‘How can you be this cute, Adam?’ Zijin thought, staring at the pair who were stretching. Zijin had figured out Adam long ago, and he was certain Adam was going to do it.

Jurot and Jaygak had followed the pair to the Elder’s estate, and another Guest had quickly appeared, laying down on the roof nearby with a drink in hand.

Adam donned his helmet, having brought everything for this fight. Fred was Fred, and though he was an Expert, he was no Iyrman. Kitool, as much as she was always quiet and demure, she was also an Iyrman, and the grandniece of that woman who terrified Adam to no end.

‘Does he wish to bully me after feeling bad about bullying Fred?’ Kitool thought. Kitool never would have thought Adam would have asked her for a spar. He was, as far as she knew, honest when he said he was scared of sparring Iyrmen. However, after beating Lord Morkarai, Adam had slowly lost the darkness and fear which had settled in his heart.

She watched as Adam hopped from foot to foot, swinging his arms around like a baboon. The excuse Adam had given was sweet, but…

‘No,’ Kitool realised. ‘It was most definitely the truth.’

Adam wanted to face Kitool not because she seemed to be the weakest, but because she was nice. Even she would not wish to go against Jurot, whose rage would terrify any normal man, his swings threatened to cut the air with each swipe. Then there was Jaygak, who…

Jaygak was Jaygak.

Adam donned his magical shield, wanting to face Kitool at her current strongest, so giving her the justification to use Seekerstaff against him. He would be difficult to strike with his Defence, and though Kitool would do much less damage than someone like Jurot or even Jaygak within a singular blow, there was something else which was utterly terrifying about the Iyrman.

She was one of the few who wouldn’t kill you with a blow, but with the aftermath of the blow.

“Ready?” Adam asked, drawing his mundane axe, feeling the lack of the magical tingle he so craved

“Yes,” Kitool said, holding out her Seekerstaff.

Jaygak realised Adam wasn’t using Phantom. ‘Wait! You aren’t going to use Phantom? Doesn’t that mean I have a chance?’

Jurot could feel her thoughts as they swam towards him, but he kept his mouth shut, letting her think whatever Jaygak thoughts she was having.

Battle Order

D20 + 1 = 2 (1)

Fighting Spirit: 3 -> 2

Attack - Axe

D20 + 6 = 12 (6)

D20 + 6 = 16 (10)

Miss!

Attack - Axe

D20 + 6 = 9 (3)

D20 + 6 = 22 (16)

Hit!

1D6 + 1D3 + 4 = 9 (4)(1)

9 damage!

Kitool was the first to move, stepping forward silently though she moved with hawkish swiftness, spinning her staff around in front of herself, trying to confuse Adam. Adam managed to move his head at the last moment as the staff swooshed past his head. He returned with a swing of his own, though Kitool leapt over the Half Elf, dodging the blow.

The Iyrman pivoted on her foot and struck Adam with her Seekerstaff towards his side, but Adam turned to meet her, and she struck the rim of his breastplate, almost striking true. She brought her staff up to block Adam’s axe, though felt her arms strain from the effort, before she drop kicked Adam, using the momentum to push herself away, readying her staff to block the blows she was expecting.

Adam remained still, waiting for her next move. Kitool paused. The blow she had managed to block had caused her arms to throb for a moment, but it wasn’t as bad as she expected, meaning Adam didn’t use his holy magics, nor did he press himself to chase her.

‘What are you doing, Adam?’ were the thoughts of the four who were watching the spar.

Attack - Axe

D20 + 6 = 12 (6)

Miss!

Attack - Axe

D20 + 6 = 11 (5)

Miss!

Kitool pressed forward again, her staff meeting Adam’s axe as the pair clashed once again. She tried to find a chink within his armour, but the pair were moving in tandem, almost dancing together. She tried to leap up onto his shoulders, but Adam raised his shield, causing her to kick off of it, landing some ways away once more, before the pair raised their weapons to one another once more.

Health: 65 -> 51

Strength Save

D20 + 6 = 15 (9)

Constitution Save

D20 + 5 = 6 (1)

Stunned: 0 -> 1

The pair pressed forward once more, with Adam and Kitool striking one another’s weapons, before Kitool used the momentum of Adam’s deflection to slam her staff down, and lifted herself up using her staff, before bringing her shin down to strike against Adam’s neck, striking true against his neck, threatening to force him away.

Adam managed to stay standing, but felt something seize his entire body, causing him to freeze in place. ‘So that’s what that feels like,’ Adam thought, before Kitool’s staff blurred.

Health: 51 -> 21

Strength Save (Stunned)

Automatic failure.

Constitution Save

D20 + 5 = 25 (20)

Fighting Spirit: 2 -> 1

Health: Health: 21 -> 26

Attack - Axe

D20 + 6 = 19 (13)

D20 + 6 = 26 (20)

Critical hit!

Mana: 18 -> 17

Ability: Divine Smite

2D6 + 2D3 + 4D6 + 4 = 33 (3, 4)(1, 3)(2, 4, 6, 6)

33 damage!

Attack - Axe

D20 + 6 = 7 (1)

D20 + 6 = 18 (12)

Hit!

1D6 + 1D3 + 4 = 12 (6)(2)

12 damage!

Kitool’s Seekerstaff blurred as it struck Adam across the side of his neck, before she struck him once more against the side of his helmet, before she spun, kicking him against his chest with so much force that it dented his armour slightly, and forced him back five metres.

Her ki tried to invade Adam’s body again, but he flexed his muscles, managing to force it out of him, and the feeling returned to his body again, his fingers loosening around his axe.

“You know, Kitool,” Adam began, feeling his vocal chords warming up with each word. “I was wrong. You’re really scary too.”

Kitool leapt forward, spinning Seekerstaff in front of her as Adam inhaled deeply. Adam struck Seekerstaff near the centre, causing the staff to fall still with his great strength, while Kitool’s muscles burned with effort to try and move. She stepped back and brought her staff up to try and defend against Adam’s blow, but the divine magic coursed through her as she fell, and she panted with effort, almost falling unconscious.

Adam sighed, removing his helmet as he gasped for breath. He flexed his muscles, trying to fight away the ki which had invaded him to seize his muscles. He was like a statue which had come to life. ‘Damn, that feels so weird.’

Kitool sat up once she had managed to catch her breath. “Thank you, Adam.”

“No, thank you,” Adam replied. “Though, I wanted to stretch out my muscles, but they’re all cold now.”

Kitool bowed her head apologetically. “I had done all I could to defeat you.”

Adam winced as he twisted his body this way and that. “I thought you would be scary with how you could freeze people in place, and now I realise how that feels. I feel bad for all those monsters you froze in place for us to kill. That was scarier than fighting Lord Morkarai.”

Kitool kept her lips taut, fighting away the smile. It was a great honour to be compared to someone like Lord Morkarai. “Thank you, Adam.”

“I’m not going to spar you and Jurot,” Adam said, making a note of it. “Next time I need to spar an Iyrman, I’ll just bully Jaygak.”

Jaygak smirked. “If you want to fight, let’s fight!” Since Adam wasn’t using Phantom, or another magical weapon, then even she could probably…

Jaygak’s smirk disappeared. ‘If you can beat Kitool without a magical weapon, then…’ Jaygak thought about Kitool’s skill and her own strength. ‘Doesn’t that mean there’s no way to defeat him?’ “Never mind.”

Adam smiled. “You don’t feel comfortable, even with Stormdrake in hand?”

Jaygak thought back to the fight which had just occurred. If Kitool was facing Jurot or herself, then the Iyrman would have struck them at least twice as often. Adam, with his plate mail and his magical shield, was as hard to hit as the toughest of creatures. Even Dragon Turtles would lament when they would come across Adam.

“Elder Zijin, Adam keeps bullying me,” Jaygak grumbled.

“Deservedly so,” Zijin replied, ignoring the feigned shock and sadness on Jaygak’s face.

Jaygak was about to complain when she noted the look on Zijin’s face, before her eyes snapped back to Adam. The Half Elf could feel it, the expectant gazes on his shoulders. He glanced between the Iyrmen, noting Kitool going deep into thought. She was wondering why Zijin would be looking at Adam in such a way.

Adam sighed. “You knew?”

“Of course,” Zijin replied, smirking wide towards the Half Elf.

“Am I really so predictable?”

“Yes.”

Kitool was about to ask when she felt it, the cold shudder at the back of her neck. ‘I need to change the topic.’

“Is it here?” Adam asked.

Zijin smiled, before motioning a hand towards his outdoor desk, which had been covered with books in an awkward manner. He guided Adam towards the books, before moving a few away, revealing the staff which had been hidden within them.

“You’re a funny guy, Elder Zijin,” Adam said, smiling cheekily.

‘No,’ Kitool thought. ‘Of course it was that.’

Adam beamed towards Kitool, the same way her younger sister would.

Tigerstaff (Quarterstaff)

You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this weapon.

Deals 2D6 bludgeoning damage.

Contains 3 charges. Spend 1 charge to make an additional attack. Regains 1D3 charges every dawn.

Kitool felt the magics within the staff. She wanted to ask why he made it for her, but that was a stupid question to ask. She knew the answer, they all did.

“Thank you, Adam.”

Adam smiled wider. “Any time.”

Kitool clutched the staff tighter. She had another question to ask, but decided against asking it, since she knew the answer to the question. He certainly spent his own coin on enchanting this staff, even though he should have spent some portion of the party funds.