Chương 267: 252. Adam's A Man

Omen: 11, 12"Man," Adam said, looking out to the white which blanketed the Iyr.

"It's so beautiful." Adam sat atop the wall, so he could overlook the Iyr he was familiar with. He noted the domed building.

'Damn. I forgot about it.'

"Yes," Jurot agreed. There were a large number of Iyrmen who milled about, drinking and eating as the snow fell across their world. The children were all enjoying their time with the snow, dressed in thick furs, which made it difficult to pick up the snow to toss towards the others.

"You're one lucky guy, Jurot," Adam said, sipping some of the wine which had been offered to him. It was different than the others, but he continued to sip from the small cup.

"Yes."

"You get to see this every year," Adam said, with no small envy.

"What a sight." Jurot smiled.

"It's romantic, isn't it?"

"Yes." Once their allotted time atop the walls was finished, Jurot and Adam returned back for breakfast. Jurot had decided to take Adam to sit on the wall since he had been feeling down, and so skipped training that morning. Lanarot was dressed in her White Wolf fur cloak, a small flat hat atop her head. Her little face was slightly paler than usual, but her nose was red. Her mouth was covered in all kinds of different colours, from the various fruit juices she had managed to squirt across her lips.

"What's with you and making a mess of yourself?" Adam asked.

"You'll stain that pretty little cloak of yours." Lanarot looked up at him. She smiled, letting out a small noise of joy, before biting into another fruit, dripping red juice all over herself.

"Are you doing this on purpose?" Adam asked. Lanarot smiled up at him, and Adam, for a moment, believed she could truly understand him. Spell: Tricks"Jaygak," called a familiar voice.

"I didn't do anything," Jaygak said, certain he hadn't caught on so soon.

"Kitool, Jurot," Elder Zijin added.

"You have all been chosen for Twilight Month." Jurot's nostrils flared with excitement, and Jaygak looked to her father, her brows raised in delight. Kitool bowed her head in acknowledgement.

"What's this all about?" Adam asked.

"It is for us to assist during the Twilight Month," Jurot said, unable to hold the excitement of his voice.

"We have been chosen to fight."

"Need any help?" Adam asked.

"Since I'm a Nephew of the Rot family, I should do some work too. When it comes to fighting, I'm pretty good, even if I do say so myself."

"No," Zijin said.

"Only one from each family is chosen, and they must at least be acknowledged as Experts."

"Are Jaygak and Kitool finally Experts?" Adam asked.

"Close enough that we'll become Experts during the fights," Jaygak said.

"I'll be able to have fun while you sit here and drink wine and eat delicious…" Jaygak paused.

'Wait. That doesn't sound bad at all.'

"What are you fighting?" Adam asked. Jaygak smirked. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Oh, it's one of those," Adam said, rolling his eyes.

"Fine, fine. We all have our secrets, even if I am a little loose with my own."

"Loose?" Zijin asked.

"I still do not know much about you, Adam, even as your Elder."

"I'm sure you've pieced a number of things together."

"Some things," Zijin admitted, before nodding his head and leaving.

"Only one from each family can go, but you will fight in our place one day," Jurot assured. Adam picked up some snow and flicked it at Lanarot's face, hitting her across the cheek, causing her to twitch and look up at him.

"What did I say about making a mess?" Spell: Tricks Lanarot clapped her hands and squealed happily.

"It's treason, then," Adam said, staring down at her with narrowed eyes.

"Are you going to enchant today?" Jurot asked.

"Yeah," Adam replied.

"I am lucky enough that I can continue enchanting. I really do need another hobby though, something which doesn't make me feel like dying when I do it too much."

"You could learn an instrument," Jurot offered.

"Jurot," Adam said, patting the Iyrman's back.

"I'm meant to be the smart one."

"It is wisdom, rather than intelligence," Jurot said.

"Ah," Adam said.

"That's fair. I'm not very wise at all."

"You are not?"

"No," Adam said. Jurot wasn't sure if he should disagree.

"Which instrument do you wish to learn?"

"Lute's a classic," Adam said, thinking about the medieval guitar.

"Kinda awkward to run around the world with a lute though, and I'm no Bard."

"With the harem you're growing?" Jaygak asked.

"Uncle Jogak, you can ask me any time," Adam said, nodding his head at the Devilkin Iyrman. Jogak ignored both being called Uncle, but also the offer to discipline his daughter.

'I shall keep it in mind.'

"If I become a Bard, I'll be forced to seduce all the beautiful creatures," Adam said, groaning.

"Do you know how difficult it is to have one beautiful woman? I gotta deal with multiple? Plus, they'll all be ridiculously powerful?" Adam shook his head.

"I said I wasn't wise, but I'm not that unwise."

"You have thought deeply about the topic?" Jurot asked. Adam placed a hand on Jurot's shoulder.

"Jurot." He pat Jurot's shoulder.

"I'm a man, after all." Jurot raised his brow.

"There are many within the Iyr who have multiple spouses."

"Yeah, but you guys are also crazy," Adam said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I'm no Iyrman."

"Crazy?" Mirot asked.

"Yeah," Adam replied.

"You're a people who have managed to isolate yourselves in the world, with walls which are near impenetrable, you've kept a near identical culture for, I don't know how many years, somehow sharing a large number of resources between your own people, and are willing to spend so many hundreds, if not thousands, of gold keeping your children alive."

"Yes?" Mirot replied, simply, unsure about his point. Adam shook his head.

"I come from a place which-" Adam quickly stopped.

"I mean, I…" Adam realised quickly he shouldn't finish his statement.

'I really am wise.'

"What I mean to say is, there's probably no place like the Iyr. It's a place which only exists because everyone in it is crazy." Mirot narrowed her eyes.

"He does not mean crazy in a bad way," Jurot said.

"That is how Adam speaks." Adam nodded his head.

"This is a good kind of crazy. I'm a different kind of crazy. I'm the kind of guy to constantly aggravate probably the most terrifying place in this world. Plus…" Adam reached down to pick Lanarot up.

"I've got to be crazy if I think about leaving you all alone without your big brother." He rubbed his cheek against hers, and kissed her cheeks repeatedly. Lanarot giggled and clapped her hands, before Adam held her out to Jurot. Jurot took her in his arms, causing the girl to look up at him. She spent a while just staring at him.

"Though, I'm not crazy enough not to let Jurot shower her in affection either." Adam stared at Jurot expectantly. Jurot wrapped an arm around her waist and leaned down to kiss her forehead.

"Me too!" Turot said.

"Turot!" Mirot snapped at her son.

"Yes, mother?" Turot said, looking up at her. Mirot stared at her son. She realised she had tried to stop him from kissing his cousin, which wasn't wrong at all.

"Be gentle."

"Yes, mother." Turot held onto Jurot's arms to brace himself before kissing the girl's forehead. Adam stared at Mirot, unable to contain the smirk on his face, his eyes accusatory. Mirot ignored him.

"You are in a good mood today," the Iyrman who had been assigned to him said. He had heard that something was up with Adam yesterday, but it seemed he had managed to overcome it.

"Yeah," Adam said.

"I realise I'm very fortunate." The Iyrman nodded his head. Mana: 18 -> 17 Enchanting Check D20 + 7 = 15 (8) Omen: 11, 12 -> 11 12 + 7 = 19 The fire flickered as the late evening chill encompassed his body. He stared at the fire, wondering what he should do, basking in the warmth.

"Oof," he said, standing up, casually walking towards a tree, beginning to pull down his trousers to make the snow yellow. Lightning struck, and once it did, he darted towards where it landed, finding a young woman dressed all in white, who landed softly on the snow.

"You'll be fun," he said, forming a fist.

"I love killing sneaky little rats." Adam didn't need to think too deeply about his enchanting, spending the Mana required and allowing Fate to do as she pleased.

"Can you really enchant a weapon in three days?" the Iyrman asked.

"Sometimes," Adam said.

"Depends on how lucky I feel."

'What a crazy existence. Could he be a…' The Iyrman decided to stop thinking.

'I should know what I should know.' Adam eventually returned home, finding a pan flute waiting for him.

"Thanks," Adam said, nodding his head to Jurot. Jurot nodded his head in return.