The private box we found ourselves in was a bit smaller than the last one we had been in but much more opulent. The seats had been replaced by couches that looked like they could swallow you, and still be extremely comfortable in the process. Marion made her way over to the chocolates as soon as we arrived. While the others took a look at the rest of the auction hall, instead of heading directly for the refreshment table.

We were placed pretty far in the back, but that was to be expected. The more important people were closer to the stage, in the large and the gigantic private boxes. Just the fact that we had a private box was a huge thing, something that was not easily obtainable for the monthly auction.

Phil spoke up a few seconds after we had arrived. “I’ve been looking in the pamphlets, detailing some of the items that are for sale. Starting prices for many of the items are a thousand platinum or more.”

“I know, this is mostly a chance to see some high-end items, but I’m really just here to find out how many coins I’ll be earning in the process,” I said and sat down. While the refreshment table was tempting, it would have no effect on my avatar, and I was afraid of eating too much high-end food would sour me even more against NutriShake. Even the bland rabbit skewers were better than a NutriShake.

“I just didn’t think the prices would be so vastly different,” Phil said. “I mean the cheapest thing I could find was a Node Seed which starts at one hundred platinum.”

I immediately sat up straight when I heard that. “What lot number is it?”

“Let me just check,” he said and started leafing through the pamphlet. Not having the patience for it, I ripped it from his hands and started searching through it. He let out an indignant, “Hey!”

“Sorry,” I mumbled without really paying attention to him because I had found what I was looking for. They were auctioning off a Common rarity Node Seed, but it was a fragment. Which explained why it was so cheap. It was the lot before my Lucky Charms went up for sale.

“What’s the matter with you?” Nise asked angrily.

“Sorry, just got a bit too eager when I heard what Phil said.”

“Why?” the man in question asked.

“Node Seeds are small crystals that you place somewhere. You feed it some manastones, and it’ll grow into a mining node. When you mine it, it reverts back to the crystal, and you can grow a new mining node, but not move it” I said.

“That’s pretty cool, but it sounds like it should be more expensive than a hundred platinum,” Phil commented.

“It normally would be, but it’s a fragment. That means it can only grow one node at a time, instead of many if fed enough manastones. Secondly, it can’t be merged with other Node Seeds to change its rarity, nor can it grow a new seed,” I finished explaining.

“So, are you going to place a bid on it?” Robin asked as she sat down next to me.

“Maybe, if no one else is interested, I would like to get my hands on it,” I said. On one hand, I was ready to blow the three hundred platinum on this one item, but on the other, I knew it would be a bad idea. The guild needed the coins to pay for the monthly expenses.

“It sounds like a good item to get, but we need to think about paying our bills first,” Robin said, echoing my own thoughts.

“I know, just really want to get a sure way to use Mining and get my hands on rocks of Below Average quality.”

“Isn’t there any mining spots somewhere on the island?” Kira asked. “I mean there’s that small mountain in the middle of the island.”

“Sure there is,” I said. “But they’re not really accessible as such for us just yet.”

I did not mention I knew of an abandoned mine with several nodes. However, that was also towards the mountain and was teeming with level fifty monsters.

“Look, it’s starting,” Nise said excitedly. I took a look at the stage below us, where the auctioneer was stepping up to his podium. I was not interested in the items of the first third of the auctions, though there were some impressive items amongst them.

A helmet that granted flight sold for almost three thousand platinum. While a broom which cleaned on its own and could tell if anyone lied, sold for seven hundred. Most people would be wary of the item because it did not distinguish between owner and non-owner. Anyone who lied in its vicinity was banished from the premises, forever, taken out with the trash so to speak. The thing that made the greatest impression in our box was a small wolf pup, which sold for close to fifteen hundred platinum. It was not just any old wolf pup, but a blink wolf. Vicious buggers, which could teleport all over the place, you never knew where they would attack from. Below or above was not out of the question.

When the Node Seed came up I started paying attention again, however, it was not destined to be. As soon as the auctioneer opened up for the bidding, a small bidding war started. Looking around, I noticed it was someone in the normal seats that were trying to outbid each other. Even from a distance, I was able to see that it was the guild leaders from the top ten guilds trying to outdo each other. By being annoying, and only raising the amount by a single platinum coin each time.

The price was at a hundred and fifty-three, and just to be annoying, I threw in a bid of 175. That made them stop for a few seconds but quickly picked it up again. After five minutes it finally sold for 209 platinum coins to Dawnguard. I would gladly have paid four hundred for it if I had had the coin for it.

“Next up we have the first original magic item in nearly two hundred years. The Gods have not placed a high value on it, and the utility is lacking, it’s more of a curio. However, this is some of the first of the item available and made by the inventor himself. A total of ten is available. We start the bidding at twenty platinum for the first Lucky Charm,” the auctioneer said. “The plus one in Luck is something—”

“And we have got a bid for twenty,” the auctioneer interrupted himself when someone made a bid. “Do we have twenty-five?”

The price was raised a few times to thirty-three platinum before it was sold. A very satisfying sum I thought. What surprised me was when the auctioneer said who had bought it. “Congratulation to Empress Menila for buying the first Lucky Charm. For the next Lucky Charm, we’ll also begin the bidding at twenty platinu—”

“Forty platinum,” a light female voice interrupted.

Followed quickly by a “Forty-two.”

“What’s going on?” Marion asked. “Suddenly there’s a whole lot of people fighting for them. The price is already fifty, no fifty-three.”

I was too stunned to explain, I just sat there and watched as the second charm sold for 60 platinum. The third charm starting bid was raised to forty. Valdis stepped out from the back of the box where he had been standing, and he had a large smile on his face. “Mister Heosphoros you are indeed lucky. The Empress of the Eternal Empire is quite famous for her good taste, anything that she buys are immensely popular. Hence the price hike. I’ve seen this before, the last one will probably sell for almost a hundred platinum.”

“Really?” I gulped.

“Indeed, and now that the Empress has one, there’ll be a large market for these Charms. You can expect others will try to cash in on the success. However, yours will always be in demand,” Valdis said just as the third was also sold for 60 platinum.

The fourth, fifth and sixth were also sold somewhere in the 60 to 70 platinum range, while the seventh reached 70 platinum. The eight was sold for 78, while the ninth was sold for 85. The final charm was sold for 90 platinum.

“Congratulations,” Valdis said. “Your wares have sold for five hundred ninety-eight and a half platinum coin after we have taken our fees of course.”

“Thank you,” I said absentmindedly. I was completely baffled at what had just happened.

“You know what this means?” Robin asked, almost breathlessly.

“Uhm, we can pay our monthly expenses?” I said.

“And then some. If we convert all that to credits it’s over two hundred and fifteen thousand, more than enough to pay for everything. We can even get more members if want,” she said with excitement.

“Sweetie, you’re getting ahead of yourself,” Marion said. “This is Damian’s money, he has not donated it to the guild yet, and we should not rely solely on him to pay our expenses.”

“Yeah,” Nise said. “I think you should buy something that catches your fancy. There are still some items that sell for less than five hundred platinum.”

“Maybe,” I said. I was still shell-shocked. I knew that even if they were popular because of the Empress, I would not likely get this coin for them ever again.

I tried to focus on the rest of the auction, but nothing really caught my interest. The few items that were within my price range were all useless to me since they were weapons or armour. Not really something that was really useful for me. The last item on the auction block did catch my attention, in a big way.

“Last item of the day, ladies and gentlemen. I give you a creation from Grandmaster Firebelly himself. As many of you have heard, he recently created a successful replica of the Triskelion Staff, and while I would love to auction of such a treasure, I have the next best thing here.

“Though it failed to meet the standard of a true replica of the staff, this fragmented replica is still powerful, wielding thirty percent of the power of the real staff, only a few percentages from being a true replica. Starting bid is one hundred thousand platinum,” the auctioneer extolled the virtues of the staff. The entire auction hall was silent as everyone stared at the staff.

It was three staves twisting around each other, making one staff. One staff was made from some kind of wood, one was made from stone while the last was made from a metal that could only be Mithril. The three staves formed a crown as the head of the staff, which held a large crystal, which seemed to change colour all the time.

“One hundred fifty thousand,” a voice suddenly roared, which seemed to shock everyone out of their stupor, and a frenzy started. The price climbed by leaps and bounds. thirty thousand, fifty thousand and even one hundred thousand at a time. After nearly ten minutes, the prize ended at one point two million platinum. Bought by the Empress of the Eternal Empire.

“That’s a lot of money,” Hannah said. “And it’s not even the real item.”

“The real Triskelion has been lost since the first Rupture. Argus, the greatest wizard at the time used it to defeat an ancient dragon in single combat,” Valdis said.

“How big is an ancient dragon?” Hannah asked.

“Large enough to obliterate a town twice the size of Blackport just by laying down to take a nap,” I said.

Hannah gulped. “Sounds big.”

“Don’t worry Miss, the last ancient dragon died during the first Rupture,” Valdis said. “Just like we cannot achieve the greatness of our forefathers, neither can the dragons.”

He then turned to me, “Grandmaster Firebelly is waiting for you.”

“Yes of course,” I replied. To my guildmates, I said, “Just disconnect from the auction house. I will meet you back at the house.”

After a quick and non-stomach twisting teleport, I found myself in a large and much more opulent box. To my surprise, there were five people in the room, not one or two as I had expected. Duchess Hawk, as Firebelly’s mentee, made sense. The old, bald haunched back man had to be Grandmaster Firebelly himself. Those two I had expected to be in the room.

Who surprised me were the other three people in the room. Two of them were female guards, high levelled and carrying the colours of the Eternal Empire. It was who they protected that really surprised me. Even without checking her name with Inspect, I could recognize the Empress of the Eternal Kingdom. She played a major part in the main quest line and the retaking of the Old Continent.

After a second of gawking, I remembered my manners, and immediately dropped to one knee and bowed my head. “Your Imperial Majesty, forgive me. I was caught by surprise.”

“He’s not entirely stupid,” she said to the Grandmaster, who shook his head.

“We were warned by the Gods that these Travellers are unaware of our customs,” was his reply.

“Yes, but I have had to hear nobility complaining over and over again about how they were insulted by this or that Traveller,” the Empress complained.

I could almost feel it in the air when she turned her attention to me. “You may rise. I was just here to talk a moment with a dear old friend. It was a lucky coincidence that we ran into each other.”

The last part was said with a bit of mirth in her voice. When Firebelly and the Duchess politely laughed, I did so as well. With an ease I could not replicate in real life, I got back on my feet.

Bowing my head respectfully, I said. “Your Majesty, I would like to express my sincere gratitude.”

“Oh?” she said questioningly.

“Because you bought the first Lucky Charm, the prices of the following charms became much higher. You have greatly helped my guild and me.”

“Think nothing of it. Of course, I wish a copy of the first new magic item to be discovered in several hundred years.” She waved it off as if it was nothing.

“If that is the case, and it is not too presumptuous, I would like to exchange the one you bought with the first successful Charm that was made,” I said. “I know the value of the Charm is the same.”

“To own the first Charm to be made would sound better than just to own one of them,” she said with an amused smile.

One of the guards stepped towards me. “Hold your hand out to the side and retrieve the Charm from your inventory. No sudden movement.”

We were in spirit form and should not be able to hurt each other. However, there were items that existed in spirit form that could harm another person’s soul. So I did as I was instructed and slowly retrieved my Lucky Charm. When the guard was satisfied I did not pull out a weapon, she stepped back. Bowing to the Empress, I presented the Charm to her, holding the position until she picked it up.

Your Reputation with the Imperial Family of the Eternal Empire has been increased by 28 points. Your Reputation makes them Wary of you.

Raise your reputation to 90 for Acceptance

Lower your reputation to -110 for Annoyance

Current Reputation: 28

She picked it up and looked it over, before giving a nod. Since we were not in a physical form we could not transfer items. Out loud I said, “Valdis, we have a change in the shipment for the Empress of the Eternal Empire.”

He popped into existence for a brief moment, and I told him to inform the auction house which I was at that we would be changing out the item sent to her. He looked it over, recording the information and would make sure that the shipment was delayed.

“Well, I have taken up enough of your time. I shall look forward to the new items for my collection,” the Empress said. She gave Firebelly a respectful nod. “Grandmaster.”

With that, she disappeared together with her guards. It gave me time to process the prompt that had appeared in front of me. Reputation with one of the Imperial Families was extremely hard to come by. Even at the end of the last game, Aragoth who had been grinding it slavishly for a single Empire had only managed to gather a bit over two thousand points.

“You may leave as well, my dear,” the gravelly voice of Firebelly shook me out of my reverie.

“Master,” the Duchess said with a small bow and vanished as well.

“Do you mind if I call you Damian?” the foremost Runesmith in the world asked.

“Of course not, Grandmaster.”

“Good,” he said with a nod and stared at me for a few seconds. “You don’t look like much. Imagine my surprise when the Gods told me that after hundreds of years there was finally a new type of magic items invented.”

He let the words linger for a moment. It sounded like a question, but I bet it was one of those rhetorical ones. He continued when I did not answer. “Imagine my disappointment in finding out it was not made with runes, but with Greater Transmutation and a new type of items that only you Travellers can acquire and use in crafting. Because trust me, I’ve tried many times to replicate your little endeavour, but it fails even if I have a hundred percent chance of creating a Masterwork.”

Again a pregnant pause. He sat down with a heavy sigh. “Nevertheless, the rules are the rules. I am the Steward of the Lost Library. I see your confusion, and I should hope so. No one except me and the Gods knows it exists. Even my student doesn’t know about it, and I’m grooming her to take over my role.”

He was right, I was very, very confused. I had never heard of the Lost Library. Not in either of my lifetimes. Was this what Marcus talked about when he said the game changed in every timeline? Or was this some secret that was never talked about.

The Grandmaster continued. “The Lost Library is the single largest collection of Runes and schematics for magic items. The people with access to it is only those with the Magic Inventor title, of which there is only one. You.

“I can guess what your question will be. If the title is a requirement, how can I know about it? Easy, the former members started to near the end of their life, and there had not been a new Magic Inventor in almost a century. They elected to create a special position, Steward, to be the caretaker of the Library until the day a new magic item type was invented.”

It was a lot of information to take in. Hesitantly I asked, “May I ask a question?”

“I believe you just did,” he said with a chuckle.

I suppressed a groan. It was the kind of thing I might say. “What happens now?”

He stood up from his chair and walked over to me. I was almost a half meter taller than him, so when he beckoned me downward, I bowed down a bit. He then touched a finger to my forehead, and it was like an explosion happened inside my head. An explosion of images, diagrams, materials and procedures. The shock of it sent me reeling backwards, stumbling to finally fall on my ass.

When the intrusion of foreign knowledge was over, it left me with a grating headache. It was like when I had learned skills from the skill scrolls, just much cruder.

“I apologize,” the old man said. I swallowed the curses at the tip of my tongue, and slowly got to my feet. “This is your entry key to the Lost Library, and the knowledge will delete itself when you’ve created it once.”

“What?” I muttered uncomprehendingly.

“Examine the information I just gave you,” the old man said. I did so, for a few minutes I went over the new information that was in my noggin. What I found left me speechless.

“This will take forever,” I groaned. Not only did it require a lot of rare resources, but the schematic required ten rune slots to complete. “I need to be a Master at Runesmithing before I can even attempt to make this.”

“Indeed. However, it was never intended for someone who doesn’t even know a single rune to get access to the Library,” he said with a scoff. “Something I need to rectify now. At least you know Runesmithing. I will teach you five runes for free. Since you’re in Blackport, you should seek out the local Runesmith there. Ilat. He’s a bit weird, even for a runesmith.”

“Got a thing for putting runes on plants,” I said and got off the floor.

“You already know him?”

“Yes, I’ve been running errands for him, hoping to earn his trust and learn some runes.”

“Good. Now, I will teach you the Power rune, it’s the basis for all magic items, well those created with runes anyway,” the Grandmaster said. “Which other four would you like to learn?”

It felt like a test because there was no way I should know much about runes. Instead, I smiled, because I had had time to think about it for a long time, and I did remember quite a bit about Runesmithing.

I had to steel my nerves for a moment because I was about to make a big ask. When I felt ready, I said, “If I could beg your indulgence, with what I seek to make I need more than five runes, seven to be honest. Three half runes, including the Power rune of course, as well as Input and Output. Four full runes. Store and Release, as well as Compress Volume and Suspend Decay.”

“You want to make some kind of item of holding, however, you need at least three and a half rune slots for that,” the Grandmaster said with squinting eyes. “Meaning you cannot make that item until you are an Apprentice or higher. And then it’s a bad one.”

“I know, but I’m thinking of a three-item solution. I intend to use it for selling meals that adventuring parties can take with them.”

His eyes narrowed further. “I see where you’re going with this. Been done before, but are quite wasteful and no one is going to pay enough coin to make it worthwhile.”

“I am aware that I will likely be taking a loss, but it is a great way to train my skill, and since I will be making everything on my own, the loss is minimized.”

“How come you know so much about Runesmithing?”

“The information provided by the Pioneers and the information the Gods provided us,” I said. Which was technically the truth, just not the whole truth.

“Well, you seem to think you know what you want. If you can explain the setup and the right combination of runes, I will teach you the runes you are talking about,” the Grandmaster said.

With a huge smile, I started to explain about the meal token system I had envisioned.