203

Chapter 203 : Auction (3)

The remainder of the auction continued without as much fanfare. It turns out a Scribe and Succubus were among the most popular adventures in contention. Agni, Katrin and Shula watched from the sidelines as a plethora of adventurer classes they’d never seen or heard of made appearances.

The way the auction worked was rather simple in nature. An adventurer could opt in to have bids placed on them, then interested chapels from the square or on stage could use a points system to bid upon them. The top nine chapels in this case were people who had the most points to spend.

According to Oliver Pagnal, who watched the remainder of the auction along with them --

“The points are calculated from the previous year’s merits. All of the quests and activities that the chapel as a whole participated in last year. Those all lend towards the auction points. It’s also why you two need to stop goofing off so much.” The blonde haired elf said as he leveled his gaze towards Shula. The imp seemed indifferent while Agni’s mouth gaped in protest.

“Hey! I didn’t do anything! She roped me into it.” Agni protested.

“She is your familiar, is she not? Do a better job of controlling her hijinks.” He responded.

“Shorty.” Shula muttered.

“Excuse me?” Oliver said as he stepped forward, grabbing Shula firmly by both cheeks.

“You little rat with wings, how dare you?” He said as he began to stretch her face.

“O-oww. Wait, st-stop.” Shula whined as Oliver’s assault continued.

A couple of minutes later Shula was found hiding behind Agni, cheeks red and a look of annoyance and anger on her face.

“S-stupid elf. Long eared freak.” She said, her face throbbing from his earlier grip.

“Hmm? I thought I heard back talk. Suddenly my hands are aching for action.” Oliver said, a creepy smile spreading across his face. Shula decided to take no chances and receded into Agni’s choker to rest and recover.

“Hmmph.” Oliver said before straightening his demeanor.

“Like I said, do a better job of controlling her.” He then offered before leaning closer towards Agni.

“I have a special technique to share. Use it the next time she steps foot out of line.” He said as he whispered his methods to Agni.

“That sounds...far-fetched but I’ll try it.” Agni responded.

“Would I lie about magic?” Oliver said with a shrug. Agni had to admit this was the first time she’d seen the elf in a somewhat amicable mood. Most of the time he was all business. Perhaps it was the festive mood that made him a bit more light hearted.

Occasionally the crowd would cheer or jeer, depending on the auction. Or more specifically the persons participating in the auction. As expected, because the top nine had more resources to spend, they were able to more easily acquire talent.

However, this year was much different than any of the previous auctions. Never in the history of the auctions had the bidding and acquisition been so one sided.

“The Lightweaver has agreed! Memento Mori gains yet another adventurer to their ranks!” Zura said as she directed the newly acquired Lightweaver towards a waiting area to the rear of the stage.

“This isn’t normal. I wonder what that bastard did to get so many points.” Oliver said, folding his arms. His norm furrowed brow returned as he cast a glance towards the man known as Enzo Gaines.

“Is it really that one-sided?” Katrin asked.

“He’s only got about twenty people by my count. That’s only about one third of the new recruits.” She elaborated.

“Yes, it is that big of a deal. There are about sixty new prospects and nine chapels bidding. On top of that, each of the chapels have a good deal of points. Yet he’s outbidding all of them. That shouldn’t be possible, for a barely established chapel to have acquired so many points.”

Until now Agni had been caught up in the air of the night, the festive feel in the air. She’d allowed her own emotions to fly freely -- for a moment. Now that Oliver mentioned it, she did notice the minute signs of annoyance from the other chapel leaders on the stage.

Clenched cheeks, hands gripping the chair, eyes rolling or general despondence. All of them displayed signs of this. It was more easily noticed in Vivian Lex, who struggled to keep her tails from twitching each time Gaines raised his paddle.

Oliver’s observation was spot on, and even the other doyennes knew as much.

“Is he perhaps cheating?” Katrin asked.

“No. There’s no way that he could cheat persay…” Oliver replied as he receded into his own thoughts.

“The system is built in a way that while you’re a part of any chapel you contribute to them. Every Grimlock slain, everytime you craft or create, each time you gain a merit -- all of it is counted and used to acquire points. These points can be used by the chapel in order to affect its rules and member benefits. So, they are naturally quite valuable. Most chapel leaders would rather use them to add new benefits and you can do quite a deal with them.”

“The problem is that Gaines seems to have so many. He’s spent millions already on his bids so far. For him to have so many points, his chapel must be grinding them out at an astonishing rate. It seems unrealistic and something that can’t be sustained -- but somehow he’s working within the system to accomplish it...”

Oliver paused as if he was considering a few things.

“Well. No system is absolute. Maybe he found a feature in the system that can be abused.” Katrin offered.

“That’s possible, but highly unlikely. Think about it like this, we spent almost a week preparing to enter that red shard. That was just for a one day rescue mission. We crafted items, gear and protections just for that singular purpose. All of those things, including the Grimlock we fought inside the shard contributed to our chapel's point pool. And despite all of that, the effort we put forth wouldn’t even begin to come close to one percent of the points Gaines has used in the past hour.”

Agni had to admit, from that perspective Oliver’s unease made more sense. Yet again more questions than answers surrounding Enzo Gaines.

In the end Gaines managed to obtain thirty six of the fifty nine recruits. Among these recruits were a few one could consider highly valued as well. This was the result despite the efforts of several other doyennes competing for the prospects. Enzo Gaines’ pockets were just that deep.

Vivian looked especially vexxed, Agni could feel a cold energy leaking from the kitsune as she struggled to remain motionless in her seat.

“Well, that’s the result I guess.” Oliver said, offering only a shrug. Oliver made to lead the others away from the stage when something caught his attention. Agni could hear the excited chatter within the crowd fall audibly, a hush befalling almost everyone as several figures walked upon the nearby stage.

“Mr. Gaines. I see you’ve managed to acquire many new members this year.” The woman’s voice carried a cold yet dignified quality. It pierced the silence, despite the fact that she spoke at a normal volume.

“You flatter me. It was simply a matter of my congregation’s hard work.” Gaines stood from his seat as the tall fair skinned woman approached. Her eyes were blue, and bright like the skies. Her skin pale and silky smooth, almost like ivory. Her platinum blonde hair coupled with these features gave the woman an other-worldly appearance, as if she was glowing. From head to toe she was dressed in a most exquisite gown, it looked more like something you would see at a gala than a festival.

She extended her hand, presumably awaiting the proper respects. To this Gaines reached out, bowed deeply and offered a kiss.

“What are the Angellus doing here?” A woman in the crowd whispered. Oliver on the other hand seemed displeased, his demeanor shifting from indifference to chagrin.

“What the hell is this?” He whispered under his breath as he continued to watch the center stage encounter.