Taygak huffed at Adam. She was a Devilkin, one of the three races of the Iyr, and also the eldest of the children. She marched up to Adam and poi the picture. “It Taygak,” she said, pointing to herself in the picture, revealing one of three Devilkin Iyrmen in the picture.

  She poio each child, stating who they were, from Adam’s Cousin, Turot, a Human Iyrman, to her own brother and cousin, Saygak and Raygak. There was also Katool, who had slightly longer hair in the painting, and then there were the twins, Damokan and Kalokan. “It Lanarot, and Princess Mina,” she said, pointing to the babies oher end, one of them being the only Merman in the Iyr.

  “Oh silly me,” Adam said, brushing her hair gently. “So it is.”

  Turot shook his head, huffing. “You joke too much, Cousin Adam.”

  “Was it a joke?” Adam replied, only to smile at the fusion on the boy’s face. “Thank you, Vonda. It is such a great gift. If I don’t ent your maow, how I have any self respect?”

  Vonda smiled. She knew Adam was as queer as he owerful. After seeing him floor Turot’s parents and Taygak’s mother, three Iyrmen in two days, she stopped applying any on seo the Half Elf.

  Adam tio stare at the painting for a long while, noting how the children were all sitting down. “How did you mao keep the babies still for a painting?”

  “I didn’t,” she replied. “Sonarot and Lady Elowehe babies still long enough for me to sketch them, and I paihem whilst they were pying by themselves.”

  Adam ughed, before pg the cainst it. “I’ll be sure to keep it safe. One day they’ll all be grown up and I’ll cry sihey’re not my adorable little Cousins any longer.”

  “Taygak grow big and strong,” the Devilkin girl said, nodding her head at Adam.

  “Me too,” Turot said. “I will be like cousin Jurot!”

  “I bee big like sister,” Katool said, holding up both of her hands as though she were holding a staff.

  “I will be strong like Jaygak, but I will be smarter,” Raygak said, gng around for a moment to see whether his sister had returned, before snickering.

  Damokan caught Adam’s eyes, and the young boy slowly nodded, holding his twin sister’s hand, who was sitting taller and straighter.

  Adam smiled, returning the nod back to the boy. ‘Don’t worry, I remember our promise.’

  Saygak chose to remain silent, but smiled as the others stated their own preferences for what they wished to bee.

  “Mama! I give gift?” Taygak asked, looking to her mother, who Adam had beaten but weeks ago.

  Kaygak nodded her head, allowing her daughter to rush off, all the while the other children looked towards their parents, before bolting off, all but Turot.

  “Gifts?” Adam said, watg them as they all quickly returned with items in hand.

  “Big boy Adam,” Taygak said, reag up with a small cy cup. It was crudely made, quite thid short, no doubt something the girl had made.

  “This is for me?” Adam asked, pig up the cy pot from the girl, feeling the roughness of the pot within his soft hands.

  “Birthday,” Taygak firmed, nodding her head.

  “Oh my,” Adam said, brushing her hair. “Thank you so much Taygak.”

  “My turn,” Raygak said, holding up a scale in hand, on its side within his palm. It was the colour of sand, though felt solid in Adam’s hand. “It is a Wild King Cobra scale.” Raygak smiled. “Grandmother slew it when she went to avenge aunt Chayrot.”

  “Wow, yrandmother is s, isn’t she?” Adam said, smiling at the boy.

  “She was very strong,” Raygak agreed with a nod of his head.

  “I have something too,” Saygak, Raygak’s cousin, said. He held up a scale too, though it was made of a familiar wood.

  “Is that a stormwood scale?” Adam asked, accepting the scale, feeling the light tingle of the stormwood against his fiips. It was a dark colour, not quite bck or brown, but between the colours. Within the wood were small flecks of blue, which crackled.

  “Yes,” Saygak said.

  “Are you sure you want to give this to me?” Adam asked. He recalled how difficult it was to chop down a stormwood tree, and how it had hurt so bad.

  “Yes,” the young boy said.

  Adam hadn’t known Saygak long. He had ging, whatever that was, with Turot for a few months. Wheurhey pyed Warriors and Waogether, the game he had created for the children. “What a lovely young man you are.” Adam pat his head too, something which all Iyrmen, regardless of age, seemed to enjoy.

  Saygak smiled nervously, before allowing Katool to go , as she was far too excited.

  “What’s this?” Adam asked, taking the drawing from her.

  “It is you, Cousin Adam,” Katool said, as though it were obvious.

  There urple sti the middle, which Adam assumed was his puthral pte mail, and a dark stick that looked almost like a sickle. “Is that Phantom?”

  “Yes,” the girl said. “It is you in your armour and it is Phantom. Here is Lanarot,” the girl said, pointing to the other blob which was blue.

  ‘Oh,’ Adam thought. ‘So that’s what that was. I thought it was a shield.’ “Of course it is,” Adam said. “Wow. You’ve certainly captured how cute she is. Thank you so much.” Adam ruffled her hair, causio smile up at him, before she retreated to her mother shyly.

  Damokan and Kalokan both came together, holding up a metal scale for him. One was dark, the colour of pooled blood, and the other was the colour of a dark night, a small streak which looked like lightning across it.

  “Whoa,” Adam said, accepting the scales. “These look cool.”

  “Bloodsteel,” Damokan said, who had passed over the dark red scale.

  “Stormsteel,” Kalokan said, who had passed over the dark blue scale.

  “Thank you so much.” He smiled, petting their heads, before they too retreated, as quiet as ever. He hadn’t expected any gifts from the children. ‘To think my little Cousins are so cute.’

  Turot was staring at Adam, with a ile on his face. The boy remained silent, and Adam threw him a quick look, waiting for a moment. ‘There’s no way he didn’t get me something, right?’

  “Well, I didn’t expect to have so many gifts from all the children,” Adam said, smiling down at them. “I believe it’s Katool’s birthday soon too, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Katool replied, staring up at Adam. “Soon.”

  “Then I’ll o figure out what to give you,” Adam said.

  Turot cleared his throat. “I have a gift for you too, Cousin Adam.”

  “You do?”

  Turot smiled. “It will be given ter.”

  “Later, you say?” Adam asked. “Is it because you fot so now you o go find me something?”

  “I did not fet!” Turot decred. “It is the same birthday as cousin Jurot.”

  “Right,” Adam replied. “Speaking of which, I should probably send him a message telling him happy birthday.”

  “How will you do that?” Sonarot asked.

  “I’ll use Sending,” Adam replied, before cheg his spells.

  1st Gate: prehend Languages, Healing Word, Hex, Identify, Shield, Summon Familiar, Cure Wounds, Sleep, Thunderwave, Bless, Chaos Bolt, Thunderous Smite, Wrathful Smite, Heroism, Arm, Create or Destroy Water, Detect Magic, Detect Poison and Disease, Expeditious Retreat, Feather Fall, Goodberry, Hunter's Mark, Inflict Wounds

  2nd Gate: Mirror Image, Suggestion, Blur, Spiritual on, Find Steed

  3rd Gate: Adam’s Tower, Revivify, terspell, Fireball

  ‘I don’t have Sending?’ Adam thought.

  “Ah,” Sonarot replied. “You had mentioned you would send messages bae when you were out adventuring.”

  “Yeah, but apparently I don’t know it,” Adam said. ‘Hey, how much is Sending?’

  [3000XP]

  Adam raised his brows in surprise at the amount. ‘What the hell, Bell? How is it so expensive?’

  [You possess a rge number of spells so the price of spells has increased.]

  Adam still wasn’t sure how the system he possessed worked. Bell seemed to be a liviy within him, or around him, he wasn’t quite sure. He could pid choose abilities within any of the many csses within the system, including the archetypes within each css too, each costing him a certain amount of XP.

  He recalled times when he received a rge number of XP from something, and then ter on something simir gave him much less. Now that he was an Expert, which seemed to be someone who was Level 5, the XP he received ged, and he was under heavy penalties from pig abilities.

  ‘Hold on, does that-‘

  “Adam?” Sonarot called, noting how he had spaced out during his versation with Bell, and then his thoughts about the system.

  Adam blinked. “Oh,” Adam said. “I fot that there were other people around.”

  The others stared at him with a curious look, but they had long bee used to Adam’s antibsp;

  “Adam,” Vonda said. “Are you alright?”

  “Yeah,” Adam replied. “I just found out that things have beore difficult for me.”

  “In what sense?”

  “In the sehat I ’t gain so much power so quickly any more,” Adam said, sighing.

  Though his statement was ridiculous, as even the most talented of people in the world were uo achieve the status of an Expert within a single year, they uood that Adam was just like that.

  They ate the pe which the Ool family had made, along with the various fruits which had been cut up. There was also a some boiled eggs which Adam dipped into some salt, preferring to eat the protein rather than the pe.

  “Are you still dieting?” Sonarot asked, staring at the young Half Elf with a bnk gaze.

  “I’m eating a light meal here so I eat more dessert ter today,” Adam replied. “I might make some pizza too si’s my birthday.”

  Sonarot smiled. “Si is Jurot’s birthday and yours, we shall go to the family estate.”

  “Alright,” Adam replied, biting into a boiled egg. “If that old man hasn’t brought me a good gift, I’m going to bully him.”

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  A post during Xmas? No way. This TaiBot guy is so nice! Enjoy the tle Slice of Life for now, since it disappears, so does our precious Lanababy.

  Old man Jarot chapter?