Chương 343: 326. Another One

Mana: 18 -> 14 Enchanting Check D20 + 7 = 8 (1) Omen: 18, 18 -> 18 18 + 7 = 25 Adam plucked a Thread of Fate. A screech pierced the air. The flames licked at the dark armour, causing the young man, the heir, to fall. A blade cut into one of the three heads, that of a ruby magpie, and the warrior clad in his dark, well worn armour, couldn't help but feel a sense of deja vu. It was another one. A chimera, formed with three heads. A rage wolf, a red wyvern, and a ruby magpie.

His thoughts had been so preoccupied on the link between this chimera and the last one he had found, that he hadn't noticed his heir was writhing on the ground beside him. The chimera screeched, and lunged down towards the young warrior, as the older man, with a helmet fashioned in the shape of a sparrow's head, tore into it with his blade. Unfortunately for him, the chimera had managed to tear off the young heir's arm. Thus Fate was forever changed.

Mana: 14 -> 6 Enchanting Check D20 + 7 = 17 (10) Omen: 18 -> 0 18 + 7 = 25 Adam plucked a Thread of Fate. She wore dark armour, well worn from years of use. Her helmet was fashioned in the shape of a siskin's head. Her own heir, a young woman, tried to nurse Sparrow's heir.

"Another one?" Sparrow nodded his head. In the moment he was distracted, his heir was gravely wounded. Though there was another who could take his place, his heart was still heavy.

"We should retreat," Siskin said to her companion.

"We should continue," Sparrow said.

"We need to get to the bottom of this or else we'll never catch them."

"He needs to be tended to." Sparrow looked to the young man, who he had groomed for almost two decades to take his place.

"Fine." The true culprit remained, not a day away from their grasp, unbeknownst to them. Thus Fate was forever changed. Intelligence Save D20 + 5 = 23 (18) Adam fought away the mental torture of the magic which tried to invade his mind. He felt as though he had almost failed, to protect his mind from the onslaught.

'I really should take it easy,' Adam thought, rubbing his forehead, massaging the ache away. Omen: 7, 8 As much as Adam wanted to teach Churot, he could feel the ache from the day before pulsing within his mind. Adam sipped the soup which had been made for him, offering some of his bread to Lanarot as he always had. Sonarot had made the bread smaller today, as Lanarot was eating far too much bread recently, but she still wanted her daughter to eat her favourite food.

"Do you want to play with papa today?" Adam asked, jiggling Lanarot's cheeks.

"Yes, I want to play with papa," he said, in a high pitched voice.

"Okay, okay, since you want to play with me." He kissed her cheek.

"Cousin Adam," Turot called.

"Later tonight, can we play Warriors and Wanderers?"

"Some WaW, eh?" Adam said.

"Sure, why not? Jurot's back, and Aunt's here, so we should be able to get the entire gang together." Turot smiled.

"Okay." He and the other children spent time with Citool, who had begun to teach them recently. Taygak would usually disappear around noon, and would return a mess, covered in clay. Nirot and the other teens usually left around that time too, and would return back in the evening after a long day of work. Adam wondered why they poked so much fun at him when they also worked so hard, but recalled that they spent quite some time not working too.

'I guess they take breaks properly…' Lanarot began to whimper, before she started to shake as she cried.

"Mama!" Lanarot called.

"Mama!" Adam raised his brows. He was fairly certain she had said mama before, but not like this. The girl continued to whimper and cry, but Adam rocked her.

"I'll take you to mama, just wait, okay?" He carried her to her mother.

"Are you hungry, my little Lana?" Sonarot asked.

"Mama," Lanarot sniffled.

"That's the first time, right?" Adam said.

"She sometimes said mamama, and stuff, but…" Sonarot smiled and kissed her daughter's forehead.

"How smart you've become, my Lana."

"Mama." Lanarot grabbed at her mothers chest before trying to suck on her chest through her clothes. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Adam quickly left, humming quietly to himself.

"Jurot," Adam called.

"I heard," Jurot said, whittling away at a block of wood.

"Our sister is intelligent."

"She gets that from me," Adam said. Jurot remained silent as he continued to whittle away his block of wood. Adam dropped down beside him and sighed.

"You know, I've been thinking."

"She does not get it from you," Jurot said.

"She does not think." Adam wasn't sure how to reply to that.

"I'm trying to have a serious conversation and you're joking?" Jurot blew away the dust, before placing down the block of wood, before crossing his arms.

"What is it?"

"Remember that thing?" Adam asked.

"The tentacle thing."

"Yes."

"I was thinking about it recently. I was thinking about what I should do. Once I make enough money, I'll make a stronghold somewhere, and create my own little unit."

"An Order?"

"No," Adam said.

"Orders are under the rule of the King, right?"

"Orders in this land work that way, but there are Orders which exist which work independently. There are some in the distant eastern lands who work independently."

"Yeah, but, I don't want to make one so far away," Adam said.

"Couldn't I make an Order in the Iyrman's lands?"

"I am uncertain." Jurot wasn't sure if that would be possible. It would be a decision for the Great Elders, the Chief and Elder Forest and Elder Gold specifically, or so he assumed.

'If it was south of the Iyr?' Jurot thought.

"Either way, a stronghold and a way to make money to create a strong unit of Fighters, Guardians, maybe Scribe Mages?" Adam mused.

"We'll need a diverse team to deal with it."

"What if it does not come to be?"

"If it doesn't come to be, then at least I've made the lives of people better with our little band of warriors," Adam joked.

"Do you wish to make a small elite group, or a larger group of warriors?" Jurot asked.

"I don't know. Probably a small elite group which command a larger group of warriors?" Adam shrugged his shoulders.

"Though, I guess you're right. I should start small and then expand."

"You are teaching Churot well," Jurot said, thinking about what Adam may be feeling.

"There is no Scribe Mage who shares his knowledge as freely as you, though you are no Scribe Mage."

"You gathered that much?" Adam joked. Jurot nodded.

"Take things day by day, Adam, as you have. You have me, Jaygak, and Kitool. There are others who follow you too, Nobby and Brittany, as well as the others who have joined our party. I do not believe they will leave soon, since travelling with you will naturally cause us to grow stronger."

"You guys have been training Nobby and Brittany, so I feel a little guilty," Adam admitted.

"You trained him while we were gone, and Brittany joined to explore the world, not to be trained. This is a blessing for her."

"Right, right," Adam said, sighing. Jurot and the others were already powerful due to their backing, and they would have become strong without him. Nobby was being trained by Jurot, and Brittany by Jonn and Kitool. He had yet to truly teach anyone, as even Churot was someone who would have done well without him due to his intelligence, and being born in the Iyr.

'Though, I guess he didn't have a Scribe Mage.' Adam wondered why there were no Scribe Mages when they had spellbooks already.

"Is there a place I could be close to the Iyr and out of the reach of Aldland?" Adam mused.

"No. South Aldland claims the territory directly south of the Iyr, though there is no Aldishman who lives within the region, only various Tribesfolk."

"Why don't they have anything there if they claim it?" Adam asked.

"It is a dangerous land."

"How come the Iyr doesn't claim it then?"

"The Iyr claims a javelin's throw beyond the river, and nothing more," Jurot said.

"It is not our way to claim more land than we require." There was more to it, but Jurot did not know what it was.

"Hmm." Adam rubbed his chin.

"Fair enough. Are there a lot of Tribesfolk about?"

"Yes. There are more in North Aldland, due to the nature of the land there."

"What is the nature of the land there?"

"Central Aldland is a large, expansive land, full of fields," Jurot said.

"They claim the borders of all the nearby hills, then beyond, towards the east of the Iyr. Their reach is to West Fort, Jaghi, East Port, and South Port."

"Right?" Adam asked, wondering what that had to do with it. Jurot usually spoke bluntly, so he allowed Jurot to continue.

"Central Aldland's terrain protects its capital from all sides, save the west, and the road network within Central Aldland is through mostly flat terrain, allowing them to make roads which span from just past the Iyr's borders, to West Fort, to Jaghi, and even to East Port."

"Right…" Adam was slowly beginning to follow along with what Jurot was saying.

"Their fields allow them to feed millions of people within their own region, and millions of people outside their own region," Jurot informed.

"Central Aldland could feed the entirety of Aldland, the Iyr, and even parts of Aswadia." Adam whistled.

"Damn. Let me guess, North Aldland doesn't have any of that?" Jurot nodded.

"North Aldland does not have such productive land, and it does not have an official road beyond a certain point. It is mostly hilly, and many of its towns are built against the mountain side. Their population is least of all the territories, and it's land are almost as large. The east side of their lands is often claimed by the Noska, warrior peoples from across the sea." Adam noted that Jurot made a face when mentioning the Noska.

It was the face one made when drinking delicious hot chocolate, that of utter satisfaction.

'They must be good to fight,' Adam thought.

"North Aldland's peoples sharpen their steel on the bones of Noskan people, and the deadly creatures which plague the land. Their weather is harsh, and they cannot project much power beyond their walls, though their people are hardy and great. They do not respect anyone who isn't a proven warrior."

"North Aldland sounds so cool." It made sense that they couldn't project much power outside of their own towns if the terrain didn't allow them to.

"They are very cool," Jurot agreed.

"North Aldland is a long land, split culturally from Northern North Aldland, and Southern North Aldland, but you cannot mention the difference."

"Why not?"

"It is only for them to mention. It is an internal fight, one not for outsiders. They may fight amongst one another, but they shall not do so in front of outsiders."

"Oh, it's one of those," Adam said, nodding his head in understanding. Jurot nodded too.

"Are you mentioning North Aldland because it would be a good place to place my stronghold?"

"The Iyr is the best place."

"Could I do that?"

"I do not know."

"I'll figure it out." Adam sighed.

"If I can't make it in the Iyr, where would be the second best place?" Jurot wasn't sure to answer that. Near the Iyr. Away from the King's direct influence. It couldn't be in the south either, due to the lingering animosity against Elves, even if he was only half an Elf.

"Near Jaghi."

"That far away?" Adam asked. Jaghi was almost two weeks away by foot, and even longer off the road.

"Yes."

"Aw man," Adam groaned.

"I'll speak with the Chief about it later. The more I talk about this, the less and less likely it becomes. Maybe I should focus on the inns. Get a smith, an alchemist, an enchanter, a Scribe Mage. Of course, we need to have pizza too."

"Forming a series of inns along the pathways between towns and cities would make much gold."

"I'll think about it." Adam sighed.

"I should get a map of the land so I know where all the towns and cities are. That way I can figure out the best place for my stronghold and my inns. It would also be useful in case I make too many enemies." Jurot nodded, going back to handling his wood.