Finley and Fern walked towards the guildhall -- A four story building with a ruddy stone exterior located near the Western town gate. Large cherry stained-glass windows and trim made from thick beams out of the local dark oak added an imposing element to the building, making it feel sturdy.
The entry hall had bright mage lights keeping the room well lit. Directly ahead lay a help desk, with the right side leading to a massive wall filled with quests and missives and to the left lay an entryway with a gilded sign titled, Adventurer's Hall. A collection of people in eclectic gear and clothing swirled around, each carrying backpacks, weapons, satchels, and even the occasional glow of magical gear.
The two got into line, waiting for several minutes before talking to a clerk. "What can I help you with today?" the young clerk asked.
Finley answered, "Well, I've brought a sign-up who wants to sign a sponsorship contract with special conditions, do we have a solicitor available?"
I should find out what a sponsorship contract is, Fern wondered
The clerk nodded and pointed his thumb to a stairway on his left behind him, "Go up those stairs. You'll find an office for Larry about 3 doors down on the right. Knock on his door, and he should be available."
"Thanks," Finley replied, and the two walked up to the stairs to knock on Larry's door, his name showcased in bold golden letters against a black background.
A well dressed man in an expensive looking black suit opened the door, "Come in, come in, what can I help you two with. Names Larry by the by," he greeted in a deep smooth voice. "Feel free to sit down".
The room was adorned with bookshelves bursting with thick voluminous tomes. Many of them with bold lettering and thick spines. The musty scent of books and ink permeated the entire space.
Finley said, "We need a contract written up between us. I want to sponsor the boy for the guild, and in exchange, he'll agree to focus on completing quests for me. Now, Fern," he said, turning to me, "I want to offer another option. I'd be willing to sponsor guild training for you, in exchange for an additional six months of contracting. Guild training is like an apprenticeship. It costs more than the core, but you'll receive a good foundation to becoming an adventurer. If you plan on adventuring for a career, it's a good move. But if you want to move on in a year and find another path, then I don't advise this."
Fern took a moment to think about the offer. Do I want to be an adventurer? It's dangerous, but a respected and potentially lucrative path. Plus, I can do a trade as well as adventure. I talked to an old adventurer once. He said half of adventuring was waiting around. I think I should agree. Oh, I could get so wealthy doing this.
With his internal monologue out of the way, Fern replied, "Yes, I'd like to do the training. Why are you helping so much?"
Finley smiled kindly and said, "Oh think nothing of it. You remind me of my son years and years ago. You're a hardworking lad, and I don't think you'll run from me. You've been buying my wares fair since you got here. You barely even haggle. Haha. When you get as old as me, you learn to spot things. Anyways, Larry, let's work out those details."
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Fern was a touch chagrined. It's true, I don't haggle. Have I been overpaying this whole time? Well, I should probably negotiate during this meeting.
The three of them proceeded to hammer out the direction of the next two years of Fern's life. All told, the contractual agreement was worth 10,000 iron marks in value, with a 50% buyout penalty in case he wished to break the terms.
Fern would be offered six months of room and board, instruction, and training at the guild hall, in addition to a core implant. The guild would also pay for the first 1000 essence needed to help him reach level 10 during his training and adaptation period.
Fern had it explained just how crucial the first 10 levels would be. They would set his base stats. The first 10 levels would infuse his body with mana and develop his mana core with converted essence. If he didn't train his body physically, mentally, and magically, he would be weaker in the future. Once he heard that, Fern felt a burning desire to commit to the training, no matter how hard it would end up being.
After the training was over, Fern would be expected to take on local jobs on the adventurers board, and specifically one herb collection job a week, though he could complete multiple in the same week to bank up time for longer quests or weather a difficult season. With 60 weeks of 10 days a year, he would have 900 days to complete 90 quests. In addition, and with a bit of negotiation, Fern would only have to complete 5 special requests in the time. He had been wary of those, since they could contain terms and conditions that were more irregular and have harsher failure penalties than regular requests. With 10 months a year, 15 special requests would have just been too many.
In addition, Fern would only be required to pay 20% of his pre-tax earnings to Finley until he paid of the 10,000 essence. All told, that meant Fern would be keeping about 60% of what he earned adventuring. But Fern was highly doubtful he'd earn the 50,000 essence required to pay off his debt in a year and a half of adventuring. No way, that's like more money than my father earns in a decade doing labor. Fern thought.
With all the paperwork written up and the terms agreed to, Fern pricked his finger and signed, a magic sigil attaching to his hand. It flashed green showing that Fern understood the contract and clauses to a sufficient degree. Supposedly, this was one of the abilities that Larry the Solicitor had developed. Finley followed after, and a faint line shimmered between the two when their hands were about a foot apart.
"Well, that went smoothly," Larry chimed in, "By the way, my abilities allow me to imbue a short distance visual marker that represents intent to follow the terms of the contract. Green means it's being followed, red means it is not. If any issues arise, feel free to reach out to me or any of the Guilds attendants. Now, hand this paper to the receptionist, and you can pay the fee to the guild down below."
Fern wasn't sure he trusted the magic to read thoughts, but he hadn't really heard stories against it. Sometimes he wished he had a better father or childhood. There were so many details about higher society that he just didn't understand since he never had anyone to ask questions to.
With that, they went to the guildhall, where Finley handed the paper and a golden crown to the clerk. Fern's eyes went wide at the crown. That was worth more than all the money he'd seen in his life most likely. It was worth 10,000 essence. Enough to level a person straight to level 16.
After the exchange, Finley patted Fern on his back and said, "Well kid, I'll see you in a while. Good luck with training, and follow Evan's here to get situated. Good luck and work hard. The stronger you become, the better herbs you can get me eh. But play it safe. Don't want you to die out there. Just do your best."
"Thanks," Fern replied. "Seriously, Thanks," and as the old man departed, Fern had to struggle to fight tears from running down his cheeks.
