"Have the Spiders brought in the mage my father won at auction?" Elian asked. "I'd like to show him to my friend here."
We had walked out of the auction house and into one of the nearby buildings. These structures were reserved accommodations for the affluent travelers who attended the event. Some attendees owned properties in East Genise, but Lord Vikzhou, who only graced Adovoria with his presence during this annual auction during the Summer Festival, had secured an apartment subsidized by the Spiders Syndicate – reserved for their most esteemed clientele.
The apartment that Lord Vikzhou, his son, and many servants occupied took up three whole floors, one of which was the basement we were in now.
"Yes, but young master Elian, your father has strictly forbidden anyone from entering the vault." The guard stationed by the black mana stone-embedded door observed Jasper and me skeptically.
Elian took the two off us inside the building without raising any suspicion from the guards outside, and this one person was the first to pose any resistance.
"Are you implying I am just anyone?" Elian asked. He leaned over the guard with a sinister smile. "Besides, what's with that tone? Didn't I hide the mess you got yourself in last time from my father?"
Elian had removed his mask; thus, I could properly make out his appearance now. He had a decently attractive face with prominent dimples adorning each cheek. It was a face rather unfortunate to have been lost on a spoiled lunatic such as him.
"No, young master Elian. It's them I'm concerned about," the guard shifted uncomfortably and pointed at us.
Jasper and I had also removed our masks like our host did when we entered his apartment. There was no need to hide our identities, as that was information easy to have if one put an ounce of effort in, and leaving them on brought too much attention.
"They're with me. Or are you implying I can't have an extension of myself do as I please?" Elian asked.
"No—no, it's just that I had strict orders from your father—"
"To protect the vault, yes," Elian interjected. "And I presume additional measures have been taken to protect against threats beyond your single guardly presence, correct?"
"Of course—"
"In that case, there should be no cause for concern," Elian declared. "Let my friend go in and take a peek at the mage. He just wants a brief look in private. See, he had lost out in the auction to my father. He came in third."
'Friend' was a rather excessive way to describe our relationship. He didn't know me, and I, having seen how he treated his so-called 'friends,' had no interest in ever truly being a friend of his. But it was likely just a matter of wording to convince this guard.
The guard's frown deepened as he scrutinized me from head to toe, but seemed to give in. "Only one person may enter, and he must remove all artifacts, starting with that necklace, and no weapons."
"Of course," Elian responded with a smile, gesturing for me to step forward.
Having to take off the Whispering Necklace was a bit of a shame, as I had been using it to communicate with Ridley to coordinate our next moves. However, it wasn't unexpected.
I unclasped it and handed it over to Jasper, along with my dagger.
The guard produced a wand, passed it over me, and paused at my sleeves. The wand's tip emitted a brief green flash, and the guard narrowed his eyes at me.
"Poison is considered a weapon as well. Please remove it from your person," he commanded.
Interesting. Is it able to detect the needles?
I extracted the roll of poisoned needles out of each sleeve and handed them over to Jasper.
The guard motioned the wand over me again and then patted me down for good measure. He pulled out my watch but handed it back, clearly unimpressed with the cracked item. Without the usual markings of a regular artifact, my Time Dilation Watch seemed to have escaped his inspection.
I put it back inside my pocket, relieved that I at least had this item on me.
"Well, my friends, it's been good fun. But I have a ring to win at the auction and a lady to propose to," Elian said and patted his hands on Jasper's and mine backs. "I'll see you back at the auction house after you're done."
"Good luck," Jasper said, waving goodbye to our host.
"You'll get ten minutes," the guard said. He had a displeased expression but was going to honor Elian's request. It probably helped our case that Elian was a lunatic with unpredictable mood swings. "I'm not leaving the door open either, so you'll have to knock for me to unlock it for you to get out."
"That won't be a problem," I said.
The guard unlocked the door and motioned for me to enter. "Ten minutes, got it? If that watch of yours is working, keep track of the time. I'm not letting you stay inside a minute longer. And I'll do another inspection when you exit, so don't you dare try anything funny."
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"I'll bear that in mind," I said and entered.
"Now, while he's checking out that mage, what say you and I have a little game to pass the time?" I heard Jasper say just before the door locked behind me, plunging me into an eerie stillness.
I walked inside, my footsteps echoing faintly in the muted ambiance. White light stones provided sufficient lighting to the space. The cool vault, reminiscent in size of my bedroom, held an assortment of artifacts and weapons, enclosed in mana stone-enforced boxes and surrounded with shimmering protective mana circles. Every little thing was secured in place.
Black mana stones were the hallmark of any door, wall, or cage that one wanted to enforce and ensure nothing could get in and out of. It was the material used on the dungeon door of my manor and the door to Elda's explosive workshop.
The beauty of the material is that it rendered whatever it was infused into virtually impossible to break apart. Yes, there was the instance with The Ogre, who bent the black mana-infused steel cage of the arena, but that was the exception and not the rule. He had a Strength of 412 and was in a desperate state of mind to get away from Kleave's perfume-infused handkerchief. And even then, The Ogre could not escape from the black mana-infused cage.
However, there were additional protections possible to implement that were significantly more difficult to put in place: mana-enforced inscriptions. The ones surrounding Azgralos were of a more powerful and ancient nature. More modern ones were also used to enclose artifacts and keep thieves away without putting up an unsightly steel cage about one's pretty possessions.
My eyes moved over the various objects inside, gliding through the various shiny artifacts and ancient relics, wondering what abilities they might have had to warrant such intricate protection. I would have done an item check, except that was one of the areas I had disabled to access the Game Store.
Tch. I ought to regain that access again, along with all the other access I have given up.
The previous couple of days, I had spent on one task and one task only: selling off thousands of items to earn my fortune. Not that it did me much good in the auction, but it was good to be prepared.
My eyes moved away from the other items and fell on a large crystal box with mana circles drawn on the walls. Inside sat a wide-eyed Fin and a furiously fluttering about yellow Leona.
I smiled at them and walked over to the crystal box, placing my hands over the box's transparent wall.
Of course, I wasn't here for all the other treasures Lord Vikzhou had stashed away. I was here for my friends.
"System, set the timer for ten minutes, starting from when the guard locked the door," I said.
[ Time remaining: 09:42 ]
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Ginger.catz: Hey. Does anyone know what's up with Player 0.4 as of late? What's with all the random shit up for sale?
Canton_fancy2: No clue. But I'm just happy I finally managed to get stock of some of that food. Hur hur hur.
Ginger.catz: @DisguisedPigeon have you heard from BlueLizard?
DisguisedPigeon: Not at all. I get errors when pinging her, but that's normal when she starts playing a Game.
Wizzack: @Ginger.catz I was wondering about that too. Isn't there a limit by their System on how many items they can put on sale? Or does Adovoria's Fall's System not care?
DisguisedPigeon: Oh no, it cares.
GreenNoodle: It cares.
Wizzack: Then what's with all the items on sale? Player0.4 is mining that world dry.
KandyKane: What, have ya'll never seen favoritism? Systems are not beyond bias. The only reason I cleared my current Game is because the Game's System liked my username.
Canton_fancy2: HAHAHAHA. What favoritism?? I just checked your last Game. It was marked Very Easy. Anyone could have cleared that thing.
KandyKane: It was Medium when I started.
Canton_fancy2: Sure. Sure…. /s
Ginger.catz: Hey. That's not what I meant regarding Player0.4. What's with the random cubes of stone and dirt up for sale? They're perfectly cut square cubes.
Canton_fancy2: Who cares? They're as useless as all the armor junk he's been buying up.
NeonSpecter: Maybe Player0.4 is looking into a profession as a stonecutter.
Ginger.catz: Yeah… I don't think that's it.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
With Plan A having fallen through, my sole focus was earning the money needed to win Fin in the auction. I spent hours in the cellar with my palms pressing one by one on the items I wished to sell.
"Why do I have to physically touch everything to put it in the Game store?" I grumbled to myself.
[ To prevent abuse. ]
The System replied without me intending for it to respond.
[ If you could merely point and have it go into the Game Store, what would prevent a Player from selling off everything as far as the eye can see? ]
[ Besides, I'm making considerable considerations as it were for you, and yet you complain. ]
<< My hands are just tired, is all. >> I replied, this time intending my comment toward the System.
[ Perhaps you would do well to exercise more, given how weak you are. ]
I grasped my fingers together and rolled my palms around, trying to massage out my wrists. The movement of putting items in the Game Store was simple. Still, it required holding my hand in place for a couple of seconds, and having to do the same movement repeatedly was beginning to tire my hands out. The discomfort was adding up with the number of items I was putting into the Game Store.
But I had until this evening to sell off enough goods and purchase new wares from the Game Store to profit quickly. The auction was tomorrow, so I was working until the very deadline.
I sighed.
Damn it. There isn't even a guarantee I can sell off everything I purchase from the Game Store in time. But there is nothing I can do about that.
Having massaged my hands out, I resumed my efforts, pressing my hands onto a large box sitting atop two other boxes.
"Squeak!"
The wooden box disappeared in a blue glow, replaced by a small grey mouse that dropped in its place. The little thing fell from mid-air and hurried away.
<< Did you give me a mouse in return for the box of food? >> I asked, wondering if this was a new type of way of making fun of me by the System.
[ No. That's not how the Game Store works. The only thing you can get in exchange on the Game Store is Nexus Coin. ]
[ Also, that mouse was already inside the box. And given how living things cannot go on sale in the Game Store, it was obviously left behind. ]
I blinked.
<< Are you suggesting that if I place my hands over anything that has something alive in it, everything apart from the living being will be put into the Game Store? >> I asked.
[ That is correct. Even seeds capable of sprouting are not allowed. ]
I smiled.
<< And is there… a limit to the object's size? >>
[ Yes, but it's about mass, not necessarily size. So, a giant balloon animal, the size of a castle, might have the same mass as that of a steel cube the size of one of these boxes. ]
I nodded. What I had in mind was certainly not as dense as the items the System had given as examples.
But what if…?
A new idea popped into my head. I crouched down and placed my hands on the stone floor, imagining the largest field imaginable.
<< If it's about mass, what if I do this? >>
A square blue glow appeared from the area my hands were touching, and suddenly… there was nothing. A square hole that I could comfortably fit in had formed.
A huge grin spread across my face.
It was a little slow, perhaps due to the considerable amount of material sent into the Game Store. However, it was exactly what I needed for a Plan C in case I lost out in the auction.