Adam couldn’t taste his meal any longer, and so quickly ate. There was a morsel of doubt which he had ed with his food, f a knot within his chest. He excused himself quickly, and Jurot, who had seen the darkness encroa the half elf’s face, let him go.

  ‘Adam son of Fate, your business is your own.’ However, he uood he had his own busioo.

  Adam retired to bed, falling onto it. He did not pull the b over himself, instead embrag the ess of the air, staring at the ceiling.

  [What are you thinking about?]

  “Life,” Adam said. “In a sense.”

  [What about life are you thinking about?]

  “The st time I went to the Iyr, it was t Jurot home. I was invited by the Iyr because of his death, and assisting in guiding him home. This time I made a bit of a mess with our first iion, but more importantly… I’m not really wanted in the Iyr, am I?”

  [Do yret Jurot living?]

  “Bell, you sure say some stupid shit for a system.”

  […]

  “I’m gd he’s alive, but…” Adam sighed. “This isn’t a time loop. Things have ged. There are things that I know and things that I don’t know. Jurot looks a little older, and his forehead is tattooed. I assume it’s something about being an Iyrman, but st time the pattern was only on his b and his shield. I assume the Iyr is still near enough the same pce, but what if it’s ged? What’s all this about elves and dwarves, and elves and orcs? Where’s James? What about Gee and Fotti? What about Iromin? Since when did he carve statues?”

  [Did he carve statues st time?]

  “… I don’t know.”

  […]

  “That’s beside the point.”

  [What is the point?]

  “The friends that I made before. I make them again this time? Will Entalia be willing to trust me in this life? What about Joti?” Adam reached up to his face, c his eyes. “Back when I made a deal with Belle, he said I’d be the oo die. But…” He shut his eyes tight. “Sihis world is so new, doesn’t that mean…”

  […]

  “The world that I khe people I met. Aren’t they dead too? So am I the only one whose alive?” He pressed his fiight against his skull, marking his skin red under his fingers.

  […]

  Adam eventually calmed down, sighing. “How much XP do I have?”

  [240XP.]

  “Oh? That’s quite a lot for one day. You said I could spend experien acquiring new features? How much is Tricks?”

  [200XP.]

  “Oh. I should have bought that before I bathed.” Adam shook his head. It would have made drying his clothes an absolute breeze, and he didn’t o dash back to his room. “I’ll buy it.”

  XP240/240 -> 40/240Spell AcquiredTricks

  “Stabilise, Guidance, Fme Bolt, and Tricks.” Adam sighed. “I’ve covered all the bases.” There was still a knot withi, but he did feel lighter. “I’ve had quite the day today…” He closed his eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Good night, Bell.”

  [Good night, Jack.]

  “…”

  When he awoke in the m, he donned his armour and strapped his bde to his side. He clutched at his are focus, which was always within arm’s reaewhere. His heavy steps revealed his preseo the adventurers in the m.

  Many had already fiheir breakfast and chosen their quests, others went elsewhere to rex and spend their , rather than alongside other brutish and sweaty adventurers.

  Jurot waved at Adam, sitting in the er and mid way through his sed breakfast. “Adam son of Fate, e.”

  Adam had nothier to do, so he grabbed a bowl of pe and a few boiled eggs, before sitting down beside Jurot. He salted and peppered his eggs, and slightly salted his pe. “M,” Adam said.

  “Good m,” Jurot replied. “Do you not train in the m?”

  “When I feel like it,” Adam replied back. “If I’m not w, I train. If I work, I find I work better if I don’t train.” He tried to be careful to not offend the Iyrman.

  “I must train every m, for that is the Way of the Iyr.” Jurot nodded, finishing his bread.

  Adam noticed the copper adventurer’s tag loosely dangling down in front of Jurot. It was stamped twice. “You got y?”

  Jurot nodded. “Yes.” He tapped his tag, revealing the two stamps, and smirked smugly. Usually people would get one or two stamps, but Iyrmen always received at least two.

  “I should probably get mihe reception had beey for a short while, so Adam had to wait.

  Once Adam was doh his food, a young man appeared at the front desk. He was fairly average looking in every way. Average height, dark hair, dark eyes. ‘How nondescript,’ Adam thought.

  Adam approached to greet him. “M,” he said. “I’m Adam. I hear I was meant to pick up my tag.”

  The young man looked up at Adam and nodded. He had been informed about Adam’s peculiar appearan advahough he had taken it only half serious. ‘By Arya’s might, he really is jacked as all hell. Tch.’ He had to make a mental o hand a silver to Braun.

  “Good m,” the young man replied. “I’m Tom.” He reached doced doper tag in front of Adam which had his amped across it. “This is your adventurer’s tag. Don’t lose it, or you’ll have to pay for a new one. If you do lose it, inform us as immediately as you . Make sure it’s visible when you enter any vilge, town, city, and whenever you enter any shops.”

  ‘So they rip me off?’ Adam just smiled, nodding his head. “Uood.”

  “You have to pay a gate fee, which depends on your rank. As a copper rank, you have to pay one copper piece each time you ehe town. If you don’t pay this, you’ll be in big trouble.”

  ‘What am I, a kid?’ Adam nodded again. “Uood.”

  “Each time you plete a quest, you will gain stamps. Since you…” He looked around, seeing the adventurers eating, a knowing that they were listening. “Since you have quite a few great abilities.” Tom reached down, revealing a small peg, which reminded Adam of a USB Type or.

  ‘It’s thihis time?’

  Tom pressed it in to the copper, the peg sinking in easily, removing the copper which met with it, tallying the tag three times. “One for being well versed in both magid martial abilities, for the deal you made with the Adventurer’s Guild, and your st ability which was firmed st night by a fidant.”

  Stamps Gained3

  Adam uood the reason behind the iional vagueness, merely nodding his head to Tom. “Great.”

  “You may take any quest from the board which is suitable for your rank. We will also search for a party on your behalf which your skills round out.”

  “There’s no need for that yet,” Adam said, shaking his head.

  “We, the guild, highly reend that you find a party. Solo adventuring is a dangerous game.” Tom stared at Adam, trying to emphasise his point.

  “I know it is, but that’s why I’ll take things at my own pace. I’m not going to join a party just for the sense of security it provides.”

  “Didn’t you want to find a family?” Jurot asked, approag them. He looked at Adam’s tag, which had ora stamp than his own. ‘…’

  “Sure, eventually. Right now, I want to take things at my own pace.” He looked out to the other adventurers. “Perhaps you’ve fotten but I have a particur skin dition of having pointed ears and eyes which see in the dark?” His voice dripped with sarcasm.

  Tom didn’t want to admit it, but that was a huge issue. The list of people Adam could join had probably decreased to a handful, and none of them would be people of this nd. All except…

  “I party with you,” Jurot said.

  ‘Thank the gods for Iyrmen,’ Tom thought, staring at Jurot. ‘You damned beautiful bastard.’ Iyrmen always made jobs easy for most receptionists in the nd, especially those within Red oak. Tom’s eyes theo Adam expetly. “Do you accept?”

  “Do I look like an idiot?” Adam asked. “Of course I’ll accept, it’s Jurot.” Even Adam, a retive strao the world, uood that one did not simply deny fighting alongside an Iyrman.

  Tom wasn’t sure what Adam meant by that. ‘Does he mean that because he’s an Iyrman?’

  Jurot had his own reasons to party up with Adam. ‘I’m a genius. If I party up with him, I find out what he wants to do and why he’s so suspicious.’

  “Well, since we’ve decided to form a party, is there anything we o do?” Adam asked.

  “We have some paperwork which you’ll o sign. This is a tempte of a typical party, where you two will split the loot equally between one another, and if you want to ge that, you’ll o speak to the guild and draft another tract. Everyone must sign the tract for it to be legitimised uhe eyes of the w.”

  ‘Bureaucracy,’ Adam thought, though he could appreciate the se behind it. “Half and half sounds fine.” He looked to Jurot. “Unless you think you’re worth more than me.”

  “I am an Iyrman,” Jurot said. “Half and half is fair.”

  “I should mention that yesterday I dropped my sword, but it wasn’t the only thing which dropped.” Adam winked.

  Persuasion CheckD20 + 4 = 17 (13)

  Jurot narrowed his eyes slightly, but nodded. “That is true.”

  Adam chuckled. “The’s sign the trad get to pig our first quest.”

  The pair signed away their o the tempte tract, where Tom first wrote their names in the party members se, had them both sign it, and then firmed the signing. “gratutions, you’ve formed a party. Do you have a name in mind?”

  “Half Elf and Iyrman,” Adam said as a choke.

  “Iyrman and Half Elf,” Jurot replied.

  “It was a joke,” Adam said, looking to Jurot. “There’s no way we’re calling ourselves such a b name.”

  “There is o think too deeply about our name,” Jurot said. “We should speime thinking of a name, and more time pig a quest.”

  “A name is what we go by. You have pride in the name Jurot, don’t you? Ju of the Rot family, Jurot son of Surot. Isn’t this the same?”

  “In a way,” Jurot admitted.

  “The’s piething which embodies us both. Something like…”

  “Muscle and Elf.”

  Adam almost choked on air. “No.”

  “Elf and Muscle?”

  “Still no.”

  “…”

  “…”

  “This is much harder than I expected.”

  “Something cool, like…”

  “…”

  “The Two…” He had a word he wao say, but he wasn’t sure he wa to be associated with him. ‘This really is harder than I expected.’

  Tom watched the two of them think of a name right in front of the reception.

  “Immortal Duo,” Adam said.

  “Immortal Duo?”

  “We will be immortalised once people hear of our deeds, our stories.”

  At first, Jurot had thought perhaps Adam had a bigger ego than he, but as he heard the reasoning, he slowly nodded along. “Our stories will be told feions!”

  “Until the end of days,” Adam said, smiling.

  Tom had gohrough quite some harsh training to bee a guild worker. He had to learn how to use a variety of ons. He recalled having fought Paul until he was half dying tless times. He was beaten to a pulp repeatedly. He had to learn hundreds of rules to recite back at the drop of a pin. Due to all his training, he was able to stop his face fring at their terrible name.

  “I’ll write that down, shall I?” Tom asked, keeping his voice even, not giving anything away.

  “Yes,” the pair replied.

  ‘Oh, by the gods…’