40 "THERE ARE NO ALLIES, ONLY BODIES"(chapter 40)

prevoius on chapter 39

The moon was bright as it hung above Buldurs Gate, casting a silvery glow over the city's surfaces. Adam walked between buildings, the cobblestone streets quiet at this late hour. Finding a particular alleyway, he knocked on a small compartment. The person behind it flashed a small badge, then closed the compartment and opened the door to let Adam in. It led to what seemed like a bar, but he bypassed it, entering another door that led to a cellar where several figures were gathered. Among them was a humanoid boar at a reception desk. Adam handed over the fangs without a word. The man grunted, examining the fangs before tossing a couple of gold coins to Adam, who accepted them without a word. This silence was due to Adam's early days when he didn't know the language well, giving the residents here the impression he was either mute or simply preferred not to talk. Either way, it worked in Adam's favor, helping him avoid unnecessary trouble.

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After the exchange, Adam swiftly left the cellar, the noise and lawlessness fading as he ascended back to the surface. There, he bumped into a small dwarf woman with a green hood. "Oh, I am sorry," she quickly apologized as Adam nodded, maintaining his silent facade. Another figure arrived, a human man in a brown hood. Adam continued on his way as the two figures went their own direction. "I know that look, Krydle, don't even start," said the dwarf woman to her male human companion. "Which look is that?" Krydle inquired. "The macho, 'Shandie, I don't want you getting pulled into my terrible past' look," she replied, mimicking his voice. "We are partners, damn it. I have saved your butt too many times to let you go just to get yourself killed," Shandie stated firmly as they entered a particularly unfriendly-looking building.

Meanwhile, Adam entered a blacksmith shop where he worked as an assistant. This was one of the odd jobs he took when he first arrived in Buldurs Gate, the first being a cargo mover, unloading boxes from newly arrived ships at the port. The second was this blacksmith shop, where he learned the art of metalwork, planning to create his own artifact. Today, he was here to either clean or watch Master Uther, a muscular dwarf, work. The heat from the forge was a bit uncomfortable, but Adam didn't mind. Blacksmithing wasn't his main pursuit; in fact, he only came here to learn and observe.

Aside from blacksmithing, Adam visited several shops, admiring potions, magic-engineered items like mechanic bots, magic scrolls, and enchanted weapons for sale. He purchased what he could afford, storing some in the pearl and the rest in his magic pouch in case of emergencies when he didn't have mana. Speaking of mana, this world had the same mana particles as his world, only more abundant. Yet, due to specialized magic tools and magic towers in Buldurs Gate, Adam had access to finite raw mana that he could refine, which was why he often ventured into the forest.

Adam found himself inside Uther's blacksmith shop, rearranging Uther's work to display it in the front of the shop for customers to inspect. Uther himself was sound asleep in another room connected to the shop. "Well, that should be it," Adam said with a smile after finishing the rearrangement, dusting off the shop and preparing it for another day of business. "Time to get started." He changed out of his leather shirt into a cotton one before tending to the furnace. From it, he carefully took out a small silverish ore. "This thing took nearly all of my two months' savings. mithril, its Supposed to be lightweight and durable, so it should make a nice, lightweight sword." Content with the ore, Adam drew on his one month of blacksmithing experience gained from reforging nails, tongs, and plates to begin his own project: crafting a sword.

As the sun rose on Buldur's Gate, a certain bedroom door within the shop creaked open, and a small figure emerged — the dwarf Uther, Adam's employer. Uther was shorter than Adam, with brown hair and a fairly toned physique. Groggy from sleep, he ruffled his hair, the clanking of metal drawing his attention. "What's that darn kid doing this early in the morning?" he muttered to himself as he entered the furnace room. What he found was Adam, bare-chested after changing into his cotton shirt, hammering away at a cylindrical-shaped silver metal. Beads of sweat trickled down Adam's more pronounced muscles, glistening in the dim light. A single glance was all it took for Uther to burst out shouting, "What the hell are you doing, you disheveled iron golem!" This made Adam stop, turning towards Uther with a smile. "You're awake," he remarked as he ceased hammering, watching Uther stomp over to him.

"Of course, I'm awake. You're pounding this wee mithral like a female goliath. You've got to be gentle with it; it's lightweight, not heavy," Uther lectured Adam, who actually enjoyed the lesson. After receiving an earful, Adam had at least completed the framework for the sword. He wasn't nearly finished — he intended to use this sword for a while, enchant it with multiple spells, and that wouldn't be created in an instant. So he planned to take his time with it. After the lesson was over, in the middle of the day, Adam left the shop. He scoured the upper market, looking for metals, much like how he found the mithral metal covered by impurities. This had become somewhat of a habit for him.

Adam found himself chewing on a strange but delicious fruit as he examined a blue crystal at a market stall. "Yeah, man, let me tell you, this mana stone, I'm selling it real cheap, just a couple of coins," the stall owner, a small gnome, pitched the crystal containing mana to Adam, who decided to purchase it. "Hmm, might as well. Who knows what I can learn from this," he pondered to himself as he continued through the bustling market. Practicing his spells along the way, Adam eventually left the city to hunt a three-headed bear. As expected, the encounter resulted in some injuries, but thanks to the star formations, Adam minimized the damage to superficial wounds. Afterward, he returned to the city earlier than usual, only to hear chaos erupting near the parliament meeting hall. The Parliament of Peers governed Buldur's Gate, but politics didn't interest Adam much, so that was the extent of his knowledge.

Adam was about to head back to the shop when suddenly, someone was thrown out of a nearby establishment and straight into Adam's arms. He caught the person, a woman, who turned out to be a blonde-haired half-elf bleeding from her arm. "Aghhh, that hurts!" the half-elf woman exclaimed in pain. Another figure was thrown out of the bar, revealing the same dwarven woman Adam had met the other night, who was actually a halfling. 

**ROAR** Suddenly, a creature emerged from the bar, a human woman halfway through her werewolf transformation. "What the hell is that?" Adam exclaimed as the half-elf woman healed herself with magic, revealing her to be a sorcerer. "Not what, but who. She's our friend," said the halfling woman as the almost-werewolf woman lunged towards them. "Back away!" warned the half-elf woman urgently, attempting to conjure a shield. The werewolf-woman tore through the shield, but just as she was about to attack her ally, a chain of stars appeared, intercepting her claws. The stars wrapped around the werewolf, their sharp edges piercing her skin. **ROAR** The werewolf roared in pain.

Meanwhile, a large, built man with a strange purple mark on the right side of his face ran out of the bar, still bleeding. "Nerys, no, we're your allies," he pleaded with the werewolf-woman, now identified as Nerys. Strangely, she responded, "There are no allies, ONLY BODIES," trying to break free from the star chain, which Adam tightened, adding pressure.

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A/N Well, here's another chapter. Anyways, Adam is going to gain most of his technological advancements from here, but he won't dive into it yet (as he has to find a way to not be squishy). His plate will be full for a while. Anyways, enjoy 20 chapters of Adam and his D&D shenanigans before he goes back to Marvel (which is where I am at).