“What?” Nem leaned forward, hand to his ear. “Are you disappointed it’s not legendary? Listen, you hopelessly greedy flock! To choose something, anything from among the myriad of abilities is a boon rarely found throughout the whole Tower. Mere initiates like you should be salivating at the privilege.”
“No matter.” Nem walked to his chair and sat like an unquestionable crown prince. “The cream will rise and the chaff will fall.”
The bidding began and Shin used a golden ticket. Brought before him was the current head of the house of Arthur, Richard Pendragon, his attire more regal than before and his expression sour.
“I yield…”
Shin returned to the booth with 27 million more tokens and an epic tier option. He opened it immediately and chose something he had planned to take at the third stage, or more accurately a lesser version.
[Acquired the epic tier trait Regeneration.]
Survival State could prevent death for a time, but if his brain was damaged he was effectively unconscious, any skills possessed unable to be used. Now with the trait his own body could heal regardless.
Just as he did before, he placed 2 million on the second bid. A certain Xerxes responded, bidding 3 million. Shin immediately put 3.1 and Ashley put 3.2, vanishing with the call. Her opponent resolved, imposing, and soon dead.
“Hey, don’t break the rule!” Yen criticized as Ashley returned and choose an ability immediately.
“It’s fine, right~?” She leaned next to Shin with a smile bearing no guilt or malice.
“Yeah.”
“We can use this.” Jean addressed the room. “Most of the dangerous players will be cautious if Shin is active, and the weaker ones will be desperate to jump at any alternative. Someone will catch on soon though…” He looked to Shin.
“Okay.” The phantom of the auction agreed to the plan Jean was suggesting.
Shin bid again and Mujin bid after, immediately called to the stage by an unknown, winning with moderate difficulty. Basem bid and disappeared next to similar results, his revolve slowly building in the quiet corner. Yen glanced over and locked him in place. Basem startled for a split second then blinked to the other side of the room.
“What are you doing?!”
“Making sure you were paying attention.”
Yen took a breath as she steeled her resolve while the others took turns baiting challenges over Shin. Finally she took the plunge, her opponent this time a middle aged witch with hazel eyes. A mercenary after her bounty, she guessed half consciousness, forcing herself to focus on nothing but the battle ahead, a battle she won a bit more easily than her first two. She scanned through the options without a word as soon as she returned and with a smile, made her choice.
“Got what you wanted?”
“It will be when I upgrade it.” Yen couldn’t contained her thrilled expression.
“What’s the monkey trait?” Karla asked Shin.
“Mana Eater.” With no context clues, Shin knew what she meant, the two very much on the same wavelength. Karla went out this turn and won again with ease.
“What did you pick for the Amazon class?” Yen asked.
“Smash breaks stuff~ Body Dominance like Shin but not as good~”
“You might turn into more of a monster than Shin…” Yen mused as she envisioned the direction of Karla’s build.
Shin put down 2 million and Sereth put down 7. Two seconds ticked by before someone had the resolve to challenge her, a challenge that ended in utter defeat. Shin tried again and Yuna bid 6 million, imitating the success of the Narmer princess. And for a third time in a row, the party’s plan was usurped, this time by Leon, who won his bid of 5 million without challenge.
Jean had subtle look of thought about him, which Kamala noticed. “They all have connections to Shin personally. Most wouldn’t have realized this soon. Your plan was a good one.”
“Mm...” Jean’s tone was one of half thanking Kamala for her consolation, half focused on how to rectify the situation.
“What?” Yen inquired.
“Now that several have confronted the scheme unanswered, others will start to copy them, and some will piece things together.” Kamala explained. “Participate as much as you can before a bounty is put on you.”
She aimed her last sentence mainly at the ones who had been performing with the most difficulty, Yen included to her displeasure though she made no effort to refute the implication. Sure enough, each received no more than one opportunity before a bounty was placed on their heads, all from the house of Atreus. Shin’s remained untouched, but the others’ were raised to 3 million each now.
“Back to how it was now. Just get as much as you can.” Donny placed a large figure and a silver ticket brought him to the stage, his challenger a ranker and good performer in the auction. Donny entered the white space and took the form of fledgling carnage, a bloody brutality that ripped and tore away before he himself could be broken.
Yen put her money down but a gold ticket called the stunned mage away, her opponent no stranger. Muscular body, spiky white hair, and a malicious grin of amusement. Yen grit her teeth before the menacing madman. Options and emotions weighed in her mind but reluctantly, acceptance of reality prevailed.
“...I quit.” Yen returned, in even worse mood. “Shit!”
Shin looked at Yen, and before Donny could finish a single word, used a gold ticket, coming face to face with Bando who had placed a 4 million bid the moment it started. The Slayer’s grin widened.
“I quit~”
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Shin returned to the booth with the four million, and not a token more. He tilted his head, and sent Yen the tokens he just receive. Yen looked at the amount that paled by what she just had by over 3 million and realized something.
“He planned it…”
“Yeah, I was worried that was the case.”
“Fuck, that psycho is gonna stalk me every time now!” Yen had the panic of someone who realized things were starting to fall apart. “Put a bounty on him.”
“Wouldn’t do anything but waste money. Just hope someone else challenges first.”
“If he is targeting Yen in particular, there likely won’t be anyone faster.” Kamala warned.
“A trick might work…” Jean chimed in. “If he’s trying to be first.”
---
Yen prepared herself. The plan was sound, on paper. Though reluctant to lose this much again, there wasn’t a better option, not one they could come up with on short notice at least. She steeled herself, and bid 8 million. A silver ticket shone in the auction and Bando found himself facing Shin.
The blank unbothered face of a man thinking held his face before his grin returned. “You win. Quit.”
Shin returned to the booth, his balance 8,000,001 tokens more. The plan had worked. Bando was waiting but his reaction couldn't be faster than Shin’s who coordinated with Yen directly. Yen immediately put down 3 million and was challenged by another small name, winning her third ability without issue.
“Thanks…”
Shin smiled and turned his attention to his two item boxes. His choices were slower than his first but he made them without hesitation.
[Acquired epic tier trait Hawkeye.]
[Acquired epic tier trait Blindsight.]
Hawkeye was a greater version of his Quickeye inscription brand, one that didn’t require mana or preparation, and Blindsight allowed him to ‘see’ the vague outlines of his surroundings in a perfect 360 degrees, and it was enhanced by Hawkeye. Two universally useful traits to build his foundation stronger. Yen meanwhile made her own two choices. She had been weighing different paths before but recent events brought back memories to the forefront that sealed her decision.
With the recent turbulence behind them, the party resumed their individual pursuits of abilities. Nearly every move was met with challenges but all were vanquished. Near the end, Shin placed 5 million uncontested, and for his forth ability he chose a skill. Immediately useful in its own right, but Shin had a deeper plan for it.
[Acquired epic tier skill Mana Absorption.]
And with that plan for himself, Shin thought of the others.
[Acquired epic tier trait Summoner.]
‘All monsters summoned or called receive a 50% boost to all stats.’
It was something he would have chosen for Onmyoji had he not needed Soul Fusion. In regards to that, Inari wasn’t like other monsters. She couldn’t be fused in the same way, which meant he needed to try a different path. Shin had scanned through the list before choosing Mana Absorption, and found two that caught his eye. He placed his bids twice and sought them out.
[Acquired epic tier skill Yin.]
‘Deny an ability from passing through.’
Acquired epic tier skill Yang.]
‘Pass through an ability without being denied.’
Yen steeled herself again. There was one more trait she wanted, needed, and took the plunge, pushing herself to her limits to claim the victory. Jean went next once again, repeating his previous strategy to similar hard won success. As he stood with heavy breath, Dante and Karla effortlessly won two more challenges, bringing a lull in activity to the room. Each one of them had gained 4 or 5 abilities, save for Basem with 3, Jean who only managed two and Ashley who to some surprise acquired 6, almost rivalling Shin.
“It’s alright~” Ashley wrapped her arms around Jean from behind again, teasing his cheek. “The rest of us can protect you~”
Yen looked to Dante now that they had all seemed to finish this round. She hadn’t thought much of him before, but he had shown no sign of struggle at any point in the challenges, something that put him in the same category as Shin, Karla, and Kamala, as well as Ashley though she’d rather not talk to her much.
“What’s your status? You’re not the next rank up, right?” Yen asked bluntly.
“It’s a skill.” Dante smiled, and deactivated something.
[Human Runic Charlatan (legendary) - Greater Lord]
“Two-faced rogue type with viking magic?” Yen guessed, glancing over his attire befitting an ancient martial artist. “You don’t look like a charlatan.”
“That’s the point.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
The final bid interrupted them with Leon putting down 12 million and none taking the challenge. With that, the third round of the auction came to an end, and Nem once more took center stage.
“Was that as fun for you as it was for me? Did you plunder enough tokens? For your sake, I hope you did, because it’s time for the final round! Have you guessed what it is yet?” Nem raised both arms into the air as fireworks exploded around the stage, signaling the changing sign.“Great! Attributes! A trait that increases your real numbers by half a fold.”
“‘What’, I hear you ask, ‘why are you making that sound so important’, the foolish among you question. It matters a great deal later on.” Nem’s mocking tone became heavier for those last few words. “But there’s no need for the weak and worthless to fret. This doesn’t concern you. Because for each attribute, there’s only ten items each. That’s right! No more coasting by so comfortably as you did before. Every bid is a battlefield! Since this is so important, and I such a great host, I’ll give you some time between each category. Half a minute for half a fold. Starting now~ First up, Control!”
“So this is why we had to keep the total low…” Donny spoke but his eyes were glued to the stage with quiet resolve.
“For the next round as well.” Kamala reminded.
“Stop wasting time.” Yen spoke up. “How are we coordinating on this?”
“Make it known which ones you want, and sort out the order.” Donny suggested.
“Okay, who wants Control?” Shin raised his hand in answer, and Dante and Jean followed suit.
“Eh, sure you can handle it?” Ashley asked Jean.
“I’ll try if it’s possible…”
“I’ll go after you.” Dante offered. Shin smiled at Jean to mean the same.
“Begin!”
Nem shouted and a silver ticket showed instantly following a low bid. Karla’s grandfather took the stage opposite a known ranker and once again dominated. The second turn started to an immediate silver ticket by the Hua Abbess Wumei who won with significant effort against a worthy opponent. A staggering 20 million bid kicked off the third turn and a silver ticket brought Sereth to battle only to fall dead instantly, as if his existence up until this point had meant nothing.
Jean watched them all patiently with jaded eyes, and on the fourth turn, he put up a relatively paltry sum of 7.3 million, and the stage called. The puppeteer inspected his opponent. A middle aged man with graying hair and a hardened face like stone, cold as the winter. Imposing, threatening even, but not a name. Jean allowed himself to enter the plane of wills and weathered the cold. The stone faced man fell dead and Jean returned to the booth, exhausted.
“Good job.” Dante complimented as he used a silver ticket to challenge the next turn before anyone else, and won effortlessly.
Jean sent over his remaining tokens to Shin, 4.9 million bringing his total to a shade below 20 million. Shin watch the bidding patiently. He did nothing when Yuna took the frontrunning bid and won her challenge, nor the next. A woman bearing strong resemblance to his older sister Mai, though with black hair and scarlet eyes, took the stage. Their mother won as effortlessly as Yuna had, her elegant subdued expression unchanged.
The eighth and the ninth matches of Control ended anticlimactically, the winners a flamboyant man named Amadeus playing to the crowd and the old spirit Yasunori, both in dominant fashion. Still, he did nothing.
But on the 10th turn, he used his golden ticket, and brought one of the two champions of the Pandavas to the stage, Rama. The Pandavas were numerous and without a doubt employed the same tactics that the others clans did, extortion and consolidation. Though no clan, not even the Atreus, could match the Pandavas in numbers. A worthy target to amass tokens, though Shin would have preferred Chandra who likely held the higher figure.
The heroic archer glared at Shin in frustration before surrendering from the fight. Shin returned with a trait named Great Control and 30 million tokens. To the party’s slight surprise, he invoked Inari for only a moment. His Great Attribute didn’t enhanced his invoked stats, but that was a minor issue. He thus maintained his list of three targets, and nothing would stand in his way.