Chương 1525: [1434] – Y06.334 – Troublesome Children IX

'I can't believe I'm letting her work hard like this…' Adam remained tense, and for once, he kept his face neutral so others could not read his face.

'I might be a little handsome, a little strong, a little rich, but… to make my wife work hard for me when she's already got her own responsibilities as a Ray? Once I get the spell to create multiple of me, I'll retire and spoil you too.' The half elf winced, his thoughts continuing. He worked hard, that much was certain, but he needed to work harder, and yet he was falling into the trap of abandoning his wife and children behind. He had a life that was among the most privileged, he was in the top one percent.

He was strong, he was rich, but even so, he kept leaving. It wasn't that he wanted to, he needed to. Didn't he?

'If I don't grow stronger, they'll just mess with my family,' the half elf thought, glaring at the world in front of him. He winced once more, at the thought of that thing, It, appearing once more in this world. He reached up towards his pulsing brow, which hammered sense into the half elf, but only served to confuse him greater. What was the balance between growing stronger and not growing too strong? He was already ridiculously strong, wasn't he? Weren't there those even stronger? He could just…

Adam killed the thought immediately, for though he was a fool, he was a fool for his family, to become a fool and a risk to his family, that was something he couldn't allow, not in that way. Vonda squeezed her husband's hand, distracting him for a moment, leaning in to rub her cheek against his, her breath tickling his jaw, completing shifting the half elf's focus, who felt her warmth, smelled her floral scent, and straightened up, standing taller.

"Mummy!" Virot called, darting over to her mother and father, her tiny fists balled up as though ready to fight, and as she stood before her mother, her head darted from side to side to find her father, who had made the wise decision to step away from the girl's wrath.

"Virot," Vonda called, lifting her daughter up, who instantly leaned in and pecked her mother's cheek, cackling as though she had committed the most wicked evil, squirming wildly within her mother's arms.

'You are certainly your sister's sister.' Adam approached Freddie, who was currently talking to his uncle, the newcomer Rowan, but as he saw Adam, he stopped.

"Freddie, how are you doing?"

"Doing well, I am," Freddie replied, doing his best to keep his accent neutral, though he could not help speakin' like a porter from Red Oak.

"What of you, Executive?"

"Same ol', same ol'," the half elf replied, his chest heaving with a heavy breath.

"Just wanted to check up on you, since it's been a little while since you've joined us, and we've been so busy, we haven't trained you into an Expert yet."

"It's not so easy, becomin' an Expert, becoming one'll, I mean, it will take a long time," Freddie replied, doing his best to remember his lessons.

"Ah, well, once we plan on an escapade out in the world, we'll train you right, we'll make sure you become an Expert fairly quickly, you and everyone else," Adam said, reaching up to pat his strong shoulder, since Freddie was talented enough to be considered average, for an Iyrman. He was seventeen, or so, and had been with them for almost two years now, more than enough time for the half elf to take him out to become an Expert.

Adam smiled, the kind of smile that was rather awkward, and he left the young man be to speak with his uncle, ruminating on his dark thoughts. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

"It's been a while since you've been here, eh, Freddie?" Rowan mused.

"A little while," Freddie confirmed, rolling his shoulder lightly, feeling the ghost of Adam's touch against it, the reassuring squeeze easing his worries.

"How long does it take to become an Expert anyhows?"

"A lifetime, I hear," Freddie replied.

"In here? I heard the Executives all became Experts in a year?"

"A year?"

"That's what I heard."

"I doubt it."

"Might have been two."

"I still doubt that."

"I don't know, Ray Vonda became an Expert in a couple of years too, I hear."

"Ray… Vonda? The Executive's wife?"

"Manager Vonda, Ray Vonda of Life's Rose," Freddie confirmed.

"Aye, but she's a Ray, you know?"

"Aye, but Executive Adam's the kind to kill a Grand Commander."

"Aye, so I heard."

"I saw it," Freddie said.

"You saw it?"

"I saw it," Freddie confirmed.

"He came here, on his massive warhorse, magical steed it was, and so many others. I heard their names, you'd know of 'em too. Hammer Head, Wraith Blade, they were the great warriors who'd come. Executive Adam, he killed the Grand Commander, and I saw no issue with the duel."

"Could you even tell?"

"The Grand Commander would, all those who came with him would, and after the Executive killed the Grand Commander, the Iyrmen and the knights fought. There was blood, so much blood, but death only came to the knights, not the Iyrmen." Rowan had heard many a tall tale before, for that was life, to live and to exaggerate, to say you reached for the stars when you had taken but a step, but why would Freddie lie? Why would they all lie? Were they in a cult?

There was so much he didn't understand, but he supposed he needed to remain to see it. Adam's eyes fell scanned across the others, Aria who was currently in the middle of training, at least as strong as Freddie, perhaps stronger, while her eyes held a sharpness. From what Jurot had said, she would make a great Fighter, but one with the Intelligence and Charisma to lead on the battlefield. Theo, who was older, but his talent was amazing.

He was almost forty, and should he have been a decade younger, they could have worked him into a monster. He was currently looking up towards the sky in thought. Thomas, thankfully, was a little over thirty, so he had at least a decade of good fighting before his back would begin to ache. His talent was among the greatest, Jurot had said he matched his own talent, meaning he would be quite a terrifying Rage Dancer, and considering he was being trained as such, there was little to worry about for his future.

Thomas, who was currently snoozing away in the corner, since he trained hard when there was such little to do. Alfie was currently checking out how dragonchess worked along with some of the children, Konarot watching from afar. The half elf resisted scooping his daughter up to pepper her in kisses, allowing the girl to work up her courage, if she so wished, since she was his Konababy.

Alfie was fairly talented too, the last of the talented ones who were of age, while Arlo and William would become Fighters, though without outworking the others at least twice as hard, they would probably remain fairly typical guards. Although, Adam would still train them to become an Expert, for a very talented Level 1 Fighter would still find themselves under the least talented Level 5 Fighter's boot. Then there was Gilbert.

Adam approached Gilbert, who possessed little talent, his strength barely acceptable to become a Fighter. Gilbert's eyes darted to the side immediately to see the half elf, sitting up taller.

"Executive," Gilbert greeted.

"Gilbert, how are you doing?" Adam asked.

"Good." Adam smiled, nodding his head.

"You must be glad."

"I'm always full of joy," Gilbert replied.

"Kal Lani is the Sword of the Lady," Adam began.

"There's another fellow who will be joining us soon, John. Elif, she's a random common girl we picked up, but John, he's almost as talented as me, when it comes to natural ability, so he'll be earning quite a title, he'll probably become a Paragon, and you?

You'll be training alongside him, you'll be training alongside the Sword of the Lady of Black Mountain, and you'll become an Expert, a Master if you wish, a Grandmaster if you work even harder, and a Paragon, if you want to suffer all throughout your life for the title."

'…'

"The Reavers are pretty tough, so it's an awkward time to train, though…" Adam thought about how much XP he could farm while fighting the Reavers. The only issue was, he would need to take so many people to defend those he was training, which required the XP to split even further.

"How strong are the Reavers?"

"Nobby couldn't defeat one," Adam replied simply, though with something even deeper within his voice.

'Nobby?' Gilbert thought. As far as he knew, Nobby was strong. Strong as an ox, no, stronger, for he was as strong as even the likes of Nirot and the other Iyrmen. If he couldn't defeat one…