Chapter 16
Dorn's representative to the beast-kin, a wolf-variant person, had finally made it to the southern Wild Lands, home of the beast-kin in East Lucenia. It was freezing cold here, almost all year long. Trudging through the Spring snow, the representative headed towards the next village he came across. This would be his sixth village, and he was already starting to despair of getting any beast-kin at all to migrate to the dungeon.
This village turned out to be a feline-variant tribe. This will be difficult, thought the representative. While the beast-kin could usually unify to fight against human aggression, there was no love lost between the feline and the canine variants of beast-kin. Unfortunately, the beast-kin had no major cities; they were a people of nomadic origin. Only small groups of beast-kin could be found at a time, so the representative had prepared himself for trying to convince multiple tribes to migrate, over and over again.
Heading into the camp, the beast-kin stared at him. Well that's a pleasant change; at least they're not trying to kill me or swearing up a storm. Maybe this group can be reasoned with. Having been made more intelligent and less aggressive by Dorn, the representative was almost stunned when he had first made it to a beast-kin village. Being yelled at for being a stranger was something he could handle, but when the chief had tried to take his head off, he had been forced to flee. He finally realized why Dorn had insisted that he take weaponry with him.
And seeing some disturbing things in the camps, he realized why the humans might not be too fond of his brethren. The idea of a woman's rights was basically… non-existent. After seeing his first rape within the second tribe he came to, the representative had tried to intervene. This of course caused the entire village to rise up and run him out of town. By this point, he had basically given up on trying to help any of the people here, and he would be secretly okay with all of the beast-kin dying.
Anyways, heading into the feline camp, he was pleasantly surprised to see a relatively more civilized people. Fully dressed, looking at him with curiosity instead of hostility, and not trying to kill him. It was basically the best conditions he had seen in any of the camps he had been to.
Coming to the largest hut in the center of the village, the representative spoke up, “May I speak to whomever the chieftain of this camp is?”
“And who be asking?” said the large jaguar-man who came out of the hut. He was a gruff looking man with a closely-trimmed beard.
“My name is… Beasty, unfortunately. Anyways, I am here as a representative of a dungeon that exists north of here. He is a sentient dungeon who has created me to invite beast-kin tribes to migrate to and live within the dungeon. The dungeon has provided an enormous floor for people to live in. It is separated by strong Spatial magic into four sections, and the beast-kin would have their own land to call home. This land would be far more fertile, and the resources available would be numerous. Your warriors would be able to train themselves in the dungeon floors.”
“Hmmm, not a bad offer. My name be Michio. You've painted a pretty picture of this dungeon; what's the catch, however?” asked the chief after purring in thought for a few seconds.
Beasty swallowed, before saying, “The dungeon is within the human kingdom of Khal, and there are members of the other three races living in the dungeon. While you would be safe from them in the housing floor, there are some dungeon floors where you would come into contact with humans, dwarves, and elves.”
“Hmmm, how would we get to this dungeon if it is within human lands?” asked Michio.
At this, Beasty became very excited that they were even considering the idea. This was the furthest he had made it with any tribe. “The dungeon has imbued me with some Spatial magic and enchanting abilities, so I can draw a teleportation glyph that will take you directly to the housing floor of the dungeon, which is its second floor. You will be able to return here via the glyph as well. Should I do so?”
“Hmmm, very well, let me just tell my people what is happening, and then I will go with you to see this dungeon,” said Michio.
***
“Hmmm, I agree with you, the dungeon be a very favorable place for my tribe to migrate to,” Michio said when he had returned with Beasty to his tribe.
“If you want to migrate, feel free to take this teleportation glyph to the dungeon at any time. But do quickly, as my powers only allow me to make a glyph strong enough to last for a week. You must be in the dungeon by then if you wish to go at all.
“Hmmm, I will discuss this with the members of my tribe. Thank you, wolf-man, for sharing with us this opportunity. Do you go now to invite more tribes?”
“Yes, I have to do so, as ordered by my maker. You wouldn't happen to know the locations of some other tribes who are… um…” Beasty said at a loss for the right words.
“Civilized like us?” Michio asked with some amusement.
“Yes, and also tribes who you wouldn't mind sharing the dungeon with?”
“Hmmm, yes I can point you in the direction of some tribes that will be more friendly and who we would not mind living with.”
***
Dorn showed up in a glamorous hall, dressed in a beautiful black tuxedo. Looking down, he said, “What the fuck am I wearing?”
Emelia, in a full length black gala dress, said, “It's called a tuxedo, and it's a type of formal dress very popular in the higher realms. Now, stop gawking and looking like a noob. Speak only with mind speak.”
What the fuck is a noob? asked Dorn.
Oh, my sweet summer child, responded Emelia.
Dorn, resolving to just be confused, took a look around. He was in the lobby of what was clearly a beautiful hall. The floor was polished black and white marble tiles set in diamond shape. Multiple columns of gold were holding up the roof. There were two rough marble stairwells on either side of the room, leading to what must clearly be the auction hall proper. There were thousands of humans looking around and mingling at tall tables, while waiters with bored, white eyes walked around with drinks.
Dorn was again a tall human with silver hair, but he had it cut short. He also wore a different face than he had before in his adventurer days. He was worried that he would be recognized by some of the dungeons he had trained within if he wore his 'old' body.
What is all this? Why aren't we having the auction? asked Dorn.
Dungeons only get to meet with their own kind this one day a year. It's a great time to mingle and negotiate private deals. Go and mingle, said Emelia.
I am a dragon. I do not mingle, Dorn stated.
Killjoy. Well I'm going to go greet some of my dungeon pixie friends from school. Don't do anything stupid, Emelia said before zooming off and rapidly talking to her old friends.
Dorn just stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do with his hands. An older looking human came over and invaded his personal space, making him feel uncomfortable. The man shook his hand and said, “Hi there, you must be new to these auctions; I don't think I've seen you before. A brand new dungeon?” he asked.
“Uh, yes, that's right. Anything I should watch out for?” Dorn asked.
“Don't accept gifts. If you accept a gift instead of a trade, you will owe the other party a favor, which can be exceedingly difficult to fulfill. The name's Bob, by the way.”
Dorn gave a fake cough to stop himself from laughing at the idea of a dungeon named Bob, then said, “Thanks for the information; I would never have known. And my name is Dorn.”
Bob said, “Yes, some of these older dungeons are incredibly vicious and will look to take advantage of new dungeons any way they can. So, selling anything in the auction?”
“Yes, I'm selling a few rare herbs and weapons crafted by dwarves,” replied Dorn.
“Good for you; that's really impressive for a new dungeon. I'll let you in on a little secret that's been making the rounds. There's talk that the featured item tonight is an extremely rare item that will make everyone go nuts,” said Bob.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Dorn looked curious, “Any idea what it is?”
“Nope, your guess is as good as mine. Well anyways, have fun tonight,” Bob said before walking off to meet other guests.
A few minutes later, an older looking woman came up and greeted Dorn in almost an eerily-similar manner to Bob. “Hi there, you must be new to these auctions; I don't think I've seen you before. A brand new dungeon?” she asked kindly.
Dorn replied, “Uh yes, I'm Dorn. Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise; I'm Marhe. I feel so bad for new dungeons in these trying times, here let me give you a gift of a few thousand DP's,” she said, holding out her hand with a fake smile.
“No thank you,” Dorn said with a frown.
“Ah, I see Bob has already gotten to you. Listen here, you little piece of shit, take my gift or I'll see to it that you regret it. No new dungeon escapes my grasp,” Marhe said.
Dorn looked back and, before his dragon's temper erupted, said, “Well, looks like there's a first time for everything.”
“You'll regret this. Mark my words,” Marhe said before storming off.
“Gods, could you have a more cliched line,” Dorn muttered, watching her leave.
By the time a fifth guest came up to say pretty much the same words as Marhe and offer a gift, Dorn was feeling pretty pissed. He headed into the room to find Emelia. Finding her in a big group of pixies laughing together, he projected into her mind, come back here before I kill one of these other dungeons.
Emelia came zipping up. I was having fun with the other pixies; they were so excited to know that there's a new dungeon in East Lucenia.
At this, Dorn's rage boiled over. You fucking idiot. What happened to not telling anyone where we are located?
Emelia winced, before thinking, oh it's okay, they were very friendly.
Dorn's jaw dropped, not believing how incredibly naive his dungeon pixie was. Finally, he said, stay next to me for the rest of the day, or I swear I'll send you back to the pixie world.
Before Emelia could huff out an angry response, there was finally an announcement put out to all the dungeons:
Attention Dungeon!
The auction is about to begin. At
this time please make your way
to your seat.
Your seat is #3,194 in row E on the
main floor
Making his way up the stairs and into the hall, Dorn was struck by just how many people were around.
There are really this many dungeons in Sorenia? There must be thousands of dungeons here.
Emelia, over her fit, just thought back, besides the massive Central Fantisa continent, there are lots of little continents like East Lucenia all over the place. Some are stronger or weaker. One thing is in common, whenever mana accumulates in a place for long enough, a dungeon arises.
At this point, the night's auctioneer came out from the side of the stage and walked to the center. It was another white-eyed god, but this one was surprisingly boisterous and not bored-looking.
“Hello everyone, are you ready for the 8,756th annual Dungeon Auction?” he asked.
Ignoring the fact that only silence met him, he continued on undaunted. “I'm your host, Jarerre, and I'll be kicking off tonight's auction with something special for you younger dungeons.”
A cart covered with a cloth was wheeled onto the stage by a bored-looking assistant god. Jarerre whipped the cloth off the cart, and everyone stared at what was there.
What, is it a chunk of metal? thought Dorn.
Dorn, however, was wrong. Jarerre introduced the item, “This here is a piece of solid alchemy, also known as a medicinal pill. Called the Calm Ocean Pill, it is very useful for helping reach a tranquil state of mind and meditating during chi practice. It is also very useful for overcoming the barriers between each rank, allowing the user to ponder without distraction on the nature of chi itself. Starting at 50,000 DP's, every bid must increase by at least 1,000 DP's.”
People on the main floor of the hall started vigorously bidding, quickly raising the price to 100,000 DP's. Dorn turned and looked at Emelia, thinking, what is this? There are alchemy products that aid in training chi?
Emelia responded, yes, I've noticed that these are conspicuously absent from East Lucenia. It's a widely practiced art in Central Fantisa. You should try to acquire a few and introduce it to your continent. It would be a major success in your dungeon. Keep an eye out for pills that directly increase strength in chi, especially at the lower levels as they won't have a sky-high price. Any pill that can increase the strength of an A or higher ranked adventurer will be incredibly rare and jealously guarded, so it won't appear in an auction like this.
Dorn, stunned that there was a whole subset of alchemy that he had no knowledge of, bid 125,000 DP's.
“I hear 125,000 DP's, can I get 126? Anyone, 126?” asked Jarerre.
At this point, the first bid from the balcony, which was above and behind the main floor, was announced.
“150” said Marhe, who was giving Dorn a vicious grin.
“175,” said Dorn, resolving to give up on the pill if she raised the price again. He could only shake his head at the infantile behavior of the older dungeon. Marhe thought about increasing again, but seeing the looks of scorn from the other dungeons sitting in the balcony, she promptly sat back in her seat, allowing Dorn to win.
“175,000 DP's for the Calm Ocean Pill. Going once, going twice, sold to the dungeon in seat 3,194. Congratulations,” said Jarerre.
Thus began an almost endless parade of items being auctioned off. There were rare herbs, enchanted weapons, various strange creatures, and fixtures for dungeons being auctioned off left and right.
Dorn, intrigued by the new field of alchemy, resolved to buy a number of pills. For 80,000 DP's, he acquired a pill that allowed D-level practitioners to increase one level. It was creatively called the D-Advancement Pill. It turned out that these pills could only be taken once in each rank of chi, before losing efficacy. Most wealthy people in Central Fantisa would wait until reaching the eighth level of each rank before taking the pill, as the later levels were more difficult to raise. If the pills could be used multiple time, the demand for pills would have been much greater. For 260,000 DP's, he acquired the same kind of pill for C-rank adventurers, called the C-Advancement Pill (Dorn really hated the naming sense of whoever these solid alchemists were).
Finally, he bought a few other types of pills, one for increasing concentration and attention during battle as well as a pill that assisted in breaking through barriers.
As the Dungeon Auction continued on, the items continued to increase in rarity and therefore price. Finally, there were some items that Dorn would love to have acquired for his dungeon, but he simply didn't have the money for.
“Lot number 3,765, an A5-level sphinx from the region of Kemet. This is a well-known creature that has the head of a man and the body of a lion. These creatures have an innate love of riddles, and will make for a great path-blocking creature in a labyrinth. Adventurers must solve the riddle correctly or be swallowed alive. Price starts at five million, and bids must increase by at least 100,000 DP's.”
I want one, said Dorn.
They're pretty common creatures in Dungeon Auctions; you can just wait for next year, replied Emelia.
Dorn was a little depressed that he couldn't afford the sphinx, watching it raise in price to its final selling price of 8,700,000 DP's. This one was acquired by Marhe, who had a wide grin on her face, this time of a non-vicious nature.
Dorn sighed and continued to watch the parade of items he could never afford, wondering when his silver dragon pattern was going to show up. Finally, near the end of the day, the tension in the room started building. The experienced dungeons knew that the most exquisite items would be auctioned off near the end.
“Tonight's final items are all special and legendary items. Please keep in mind that if you pass on these items, you may never have the chance to acquire them again,” Jarerre said, feeling excited from the palpable tension in the room.
“First up, a rare pattern. This is the pattern for a legendary silver Space dragon. This creature is adept at making spatial shields and is widely known for its fighting style involving constant teleports. This creature makes for the perfect final boss of any dungeon. As only the pattern is here, and not a functional unit, whoever buys the pattern will have to make the dragon followed by raising its chi. Despite this, it is still a very rare and powerful creature. As such, the price will begin at the low price of ten million DP's, and bids must increase by at least 500,000 DP's.”
Dorn's jaw dropped. Emelia did you hear that? It's starting at ten million fucking Dungeon Points.
Emelia, looking extremely excited, said, I know; just keep your calm, and don't let anyone see you be happy when the price goes up and finally sells.
Bids came in fast and furious. Dorn watched while the price quickly surged past twenty million, and came to a rest around twenty-seven million DP's.
“Any last bids? This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to own a real, silver dragon. Perfect for defending you dungeon in the yearly raids. You can't use your DP's when you're dead.”
“29 million,” yelled Bob, the dungeon who had earlier given Dorn such good advice.
Wow, I really like that Bob; he's a great guy, said Dorn.
“29 million going once, 29 million going twice, SOLD to the lucky customer in seat number 27.”
Dorn was in ecstasy. He couldn't believe how many DP's he had just acquired. He almost wished he had ignored Emelia and sold some mithril and adamantium as well. He couldn't even imagine how much they would be worth.
“Our next item of the night is a rare chance even for these auctions. Ladies and gentlemen, please look closely, for this might be the last time some of you ever see this item. He whipped the cloak off the cart, showing a small vial containing a clear liquid. Everyone in the hall began to murmur.
“The Tears of a God. This legendary potion is incredible. As long as someone who still has a breath left in their body takes a single drop, he or she will be restored to full health instantly. All curses, injuries, and diseases gone. This is an insanely powerful potion, and tonight, we are auctioning off five drops of this miracle potion together. Price starts at 150 million DP's, and each bid must raise the price by one million DP's.”
Dorn stared in fascination at the unfathomable number of DP's being spent on a tiny vial of liquid. When it eventually sold for nearly half a billion points, Dorn thought forlornly, hell, I could probably finish my dungeon all the way to its S-level housing with that many points.
Emelia consoled him by saying, don't worry, we'll get there eventually. And how can you be upset after receiving 29 million points?”
Dorn said, yeah, you're right, this is a great day, and I shouldn't let envy get in the way of that.
Finally, the third and last item was revealed. And Dorn was both stunned and pissed.