Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Conor had been right about the area being packed. The entirety of the massive landing area where the Pathers shuttles came down was chock full of people.

There were easily tens of thousands of people waiting. Matt took a quick glance down the streets and couldnt see anything but more people standing around. Considering they had just walked those streets, he was flabbergasted at the sudden appearance of the crowd.

They moved down the steps and fought their way to the edge of the grass platform. Annie tried to say something, but the noise of the mob around them was too loud to overcome.

Giving up, she shrugged and swallowed what she wanted to say. Apparently it wasnt important enough to message their AIs for.

They waited for nearly ten minutes before everyone started to look up, drawing Matts gaze along with them. They watched as a swarm of flat shuttles flew through the air. They looked like flying stone platforms with railings.

The stone platforms hovered over the crowd, and ladders extended out of them, allowing people to start climbing up. Matt felt for the platforms with his spiritual sense and found that each platforms aura felt as dense as a Tier 15s. These things were spiritually heavy.

He and his team were near the last of the people to get on the platform, and they were pressed up against the outer railing. The flying platform took off with a smoothness that surprised Matt. There was a shield that seemed to stop the turbulent wind, but it also removed drag somehow. It was an interesting formation. Matt was trying to find where the runes were, wanting to see if he could make heads or tails of them.

To his surprise, he actually found them, but they were obfuscated with some kind of security formation that seemed to make their forms change every time he looked at them. As he tried to peer through the obscuring layer, he was immediately hit with a headache and a roiling stomach.

Realizing it was futile to continue, he pulled his attention back to looking over the edge of the platform, and enjoying the view of the ocean flashing by.

He called out, I grew up in a city by the coast. My parents apartment was facing the waterfront. I loved watching the waves pass by. It was always soothing.

The rest of his team didnt take much notice of his sharing that, but he didnt miss the look of surprise from Liz. He never talked about his parents. He just smiled at her and went back to looking at the water whipping by. His time on the islands had given him a renewed appreciation of the view that he hadnt known he missed until it was gone.

Emily added while following Matts gaze, We went to play at the beach quite a lot. We grew up on a planet with more islands than anything else. Kinda like a resort planet, but not quite. Water is as peaceful as anything. Most nights, wed fall asleep while listening to the water running over the rocky beaches.

Annie looked to Conor, who added after a moment, I grew up on a Tier 25 planet, so I lived in an inland city. I didnt really ever see the ocean until I joined The Path, after I went to a world without the ability to defend the cities. I spent a half year delving a water rift with lots of little attacking fish. They had an amazing fish soup thing, though. I think I ate it every day for a month.

The large front liner sighed, and everyone looked at Liz. Matt did as well. He was interested in what she would say.

I grew up in the capital.

Annie and Emilys eyes went big as they interrupted her in near unison.

The Capital capital? Like of the Empire?

Wow. Thats a Tier 47 world.

Conor just raised an eyebrow, asking the same question. Matt was interested in how she would play it. He didnt think that she would tell them about her heritage.He was surprised she had even shared this much.

Liz shrugged like it didnt matter.

If youre not the child of a powerhouse, most of the planet is played out and locked down.

Conor nodded like he understood that, but Annie and Emily looked interested, so Liz explained. There are the three great guilds, who each have two Tier 47 rifts. The Empire controls the rest, with six for the independents who refuse to take part in worldly affairs, and the rest under their direct control. Even then, its still a Tier 47 planet. There just arent any rifts below Tier 40. Its too hard to keep the mana and essence out of them, so you cant really advance if youre young and dont want to absorb ambient essence. Most of the kids are taken to another planet in the Soren star system.

She waved her hands around and had them orbit in a circle, as if they didn't know how planets orbited.

The capital has a dozen planets orbiting it, each trying to Tier up to Tier 47 by using the essence that radiates off the capital itself. One of them is still only Tier 15, which lets them use in-system teleporters, and that provides the kids rifts to delve. But even then, its not really accessible for most. Theres just too many people and a limited number of rifts, so most get sent off-world to nearby lower Tier planets. I was lucky enough to be offered a spot on the Path, and got a place to delve. Once I was Tier 3, I got out as fast as I could.

Annie said, It must be amazing, though. Have you ever seen the Emperor, or one of the royals?

Matt had to stifle a grin at that. Liz didnt so much as give anything away, but she froze for a moment before saying, Once or twice. Its not that special. Ive found the planets that arent just giant cities way more impressive. Or at least, more varied. It can be lonely being a child surrounded by people thirty Tiers or more higher than you. I didnt really have many people near my age to play with.

He reached over and rubbed her back. Matt was proud of her for sharing that much.

Before they could say more, their flying platform angled downward, and they smoothly submerged beneath the waves. Matt was surprised because if he hadnt seen the change, he would have had no idea when they moved from air to water. The flying platform didnt change its pace at all.

He reached out to touch the rushing water, but Liz pulled his hand back and with a mischievous smile and said, Watch.

He and his team did so. Not ten seconds later, someone else reached out and put their hand through the barrier, just to be sucked out violently.

Liz giggled, and when she saw the looks of shock, she pointed at the dozen or so people who repeated the same action. Ive used these types of shuttles before when I visited my Uncle. There were always a few tourists who got dragged out. The shuttle pilots even made a bit of a competition out of it. They would deliberately fly near schools of fish to tempt people to reach out.

Seeing their looks of shock, she rolled her eyes, Theyll be fine. Really, if theyre taking us underwater, they expected this. There, look. The collection team.

As the people were fading from view, they saw another platform scoping them up and bringing them to safety.

Now that their lives werent at risk, it was actually kind of funny. Matt laughed while also looking at his own fingers. He would have tested it without hesitation. It just would have been embarrassing to arrive soaking wet at the auction.

Before long, Matt saw a massive dome surrounded by a few dozen smaller ones branching off, connected by clear tunnels. It was a shining beacon of light in the inky waters.

Their platform passed through a shimmering barrier, and they were in dry air once again. Matt should have expected the area to be spatially expanded, but he hadnt. When they arrived in one of the smaller edge bubbles, its outer dimensions had only seemed to be that of a large building. The inside was actually a huge expanse dripping in luxury.

The edges were lined with balconies that wrapped the entire sphere. There was a circular area in the center that held a floating statue, seemingly made of light. It was sculpted into the shape of a ballerina, frozen in a moment of their dance.

Matt was mesmerized for a moment until the bustling crowd bumped into his back. They didnt have to climb down the ladders this time, as the bubble had dedicated moorings for the shuttles. With the exit made apparent, the passengers poured down the ramp in a wave.

The signs bombarded him with advertisements for all kinds of extravagant goods and experiences. There was everything from rare wine tastings to specialty cheese shops.This chapter was first shared on the Ñøv€lß1n platform.

Wow.

Conors exclamation matched Matts own thoughts. Annie broke him out of his stupor with a poke to his side.

He looked at her in confusion, before she pressed her hands together with three fingers each and split them off.

Matt grinned at her. He decided to throw her a bone after noticing the eye roll from her sister.

This place looks amazing. We should split up so we can cover more of it. The main auction starts in three hours, so we have time. Ill make sure we get a box like we said earlier. Why dont Conor, Annie, and Aster go together, and the rest of us will do our own thing. We can message each other about anything amazing we might find.

Aster jumped up into Annies arms and yipped a yip Matt knew all too well, so he headed that off with, Only give her a small bowl of ice cream. Im sure shell want more at the banquet that theyre holding after the auction.

His foxs ears dropped, but Annie kissed her in between the ears and said something that caused them to perk back up.

Matt ignored the foreboding implications and turned to leave with Liz and Emily. Before they left, he made sure he put the Kingdoms colors armband on Aster, which she refused to wear as a headband, so he had to settle for a scarf.

They all had their own on as well. While it hadnt been a hard rule, it had been suggested strongly for anyone attending the auction.

Annies sister scoffed when they were out of range of her sister, leading Liz to ask, Do you not like Conor?

Emily sighed. No, its not that. Conor is actually much better than the last few crushes Annies picked up. One tried to get us to have a threesome with him. Like, come on.

Matts face scrunched up at that.

Liz threw an arm around the shorter woman and said, Then isnt it a good thing Conor doesnt seem to be that type?

Emily nodded at that but accompanied it with a shrug. I guess, but none of them started out being weird. Just call me a pessimist. I havent seen him checking me out when he thinks Im not looking, at least. Thats something more than I could say about most of her crushes.

The brown-haired woman perked up and changed the topic. What are you guys interested in checking out? I looked up some of the amenities, and theres a spa section that has a massage parlor. We dont have enough time to really enjoy it, but we have enough time for a half-hour massages and mani-pedi.

Liz jumped at the idea. Yes! My feet are always in boots. Id love that.

Matt agreed. It wont hurt, thats for sure. But Ill skip out of the mani-pedi. I would rather have a longer massage.

They moved through the bubble, down toward the center of the concourse. They made their way down a tunnel set at a declining angle, with a gravity nullifier that allowed for faster transport. It was fun to throw himself down the tube and catch himself at the end with a flip that let him land with a solid thunk.

He was tempted to go back just to experience the weightlessness once again. It was exhilarating.

After a long pause, Javier smiled at both rulers and said, With appetites and desires aflame, let the auction begin!

A woman brought out a flower of purple and yellows, and Javier kicked off the auction. Our first item! The Tier 8 Flower of Miraculous Life. Anyone who eats this little beauty will aspect their mana into a nature aspect. If you can find a skilled alchemist, you can have them add a few other ingredients and modify the flower to bestow the much rarer life aspected mana. The aspect is desired by healer and growth specialists everywhere. Well start the bidding at 200 war contribution points.

The bid quickly shot up to 920 points before the item was sold. Matt wanted to buy it for Melinda, but he would have burned through all of his points while also doing exactly what he decided not to; give them another crutch. He did send her a message with the item and its purported abilities, so she at least knew that it existed.

The next item was one that Matt recognized from the batch of items they sold to Samuel at the auction house. This is a Tier 5 rift made sword that increases swing speed and damage massively when mana is run through it. The sword is rated to Tier 7 strength. Bidding starts at 50 war contribution points.

Matt looked at Liz, and they smiled at each other, seeing where this was going. A lot of the items they pulled were like that one. They were useful, but not what they wanted, so they sold them in bulk to the auction house. It was slightly painful, as they had gotten mana stones out of it, which were much less valuable than the war contribution points they were selling for now.

More items flew by, with nearly a quarter of them being ones that they had sold. Matt reaffirmed his intention to only sell through the Empire Market to avoid something like this. It twisted the knife to see his items go for so much higher than they had sold them for.

They watched in disinterest until their first mana cultivation potion went up for sale.

This pretty little thing is a potion that our alchemist confirmed will increase each of the consumers three mana cultivation aspects. Its balanced to give a slight increase to both Mana Regeneration and Maximum Mana. Thats not all, it uses most of the potions effect to give a Mana Concentration of 0.1. This is the first batch up for auction, and it contains 10 potions. Like all of the following ones, they are for Tier 5. Fighters, f you want to firm up your base, these little beauties are the way to do it. Starting price of 100 war contribution points.

There was a buzz that ran through the audience.

Someone called out, Are you selling any singles?

Javier pointed into the standing crowd and answered the question. Yes. The final and best ten will be sold in single lots at the end. If you dont get one here, I believe the war market will have some of them for sale as well, but their price will be set according to the final bidding price

Matt leaned forward in his chair in anticipation. They would be getting these points, so he crossed his fingers and hoped their price rose to the sky.

125.

150.

180.

210.

250.

300. The final price was called out by the Prince, and Princess Sara immediately snapped out a counter.

350.

Matt wiggled in his seat.

Finally, after a long moment of deliberation, the Prince called out, 400.

500! The Princess didnt hesitate in the slightest when she raised the bid again.

Matt didnt think 50 points apiece was bad for the worst potions that Liz had made. While the others attention was all on the unfolding drama, he smiled at Liz, who looked to be on cloud nine.

He was proud of his partner and all of her accomplishments.

Looking across the stage, he saw Sara smiling and getting a pat on her arm by her mother.

Sara was nearly out of her seat, while the Prince was more collected and calm, as if none of this bothered him in the slightest.

Their third batch of potions, with a Mana Concentration of 0.12, had just sold for 600 war points, when a skill shard was brought out.

Javier stroked the case holding the skill and called out in his sonorous voice, This beauty is [Cracked Mana Bolt]. At the murmur, Javier laughed and spoke over the crowd. This is a marvelous cracked skill. Unlike most mana bolt skills that are neutral in their attack, this one randomly changes its aspect to anything. Shoot it enough times, and you punch through any armor type.

Emily was out of her seat and had her face pressed against the privacy formation.

The starting bid is 200 is points.

She immediately shouted, 1000!

Matt was shocked by her spending nearly all her points, but he was blown away by someone else immediately bidding higher.

In just a moment, the price was at 2500 points, with smaller and smaller bids being placed.

Emily looked at them, and after a brief internal struggle, said, I need to get this skill. Ill pay you back with interest, but please.

Seeing their hesitation, she blurted, Look, long story short, my Talent basically lets me repeatedly double the effect of any skill, as long as its a different aspect than one I used in the same chain of spells. Once I repeat anything, it resets. This is perfect for me. I need it.

Matt looked at Liz, and they nodded.

At nearly the same time as Conor, he said, We have 3000 you can use. No interest needed.

I have 1000.

Annie looked at her crush with doe eyes, and Emily turned and shouted, 3000.

Someone else called out when the countdown was at one, 4000.

Fucking fucker. I need this. You brain-dead idiot.

5000! Her voice was overly controlled when she spoke through the screen.

Matt leaned forward with anticipation as the countdown reached two, then one. It felt like an eternity when it finally clicked to zero, and Emily was the winner of the auction.

She dropped to her butt at the edge of their box. I think Im going to vomit.

Matt patted the womans arm and pulled her up to her chair, where she bonelessly sat.

Thanks, guys. I really owe you for that one.

Matt was interested in her Talent, but didnt want to press. He carefully asked, Dont answer this if you dont want to, but if you can double the effect of a skill if its a different element, why dont you have something common like [Fireball]?

She stretched and sighed. We grew up on a water world, and it didnt have a lot of fire skills. Its why I have two water skills and a lighting skill that we were able to trade for. I intended to buy a [Fireball] here with some points, but thats kinda shot for now. Thankfully, its pretty common, so I should be able to get it in a few weeks. Well, after I pay you all back, of course. I really appreciate it guys.

Matt looked at Liz and raised an eyebrow. He was leery of giving more help after seeing what happened to Melindas team, but he had an extra [Fireball] that wasnt reserved for himself.

Liz shrugged, putting the ball back in his court, but nodded slightly as well.

He thought over her suggestion. She was ok with it, and the more he thought, the more he had to agree it was different from Melindas party. Annie and Emily were strong in their own right. They held their own in their fight. And one extra skill would, if he understood her Talent right, take her from a four times multiplier to an eight times multiplier. That was massive, if paired with her [Bolt] skill as a finisher.

Hoping he wasnt making a mistake, he withdrew and tossed the still boneless Emily a [Fireball] skill. Heres a [Fireball]. No reason to wait. Just giving us the standard value in mana stones or points is fine. Better to have it now if I understand your Talent right. An eight times stronger [Bolt] would be devastating in a fight, and itll help our team build up points faster.

She looked up from the skill shard that scrambled for, and with a hard look in her eyes, said, I wont take it if you wanted to sell or trade it. Even if it would help me, I won't slow you down to do it.

Matt debated taking out his bucket of skills to shock her, but only brought out his other [Fireball]. I have my own. We were going to sell it, but wed rather sell it to you instead of someone else. In the end, we get the same payment, just a little later.

Emily didnt protest further, simply nodding to him and then to Liz and Aster. Thank you. This really does help, and your math was right. With the [Cracked Mana Bolt], as long as I dont get fire, water, or lighting, I can pretty much get an eight times damage bonus; possibly more if my luck is good.

Matt shuddered at that thought. It would undoubtedly rip right through [Cracked Phantom Armor] at that high of an increase in power. He looked at Annie and Conor and said, If either of you are looking for specific skills, let us know. We can help you try and get it.

Conor raised his drink and said, To new friends and growing stronger.

They all drank to that.