Wylton and William sat down at the large table, William’s attention rapt. He was finally going to get some answers.

“As you are aware by now, William, techniques are embedded in one’s mind upon meeting the criteria of the person who created the technique or technique tome. Typically it’s upon getting a handle of the initial information the learner is provided. Once that criteria is met, your mind receives an intuitive level of understanding for the technique. The mind, however, is not so simple as to just let you leave incomplete information unprocessed in there. The mind needs all the information received to be processed one way or another. Techniques manipulate the level of understanding that one’s mind has, and if the technique isn’t organized properly, your mind will begin to wander more and more,” Wylton said, taking a sip of tea from a cup near his part of the table.

William thought through Wylton’s words and found the depth of understanding the Druid had to be quite impressive.

“What happens if you never bother to learn a technique fully and leave the mind to wander without interruption?” William asked, concerned at the answer he’d get.

Wylton tapped his finger on the table in a kind of fidget before he replied, “Eventually, the mind gets stuck, trying to make sense of incoherent jumbles of information. This makes other things that were organized in the mind become disorganized and causes an exponential, downward spiral. Most often, it leads to death through the mind breaking. Techniques are powerful, but incredibly dangerous. Tell me a bit about yours. I’m guessing it’s a combat related one?”

Wylton eyed the sword sheathed at William’s side as he finished his sentence.

“The techniques are from a Tome holding the various sword-forms of the Art of the Arcane Sword. I’m in the process of getting the third form down, but not had the most time in the world to try and gain the full understanding. I’m also in the process of trying to change my fighting style as I had started to get more reliant on my skills than I’d like to be. From what you’ve said, I’m guessing that’s why I keep getting distracted.”

Wylton stroked his beard in thought, assessing William’s situation.

“We don’t have anything pressing right now that requires your aid, so take the time to get that technique down fully. I would also suggest taking the forms you do understand into account as you train. Full styles or Martial Art forms like yours have techniques that can be linked and combined seamlessly. Have you noticed such a thing from the forms you currently grasp?”

“Yes. Form one is primarily composed of slashing moves, whereas form two is mainly thrusting moves. I can mix them with relative ease, but it does tax my muscles somewhat. I guess that will change over time, but I can indeed interchange between the different forms.”

“Good. That’s very good. Think on what you currently understand of the third form and compare it to the first two you know. You should see similarities that will help you understand the soul of the technique. Techniques are born from a fervent belief in a style or practice that has been refined to such an extent that it can be passed on as a tangible manifestation,” Wylton said, finishing his tea and getting to his feet.

William arose also and replied, “Thank you, Wylton. I’ll definitely be practicing. On a separate note-” William looked over at the room he and Denlar had sat in. “-the remains of the two dead guards are in the room that me and Denlar came out from.”

“Denlar told me before he and Milla left. The bodies are already interred within Serendipity, being… mended to a presentable state for burial. I can control the inner workings of serendipity and had some roots emerge to pull the bodies inside the tree.”

William was astonished. That was a super convenient function. He also considered how it would work against invaders. Would the corridors shrink and crush interlopers? Would sharp wooden stakes skewer them like an invader? Would the roots emerge and strangle enemies to death? Maybe they would rip the people apart through brute force.

Wylton tapped William’s arm, bringing him out of his musings and returning his attention to the room. William and Wylton knew what had just happened.

“Get to training soon, William. It will get more frequent if you don’t and at a certain point, there is no point of return. You will eventually be too distracted to even learn the technique fully, sealing your fate.”

William nodded, taking Wylton’s sagely advice to heart. If he got that distracted in battle, William would be dead in a heartbeat.

Wylton raised his voice so everyone present could hear him.

“Thank you for your time. I have to take care of some other matters now, so leave when you are ready. You all know the way out. Information on the time of the burial will be circulated by Courier Bird.”

With that, the Druid vanished, William assuming he had picked another tree to emerge from somewhere in Everglade. He rejoined his companions.

“Mate, that was some good work,” John said, patting him on the shoulder.

“Surprisingly wholesome behavior, bro,” Jane added.

“Amazingly wholesome. You are so sweet, William,” Stacey said, wrapping her arms around him.

“Thank you so much William. You-” Maya shifted, nervousness visible in her body language. “-don’t know how much it meant back there. I was about to lose my entire livelihood with no destination in sight. You gave me a new opportunity. I’ll make sure not to disappoint you. I… need to speak to someone about my mental health too. I know that going to the burial will just get people to dislike me further once news gets out at what happened. I have to be there to see my friends… my comrades, be laid to rest though. It’s the least I can do for them. I know of someone in Everglade who’s great at helping the mind, and will go to them for help. What Inn are you staying at? I’ll join you there later as I’m going to head to the person I mentioned once we leave serendipity.”

“The Sleepy Sapling,” William said, putting an arm around Stacey.

“We’ll be there for the rest of the day as we have Greenwell matters to discuss with each other,” He added, starting to make his way to the exit, everyone else following.

The group left Serendipity and waved off Maya as she went a different direction. It wasn’t long before the group were sat at a corner table away from the other parts of the Inn’s main lobby, finger food and tankards of various drinks sprawled out between them.

William made sure other people weren’t too near before he said, “Okay, let’s go over the things we need from Everglade.”

Jane was the first to reply, finishing off a skewer of meat she had been attacking.

“We need more food as I don’t think the Lynx population nearby will exist for much longer if we don’t get other types of meat. It would be better if we could get some livestock to rear ourselves on one of the hills outside Greenwell. We could have builders make a barn of some kind for them and turn said hill into a pasture of some form.”

William had to admit that his sister made a very good point. Getting food was nice, but self sufficiency for food sources was significantly more important.

“Good idea, sis. John, what about you? Any thoughts on things we need?” William said, looking to the left of Jane where his friend was drinking a goodly mouthful of ale.

John stopped, wiping some beer froth from the corner of his mouth before replying, “We need someone like a city planner to help with a layout for future buildings and growth, including manageable defenses. We also need stronger material than just wood. I haven’t seen anything other than wooden buildings here however, so I’m not sure how this place could facilitate that. Maybe there’s another material or some kind of enhanced wood that is stronger than the regular stuff we use.”

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“Another great suggestion-” William took a swig of his own ale, enjoying the more citric version of John’s drink. “-we do need a future structure for Greenwell that is scalable. We also need more experienced builders. It was a larger loss than I wanted to admit when Noctis disappeared, but he was a decent builder. We need someone of similar quality to continue teaching those of us that had started learning under Noctis for the builder Job.”

Stacey, who had been eating a small bushel of purple berries, put her food down and spoke up, “We need a mode of transport. If we could get some of those Rellzin and a few carriages, we could organize trade goods through those, as well as shorten the time it takes for us to come and go from here.”

William applauded her idea, and kissed her on the forehead as he replied, “Fantastic idea. We could also do with having a road constructed between our two settlements. That will speed things up even further. Less chances to be ambushed or attacked by wild critters or roaming assholes.”

William paused, summarizing everything that had been suggested in his head before he spoke once more.

“So we have suggestions for food, construction, and transport. We also need to work something out for trade. We need to start producing something or teaching something to generate a form of revenue. We can’t just copy what Everglade does by asking for the resources and know how of their operations, as they would just be able to do it better and dominate us in getting trade from other places. We need something that will be our own. Let’s all think on what that could be. I have an idea but it would take some time to arrange, and I mean like several months most likely.”

His friends looked at him with curiosity.

“What you thinking? Nothing too dangerous I hope?” Jane said, eyeing William with suspicion.

William held his hands out in a peace making gesture as he replied, “Nothing of the sort. I was thinking some kind of archery academy that our mother could run and teach at. We just slap on a fee for study and then we have a source of income. Facilitating that all would take a lot of time and resources however, so it’s not an immediate solution.”

“Mum would love that I think. She could use the added distraction,” Jane replied, her eyes tinged with sorrow.

William knew why the distraction would be good. The loss of their father had been hard, and still was. William and Jane were off doing new things and meeting new people, but what was their mother doing right now. Her husband was buried, and her children were miles away. It wouldn’t be the first or last time that things would be like that. A big distraction and project would help significantly.

“I agree. That’s a future source of income as well. I have another idea, but it is dangerous,” William said, getting a flat stare from Jane.

No one spoke, just waited, and William continued, “I’m thinking of showing some of the stronger members of Greenwell where the dungeon I discovered is and then they could act as tour guides to lead budding adventurers to it. We ask for a fee up front for showing the people interested where it is. We also get thirty percent of any gold rewards and a thirds of any potions awarded. Down the line, once I’m proficient with the whole Arcane Sword thing, I can take anyone else on as an apprentice of the art for another fee.”

John smirked and said, “With that idea, added to the one for your mother to teach archery, I’m picturing Greenwell becoming some combat focused settlement in the future.”

William shrugged, seeing his companions look at him with intrigue.

“Who’d pick a fight with a place that trains people to pick their fights and win? Everyone in Greenwell would be safer for having that sort of culture. Not a barbarian style one mind you, but more of a way to get new people involved in martial arts. They can then go on to protect themselves and their loved ones as an example. If we make money from it, that’s a big, big boon.”

William watched his companions think on his point and they all eventually agreed.

“Good. We could also get Devlin to lead production of wooden weapons like bows and spears, being a carpenter. He can train some others too, and then we will have an endless supply of our own weapons as well as an abundance to sell. We then need a blacksmith to replace Noctis along with the facilities for a proper forge and then we can melt a lot of the weapons we seized from the dead bandits and turn them into other weapons, or tools. If we are to lean into the combat training route, then weapon manufacture is a perfectly good option to complement Greenwell and generate more revenue. With that revenue, we can import stuff from other settlements that Everglade can’t provide and prosper further.”

The group discussed the finer points of what they wanted to ask from the councilors for a couple more hours until Maya appeared, her eyes were slightly red and her cheeks were damp. She had been crying it seemed. William grabbed another chair from a nearby table and put it on the other side of him. Maya took the seat gratefully.

William requested some food and drink for Maya and was pleased as it arrived quickly. William shifted the topics discussed towards more idle chit chat as he didn’t want anything big being discussed while Maya was dealing with things. She needed a simple evening meal of fun and cheer.

As the night came, so did a Courier Bird, stating that the burial service would be conducted at midday the next day. The group retired to bed shortly after that, Maya getting her own room next door to William and Stacey’s own.

Morning came and the group ate a hearty breakfast, preparing for the burial service. William was mentally preparing for confrontation as he noticed stares from some people passing by them that all focused on Maya. A large assembly of people were gathered in the wide clearing between the main town and Serendipity. Two large capsules made of twisted roots and vines formed coffins that held the repaired corpses of the two dead men.

Near to the one that had originally been abducted, an older man stood, his hands clenched into fists as he gazed at who William assumed was his son or nephew or something of the like. Beside the one that Maya had said was called Forn, a young woman and a small child stood. They were both teary eyed and grief stricken, grieving the loss of the man.

William made sure that his group were at the back of the gathered crowd and as unnoticeable as possible. Hopefully the burial would take place soon and they could be on their way to settle the favors owed.

It wasn’t going to be so smooth however, as they heard someone say loudly from the opposite end of the back line, “Hey, that’s her!”

The man was pointing straight at Maya. Heads turned, including those of the grieving families. All were staring at William’s group. He looked to the podium where the councilors stood, talking amongst themselves about the commotion.

The grieving mother was the first to kick off the verbal barrage.

“You! You took him from us. How could you?!”

Loud murmurings turned into a chorus of grumbles and emotions.

“And so it begins.” William thought, making sure he and his friends were surrounding Maya.

William couldn’t care less what these people thought of them, but he didn’t want Maya to take the flak head on. He could handle it. That was what he told himself anyway. He scanned the crowd. There was about two hundred people present. His intelligence stat making that kind of calculation easy to estimate. There were a lot more people in the town as a whole, he had seen that in the hustle and bustle of Everglade. This was a large chunk, but not the majority. Swaying these people might be tough, but not impossible.

That was when a half eaten fruit was thrown their way. William willed Echo to intercept it. The little guy caught it in flight and started eating it. William patted the Phaseling as it ate the fruit from his shoulder, having just landed atop it.

“Who the fuck are you?!” An angered man asked, rage plastered across his face.

William wasn’t going to let this go on. He flared his aura, conveying his own anger and let it wash over the crowd.

“I’m the Bloodbane. A diplomatic guest here to pay respect to your fallen friends. You have the audacity to throw objects at us. Is this how you treat people not from here? You will stop this farce and focus on paying your respects peacefully. You’ve just caused more stress for those grieving, inciting emotions that aren’t appropriate here. This is supposed to be a fucking burial service and you are trying to turn it into a brawl and lynch mob. You all have anger towards Maya yet don’t seem to care about one of you ruining an event to pay respect to the dead. Let me tell you something mate-” William fixed his gaze on the instigator. “-if you did that in Greenwell at a similar event, I’d have already cut your fucking head off. Be thankful I’m here and playing by the rules of your town. Now can everyone focus on paying their respects to the dead. Instead of us. Leave the bullshit until afterwards at least.”

William's hands trembled and sweat was soaking his back. His anxiety was raging in his head, being the focus of so many, but his anger sustained him and he had enough intuitive understanding of his aura to control what emotions were conveyed to an extent. He did this by making his anger flood out in it, making the anxiety tiny in comparison. Someone looking deeper would see the anxiety, but no one other than those with Auras like Wylton would notice that detail.

Wylton’s voice boomed then, amplified with magic.

“Cease this display at once! That group are diplomatic guests and this is a burial. Though I do not approve of the way William there had explained his reasoning, he is correct in essence. Any disputes can be resolved after the service is concluded. Any attempts to harm official visitors from another recognized settlement will be stopped and the offenders will be arrested. Maya is also no longer a citizen of Everglade, and has gained citizenship in Greenwell. She is now a diplomatic guest, until the end of the day after tomorrow where her banishment order will be executed. Now, let’s focus on what matters here and now; the dearly departed.”

William watched as many angered eyes turned away and silence sounded once more.