The next day went by quickly. We decided to explore a bit more of the city but didn’t find anything too important. There were a few shops that looked interesting, but I decided it was time to stop spending so much. Who knew how much money the auction was going to take? When we returned, I sat about getting myself ready. I decided to try one of my more formal outfits. This one was closer to a more traditional black and green suit with a cape. It reminded me a bit of a tux with tails only the fabric was much looser. It also came with black finger-less gloves. The entire thing had thin fabric strings that spread throughout it out like veins. The thing strings alternated in color with the main outfit. This created a very nice black-on-green and green-on-black effect throughout. All together the outfit was pretty nice.

Zakia wasn’t as careful with her selection. She wore a backless black and red dress with sleeves. It was clear that she didn’t care too much about the dress. Parts of the garment were faded in color and she made sure to keep one of her swords peace bonded on her back. She leaned against the door as I finished getting ready. “Are you finished yet?” Her annoyance was as subtle as a jackhammer.

I laughed before calling my familiars. Sanaa and Tenebris dived from the ceiling and took their spots on my shoulders. “I am now. You don’t have to go to the auction if you don’t want to.”

“Oh, I want to go. I just don’t want to spend an hour waiting for you to put yourself together. I am hoping to find some interesting weapons tonight.”

“Oh? I thought you were swords were good?” We stepped out into the evening air and headed toward the auction house.

“Oh, they are, but there can always be a better sword. Especially if we can find something with a rarer medal. Or even a scalable weapon.”

“What’s a scalable weapon?” I scratched a spot between Tenebris’ wings that earned me a hiss of delight.

“Weapons that can level up with you. I haven’t had the chance to get one of my own, but I fought with someone that had one. They made the weapon out of true steel, and it was level three at the time. I have not been able to find a blacksmith that could both make and make it affordably.”

I nodded along as she spoke. “So, what weapons can you use? Are you only good with swords?”

She shook her head. “No, my affinity is highest with swords, but I can use small blades decently well and thrown weapons.”

“I assume that two-weapon fighting is your preferred strategy?” She nodded. “It will be difficult to find two of those weapons if they are as rare as you make them out to be.”

“They can be any rarity, but they are overall rarer, so that’s true. So what are you interested in buying? More fancy clothes? A crown made of gold?” She scoffed.

“Well, now that you mention it, a gold crown and maybe some golden rings could be fun,” I said with a soft chuckle before shaking my head. “Ideally, I want to find some magic books, but I am interested in just about anything. I am thinking that we will head back soon. After we finish talking with the city’s lord and gather up all the new settlers.”

“Have you decided how we are going to get all those people to their new home?”

“I am hoping that we can get a ship, but if not, then we would have to do a long walk. If it comes to that, we will need to hire some guards to protect everyone.”

“Well, we would make the best target for bandits in the last decade, at least. Walking does have benefits though, it would be harder for people to find us later. Assuming that the guards don’t just immediately leave.”

“I don’t think that will be an option. I am thinking that I will require anyone who wants to stay to commit to staying a year or two. That way, the city can get off the ground before dealing with people leaving for greener pastures.”

She nodded. “It’s a good idea. You will need people who are willing to buy in and it will allow you to separate the people who are willing to commit from those that aren’t.”

Before we could continue our conversation, we arrived at the auction house. Unlike the first time, the auction house was lively. People filtered into the building, some in large groups, others by themselves. The building had come alive with lights, colors, and music. A quick look around showed the performers. There were three of them spread across the front of the auction house. They were all dressed in colorful clothing, ranging from blue to gold. The atmosphere reminded me of the time my dad brought me to a Cavs game as a child. Once I got over the initial surprise, we found our way into the line for private booths. I gave the guard my name, and he escorted us into the building. I looked around for any faces that I might know, but there were none. When we reached our booth, the outside world seemed to fall away.

The booth was set up like a theater from home. Our room was a bit rustic. There were five chairs inside. Each one was hand-woven and decorated with black fabric. They reminded me a bit of the chairs my grandmother liked. Lastly, there was a stone wall that went up to chest height when you were seated. The room was a balcony that overlooked a main meeting hall. The meeting hall was a series of stone benches that crossed from one side of the room to the other. There was a raised stage that sat empty for the moment. The stage was wooden, unlike everything else.

We settled into our seats and watched as the people below us made their way inside. It was a bit funny to watch everyone orient themselves. I was pulled from my thoughts when someone knocked on the door. “Greetings. I am requesting permission to enter.” A soft feminine voice came from the other side.

“You may enter,” I called back. A second later, the door opened and a dark-skinned woman entered. She wore a loose-fitting blue dress. In her hand, she held a wooden paddle fan with the number 12 written on it. When she saw us, she gave a slight bow before handing me the paddle.

“My name is Asha. I am your guide to the auction tonight. This paddle is how you will be able to make your bid. The enchantments in your room will make hearing you difficult.” She then looked over at Zakia and gave her a polite smile. “If either of you have questions about the auction, please feel free to ask. I do not know everything, as some items have limited to no information available about them.”

“Thank you. My name is Darterrius Solomon Maximillian, but you may call me Darterrius. I have a business arrangement with the auction house. Would you have any information about that?”

Asha nodded her head before removing a scroll from the inside of her dress. “I do. They asked me to deliver this scroll to you. I am told that it would answer any questions you have.”

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I took the scroll from her, broke the seal, and began to go through it. The information inside was what I had been expecting. They would take the money I spent her out of the gold I gave them earlier. Assuming the Chameleon basilisk egg sold that money would be added to the pot. I was free to spend all I wanted. Once I finished, I rolled up the scroll and gestured for Asha to take a seat. “Please join us.”

Zakia spoke up at this point. “Can you tell us the schedule for the auction?”

Asha hesitated for a moment before taking a seat. “I can do that. We will be starting with alchemical creations, then we will move into books. After that, it will be food and drink. Once we are done with that, we move into furniture, then jewelry. Once the Jewelry is complete, we will take care of the items that don’t fit the conventional classification. This is where the more unique or odd items will be found. Lastly, we move into weapons and armor. Each category will have a variety of items inside and an announcement will be made before the penultimate and ultimate items are brought out.”

Zakia and I looked at each other and nodded. Before I could ask any more questions, a hush fell over the crowd and the main stage was bathed in a white light. A man in black leather armor made his way onto the stage.

He placed a hand on an item on his lapel and spoke. His voice seemed to come from everywhere all at once. It was like he had just connected to a PA system that spread throughout the room. He wasn’t too loud, though.

“Good Evening everyone. I am happy to bring you another of our auctions. The Gold Lands trading company has endorsed this one. They have graciously shared several unique and interesting items that I am sure will draw the eyes of many. Not only that, but we have received a late addition. We have had the honor of receiving a Chameleon Basilisk egg.”

The resulting “oohs” and “aahs” made me wonder for the second time if selling the egg was a smart choice. I shook it off, though. It was well beyond too late for me to do anything about it now. Not unless I wanted to bid on my item. The man raised a hand and waited for the crowd to quiet down. Once he was ready, he spoke again. “Before we get to that, though, I have been given an announcement. The seller of this egg has humbly requested that we let everyone in attendance know that he has a unique opportunity available.”

The man paused, and I could feel the anticipation slowly building in the room. Just when the excitement began to become irritation, he started. “He is searching for people willing to become settlers.” Murmuring began to spread through the crowd, only this time, the man didn’t stop. “That’s right. You all may have heard rumors about an interesting man with two dragons. A man who came into the city filled with more mystery than answers. That very same man is searching for people willing to brave a frontier and build something new for themselves.” He gestured up to my booth. The crowd turned and strained their necks to see up to us. I shrugged my shoulders, stood up, and did my best royalty impression. I stretched a hand over the crowd.

The crowd’s murmuring turned into a storm of conversation. There were so many voices and different languages that my ability could translate any of them. Standing there like a statue felt a bit awkward, but I didn’t move. I copied every celebrity I had ever seen until the announcer took over again. “Alright, alright, I believe that’s enough. Now it is time for us to turn to what we have all come here for. “A raucous applause erupted at that and a man pulling a wooden cart came out onto the stage.

They removed a white tarp from the wooden cart, revealing a set of six potion vials. The potions were a dark shade of red. I leaned forward to get a better view, but from this distance, it made little difference.

“Here we have a set of six Minor healing potions brewed just for us.” The words didn’t mean much to me, but the murmuring going through the crowd told me it was something special. “ The potions are at the ‘Mixture’ level of potency and have been aged for over three months.”

He continued describing the potions, but I stopped listening. “I am not well versed in potions and potion making. What does all of that mean?”

“Alchemical strength refers to how strong the potion will be. ‘Minor’ is the third level of potion making. They are difficult to make and generally need a high-level alchemy skill. The level of potency refers to both the difficulty of making the potion and its overall effect. I am not sure how high ‘Mixture’ is, but I can say that brewing them is difficult for any nonclasser.” I wanted to ask more, but the bidding had started.

“We will start the bidding at ten gold.” With that, the bidding began in earnest. Within a few moments, the price had risen from ten to one hundred gold. I looked around and realized no one else from the booths had joined in.

“What do you think Zakia?” I added while keeping track of the numbers.

“I think that the potion you have access to is better. I am not sure how many of those you have, so it would be up to you. We have our alchemist who can make healing potions. I don’t know anything about alchemical strength or potency, but I haven’t complained.”

I nodded and leaned back. The price for the potions had stopped rising at 105 gold coins. With the winners being a group of people, I assumed were adventurers. There were three of them, one Minotaur, one Procidean, and a Daphan. After announcing the winner, they took the potions back and the auction house fell into silence. Another cart was wheeled out, and the process continued. The next few items weren’t of any interest to me. Zakia bid on the potion of Strength and managed to win it at 30 gold and five silver coins. Then there were potions for everything from cleaning to birth control. I considered buying some of those but didn’t. The birth control potion wasn’t all that important since I didn’t plan on having sex for the foreseeable future. Both potions had nearly doubled their actual worth, which made me hope that I would be able to buy some later. Either that or make some on my own. The auction took a brief break to prepare for the next category. I leaned back in my chair and took a breath.

“Looks like the next part is going to cost you a nice amount of gold,” Zakia said.

I nodded. “Assuming they have spell books or any books of interest. Do books that increase your skill level exist?”

There was a pause, that pause that lets you know you just asked a stupid question before Asha replied. “Yes, I don’t think we have any of those for sale today, but skill tomes are very valuable generally.”

I nodded. “Do you know how to make one? Or where I could buy some?”

She shook her head. “No, there are very few of those for sale anywhere in the world. Anyone who found one would be much more likely to use it themselves.”

I opened my mouth to ask more questions but was interrupted by the arrival of another cart. When the cart was removed, there was a set of seven books. Each one looked expertly bound in dark brown leather. The books were a part of a set, but from what I could tell, they weren’t magical."

The announcer smiled as the books were revealed. “Here is a gift from the historians at the citadel. We have a full set of The History of Kings. All seven tomes, including the history of our very own free states. The books were bound by a classed scribe. The books are bound in the scales of a black salamander. We will start the bidding at 10 gold coins.”

This time, the bidding occurred in the opposite of the potions. Only the people in the upper booths bid. The bidding slowed. Almost as if each booth was giving the others ample time to respond before stepping in. I waited for the price to reach 75 gold before I dipped my toe. My bid stood for nearly a minute before a booth to my right countered. The two of us went back and forth for several minutes before I upped the ante. I leaped from one hundred gold to one hundred and thirty. It wasn’t an insignificant amount of gold, but it was well within the budget I had. The announcer gave it a full five minutes before closing the auction. I leaned back in my seat and grinned.

“I will retrieve the items you have won at the end of the auction. Would you like the items to be brought here or delivered to your residence?” Asha’s question stopped my mental victory dance.

“For now, bring them back here. If I go overboard, we will discuss it later.” Asha nodded her agreement, and we settled in for the next item. The next few books weren’t as interesting. One was a bestiary that I seriously considered getting, but ultimately passed. Zakia informed me that the Ifrit had lists of creatures common to our general area and the part of the canyon where my city existed was very far away and most likely wouldn’t have the creatures listed. Once the book went beyond ten gold, I decided it wasn’t worth it. I had just started to leave for the restroom when the next item was brought to the stage. Instead of the wooden cart, this one was being held by a man wearing white robes. The announcer removed the tarp and all thoughts of leaving fled my mind.