Ultimately, the revelation of how Duncan landed in Kuno didn’t change much. Yes, now he knew Walter Mayfield, or maybe someone he worked for, had gone to the trouble of sending Duncan to Neta, but he couldn’t bring himself to care why. The fact of the matter was that he was on a better path now than he would’ve been if he’d arrived in Corvelin as intended. If anything, he was grateful for the headmaster’s interference.

  That didn’t mean he was naive enough to think the old man had Duncan’s best interests at heart. There were sure to be repercussions in the future, but he decided to deal with them then instead of worrying about them now.

  “Duncan, we’re up.” Phevona’s words brought Duncan out of his thoughts, and he stepped forward to stand at the front desk of the Adventurers’ Guild. Five Guild officials worked to process and aid the line of people waiting for help, and the young-looking dwarven man their group now stood in front of looked haggard and overworked.

  “Welcome to the Adventurers’ Guild. My name is Storn. What can I help you with today?” The dwarf, Storn, addressed them in a professional though tired voice.

  “We are here to register with the Guild. We just advanced to tier one.” Phevona’s response was direct and to the point. Duncan knew that his new sister, as she had insisted he refer to her as, had been dreaming about this day for most of her life. At that moment, there was nothing emotionless about her other than her outward appearance.

  “Understood,” Storn replied. “Please wait a moment.” The dwarf briefly disappeared into a room behind the giant reception desk, then returned holding an intricate blue scroll. “This is a tier five compendium scroll. Do you all consent for me to identify each of you and record your information?”

  All three of them nodded at Storn’s question. “Very well. Whoever wants to go first, please hold out an arm.”

  Phevona stepped forward, extending her right arm over the desk. Storn held the still-closed scroll against her skin. One moment and a brief flash of white light, and it was finished. Storn pulled the scroll back and unraveled it before speaking. “Name. Phevona O’Leo...” He didn’t even make it past the first line before his voice caught. He stared down at the compendium scroll for five seconds before his gaze returned to Phevona, who stared back at the dwarf.

  “Ah. Miss O’Leon. It’s a pleasure to meet you. If you wouldn’t mind following me, I’m fairly certain the Guild Master would appreciate handling your registration himself. Your friends are, of course, welcome to join.” All traces of the man’s earlier exhaustion were gone, and he smiled at the three of them as if they’d just told him he could go on a month-long vacation.

  “I understand,” Phevona answered, giving no indication that she was surprised. “Please, lead the way.”

  Storn quickly leaned over to whisper in the ear of one of the other Guild officials at the front desk, then stepped around the side, indicating for the group to follow. Phevona led the way, with Duncan and Sonny following close behind.

  “What’s the deal?” Duncan questioned his friends. “I thought we weren’t supposed to get any special treatment?”

  “Duncan, I know you’ve hardly left that estate since you got here, but did you forget who Neta is?” Sonny asked. “The matriarch’s house is the most important house in the clan. The clan is in charge of this entire city, and almost all the major houses in Kunora are a part of that clan. Did you think other people wouldn’t act differently toward the members of her family?”

  “I didn’t really think about it,” Duncan replied. “Every time I went into the city, Phevona was with me, and no one treated her differently then. I liked that it was so different from Earth. Our nobles always use their positions to get ahead.”

  “That’s because the O’Leons don’t advertise who they are. It’s not like there are paintings of the family spread throughout the city. Most people wouldn’t recognize her. And the O’Leons aren’t technically nobles, just important.” Sonny cut off as Storn led them past the mission boards and out of the main hall. A large crowd of adventurers surrounded the boards, likely searching for new missions for them and their teams.

  When they first arrived at the building, Duncan noticed it was one of the tallest buildings in the entire city. Now, they ascended a wide stone staircase from one floor to the next. One floor housed some kind of market. Another seemed to be a restaurant; one even looked like it was meant to lodge traveling adventurers.

  After climbing seven flights of stairs, they arrived on the eighth floor, where a single desk sat next to a similarly lonely doorway. Behind the desk, a male lizardkin with blue coloring searched through a massive stack of papers. The nameplate hanging halfway off his desk read ‘Secretary Donahue.’

  At the sound of their arrival, Donahue looked up in surprise. “Storn? Do you have an appointment with the Guild Master?” A quick shift of the paper mountain to look at the schedule attached to the desk was all the lizardkin needed to confirm Storn did not, in fact, have an appointment.

  “No,” Storn said and quickly continued before he could be told off for messing with the secretary’s schedule. “I have a group here for registration that I thought the Guild Master would want to handle personally.”

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  “Why would the Guild Master possibly want to handle something as simple as…” Before Donahue could finish, he spluttered to a stop upon looking at the compendium scroll Storn had handed him.

  “Of course. Thank you, Storn.” The secretary stood and addressed Phevona in a respectful tone. “Please wait a moment while I check to ensure the Guild Master is available.” A second later, he was gone, almost teleporting into the Guild Master’s office.

  “It shouldn’t be long,” Storn whispered to the group, then began descending the stairs they’d just climbed. “It was a pleasure to meet you all.”

  It took less than a minute for Secretary Donahue to exit the office and hold the door open. “The Guild Master will see you now.” Phevona nodded her thanks to the secretary and walked right into the office. Duncan and Sonny shared a quick look, nodded to each other, and followed their team leader through the door.

  The room they entered was less of an office and more of a trophy room. Expansive windows covered the entire back wall, providing an excellent view of the city’s sentinel, the snow-covered Mount Myphen. The walls on either side of the room were covered in shelves filled with everything from weapons and armor to rare monster parts. Just in front of the glass wall was a large, dark wooden desk, behind which sat a dwarven man.

  He stood up from the oversized leather chair behind his desk, smiling at them as they entered the office. “Welcome, Miss O’Leon. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Your master and father have been coming in for over a year to set up monster hunts for you and your team, and Cinder has told me more than one story about you.”

  “Thank you, Guild Master Towin,” Phevona said, reaching out to shake the dwarf’s offered hand. “Mother and Father have told me of their time adventuring with you in the southern islands. I’m glad to finally have a chance to meet the man behind the stories.”

  The dwarf’s smile beamed through a thick, brown beard that reached his knees. “Hopefully they didn’t tell you everything we got up to down south,” he chuckled. “And feel free to call me Xandell while in private like this. Now, please sit down, and we can take care of your registration.”

  Phevona, Sonny, and Duncan took up one of the couches facing each other in the middle of the room while Xandell sat across from them. “Now, let’s see what we have here.” Xandell summoned the compendium scroll that Storn had used to identify Phevona earlier, taking a moment to take in the information. “So, what exactly would you like to accomplish today? Just regular registrations for each of you?”

  “We’d like to register as individuals as well as a permanent team,” Phevona said, looking to Sonny on her left side and Duncan on her right for confirmation. They both nodded back at her. “Other than that, we’re not sure what our immediate plans are. Unfortunately, we don’t have a full team yet. We’ll likely try to solve that soon if we can.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about that,” the Guild Master interjected. “It’s less common than you would think for fresh tier one adventurers to have a full team already. You just got your Subjects. You likely only have a few Abilities at this point. Finding out what your team is missing will be much easier once you start filling up your Ability slots.”

  Xandell waved at his desk, and a piece of paper flew into his hand in less than a second. Duncan recognized it as a mission listing. The mission board they’d passed on the way to the Guild Master’s office had been full of similar sheets. “This is a typical tier one mission listing.” He held the paper out for them to see.

  “Almost half of all tier one missions you’ll see on the mission board will have a similar special note.” Xandell pointed at the last line on the paper. “Low-tier teams often use a mission like this to look for potential teammates. What better way to see if people work well as a team than to go on an actual mission together? It can lead to more accidents, but it’s still the easiest way to determine if people work well together.”

  Duncan might have thought differently if he, Sonny, and Phevona hadn’t learned that lesson firsthand during their monster hunts. Not everyone meshed. A real fight made finding that out a lot easier.

  “Anyway, let’s get you all registered, then we’ll set you up as a permanent team.” Xandell pulled out a gigantic book covered in runes. “Once your information is recorded here, it will be accessible in any Adventurers’ Guild branch throughout the Realms.”

  It took the Guild Master less than a minute to copy Phevona’s information, which was still on the compendium scroll. Once he finished, he held the scroll out to Sonny. “If you would?” Sonny nodded, then held his hand out to the scroll.

  “Ahh. Mister Carston. Jen’s son, if I haven’t missed my guess.” The guild master’s smile returned as he began copying Sonny’s information.

  “Yes, sir,” Sonny responded.

  “No need for the sir, please.” Xandell finished copying the information, then looked back at the young wolfkin. “Your mother is one of our best adventurers. I dare say she could have my job if she wanted it. Not many people can say they were the matriarch’s personal student. I look forward to hearing tales of your own exploits soon.”

  Sonny nodded his thanks but left it at that. He didn’t love being compared to his mother, especially since he’d decided not to follow in her footsteps as a swordsman. He was used to it, though, and he knew she deserved all the fame and praise she received over her years as an adventurer and teacher.

  “And now for the final team member,” Xandell held the scroll toward Duncan. “I still remember that Choosing two years ago. It was quite the event. You might not have known this, but it was actually my family’s estate you were arrested in back then.”

  Duncan’s hand reflexively moved away from the outstretched scroll at Xandell’s words. The dwarf’s booming laugh filled the office. “No need to worry, Mister Tell. Everything has been cleared up. Your masters made sure to let me know a bit about your circumstances, though I expect there is plenty they haven’t told me. In the end, all that matters is I trust their judgment.”

  “It’s actually Mister O’Leon now, Guild Master,” Phevona said, smiling over at Duncan.

  “I beg your pardon?” Xandell asked.

  “Duncan recently accepted an offer of adoption from my family,” Phevona explained. “He is now officially Duncan O’Leon in the eyes of the Realms.”

  A moment of confusion followed the announcement. Duncan decided to provide some evidence of Phevona’s claim by touching the compendium scroll. Xandell noticed his move and activated the scroll’s enchantment.

  “I see.” The surprise on the Guild Master’s face after reading the scroll’s top line was evident. He quickly schooled his face into a smile, then addressed Duncan. “Congratulations, Mister O’Leon. I know of no better family to have behind you. And congratulations to you, Miss O’Leon. I’m sure you and your new brother will make waves in the adventurer community, along with Mister Carston and the rest of your future team.”

  “Thank you, Xandell,” Phevona said. “Duncan is technically my great-uncle, actually. The family would prefer for that not to get out, though. He’ll be introduced as my adopted brother from now on.”

  If the guild master had been surprised before, the cough that escaped his throat and his widening eyes made it clear he was shocked now. “So, the matriarch herself adopted you?” He addressed the question to Duncan, but his eyes darted from him to Phevona, almost like he wanted confirmation from them both.

  “That’s correct,” Duncan replied, and Phevona nodded in confirmation.

  “I see.” After another pause for Xandell to process the information, he continued. “Let me go ahead and finish your registration, Mister O’Leon, then we’ll register the team.”