‘100?’

Battleaxe

Requires Attunement

You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this weapon.

Deals 1D6 + 1D3 slashing + 1D3 fire damage.

You gain the ability to cast Flame Bolt.

[Would you like to name the weapon?]

‘Whoa, that’s a cool weapon.’

Cool Weapon (Battleaxe)

Requires Attunement

You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this weapon.

Deals 1D6 + 1D3 slashing + 1D3 fire damage.

You gain the ability to cast Flame Bolt.

‘Wait, no, that’s not what I meant.’

XP: 1910 -> 2150

He stared at the battleaxe, annoyed.

‘Damn it, Bell!’