Master Of None

We passed the hours talking and playing at the orphanage. We’d stopped to get food and had a pretty nice picnic outside in the front yard. It may have been cold but the sun was still bright in the clear sky. Even son wouldn’t stop the vendors in the market so why would the cold stop us from enjoying the sun?

Once our meal Had finished we headed straight to the auction house. It was within the higher tier and near the main barracks. That was another reason why the garnet family was able to gain such airtight security.

The barracks were where most of the soldiers trained and some of the higher ups held offices. Often promising young soldiers would be chosen from the classes of the academy and brought to the barracks to learn under the higher ups. They would usually be given specific weapons and guided towards certain skills. This was a frustrating point for some since not everyone system supported their option. Luck could play a huge roll. Nobels often also had a step up since they had more resources to make whatever system they unlocked viable.

Approaching a tall marble building the party was in awe. Large grey and white marble columns held up a strong stone roof. The massive wooden door was painted with gold leaves and vines. Two well dressed men stood waiting in front accepting tickets.

The party climbed the ten stone steps to the entrance, ” hello and welcome. May I ask to see your tickets sirs and madames?” The man to their right held an open palm awaiting their tickets. Each member of the party places them in his palm. The man pulled a small pen which glowed slightly as he marked the ticket. ”Your admittance is verified, I wish you luck today. If you are just purchasing you may head forward to the main room. If you are selling you can stop at the counter.” His instructions were short and sweet. The party proceeded inside.

Lush red carpets and intricate paintings lined the floors and walls. Here and there a table with refreshments waiting for someone to need them. They could see the open space with a group of people chatting. But a few feet from the room there was a woman standing in front of a counter. An older man was sitting behind the counter with man different monocles dangling from his neck.

”Hello sir, would you like to have items appraised and registered for the auction?” The woman bowed slightly as she asked in greeting.

Walker began pulling things from his spatial storage. The old man didn’t even flinch while the woman was fairly surprised. ”My party would like to auction these corps spider eggs as packages with these undead bones and zombie flesh. Each package is ideal for a tamer who would like to raise a corps spider or potentially a skeletal spider. Also we have some aged berry wine. We Know how old it was and we personally procured it from the ancient ruins.” Walker had said the last part to see if the old man would try and attempt any tricks.

The old man shifted through four different monocles examining the eggs. Small hmmm sounds and gruff hus sounds were common yet he hadn’t spoke . He then looked at the wine, walker had only taken out eight bottles. He intended to share one with the king and hold the last for an extremely important moment for the party. He wasn’t sure what moment but he knew he would like only the best for his comrades.

The old man shifted through every monocle he had before scrambling in a drawer in the counter. He pulled out a gold rimmed monocle inscribed with a star pattern. The look of concentration in his eyes was permeable. Even the woman who had first spoken seemed intent on hearing the appraisal.

” the egg package starts at one hundred and fifty gold. Rare monster but expensive to grow. Hmm you are lucky some from the tamers guild are attending tonight’s so well boost the price to one hundred and seventy five gold.” This was the offices lucky day! The tamers guild was rather small and often known to travel. This meant it had no set base of operation. The main reason being that it’s members were always hunting for ways to improve their skills, tamed beasts, and finding new monsters to tame. Occasionally the adventurers guild would have a tamer leave and join the tamers guild or have duel membership. The relation was actually very good.

The old man didn’t stop there and went in to the wine. ” this wine is almost too exquisite for my skills. I had trouble viewing its quality. That being said you children are very wise to sell this. I’d say it’s almost two hundred and fifty years old, that’s to say the aging process. A truly knowledgeable person knows wine can sit and taste the same after a hundred years until it hits the perfect time and enters the aging process. This can be from the makers mana being diffused within. Even the lowest quality wine can become perfection if the mana within has enough time to bleed from it. In this case you found wine that was once thought of as swill. However it entered its aging process and was left for an extremely long time in that state. It went from swill to elixir if I were to compare the quality now. Starting but will be...Hmm I could start at nine hundred a bottle but i believe an even one thousand is more respectable.” The old man finally gave up his facade of seriousness at these last words. Walker and the party were stunned by this starting price. They had really found a treasure!

”Now before you run off my name is Avis I have an appraisal system. I may not be a master appraiser yet knowing someone such as myself is always useful. May I inquiry your party name?” The old man now introduced as Avis had seen more than just the items presented. He saw promising youths who would most likely be returning here again with more and more interesting things to sell.