Day Of The Auction

In an expensive carriage pulled by majestic white horses along the streets of Fento, Humble Foxes captain and his daughter were discussing Silver Ridge’s auction that day.

Landis Colts was a man of 6 ft. He was a middle-aged man but the scar running down from his right eyebrow, across his eye, down to the middle of his cheek, made him look much older. The scars on his bare arms did not alleviate the misconception either. All he wore were leather boots, pants, and a strap across his white shirt that had many pouches that were filled with only he knew what.

Selena Colts, on the other hand, had a very beautiful and youthful appearance despite her tough but well-earned reputation. Her body was while on the slim side, was shapely in the right places. She had an oval shaped face with slim eyebrows, a small nose, and attractive rose-colored lips. Her long fire-red hair made it impossible to ignore her in a crowd. She had a leather cuirass on. Beneath it, she sported a black arming shirt to keep the leather from chafing the crap out of her skin, a black waist-cloak or battle-skirt keeps her legs warm and safe while traveling or in combat. Additionally, she wore leather vambraces to protect her arms from severing blows and leather boots for traveling in all kinds of weather.

“We need to make sure we get our hands on Inferno’s Tongue. It would have perfect synergy with your ability to wield fire and sword, together,” said Landis.

“It’s not that important. We should spend the money on to better fund our men,” the warrior maiden stubbornly said while shaking her head.

Landis looked at Selena’s deep green eyes and felt exasperated towards this willful daughter of his. He sighed inwardly. ‘She inherited that from her mother…’

“Sunshine-,” hearing Landis refer to her like that made Selena snap.

“What did I say about you calling me that?!” she yelled while glaring at Landis.

Selena hated it when her father called her by the nickname her mother used to say.

‘She definitely inherited her temper too…’ Though Landis would never say that out loud for fear of his daughter getting angrier.

“You’re right, Selena. I’m sorry. But, you gotta understand that you’re going to lead the Humble Foxes one day. It’s about time you had a reliable weapon with you,” he said with a concerned look on his face.

Selena’s anger simmered down and thought about what her father said. It was true that she needed a reliable and constant companion by her side. One that she could take to battle fell her enemies wherever she went. An icon that represented her as a catastrophe to her enemies, and saving grace to allies.

Even her father had ‘Stormcaller’. A Warhammer imbued with the power of storms, which became so synonymous with him, he was nicknamed after it as ‘Thunder’.

But even though she understood that…

“A weapon made of bones from a fire dragon, forged by Thorog Silverbrand, is bound to be raised to a ludicrous amount. We should spend that money on the Humble Foxes,” she said with a neutral expression.

…the Humble Foxes always came first in her mind.

Landis sighed. As a leader, he should be happy for his daughter’s dedication towards the Humble Foxes, but as a father, it made him sorrowful because of the reason towards her dedication.

“Alright. We’ll bid for it, but we’ll try to keep the cost low. Besides, we’re the Humble Foxes. I’m sure we won’t see too much competition when we make our intentions for it, clear,” he said with a smile on his face.

Notwithstanding his worry for his daughter, he was extremely proud of the Humble Foxes accomplishments and the renown they have gathered.

After a few a minutes, they heard three knocks from the coachman. “Sir, Miss, we’ve arrived at the auction house.”

The father and daughter pair exited the carriage and was greeted by a rugged looking man.

Landis walked up to him and gave a light punch on the shoulder. “Norton! It’s been a while, old friend.”

“So it has been, Landis. Thanks for coming early like I asked,” Norton said while returning the punch. He then turned to Selena.

“Girl, you’ve become just as beautiful as your mother!” Just as it was said, Norton knew he had made a mistake.

Selena walked up to Norton and lightly bowed. “Greetings, Uncle Norton. I hope you’re doing well,” she said in an almost monotone voice.

Norton sighed inwardly. ‘I can’t believe this is the energetic girl who used to nag me to give her piggy-back rides. They’re not gonna like what I have to say…’

Norton laughed awkwardly and then let out a light cough. “Ahem. I’ll take you both to your booths now. Also, there’s a reason I sent a message to come early. I need to tell you some things personally.”

They walked up some stairs until they reached the entrance of an entire marble building. The height of it was nearly 200 feet along with pillars spaced out along the front of the building to hold it up. The pillars were wide enough that 8 adult men couldn’t wrap their arms around it together. The pillar itself was engraved with various patterns depicting warriors slaying enormous creatures. The two 50 feet doors were engraved with a lion on each side standing on two feet, facing each other. The building evoked a grandiose feeling in whoever stood in front of it.

Landis whistled at the sight. “I tell you, Norton. The sight of this building amazes me every time,” he said with an amazed look on his face.

“Yep, Silver Ridge is all about the gold and showing off.”

“Is that something you should say as the Captain?” asked Landis.

Norton just shrugged his shoulders. “Eh”

“Same ole Norton.”

The three walked into the building and then walked up some stairs on the right, and down a hallway until they reached a room that was labeled “24” above.

The room had lavish furniture and decorations that would probably bankrupt a normal man if he were to ruin even one of the pieces only further proved Silver Ridge loved spending gold almost as much as making it. They walked into the room and sat down on chairs at the front of the room, near an opening overlooking a large but empty auditorium.

“So what’d you want to tell us?” asked Landis.

“First, let me be sure. You’re here for the Inferno’s Tongue, right?”

Landis raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, why?”

“If you can, spend very little or none of your gold on it. I’m sure you two have heard the announcement by Silver Ridge about a one of a kind mutated goblin, right?” Norton said.

“Of course. Silver Ridge made a big deal of it, and it generated a lot of publicity for the auction, but what does that have to do with us?” Landis knew Norton wasn’t one to turn nothing into something. There must be a reason.

“I can’t say too much, but you’re an old buddy, and I figured that out of everyone I know that’s attending the auction, he would have it best in your care.”

Landis looked at Norton with some suspicion. “You’ve never cared about goblins before. Why now?”

“This goblin is… very different. He has made me think about some things and I acknowledge him. You won’t regret having him; I can assure you.”

Landis and Selena appeared shocked. They knew how stubborn and inflexible Norton was. To be acknowledged by him, and be a goblin no less? They were incredibly curious about this mutated goblin.

While the two were still in a daze at what Norton had said, Norton changed topics quickly.

“Now, the second thing. And before I say it, both of you promise not to do anything. Otherwise, I can’t let you know,” Norton said with a dour face.

Selena and Landis exchanged glances and then faced Norton and nodded.

Norton looked at them for a few seconds and then sighed. “I was notified that Quintin Hunt of the Dark Cloaks is going to be attending the auction.” Quintin Hunt was the leader of a rival mercenary group. Although, they are considered “rivals”, there is more of a blood debt between them.

The instant that was said, a table that sat in between them, flew against a wall and burst into flames and ashes by a fiery kick from Selena.

Opposite of Selena though, Landis was perfectly still; but Norton knew that deep down, he was raging inside.

“Selena, we promised your Uncle Norton. Don’t cause him trouble and take a deep breath to calm down,” Landis said calmly.

Selena inhaled deeply and then exhaled in a controlled and calm manner and then sat down again. Her face was still scowling slightly, but she managed to calm down somewhat. But on the inside, only she and Landis knew what she was thinking.

Landis looked at Norton and laughed a bit. “Haha, sorry about that. We’ll repay the chair.”

“It’s… understandable. No need to blame her. I just hope you won’t do anything during the auction. If you do, it will be incredibly difficult to get you out of trouble since you never found any proof for what he did,” Norton said reasonably.

“Don’t worry, friend. We won’t cause trouble,” Landis said with a smile.

Norton looked into Landis’ eyes for a few seconds and then nodded and stood up. “That’s all I ask. Well, I have to go now and set some things up for the auction. It was good seeing you, Landis.”

“Same for me, Norton.”

Norton turned to look at Selena who was still scowling for a bit then turned around and left.

“Father, we're just going to let that traitorous bastard and his Dark Cloaks sit across from us?”

“Don’t worry, Selena. Our Humble Foxes isn’t small in influence anymore. I’ve received information from Fahrareta that war is brewing; the Dark Cloaks happen to be on the opposite side of them…”

********

A Few Hours Later

Rae had been waiting hours in a dark room to be sold. He had never even been allowed to set sights on the city of Fento as he was in a cage the entire time and only released when he was inside the auction house. And even then, he was placed in a dark room afterward.

Luckily he had super senses so he could focus and hear the auction. He was genuinely curious about it as he could hear the descriptions of various items of the world and know about them.

The auction sold potions, books, antiques, weapons, armors, and even appraisal stones.

What he was most curious about were Mana Stones. He didn’t have a chance to learn much about them from Eric when he auctioned it, as apparently, their uses were ubiquitous. He just knew that they were capable of enchanting items and being enchanted as well since the Mana Stone being sold was highly sought after since it was imbued with a powerful enchantment by a wizard.

He was sitting cross-legged patiently until it was his time.

That’s when he heard Eric call out a weapon called ‘Inferno’s Tongue’.