Chapitre 53: 052 Magicks Finally Appears
The once noisy auction house turned quiet once the lights in the main hall dimmed down low. Something magical happened on stage.
Once the lights were nice and dim a thick layer of mist formed around the stage. Streaks of lightning flashed and lit up the mist. Flash, flash, flash… After a few rounds of lightning a silhouette of a person started to appear along with the flashes of light.
The lightning happened more and more frequently allowing the figure to be seen more often. The silhouette was of a woman; her outline highlighted her curves. With each flash of lightning across the surface of the mist her body changed positions, she was dancing.
The heart rate of all the men in attendance increased while the jealousy of the women also increased. Initially the men were quiet since they were caught in awe but it quickly became noisy again.
Mercury saw the reactions of the men below; she had to give it to James. Having Charlotte lead the auction was a good move, the top guilds wouldn't be able to control the auction this way.
She was worried though. If the men below were getting excited, what about James? She was originally just sitting on his lap with space between her back and his chest. She wanted to see if James's heart rate was fast while watching the show. She knew that if she looked up to his face that he would notice. It was possible that he could hide his excitement that way.
She leaned back and held her breath.
* Thump, Thump, Thump *
She allowed herself to catch her breath. His heart rate was the same as all the other times that she had felt it.
James felt Mercury lean back into his chest and looked down at her. He was worried that something was wrong, "Is everything okay?"
She looked up to return his gaze and with a smile she replied, "Nothing could be better."
James was glad that everything was okay. "Are you enjoying yourself so far?"
"Of course, I have the best seat in the house." she said while winking. She also grabbed one of James's arms, which was previously on an armrest, and wrapped it around herself making James hold her. "See?"
Her smile became more beautiful when she felt the changes in James's body. His eyes never left her even when the show ended on the stage.
Whistles, cat calls, praising, and applause were vaguely audible in the background. While everyone else in the room heard it in full, the two of them had once again entered their own world. She felt James's heart beat harder and faster when she teased him. She enjoyed the feeling and so did he.
Everyone else in the room was also enjoying the show below on the stage and had not paid any attention to what was going on in the room. Talon, Totem, and Karma were all too occupied with the mature beauty on the front stage. Destiny was taking mental notes on Charlotte's dancing and seduction techniques. [I may be young now but I will grow up in the future!] She thought to herself while looking down at her own chest…
They all turned to praise James for his plan so far when they all stopped in their tracks. When James and Mercury came into their vision, the two were less than an inch apart and still getting closer by the moment.
Some time between the start of Charlotte's show and the end James and Mercury truly lost themselves. Mercury was completely leaning her back against James's chest with one of her arms reaching up to the back of James's neck. Her hand was gently holding herself in place at the base of his neck, she was using it so that she had leverage to lift herself ever-so-slightly upwards. There was a small arch in her back as she tried to stretch upwards towards James's face. Who had in return, lowered his head as she was lifting hers.
Both of their eyes were closed and their hearts were racing. They had forgotten where they were and what was going on around them.
* Bang *
The suite's door was flung open. "Sir! We found the moles! They are…." Ryan's voice trailed off.
Both James and Mercury's eyes slowly opened and stared into each other's eyes. They were less than half an inch away from each other. They didn't panic. They didn't rush to split apart or to create space. James only lifted his head to turn and look at Ryan. Mercury was still in the same position but had an extremely annoyed and angry look. It took her a second to turn and look at Ryan.
With both James and Mercury looking at him, Ryan was having a melt down. James's look was a look of 'what the hell do you want' while Mercury's was a look of death. It was like she was the Grim Reaper looking at a pathetic soul who needed reaping. Her old temperament showed at last.
Mercury was slowly getting up but was stopped when James grabbed her waist and had her sit back down on his lap. This time she was sitting sideways with one of her sides leaning against his chest.
She was about to voice her complaints to James until she saw the look in his eyes. His annoyance and anger was not at the surface but buried deep; he was good at hiding his true feelings from others. The other didn't see his displeasure, to them he was calm as a cucumber.
Everyone was curious to what James or Mercury would do. That was the most intimate position they had been in to date and it was ruined by Ryan. James might let it pass but Mercury? Everyone could tell that she was about to erupt.
James, while under everyone's observation, acted like nothing awkward happened. He didn't try to brush it off or make excuses. He even made Mercury sit back down on his lap.
"What did you find out?" asked James.
Everyone felt their hearts waver for a few seconds, James's tone was one of absolute command. He was not asking for an answer but subtly demanding one.
Ryan tripped over his words, "W.. We… fou.. Found.."
"Calm Down" Mercury said frigidly .
Ryan felt a pressure descend on him. He looked at Mercury, then to James, and finally back to Mercury. He knew if he didn't compose himself soon that James would let Mercury act.
Ryan took a deep breath, "We found the moles. There are 5 in different guild rooms and 4 on the floor. The 4 moles on the floor are positioned in very optimal positions; one in each quadrant. The 5 in the guild rooms are also well planned, 3 are with other merchant guilds, 1 is with a gathering guild, and the last one is with a middle tier guild who had purchased quite a bit of gold."
James listened and started to think. He started drumming his fingers as he sank into thought; which caught Mercury off guard. When he grabbed onto her to force her to sit back down, James had grabbed her waist. After she was sitting down James had left one hand around her waist and the second was resting on her thigh, just above the knee. She was now feeling the rhythmic pattern of his drumming on her thigh which made her heart rate increase as the drumming did.
"Good… Very good." James said with a smile.
Mercury's attention went from the drumming sensation on her thigh back to James's voice. "You have a plan, then?"
James only smiled and turned to Ryan. "Have the auction go as planned. Find someone who has the same general height and body shape as me. Have them come up to the room. Quickly, I am guessing we only have a few minutes to prepare."
Ryan started to frantically nod his head in response and went to run to the door. James stopped him before he got too far. Well… It was actually Mercury, whom James told to catch him before he got too far.
Ryan felt a cold sensation wrap around the front of his neck. He was too scared to look down and see exactly what it was. All he knew was that Mercury had appeared in front of him somehow and she had her weapon drawn across his neck.
He slowly turned around, "Sir?"
"I almost forgot, whoever you bring…" James paused for dramatic effect, "... will cease to exist from that moment on, got it?"
Ryan weakly nodded his head. Mercury lowered her axe and turned back into a polearm. Ryan watched her skip past him back to James.
Ryan left and the door was finally closed again. Mercury once again took her position sitting on James's lap and the two turned towards the stage to watch the events play out.
** Chat Group: Talon, Totem, Karma, Destiny **
[- Talon: Damn so close! -]
[- Totem: Close to what? -]
[- Talon: Don't worry about it -] .. Talon was depressed, they were so close. They could have finally got past the little game that they are playing…
[- Karma: Are we not going to talk about what just happened? -]
[- Talon: You mean between Reaper and James or those two and Ryan? -]
[- Destiny: Both? -]
[- Destiny: Blaise looked really scary at the end. -]
[- Talon: It is probably best not to talk about the first event. As for Blaise's plan, we should just sit and wait. It will be more fun that way. -]
[- Totem: You're a weird dude. She is right, Blaise was indeed terrifying. Not only is he strong but he controls the Reaper somehow… I don't understand their dynamic.. -]
[- Talon: Haha, it is best you don't try too hard to understand those two. Just know they are our friends and teammates. James always looks out for us after all. -]
The group talked for a while more while the auction started down below.
** On Stage **
After her dance was done, Charlotte used her magic to clear away the mist. Just as the mist cleared 5 stage lights merged onto her position revealing her beauty.
He was wearing a gorgeous stage dress. Instead of a ponytail, she had her hair in a French twist with two curly tendrils of hair hanging down on either side to frame her face well. Her makeup highlighted her already natural beauty. Her dress looked very rich; it was a full length dress with a split on one side to expose one of her sexy long legs. She still wore her signature red heels.
"Greetings ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to Blue Moon's first auction! We appreciate you all coming out to witness a historic event!" Charlotte finished her grand entrance.
Charlotte took out the first item that was up for auction. She placed it on the center podium for all to view. Once it was placed down a large monitor was activated; it displayed the item for everyone to see up close. Both inside and outside had these large monitors so that everyone was able to see the items that were up for auction.
One the item appeared on the monitor a description of it also appeared. It left no room for confusion or lies.
"First up for auction is an item provided by a group of your fellow adventurers!" she exclaimed to hype everyone up. "This is a Honeycomb of a Pygmy Honey Bee!"
She pointed up to the monitor above the stage and continued, "As you can see, it is a rare alchemy ingredient used for medium to high end potions! There is also a small chance to find a Queen Pygmy Larva! If you are fortunate enough to find one, you can make your own hive and have an endless supply of honey!"
It was an Alchemist's wet dream. There were apiaries in the city who could provide both a higher chance at getting a Larva but also allow a player to make their own hive using it. Honey was a very important ingredient for any position with healing properties. It was nearly a must have item!
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Name: Honeycomb of a Pygmy Honey Bee
Grade: Rare (Unique)
Function: Harvest to obtain x20 Pygmy Honey and a chance to find a Queen Pygmy Larva.
[Blue Moon Auctions]
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Players were ready to bid, sources for higher tried healing potions scarce. Any chance at getting a renewable resource would produce a huge advantage over others.
"The starting bid is 50 silver coins!" Charlotte said with excitement.
"50 silver!"
"55 silver!"
"1 gold! We at Alchemist United will be taking this item!"
"1 gold 20 silvers!" People gave no face to any guild or organization, they wanted it for themselves.
"1 gold 50 silvers!"
* Knock knock knock *
Ryan decided it would be best to knock before entering this time. James told him to enter.
When he did, Ryan saw that Mercury was once again sitting on James's lap but in a much less intimate fashion. "I found someone, here they are."
Ryan pushed the young man in and dashed off, he didn't want any part whatever was going to happen. The person he found was actually his left-hand man in his division. He had the same height, weight, and body shape that James had. He was also in a magic based class.
James looked over the young man and was satisfied with Ryan's pick. "Welcome to the group."
Just as the man was about to ask what was going on the auction house went silent.
"5 gold coins!" a man called out. It was from a guild's private room. It was also the guild that had a member from Harbingers of Death; the guild who bought up some gold.
The guild had out bid Author's guild by a whole gold coin. Author was annoyed, they had someone who had a 100% guarantee to loot a Larva from the Honeycomb. Author wanted that item, even if he had to forfeit the potential to buy the upcoming runes. He never thought an item like this would be found let alone sold.
" 5 gold 20 silver," Author yelled.
"6 gold!" The Harbinger member replied.
Author didn't believe that the man had the money to spend. "6 gold 50 silver!"
"8 gold!" Mule once again upped the bid.
"Sir, I don't believe you have the money! Even us, Above the Heavens, had a hard time buying that kind of gold!" Author called Mule out.
"You can't prove anything! You can either out bid me or get lost!" Mule wanted to provoke more from Author. He was to start problems with the guilds in order to interrupt the auction.
A deep voice rang out from the master suite.
"False claims of capital will not be tolerated here at Blue Moon Auction House! At this moment in time any bids over 3 gold will be verified by our staff!" a man in a mysterious master called out.
Everyone in the building turned to look at the master suite. The privacy screen was now deactivated. The Mysterious man, James, Mercury, Talon, Totem, and the twins were now in complete view of the entire venue.
"Our young master, Magicks, has spoken! Our staff members will now verify all bids over 3 gold coins!" Charlotte announced.
Everyone one had the same thought, "Magicks?!?!"
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone