Magum sat in his chair, sipping a glass of Oxarium Brandy. ‘If this doesn’t keep him away, nothing will…’ Magum paused, considering the events he had set in motion. ‘Did I go too far? ‘No… I’m sure it won’t become too bothersome… it's just a low tier spell book and a mid grade sword.’ He attempted, but failed, to quash a growing sense of unease.
‘Maybe I should go monitor this.’
Magum sighed, stood, and grabbed his coat.
‘Fucking heroes.’
*************************
Klein had gathered his team as quickly as he could. The intelligence he had was fresh and opportunities such as this were rare. He wasn’t willing to let it slip between his fingers. Klein surveyed the crowd in front of him, composed of teammates, allies, and trusted friends.
“Thank you all for coming on such short notice. I’ll keep this brief. We have a credible report that the Tome of Axios will be on sale at tonight’s auction.”
A murmur rushed through the assembled crowd.
“I don’t think I need to tell you how long we’ve waited for this moment. We all know the havoc it could wreck in the wrong hands. So, we will see if we can purchase it outright, but if we can’t, we take it by force.”
His allies collectively nodded.
“Here’s the plan.”
*************************
Takeda stood in front of his clansmen, outfitted in his battle gear: an occasional blue pulse permeating the otherwise black cloth, betraying his armor’s heavy magical fortification. The battle group in front of him was dressed similarly. They were the elites of the Harabasi Clan.
“Brothers, our spies have confirmed a last minute addition to tonight's auction, the Hirakita. While many of you have heard of this mythical blade, what you don’t know is that this was the final weapon wielded by Lord Harabasi himself before he was put to sleep.”
Energy pulsed through the assembled clansmen.
“This artifact must be returned to us at any price. Teams, here are your orders.”
*************************
The monstrous being licked the blood of its claws, disappointed. Its meal had died during the course of dinner, and without the spice of fear, the meat didn’t taste the same. As it pushed the A rank adventurer off the table, a communicator built into the wall flashed crimson.
Durzad bolted upright. It had never received a message directly from the monarchy.
“The Soul of Abatraxsis has been located. She will be on sale tonight in Dibella. Rescue her and escort her back to the base by any means necessary.”
The specifics of the mission flashed before Durzad’s eyes. Saliva began to drip from its fangs. It had been far too long since it had been allowed to rampage. Overcome with excitement, it burst out of its cave, rushing towards Dibella. This was going to be a glorious night.
*************************
Lydia and I passed through the entrance and were greeted by overwhelming opulence. Masked men and women were mingling while waiters shuttled drinks back and forth. On the far wall were three sets of 10 foot tall polished wooden doors. On the far left, there was a giant staircase, heavily guarded, leading up to another floor.
We approached a porter and showed him Magum’s note. Taking it, he inhaled sharply.
“This seal… we are honored to be in such distinguished company.” He appraised us further. “Sir and Madam…” the poor man choked out nervously “Would you perhaps be interested in purchasing… more suitable headgear.” He inhaled and held his breath.
‘Who the fuck is Magum?’
“That would be great!” Lydia chirped while I was lost in my own thoughts.
“Excellent, I’ll have some suitable options brought to you, so you do not miss any of the auction.”
‘Ugh. Let’s keep contact with these people to a minimum.’
“Just give us two of your best masks.”
“Very good, sir. I’ll arrange that for you this instant.” The porter rushed away, as fast as decorum would allow.
“What a strange little man.” Lydia said, once he was out of earshot.
Nonplussed, she flagged down a waiter who was serving drinks, grabbing two glasses. The drink looked familiar. Lydia passed one over, and I took a sniff. I recognized the smell, but could not place it.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“What is this?” I asked.
“Gifarian Sake.”
I paused. “Can you say that again?”
She cocked her eyebrow.
“Gifarian Sake.”
‘Am I losing it… or was that in English, well Japanese… Earthian… whatever?’
I thought back to the conversation we had about whiskey, and how I was just understanding what Lydia said as whiskey, not that she was actually using that word. This… did not feel like that. I had become far more accustomed to the language skill since then. This sounded like she had actually said sake.
“That last word there, what language were you speaking?''
“Not sure.”
“What?”
“It’s not actually any of our languages. It was borrowed from one of the Shoguns of Ancient Gifar, a migra- wait, you recognize it?”
“Yeah, sake is Japanese rice wine. So before, when you told me all the faces I was trying on looked Gifarian, they were-
“I guess so.”
“Intere- Wait. That doesn’t make any sense. How could one man possibly have so many kids that he would effect an entire peoples’ appearance?”
Visions of Genghis Khan sprung to mind.
“An entire city showed up.”
“Excuse me?”
“At least that is the story. One day, an entire city of migrants showed up in Gifar.”
“Is that… common?”
“No. In fact, the whole event is supposed to have occurred before the reign of dragons, so there are no reliable records that it even happened. It’s just a legend… except I guess it's not.”
I opened my mouth to question further, but was cut off by an announcement.
“All guests, please move to your seats, the auction will begin shortly.”
*************************
The porter from before returned and showed us to a private room that overlooked a stage and gallery set with elegant chairs.
“And here are, as requested, the best we have on hand.”
He handed each of us an underwhelming small masquerade mask.
“These are top of the line identity obscuring masks, designed to provide maximum anonymity without sacrificing style. Each is enchanted to block mid-tier identification spells, obscure your voice, and shapeshift to match any style of clothes you choose. I do hope these are satisfactory.”
I was astounded that these existed. I hadn’t found any on the open market.
“Yes, quite satisfactory. Thank you.”
“It’s my pleasure. Now, here are guides discussing the items up for auction. You’ll note two inserts. These are very special last minute additions: the spellbook of an ancient wizard and the final weapon of a legendary warrior. Both are rare objects you will never find anywhere else. You picked an excellent night to be here.”
‘This guy is really laying it on thick .’
The porter continued, “Now, unless you have any other needs, I’ll be taking my leave.”
After the man left the room, Lydia and I browsed the list. The early entries were standard magical items: swords, armor, rings, and accessories. The only thing among those that piqued my interest was a set of necklaces that allowed the wearers to communicate with each other over several miles.
After those, there were some books of magic, but nothing more impressive than what was already in our collection. Finally, towards the back we got to the more… specialized items. They were selling a variety of monsters, beasts, spirits, and, more interestingly, the soul of a Demon Overlord. Finally, I reached the last section and my blood boiled. A dark mist began to emit from my pores. Lydia turned to me, alarmed. Looking down at what I read, she understood and clamped her hand down on mine.”
“Noah, I know your feelings on slaves, but now is not the time.”
“They gave fucking measurements and listed suggested uses.” I spat out, gripping the arm of my chair so hard it snapped.
“Noah, the auction is full of highly evolved guards. You’d win, but you’d also destroy several city blocks in the process. If you want to take a stand, we can talk about it, but now is not the time.” she urged, trying to dissuade me.
I heard Lydia, but the words barely registered. ‘I need to calm down.’ I began Meditation.
‘Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale.’ I pushed the skill to its limit.
Seeing the tension leave me, Lydia rubbed my arm. “That’s better. Maybe we should leave.”
“No. No. I want the spell book at the end. I’ll just excuse myself during… that part.”
“Okay,” Lydia said gently, “but be careful, we need to avoid another incident.”
“Yes... I’m aware.”
*************************
I spent the auction agitated. The descriptions of the items were insufficient to snap me out of my foul mood. I chose not to bid on anything, saving my funds for the end. One anomaly that piqued my interest was that during the beast sale, all of the monsters were purchased by the occupant of the same private room. Although other prospective buyers bid on each monster, they were always out done. Their annoyance was palpable, but ultimately futile.
I prepared to take a walk as the last monster was brought to the stage: the Demon Overlord. I stopped in my tracks as I saw a young girl brought out onto the stage. A collar around her neck glowed red. She was escorted by a dozen men, fighting against chains. She bit against the chains, exposing sharp, bloodied teeth: a bandage on one of the guard’s arms betraying its origin. Her facial features were further warped with ridges around her eyes and pitch black eyes.
Yet, despite a clearly inhuman appearance, I couldn’t help but feel like I recognized it. I activated Deep Study.
Name: Jessica Goldblum
Species: Human
Subspecies: Demon (Possesed)
Place of Origin: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
Age: 19
Level: 32 (Possessing entity level is level 80)
Skills: Error
Active effects: Possessed, Blood Lust, Power Suppression (Greater)
Inherent Traits: ?????
My heart stopped, and my blood cooled.
‘Jessie…’ Her age was wrong, and her facial features twisted, but there she was, the girl I failed to save.
A surge of energy was expelled from my body, almost knocking Lydia to the ground.
“Noah, what's wrong?!?” Lydia practically shouted, her face flooded with concern.
“We’re leaving with her. Even If I have to kill everyone here to do it.”