The Empires Rise

"Hello, and thank you, everyone, for your participation in the first two portions of the auction. My name is Brintilmus. Now, I know most of you won't be too shocked to hear the next portion of the auction will contain some of the best pieces we have gathered since the last auction. Unlike how my compatriots have been hosting the auction, we will start from the lowest number, and when the quality reaches a certain point, we will move to the next category. If you have eyes on some of the later items, expect them to appear later." Giving an award-winning smile, she gestures, and the first item, lot number 201, appears on the stage.

"For the first item, I present to you a brilliant weapon. It is a blade forged from Tier 2 metal and has been worked on by an adept blacksmith and enchanter. The weapon provides great slashing damage and provides a bonus for magical attacks. It is an uncommon blade for certain, being one that works for both a mage and a warrior. The starting price for the weapon is 100 gold with a minimum increase of 10 gold. Let's begin!”

Looking at my two compatriots, my eyes gleam, "This would be a perfect weapon for me to start. It is of a high enough tier that I shouldn't out-pace it for a long time, and it provides a bonus for magical attacks. With my high mana pool, I should be able to showcase this best in the entire settlement."

The two of them look at each other. "Getting a blade that could serve you well for a long time isn't bad. I don't want to have to worry about your protection. Also, you should get lessons in swordsmanship, and it should work well even if you run out of mana." Eleanor states.

"Agreed, let's get this blade."

While we have been talking, the blade price has reached 200 gold. "210 gold." Narus puts in the first of our bids for it to be overshadowed quickly by a bid of 250 gold. Hearing a voice, I recognized participating in the auction for the first time; I saw that it was coming from the box that Gwilana was in. I can see a sneer on her face as she looks up towards where Narus' voice came from.

Thinking that it won't matter anymore since she has figured out where my box is, I place a bid myself. "260 gold."

Hearing my voice incises her, and before she can bid, someone else shouts out 280 gold. She raises the bid to 300 gold and looks back up in the general direction of my box.

Thinking about how high the cost for this piece could go, I placed the next bid at 350 gold. She once again raised the price to 360 gold. No one else is bidding for this piece anymore, so we bid back and forth. She kept a sneer on her face the entire time. As the price was about to reach the 500 mark, I was about to raise the price again. Eleanor grabbed my hand and stopped me.

"She is just trying to get you to waste money on one item. I bet we could make this piece sooner or later, so stop your stupidity and sit down. Let her have this one; it will force her to spend less on later bids." She scolds me.

Looking at her, my face is scrunched in anger. "We could probably make this piece later, but I want it now." I hissed.

Staring me dead in the eyes, Eleanor grips my arm harder. "Don't take that tone. I am here to help you. Control yourself."

Feeling another hand land on my shoulder, Narus' voice comes to me. "Listen to her. There isn't a reason for you to be angry at her. Calm down. We will find something else that you could win. In the worst-case scenario, we bid on things we don't need and for higher prices when she is bidding. Plus, nothing says that we aren't going to get that item later if we win the bet."

Nodding along with what she said, I slowly calmed myself down. By the time I was fully calm, the item had been sold to that cursed woman.

"For the next item, it's a piece of armor. This armor is crafted with an elite spider's silk and enchanted for greater spell damage. It is Tier 2 and was crafted by an adept tailor and enchanter. The price for this piece starts at 125 gold, with increments of 10 being the lowest at which it can be raised."

Looking at my two companions again, they shake their heads, knowing that I want this piece but that we can make something similar if we don't win it. I steel myself, thinking about how we already "lost" the other piece. "Let's pass on this piece; if there are other items that you two want to bid on, we should do so. We might get lucky and walk out without rising prices."

Both of them look at me and then nod. Sitting back in their chairs, they enjoy this refreshment while we wait for the other items to be presented. Lot 203 was a helm. Lot 204 was a set of daggers that we bid on and got 420 gold. Lot 205 was a set of bracers, 206 was a shield, 207 was a pair of shoulder pads, 208 was a staff, 209 was a bow, and finally, 210 was probably the highest initial priced item of the auction. It started at 200 gold, and the ending price was close to 700 gold. The piece was an amulet. It provided a small amount of spacial storage.

Moving onto the crafting items for the auction, there were sets of every profession's tool for lots 231 to 233. We got a set of enchanter's tools, some blacksmithing tools, and alchemist tools. These three sets of tools cost us 1840 gold.

The next set of lots were all different items for the settlement, from higher-tier tokens, blueprints, and summoning scrolls. Skipping over any lots with summoning scrolls, we focused more on the building blueprints. There was a set of blueprints for different housing and improved crafting buildings. We couldn't win any of the lots for crafting building blueprints.

Through the first round of lots, we managed to force the price of several items up by a couple hundred gold each for that hideous woman.

Once it reached lot number 280, Brintilmus wrapped around back to lot 211. This time, the items were still in the second Tier, but from what I can tell, their quality has increased by a step, which is evident based on the initial prices. Each lot between 211 and 220 started at 300 gold. We managed to snag a small blade for 940 gold and a magician's wand for 1130.

After doing some math, with all the purchases we have made so far, we have spent close to 7000 gold at this auction. Considering there aren't many items left and we still have 10k gold, we started to be a bit looser in our bidding. We acquired two Tier 2 resource points for 3260 gold in the next round of crafting lots. We gathered a set of random Tier 2 crafting station blueprints for the settlement lots for 4750 gold. We didn't have enough for any other items, but based on what we have been hearing from Gwilana, they have been increasing how much they have been purchasing, seeing that we have been winning more and more items.

It takes another half hour before we reach the last couple of items for the auction. There is one item left for each of the three categories. We haven't been able to get anything else with the remaining funds, or we have been holding off since we didn't know what the last couple of items would be.

"For the final lot in the weapon category, I present an oddity for such a low-level auction," slowly, Brintilmus turns around and pulls off a cloth on a large table; from it, a bow is displayed. "This bow has been graciously donated for the auction by one of the higher nobles in the audience tonight." She continues with a slight bow to the booths, none in particular, "This bow grants terrific range, and the damage from this bow can display varies from user to user. The enchanter created a pathway on it for the user to slowly infuse their mana and allow their mana type to augment the arrows as they were shot from it."

Following these words, both auctioneers from the first two sections of the auction come to the stage together and draw the bow one at a time. The first displays a fiery blast from the arrow's impact zone, while the latter disappears before light hits the target. There is no visible damage done, but my life affinity tingles.

"For those that can't tell what happened with the second arrow, let me explain. Hothtol has a rare mana affinity for holy magics. That means arrows that she infuses with her mana heal targets." She says with a wide grin as murmuring sounds out throughout the hall.

Turning to look at the other two, I whisper, "This would be a wonderful item for me to use. With my quad-affinities, I could make great use of this bow."

I can see that they are both thinking about what I could do with a bow like this one. They turn to each other and nod in agreement.

"Considering we are down to the final three items, I think we can spare some time to try and get this bow for you," Eleanor comments.

Returning to what Brintilmus is saying, we catch the starting price, "We will be starting the bidding at 750 gold with increases in price being no less than 50 gold."

From the frantic bidding throughout the hall, I can tell that this will be a hard-won item. Quickly, the prices escalate to 1500 gold before the bidders start to fall off. I haven't heard any bids from Gwilana for this item yet, but that doesn't mean I won't go after it.

After another minute, the price reached 2000 gold; It has almost reached the cap for what we have for funds. Sighing, I look at my two companions, "I don't think we will be able to get this piece either. We only have 2200 gold left."

As I say, we hear a voice from above us for the first time.

"Is this one of your works, Lyndis?" A stout voice says, deep like a bellow from the mountains.

A light chuckle escapes from another box above us; it sounds like bells on the breeze: "I can never get my items past those eyes of yours, Xiphos."

Everyone has stopped at the two voices, and it isn't long before a third voice echoes through the room, but this one, I can tell, comes from even higher in the hall. "Now, the two of you, don't start up; you'll scare the kids below. If you don't want to bid, please be quiet."

Brintilmus bows at the sound of the third voice: "Thank you, hall-master. The last bid for this item is 2000 gold. Are there any more bids?"

There is a couple of seconds pause. No one else has bid for the item, quietly so as no one else will hear from the hall where it comes from in hopes that she will hear me, I place one bid. "2200 gold."

A small smile appears on Brintilmus's lips before she calls, "Going once..." She looks around, seeing no one wanting to bid further, "Going twice..."