William had to if nothing else admire his Party’s curiosity. He did, however, feel tired after the seventh question that was either completely random, or unrelated to systems of the world or similar. The current one was how tax laws worked. They weren’t on Earth. William expected any form of tax to be like a game system with X amount in fees for certain things or buying from certain vendors. Milla gave John an inquisitive look at that question. Most likely assuming that John had great plans. John meanwhile, most likely didn’t want to pay the taxes with the money he had if any ever popped up.

Milla was polite and patient as she answered the question, saying, “Taxes vary from settlement to settlement, but typically, residents are expected to pay ten percent a month of their income in tax. This is ten percent of anything from a few coppers up to piles of gold, not that anyone in this region makes that much money monthly anyway. This keeps the system fair as more money means more tax, but those who have a bad month don’t get in trouble for missing tax pay. If someone can demonstrate their monthly earnings only cover their cost of living for that month, then they pay no tax. This is the most common method in free regions like ours.”

William normally found money talk boring. Any media he watched or read involving the complexities of it would bore him to no end, but he had to admit that such a tax law seemed rather fair. He did wonder if there was issues if people didn’t bother to earn more than what they need so they didn’t have to pay anything in tax, but he didn’t care enough to ask. He decided to get a question of his in though as there was a lull in Jane and John’s barrage of questions.

“The people from Fort Boulder. What are they like? I’m imagining a militaristic body that has its issues with other settlements?” William asked, looking for an answer from Denlar as he seemed the best one to ask as a security related official.

The man let out a tired sigh, making William unsure if it was the question, topic, or the group in question that prompted it.

Denlar seemed to take a couple seconds to think of his response and then replied, “The people at Fort Boulder themselves aren’t an issue. They are typically honest people doing honest work. The leadership is what makes them so dislikeable. All the local settlements, or those that survived the bandits, supply them with various basic weaponry and equipment. Settlements like ours direct our craftsmen to make such items. New settlements like yours will draw their attention, and not necessarily in a good way. I expect that your settlement doesn’t have many people with crafting Jobs?”

William shook his head as he replied, “We took in four locals that were survivors from one of the other fallen settlements. The two that remain are craftsmen to an extent, but not of weaponry. One of the two that is no longer with us at Greenwell was a blacksmith and did start to train some people in the job. I believe the man used some of the branches of wood from the local woodlands to create charcoal then reforged some of the weaponry we had taken from bandits to trigger the Job prompts using the charcoal as a makeshift forge. In the settlement defense, I believe we lost some of those new crafters.”

Everyone sat in silence for a brief moment out of respect for the dead before William added, “We still require more aid from you, but as we have already agreed on gratuities, I’m willing to offer our group’s services for tasks you need as payment for those services.”

He glanced to his party and saw that they were happy to go along with such a plan. He had worried about selling their services without their explicit permission so it was a weight off of his mind.

With a chuckle that could only come from someone long lived, Wylton said, “Adventurers eh? Normally, we would review your Adventuring licenses, but as you are newly integrated, you wouldn’t be able to demonstrate such an item. We can send a courier bird with a letter requesting temporary AU affiliation for yourselves at no cost as I for one would like you to do some tasks for me. I can’t leave the grove so need others that can to solve a few issues I’ve been having lately. I can guarantee that we will get receipt of the AU’s response by tomorrow morning. Our courier birds are extremely quick at travelling these skies. A...druidic special that they have for being born in the grove.”

William needed to ask as he thought that Wyrdlings, Rellzin, and Green Bees were the only creatures raised.

“So you guys raise and/or rear other creatures beyond the three we know of?”

Wylton gave a wide grin and replied, “Of course. The three you know of are only the ones we raise outside of Serendipity. We have two other species of animal within Serendipity. We have the Aeron Falcons and the Phaselings, cousin of the Wyrdlings. The Falcons are the courier bird we use, and the Phaselings...well, they are for special clients that need more services than what Wyrdlings can offer. Phaselings also are the only creature we raise with the spiritual capacity to form a bond with a member of a sapient species. Phaselings are also one of the more expensive animal services we provide. The one on your shoulder seems to like you.”

William snapped his neck to the left, then to the right. Neither shoulder had anything on them. He was about to turn back to face Wylton who had clearly pranked him, but stopped as he felt a sudden weight on his right shoulder. Suddenly, the air above his shoulder twisted and warped as a bat-like creature with glowing green eyes appeared atop it. As the two made eye contact, the Phaseling cocked its head at William, clearly curious about him.

William decided an [Identify] was in order:

{Ascension_Protocol}

Beast – Phaseling Pup – Level 1

Unbounded

{End}

William definitely saw the bat-like resemblance and was relieved it wasn’t ugly like the vampire bat back on Earth. He would have reacted worse if one of those appeared on his shoulder. It was something about the nose shape that bugged him. It was the same with Boars or Pigs. William always felt unease when he saw a flat snout or nose, like a crawling sensation under his skin. It was another reason why he avoided the farming places in his town back on Earth like the plague.

William decided to try and scratch the fur on its head and to his delight, the creature lowered its head in anticipation. The fur was incredibly soft and was a delight to scratch. He heard some subtle squeaking until it seemed to get board and phase away once again.

William flicked his head back to Wylton with excitement at the cool creature and said, “Is he still on my shoulder?”

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

William winced internally ever so slightly as he heard his voice sound a bit more childish than he had intended.

“He is, and has refused to leave it even with my Druidic...abilities. I could force it, but that wouldn’t be fair on him. I guess I can let you bond with him and take him on. The AU will pretty much guarantee newly integrated people become full members, so provisional membership is a certainty. I’ll have you do one of my extra tasks as payment. It will be a tougher one, however, as such creatures are not cheap to raise or buy. Fortunately for you, I have a particular task hard enough to warrant the exchange,” Wylton said, with a scheming expression on his face that made William feel slightly uneasy.

Milla pulled out what appeared to be paper forms from seemingly nowhere and walking around the table, lay a form in front of each of William’s party. William read the contents:

Adventurer Union Provisional Membership Form

The Primary Signatory agrees to join as a Provisional Member of the Adventurer Union. All Tasks that the Primary Signatory completes will be logged with their received payment. Any monetary value is taxed at 20%, payable on entry to any Adventurer Union affiliated building. For goods or favors received as payment, no tax applies, however, Adventurer Union services are not available for assistance towards completion of such tasks. Any tax violations or violations regarding use of Adventurer Union services will be heavily enforced with expulsion from the Adventurer Union and blacklist from all Adventurer Union services and buildings across the world. Further violation of blacklist and expulsion will result in bounties being placed on the Primary Signatory.

Benefits of Adventurer Union membership include priority service in any major city with an Adventurer Union hall, access to services that cannot be accessed by non-members. Assistance and legal protections are an additional service available to full members.

Full membership requires successful logging of three tasks and validated completion notices from the party requesting completion of aforementioned task or tasks.

Primary Signatory________________

Referral Signatory________________

The form was...interesting. William didn’t like the idea of pissing off such an organization, especially with how widespread they seemed to be. He and his party signed the forms as they needed to secure goods and services from Everglade for the sake of Greenwell. The forms were collected by Milla again after the signatures were complete and handed to Wylton that quickly signed all of them.

The old Druid stretched and spoke up once more, saying, “We all have things to do so may I suggest staying for the night in one of our Inns and when we meet tomorrow morning, we can discuss things further.”

The group stood up and nodded at the three councilors. As they were about to leave, William paused and turned back to ask, “Why were you so upfront with information about the grove, yourself, and Everglade as a whole? Some of it seems risky to be telling outsiders.”

Wylton smiled at the statement and without taking his eyes away from William and his group, stood up and the air suddenly became crushingly heavy, sending William’s group as well as Denlar and Milla down to the ground, struggling to breathe. As swiftly as it had came, the pressure dissipated and Wylton had sat back down looking unbothered by the six wheezing people on the floor in front of him. The councilors got up moments before William’s group. William had a feeling that was pressure from the man’s Aura. William had now started getting accustomed to his, but it was so inferior compared to what the old guy just pulled off.

“Wylton, I really hate when you do that,” Denlar said, pulling his chair underneath him and sitting back down.

Milla followed afterwards and the three were sat down as William’s group had gotten their shit together.

Wylton grinned incredibly wide and said, “I said those things as you seem like good kids and I alone am more than enough to protect this grove from anyone under level forty five. Anyone greater won’t have any remote interest in this region as they wouldn’t gain anything of remote interest to them.”

William made a mental note to never piss of the old guy as he and his group started their walk to the area where they had saw the Inns during their tour.

“That was...a lot to take in,” Jane said, looking around at the pretty floral artistry of Serendipity’s inner sanctum.

Stacey, who still held William’s hand replied, “It was, but I think we came off well from it and with William here, I’m sure we can breeze through any tasks they need solved.”

William leaned over and kissed Stacey on her forehead. She leaned into his arm closer as they walked. The evening had come as they left Serendipity and the group couldn’t help but gasp in delight as more alcoves and copses were illuminated with similar candles. The true beauty however, came from the faintly purple glow of the fungi sporadically present at the bases of most trees, only eclipsed by the luminous, blue moss that glowed brightly, creating an almost starry sky in the tree canopy above Everglade proper. The group had come to a stop underneath one exceedingly dense part of the canopy and looked up in astonishment as the moss almost formed constellations on their own. As the evening passed to twilight, Everglade was lit in a warmth of yellow candle light that was soft enough to not diminish the glow of the natural flora across the town.

William could have stayed outside enjoying the dreamlike panorama around them and knew his friends would most likely do the same.

He didn’t want to test if there was vagrancy laws in the town however, and said, “We should find an Inn soon, before they don’t have space. It’ll be free so why don’t we make the most of it?”

“I kinda like the idea of camping out here with this view,” Jane replied, seeming content from where she stood.

“I’m not sure if our hosts would appreciate us setting up camp in what might amount to a road or thoroughfare though Jane.”

Jane harrumphed and William saw the eyes of his sister that were oh so familiar. She would be stubborn. He had seen that look many times.

“C’mon be rational sis, I’m gonna find a nice and warm Inn for us. Who knows if it gets chilly here or not, and I highly doubt you can just make a fire in the middle of a wooden town.”

Jane was about to respond but stopped as she seemed to struggle for a counter. She mumbled something under her breath that only John heard, prompting a chuckle from the man. William was kind of curious at what she said, but his want to find an Inn room where he could take a more in-depth look into the bond stuff outweighed his curiosity as he was incredibly eager to learn more about it.

William started walking with Stacey, and noticed that John stood and waited for Jane to start walking before he did too. It didn’t take long for them to find an Inn with the sign reading The Sleepy Sapling. William almost laughed at the very fantasy game designer inspired name, but the place seemed warm and cozy so he led his party inside. The main room had several large tables with chairs and a bar to the far corner with stools lining it. The hall was about half full, so William had a good feeling that rooms were still available.

William and his party walked to the main counter running along the back wall beside a pair of wooden double doors. Behind the counter was a burly man with a dark complexion and long, blue hair that greeted them with a warm smile and wave.

William approached and the big guy said, “Greetings travelers, are you here for the night?”

William reciprocated the smile and replied, “Indeed, have you got any spare rooms? To be billed to Wylton of course,” William added at the end with a cheekier smile.

The big guy laughed at that and glanced to William and Stacey holding hands, then to John and Jane who were stood to either side. William could see some mental cogs turning in the guy’s mind.

The guy behind the counter took a moment before replying with a knowing grin, “Two rooms or Three?”

William chuckled at that and it took a minute for John to pull a ballsy move as he replied, “Two please?”

John looked at Jane who was blushing and saw her nod slightly at John.

William decided to mess with his friend and sister a little as he put on his best grin and with a chuckle said, “How good is your soundproofing?”

Stacey giggled at the quip as John facepalmed and Jane covered her beetroot face with both hands.

The big guy bellowed in laughter before replying, “good enough my friend.”