953 Mirror World (part 3)

As for tangible privileges, Jake was now exempt from all taxes arising from a service provided by the Oracle System as long as it took place on the planet where his main territory was established, namely B842. For someone as wealthy as him, it wasn't a staggering advantage, but thanks to this, he no longer had to pay to enter an Oracle City.

If that was all there was to it, Jake would have been truly indifferent to this perk, but the benefits of this exemption went far beyond that. First and foremost, the Oracle System imposed a hidden Aether tax on virtually everything.

For instance, when an Evolver used a Yellow Cube, the displayed Aether fee did not represent the actual cost of transport. For those with fewer than four Ordeals under their belt, this Aether fee was heavily discounted, but for the rest, the Aether network assumed the vast majority of the energy burden, with the remainder charged to the user based on a fixed rate proportional to the distance.