Omen: 10, 15

“So,” Adam called, glancing to the rest of his party members, “what do we do?”

“There are many requests which are appropriate for us,” Jurot said, getting up to check the quests at the wall.

“Anything hugely dangerous in Cherry Wood?” Adam asked, looking to the left side of the quest board, which represented the much nicer Cherry Wood, as opposed to the more dangerous Red Wood. “We could train Brittany and Nobby inside it.”

“It would take some time to train them if there are so many of us,” Jurot replied.

“That’s fine by me. Slow and steady, remember?” Adam pat Jurot’s back, feeling a solid wall of muscle. ‘God. Damn.’ “We need to do everything safely until they become Experts.”

“We should travel through the land,” Jurot said. “Noonval’s heat will bother us, but it will not affect us much.”

“Right… the heat…” Adam groaned quietly, wincing at the thought of how hot it would become soon. ‘I should take the Rage Dancer’s ability that increases my Defence without wearing armour.’

Vonda walked over towards the quest wall. “If I can voice my concerns, I hope that we do not kill.”

Adam peeked down towards her. ‘Right. She’s a Priest of Life.’ “That’s going to be a little awkward. Unless…”

“We form two groups?” Vonda asked.

“Will you return back to your Order with the artefact?” Adam asked.

“No.” Vonda shook her head slowly. “The Adventurer’s Guild will return the artefact back. It would be dangerous for me to take it with me.” Vonda wasn’t naive about the world. Even though this was an artefact of Mother Soza, there were plenty of people who would try to possess the artefact.

“You trust them that much?”

“Yes.”

“What if they don’t?” Adam asked, lowering his voice to a near whisper.

“If they lose the artefact,” Vonda began, trying to give Adam the benefit of the doubt, “it shall be a serious matter, one not even the Guild can ignore. They will place the artefact in good hands, I’m certain. I assume they will place the artefact in the hands of Iyrmen, to be escorted to the Order safely.”

“Ah.” Adam nodded, smiling down at her. “Then it’s in good hands.”

“Two groups?” Jurot asked.

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

“I’ll be in the killing party,” Lucy said. She wasn’t going to let go of all the fun she wanted to have.

“Adam, Sir Vonda, Kitool, and I should form a party,” Jurot said.

Adam glanced at the remaining group. Jaygak, Brittany, Jonn, Nobby, Dunes, Lucy, and Fred. “Yeah, that sounds about right.” It would be a large second group, but that was best in order to make sure Brittany and Nobby would be safe.

“Here,” Adam said, handing Vonda and Dunes a diamond each. “Keep Revivify on you at all times, please.”

“You want us to take such a precious gem?” Vonda asked, awkwardly.

“Yes,” Adam replied, simply.

“We can’t,” Dunes said.

Adam pulled his head back slightly, looking down at Dunes. The Half Elf’s eyes were cold as he stared down at the War Priest.

What the hell do you mean you won’t take my diamonds? You want us to die? Who the hell is going to look after my adorable sister if you don’t save my life, you absolute muppet? You damn eejit.

Dunes understood what Adam’s eyes were trying to say, and he took the diamond from Adam. “Thank you.”

Adam turned to face Vonda, and his eyes remained cold.

Aren’t you meant to be a Priest of Life? Are you really going to let me die? Will you bring my body back to my adorable little sister and tell her you let me die, Priest of Life? Order of White’s, I mean, Life’s Rose?

Vonda sighed, bowing her head, before accepting the gem. “Thank you, Adam.”

Dunes glanced between the pair of them. ‘Did he change the look for Vonda? Didn’t we know each other first, Adam?’

“Noonval is going to be so damn hot,” Adam grumbled, dropping down beside the others.

“The hide of a nightval bear can be made into a leather top to cool oneself,” Kitool offered.

“Really?” Adam asked, his eyes snapping to Kitool. “Damn. Did we have some? Do we have any left?” Adam tried to recall what happened to it. “How much is it?”

“During noonval it will be more expensive,” Kitool said.

“I really, really don’t like the heat,” Adam complained. “You two don’t wear armour, and Jaygak is… she’s Jaygak, so she doesn’t have the wits to know what pain is.”

Jaygak narrowed her eyes. “Can’t you use your magic?”

“Yeah, but it’s annoying to cast spells all the time, especially if we’re trying to be sneaky. What happens if I give up our position because I’m casting a spell, or because I’m too uncomfortable due to the heat?”

Jurot closed his eyes, remembering something important about Adam. ‘You are not an Iyrman.’

“You could spend your cool gold to buy some cool leather tunic made of cool nightval bear,” Jaygak teased, smirking down at the Half Elf. “Since just a little sun bothers you that much.”

Adam squinted at Jaygak. ‘Toosh.’

“There are many quests on offer,” Vonda said, bringing a copy of them from the desk. “There are escort quests, and though there may be some killing involved, I can at least leave the creatures unharmed. There are some quests about culling the population of various creatures, or to wound creatures to force them away from the wrong area.”

“I’ll leave it to you guys to figure it out,” Adam said, sighing. ‘I should go and order it today.’

Adam donned his breastplate, and he wore his dagger at his side, keeping Wizard’s Axe as a ring on his finger, just in case. With just his breastplate, he had a decent Defence, though it was slightly uncomfortable since he didn’t have any thick clothing under it.

‘I should take someone with me,’ Adam thought. He was still a Half Elf in South Aldland, and the people were still reeling from the Massacre at Rock Hill which had happened some years ago. “Jurot, mind coming with me to buy this nightval bear stuff?”

Jurot nodded, following him up. He wore his Iyrman furs, very different to what Iyrmen wore within the Iyr. At his side was Phantom, Adam’s greatest creation to date, and not much else. What else did an Iyrman need?

Adam walked around the market, trying to find someone who sold nightval bear hides, one which he could fashion into a top to wear. Even if it only made him slightly cooler, it would be worth the money.

“Adam, the tannery may sell the leather,” Jurot offered, motioning his head to a tannery nearby.

There was a sharp smell in the air as they approached, and as he stepped inside, he saw a young woman currently working on a piece, scraping off the hair from some skin which had been pulled taut. She looked back, past her dark pony tail, noting that the pair were an Iyrman and another adventurer who wore a scarf around his head, both Bronze Rank.

“What can I help you with?” the tanner asked. She was adorned in a short sleeved shirt and a pair of shorts which ended a little beyond her knees.

“Do you have any nightval bear hide?” Adam asked. “I want something to keep me cool during noonval.”

“I sure do,” the woman said. “Do you want me to fashion you a top?”

“Yes,” Adam said.

The woman brought out a long piece of string, which was marked about a finger width wide all across it. “Please, if you don’t mind, take off your armour and shirt.”

Adam did as she asked, slipping out of his armour and his shirt, revealing his lean body. ‘Damn! I forgot how jacked I was.’

The young woman took a moment to admire his body, before she started to measure him using her string. “Nightval bear hide made into a top. That’ll be fifty gold, and it should be completed within a week.” She didn’t mention anything about the fact he kept his scarf on, wondering if he had some kind of gruesome scar around his head, or if, equally as terrible, the young man was bald.

“Perfect,” Adam said, pulling up his shirt, feeling a little awkward under the gaze of the tanner and his brother. ‘I should have brought…’ Adam wondered who he could have brought with him. ‘Vonda?’ His cheeks and ears turned red. ‘No, no, don’t be silly. I should have brought Lanarot, obviously.’

Adam paid the gold, using five gems, before he left, heading back to the Guild. ‘I should have tried on the hide first to see if it really did cool me down. No, no. Kitool was the one to tell me, and Iyrmen don’t lie.’

“Did you guys figure anything out?” Adam asked.

“There is an escort quest for a wealthy merchant who deals with herbs,” Vonda said, looking to Adam with a knowing gaze.

“Sounds like we’ll be paid quite well.”

“We will meet him in the morning.”

“Sounds good.” Adam dropped down, glancing at Kitool and the others. “Oh! Since we’ve formed a second group, I’ll split the party funds in half. That way, in case we’re gone for too long, you aren’t left out to dry.”

Adam had forgotten just how much money was in the party fund. “Uh…” Just nine gems were already worth nearly a thousand gold. ‘Why the hell am I carrying these around willy nilly?’

Kitool looked to Adam. “You can place the money in the Adventurer’s Guild, and can allow those you trust within the party to withdraw from it.”

“Let’s do that,” Adam said, splitting the party fund in half, though placing a little more in the funds he was dolling out, since the other party was bigger. ‘Seriously, I shouldn’t carry so much around!’