Chương 584: 547. Questing VIII

Adam stared at the sky, watching as the four manticores circled around them. The sun caused him to glance away slightly.

"Seriously, these guys aren't that stupid, eh?" Adam said, not really talking to anyone in particular.

"It will be difficult to face them since they fly," Jurot admitted.

"We don't have too many people who can fight at this kind of range…" Adam blinked at the creatures. The manticores, with their wicked tails, sent down clusters of spikes, which dropped among the group. Faool narrowly dodged a spike, though it managed to graze his side.

"How rude," Adam said, raising his Wraith towards the creatures. Mana: 21 -> 18 Spell: Fireball 8D6 = 31 (2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6) 31 damage! Onward Soar: 1 -> 0 Mana: 18 -> 15 Spell: Fireball 8D6 = 31 (1, 2, 3, 3, 5, 5, 6, 6) 31 damage! Adam channelled his magic through his veins, which emanated into two beads of fire which shot upwards and exploded against the manticores, engulfing them within the flames twice.

The sickening cries pierced through the air as one of the four manticores began to fly away, causing the rest to fly after them, not wishing to come across the force of Fireballs again, with arrows chasing after them, as well as bolts of fire.

"Why do you always have to ruin our fun?" Lucy asked.

"You can just fly after them if you're upset," Adam replied dryly, before blowing against the top of his axe and sheathing it at his side. Victory! XP Gained: +150 XP: 7900 -> 8050'Nice,' Adam thought, figuring the XP was shared between them all. The howling in the distance caused the group to remain on guard, with two more people placing themselves on guard.

"It's not just the Iyr which is scary," Korin said to Adam.

"You're quite scary yourself."

"You've not seen the things I've seen, otherwise you wouldn't even think of me as scary," Adam said.

"You speak of the Lord of Flames, Shama?" Korin asked.

"That's right."

"You cannot blame yourself, since it was Lord Shama after all."

"You know him?"

"Lady Sara knows the tale. He once roamed the land, before the Iyr came to be, back when Aswadasad became known as Aswadasad."

"What was it called?" Adam muttered to himself.

"Aswa…"

"Aswabayad," Korin confirmed, before pausing.

"Lord Stokmar, is he truly awake?"

"He, she, they…" Adam thought about what pronouns to use with Lord Stokmar.

'Is Stokmar even a being?'

"They're awake."

"Lord Stokmar…"

"Do you know of them?" Adam asked.

"Lord Stokmar, the Lord of Earth. He…" Korin paused.

"They're perhaps the greatest being known across all the lands. Even compared to children of the Gods and the Divine, they're special. There are legends of old which speak of great creatures, those who long slumber. Before the time of the Iyr, and even before the time of the likes of Emperor Shama, there were many great legends within this world. Lord Stokmar appears to be the last living vestige of such a time. They can shape the world itself with their presence.

It is said that half the mountains within Aswadasad were shaped by Lord Stokmar." Adam whistled.

"Damn. I didn't realise they could…" Adam thought back to the Iyr, recalling how the terrain had shifted so suddenly. At first he thought it had been the great might of the Iyr, but it would have required so much great magic.

'Was it Lord Stokmar?' Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

"Emperor Shama may be on a similar level now, but there was a time he was not so powerful, but still quite powerful. In his youth, he spent some time travelling through Aswadasad, and has been passed down in the tales of old. Some believe him to be a prophet of Noor, and others believe he was an angel of Noor, or even a fragment of Noor."

"Noor? The God of Light?" Adam asked.

"Noor is less a God and more a supreme law of the world, in the same way that death would still exist without Lord Sozain, Noor is both the God of Light and Light itself. Or, so they say."

"You don't believe that?"

"It's not that I don't believe it, but that I have already sworn myself to Lady Arya, and will pray to her and her alone," Korin said, smiling.

"Of course, there are times that I pray to other gods on behalf of others, but I pray to Lady Arya in all matters personally."

"Fair. I pray to a few gods myself. Lady Arya and Lord Sozain, mostly. Speaking of which, I need to head to a temple to donate and speak with them more often." Adam sighed.

"I'm such a busy bee."

"That is why you should rest more within town," Korin said, smirking.

"Anyway… I'm pretty sure Shama doesn't have anything to do with the gods," Adam said.

"How can you tell?"

"Strom hated the gods, and I'm pretty sure Shama is the same way," Adam replied.

"Strom? You speak of the one known as Emperor Hadda?" Korin asked.

"I believe he was a companion of Emperor Shama."

"Something like that," Adam said, frowning. Korin recalled how Lucy had been killed by the Emperor.

"Still, I believe you are quite scary too." Adam smiled.

"Man, you should see half the monsters in the Iyr."

"Perhaps I will, one day."

"Perhaps you will, one day." Korin wasn't sure how to take Adam's response. As the hours passed by, they continued to hear the howling in the distance, growing louder and closer. Eventually the group was ready to fight, noting the howling was but a few hundred steps away. A dozen direwolves darted between bushes and trees, trying to hide themselves as they eyed up the fort.

"That's a lot of wolves," Adam said, whistling.

"We should fight them," Jurot said, strapping his shield to his arm.

"Alright." Adam nodded, eyeing up both Faool and Laygak, who stood beside their older cousins, while Nirot stuck with Jurot, and the others grouped together with Nobby and Dunes. Lucy and Mara stayed near the large group of teens. They stepped out of the fort, ready to fight, while Charley and Greg remained behind with Korin, protecting Ivy and Lady Sara, just in case.

Battle Order D20 + 1 = 7 (6) Health: 78 -> 65 Strength Save D20 + 7 = 18 (11) Fighting Spirit: 3 -> 2 Health: 65 -> 70 Attack - Wraith (Flanking) D20 + 10 = 11 (1) D20 + 10 = 15 (5) Hit! Mana: 15 -> 14 Ability: Divine Smite 2D6 + 2D6 + 7= 25 (3, 6)(4, 5) 25 damage! Attack - Wraith (Flanking) D20 + 10 = 12 (2) D20 + 10 = 20 (10) Hit! Mana: 14 -> 13 Ability: Divine Smite 2D6 + 2D6 + 7 = 20 (1, 6)(1, 5) 20 damage!

Onward Soar: 1 -> 0 Mana: 13 -> 12 Spell: Thunderous Smite Attack - Wraith (Flanking) D20 + 10 = 12 (3) D20 + 10 = 20 (12) Hit! Omen: 6, 20 -> 6 20 + 10 = 30 Critical hit! Mana: 12 -> 11 Ability: Divine Smite 4D6 + 4D6 + 4D6 + 7 = 57 (1, 2, 6, 6)(1, 4, 6, 6)(1, 5, 6, 6) 57 damage! Attack - Wraith (Flanking) D20 + 10 = 19 (9) D20 + 10 = 30 (20) Critical hit! Mana: 11 -> 10 Ability: Divine Smite 4D6 + 4D6 + 7 = 28 (1, 2, 2, 3)(2, 2, 4, 5) 28 damage!

"Kill those that I attack," Adam said to the teen Iyrmen, before he stepped forward, yet found himself coming under the assault of a large wolf, which slammed its claws across his breastplate as it leapt atop him. Adam managed to stand tall against its heavy claws, while other wolves darted around him towards the other, less armoured prey. Unfortunately for the wolves, the unarmoured prey they came across were Lucy, Mara, Jurot, and Kitool.

Lucy nearly bisected one of the direwolves that came upon her, while two halves of a whole wolf dropped on either side of Mara, who managed to do so. Jurot split the skull of a direwolf, and Kitool smashed the direwolf she faced, while freezing another in place which had knocked Faool down. The moment allowed Dunes to bring Faool up with a spell, only for the Iyrman to flip away from the creature to take a defensive stance.

Jaygak managed to wound a wolf, but remained ahead of it, trying to block it from passing her. Adam struck the wolf which had attacked him, allowing Naqokan and Uwajin to claim it with their greatswords, before he stepped forward and came across another wolf, striking it along the side, allowing Bavin and Nobby to kill it. Another wolf tried to leap up against Adam, and since the teen Iyrmen had found themselves against too many direwolves, Adam decided against holding back.

Standing atop the fort walls, the figure watched as Adam plucked a Thread of Fate, causing her scales to shift, before they balanced themselves. The Thread of Fate shot towards the scale, sucked into the great artefact. It wrapped itself around the scales, causing the Goddess of the Scales to glance towards it, having never seen this occur before, but the Thread of Fate finally disappeared.

"…" Adam cut a wolf in half, before he stepped forward to cut another wolf against their neck, causing it to whinny in pain, before it met its end under a bolt of fire, a flaming arrow, and a javelin. The wolves turned to leave, and while Adam glanced around to check his companions, he shuddered. He could not see the golden bead frozen just millimetres from his head, threatening to pierce his skull. Ulaveil recalled the bead, sighing.

She rested her head against the scales, which balanced themselves once more, having shifted from her involvement.

'Balance,' she thought.

'I cannot kill him personally.' Victory! XP Gained: +150 XP: 8050 -> 8300