"Sir, the seller has agreed to your terms, and is willing to meet you here in person, but only inside the auction house where we can guarantee their security." The assistant informs Cain.
"That's more than fine, I trust the Auction House to prevent any scams or attacks." Cain agrees, and the seller gestures to the door.
"We won't be long, I should be done by the time all the items are delivered and the rest of you are ready to go, but I'll send a message if I'm going to be delayed and you can go see the city together while I work."
Cain follows the assistant down the dark corridor, with the plush purple carpet and dark stone walls towards a staircase that seems to wind down even further below the auction house. The security seems a bit much, but some of the items here were exceptionally rare, and could be targets for theft, so it does make sense that they've got an even more secure area to fall back to in case of an incident.
The room they lead him to looks identical to the appraisal room that he was in last time he was at the auction, understated opulence, with golden decorations and soft brown leather furniture to relax in while they wait.
The seller is already there though, a pompous looking Obsession Demon with a suit made of what looks like beastkin faces. If it weren't for the fact that this is an Auction, and Cain wanted what the demon is selling, he would not normally do this guy any favors, unless his appearance is vastly different than his personality.
The face coat makes that seem pretty unlikely.
Cain calls a Legendary Obsession Demon into Merger now that he can use abilities again, and takes a seat across from the Demon. "I take it you wish for an Infernal Arbiter Class with a specialty in the Obsession God, but failed to obtain the requisite blessing on your own to make the advancement?"
The Demon nods unhappily. "The Dark Gods spurned my devotion, but with this, I will claim the respect that is rightfully mine."
The Demon in Cain's mind laughs at the man's declaration. [No, he's just a douchebag and nobody wanted to admit that they'd favored him.]
[I want what he's selling though, can we mess with him a little bit and still get him the class?]
[I don't see why not. Give him a nice obsession, like licking toilet bowls or something.]
Cain inwardly laughs at the thought that licking toilet bowls might be an obsession and ability worthy of a blessing by the obsession God, and starts sorting through the options in his mind for embarrassing blessings.
"I have asked a Legendary Obsession Demon for a bit of assistance, they said that I just need to tweak your Obsession Ability a little, and it should unlock the class right away. The favor of the gods is fickle as you know, but some things are guaranteed to attract their favor."
The demon nods impatiently as Cain searches, then the Demon gives him a great idea. The Dark Queen has a personal bootlicker. As in a demon assigned to lick her boots clean should they get dirty. Cain can feel a malevolent amusement fill the room at that idea, and the Legendary Demon even knows the creature's name, so Cain calls a clone of it into his Merger and checks the skills.
"There it is, I have found the ability that will please the Obsession God. I will warn you, that accepting a new obsession might affect your appearance, but it will grant you the class you want." Cain informs the seller who gets an unpleasant smile on his face.
"Yes, quickly now, before they notice and change their mind."
Cain focuses and grants the Demon the Obsession Ability [Absolute Cleanliness]. Nothing about the demon seems to change, but he gets an odd look on his face, and then closes his eyes to concentrate on the interface.
"Yes, it is here, the Infernal Arbiter. I have finally gained the peak of the Dark Gods favor. Auctioneer, you may pass him the Soul Stone at any point now."
Cain nods to the distracted Demon and takes his prize back to the auction room.
[That didn't seem like much of a punishment, I thought you wanted to mess with him?] Cain asks the Demon.
[Oh, it really is, he just doesn't realize it yet. His previous obsession left his home in filth and disarray, first he will clean away every sign of his former life, then he will clean his entire filthy neighborhood, eliminating all his former friends for continuing to live in squalor and bloodshed.
Then when everything around him is spotless and pristine, he will become bored and go looking for more filth to remove from existence, until eventually someone sent by the Goddess will grant him the joy of cleaning up after them forever. If he's lucky it will be as a noble butler, at worst he might spend his life doing laundry for a pig farmer.]
[Subtle, but effective. I underestimated the true depth of the Obsession God.] Cain informs the demon, then releases his Mergers as they reach the room where the others should be waiting for him.
"Everything is taken care of and the seller is overjoyed with their new class. The Obsession God granted them a boon right away, and they advanced their class as I was leaving, now what do we have in store before the main auction? A bit of lunch and a look through the market stalls?" Cain greets the room as he enters.
King Aggramor is hiding tears of laughter already and the others are giggling, so he must have been watching in on and narrating the proceedings, using one of his abilities as the Demon King.
"I want Cotton Candy and Misha says you need a big storage chest to reduce inventory usage, so let's go looking." Neffie cheers.
"I'm afraid you won't find a large chest like the makeup bags anywhere in the city, the material required to make even a small one is Legendary, but there is a larger one in this evening's auction. I believe it holds five cubic meters." The assistant informs them.
That's not bad at all, it would hold an entire wardrobe for the ladies in a single inventory slot. But maybe they can get a few more smaller bags as well, since Cain is certain he will end up with even more items to carry in the future.
