Oscar woke up at the inn they were staying to some good news.

[Level 3: Sentinel Squire]

The two easy levels were done with. They were almost universally achievable if you just spent the first two weeks constantly using a Skill or two. Oscar had been at it like a maniac, and made it with days to spare.

He raised his arms in celebration, still lying on his back in bed. I’m going to relax a bit now, and let the magic settle.

Each level up had felt like he was building momentum for a surge. When he awoke the next day he was always rested like never before, even if his body still ached from the exertion; it was bristling with energy.

But if he wanted to keep going at this pace then he would need to start using his Skills against resisting opponents next; and once he was level 5 only genuine combat would do to keep him leveling at any sort of speed, at least that seemed likeliest.

While [Squire] did have some support focused Skills, it was still a Class that leaned heavily into battle abilities.

But really, it was about what upgrade you were going for. Livia had made that much clear to all of them.

Too soon to start worrying about that in any case; Oscar had just gotten done worrying about his Class, after all. But it was time to see where his Skills guided him next during some real duress, but it was unlikely that they’d find the time for any proper sparring while they remained in Dormata.

Unless maybe they could find some location where willing opponents were going at it already. Do they do stuff like that around here? Suppose they must, but it might require trials and a membership, or something of the sort.

They would have to see about all that stuff later.

First things first was seeing about organising their business at the auction house.

But then right after that Oscar wanted to see about his shield.

Livia brought the whole [Guild] with her to the auction house; with the only one going off alone being Felix, to see about purchasing a spot at one of the schools who had access to the rare [Enchanter] Class.

He had apparently been asking anybody who went to Dormata over the years that they go and ask for any details about enrolling at one of the schools that were available; but they were all surprisingly tight-lipped, and not interested in attempting any sort of recruitment from afar. The only message to bumpkins showing interest was this; bring money. The amount was raised every year.

Despite this their current methods apparently drew candidates from all over. There was not a village out there not relying on their products after all, and who would not want to earn the ability to provide that service at home for the benefit of all. But someone who did not even know how to get the Class was clearly not about to bring in any new secrets from the rare hidden cabal in the countryside, so unless they showed up then any moment given was a moment wasted as far as they were concerned.

But now Felix was finally here himself. And so he waved. "I'm off to become one of the Albernautics!"

The stubborn not-yet-Aspiring [Enchanter] had not wasted a moment abandoning them, only yelling out behind his back for his siblings to send the address of wherever they ended up in the end, having said all there was to say last night apparently. Like they’re gonna let him enroll on the spot, I’d bet a 100 silver we’ll see him again tonight.

But she did not say as much, she did not want to appear neither petty nor pessimistic. But if you asked Livia he seemed to be taking an awful lot for granted.

The meeting with the auctioneer was next up, and they were all excited to see what all the stuff they had dragged here would go for, even if it was not all up to the standards for entering the stage at an evening bidding.

But first there was some bad news. The timbre was not worth auctioning, it was the kind of material that was sent to Dormata from all over, and delivered from here to anywhere in particular need.

The prices were set and controlled by the [Merchant]-[Guild], and the only means to dictate your profit was by arriving early in the season or having actual, certified magic wood.

Otherwise you were paid based on the type of wood and the region it hailed from, resulting in a simple table of price classes; but if a Cloven were to see the lack of work being done to distinguish the quality then they would have objected… Loudly and strenuously, well into the night if needed. Likely one of the reasons why they had seen no Cloven in the city so far.

The huge battle that had delayed their expedition had ensured several caravans they would have easily beat had gotten ahead instead. Now there was far less gain than they hoped for. Still a tidy profit, but not in proportion to the effort of dragging it all this way.

Thankfully at least the kegs were accepted as the magic, wonderful drink they were. Algernon hooted sadly to see it go, but he had learned enough about Livia by now to know she would figure out where to get more, especially if it fetched a high enough profit.

Still, he almost leapt down and embarrassed them all when Livia poured the auctioneer a shot, from the last flask she’d kept from the party with some remaining–all to keep the kegs intact.

At least it convinced the soon-to-be heavily inebriated official that their wares would sell, oh yes.

And best of all, it earned them the status of VIP-merchants for the duration of the week—which did not mean much in Dormata at large—but here in the auctioneer’s square... They were in.

Officially all it provided them was a hefty discount on a stall in their chosen auction house’s market area out front. But without the perk they would have been hard pressed being afforded access in the first place with their non-magic wares, possibly if there was a rare lull in requests. It was inevitable, since this was among the most remunerative market squares on the Dormata map.

None of them was a recognised [Merchant], and leaning on Redd’s veteran status would not work either, not here in a city containing half a million of them, if rarely so high level. Such tactics were more likely to just get Redd marked down as a future rival to their competitors who might keep running trade expeditions of such size, unless Redd put up an act of looking for work once he was done selling with his cargo.

Now this way the [Guild] ended up right where they wanted.

The auction-house square was fully ringed by its namesakes; six different houses in all, and the competition was fierce. By participating in the auction, where only quality magic items were sold at the end of each week; you signaled how you might well have wares of a certain standard, and even if there was plenty of competition, it also meant this was where you went as a customer if you really had money to spend.

Which meant a lot of well-supplied [Merchant]s got set up here, but also that the foot traffic was incredible.

It was truly like being back in a big city, and the people looked loaded compared to what Livia was used to seeing here on Elderwood. Everyone had stylish armor or robes indicating they were Casters. It seemed the fashion sense skewed heavily towards [Warrior] in the night though.

The uncommon exception was the flagrant [Artist].

They were not everywhere, certainly not here in the commercial district anyway, but they were still spotted all over.

Some of them sporting regular working clothes, while some wore traditional robes but with very wide, shortened sleeves; but one and all they had colored hair matching their garments.

It was stylish to say the least, especially among the larger crowd all wearing metal, and black leather, and metal, and brown leather. And uniform magician’s robes.

It also seemed to Livia like either sexes were showing plenty of appreciation for their more stylish opposites, but still unashamedly threw a glower the way of their competitors.

That was until you saw an artist couple together. Those everyone could agree to glare at. If you looked that damn good, at least don’t complement it with someone looking even better. That’s just cheating.

Okay, where did that come from. That felt to Livia like something Mr Beard would say. But the voice had been strangely quiet since his homecoming.

Now that they were busy setting up their stall she took a moment to see what he was feeling.

[Ah it’s beautiful. I could not have believed it without seeing it, I have just been appreciating everything. They’ve still got sense enough to leave the landmarks alone, I should have known. Hah. Spruce up the brick, and the old rotting wood, why not! Hah.]

It seemed he had seen some art pieces he really appreciated.

[I do hope some of these survive, it is something we have no time for, not in my day. It would have been a welcome splash of colour, among the burning smoke.]

Seeing Dormata standing unharmed seemed to have affected him more deeply than he could have anticipated, and Livia felt glad for it. She let her eyes linger on the art for a few seconds longer from then on, knowing they were both of them watching and appreciating.

Next they set up a schedule to always have someone at the shop.

They were selling Brunner’s carvings of everything from animal form sculptures to kitchen appliances and stackable, well-oiled tables; all constructed via hatchet.

They sold the painted maps; and just like in the suburbs they immediately drew the eyes of artists, despite being intended for scouting land. Somehow the color schemes based on real facts really spoke to them, even if it was an eagle-eye view rather than any true attempts at realistic depictions.

And they sold apples fresh from Salcret’s orchard, together with assorted garden berries that had accumulated the special energies as well.

Elin added on all of Alfred’s remaining unprocessed wares, and Albert had a corner where he sold their tinctures like Zlapple, made with the use of [More the Merrier] and all the rest of his Skills on the road, all with the help if his new Class [Travelling Brewer].

They were going to leave at least one person at a time scheduled to be here for as long as the market was open. Although it was a lot of variety for just one person to sell, but they had a list to help, of acceptable prices for the person to stick to no matter what Skill might be used to manipulate you, something which avoiding was easier said than done. It was not so simple as setting prices here, never so simple. Every customer would likely be expecting to barter.

“If they're asking questions you don't know, that's fine. Let them know when whoever knows more will be back. But remember, at the first hint of pressure always rely on the posted schedule, and leave them with that. In the worst case, just high-bolting it out of there is fine, especially if they're still acting funny. They can deal with the main negotiator for the product if they wanna try something funny. So keep that in mind as soon as someone comes around acting pushy for a quick deal, alright?"

In most cases the one they would be summoning for help was Livia or Elin, since the store was their main project, after that they went by order of experience with the sale of whatever good was so valued.

In the worst, worst case running away and abandoning the stall should work out fine. They'd paid extra for a type of insurance, and they were far from alone; making the chance of theft minimal. Their stuff especially was not on that level where the auction-house guards would not be plenty in terms of security, and so leaving the wares behind was the clearly better move if the option was selling them to someone shady.

With that sorted Livia decided Oscar had the most interesting plans next; the two of them headed over to the armorer’s district, leaving Elin and Alfred in charge with Ronia set to take over in two hours.