Chapter 319: Mind Games

A glimmer of golden magic danced across Rin’s fingertips, flowing out to form a sphere above his head. He held his hands up and, with a theatrical flick, the sphere burst like a miniature firework.

The light that exploded out of it gathered, changing color and shape to form into a large potion vial. It was full of a rippling blue liquid and corked with a wax seal. The potion swirled like a three dimensional model in the air above Rin, and he waited several moments before speaking.

“We’ll be starting with our miscellaneous offerings today,” Rin declared. “Coming up first, starting at a mere one hundred gold, is a Waterbreath Potion from an amateur alchemist who wishes to remain anonymous. It functions for approximately one hour, though we were unable to guarantee this claim. It’s a bit of a risk – but for a hundred gold, it’s a steal!”

Lee licked her lips. “It’s so blue. I bet it tastes like fruit.”

“It probably tastes like rotten fish,” Moxie said with a shake of her head. “And never buy potions from an amateur. That’s a good way to turn your insides out. Stick to people who have been doing it for a while.”

“One hundred,” a man standing on the platform across from them called.

“One hundred and five,” a woman called from the platform beside him no more than a second later.

Evidently, not everyone went by Moxie’s way of thinking. Noah wasn’t personally sold on the use of a water breathing, so he didn’t really care who got the potion – especially for a hundred gold. It might not have been much to the nobles, but it was still a hefty chunk of money to him.

In the few seconds that Noah had spent thinking, the price of the potion had already raised to two hundred gold. Even though the two voices bidding on it were curt and professional, Noah picked up more than a small degree of animosity between them. A small frown crossed over his lips.

I don’t know a ton about potions, but I feel like the price on this isn’t going up because people actually want it. Is this a dick measuring contest?

“I bet it’s tasty. Look how much they’re fighting over it,” Lee said, scrunching her nose. “Are you sure it’s bad?”

“It’s just two families trying to prove that they’re the bigger fish in the pond,” Karina said with a shake of her head. “I’ve seen this at almost every auction I go to, especially the ones where your identities are hidden. The loser isn’t the one that doesn’t get the item, though.”

“It’s the one that gets stuck with it, huh?” Noah chuckled. “God, that’s stupid. They’re trying to show they’ve got more money, but neither actually wants to end up with the piece of shit at the end, right?”

“Yeah, but it also shows that you’re willing to fight what you want,” Contessa said, reaching up to scratch at the side of her neck. “So it’ll keep some families from bidding on things that you want when it’s clear you plan to get it. There’s a lot of nuance to this kind of thing.”

“So I can see,” Noah said.

I wonder how much I can screw with these people.

“Sold for three hundred and fifty gold!” Rin called. The image of the potion vanished with a pop, and Noah looked back down to the stage just as the auctioneer formed another item with light – this time, it was a flying sword.

Noah already had one of those, so he wasn’t particularly interested in buying it. The sword started bidding at four hundred gold, and this time, three families got into the fight over it. The actual numbers they bid didn’t matter too much to Noah.

He was more interested in watching how they acted with each other. It seemed like the majority of the bids were relatively small increases over each other – likely to avoid accidentally scaring any of the other families off and mistakenly landing an unimportant item.

Several minutes passed, and Rin auctioned off half a dozen other assorted items that had absolutely no interest to Noah. None of them seemed particularly interesting, and the vast majority seemed to be made by amateurs.

Rising to his feet, Noah walked up to their attendant and, after standing around awkwardly for a moment, put his hand on their arm.

“Excuse me?” Noah asked.

“How can I help you, sir?”

“I had a quick question about the items being offered,” Noah said, ignoring the looks the rest of the group sent him. “Is there a reason they all appear to be… well, fairly unimportant?”

“There is, sir. Many families bring the products that their young masters have made or found and set them up for auction. It’s a way to introduce them to the business while letting them make an allowance. The Troupe allows attending members to put any item up for auction.”

“Any item?” Noah raised an eyebrow.

Can I auction my dirty underwear?

“The Troupe and all attending guests have a mutual understanding that nothing that is offered up will ever be substandard or a cause for concern, sir. If you happen to have anything you would like to auction stored in our safe lockers, please let me know.”

Ah. That’s another way to say don’t give us shit or we’ll kick you out. Fair enough. No underwear.

“Noted. Thank you,” Noah said, taking his hand off the attendant and returning to his seat. In the time that he’d been gone, Rin had already moved on to sell another item and was now auctioning off what was supposedly an ancient dinner plate.

“Are you thinking of auctioning something?” Moxie asked.

“Considering it, but I’m not sure about doing it quite yet,” Noah said with a thoughtful frown. He realized that Moxie couldn’t see his expression and cleared his throat. “For now, let’s just wait. I’ve got an idea, but we’re going to have to do it at the right time.”

Moxie shrugged, and they all settled back in to wait. Several more pieces went up and sold. The prices were steadily going up and were now starting in the low thousands, but Noah still wasn’t ready to reveal anything.

Almost all the other viewing platforms had already bet on something, leaving only them and a platform to their left as the only ones that had yet to speak.

Rin clapped his hands, the sound piercing through the darkness of the amphitheater and drawing everyone’s attention to him.

“We’ve wrapped up the sales for the miscellaneous section!” Rin called. “We’ll now be moving on to the main event for tonight. Please keep in mind that, unlike the miscellaneous items, everything from here on out will not be sold in order of ascending rarity. So, if you see something you want, make sure to buy it!”

Clever. That’s a good way to make sure people don’t lowball the items they aren’t really sure if they want. If you don’t know if anything good is going to pop up later, then you’ll go much harder for the one right in front of you.

Rin waited for a few moments to make sure everybody had heard him before he started talking once more. “Our next section will be one of our most interesting ones! We’ve got a fascinating mixture of Runes coming up for you – but there’s something we have to do first.”

A loud hum filled the air. Rin snapped his fingers, and the sound tore through the room like a thunderclap. Light swirled around him, forming into a huge image of a man in black-clad armor.

The man raised a hand to his helm, pushing it back to reveal a dazzlingly handsome face with a wide, white-toothed smile.

“My friends!” the man boomed, his voice echoing through the amphitheater. “My name is Reed. Thank you so much for attending the auction. I come bearing a brief message on behalf of my organization, the Shadows.”

Reed held his hands out, palms facing the ceiling. “We’re an adventurer group that has completed over a hundred missions successfully, ranging from retrieval quests to hunting monsters up to Rank 5. We specialize in raids and fighting large targets. If you happen to be in need of any form of assistance, please keep us in mind. Remember, when it comes to your valued life or property, nobody does it like us.”

The light blinked out and Reed vanished with a pop.

“That’s all from our sponsors,” Rin said with a chuckle. “Let’s keep moving, shall we? I think we should get started right off the bat with something fascinating. I’ve got a Rank 5 Tortured Death Wind Rune that was found naturally formed in the wild. It’s one of the more fascinating Runes that I’ve seen come through the auction in recent times, and is estimated to have been twenty-five percent full upon formation. Bids will start at twenty thousand gold.”

“Twenty-five thousand,” a man to their right called out without an instant of hesitation.

Moxie leaned over to Noah. “What do you think?”

“Not that useful, and its starting price is too high. There’s no way we’d be able to get it, even if we wanted it.” Noah shook his head. “I could use the wind elements, but the rest is too different from what I’m working on right now. Besides, it just sound sinister. Not something I want in my soul.”

“Twenty-five percent full isn’t bad for a Rank 5, though,” Karina said, eyeing Rin with a hungry look in her eyes. She shook her head and let out a sigh. “Whatever. I can’t afford anything that expensive.”

“Thirty thousand!” A woman on the other side of the room called.

“Thirty-three!”

“Forty!”

Several other people threw bids in, and the price soon raised to fifty thousand. The bids started to slow until only two people were fighting over the Rune. After a few more minutes, the woman pulled out and it sold for seventy-two thousand.

Okay. They still raise everything in fairly small increments relative to the price. That Rune seems like it was right in the middle of the road for a Rank 5, and it still sold for a crazy amount. Fine with me, though.

“Our next Rune is a Rank 4, but don’t let that dissuade you! It was taken from a Stormprince Elemental. It has elements of lightning, wind, and water within it! The Rune is estimated to have been about seventy-five percent full upon formation. The bids will start at three thousand gold.”

Lightning and wind? Give the name… well, I can use both of those elements. Storm fits exactly what I need, even if I don’t need any more water Runes right now.

“That Rune is a piece of shit. Seventy-five percent full is laughable,” Karina said with a scoff. “It should be sold for two thousand at most. Three thousand for a worthless Rank 4? That’s ridiculous.”

“Three thousand!” Noah called.

Everyone stared at him.

“What are you doing?” Karina asked, staring at Noah in disbelief. “Did you hear him? It’s seventy-five percent full! It doesn’t matter if it’s a Rank 4, Vermil. You’ll permanently cripple yourself if you take that Rune.”

Noah ignored her. A second passed.

“Is nobody else going to bid?” Rin asked, his voice slightly strained. “This is quite a rare Rune, you know!”

Yeah. Rare because of how shockingly trash it is.

The only response was silence. Noah could practically feel scornful gazes boring into his back, but he didn’t care. Three thousand gold was a ridiculous amount, but it was a Rank 4 Rune. Even if he lost most of the energy in it, it would be more than worth the cost when he split it up.

“Well then. Sold!” Rin exclaimed. “Congratulations, member 17.”

Well, that was easy.

“Where will it be?” Noah asked Contessa.

“They’ll put it in your locker. But…” Contessa thought better of whatever it was she’d been about to say and shook her head. “Never mind.”

Another two Runes went up for sale – both Rank 3s that were fairly well combined, but neither caught Noah’s attention. They both sold for around fifty thousand gold after lengthy bartering battles.

But, finally, Noah found what he was waiting for as Rin called up a new Rune.

“This one ought to draw your interest,” Rin called. “This is a Rank 3 Inferno Rune. It is of borderline perfect quality, and bidding will start at ten thousand gold.”

“Hey, do you guys mind if I borrow some money? I won’t keep it,” Noah said.

Moxie and Lee both glanced at him, then nodded as one.

“I guess. Is it really worth it for something like this, though?” Moxie asked.

“You’ll see.”

“Ten thousand!” A woman’s voice rang out.

“Twenty thousand,” Noah called.

All that greeted him was silence. Rin blinked in surprise, but he was a professional salesman and didn’t let himself get caught off guard for long.

“Twenty thousand! That’s a high raise by 17. Would anyone–”

“Twenty-five thousand,” the man across from them called. Noah could see him standing at the edge of his viewing platform, looking straight at him.

Noah raised a hand in greeting. Then, without a trace of unease, he spoke again. “Thirty-five thousand.”

“What are you doing?” Lee asked. “Do we really need that?”

A few seconds ticked by. Noah stood casually, making sure his posture didn’t let on any of the stress that he felt. People were definitely watching them now.

Oh, shit. Come on. Don’t bail out now. The other Runes have sold for way more than –

“Forty thousand,” the man called. Noah couldn’t see his eyes, but he got the feeling the man was glaring daggers in his direction.

Rin looked back to Noah. Nobody else tried to place a bid, so it was just him and the other man. They’d both raised the price by such a high number that it became pretty clear that butting in now would cause more trouble than it was worth.

Noah tapped his head, then sat back down. Rin waited for a few more moments in hope that someone else would say something, but it never came.

“Sold for forty thousand to Number 28!” Rin’s voice echoed.

“What was that about?” Contessa asked. “If you don’t mind me asking, that is. I don’t mean to–”

“It’s fine. I didn’t want the Rune.”

“You didn’t? Why did you bid thirty-five thousand gold on something you don’t want?”

“Because it looks like we’re a big noble family,” Moxie muttered, realization washing over her. “We’ve wasted three thousand gold on a worthless Rune and then immediately jumped the price of the Inferno Rune. That made it look like we’re rich, but Vermil showed we were willing to play nice when 28 made it clear he really wanted the Inferno Rune.”

“And now, all we have to do is wait,” Noah said, a smile spreading across his lips. “This is just getting started.”