Aegis and Lina made their way through the busy city streets of Kordas in the early afternoon. The number of players moving about was roughly the same as the night before, but the number of NPCs had increased significantly, making navigating their cart through the crowds slower than walking. They were able to approach the Auction House building without much difficulty, but as Lina brought the wagon to a halt, Aegis was hit with an overwhelming sense of dread, anxiously looking around at the nearby guards as he hopped off the wagon.

“Relax, you can’t get in trouble anymore.” Lina smiled as she noticed the odd behaviour.

“R-right.” Aegis nodded back. Her words didn’t comfort him, and his mind spent all the time he took to enter the building accepting that crime wasn’t something he was good at. The interior was crowded and noisy and Aegis had to push through the crowds to get to the Auctioneers, behind their counters, far into the plain stone building. Speaking with the NPCs he was able to gauge the general value of enchanted low level gear, and after checking the first pricing scrolls, his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

There was a listing for an Enchanted Copper Greatsword that dealt 10 additional fire damage selling for 300 gold pieces, and it was the lowest priced listed copper item with an enchantment.

“I wouldn’t bother, not worth it.” Another player spoke from behind Aegis after briefly checking the scroll. Aegis turned to look at him and saw a human player, male with spiky red hair wearing very simple equipment for his level. [Chax - Level 26].

“It’s gotta be worth it, why else would it be up here for 300 gold?” Aegis asked him curiously. He noticed a large merchant pack on Chax's back as Chax looked away briefly.

“You oughta think about that question. If such a strong sword isn’t getting sold, doesn’t that mean it's overpriced?”

“How much would you pay for it?” Aegis asked him.

“Eh, maybe 110, 120… 150 at the most.” Chax shrugged as he started looking through his interface in tandem with other price scrolls.

“But won’t enchanters lose money at those prices? The orbs cost more than that alone.” Aegis raised a brow at him.

“That’s why Enchanting isn't profitable at low levels. Low level players can’t afford to buy something like that.”

“How can you be sure? Are you some sort of Auction Expert?” Aegis asked.

“You could say that.” Chax turned to look at Aegis and noticing his eager curiosity, decided to reach out his hand to Aegis. “Name’s Chax, I’m a Merchant Class Player. I spend most of my time here. Lots of gold to be made by just making good trades.”

“Nice to meet you.” Aegis shook his hand. “I’m Aegis, a… crafter and priest player.”

“Oh, what sort of crafting do you do?”

“A...all of it. Everything.”

“Hah, might spread yourself a bit thin, don’t you think? It’ll be hard to level em all at once. Most people just focus on one or two.” Chax joked. “What are you looking to buy? Maybe I can get you a deal, I’ve got a few items on me you might be interested in.”

“I’m not buying, trying to sell, actually.”

“Ah, Enchanted weapons? And low level ones at that? That’ll be a tough one to make a profit on, you’ll be waiting awhile. Every once in a while a guild will buy a bunch for their low level players, or someone starting out will convert real wealth into gold to get 'em, other than that you're just hoping that a new player doesn't understand the value of gold and buys 'em.”

“How much would you price them to sell them as fast as possible?” Aegis asked him.

“Pff, 100 gold and they’d sell instantly.” Chax chuckled.

“Perfect, thanks.” Aegis let out a sigh of relief - that’d get him well more than what he’d need for the land deed and take the items off his hands. He made a few quick glances at the guards standing about the Auction Hall, they were leaning up against the outer walls stoicly. After making sure none were watching him, but before taking a few steps forward to one of the Auctioneer NPCs, Chax grabbed Aegis by the shoulder.

“Whoa whoa, hang on, you’re really willing to sell your enchanted crafts at a nearly 200 gold loss?”

“Y-yeah, it’s still enough for the land deed, so… thanks for the help.” Aegis replied dismissively, he was getting more and more anxious by the second, but Chax didn’t let go of his shoulder.

“Hold up. Land deed? How much enchanted stuff are you going to sell?” Chax asked with anticipation, but Aegis’ anxiety urged him to not talk more and just get rid of them.

“Just a few. Excuse me…” Aegis lifted Chax' hand off his shouldder and took a few more steps forward before Chax ran to stand in front of him.

“Wait, wait, maybe we can make a deal. Sell it to me, all of your enchanted items for 100 gold each. I’ll buy them all immediately.” Chax suggested. Aegis stopped, it took him a moment to piece together Chax’s angle on this deal before he replied.

“You sure?”

“Positive.” Chax’s eyes were sparkling, Aegis could practically see the gold coins twinkling in his pupils.

"How much are you going to sell them for?" Aegis hesitated.

"With patience and my skills, about 110 to 120 gold. But I know my way around this place, so think of it as a tax to utilize my merchant skills." Chax replied with honesty.

“Alright… I’ll sell you the 431 items I was able to enchant properly. It’s a mix of weapons and armor, the enchants are not really varied, mostly holy damage.” Aegis replied, but before he’d finished speaking, Chax’s jaw dropped in disbelief.

“F...four hundred… are you some sort of rich kid in real life? There’s no way a low level could afford so many enchanting orbs.” Chax asked him, rather loudly, though not loud enough to be heard over the crowds of other players around them in the auction hall. However it was loud enough to Aegis that he felt the need to glance around at the guards once more just to be safe, and this time Chax noticed it.

“Ahhh… I see.” Chax grinned. “In that case, you’re definitely better off letting me handle the business side of things. I like your style…” He rubbed his chin. “Alright, I’ll buy 431.” Chax pressed a few buttons in his interface and opened a trading card with Aegis that appeared on his screen. It was an interface Aegis hadn’t used yet, but he’d read about it in the manual. He was able to link the items in the wagon due to proximity, add them all to the trade. In return for ownership transfer of all of the enchanted equipment, Chax was offering him 43 100 gold.

While Aegis was wondering how Chax had so much gold, Chax was wondering how Aegis had gotten the Enchanting Orbs, and was quickly verifying that every single piece was enchanted, as Aegis said.

“Incredible… These aren’t just enchanted, these are pretty powerful enchants. I’ve never seen someone use a +10 holy damage enchanting orb on a copper sword before. The quality on the copper gear’s not bad either.” Chax commented as he looked over it all. Once he was satisfied, he accepted the trade, and Aegis watched his inventory empty out, while simultaneously his gold pouch filled up. He let out a sigh of relief.

“T-thanks.” Aegis replied, and Chax nodded.

“No problem. You weren’t kidding when you said you were leveling every craft… Tell you what. Every good crafter needs a good merchant player to get the best prices on his crafts. So anytime you want to sell stuff, I’ll buy it from you. Of course, a bit cheaper than what I’ll sell it for, but not by much. I’ve gotta make a profit to gain experience after all.” Chax explained.

Aegis eyed him up and down carefully as if trying to judge his character.

"I’m a fair trader and I take pride in conducting respectable merchant practices. I’ve got a good reputation here in Kordas. I’m also, uh… also good at keeping my mouth shut." He winked. "What’dya say?” Chax grinned as he hit a few buttons on his interface and sent a friend request to Aegis.

After a second of hesitation, Aegis accepted the friend request. “Sure, I’ll come to you if I need more stuff sold.” Aegis smiled nervously.

“Great.” Chax patted him on the shoulder. “I’m transferring the stuff from your wagon into my merchant pack, the inventory space in it is huge thanks to my class. You oughta head out of here before I start selling stuff though, so you don’t get his attention.” Chax motioned to a tall Lizardfolk who was wandering around the Auction Hall staring at the various players moving about. [Trexon - ??]. In spite of his level, his tall stature, and his green scales, it was the tabard of the Night Hunters that he wore over his robes that stood out to Aegis.

“He’s a Night Hunter sage, he’s been casting various seeing spells on suspicious players all morning. I’m guessing he’s looking for you.” Chax whispered.

“R-right, I’ll leave you to it then. You won’t-” Aegis couldn’t finish asking before Chax replied.

“I’d be an idiot of a merchant if I sold out my suppliers. You have my word.” Chax reassured him. Aegis nodded and hastily rushed out of the building to see Lina waiting patiently for him on the cart.

“That was fast, the entire wagon emptied already!” Lina cheered excitedly at Aegis, ignoring his anxious expression as he hopped on the cart.

“Let’s just buy the deed and get out of here.” Aegis whispered to her, causing her to chuckle.

“You know, you got m-m-... in a contract with a thief, so you’ll have to get used to this sort of stuff.” She smirked shyly while tugging the reins on the cart.