053 Bidding Wars

The whole place was in an uproar. The great Magicks made an appearance! The Rune Master that took the game by storm is watching over the auction from the master suite!

James needed to create a more tangible persona for Magicks. The alias was not enough, especially now that the Blue Moon organization appeared. He needed to divide himself into two presences.

He took this opportunity to not only put Harbingers in their place but make Magicks a real person. He had known he would need a body double one way or another.

Originally he had other plans but he was seen with Mercury inside of the Blue Moon Trading Guild Hall. During that time he had his Mask of Illusion on; now his body double required a mask.

It was a problem due to his mask being player bound. While all the other players were running around preparing for the auction, he was doing some preparation himself. He went to talk to Alfred.

After talking with Alfred for a while he found a solution to the mask problem. Roland and himself had a mutual friend; who was a woodworker. James used Alfred's Waystone to travel to the man and worked out a deal.

The man would create a look-a-like mask for James. Who in return would not only keep searching for Roland but find him some Ancient Bark and a Heart of a Blisterwood Tree.

James told him that the search for Roland wouldn't change but the two items he wanted would be too hard to find in such a short amount of time. James convinced the man that he would eventually find those items, after all the man had already been searching for dozens of years, what would another year or two matter? James talked about the auction house he owned and how rare items will appear often, it was only a matter of time before they showed up.

The man agreed to James's plan and created a look-a-like mask that 'Magicks' was now wearing.

** Guild Leader Group Chat **

[- Jack: That is the man we saw with Reaper during the evacuation, right? -]

[- Quincy: It appears to be so, Author what do you think? -]

[- Author: We can't roll anything out; we have no proof. -]

[- Alexander: I had someone on the outside doing some research. Charlotte is a powerful NPC, there have been no reports of players being able to control or manipulate NPCs. I am willing to bet that the person up there is Magicks. -]

[- Scarlet: If that is true, we may have a bigger problem. There are only rouge players in that master suite. On top of that, three of them are on the leaderboard. -]

[- Tempest: Magicks is also a rouge player, he may be surrounding himself with like-minded people. Rouge players wouldn't have the ability to control him as a guild would. They most likely have a solid status-quo in their cooperation. -]

[- Violet: It would explain why Blaise and his group are so strong. If they are being fed high-quality runes their strength would be far greater than the average player, maybe even us. -]

[- Author: We will have to increase our search for information regarding everyone in that room. -]

** On Stage **

"Okay! Sirs in guild rooms #24 and #01, we will be sending a few people to verify that you have enough money to back up your bids." Charlotte called out.

Very shortly after she had given the command two people showed up at both rooms. After verifying the money that the rooms had to spend they reported to Charlotte.

A person showed on stage and reported the findings to Charlotte, who frowned in response. "Those in guild room #24 do not have enough gold to cover their bet! The bid will return to their last bid in which they have the funds to cover, 5 gold coins!" She then looked towards Author's guild room, "Sir, would you like to continue your bid?"

"5 gold, 1 bronze coin." Author called out a bid that would not waste a single coin. He had a happy look on his face.

Mule's face looked as if he ate shit. He felt humiliated. "That damn woman on stage! No… That damn masked man!"

** Group Chat: Void, Mule **

[- Mule: What are we going to do about the masked bastard?! I've never been so embarrassed! -]

[- Void: We will investigate to find his true identity. He can't hide his name once he leaves that room! Position someone near that room's door. -]

[- Mule: If he is Magicks he will need Rune materials, are we still buying every rune material that we can? -]

[- Void: Yes, and we will continue to do so. -]

[- Mule: Good! That bastard will struggle to make a living or my name isn't Mule! -]

** On Stage **

Charlotte started to close the bid, "Going once,"

She waited a few seconds, "Going twice,"

After a few more seconds, "Going thrice, "

A final 10 seconds went by, "Sold! To the Sir in guild room #01, congratulations! You may pay the attendant outside your room and pick up your item after the auction ends."

After that item's auction finished she took out the next time, "The second item of the auction is a bundle of Yew Logs!"

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Name: Medium Bundle of Yew Logs

Grade: Uncommon

Function: The bundle contains 10 Yew Logs, which can be turned into Strong Arrow Shafts. Arrows made from these have increased base damage and durability.

[Blue Moon Auctions]

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She continued to set the start of the auction, "Starting bid is 1 silver coin!"

This item was not as exciting as the Honeycomb but any Archer class would argue that it is more useful.

"1 Silver" Quincy started the bid. He didn't use guild funds but his own.

"1 Silver, 20 Bronze" another Archer called out.

The bidding went back and forth between 4 Archers for a few minutes.

Talon, who still was in the Master Suite, was envious. "Why didn't you tell me that they were going to auction off Yew Logs? A single log can make two dozen high-quality arrow shafts," he said while looking at James.

"You didn't believe I would treat you badly, did you?" James was pointed at the table in the corner of the room.

Talon turned and looked at the table, it contained 10 more Yew Logs. He turned around and looked at James, "Weren't all the items supposed to be auctioned off at the same time?"

"James took his eyes off the auction and looked to Talon. I had Cat made a deal with Rover and his friends. We would auction off half of the arrows and then directly pay 1.5 times the amount of the final price. Twenty Yew Logs would have fetched a higher price so we offered more money to make up for the fact."

Talon didn't even ask if he could take them now, he scooped up all ten of the logs and threw them into his inventory. He then proceeded to find a seat and sat down, it was time for him to relax. He was quietly humming with happiness.

Mercury rolled her eyes and directed James's attention back to her and the auction below.

Cat was watching Charlotte do her thing from the side of the stage, she was surprised that it was not a guild who managed to buy the Yew Logs. "Going once, twice, three times, sold! The Sir in seat #142, please pay the attendant and you may pick your items up at the end of the auction!"

The auction continued and all the items that Rover and his friends brought over were sold. They made a total of 5 gold, 4 silver, and 60 bronze coins and that included the price James paid for Talon's logs.

The auction finally made it to Alexander's items. He wanted his guild's name to be included in the auction; Cat had agreed to his request and forwarded it to Charlotte.

"Okay! We are moving on to the next group of items; these items were provided by Solemn Sword! The first item is a Bronze Treasure Chest Key!"

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Name: Bronze Treasure Chest Key

Grade: Rare

Function: Opens any Bronze Chest.

Usage: 1

[Blue Moon Auctions]

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Alexander had thought about keeping it for his guild but after much thought and talk with Tempest and a few other members of his guild, it was decided that it would be best to sell the item so that they would have more money to buy any runes that would be up for auction.

The top guilds were wondering why he would sell such an item. Depending on the luck, the chest could be worth several gold coins. However, it didn't take long for them to realize that it was being sold as a cash grab.

Rend and Scarlet were smiling in their private room. "Say, didn't you find a Bronze Chest a few days ago?" Rend asked Scarlet.

Scarlet looked at Rend, how did he know? She had kept that a secret.

"Don't look at me, you are not the only one searching for chests. Treasure Keys are rare but the Chests themselves are even rarer. Even if any of the other guilds manage to buy the key I bet it would take ages to find a Chest. How about I buy it for you?" asked Rend. He was giving her a warm and charming smile.

It had caught her off guard. She had noticed that Rend has been treating her more and more kindly since the game launched. Now he was even offering to buy her something expensive. "You might lose the chance to buy runes if the bidding for this item goes on too long."

"I don't plan on using the guild's funds; they are specifically for improving the guild. I will be using my own money on the key if you want it." Rend spoke with chivalry.

Scarlet looked at her funds, it was just over two gold coins. It is probably safe to assume that the final price of the key will be at least two gold coins. She thought about it for a few seconds. "Please do buy the key for me. I would appreciate it; I will pay you back in full."

Rend looked happy. "One Treasure Key coming up." The bid for the key was already up to 1 gold and 40 silver coins. "I bid 2 gold and 40 silver."

Everyone looked to the private room where Rend's voice came from, the top guilds knew it was Rend but didn't know why he would jump the price up a full gold coin at once. They could only tell that he was serious about it buying the key.

Scarlet looked at Rend with surprise. "Are you sure you wanted to raise the bid that high right off the bat?"

Before Rend could say anything someone else raised the bid, "2 gold coins and 80 silver." Jack had outbid Rend.

Rend's face showed obvious annoyance, "I bid 3 gold 80 silver."

Seeing that Rend had once again increased the bid by a whole gold coin Jack smiled. He was going to drain Rend's funds. He didn't want Rend to have any chance to buy runes later in the auction.

Charlotte interrupted the bidding, "Gentleman since the bid has broken 3 gold coins two staff members will be verifying your funds. The bid will pause at 3 gold coins and 80 silver."

The auction paused for 2 minutes until the funds were verified, "Good, the auction will continue, both sides have enough capital to continue."

It was Jack's turn to bid, he was deciding if he wanted to push the bid over 4 gold coins. He didn't have much left to bid, he had already tapped into the guild's fund to get it over 2 gold coins. "4 gold coins." he bid.

Rend didn't hesitate, he did however slow down on the bidding, "4 gold and 20 silver!"

Everyone believed that Rend was running out of money, the truth however was far from it. He had been buying gold for a while now. He could bid up to 6 gold with just his funds alone.

"Let's see what Jack does now," Jack said out loud.

Jack didn't say anything for a while. He was worried that Rend would stop bidding if he raised the price anymore. He didn't want to be left with the bill. "I surrender, please enjoy your item."

No one else bid against Rend after Jack stopped. Charlotte closed the bid at 4 gold and 20 silver.

Alexander had two more items in the auction one was a low-end mana crystal and the other was some dense iron ore. The crystal was pretty much useless and only went for 20 silver and the iron ore was sold for 40 silver.

"Okay, the time has come. I thank everyone for being patient until now. We will now start the auction for the Runes created by our young master Magicks!" Charlotte wanted to hype up the crowd so she directed everyone's attention to the master suite where 'Magicks' was standing.

After everyone's attention was on the master suite she continued, "The first Rune up is a special one, it is the first of its kind! I present you with an Agility Rune!

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Minor Rune of Agility

Can be used to enchant armor.

Effect: 7 - 10 points to agility.

Creator Alias: Magicks

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Rend, Quincy, Jack, and even the other non-agility-based guild leaders stood up. It was a rune that increased a very desirable attribute. Sure the power runes were important but speed and agility were the real bread-and-butter of any rouge-type class! The faster you could move, the faster your attacks. Many rouges focused on speed more than damage since it would increase their overall damage per second!

Jack was the first to call out a bid, "2 gold coins!"

Charlotte waved everyone off, "Sorry Sir, the starting bid is 3 gold coins!"

Everyone turned to look at 'Magicks', it was high way robbery! 3 gold coins as the starting bid? Sure the rune absolutely would be sold for a higher price but still. It prevented any chance for the guilds to control the price. The base price was most likely a gold coin higher than the rune's future worth. It would only be a matter of time before runes started showing up more now that dungeons were released.

"Scarcity rules the price, no one is forced to bid." said 'Magicks'.

Damn, everyone knew it was right. A Rune like that would be a large boon for the person who manages to buy it.

"3 gold coins!"

"3 gold coins and 50 silver!"

"4 gold and 20 silver coins!"

"6 gold coins!" Quincy raised the price all the way to 6 gold!

The auction house staff didn't even need to wait for Charlotte's command. They went around to check the guild's funds. Since there was no problem Charlotte allowed the bidding to continue uninterrupted.