He couldn’t believe it.

Jurot, dead. 

Again. 

Adam hadn’t even managed to go on a quest with the Iyrman yet. ‘How did he manage to die even quicker than last time?’ His body grew freezing cold. 

“What are you doing?” Paul asked, his voice cutting through Adam’s thoughts. The older man grabbed onto Adam’s wrists, pulling them away from Jurot. “If you keep that up, you’ll snap his neck.” 

“You!” Adam glared up into Paul’s eyes, seeing how they stared down at him curiously. 

“He’s just unconscious,” Paul said, raising his brow. “Though if you keep doing whatever you’re doing, then he might really die.” He noticed the glare in Adam’s eyes, and wondered why the half elf had been so angry.

Adam stared up at Paul in shock, suddenly taken aback by the revelation. ‘What?’

Constitution Save
D20 + 4 = 16 (12)

Adam took off his helmet, stumbling towards the side of the Adventurer’s Guild. He dry heaved in the corner, feeling his chest tighten. Relief set into his body, his cold body slowly growing warm again.

[Did you really think Jurot had died again? You really are built differently.]

‘It’s built different.’ Regardless of what Bell was saying, Adam was still surprised that he had thought that Jurot had died right away. ‘Did I fail my roll?’ Right, he didn’t have any ability to distinguish that kind of thing yet. ‘Is there an Appraisal feature?’

Paul watched curiously, wondering what had gotten into Adam. ‘Did he really think it was that easy to kill an Iyrman?’ Paul paused to think for a moment. ‘Well, I am pretty strong.’

The Vice Master knelt down and gently shook Jurot awake. “I should have probably aimed somewhere else…”

Jurot awoke, seeing Paul’s bruised face. Paul smiled down at him, having grabbed Jurot’s axe as it was about to cut into his breastplate. “Did we pass?” Jurot asked, vaguely recalling what happened.

“With flying colours,” Paul said.

Third Test Complete
+50XP

“What happened to your face?”

“The half elf got me good after you went down,” Paul said, helping Jurot up. “Though your team work could have been better, you didn’t fight too poorly.” Paul wondered what other magic Adam knew, but since he wasn’t willing to reveal it, he couldn’t ask. ‘If you weren’t holding back, I wonder what kind of surprise you would have shown me.’

“How did Adam get you?” Jurot asked, seeing Paul’s face. That didn’t look like a blow with a sword’s pommel. He recalled how Adam was punching Paul after he had lost his sword. ‘Losing your weapon during a fight, how atrocious. Wait…’ “He punched your face?”

Paul nodded. 

Jurot stared up at Paul, wondering if he was joking. Seeing that Paul wasn’t telling him the punchline, he assumed that the punch was real. He looked over to Adam, who was leaning up against the Adventurer’s Guild building. “What did you do to him?”

“Nothing,” Paul replied back. “Give him a second.” Whatever it was that was bothering Adam, he needed to deal with it. “We’ll do the ranged test once you’re well.” 

Adam looked back to Paul and nodded. “I think I’m alright.” Adam grabbed his sword, sheathing it. He caught Jurot’s gaze, and nodded towards the Iyrman. “Good fight.” Adam reached out a hand. 

Jurot shook it, nodding his head back to Adam. “You as well, Adam son of Fate.”

Paul let them around back, though a thought crossed Adam’s mind. “How come we’re doing the ranged test now? It would have made more sense if we did it before the rock lifting.” 

“That’s not how adventures go. You need to be able to handle the unpredictability of life when it comes at you.” Paul then leaned in. “I think that’s a bunch of bullshit. The original Guild Masters of old made the test long ago and they probably didn’t think too hard about the order.”

Adam nodded his head. “Retroactive reasoning.”

Paul nodded as they went to the ranged field. There was someone who had appeared in the short while they had gone, currently throwing daggers at the targets. As they noticed Paul and the newbies, they took the daggers out of the targets and slunk away into the shadows. Everyone could still see them, but it was the intention which was important.

“…”

“Alright, let’s see how you do when the target isn’t immediately before you.” Paul completely ignored the figure watching them, not even explaining them to Jurot and Adam. 

Jurot grabbed his Javelins, but looked to Adam. “Do you want to go first?”

“I’ll take you up on that offer,” Adam said. Jurot had been unconscious not long ago, so it wouldn’t have been fair. “I’m good to use Flame Bolt?” Adam asked.

“Go ahead, we’ve made the targets fire resistant.”

“That was quick,” Adam joked. “How come?”

“So many people have Flame Bolt, that it was becoming an issue. Red oak might be slightly resistant to fire, but it has its limits.”

“Has the guild ever burned down?”

“Long, long ago.” 

Adam stretched his arms ahead of him. “Alright.” He held out his hand, and tried to figure out a cool way to call out his Flame Bolt. He thought about how he had punched Paul in the face, and his Martial Arts feature. He held out his hand, forming a fist with the wizard’s die within it. “Fire Fist.” Fire flowed all around his fist, ready to take flight.

Attack
D20 + 4 = 16 (12)
Hit!
D6 = 6 (6)
6 fire damage!

The fire shot out of his hand, flying towards the target in front of him. It remained in the shape of a fist, until it struck the target towards the centre.

“Ho! Pretty good.” Paul wrote something down on the paper. “Let’s see if you can hit all three?”

“The half elf knows magic!”

“Of course he knows magic, he’s an elf.”

“Only half.”

Adam tried to ignore the audience. “Fire Fist!”

Attack
D20 + 4 = 24 (20)
Critical hit!
2D6 = 7 (1,6)
7 fire damage!

‘Critical hit? Where were you when I needed you last time?’

The fire fist had struck right in the centre of the target, almost causing it to alight, but the shadowy figure had managed to get to the target in time and kick the flames away.

“Whoa! Now that was a hit!” The adventurers clapped. 

“Fire Fist!”

Attack
D20 + 4 = 24 (20)
Critical hit!
2D6 = 6 (1,5)
6 fire damage!

‘Two in a row? Are you taking the piss!’

Once again it hit right in the centre, and the shadowy form went to kick the fire which was slowly growing. 

‘How did I do so well with my magic?’

Jurot, who hadn’t been too impressed with Adam thus far, stared at the targets. ‘He’s okay as a warrior, and he’s a great mage?’ He put Adam up a few points within his mind. ‘He’s at the least as good as me.’

"He’s not too shabby. No wonder he couldn’t lift those rocks, he’s a mage!"

"Do you see the sword at his side?"

"And the armour he’s wearing?"

“Jurot, go ahead.” Paul cut through the adventurer’s shenanigans.

Jurot tossed three javelins towards the targets. The first hit the target almost dead centre, whereas the other two flew right above and hit the grass on the other side. He had thrown them too heavily, or at least, that was his excuse.

“…” The adventurers remained eerily quiet, looking all around awkwardly. 

Paul wrote something down. “I can’t blame you considering you were unconscious not long ago.”

Adam wondered if he should have healed Jurot, but considering that he didn’t want to offend the Iyrman, he decided against it. “So, we passed?”

"You’ve both passed the initial tests, so congratulations. We’ll get your tags sorted and you’ll both be considered to be fully fledged adventurers. I’ll prepare your other tests soon, if you don’t mind.” He looked to Jurot first, who nodded, and then to Adam. 

“Sure,” Adam said, nodding too. He wondered what other test Jurot needed to do. 

Fourth Test Passed
+30XP

"Your magic is quite powerful." Jurot said, having retrieved his javelins. They were at his side once again, though covered them with his coat so they were out of sight. 

“Thank you,” Adam replied back with a smile. “I need to work on my physical strength though.” He frowned. He still couldn’t believe he failed lifting first few rocks, even though they were meant to be easy. 

“Not all of us were born in the Ire,” Jurot said, smirking at Adam. He flexed his muscles, making his pectorals dance.

‘Was he always so smug? Just you wait! I’ll definitely show you that I’m strong!’ “Since we’ve got time, why don’t we check on those rocks again?” Adam led him back to the rocks. ‘Did you think you wouldn’t see me again, you rocky bastards? I’m not satisfied with our last encounter, so prepare yourself!’

Adam flexed his muscles and readied himself to lift. He slapped his chest to Guidance himself too. “Let’s go!”

Spell
Guidance
D3 = 1 (1)

Athletics Check
D20 + 5 + 1 = 7 (1)

He wrapped his arms around the fourth rock to try and lift it. “Haaaa!” He tried to lift it up, but couldn’t even budge it. ‘Noooo!’

He stepped away from the rock, panting out. 

“Need a rest?” Jurot asked, readying to pick the rock up.

“H-hold on! I got this!” Adam prepared himself again, casting his Guidance once more. 

Spell
Guidance
D3 = 1 (1)

Athletics Check
D20 + 5 + 1 = 7 (1)

He continued to try and lift the rock, but no matter what he did, it wouldn’t budge. Eventually, he just dropped on top of it, laying down on his front. A single tear fell down his helmet. 

‘How embarrassing.’ Even Jurot could feel the aura of depression emanating from Adam. He decided to be quiet, and leave the saga of the rock on this note. If he lifted up the rock now, it would just be bullying. 

Even the adventurers, who had bet a few copper pieces between another, silently swapped their coin. They could see Adam needed some time to himself. 

[You can spend experience to reroll your checks.]

‘I can? How much does it cost for a reroll?’

[It’s your Level x 10. Right now it’s 100XP.]

‘Damn, that’s really expensive! I don’t see some of my rolls though, so how can I be sure that it’s right?’

[You will have to trust your gut. Certain rolls will prompt a reroll if you can afford it and it puts you in danger.]

“Leave the rock alone and come along,” Paul said. He had returned moments ago to see Adam cuddling the rock. ‘Is that an elven thing? Is he a wood elf? A rock elf? A sea elf?’ Paul didn’t know too much about elves, since they were so rare.

Adam followed Paul around back, separating from Jurot. He led Adam into a small room, waiting for the half elf to enter before shutting the door behind him. 

Perception Check
D20 + 2 = 19 (17)

The room was made of red oak planks, though Adam could spy something through the gaps in the planks. It was something metallic, though he couldn’t quite make it out properly. ‘Must be something secretive. I’m not sure they’d appreciate it if I asked them what it was.’

Paul placed down a small ring into the table. It was made of red oak, and there didn’t seem to be anything special about it. “I’d like you to identify this,” Paul said, taking a seat opposite Adam. 

“I would love to, but I don’t have a pearl,” Adam admitted. 

Paul placed down the pearl, having waited to see whether or not Adam had his own pearl. He was slowly forming his opinions about the half elf. His armour was new and shiny, and he didn’t seem used to fighting with his sword. He was much better at punching, and his magic was pretty strong. Of course, he could just be having a bad day. 

‘And he didn’t have a pearl to cast the spell. This must be his first journey out of his own village or town? He’s definitely not a noble either, more than likely he’s a commoner, but what kind of commoner gets new chain mail and a longsword?’

Adam took the pearl and tossed it up, feeling its weight. He didn’t really know why he did it, but it seemed like the right thing to do.

“What are you doing?” Paul asked, having never seen anyone check a pearl the way Adam did.

“Nothing.” Adam cleared his throat. He removed his helmet and picked up the red oak ring in order to appraise it. “Hmm.” He could definitely feel a slightly magical aura coming from it, and he tried to see if there were any engravings on it to see if he could identify it through that.

Arcane Lore
D20 + 4 = 5 (1)

It was completely blank, with nothing which gave up what it was. Yet, for some reason, Adam felt a protective force from it. It was just a feeling. ‘Probably a Ring of Protection?’ He thought about how cool it would be if he managed to identify it without much effort, but before he opened his mouth to speak, he recalled how he had misdiagnosed Jurot earlier. ‘I can’t just trust my gut, I need to verify it.’

He placed the ring down on the table and inhaled deeply. He grabbed the pearl in one hand tightly, and the ring in his other hand. He could feel it, the warm sensation of magic running through his veins. His magic formed near his heart, and the arcane power ran though his veins, circling around towards his heart again. He could feel the slightly electric feeling through his finger tips.

Adam slowly fell into a zen like state, where it was just the feeling of the power running through his veins keeping him company. Paul remained silent enough to allow Adam the best state of mind, giving him no excuse to fail identifying the object. 

‘He’s definitely got some magic,’ Paul said. ‘He didn’t try casting anything on me either, otherwise my amulet would have triggered.’ He could feel the amulet glued between his breastplate and his chest, which was still cool. If it had gone off, it would have become warm, and whatever spell which had tried to affect him would have dissipated. 

Spell (Ritual)
Identify
Red Oak Storage Ring
This ring has a dimensional space of 1 cubic metre. It can hold up to 30 kilograms of items. 
If the ring is overloaded, it is destroyed, and the contents are spilled forth, unharmed. 
It cannot store living creatures. 

“You know,” Adam began, trying to figure out how to reveal how much he knew about it, “you have to admire certain inventors and scholars. They invent something, a ring which you can store things, and instead of calling it something like an interspatial or interdeminsional ring, they keep things simple. It’s a ring made of red oak which can store things, a Red Oak Storage Ring. It can hold up 30 kilograms worth of items as long as it can fit into 1 cubic metre.”

Paul nodded his head. “I have confirmed that you can cast Identify.” Paul wrote something down on a piece of paper, and then placed it away. ‘It’s very rare we have someone who can identify. I wonder if he’d be interested in a deal.’

Insight Check
D20 + 1 = 8 (7)

Adam wasn’t sure what Paul was thinking deeply about, but he recalled what he had done in his previous life. “Now that you’ve confirmed it, can we talk?” Adam asked.

“Talk? About what?” Paul stared down at the half elf. 

“Let’s make a deal.” Adam smiled.

“With your Identify spell?” Paul wondered if his thoughts had been read, but his amulet was still cool.

“That’s right. I’ll be here to Identify any objects which require it now and again, and you’ll pay me for it.” Adam continued to smile politely.

“What’s your price?” Paul asked, taking the ring and tapping it onto the table. ‘Ho? It seemed like he had this in mind already?’

“What’s the going rate for Identify these days in this town?” Adam asked.

“The guild has a large need for it, and the time for the wizards is quite precious. They usually charge fifty gold coins.”

“Fifty gold coins?” Adam raised his brows in surprise. “Wow. Well, that does sound about right. A Healing Potion goes for roughly fifty gold, doesn’t it? And it’s about as good as a Cure Wounds.” Adam nodded his head, thinking about how the price matched.

“How much are you willing to charge?” Paul asked. Even if it was fifty gold coins for each item, the fact that they could save some time by going to one of their own, which they could tax too, was preferable.

“Let’s call it thirty gold coins for each identify, but I get my own room and as much as I want.” Adam smiled. “You will also need to provide me with a pearl, and after ten items Identified, I get to keep the pearl too.”

“Isn’t that closer to forty gold coins for each casting then?”

“I only want to own the pearl after the first time. If I lose the pearl, you will provide me with another pearl, but I won’t take it away unless you give it to me.” Adam continued to smile.

“So it’s forty gold coins for the first ten items, and then thirty gold coins for the items after…” Paul continued to tap the ring on the table. “We have to provide you with your own room permanently, and as many meals as you like.” Food wasn’t expensive at all, and they had more than enough rooms. ‘He wants safety and stability as an adventurer? Elves are so weird.’

“Permanently?” Adam thought about it. “If one of us wants to break the contract, we’ll need to pay the other party fifty gold coins. I’ll be able to Identify when I’m not busy, unless it’s an emergency and you need something verified that instant.”

“Sounds quite unreliable,” Paul said. 

“It’s in case I am busy with other matters. If you feel like I’m getting too many benefits and not working hard enough, then you’re free to pay the fifty gold coins and break the contract. If I feel like I’m being swamped with too many requests, I’ll need to save up the coin and I’ll pay the fifty gold.”

Paul nodded his head. Even if he only identified a handful of items every year, it was always good to have another option available to them. “I’ll have Emma write up the contract.”

“Good, I’ll sign it once I’ve read over it.” Adam smiled wider. A roof over his head, food in his stomach, that was all he really needed. However, he wasn’t going to be a laze about who only appraised various magical items, he had so much he wanted to do.

“Let’s introduce you to Master Thundersmith then,” Paul said as he stood up. “Ah, actually…”

“What?” Adam asked.

“I’m not sure that you’ll get along.” Paul frowned slightly.

“Why not?” Adam raised his brow curiously. 

“He’s a dwarf,” Paul said, as though that explained everything.

“…” Adam waited for Paul to elaborate. “So?”

Paul stared at Adam. ‘Is he an idiot?’

 

---

Wait.

Paul wouldn't kill Jurot.

Would he?

The bromance lives! 

Also, I swear I was meant to have this out yesterday, but I was just too tired. I didn't mean to leave you on a cliff hanger for so long.