After we moved, I heard a sudden scream of rage from across the room. I was followed by incoherent cussing and insults directed at myself and my family. It seems like Kazuz told her she would pay for all the goods on her side before she was allowed to leave with the rest of her party.
Chuckling to myself at her loss, I continue to walk forward, introducing myself as a settlement lord to those around the area. I don't hesitate to go to both sides of the room, where the living and the unliving are. If anyone will listen to me and chat, it doesn't hurt to have more connections.
Most of the talks are minor, such as introductions and some basic information gathering. Most people don't give much information since they don't know much about themselves, especially those on the main floor of the auction hall. Figuring that they are individual adventurers makes me curious about what they would do here since it seemed like a higher-class auction. Feeling I should ask, but knowing that it could be perceived as rude, I stop myself from asking anyone.
This continues for another hour before Kazuz stands above everyone once again. "Good evening, everyone; I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to those here. I would also like to thank you for joining in this decennial auction. Hopefully, we can see you again at the next auction. Sadly, I would like to inform you all that we have to send you back now that our time has run out, and it has been a wonder to host all of you!" He gives an award-winning smile and appears before one of the doors that head out to shake hands with those of higher status in the crowd.
It doesn't take long before Eleanor, Narus, and I are leaving the ballroom. Once we get to the doors, I am stopped by the attendant and am directed to head towards Kazuz. "As one who has spent so much time with us this evening, I think it would be bad manners if you didn't come and find me, my dear friend." Kazuz happily says while giving my hand a warm shake. "I have made sure that all of your items have been packaged and are in this bag here," he said, handing me a bag. Looking at it, I saw nothing different than my storage bag.
"Thank you for the wonderful time, Kazuz." I smile at him, knowing he won't shortchange me on the items I am due since PUN was part of the wager between Gwilana and me.
With mental communication, he continues, "I have also included the item for Xiphos in the bag. I hope to see you again, and as a small token of my gratitude, I have also included another invitation to a smaller auction we will be holding. It hasn't been planned yet, but once there is a definitive date, your invitation will be sent to you at least a month in advance."
Thanking him once again, though this time mentally, I ask one question. "We might want to include some items from my settlement for the next auction. Would it be possible to get them on the auction ticket?"
He nods and agrees, "Yes, we only close item additions a week before or if we have 300 items as we had in this auction."
Smiling, I continue through the doors, and it doesn't take more than a moment before I return to my manor. It had just turned night when we arrived. Stretching my shoulders after sitting and waiting for the auction to be done for a long time, I went to find my parents.
It didn't take me long before I found all of them; my father was out behind the manor working on his swordsmanship, my mother happened to be right next to him working on her archery, and my sister was working out some bandaging and other tools for healing people without magic.
Gathering each of them, I give them all a hug. They ask me questions, and I tell them we should wait until tomorrow before we do anything since I don't want to tell the story multiple times. With that, they relent, and we go inside to prepare a meal together. They could tell that something was off when I gathered them, but no one questioned it since I had already told them I would tell them all they wanted to know in the morning.
Not long after dinner, I head to bed. My day has been extended, and dealing with all those people has made me more exhausted than dealing with the waves of enemies. I fall asleep quickly, and in what feels like an instant, I hear banging on my door and a dry voice coming from the hall.
"Drake, it is time for you to come downstairs. Many people are waiting to hear what has happened," Laxreal says.
Groggily, I gather my bearings and call out to the door, "Why are you the one waking me up? I feel like there should be a way for me to wake up on my own in the system."
"There is. You just forget about the small things with everything else running through your head. Just access your interface and set an alarm like everyone else, and you won't have people coming to bang on your door every morning." He snarks back at me.
Smacking myself on the forehead, I quickly look at the options in my interface and find a small section for the time and an option to set an alarm.
- Would you like to set an alarm for 8 am? Yes/No
Note: You can only set alarms when you are within your settlement or another settlement. You will not be able to set an alarm out in the wilds. -
After selecting yes, I looked at the time: 9:43 a.m. No wonder everyone had gathered to wake me up. Springing out of bed, I gather before heading out of my bedroom to see Laxreal standing there. "Thank you, Laxreal; I appreciate your help, " I say sheepishly.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
We both head down the stairs and enter the meeting room. The same group of people was in the room yesterday; this time, a set of people from my world have joined them. Recognizing them from when I summoned the large group of people, I found Demetrius sitting in one of the seats.
With all four of the new council members sitting at the table and my family also in the room since they can't be asked to leave, as I had told them I would talk with them about what occurred during the auction, I rub my tired eyes and put on a smile.
"Where to start," I off-handedly mention, placing my finger over my lips. I think for a second and then start from the beginning. Telling them all about how we arrived, getting to our box, the auction itself, and meeting Kazuz the Hall-master of the auction house we were in. I also brought up the amount of items we purchased during the auction and the cost of said items.
Seeing everyone else's shock, other than Draemish, Eleanor, Vranjaya, and Narus, the others ask why we got so many items. This causes me to sigh, and it doesn't go unnoticed. "How did you get these items, Drake?" My father is the one to ask, this time more pointed than before.
That is when I tell everyone about the encounter with Gwilana. The moment I mention her name, my father and mother both look at each other, and I can see the rage in their eyes when I say what she was doing the entire time I was having my different surgeries done. When I bring up the fact that she never fully healed me of my ailments, my father shattered the armrest of his chair, and my mother's horns start to appear on her forehead, the rage palpable.
Seeing the changes in my parents, I slowly stop talking about her. "Are you two alright?" I asked.
They visibly try to calm themselves down, but I can tell that it isn't working. They are having a hard time expressing their words. My mother takes a couple of deep breaths before she can finally utter even a semblance of an answer, but her voice has changed. It is deeper like it has touched upon the abyss; her eyes have become a deeper black than usual, and her hands have slowly developed claws into claws. "We will be fine. Please continue with what you were saying." Giving me a smile that I can only describe as something small children would view in their nightmares appears on her face, full of sharp teeth.
I start my story from where I left off, and right as I get to the wager I placed with Gwilana, my father can't take it anymore and stands up. Well, it's not that he stood up; the chair gave way from underneath him, and wings flared out of his back, tearing his shirt apart.
All I can hear from him is his repeated muttering, "She will pay. " He can't calm down until Xelyphe approaches him and rests her hand on his shoulder.
The others in the room are looking at me and giving gentle looks in our direction, knowing that it can be hard to hear about someone abusing helping someone just for the sadistic passion of tormenting someone else's family. Laxreal puts his hand on my shoulder before asking, "What did you do when you heard of your family being disrespected in such a manner?"
I could not think clearly about the answer, seeing the extent of the changes in both my father and mother. Eleanor answered, "I could tell he was getting angry; at one point, his anger did boil over, and he tried to lash out at her for her disrespect, but we stopped him."
"Why?" This is the following question.
"Rules dictated that we stop him; if he was able to harm her in any form physically, then we could have been kicked out of the auction."
Nodding his understanding, he grasps my shoulder more firmly, bringing me out of my slight stupor. "Drake, what are your plans for this woman?"
"Destruction, that is all she deserves." My father shouts out even before I can get a word out.
"Death to those she loves," my mother, in a very uncharacteristic show, expounds on what he said.
During this whole time, they have been exhibiting more signs of their bloodlines. Scales cover my father, and a dark leathery skin covers my mother; a tail has formed at some point, and her horns have grown larger.
Nodding my head in agreement with what they have said, I turn to Laxreal, "That would be for the best; I don't know if we are strong enough to take on the settlement that she is a part of. From what she told me, she had already been in either this world or another world for several months. I hope that she is on a different planet. I don't want to worry about fighting her right now while trying to get everything settled around here."
Feeling the hostility in the air from my mother and father towards this woman, I want them to calm down, but I don't know how. That is when I hear Laxreal sigh, "I was hoping not to have to do this ever to someone, but it looks like it can't be helped." With a snap of his fingers, chains appear in the room. They wrap around my parents and force them to the ground.
"LAXREAL, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" My father rages.
"I am forcing you to sit still. I know you are angry at what has happened, but your state right now could harm someone in this room, your son included. With that, I have taken it upon myself to restrain you until you can calm down."
Looking at the restraints, I become a bit worried, but then I think about all the damage they could cause if they were let loose now.
I turn to Laxreal, "What if they can break from the constraints of the chains?"
"They won't."
"How can you know that?”
"Those chains won't hold someone unwilling to be restrained. They know they could go out of control and have subconsciously given permission to be restrained so they can't go out of control."
Trusting him with his judgment, I continue my story, keeping an eye on my parents. As it progresses, they get more and more demonic or in the case of my father, draconic.
Once I finally finish with everything that happened at the auction, I can barely recognize the humanoid figures that were once my parents. Sighing, I can only think of one thing that might pull them both from this state but also work on leveling us all up since we seem to be falling behind.
"Mom, Dad, we should just have a family outing. Just the four of us, go out and maybe get some levels and just learn from each other about everything. Or you can teach me more about what it eans to have a bloodline.":
Their eyes focus on me, and I can see that they like that idea from the smiles I get. Some of their features start to return to normal.
"We first have to finish with what we have started here. " With that, I pulled out the bag that Kazuz gave me right before we left. Pulling one item after another out of the bag, most people were impressed with what some items represented for us as a settlement.
The initial items I pull out are the blueprints and tools. These don't get much response overall, but then I started to pull out the tokens, weapons, and armor.