The last thing Zen had wanted is to run in to one of the larger guilds, and the fact he stepped in front of him meant it wasn’t a positive thing. The man’s eyes told him a lot, and the utter contempt in them was something the powerful did with natural flare. Zen just stood, still not saying anything, trying to not give away any more than what he already has.

“I see you’re a newbie.” The big man said. “I like to help newbies. How about we make a trade and I will give you some good gear.”

“I couldn’t do that.” Zen said politely as he could. “It wouldn’t be fair. If I take advantage of you by taking something good. I would only hurt myself in the end, because I didn’t get it with my own power.”

Zen didn’t believe a word of his own drivel, but it was reasonable and people like that existed. He didn’t believe it would stop this man ether, but he didn’t say it for that. He said it for the people around him that were listening. There were always people listening and taking notes, and he would rather broadcast fake limitations if he did end up paying a price here.

“How about this then.” The man said as he crossed his arms. “I know you just bought a slave lot, and maybe you can let me take a look at what you got and let me choose the ones I like.”

“No.” said Zen simply.

“Why?” The man said as his face turned sour.

“Because what is mine is mine, and what’s yours is of course yours.” Zen said flatly. “I do not want yours, so it is obvious I will not give mine.”

The man frowned at his comments and Zen could sense that he didn’t quite get what he was trying to say. He would probably try to intimidate him now, because why he couldn’t trust the bully stereotype he had in front of him. Zen bet inwardly that it wasn’t far off from this player.

“You seem like a smart person or at least a smart ass.” The guy said coldly. “Our guild has people in every continent and if you don’t do like I say. We will destroy what ever piece of shit things that you care about till you leave and never come back.”

“There is one flaw to your statement.” Zen said as he walked around the man. “That is, you don’t know who I am.”

Zen wasn’t sure if he would break the rules of the capital by attacking him, but he was almost sure he wouldn’t attack him in the auction house. If he did that he would be banned for 3 months from entering, and he would have to pay a fine that was not small. Zen could see the trembling of the man’s hand as he started to walk away, and suddenly two other men with the same emblem stood in front of him. Zen wasn’t so sure one of them might not attack him, but Zen didn’t stop walking and walked right between the two.

He didn’t need to look to know that they were following him, and he would probably wait and hassle him when he got out of the auction. He couldn’t help but grin as he walked away from the auditorium, because he now knew it was impossible not to piss some big guild off why he was here.

“When you leave go to the review room to look at what you got in your lots.” Bena’s voice stated with the remains of laughing. “There you can change your mask and your clothes. The room entrance is the same for everybody, but inside you are alone. It is a good way to throw off your followers.”

Zen realized that again Bena knew this would happen and didn’t warn him. He started to think Bena’s personality was going to put him in danger a lot. He did what she said and found an entrance to the review room on his mini map. He didn’t hesitate and went inside and found himself in a room that had a mini stage on it. There stood a small podium that was beside a chair and Zen didn’t hesitate and changed his clothes to something a little more fancy. He was about to exit when the voice from beyond spoke again.

“Don’t forget to change the color of your mask your dork.” Bena said hurriedly. “Also take some time to see what slaves are in the lots. The information will give me some time to plan things out or we might have to buy another small lot.”

Zen nodded at her words, because he agreed with them. He first changed the color of his mask to silver and then checked to see if it took effect. After he verified that, he walked to the chair and sat down in it. A screen popped up in front of him and it had two separate lots in it. The lots had the general information that he had seen at the auction and he picked the one that had Epsilon in it.

Another small screen popped up giving him a detailed list of the slaves, and as he selected the first one the image of the slave appeared on the small stage in front of him. None of the slaves had names but they did have the race, sex and an approximation of their skills and talents. The slave in front of him was a male from the dwarven race. Zen was surprised at the information that was listed because some of it seemed quite personal in nature.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Zen messed around with the function of the list and saw that he could categorize them and did so based on race. The list reorganized giving him a better idea on what race and sex the slaves were. He made sure to focus on the lists so Bena could get as much information as she could, and then moved to the second lot.

This lot was much more diverse in nature than the previous one, and it had a few races that he didn’t recognize. He thought about going through each and seeing them on the stage, but he didn’t want to take that much time. He instead got the information for Bena and then prepared to stand up and go when he heard Bena’s words.

“Please bring up the last person on the second lot list.” Bena said impatiently. “The one marked as the Kerin Race female.”

Zen paused and brought up the list again and found the slave and focused on it. The slave appeared on the stage before him, and the information appeared with it on the screen. The Kerin in front of him was thin and demure in size and on her information that she was a race of the beast kin. The beast kin were half races. There only commonality is that they had the blood of a beast in them, and this female had a mixture of Avelion and high elf.

“Why do you want me to pay attention to this one in particular?” Zen said out loud knowing Bena could hear him.

“It is because Avelion are special and they have royal blood of the beast race in them.” Bena explained. “The high elves are like that among the elven races. They are of high status as well.”

“Then why is she a slave then?” Zen asked. “Wouldn’t the elven races be outraged at that?”

“I am not sure how they would take it.” Bena mused. “The fact that she is have beast kin would complicate things.”

The Kerin was beautiful and she had the elven elegance that made them very attractive. He could feel his heart race when he saw her, and he felt somewhat ashamed at himself for it. He let the image go as he stood up from the chair and gave himself a moment to compose himself and then left the room. He walked away with out any hesitation and as he turned the corner he saw one of the two men earlier, but they didn’t seem to pay attention to him at all and he escaped them easily.

Zen made it to the gates of the auction yard and looked at his time and he had a little over six hours left. It was enough for him to look around the capital. He pulled out the token that the boy gave him and activated it. The token flashed a blue color and about five minutes later the boy approached him and bowed.

“How about a tour of the relevant sites of the capital?” Zen asked.

“That would be 3 silver then.” The boy stated.

Zen took out six silver and dropped them in his outstretched hand. The boy’s smile grew and nodded before leading him on a tour of the major players of the capital. Zen couldn’t help but smile as guild halls and residents of important people started to fill his map. The moment the boy explained about a location the information appeared and was added to the basic information he already had.

The tour of the movers and shakers of the capital didn’t take him that long, and after it was completed Zen asked the boy to take him to where the battle arenas and training centers were. There he could find soldiers to hire when the time came. There were several mercenaries that would hire out to lords as troops and would increase their skills in the wilderness. Most of these were natives because players preferred the continental battles, but it was safer for lords to have natives anyway.

The boy talked about the different training centers and the reputations each had, and after he had finished there he led him to the trading center and did the same with the different trade groups. It was overall a very interesting and enlightening tour. He still had over two hours left and decided to let the guide take him to a place he thought was interesting. The boy smiled and didn’t hesitate before taking him through several streets to the gates of a small ivory tower.

“What is this place?” Zen couldn’t help but ask.

“It is called the Heavens Step.” The boy said. “It is a type of auction house, but it is a private one.”

Zen thought a moment and didn’t think it would hurt to check it out, but it sounded expensive. He didn’t care about spending coins, but he really didn’t want to be seen spending excessively ether. He turned to the guide and asked. “Do you have to show or reveal your real identity here?”

“No.” The boy said. “In fact, it is against the rules to inquire about it.”

Zen nodded and now he knew it was truly expensive here. He couldn’t help but smile inside and he nodded his head in approval and the boy led him to the gate. Even the guards here had masks on, but they were the normal type you place over your head. There were four of them and just the aura on these men told Zen they were dangerous.

“1 gold to enter and no servants allowed.” The largest of the guards said loudly.

Zen turned to the boy and dropped another six silver in to his palms and nodded to him. The boy smiled and took his leave. Zen then turned to the guard and took out a gold and dropped it into his hand. The guard took out a mask that had a painted face of an ogre on it and opened the way to him before saying one last thing.

“You are on the steps to heaven so be careful not to break the rules.” The man laughed hoarsely. “If you do you may bring down the heavens on yourself.”

A small screen popped up in front of him explaining to him exactly what the rules were and wouldn’t go away until he acknowledged he would follow them. The moment he stepped through the gate he found himself in a room with two female maid servants kneeling to the side of a lush couch. He took a moment to read the rules and he was a little shocked. He knew right away this place was more than it seemed.