The Primal Hunter

Miyamoto sat in a chair with a cane at his side as he waited for the Auction to begin. Reika had gone to organize things while he had taken the opportunity to speak to a certain someone.

“Embracing the gift will likely lead to an immediate reprieval if not outright healing of your current state of weakness, “ the former Monarch of Blood said as he stood beside him, looking out onto the field of flowers. The Sword Saint identified him as he still found his presence surprising.

[Vampire – lvl 135]

He was still bound to the treasure and himself, too, as his level was the same as Miyamoto’s own. If he had regained them, that is. He had ‘gained’ a single level during this time through his Sword Meditation, but he would have to wait till he felt better to truly regain them.

As for becoming a vampire?

“I have no desire to stop being human, and even if I did… as long as ambiguity as to ownership of the Legacy persists, I shall do nothing with it,” Miyamoto answered, shaking his head.

“That ambiguity can even exist is baffling,” the vampire who Miyamoto had learned was called Iskar commented. “The Viper’s Chosen was not a simple foe, and pardon my judgment, but you were no match.”

The old man just smiled as he shook his head. “The change of seasons can bring about many surprises.”

Neither of them spoke more as they just waited for the Auction to begin. The Legacy was currently bound to Miyamoto, but he was fully prepared to share it with Jake. As for handing it over? While the Sword Saint could not say with confidence, he had won…

He knew for a fact he hadn’t lost.

The arrow at the end had scratched the side of his head as he had managed to divert it by cutting the bow while twisting his neck, but he was also fully aware that he was a dead man walking even then. His wounds alone, much less the poison, would have been the death of him. He also knew he had been in a favorable arena… but he did not view that as a factor when determining a victor. He also knew Jake wouldn’t. A battle was a battle, and no matter the outcome, to blame everything on the circumstances surrounding it wasn’t something any fighter with respect for themselves would do.

Closing his eyes, the old man smiled to himself as he knew both of them wanted a rematch sometime in the future… he just hoped he would be able to keep up.

And knew he would do everything in his power to.

”You got any idea how this entire event will function?” Jake asked as he stood in the courtyard and waited for the Auction to begin.

“Through advanced research and pouring in every ounce of manpower the Court can afford, I believe it will be some kind of Auction where one can possibly buy and sell things,” Caleb answered cheekily. “In all seriousness, I believe a certain number of items can be set up for sale per person, and we will then bid on those afterward. Considering it lasts a day, I reckon there will be a lot of things to go through.”

“I guess we’ll find out,” Jake just shrugged as he saw the timer slowly tick down towards zero. None of them said anything as the last ten seconds elapsed, and they both disappeared from Skyggen. His parents and Maja were still inside the house just behind them, the brothers having already said their temporary goodbyes.

--

Jake found himself standing in a massive hallway the next moment, with intricate carvings on the walls and ceiling. Soon after, many more figures appeared around him, all of them wearing similar dark clothes as he felt the faint dark affinity energy all around him.

So, I got teleported with all the folks from Skyggen, he chuckled a bit to himself. His brother Caleb appeared beside him, and to his other side, a man wearing a metal mask popped into existence.

“Oh hey there, been a while,” Jake greeted the still somewhat disorientated KL he hadn’t seen since that Rubik’s cube during the Treasure Hunt.

The guy looked around and saw Jake stand with Caleb as KL answered, bluntly and surprised. “Oh damn, why are you here?”

“Was visiting family; I’m surprised you didn’t know; I wasn’t subtle,” Jake said.

“I’ve been holed up in my workshop preparing ever since returning… but good to see you, man!”

“Likewise,” Jake answered. “I better head off to get to the folks from Haven. Cya Caleb, KL!”

Before he even gave them time to answer, he began using One Step Mile towards the group from Haven. As for how he knew where they were? Sylphie, of course.

Just as he set off, a message appeared in front of him.

System Announcement:

Welcome to the Auction! This event will allow the denizens of Earth to sell and procure items obtained both before and during the Treasure Hunt using Credits.

The first hour will allow all participants to put up a certain number of items for sale based on their performance during the Treasure Hunt. Individuals with trade-related professions may put up additional items and are allowed to put up auction items for others, getting their assigned quota. Only items of rare rarity and above may be put up for auction. Final rewards will be given after the conclusion of the event based on the total value of items sold for all merchants (WARNING: This only pertains to those with trade-related professions).

After the first hour, there will be a brief intermission. Afterward, phase two will begin with all rare rarity items sold. The subsequent phase will include all epic rarity items, phase three, ancient rarity items, and the final phase will include all legendary items and above. Between each phase, an intermission will be held. During intermissions, items can be put up for sale too.

After the final phase, a bonus auction will be held with items extraordinarily rewarded due to the performance of Earth during the Treasure Hunt.

Note: No fighting or violence will be tolerated during the Auction.

Jake read it over, and while no fighting was allowed, teleporting on the ceiling luckily still was as Jake zoomed through several halls as he began to get a lay of the land. The Auction area was a circle of halls with rooms on the outside and a large hall in the middle – what he assumed to be the auction hall.

Currently, the huge gates to the middle area were locked, but Jake could still see the other side with his sphere. The entire place was pretty large, but not exactly massive. He did pass a few groups and factions on the way, including Casper and the undead.

Shortly, he spotted the group from Haven, which he had to admit looked pretty damn poor compared to all the other major factions he had passed. It was just Miranda, Sultan, Sylphie, Arnold, Neil with his party, and a couple of folk Jake didn’t really know.

It wasn’t as if Haven was the only small faction as he passed a lot of small groups with only a handful in them, with even a few singular individuals walking about. In fact, these smaller groups were the vast majority. One must remember that even if the major factions were the most powerful quality-wise, the same couldn’t be said about quantity, where the independent factions dominated.

It turns out that making yourself effectively subservient to some foreign god didn’t mesh that well with Earth’s culture from before the system, thus resulting in many unwilling to join. Who would have thunk?

Jake landed in front of Miranda and the others casually. He hadn’t even summoned his wings but just decided to run on the ceiling because, in his mind, that was a normal thing to do.

“Lord Thayne,” Sultan greeted as the first person. “As we are pressed for time, should we hurry and go through items you wish to put up for sale?”

He quickly exchanged a look with Miranda, getting a nod. Jake agreed, and they quickly moved into one of the many side rooms.

Inside the room was a single large altar of sorts with nothing else around. Jake looked at it and instantly knew it was where one deposited items to be sold. Once they were all inside – all, in this case, being Miranda, Jake, Sylphie, and Sultan - they closed the door after them, which activated an enchantment locking it.

Sultan was there as the merchant, of course, and Jake came to learn that Miranda was there to make sure Jake didn’t put stuff up for sale that would be a lot more helpful for Haven to keep or to at least potentially counter-bid.

As for what he wanted to sell… well, he would just have to go through it one thing at a time. He had a lot of shit he really didn’t need or want, some of it from Vaults and killing Counts, Sylphie’s bounty from the Hunt, and some of it from… well, killing a large group of humans from the independent factions.

Having less than an hour, they got started right away.

Rare items? Fuck that noise; Jake didn’t want any of it besides the things he thought he could use for alchemy. It was only now he truly realized how much shit he had collected during all this time as he tossed out nearly two hundred rare weapons, armor pieces, and other items.

Miranda vetoed some of it to keep for Haven, with Jake not having any complaints. She even promised to pay him for it using funds from Haven once possible, but Jake rejected it as, quite frankly… he didn’t care much for money, especially not what he assumed would only be small sums. A bit weird, considering he worked in finance before.

Moving on to epic-rarity items, it got a bit more tricky as there were some things he actually wanted to keep and even more things Miranda wanted for Haven. It still ended up with Sultan getting around forty epic rarity things to put up for auction. He seemed happy with that.

Now for the ancient rarity things. This is where it began to get real spicy as every single ancient rarity item was incredibly valuable. The first thing to address was the Altars and Coffins, which Jake chose not to address at all quite yet.

He still had to talk to the Sword Saint about things related to those due to their bet. While Jake did believe he had lost and wouldn’t contest the divine item, he still wanted to make sure and confirm with the old man before he made an executive decision. The same was true with the ancient rarity weapon that came from merging all the Count items.

But even then, he still had quite a lot.

Jake began going through them, and soon they came to one of the first ancient rarity items he had gained from the Hunt.

[Nalkar Crown of the Dominant Mind (Ancient)] – A crown created by a powerful crafter from the Nalkar vampire line. The crown is made of an unknown metal and is extremely durable. A processed heart of a powerful Nalkar Vampire is embedded in it, soaking it with magical powers. The Nalkar Heart enhances all mind, illusion, and phantasmal-based magic. Passively grants resistance to all mind-affecting magic while worn. Enchantments: +200 Willpower, +150 Wisdom, +100 Intelligence. Dominant Mind of the Nalkar.Requirements: lvl 130+ in any humanoid race.

Miranda looked at it for a bit before she meekly asked: “I… this may be presumptuous, but-“

Jake looked at the crown and then at Miranda as a lightbulb lit up in his head. “Sure, just take it.”

It gave exactly the stats Miranda needed for her class, boosted mental magic, which she had quite a bit of, and gave her resistance against mental attacks. She also sorely needed to not get screwed over by other city lords or just in-general manipulative assholes. Like Sultan, who looked a bit miffed at seeing her claim it. She had already taken the epic-rarity wand that kinda fits with the crown, and Jake got the impression that mind-altering items were in high demand.

Moving on, he went over some more items, most of which were put up for sale. None of it was anything Jake wanted, and while someone from Haven could probably use them, Jake didn’t really want to just randomly hand them out. Miranda also didn’t want to go overboard and claim anything that didn’t benefit the city directly.

However, it all got a bit complicated when they reached a certain item. Or, more accurately, a set of items.

[Akashic Tome of the Fulgarian Depthcaller (Unique)] – Allows the user to acquire the class Fulgarian Depthcaller if compatible.Requirements: Lvl 99-199 in any class. Compatible user.

[Storage Orb of the Fulgarian Depthcaller (Ancient)] – A storage orb containing items to assist a Fulgarian Depthcaller, including equipment and guidance. This orb is near-indestructible by anyone below A-grade, and any item within will be destroyed if the orb is.Requirements: Fulgarian Depthcaller

It was stuff from the water level Vault, and quite frankly, Jake had borderline forgotten about it, primarily because he really had no idea what to use it for. A part of him also wanted to just forget that entire shitty experience.

“Do you have any other information on it?” Sultan asked as he inspected the tome and orb with extreme interest.

Jake searched his inventory and found the book describing it. He handed it to Sultan, who only placed his hand on it for a moment as his eyes seemed to glow and a greedy smile appeared on his lips. “An A-tier Legacy class...”

He turned to Miranda, who looked conflicted as she spoke. “Jake, this is a very valuable item… are you certain you wanna sell it? I am certain we can find someone from Haven who needs it, if not now, then in the future.”

“You know what?” Jake said after thinking a bit. “Just sell it. I’m not going to hand out expensive classes to people, and besides… do we really care? Do we truly have people who are loyal to Haven and won’t just leave? No, better put it on the market and at least earn some Credits. Shit, I’m not even sure I want people loyal to Haven, and if they want great classes, they can always get them themselves.”

Miranda nodded in acknowledgment. “Very well.”

“Speaking of which, I got one more of them,” Jake said as he fished out another massive tome, this one quite a bit older than the Treasure Hunt.

[Akashic Tome of the Lucenti Mage (Unique)] – Allows the user to acquire the class Lucenti Mage if compatible.Requirements: Lvl 24-99 in any class. Compatible user.

Sultan looked at the book in shock when he summoned it as he muttered. “How in the hell did you get two?”

“I kill a lot of things,” Jake just answered. “Anyway, how about this one?”

“Hm…” Sultan said as he looked at it. “I do not have a compatible appraisal skill, so I cannot tell you the tier of it, and without that… It’s risky. If it’s only a D-tier Legacy item – the lowest tier – it’s not worth much at all, while if it’s S-tier or above S-tier? Then I would be hesitant to even sell it.”

“What do those tiers even mean?” Jake asked, genuinely confused.

“An S-tier Legacy will have a defined path all the way from the current grade you get it and to S-tier, making every evolution far simpler, and often you have well-defined methods to progress and improve. Meanwhile, a D-tier Legacy will only allow you one well-defined evolution. The higher a tier, the better the class or profession will also be during each step, and the most powerful ones even have many variants per level, with the most powerful having near-infinite. The most numerous evolutionary Legacy-system is the ones created by the Holy Church, and they often hand out many tomes to those they judge worth it. Worth it and compatible. Anyway… as said, selling this tome will be risky,” Sultan just shook his head.

“If I may,” Miranda said. “While it may be a risk… Lillian has quite a high affinity for light magic and likely even this Lucenti magic… so we may consider allowing her to use it? She is already a caster, and her current class is not exactly powerful.”

Jake considered a bit as he asked. “Does she even want to progress her class and fight?”

From his knowledge, she seemed to only do administrative and city-related work every day, and he couldn’t even remember ever seeing her fight. Heck, back during the whole Minotaur Mindchief debacle, she hadn’t even gotten on the wall and fired any spells.

“That is something we should talk to her about if we wish to offer it,” Miranda recognized with a nod.

“So, let us shelf it for now,” Sultan came in. “I must remind you, we are pressed for time, so please, let us move on swiftly.”

So pushy,Jake thought jokingly as they moved on, and soon they finished going through all the ancient-rarity items and moved on to the most interesting part:

Legendaries.