NOVEL NEXT 105. The Aftermath
EXP Gained
1x Winter Dragon
+10,000
2x Ice Wyrms
+5,000
Shared with Party
-13,000
Otherworlder Bonus
+2000
EXP Total
4,000
Current EXP
22,470
Level up available!
“…” Joti stared down at Adam, brushing his beard with a hand.
Gant was staring at Adam too, though his eyes were much darker. He closed them, clenched his fist, and then he thumped it against his knee. The said something to Joti in their language, shaking his head.
Joti replied back in giant, and then looked back to Adam. “If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t have believed them.”
“Yeah,” Adam said, nodding his head. “I get that a lot.”
Joti brushed his beard again. “This friend of yours. He’s that strong?”
“I think so. There’s one thing about we Brits, and that’s that we don’t lie.” Adam thought for a moment. “Actually…” Michael rubbed his neck. “From what I’ve seen, he’s the real deal.”
“He cut the mountain in half. I’ve never heard of a man doing that, only gods.” Gant looked down at his sword, narrowing his eyes slightly. “I’m not sure I could cut a mountain in half.”
“You can’t,” Joti confirmed. “It would take many of us to even damage the mountain with our chanting and our runes.”
“You sound confident.”
“We’ve done it before.”
“You what?”
“There are times we had to rearrange the terrain for our advantage. We’ve destroyed through and created many mountains to protect ourselves. It’s how we made our fortresses and our outposts.”
Adam looked around themselves and then he nodded. “You did a great job with it,” he said. “Very cozy.”
“You’re certain he’ll return?” Joti asked, looking towards the Winterdotr.
“He left his hat. A gentleman always returns for his hat.”
“I thought you said he was a knight,” Gant said.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“You certainly have been busy. I apologise for not coming to find you sooner. We did our best to deal with the wyrms, and then we turned our attention to finding you.”
“How did you find me?” Adam asked. “You were very quick, all things considered.”
“You cut an item and handed it to me. I was able to track you through it.”
Adam nodded. He recalled that they all carved an item and handed it to the Chief. “So that’s how that works…”
“We will need to return now that we’ve found you and have completed our task,” Joti said. He looked to Gant, who shared a look with the Chief, and the pair glanced back to Freya. They remained silent for some time.
“Is something the matter?”
“No,” he said. “If there was, we’d deal with it.”
“Is Freya not allowed within the city?” Adam asked.
“No, she’s not.”
“That is awkward for me.” Adam reached up and rubbed his chin gently.
“It’s not a matter you need to concern yourself with. I will deal with it.” Joti continued to stare at Freya.
“This was a task given to me from Lady Arya. She was the one I spoke with when the wind called me.”
“I understand. We will not stop the Winterdotr from entering Muten. I believe that your voice is too important to the Prince to stop you or her.”
“My voice is important?”
“Once I speak with my father, then you’ll understand.”
“Alright,” Adam said, nodding his head.
Joti sighed and then nodded to Karasmith, who swapped with Gant again, as he had been too interested in the story to take watch himself.
“Adam, could we speak?” Klara asked.
Joti glanced over towards the feynt woman, and then to Adam. He stood up and left, heading out to circle around the outpost.
“What did you want to talk about?” Adam asked. He had a suspicion that she wanted to talk about a certain god they had in common.
“The fight from earlier was a magnificent sight. It was something none of us had ever imagined we’d see in our lifetimes.”
“Well, it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.”
“You weren’t joking when you said you could rain down Fireball after Fireball.”
Adam shrugged. “Lying isn’t my style.”
“I’ve noticed. You take your word very seriously.” Klara smiled and then looked down to his amulet before glancing down at his sword. “How are you connected to Lord Sozain?”
“We’ve… spoken before.” Adam was trying not to give too much away, but he wasn’t sure how distant he could be.
“Spoken? In what sense? We all speak with the gods in our own way, but…” She left the words unspoken.
“When you were taken over by him, it wasn’t the first time I had heard his voice. We had a deal, of sorts.”
“Similar to that of Lady Arya and yourself?”
“Similar, but not quite as intense.”
“So you aren’t his chosen?”
“Technically I’m not Lady Arya’s chosen either, but I wore Sozain’s amulet because he could assist me when Lord Belle wasn’t able to.”
“Lord Belle? God of Order?”
“That might be the one.”
“…”
“He’s one and the same, from what I know,” Adam said, glancing away.
“Yes, he is. Not many worship that other side of him.”
“I have my reasons, but I don’t think they are the same as the others.”
“Have you met any other gods?”
“Yes, but… I think that’s all I can say for now. Last I checked, you didn’t want to tell me much even though I offered you a lot.”
“That was before,” she said. “Now I trust you.”
“Then let’s get to talking.” Adam smiled.
“What do you want to know?”
“How did you become a Priest of Sozain?”
“I was born in a small village of feynts, in a place I cannot say, as it is not my place to say. My siblings each picked a deity to follow under, and none of us were allowed to pick the same one.” Klara looked down at her gauntlets, rubbing her thumb along her palm.
“I picked Lord Sozain, not for any particular reason, but I became his devoted follower. When I was six, I started to learn about him and his scriptures. When I was twelve, I moved to a human city nearby and joined their temple to learn more. I became a missionary, spreading word about Lord Sozain for five years, and then I was allowed to leave the temple. I met Hisan during my missionary days, and then joined him to become an adventurer after.”
Adam nodded. “So it was mostly by chance?”
“Yes.”
“Then I guess our reasons are similar enough. It’s only due to my luck that I follow those that I do.” Adam glanced at Freya. “It’s only due to my luck that I am currently Freya’s guardian.”
“Mistress Fate has something for all of us.”
“Yeah, she really does.” Adam rubbed his forehead. “I just hope I don’t disappoint her. She’s done quite a bit for me.”
Klara tilted her head slightly, staring at Adam for a long while. She leaned in and whispered in the fey tongue. “By the stars and the moon, you have met the most magnanimous Mistress Fate.”
Deception
D20 + 2 = 6 (4)
Adam stared up at her, narrowing his eyes slightly. “I’m not sure I trust you enough to tell you that.” His brow twitched slightly and he glanced away, awkwardly.
Klara’s eyes remained focused on him with the pressure of a lioness sizing up her prey, but she then leaned back and relented. “You are a most curious man, Adam.”
“I’d appreciate it if we kept that to ourselves,” he said, looking around to see the others busy with their own conversations.
“It will be our secret.”
“Thank you.”
Joti returned and then looked to the groups, stepping inside before sitting down. His presence dominated the area. “We should speak of the wyrms. We all had a hand in slaying the beasts.”
Dark Harvest each glanced between one another and then to Adam. The giants each glanced between one another and then to Adam. Adam sighed.
“We need to return with one icewyrm at the least in order to complete our task,” the Chief said. “If you are willing to sell us the remains of the second icewyrm, we will compensate you fairly.”
The Dark Harvest members glanced between one another. “Fairly?” Hisan asked.
“We will offer five thousand gold, or something equivalent to that amount.”
“Five thousand gold isn’t too bad,” Hisan said. He looked between his allies, paused for a moment, before nodding his head. “Considering how much you helped us, we would be willing to trade the icewyrm for that price. Would you allow us to take a few items from the corpse?”
“We will allow it,” Joti said. “We will take both icewyrms.” Joti looked to Adam. “It seems you did quite a bit of work with the white dragon. Are you willing to discuss the issue once we return to Muten?”
“Sure. I’m not sure how we’ll split it, but I don’t mind returning back to the city so we can relax before we talk about it. I’m in no rush.”
“We will guide you to Muten and we will assist you in leaving our land,” Joti said to the others.
“We will gladly accept, thank you.” Hisan nodded.
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