Squire showed more interest, so she went first.

  James drew Squire’s summon card from his deck and threw it into the air. He also drew the “On Bond” card and pressed it into the trigger slot. A prompt appeared and cards flew around him.

  Trigger Slot Assigned – On Bond

  Select Enhancement: Balanced Boost

  Focused Boost

  Augment

  Imprint

  Cleanse

  Drake Aspect

  Undead Aspect

  He plucked the Drake Aspect card from the air and pressed it into Squire’s field. The card was accepted instantly.

  James watched Squire keenly, with no small amount of concern. After roughly a minute he exhaled the breath he’d been holding.

  He looked closely at Squire’s card in confusion. Everything was in place correctly - yet no visible changes.

  Maybe… James played the card as well.

  Play Card - Squire (Common)

  - Enhancement slot: Augment (Swift) x3

  - Trigger slot: On Bond → Drake Aspect

  - Commander Passive: +2.5 All Stats

  Effects: Squire summoned.

  Squire’s Bronze embroidered Common card unfolded in the air, smaller than Charlie’s but no less deliberate. The familiar diamond film shimmered into place as the frame reached full size. The pale blue film of swift merged with the diamond as normal.

  When it got to the trigger setup, though, it was far different from normal. The trigger ‘On-Bond’ runes lit up with purple fire, then a deep red ‘shadow’ of the runes appeared.

  When Squire leapt through her card, the diamond and pale blue changes took immediate effect. The runes however appeared to ‘sink in’. As they did, the red shadow twisted into intricate patterns James couldn’t follow.

  Trigger Activated – On Bond (Drake Aspect)

  Effect:

  Drake Aspect Progress Increased – Squire: +10%

  Squire looked… altered.

  Not fully draconic, but touched by it. Her snout was a little longer now, scales faintly visible beneath her fur. Membranous folds rested along her sides, loose and light, like she might be able to glide if she tried.

  James blinked.

  “You look like a mini dragon.”

  Squire posed for a moment then ran up the side of the Crafters Hall entrance and leapt into the air. She fell almost immediately. Ouch.

  James smiled but encouragingly, not mockingly.

  Squire sped off to the Giant playground to get used to her new form. James suspected that the System gave some instinctual knowledge along with the Aspect as it wasn’t long before Squire was gliding around everywhere.

  Charlie barked imperiously.

  James dropped and started scratching his fur. The tail wagged encouragingly.

  “You will get your turn soon buddy. Would you like to join me outside while I go look for Edward?”

  Charlie nodded. He actually nodded.

  James had assumed that because of the physical change that occurred when summoned that the stats didn’t apply the rest of the time. But how else could it be explained?

  James left Squire playing and dropped out of Commander’s Space. It was only then he noticed that the white noise disappeared. There was definitely a mental feedback effect going on there.

  On a whim, he summoned Charlie using his card and sure enough he had all the outward appearance of the enhancements.

  “Can you understand me?”

  Charlie nodded.

  “Can you talk back to me?”

  Charlie barked.

  James set up his deck for the day as follows:

  Squire’s speed was now like cartoons and movies depicted a Squirrel on coffee. That would take her a while to get used to.

  He cleaned everything back up into his inventory then headed back to the commons.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Edward and Ken were not conveniently there. Funny that, they weren’t like NPC’s that followed a prescribed daily routine.

  Mark was there along with more guild members. Charlie received scraps from tables and allowed himself to be scratched in response. He seemed comfortable roaming here.

  James wandered over to the quests board.

  There still was only one silver quest listed for Darneath.

  James looked around for something to do. This had to be the first time he actually had free time and wasn’t reacting to something or setting up cards or leveling up. There was no Anne or Rock to push him along, and while he could go for some new gear, he wanted Edward or Ken there as well. Besides, was Joe even here?

  Speak of the devil, Joe walked in looking bedraggled. James realised he’d pigeonholed Joe as well. It’s not like he lived at his supply hall counter.

  Clearly Joe was well known as many waved and spoke to him.

  “Welcome back Joe,” said a burly guard. “Where’ve you been?”

  “Darneath captured us.” Joe said with a note of anger in his voice.

  Gasps and bursts of anger rang from the room.

  The Bronze Guide was clear on what happened to anyone that enslaved a Guild member and it was not pretty.

  “Turns out he was truly a slave merchant. Had special cages with ability nullifying cards embedded. That prick’s dead now, thanks to Janine and her crew. Most of his crew are dead too on Janine’s authority. Speaking of which, she’s asked me to post a new guild quest for aid moving the guild supplies back. Everything’s about a day away, deeper in Greywood Forest.”

  Joe put a corresponding notice on the quest board and pulled the Silver one down, handing it to the clerk at the counter. “Hold on to that until Janine gets back. She’s guarding the supplies.”

  The clerk nodded.

  The room returned to a slightly rowdier level of normal conversation. A few were angry but many more were cheering Darneath’s demise.

  It was then that James realised he didn’t have to do everything. Maybe Anne had plans for him, and maybe Bob would interfere with his life. Here, right now, he was not the hero. It felt good.

  He still got to his feet. Charlie returned to his side. He moved over to the quest board where others were also checking out the quest.

  Quest: Aid – Guild Supply Retrieval

  Location: Threat Level: Reward:

  There was also a map attached showing the exact location.

  Quest log updated. Map updated with quest location.

  Where was Edward and Ken!

  James slapped his forehead as realization hit him.

  He opened party chat.

  James:

  Edward:

  James:

  He opened his quest log and sure enough there was an option to share the quest to chat.

  James: Quest shared Aid – Guild Supply Retrieval.

  Location: Greywood Forest

  Threat Level: Bronze Rank

  Reward: Guild Reputation (scaled to volume of goods transported)

  Attached: Map Link – Supply Cache Route

  Edward:

  James then realised that there were a lot of people well equipped now to complete this quest.

  James:

  Edward:

  James:

  Ken:

  Distracted by texting while walking, James had to apologise for bumping into a few people on his way out.

  At Turk's Café there was a cup of coffee waiting. James looked at it, realising take away coffee was not a thing here.

  He added some milk and a little sugar before sitting down to enjoy it the proper way. He couldn’t steal the cup, and it really wasn’t that important that they rush out.

  When he was offered a slice of cake he caved in and enjoyed that too. Meanwhile, Edward and Ken finished their… brunch? He left a tip, unsure if that was normal here.

  They were on the road shortly afterwards.

  It would be three hours before they reached the relative danger of the forest. Another eight hours and they would reach the quest marker.

  James was going to use this time to fill some knowledge gaps. Meanwhile Charlie scouted out about 10 meters in all directions, frequently returning to James. He knew this was not play time.

  Squire had popped her head out long enough for a snack, before returning to her playground. Edward and Ken exclaimed at the changes but didn’t dig in too much.

  James threw his questions to the wind, allowing for either to answer.

  “I’ve been meaning to ask a few questions now that we’ve got some time.”

  Both nodded approval to continue.

  “I’m sure you’ve noticed that I’m different. Why haven’t you, or anyone else, questioned me about it?”

  Edward glanced at Ken who shook his head. Neither said anything.

  “Okay then. Would it be safe to say that you’ve been warned off asking such questions?”

  Ken nodded his confirmation. Edward looked uncomfortable.

  “Have you been encouraged to answer my questions as well?”

  Again Ken nodded.

  “Is someone forcing you to be in my party?”

  This time Edward reacted with what James took for sincerity. “No you idiot. We want to be here.”

  Ken nodded.

  Edward continued. “You are a lightning rod my friend. Life’s been very exciting since we met. When you told us what you were looking for in a party it resonated with how I feel too. We aren’t giving up on you just because some dungeon God has picked you out for special treatment.”

  Edward did a double take at his own words. He included Ken in his gesture. “We checked with each other and this is the path we want to take.”

  “Well, I used to tell people I was an open book, then spill some deep secrets I should not have, mostly relationship wise. I haven’t had that luxury in a while now. I want to share some with you.”

  A shadow separated itself from a tree along the path and rapidly approached.

  It was Sparrow, her bow hung on her back and no elements circled her arm.

  Charlie barked aggressively at the intruder.

  “Settle down now boy.” she said. “I have a message for your master”

  James motioned “friend” and Charlie’s demeanor changed completely.

  James mentally reviewed his situation. He was not alone on the road after all it seemed.

  “Anne wishes to congratulate you on your victory against the final wave and to give you these.”

  Anne hands over a set of metal engraved wrist braces.

  James knew better than to put them on straight away.

  “She also tasked me with shadowing you for a bit to see if you would say something inappropriate.” Sparrow said loud enough for Edward and Ken to hear several paces away.

  James hung his head. She was right. Anne was right. But keeping his new friends in the dark felt like a betrayal.

  Edward and Ken were not oblivious. There were guild secrets at play here and times where they would be left out.

  “Okay message received. Can I give you a message to take back to Anne?”

  Sparrow nodded.

  He took out the letter from Janine and handed it over. She took it.

  “Given you would have shadowed us anyway, do you have time to explain what, if anything, happens when leveling to silver?” James had spoken low enough that only Sparrow would hear.

  “My warning has been handed over, and package delivered. I will take this to Anne now.” she motioned to Edward and Ken. “They can tell you the guild standard information on ranking up. I recommend finding a silver guild member when you reach level nine though. Definitely before reaching level ten, preferably someone you trust as your life will be in their hands.”

  Squire decided that was a good time to join them. With a flash of light, she appeared on his shoulder, practically blinding him. He nearly tipped over too. She was considerably heavier now. Thankfully her finesse was also improved as she’d mostly sheathed her claws.

  Sparrow was ten meters away when James's vision cleared. Walking away, at what would be marathon walker speeds.

  Edward and Ken closed the gap again.

  Edwards look spoke volumes. “Maybe one day”

  James sighed and trudged on.

  Edward and Ken did give some information on leveling to silver though.

  The easy part was reaching level ten. That was the bare minimum to rank up. After that you would receive a quest that would take you on a spirit journey. No one could help you on that journey, but as a result you gained a spiritual aspect. That spiritual aspect was like candy to spiritual monsters and like a newborn, you were completely defenseless to them. Sparrow’s warning now made a lot of sense.