thomasdarkrose
patreon
Vol. 7 - Power - Chapter 7
🕑 Added 2020-01-16 01:28:49 +0000 UTCThe night passed quickly and without any incidents. Thomas served his time as a guard as expected. With a caravan this large and well guarded not many monsters or bandits would attack it. The demonized monsters didn't count as 'normal'. They would attack anything that moved and wasn't a demon. With nothing going on during the night, the sun soon rose and everyone began preparing their own breakfast before the caravan left to continue the journey.
Thomas cooked for his companions as usual but made sure there was a heavy helping of healthy stuff for Snowlily and Lexiana. They were still being punished for Lexiana spoiling Snowlily while he was captured. About an hour after the sun had fully risen everyone had everything packed up and the caravan continued on its journey.
While traveling, Thomas remained in his chosen seat and practiced his various abilities to increase their rank while they were on the road. When they got to their destination he wouldn't be able to lounge around and constantly expend and recover his mana. He would simply be too busy working. He was determined to increase his Inventory and Magnetic magic as both of them had nearly limitless potential. He really wanted to gain more experience with Magnetic magic especially. After all, his next weapon would rely heavily on it.
The caravan moved at a steady pace and even with his practice, Thomas found it to be really boring. He didn't have anything to chat about with the girls either. So he practiced and thought about the things he needed to do to get stronger. He started to make a list and wrote it out inside of his blueprint system so he wouldn't forget. He was kind of abusing the system but, whatever.
1. Learn Holy Magic
2. New Weapons
3. New Armor
4. Reach King class in all 4 attributes
5. Increase weapon skills
6. Sell pure mana crystals in disguise
7. Get contracts signed with Selena and Lexiana
He would add more to the list as he thought of things. He really wanted, almost needed, to learn Holy magic so that he could become self-sustaining. Once he learned Holy magic he would be able to not only heal his companions but also himself. He tried not to take too much damage but he really planned to push himself while inside of the Breidset dungeon. If he wanted to gain experience fast then he needed to fight monsters stronger than himself. The stronger they were the more experience he could gain from killing them. With a great reward came great risk.
More than that though, he could use Holy magic without being hunted down as a monster by the general populace. It would still be best to keep it hidden as he didn't want the various churches looking at him too closely. That was just another reason to grow stronger. If he was strong enough he could just crush anyone that came to bother him about his access to Holy or even Unholy magics.
Hours of boring travel passed until the caravan paused for lunch. It was also a chance to feed and water the horses pulling the wagons and carts. Thomas was the default chef for his party so he did the cooking as usual and enjoyed a nice meal with decent company. Lexiana had been behaving herself so he found her slightly less annoying to be around. Selena... well their relationship could be seen as a bit complex. They both knew each other's dark secrets and could easily destroy the life of one another. If it was boiled down to the bare minimum... well... she was just plain hot to him so how could he possibly complain about her being nearby? As long as she didn't cross his bottom line, she could stick around as long as she wanted.
After the break, the caravan continued its journey. They would camp for at least one more night before arriving at their destination. Possibly two depending on travel conditions. It sucked. If Selena and Lexiana could fly he would have just flown to the next city. That was always the downside of traveling as a party. You could only travel as fast as your slowest companion.
The rest of the day, the following night, and the next day passed with no incidents or anything worth mentioning. Thomas simply became a little closer to his companions by chatting with them about random topics.
Thomas sat up in excitement as he saw the gates of Breidset growing closer as the caravan approached them. The walls around the city were massive. He estimated that they towered at least thirty to forty meters into the air. The city looked like a fortress city, perhaps it was. Given the racist nature of the country, it would make sense for them to have a fortress near the dwarven city as a means of 'protection'. However, there should also be a massive amount of wealth within those walls so it could just as likely been purely to protect trade. He doubted it though.
When the caravan arrived at the gates, the guards were on alert and paying close attention. The members of the trading company checked in while Thomas joined the other adventurer's and produced his adventurer identification to get into the city. The process was simple, just by touching the crystal used to detect criminals and coming up clean, he and his party were allowed into the city.
Thomas walked through the gates and noted that the walls were not only tall but rather thick as well. He estimated between fifteen to twenty meters wide. It would take a significant amount of force for anyone to break through and invade the city. He admired the construction of the walls surrounding the city as he passed through them. On the other side, there was a bustling city filled with people, all humans, moving about in a busy manner.
Stores lined the main street and at the end of it he could see a massive building with a huge sign that read 'Breidset Auction House'. He couldn't resist the allure and immediately walked directly to it. As he got closer he could see just how tall the building was. It towered above the other buildings, it was hard to tell for certain since it didn't have many windows but he guessed it was at least ten floors. Maybe more if it had basement floors. There must be so much good stuff in there!
His three companions followed behind him. It was plain to see that Thomas was excited by the auction house so none of them lodged any complaints. Lexiana whispered something to Selena and broke off from the party. Unlike Thomas and Selena, she wasn't loaded with gold so she needed to turn in the trophies from the Demonized Slinkers to make sure she had enough funding for lodging. Frankly, she was lucky to have Thomas providing all the food for their travel. It allowed her to save some coins.
Thomas didn't even register that Lexiana had gone off on her own. The auction house was calling, no screaming his name. The main entrance was wide open an flanked by six guards, three on each side. Clearly they wouldn't allow anyone to do anything against the rules while inside. Thomas took a quick glance at the guards and couldn't help swallowing. The weakest among them was Mid King Class while the stronger ones were all High King Class. He was certain that any of them could whoop his ass with little effort in a straight confrontation.
The guards only glanced at the three of them before continuing to remain stoic at the entrance. They passed by with no issue and entered the auction house. The main lobby was massive and filled with people milling about in front of display cases. Thomas quickly walked over to the nearest display case. He didn't know what was inside but was curious about how things worked here.
Inside of the clear case, he could see a sword. It was a longsword with a gleaming blue-tinted silver blade, black crossguard, and black leather-wrapped handle. The crossguard swept up toward the blade and gave the sword an aggressive look. The decorations on it were minimal indicating that the sword was really meant to be used and wasn't a simple showpiece. Below the sword was a sign that read:
Silver Ice
Starting Bid: 2,500 Gold
His eyes lit up so that he could quickly appraise the sword and see just how good it might be.
Item Type: Silver Ice
Rarity: Magical
Quality: Above Average
Description: A steel sword infused with Ice mana to create a sharp blade that can be coated in a layer of ice.
+25 Power (Attacks with the weapon only)
+When infused with mana deals +15 Power of Ice damage
Thomas scratched his head as he read over the description. It was... okay he supposed but had nothing on what he could currently make. Something like this had a minimum price of twenty-five hundred gold? If he sold his Flaming Greatsword just how much would the minimum price for it be? He couldn't resist smiling at the thought of selling such weapons and making a fortune off of them. Simple iron and coal turning into thousands upon thousands of gold. What kind of disgustingly large profit margin was that?!
He dismissed the thought though. His weapons were made of special materials that he couldn't afford to let get out into the public just yet. He would need to stick to standard materials. It would cut the profit margin a bit but not by that much. He was certain he could at least craft an Uncommon rarity weapon with plain steel and some tricks. Tricks that couldn't be seen through easily.
He turned from the sword and started looking at other things displayed around the area. Everything he checked was only Magical rarity. It seemed like the higher rarities would be on other floors. There was also a distinct lack of anything really interesting. It was all weapons and armor. Maybe to appeal to the pockets of adventurers? He turned and looked at the stairs leading to the second floor. Maybe there would be something more interesting up there.
As he moved toward the stairs the guards flanking them lowered their halberds so that they crossed and blocked his path. The guard on the left spoke up politely, "Apologies sir but the upper floors can only be accessed when a live auction is ongoing. The next auction will be held tomorrow afternoon. Until then I will have to request that you remain on the first floor."
Thomas smiled at the guard and nodded, "Thank you for letting me know."
It was actually surprising that the guard was so polite and informative. The trope should have been that the guard would be rude and disdainful towards Thomas for whatever reason he could come up with. It seemed like the people running this auction house knew how to retain their customers. Since the guard had been so helpful, Thomas asked, "What do I need to do if I want to sell something?"
The guard gestured to his left as he spoke, "Over there you will find the receptionists for the auction house. They can answer questions and help you register the items you wish to sell."
"Thanks for all the help."
Feeling better about this place thanks to the guard's polite attitude, Thomas made his way over to the receptionist counter. It wasn't very busy so he got to speak to someone right away. The young woman behind the counter was beautiful. Soft short brown hair, caramel-colored skin, bright green eyes, and exaggerated curves in all the right places. Seriously, her chest might be bigger than his own head. He glanced around and noticed that all the women, and men, working behind the counter were excellent specimens. It was clear that the auction house only hired receptionists with good looks. The woman in front of Thomas gave him a polite smile as she asked, "How can I help you, Sir?"
Thomas returned the smile, "I was hoping to get a rundown on how the auction house works since I just arrived."
The receptionist nodded and began to speak, it was clear that she'd given this explanation plenty of times and said it by rote, "The Breidset Auction House is the premier auction house for the country. Here companies and individuals can sell and buy just about anything. We hold daily auctions beginning at noon. Each day the list of items to be sold will be displayed so you can judge if there's anything you would like to purchase during the event. If you wish to participate in an auction you must pay a twenty-five gold deposit to claim a numbered paddle. When you wish to raise your bid simply lift the paddle and state the amount you wish to bid. If you win the auction you can use the paddle as your identification. You have a maximum of twenty-four hours to pay for the item. When you return the paddle to us we will return your twenty-five gold deposit."
She took a moment to catch her breath while studying Thomas to make sure he understood. When she saw that he did she continued, "If you wish to sell something through the auction house it will first be appraised. Once the appraisal is done you will be given a ticket for the item. DO NOT lose the ticket. Without it, you cannot claim the gold paid for your item. If your item is particularly beautiful and not above Magical rarity we may choose to display it in public. You may choose if you wish to set a minimum starting bid as well as a minimum sale price. If the bidding fails to meet or exceed the set price the item will not be sold and you will have to pay a fee equal to one-tenth of the highest bid. Once an item has gone through the auction process you have two weeks from the sale date to return with your ticket and claim your profits or unsold item. If you do not return the auction house will claim whatever you have left with us. If an item is successfully sold the auction house will charge a fee of one-tenth of the final bid. Any questions?"
Thomas nodded, "Just one. What happens if someone bids on an item but doesn't pay for it?"
"The item will simply be auctioned once again. We will continue to auction it until someone pays for it as long as people bid on it."
"Thank you for the information. I will return for the auction tomorrow."
She smiled at him and nodded, "We look forward to your patronage."
Thomas turned and made his way out of the auction house with his two companions following closely behind him. He was interested in the auction and was very happy with the system. He could easily hide his identity to buy or sell anything he wanted without fear of repercussion. No one would know who he was or what he really looked like. Not when he made himself a Ring of Disguise to hide behind. He grinned to himself all the way to the inn that Selena and Lexiana had chosen while he charged right at the auction house. They had only arrived in the city a couple of hours before nightfall. It was time to get some dinner, make plans, and then get some sleep.
Comments
Deathburn
Thanks.
