Denizens of the Labyrinth

The auction hall was the biggest building Jazmel had seen since he had entered the labyrinth. It was massive the entrance was so large that Jazmel strained his neck looking towards the ceiling. Sadé ushered him forward and smiled at his amazement. Baek led them up to the third floor and an attendant stood at the door waiting for them.

“Welcome seekers. Please have a seat, there are refreshments waiting for you.” He told them and once they were in, he closed the door for them and stood guarding their entrance. The room was larger than previously suspected. A large floor to ceiling window looked out into the auditorium and Jazmel could see hundreds of box office rooms, identical to their own looking over. there was no seating arrangement for public viewing. Only those who were higher in their box office than others.

A beautiful woman strolled onto the stage. She wore a dress that glittered like gems and stars had been sown into her dress and it was backless because she had the greatest pair of wings that Jazmel had ever seen. They were brilliantly white, with a few feathers that were sandy white. They were beautiful and Jazmel could not help but wonder what flying might feel like.

“Welcome and welcome all! This is a special auction from the desert city of Sacretares!” she said and let the room build tension before she continued.

“As you all know, the hundredth floor has been overcome and now we will witness a great shift from all the great seekers who have been hibernating. Thus, we expect the labyrinth to be riddled with adventure. As a means to support all you, we will be putting on some of our finest pieces for you all. We expect remarkable things from you all.” When she said this, her wings fluttered, and she ascended a little off the ground. She clapped her hands.

“So, let’s begin.”

“For the first item we will begin with, a small item.”

As she said this, a brilliant light shone on the platform and when the light disappeared a hovering gem bobbed in the air above the ground.

“Well, they are really showing off, aren’t they.” Baek said.

“A resurrect stone. It will allow the user to survive imminent death.” The auctioneer explained.

“We will start at the bidding of hundred white gold coins.” She said and Jazmel whistled.

The bidding continued and the person who won paid four hundred white gold coins.

Jazmel sighed.

“Can we sell things in this auction?” Jazmel asked and Baek shrugged, he knocked the door and the attendant walked in.

“May we sell things here too?” Baek asked and Jazmel pulled two cold iron ores from his storage ring.

“Yes. Something like that will sell very well. We take ten percent on the commission.” He explained and Jazmel agreed.

“No problem.” Jazmel said and the attendant left.

He returned back to his seat and the bids were still going on. In her hand the auctioneer was holding a big coin, it was the size of her palm with an emerald gem sitting in the centre and yet the Mana pouring from it made Jazmel’s eyes shine also.

“Here we have a dwarven coin of the mountain.” The auctioneer expressed.

“What is that?” Jazmel asked.

“A dwarven coin will be accepted by any dwarven smith as payment, they will build, create, or upgrade any metal artefact. They are extremely hard to come by a dwarf can only give them, and they rarely give them up.” Baek explained.

The bidding went quite quickly, and this went for five hundred gold coins. Katie huffed and they all looked at her.

“Well, that coin could’ve made my chains stronger or something.” Katie described and everyone agreed. Baek smiled and then between his fingers, a coin appeared. Much like the dwarven coin, but the designs on the card were different and a topaz gem sat in the middle. Everyone looked at him and he smiled a little.

“A dwarven friend is a good friend to have.” Baek said and looked ahead to continue the auction, Katie thanked him profusely, but he would not accept payment.

To Jazmel’s surprise it was the cold iron ore that Jazmel had offered. They sold together, for 300 white gold coins and that made Jazmel swell with pride. Now he had enough money for whatever he saw that would help him. The next few auction options were weapons and armour, nobody wanted any, but Baek did tell them that it was better to build their own armour rather than buying one that had been crafted for someone else. Jazmel actually agreed with that and not for the first time, did he realise how helpful the insight from Baek was for these young seekers.

The fang of a tier III dire wolf appeared; Bannerman bought it immediately. It only cost him fifty white gold coins. But he told Jazmel he would use it for his tier tribulation and Jazmel knew how important wolves were to Bannerman and his identity.

An interesting amulet was bought by a stranger that could defend them from a strong attack meant to kill. The amulet would break and that would be their one chance to counter or flee. Jazmel thought it interesting but not enough to bid for it himself. The next item was a coin that made Jazmel’s eyes weep from how much Mana was wafting from it.

“That is an interesting item.” Baek said as the auctioneer announced.

“Here we have a coin for Charon, it will give you passage into death. All you have to do is put it into a gate before you enter, and you will enter death. There you might seek whatever you are looking for.” She explained and the bid began quickly, leaping from two hundred and fifty gold coins.

“Why would anyone want to enter death?” Patton asked Baek.

“Death is just another realm; you might find things there just as you would in life. for one, I know death is the only place where you can find grave iron.” Baek said and then nodded with confirmation when he realised none of them knew what it was.

“Grave Iron is a special ore, quite like cold iron. It can only be found in two places, in either death. Or places where great battles have long taken place. Something about being around that many losses of life changes the ore, makes it stronger. A weapon made from grave or cold iron. Can be considered a tier above.” He explained and at that moment Jazmel knew he would have to find some. Looking back to the bid, the coin had gotten to one hundred and fifty-five white gold coins. He kissed his teeth; he would find some grave iron himself.

The coin finally sold for two hundred white gold coins and then a small intermission was offered while the auction prepared added items for arrangement. Jazmel took this time to send out his origami messages. The first he sent was to Mary.

I have made it to Sacretares, and I have also been given a class and a trait. What do you think about the announcement and where are you?

He sent it off and the origami swan disappeared as it went to find Mary, the next one he sent was for Tango.

I hope you are well; I am at an auction, and I just found out about Grave Iron, do you have any?

This swan spun in his hand before diving through the ground like a raindrop and disappearing.

He thought of Tera Nema and next sent a hawk to her.

What trait did you end up with?

He thought again and then smiled to himself, he formed an origami swan for Circe.

Have you picked your class and trait? Do you also know where I could find some grave iron? The swan glided slowly off his hand and disappeared.

“Should we get some fresh air?” Sadé said once, he was finished sending messages. He nodded and they rose up. The attendant let them out and told them the break would only be fifteen minutes.

Sadé and Jazmel descended the ground and there was an area that was a bar area. Other Seekers and Rankers were there but nobody that Jazmel actually knew.

“Excuse me.” A soft voice said and turning round a tiny girl was trying to gain the attention of Sadé.

“Hello.” Sadé said and the girl greeted her kindly.

“How many tails?” she asked her and Sadé looked a little confused.

“How many tails do you have?” she asked Sadé again and then Jazmel and Sadé both realised she was referring to the kitsune tail.

“Three.” Sadé admitted and the girl smiled at her kindly.

“That is quite a lot for your strength. You need something of the fox for when you go through your next tribulation.” She surmised and Sadé nodded as if she understood.

“Here you go.” She said and smiled as she handed over a dark wooden mask painted with pink designs.

“That is the mask of a kitsune.” She said and Sadé smiled and thanked her profusely.

“Also take this and she handed her a token.” That is a gate coin, when you are ready. Feed it into a gate and it will allow you entry to the Hikari Forest.” The woman said and she made to leave.

“What is the Hikari Forest?” Sadé called after her and the woman stopped for a moment before saying.

“A sisterhood.” And she left. Sadé and Jazmel looked at each other, she hid the mask in a storage ring and then she disappeared back up the stairs to whichever room she had been seated in. For a moment Jazmel noticed that Sadé was looking at something else and wondered if she was checking her status screen.

“I got a new plot!” She told Jazmel, and he nodded. Thinking the introduction to that woman would do that. Jazmel and Sadé ordered drinks and had them sent back to the room, they made their own way back up. Just as the intermission had ended. Sadé quickly told the others what had happened and Baek listened in quietly.

“We will discuss this once we return to the inn.” He said and everyone nodded. This was not the place to discuss this further.

“Thank you for returning from the intermission.” The winged woman said as she floated a little off the ground.

“We will begin quite quickly as there are a large amount of items still to be shown!” she told them and there was glee in her eyes, something that told Jazmel to expect something good.

“While I know you all have plans to buy your own things, it is important that we remember what we are here for. If you have something you want and do not have enough, I will give you the difference. I have saved some change for auctions, even though at my level. It is rare to find what I need, but I will help you all the same. But choose carefully, I will only support you with one item.” Baek told them all and everyone even Jazmel grew very motivated.

Another item came up and it was a long sword made from dwarven metal. It was not really expensive, and Patton purchased it for one hundred and fifty gold. It seemed like people were not interested in weapons or armour.

“Do you reckon she was born with those wings?” Patton asked them all and nobody could answer.

“There are races within the labyrinth where they have wings. You will see all types when you travel the labyrinth. A lot of changes once you pass the tenth floor. the randomising of the gates will open your eyes to much more than you have already seen.” Baek explained.

The next item was something that even made Baek perk up.

“This item was found by a Master who sold it to us. It is from one of the lost gates. We can confirm this but only those who are welcomed can enter it.” The woman said and, in her hand, she held a seed. An acorn that glistened like a gem.

“I hold here, a seed from the gate that leads to Mirete.” Jazmel coughed to hide his surprise, but he was on the edge of his seat. This was a plot of his.

“We will start the bidding at three hundred gold coins.” The bidding began.

Jazmel joined and fought the bidding, drawing the attention of his group.

“I will explain later.” He said and everyone let him be.

“Eight hundred gold coins.” She said. Jazmel bid again.

“Eight fifty.”

“Nine hundred.”

“One white gold coin.”

“Ten.”

“Fifteen.”

“Twenty.” The other person bowed out and Jazmel got the seed for twenty white gold coins. He imagine it would come out of what he made from the selling of the cold iron.

Baek looked at him curiously but did not say anything to him.

“How exciting, we will now move onto monster corpse part of the auction.” She explained.

“This will be where the real money will be spent. Corpses are used for all types of things in the labyrinth. Tier tribulations are the least of it.” Baek told them all.

The first creature to be shown looked like a large cloak that laid in the centre of the glass. The woman tapped the glass cage and the cloak sprung to life, endless abyss existed in the folds of the cloak and as it tried to grab her through the glass, she did not flinch.

“I have not seen one of those in a few years, especially not below the thirtieth floor.” Baek said. Jazmel barely heard him the abject fear he felt from the creature was enough to quell his senses. It had no Mana; it was empty of life and Mana. Jazmel had not seen anything like that before.

“That is a Lethe.” Baek said.

“They are death spectres. They feed off living and are extremely hard to kill.” He explained.

“How would you kill one?” Katie asked.

“With a holy or blessed item or weapon.” Baek admitted.

“Why would anyone want something like that?” Bannerman growled, unnerved just like everyone else.

“Once owned, they can be kept. Not tamed but unleashed.” If you released that in here, it would terrorise most seekers. But if you released this against your enemies…” he left the rest to each of their imaginations. Nobody beside Jazmel wanted it but it did sell for just under five hundred white gold coins. Jazmel shuddered at the idea of what it would become. The next creature was more normal, Jazmel could tell it was strong the Mana coming off of the corpse alone was immense.

“That is a five tailed leopard, some call it a Zheng corpse and from the Mana pooling off of it? I would say it is ranker tier.” Baek said. The bidding began and quickly it got to one hundred white gold coins. Jazmel won out, buying it at one hundred and twenty-five gold coins. He was done, no more items for him. Everyone but Sadé and Katie had gotten something from the auction, but they did not want to buy anything. Baek called for the attendant and Jazmel, Patton and Bannerman handed over their tickets. The attendant bid them wait a moment and he left to gather their things.

“We will head back to the inn and then we will prepare to leave.” Baek told them all and they all nodded. It was better to leave before they got caught up with everyone leaving together.