Chapter 509

The four soldiers with automatic rifles standing around Arthur were meant to be intimidating. So was the trio of appraisers standing behind the table in the room the government personnel had dragged him into after he had exited the Dakha Tower. Interestingly enough, because they could manage it, all four of the Durians had emerged at the same time; only for them to be separated to go through their goods for taxation purposes.

Fair enough, and Arthur had expected it. Every single government wanted their cut of the beast cores emerging from Tower, and it made sense that they would enforce it. The four men with automatic rifles would have been worrisome for a Beginner Climber who had just emerged from the Dakha Tower. Most of the crafters would have very few combat skills, certainly not enough to risk going against the four soldiers.

Which was why they probably glowered and strutted, expecting Arthur to worry about them. He didn’t, because they were truly not a threat to him. Taking care of all four of them would have been simple enough and fighting out of the complex might have been difficult but not impossible.

Getting out of the country would be trickier, of course, as well as dealing with the army and the police and whatever Climber’s they had on the payroll working for them directly. Which, in a sense, made the threat these four represented much more serious.

Even so, Arthur was certainly considering doing something unwise like some terribly written, plot armour heavy action hero if the current bureaucrat speaking to him did not take his finger out of Arthur’s face.

“You have more. Show us!”

“I really don’t,” Arthur said, pointing at the bags of stones. “There’s not a lot of cores gathered, and we rushed through the Tower fast. I didn’t have time to gather that many stones, really.”

“You get a lump sum payment at the end!” the man snapped.

“I didn’t, because I did the Journeyman path. Which is why I have the enchanted urn, rather than the stones,” Arthur snapped. “Tax that.”

“What use an urn?”

“It keeps flowers fresh. Also, if you want to use it to grow something, supposedly the plants don’t need to be watered or fed as often,” Arthur said. “Very useful for certain types of people. It’ll work even out here.”

“Are you serious?” the tax man said, eyes bulging out. “That is what you have?”

“Well, a half-dozen of them.” He pointed to the small pile on the ground in the bag. “They’re all part of my payment from exiting.”

“What about the teapot set?” the man pointed over to the side.

“That’s not a gift. I made that.”

“Still taxed.”

“I get that,” Arthur said, tiredly. “I’ll pay for it.”

“Show me.”

Arthur grunted, opened the case and showed them the work. The case itself was simple, nothing special about it since he had chosen not to spend more funds on the case itself. He would commission something in the real world, since the work that was being done in the Tower was not to his liking.

The teaset itself was his Journeyman showpiece, his masterwork – or the closest thing he could get to a masterwork – that allowed him to graduate his teacher’s quest. It was not, of course, a masterwork; but the minor enchantments within allowed the pot to warm water and tea within, enhance their taste and even provide a modicum of energy. It was overall quite refreshing to drink from the teaset, making even poor tea taste quite good.

It was not, however, anything truly magical. It was a work that Arthur had patterned on a masterwork teaset that he had seen being sold, one that actually provided actual boost to attributes and would enhance the amount of Tower energy an individual absorbed. It was significant enough that utilizing the teapot out in the real world would have significantly slowed Arthur’s degradation of Tower energy. Enough that he could probably have sold that Master teapot for tens of thousands.

Too bad his might only be worth a few thousand at most. Good news though, he could have spent a few hours a day churning these out – if he was in a Tower. Sadly, the ability to make such teapots were limited to being in a Tower because the materials and the basic energy needed to start them up and imbue the enchantments were only available in a Tower.

Kind of made the whole thing useless, in that sense. Even those who were busy making gear for the Clan could only truly practice the better portions of their skills in the Tower, being forced to pay taxes on exit.

“Boss, this is it lah. I was only in for a few months, didn’t take long. Didn’t hunt, don’t intend to. I came in, establish my Clan. More people will come out soon, I guarantee you,” Arthur said, reverting to a little more colloquial Malay. Not that it made much sense to the man, but shifting away from pristine English might help with making the other like him better.

Not like anyone liked the Brits or the Americans these days, especially when they went around demanding access and favorable terms for their Guilds and then getting upset and utilizing governmental pressure when that failed.

“You not registered the Clan yet,” the man snapped. “So you an individual.”

“Then tax me like one and let me go.” Arthur crossed his arms. “We’ve got the registration going through, but takes a while.”

“How long?”

“However long it’s been since I went in, and a few weeks.”

The other man nodded, leaned forward. Dropped his voice,. “Perhaps I can help, eh?”

Arthur sighed. “Got card, ah? I send to my people. They contact you, you help can?”

“Of course.” Promised bribe in the future for further help, he looked at the other soldiers who were glowering. “But still got to finish here…”

Arthur looked at the others waiting and sighed, fishing around in his packet. He was sure he had a red packet somewhere… They had packed some just in case, when trying to get through the border. Sometimes, wherever you went, it was the same damn thing.