Chapter 156

Double chapter drop day because Royal Road has reached book 4!

Hao’s Auction House, Pittsburgh - 6:55 AM

“I finished the night out at 5 wins and no losses, while Jeff finished at 4 wins, 2 losses,” Jamie reported.

We stood outside the auction house, having left the Angel Express later than usual in order to visit when they opened. It would be my first time coming here during this run, though Rexxel had been able to put a lot of things to auction for me. It was about time to meet Hao, and make a different connection that I wasn’t looking forward to.

“I assume his losses were against you and me?” I asked, glancing over at the Weapon Master. When she nodded, I did so as well. “That makes sense. How’d your duel go?”

Jamie wrinkled her nose as she thought back to it. It seems as though she hadn’t achieved victory as decisively as she wanted or expected. I would have asked Jeff and Kayla, but they hadn’t been awake early enough to see us off. Which was fine; this was supposed to be their day to themselves, after all.

“It was fine,” she said after a few moments, crossing her arms. “I learned a lot about him during your fight. He tried the same thing he did against you, so I was able to recognize it. In hindsight, he had done it against his opponents back in Atlanta, but it didn’t click until I was actually fighting him.”

“What did he do?” I asked, curious.

“Going after the heart too much,” she answered. “Like the only thing he was focused on was a quick, decisive blow. Took it at every opportunity, even when I was expecting it.”

I chuckled. “Then he went after your throat.”

“He did,” Jamie confirmed with a nod. “Managed to dodge it at the last moment, but he still nicked an artery. If I hadn’t finished the fight almost immediately after, then I would have bled out. The debuffs wouldn’t have been kind to me, either.”

“I’m surprised you managed to keep fighting even after getting all those afflictions poured into your neck,” I said with a low whistle.

It took her a few seconds before she shrugged. “After getting blindsided by Tito, I looked into more defensive passives and skills,” she admitted. “Debuff resistances, mostly, with a smattering of other things I thought I might run into. Though, I’ll be happy if you don’t pry into my kit. You’re my employer, not my friend.”

“Harsh, but fair,” I replied as the door behind us unlocked.

We were met with the sight of a tall man with long ears, bone white hair, and obsidian skin. A Dark Elf. He wore a bright purple tuxedo and wrung his hands together as he bowed to greet us.

“Esteemed Lady Summers,” he said, his voice high and nasally. “If I had known you were waiting in the cold, then I would have opened my doors sooner. Please, please, come into the warmth and introduce your companion.”

“This is the guildmaster, Anthony Franklin,” Jamie introduced without any fanfare, walking past Hao as she stepped inside. “Franklin, this is Hao.”

I stopped and kicked the snow off of my feet before entering. What used to be a restaurant in an old train station had been cleared out of everything except chairs, display cases, and a stage. The room was lit up by several hanging lights, though the center of the high ceiling was covered in glass windows. It was a beautiful room overall.

Once the Dark Elf closed the door, I turned and offered him my hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

“No, Sir Franklin, the pleasure is all mine,” Hao returned, shaking my hand with both of his. Once he was done, he gestured towards the display cases. “Would you like to peruse today’s auction down here? Or would you like to join Lady Summers in the Sol Ligatus VIP room?”

“The VIP room, though I would like to discuss some things with you,” I stated, looking around. “I’d like to make a list of items, skills, and books that I’m interested in.”

“Very well, Sir Franklin,” Hao said with a bow. “Please, allow me time to open the other doors and I’ll be with you as soon as I possibly can.”

“Of course, take your time,” I replied, and the Dark Elf hurried off.

“Alright, I introduced you to Hao,” Jamie said curtly. “Can I go off to do my own thing now?”

“Can’t you be a little bit patient?” I asked, chuckling. When she leveled a glare at me, I held up my hands. “I guess I should explain my plans to you first, huh?”

“That would be nice,” she replied. “And none of that Acidic Allen shit where you had answers and just didn’t tell me any of them.”

“That is fair,” I conceded. “I have two things I want us to get done today. First, make a connection with Greg Davis. He’s usually here early in the mornings to see what kind of things are going to be presented in the evening.”

“And this guy is… who, exactly?” Jamie asked.

“He’s… Branson adjacent,” I said with a grimace. “He’s a narcissist who does more good for this city than harm, if only because he’s obsessed with gaining power. I’m here to make sure he doesn’t get corrupted by a creature following me around.”

“Because you can see the future,” she said, voice deadpan.

I nodded. “Yeah. Scary, isn’t it?”

It took a moment, but Jamie scowled. However, she didn’t engage with me. I knew she wondered if I had brought her on because of this knowledge of the future, but so long as she was getting paid she wouldn’t question it. It was going to be one of our first conversations once this initial 4 weeks was up, however.

“And you want me here to get this done because, why?” Jamie asked, crossing her arms.

“It’s easier than chasing you into the Pitt, or waiting for you to finish up whatever dungeon you decided to delve into,” I answered, shrugging. “It’ll just be some time here. Plus, it’s good to check out the auction house every few days, anyway. Most of it is, admittedly, junk compared to the stuff we have now, but there will be some gems out there.”

Releasing a breath, Jamie let her hands fall to her hips. “Alright, sure. And what’s the second thing we need to do today?”

“You’re here because I need help from a woman, specifically.”

“I have better things to do than to be your wingman, Franklin,” she said quickly, cutting off the rest of my explanation.

Despite that, I couldn’t help but snort out a laugh. “Wow, Ms. Summers, are you comfortable making jokes with your employer already?” I asked, giving her a sidelong glance. She scoffed, and I pulled out one of the spare Medallions of Uuska from my inventory. I tossed it to her. “The place in the Pitt I’m leading us to will have a particular undead creature. A hag. I need a woman in order to take a class from her corpse.”

Jamie frowned as she looked over the medallion’s skills. “And who are you going to give it to?”

“Our potioneer, preferably,” I said. When she gave me a curious glance, I continued. “Ashley could make potions, sure, but that means that she’s not making equipment. By giving this to the right person, it means Sol Ligatus gets a source of potions from a dedicated source.”

“I’m mostly concerned that there are still people who have made it this long without choosing a class,” she admitted. Regardless, she put the medallion in her inventory.

“Some people are like that. They usually don’t survive, but this one is in no danger for the time being.” Before I could explain myself further, I saw Hao coming our way.

“You have my apologies,” he said, bowing his head. “I had to answer some questions from another, but I managed to slip away to come and help our vaunted guests from Sol Ligatus.”

“It’s no problem, sir. Like I said, take your time,” I replied, glancing towards one of the other entrances. There was a steady trickle of people coming in.

“Your graciousness knows no bounds, Sir Franklin, and is sincerely appreciated,” Hao said, bowing again. “I believe you mentioned wanting to discuss a few things with me?”

“Yes, I’d like to make a list of things that might come through here that you might put aside for me,” I confirmed. “Would you like to get some paper or anything to write them down?”

I asked to be polite, but I knew he would decline. “No, sir, thank you. I have a flawless memory, so I ensure that I will remember it all.”

“Roger that. Then, let me get started,” I said before taking a breath. “The first things are Blank Skill Books and Synthesis Pages, though only if they’re less than a thousand points each. I don’t expect a lot of them, but I know they’ll come through.”

“Of course, sir.”

“I’m also looking for items with the skill In The Palm,” I continued. “Two of them, in fact. It doesn’t matter if they’re on weapons or clothing so long as I have them. I can make room.”

“Two instances of In The Palm,” Hao repeated.

“The rest of these also don’t matter if it comes on equipment or as a skill book, but I’m looking for: Distant Slice, Deep Pool, Spatial Awareness, Hard Body, Cold Resistance, Density Shift, Mental Juggernaut, and anything to do with psychic classes, Warmind in particular but I'm not picky. You got all that?”

The Dark Elf had started frowning, but nodded. “I have, sir.”

“Anything adjacent to those, as well,” I said before putting my arm around his shoulders. He looked a little uncomfortable, but I ignored that for now. “And one last thing to top off the list.”

“What could I do for you, Sir Franklin?” he asked nervously.

“Comfort Plus,” I whispered, looking around conspiratorially. “No price is too high for that one.”

“What’s Comfort Plus?” Jamie asked, arching an eyebrow. “And the rest of them, I guess.”

I let Hao go and gestured towards him. He cleared his throat before speaking. “Comfort Plus is a passive that keeps whatever article of clothing it’s put on clean and comfortable.”

“It also can’t be pulled off of an item with a Blank Skill Book,” I complained sullenly. “It has to be attached to a piece of equipment.”

[[Patron Message]]

You and your Comfort Plus, I swear. I’m tempted to cast a net with other Patrons to get you something. Maybe find you a pair of slightly doomed socks…

Anyway, I thought you’d like to know that Greg Davis and Olivia Hunt are outside and heading your way. They’ll be here shortly.

Sincerely,

Sara

“That would be amazing,” I said, looking up to the sky as I perked right back up.

Hao glanced at the ceiling. “A Patron, sir?”

“Ah, yes. The best one, of course,” I answered confidently before turning to Jamie. “Distant Slice lets you swing a slashing weapon and cut something far away. Deep Pool increases my Mental Points. Spatial Awareness will give me nearly all around vision. Hard Body reduces physical damage by a small amount. Cold Resistance is self explanatory. Density Shift allows me to make things lighter or heavier at a short distance, perfect for Telekinesis. Mental Juggernaut is really rare, but helps pretty much any psychic classes.”

Jamie nodded. “And In The Palm is that thing Kayla can do with her dagger, right?”

“Correct, except I’m planning on using a Synthesis Page to merge two of them together. In The Palms, it’s called. Not very different, it’s really just using both hands, but it’s one of the easiest ways to get constant stat boosts.”

“Understandable, then,” she said before looking at the auctioneer. “The same here, Hao, though I’ll give Franklin first right of refusal since he brought it up.”

“Of course, Lady Summers,” Hao said, lowering his head before looking back at me. “Is there anything else, Sir Franklin?”

“No. Thank you for the fabulous service, Hao. You’re running a wonderful establishment,” I praised.

“Thank you for saying so. If you’ll excuse me, I must be off. This is a very busy time of day.” With another bow, Hao walked off towards a group of newcomers who were coming in.

There were already several people looking through the displays, and I glanced towards the ones closest to us. They were set up like jewelry cases with holograms of items inside. Those were the ones that were going up for sale tonight, and each had a screen next to them that gave their stat blocks to prospective buyers.

As I was looking, I noticed the two people I wanted coming in through the door. “Hey, Jamie,” I said quietly, getting the Weapon Master’s attention. “On a scale of 1 through 10, how much of my bullshit do you think you can put up with today?”

She arched an eyebrow, clearly amused by the question, before shrugging. “Let’s say 4 out of 10.”

“And if I promise to give you directions to the Army Reserve dungeon in the Pitt where you could upgrade one of your firearms?” I asked.

“8 out of 10,” she said firmly.

“Damn well doubles it. Good deal, then.” I gestured towards Greg and Olivia, and Jamie turned to look. “That’s the guy and his secretary. I’d like you to invite them to our VIP room, stick around for a bit and learn a little about the kind of things I’m going to have to contend with. Also, if all goes wrong, punch me in the face afterwards.”

“Is that permission, Franklin?” Jamie asked, arching an eyebrow.

“I mean, hopefully not, but I’ll understand if you do it anyway,” I said before grimacing. “Greg is not a good person, and that’s what I’ll have to appeal to. Pure narcissism. Which means trying to make him see me as equal, a bit of flattery, a lot of offering things while getting little in return. Sorry, but I’ll be going deep.”

“So, a typical Pittsburgh morning, then?”

I snorted out another laugh. “Just go and get them. I’ll meet you upstairs.”

With a curt nod, Jamie left to do as instructed.