Omen: 1, 10

Adam brushed his teeth after breakfast too, since he was going to be meeting a Noble today, and one which wasn’t from Red Oak, so he needed to be on his best behaviour.

‘I can’t just start fights with every Noble out there, no matter how much they deserve to be knocked down a peg or two.’

He slipped himself into his thick clothing, donning the breastplate, which was quickly becoming his typical attire. It was quick to don just his breastplate, and provided him with ample protection, without the stuffiness of his entire plate mail.

It was today that he was going to meet Sir Landon, which posed a new problem for Adam.

‘What am I going to do with Sky?’

He decided to think about it another time as he approached the room which had been prepared for Fate’s Golden and the Noble.

“Morning,” Adam said, nodding his head to the rest of his group. “Sir Vonda, a pleasure to see you.”

“And you, Adam,” she replied.

Adam sat opposite her, beside Jurot. He reached out for some fruit which had been placed between them. “So, where’s this Noble fella then?”

“He will arrive when he means to,” Jurot said.

“They say Nobles are never early or late, but arrive precisely when they mean to,” Sir Vonda joked.

“What is he, a Wizard?” Adam coughed, unable to contain his laughter as he slapped his knee. “I can’t believe I heard that phrase.”

Jurot looked to Adam.

“I’ll explain it another time,” Adam said, shaking his head and sighing. His smile slowly faded as he bit into the sweet fruit, looking out to the corner of the room, losing himself in reminiscing his past.

It hadn’t taken long for the Noble to arrive. He was younger than Adam expected, just a little older than himself. He had black hair and blue eyes, but his most prominent feature was the large gasp across his face, which had caused part of his cheek and jaw to droop from the way it had healed. He wore a breastplate, and held a blade at his side, one which was no doubt magical, even if it was only a small bonus.

“Sir Vonda,” Sir Landon called. “It has been some time.”

“It has, Sir Landon,” she replied, exchanging a bow of her head.

“This must be Fate’s Golden,” he said, looking to the Half Elf, the savage, and the horned bitch.

“Sir Landon,” Adam called. “Adam, son of Fate.”

“The Elf,” he said.

“Half,” Adam corrected, noting the sharp glares of the Knights behind the Noble. The pair of them wore full plate, and wielded at their sides weapons, which also were no doubt magical.

“Yes, Paul informed me that-“

“Vice Master Paul,” Adam corrected. ‘Oh, damn it.’

“Yes,” Sir Landon said, his eyes narrowing slightly, “Vice Master Paul mentioned you were capable folk.”

“Allow me to introduce you,” Adam said. “This is Jurot, son of Surot, and this is Lucy, a friend of ours.”

“An Iyrman and a Devilkin, who doesn’t appear to be an Iyrman, meaning you are most likely an Aswadian,” Sir Landon said. “Aren’t our people at war?”

“Most likely from Aswadeen, or whatever it’s called, but there’s a chance I’m not, right?” Lucy said. “I’m actually from somewhere else, but that’s not important.”

“A two horn with unknown origins,” a Knight said. “Who is to say that you aren’t here to assassinate my Lord?”

Adam looked to Jurot. “You know, I woke up today thinking I didn’t want to start any bother with the Nobles. They’re not making it easy, let me tell you that.” Adam shook his head as he reached for another fruit.

“As if I’d waste my time trying to assassinate some, what, fourth son? Fifth son? What’s the point in that?” Lucy asked. “I’m here to make money and fight a bunch of monsters. I didn’t want to baby sit, that’s your jo-“

“Anyway,” Adam interrupted. “I hear you want to kill some Elder Wolves. You’ve come to the right place. We slew one the other day, the other two ran away, but we got the other White Wolves. Plus, we managed to defeat a Nightval Bear and an Awakened Wolf back to back.” Adam bit into the fruit, half grinning at the Noble as he ate.

‘What a savage,’ Sir Landon thought, but he kept his face stone cold. “It was your group which defeated the Awakened Wolf?”

“Well,” Adam said. “Actually, I beat it in one on one combat after facing the Nightval Bear. My responsibility as the leader of this humble group.”

Sir Landon narrowed his eyes. “I heard there were six of you against the Nightval Bear. Not quite as impressive.”

“Half of them were Porters,” Adam corrected. “I’m happy to include them in too, though two of them nearly died to the Nightval Bear, and the other one, well, he wasn’t so bad.”

“So you faced the Awakened Wolf alone?” Sir Landon asked.

“That’s what I said,” Adam replied, nodding his head. “The Wolf caused up quite a stir.”

“You may boast as you please, but lying to a Noble is a problem,” the Knight from before said.

“Seems like your Knights don’t trust me,” Adam said.

“You have been an Adventurer for how long?” the Knight asked.

“Nine and a half months,” Adam said.

“Bronze Rank?”

“Four stamps to my name thus far,” Adam said.

“Ridiculous,” the Knight said. “Is the Adventurer’s Guild so desperate for prestige these days that they’d need to coddle an Elf?”

“You should wash your ears,” Adam said. “I already said I was a Half Elf. Since you don’t seem to like me, and you seem to not trust my boasting, why don’t you put some gold where your mouth is and we can settle this like men.”

“You wish to challenge me?” the Knight glared down at the Half Elf who dared to try and challenge him, a Knight of a great house like Sir Landon’s?

“No,” Adam said, bringing the fruit to his lips. “I want to take your gold.”

Lucy let out a soft whimper, suppressing her laugh, though her face did not hide how much she wanted to laugh.

“Do you not have enough gold already?” Jurot asked.

Lucy slapped her cheeks to stop herself from laughing to the one-two combo of the brothers.

“I don’t want you two fighting on the road,” Sir Landon said, noting how tense his Knight had become. “Vice Master Paul,” Sir Landon called, as the Vice Master entered with some tea. “Could you oversee the battle?”

“Of course,” Vice Master Paul said.

“There will be one fight, and the pair of you will no longer bother with it,” Sir Landon stated, firmly.

“Understood, Sir,” Adam said, bowing his head.

They made their way around back, with Adam stretching out his arms as he walked, before stretching his back and his thighs once they were at the field.

“You will fight without your plate mail?” Jurot asked.

Adam nodded. “I should be okay,” Adam replied. “After fighting Iyrmen, I’m not really that afraid of normal people.”

Jurot nodded his head. “Will you tell me the story?”

“One day,” Adam said, realising he hadn’t told Jurot the full story yet. ‘You’d probably say I’m bullying this Knight if you knew.’

The Knight remained standing opposite Adam, waiting for him to finish whatever it was he was doing.

“Right, so how much should we bet? A hundred gold?” Adam offered.

“As you wish,” the Knight replied.

“Not going to say something like how I can’t have a hundred gold?” Adam asked, grabbing his die, donning his shield, and hoisting up his axe.

“I am not going to beat you down for the money, but to put a dog in his place,” the Knight stated, simply.

“I know the feeling,” Adam said, “but taking a hundred gold from a Knight is just too alluring for me.” Adam raised his axe. “Vice Master Paul, please write down the terms of the duel. I’d like for it to be signed, that way there will be no complaints or slipperiness from the Knight.”

“You would dare to suggest that-“

“Yeah,” Adam said. “I would dare to suggest that you have no manners and that you are just a troublemaker.”

“Adam,” Paul called. “He is still a Knight.”

“If he can’t handle the banter, he shouldn’t start it,” Adam said, simply. “However, since you did me a solid, Vice Master, I’ll be a good little Half Elf boy and leave him with his limps intact once I’m done with him.”

Paul rubbed his forehead. “I want you to promise you’ll be good during the quest too.”

“Alright,” Adam said. “You’ve treated me well thus far, so I’ll be sure to repay the favour by not being a brat.”

“I’ll get that in writing before you go,” Paul said.

“You don’t trust me?” Adam asked, shocked.

“I will be sure he keeps his promise,” Jurot said. “He has promised it as a Nephew of the Rot family.”

“Alright, since you’re going so far, Jurot,” Paul said, relenting.

‘Why are they ignoring me?’ the Knight asked, clenching his fists together.

The terms of the duel were in place. Fighting until the surrender or unconsciousness of the opponent between the Knight and Adam. Also, if there is a death, it will be ruled as an unlawful killing.

“An unlawful killing?” Adam asked. “Will a Knight be harmed by that?”

“Yes,” Paul said.

“What about me?”

“It will be worse for you since you’re a, you know,” Paul said.

“Adventurer Half Elf?”

“Yes,” Paul said.

“Of course,” Adam said.

The contract was signed, and Paul slipped it into his cloak, where it would remain safe so that neither could shirk their responsibilities.

“Hey, Paul. I can use my Smites, right?” Adam whispered into the ear of the Vice Master, who nodded.

Sir Landon watched intently. If something were to happen that was the Adventurer’s fault, he’d be able to put pressure on Paul. If the rulings were too even, he could also bring it up as Paul’s favour for the Adventurer, something which would be unbecoming of the Vice Master whilst he took the impartial role of a referee. The whispering between the pair only added to the evidence the Noble was gathering.

“You should have known your place,” the Knight said, drawing his blade angrily, which held a low glow of magic.

“I’ve already taught Sky his place,” Adam said. “I suppose I can teach you yours.”