"Anything catches your eye?" The old lady asks.
One mask has a beard with a scar across the eye. Another has wrinkles on the forehead and a semi-bald head.
All kinds of masks for every age can be seen.
"Hm?" I mumble.
One of the masks has chocolate brown messy hair. It greatly resembles Arsto.
I mean...since I'm taking on Arsto's name shall I go all out?
...
"I will take that." I take the face mask that looks like Arsto.
"Great, that will be 10000 gold." the old lady smirks.
10000? That's...2000 more than the market price.
"7000," I say.
...
"What-"
"You didn't even use pure Lucut, I can smell some herbs." I rub the mask's skin. "Also, who are you trying to trick? Ratez's skin is heavier than this."
Ratez is a type of giant rat beast that usually appears underground.
"You..." the old lady sighs and smiles. "Then? What are you going to do? Report me? Where do you think you are?"
I can hear some footsteps behind me. The men opposite the store seem to be with this old lady.
I return the smile. "You are right."
Status screen.
------------------
Name: Samuel Turner(Alias: Arsto)
Title: Warrior Spirit
Class: Marksman
Lvl: 102
Hp:1200/1200
Mana: 1000/1000
Atk: 47.11[+]
Def: 81.24[+]
Dex: 37.01[+]
Mag: 151
Luck: 70[+]
Free stats: 75
Skills:
[Marksman]
-Bullet Hell(lvl1)
-Full Focus(lvl 1)
-Cooking(lvl1)
-Throwing(lvl1)
-Potion Brewing(lvl1)
Passive:
-Luck(lvl 2)
-Beast Hunter(lvl max)
-Mana Sense(lvl 3)
-Pain Resistance(lvl 1)
-Mental Resistance(lvl 1)
-Demonic Immunity(lvl 3)
-Great Demonic Affinity(lvl max)
Blessings:
-Fairy
Turner Bloodline awakened
---------------------
Add 10 free stats to attack.
Something within my muscles cracks and rips before expanding. I'm used to the pain now.
One man attempts to grab me from behind but I duck and return an uppercut to his chin.
*BAM!*
It instantly knocks the man unconscious.
"You-"
"Stop!" the old lady stops the other man.
Our commotion has attracted quite a little attention in that short span.
"What do you want?" the old lady asks.
"The face mask at a reasonable price. I don't want to make an enemy out of anybody so let's settle with 8000, the market price." I say.
...
The old lady nods.
I place several large bags of gold and take the face mask.
"Wait!" the old lady exclaims.
?
"This...is my apology." she hands me a silver token, a gryphon carved on it.
"What?"
"You can use this to enter the auction. It's my apology for the trouble. I hope you forgive me."
...
I nod. "I apologise for your man too."
As I leave the shop, the old lady stares at my back. "He can use spatial magic?" one of the men whispers to the old lady.
The old lady nods. "Luckily, he forgave us. Only a Grand Mage is capable of such complex sorcery."
Indeed, I did just pull the bags of gold out of nowhere...I need to get a storage ring as an alibi.
In the middle of Lophine is a relatively large and sumptuous building decorated with gold.
I decided to visit the auction since I got a free ticket. However, the staff tells me to return in a few hours as the auction hasn't begun.
I leave the building feeling like a fool.
...
What do I do now? Shall I...walk around for a bit?
Thus begin my stroll around Lophine. Nothing much catches my eye.
As the game progresses, so do the chances of better stuff showing up on the black market. For now, my expectation is low.
*thud*
Wait...
My feet stop before a small stall selling a variety of items like weapons, magic scrolls, random necklaces, and breastplates. Among the giant mess on the table is a stone with zigzag blue paint inscriptions.
The stall owner smiles at me when I approach. "Hello, anything catches your eye?"
I point at the rock. "What's this?"
"It's a weird rock I found on some bandit's corpse. Seems like a rune stone at first but it turns out to be trash. 50 gold if you take it off my hands, might be useful for something." the stall owner says.
...
"Deal." I give the bag of gold and keep the rock.
------------------------
weird rock(?)
A mysterious rock with weird inscriptions. It might be useful for something.
------------------------
When I check the rock, a person whose head is wrapped in black cloth walks to the stall. Some strands of white hair sticking out of the cloth. Spectacles and purplish blue iris.
"Sir, how much for that dagger?" the mysterious man asks the stall owner.
"500."
He picks up the knife and touches the blade. The second next, he looks at me when he notices my gaze.
"What do you want?" he asks.
"Huh? Ah, Nothing, I was looking at the lady behind." I point at a random woman and left.
Silver white hair with purplish blue eyes. After listening to his voice, I confirmed my suspicions. It's Luxian William Veila.
Rodgof's emperor has four children. Luxian is the youngest. He is also the one with the least support and chance of succession.
Why is he here?
Since Rena cannot step foot into Rodgof until chapter 2, which unlocks after the third main mission, what happens here will be new territory for me.
For now, I decided to participate in the auction.
The staff provided every participant with a mask. A spell is active on the mask and prevents the participant's identity to be leaked. The mask is given in the shape of an animal's face, mine is a tiger. This is to establish an anonymous identity.
Once verified as a guest, the staff leads me deeper onto a device that teleports me into a room of void with blue particles scattered in the air.
This is the auction room. Each guest stands on a levitating platform. A comfortable couch and table stand in the middle.
The levitating platforms encircle a giant golden podium. A table on the podium stands out among the luxurious gold. A man in a white mask wearing a hat appears and bows. "Welcome valued guest! I am Vendo, the host of this auction. Without further ado, the auction shall now begin!"