The Auction Fool

And as Xun Yu had declared, the game had begun. All of those in the middle rows sat forwards once they were told it was a Dock that was available. 

"Thirty Gold Coins!" The female Lord in the red dress said first, starting the bidding war.

"Thirty five!" The broad brimmed hat Lord added.

"Forty!" Another Lord with a feather head dress shouted.

"Forty Five!" The female Lord in the red dress exclaimed.

"Fifty" The feather head dress Lord countered.

"Fifty Five!"

"Sixty!"

"Seventy!"

"Eighty!"

"Ninety!"

The atmosphere in the Auction Hall had started to ramp up, with more people paying attention and showing interest in what was happening. Many Lords were involved now in both bidding or talking amongst themselves in quiet voices. 

"It's getting pretty high, pretty fast!" Dom said to Xun Yu and Crassus who were both watching the bidding with keen interest.

"In contrast to early items yes." Crassus agreed, taking a sip from his wine cup, "But this is still small in the scheme of things, when you put this against our budget, we could afford to purchase this hundreds of times over."

"We don't need that many Docks." Dom replied with a grin.

"It will get much higher." Xun Yu commented seriously as he looked towards the other VIP boxes. 

"How much higher?" Dom questioned.

"Much." Xun Yu said, "It just depends on how much the other Lords want to give away."

"One Hundred!" Another voice shouted, this time from a Lord in bronze armour at the higher levels of the Auditorium.

"One Hundred and Ten!" The broad brimmed hat Lord shouted back, frustrated at the cost it had now reached.

"One Hundred and Twenty." The bronze armour Lord replied eagerly. 

"I think it is worth more than this." Crassus commented, whilst signalling for Johannes to fill his Cup again. "For a Lord with no transport networks, or low food growth, the Dock could be essential."

"One Hundred and Thirty!" Another voice shouted, this time a Lord in a fur coat.

"One Hundred and Forty!"

"One Hundred and Fifty!"

"One Hundred and Sixty!"

At this stage all of those on the lower stage of the auditorium had backed out and were just watching, where as most in the middle area were also just watching at this point. Soon the bidding had reached the two hundred and fifty mark. Dom was eager to see what it reached, but also wanted to head in to the next stage of the Auction.

"Three Hundred!" A voice boomed from one of the VIP boxes. Dom was shocked and peeked to his left, where he could see the short Lord he had seen earlier today with the two tall people by his side. 

"A Top Ten Lord has bid?" Dom exclaimed.

"So the Games have begun." Xun Yu said with a grin.

"What an idiot." Crassus commented in disgust, deciding to stand up and get himself a snack from the variety of food that was provided.

"Three Hundred and Ten!" Someone from the middle row shouted back, but Dom didn't see as he was looking at Crassus.

"Don't bid again." Crassus said to himself, holding his hand to his head, much to his disappointment he heard another bid.

"Three Hundred and Fifty!" The Short Lord shouted back. "I want this item."

"He's a fool." Crassus lamented, as he pilled a sample of meat's, fruits and cheeses on to his plate.

"Why?" Dom asked seriously, not understanding the relevance.

"He's now fighting with lower level Lords over a simple item, that as a more successful Lord he shouldn't be desperate to need." Xun Yu explained, "He has also declared that he has no water presence currently and that he is in fact near some water and therefore needs a presence. He has also shown that he will bid for low level items, so his expectations are low, and therefore so is his prestige."

"But if he needs the Dock, why not go for it?" Dom asked, "if we needed it, wouldn't we also?"

"Because when you come to talk with other Lords, you need a level of prestige." Crassus added, "You want to talk with your peers of a similar level, he has now set himself as a level below. So the other nine Lords will now look at him differently."

"If you want to set a name for yourself, you want to defeat high level competition." Xun Yu stated, "He has made himself a target as well."

"I understand, so if someone from the Top Ten, removes another member of the Top Ten." Dom said as if a light bulb had turned on above his head.

"Exactly, or if someone below the Top Ten removes someone from the Top Ten." Crassus replied, now back in his seat looking at the crowd for who those someone's could be. 

"Three Hundred and Sixty!" The female Lord in the red dress stated, not giving any respect.

"Four Hundred!" The Short Lord replied, a frustration in his voice.

"Four Hundred and Ten!" The female Lord in the red dress stated.

"Five Hundred!" The Short Lord shouted back.

"He's getting desperate, I think she'll keep bidding just to frustrate him." Crassus laughed. "It's what I would do."

"Should we then?" Dom said seriously.

"Maybe, but not yet." Xun Yu replied in deep thought. 

"If we want to declare ourselves as an enemy, then we should." Crassus laughed. 

"Five Hundred and Ten!" The female Lord calmly bid.

"Do you have enough gold?" The Short Lord argued back, "I doubt it! Auctioneer, can you confirm?"

Petunia the Auctioneer stared up at the VIP boxes from the stage, a dark glint in her eyes as she looked at the Short Lord in the VIP box. 

"All bids are checked before confirming, do not disgrace the Auction Hall." Petunia replied. "If we believe a bid is invalid, we will state so."

"Fine!" The Short Lord replied in frustration. "Six Hundred, I want to see if you can compete with me."

"How much should this go for?" Dom asked, trying to see what happened next.

"Originally, around five hundred gold coins." Crassus replied, "Not that we would pay anything near that. I think it could become a bit of an exhibition now, so this will go for much more. Hopefully less than one thousand, but we shall see."

"Any improvements on Six Hundred?" Petunia asked as she looked around the room, also having the intention to close this part of the Auction.

"Looks like no one else is interested and this one is mine finally." The Short Lord said, much louder than he probably meant to. 

"Six Hundred and Ten!" The bronze armour Lord said, which caused Petunia to look at the Short Lord with a look if frustration.

The Short Lord did eventually win the item, but for eight hundred and twenty gold coins, much higher than the item should have been worth. None of the other VIP Lords had joined in the bidding, but some of those that were in the Top Thirty did. 

"Now that this part of the Auction is finally over, we will take a short fifteen minute break before we move in to the next part of the Auction." Petunia announced. "You are welcome to stay in your seats, however refreshments and small amounts of food will be provided in the Atrium through the doors to the right."

Dom stood up from his seat and stretched his legs in the VIP room, after enjoying the show in the first part, the second part was where Dom could finally get involved and flex his gold reserves.

"I am going to head downstairs and get a feel of the room." Xun Yu stated, "It will be a good opportunity to understand the wider geography of the world and potentially make some contacts."

"That's a good idea." Dom agreed, "I will come with you."

"No." Xun Yu replied, "You stay here, you need to get through this stage and then we can work out which of the other Top Ten we want to associate ourselves with."

"I agree." Crassus stated, "Xun Yu, see if you can find anyone from our area, we could potentially do with some allies. Also see if anyone else has discovered any other Human Types." 

"I will." Xun Yu stated, as he left the room, escorted by one of the staff Johannes had supplied in the room. 

"Did you enjoy that?" Crassus asked. 

"I did!" Dom replied, "I'm looking forward to the next part."

"So you should." Crassus said, "We prioritise what we need and win those. We fight for things that we may not need but that others do need, as these are our main competitors here."

"So go for everything?" Dom said with a raised eyebrow.

"We can afford it." Crassus laughed with a shoulder shrug, before heading back to his seat. 

Dom sat beside him and they continued to talk, before they were soon joined by Xun Yu again. 

"How was it?" Dom asked as Xun Yu sat down. The room below now filling as people quickly returned to their seats for the main part of the auction.

"The world is too big, and fifteen minutes is not long enough." Xun Yu lamented, "The feeling downstairs is positive, and there was lots of laughs at the state of the VIP in Room 3, who I heard is most likely GeneralSlaughter671, who I believe you said was ranked eight."

As Xun Yu continued to speak, a tall, slim man walked on the stage. He had long blonde hair and wore a white Toga. He was followed by two young women who were also dressed in white Toga's who had a similar look to the man. At the front of the stage was the same long lavish table from earlier, on top of it were several black boxes that were sealed.

"I am Linus and I shall be commencing the second part of the Auction." Linus announced loudly, introducing himself. "My younger sisters shall help me with this part, please can you bring me the first item."

One of the two women went forwards and took the lid off the first black box, pulling out a parchment that she handed gently to her elder brother Linus. 

"Thank you Aurelia." Linus said kindly, grabbing the parchment and holding it up high. "This is a Parchment that can upgrade a unit's armour by one grade. If your Warriors Hall unit uses fur armour, this could upgrade it to leather. Leather to Bronze and even Bronze to basic Iron. This Parchment can not upgrade any further than that."

This caused some huge ruckus in the Auction Hall from the Audience, a key item for any Warriors Hall to upgrade. Those in the lower rungs were excited, but well aware that this would go for a high bid, probably higher than that of the D grade Dock from earlier. 

"This Parchment will start at five hundred gold coins, with an increase of fifty gold coins per bid."

"This could upgrade the Hoplite Warriors Hall." Crassus whispered to Dom, "Bringing them in line with the Legionaries and the Tang Forbidden Guards. We want this item."

"Then let's win it." Dom whispered back.

"Five Hundred Gold Coins!" The first bid was made by the bronze armoured Lord from earlier.