When things get too crowded near the auction, Cyrene returns to Cain's waist, getting her tail safely out of range of stomping feet and making King Aggramor and Neffie burst into laughter.
"That is the most adorable thing ever. But smart too, I wouldn't have thought of hiding up there to get out of the crowd." Neffie giggles, petting Cyrene's scales.
"I was born blind and got used to needing someone to guide me places, so now that I can wrap, it's like a trained instinct. Plus, if you're so close, he randomly gives out headpats." Cyrene stage whispers back to the amused young Demon, who returned to the Wrath Demon form that looks so much like Vala once they were away from the restrictions of the underground auction.
When they reach the side door of the auction, they barely have time to flash their pass before they're ushered inside. The same guard as last time is on duty, and he remembers them both from the Dragon incident on the roof.
"Welcome back to the Tortuga Auction, Sirs and Madams. Your room has been prepared for your arrival." The guard informs them once they reach the top of the stairs and the door is closed.
Today there is only one other person there when they arrive, a lone Elf wearing a robe that seems to be made of leaves. She nods politely as they enter but doesn't say anything and returns to her reading, so the group well sits a few seats away to avoid bothering her.
The auctioneer is kind enough to hand both Cain and King Aggramor an itinerary of items for sale with the ones they put up for auction, highlighted to show the order in which they could expect their goods to come up in case they had a problem with the auction's choices.
As expected, a few weapons and two suits of Legendary Armor are among the Darklight Host's offerings, but surprisingly, they've also got enchanted artwork made available. A marble bust that allows the user to see through its eyes and a sitting lion statue that can be activated to become a defensive Golem for a short time.
The artisans must be hard at work; the quality of these items is well beyond anything they could have come up with when Cain first hired them.
The first dozen items pass by without attracting any interest from the high-value sellers, then the first armor set from the Darklight Host Guild comes to bid. It's a suit of armor that decreases the chance of detection by 85 percent and increases ambush damage by 300 percent on the first hit.
It's an item tailor-made for assassins, and Cain wonders if he should look into getting his gear upgraded soon. He's so comfortable in it that he hasn't been looking at new armor lately, just keeping things with attractive bonuses in his inventory.
"The Guild is catching up. It looks like I will have to grind dungeons again soon, or I'll end up outmatched." Cain jokes with Misha as the bidding for the armor reaches nineteen platinum bars.
"You've got something good coming as a skill, too, don't you?" She agrees.
"Two options actually, but both cost twenty skill points. I might have to find a dungeon over level 270 if I want to get there in a hurry."
That has the Elf's attention. "You can complete a dungeon that far beyond your level?"
Cain smiles back at her, hoping she has something good to offer him. "I was once a Puppet Master, and my Summoning Skills are quite competent. Most dungeons that are less than sixty levels above me aren't much of an issue."
"We can talk after the Auction unless you don't mind the Demon King knowing your business." She nods her head towards Aggramor, who smiles.
"He's a good friend of myself and my Guild. It shouldn't be a problem." Cain says with a shrug, noticing that Neffie is feeding the King random items off the tray of snacks to see his response before trying them herself.
"In that case, we need a Flesh Crafter and can offer access to a pair of dungeons, level 275 and 310, in the heart of the Eastern Continent. They're some of the lowest level dungeons in the region, but perfect for your progression, given the advantages of a Puppet Master."
That's interesting; the Elf knows about the hidden leveling advantage of Puppet Masters. That must mean that they have at least one in the region or had one at one point.
"I do also need a way back home to Skyview afterwards, or the option to acquire a Guild House with an intercontinental capable travel circle." He says, and the Elf smiles.
"Not a problem, we have a link directly from there to Tortuga, and you can get to the free Port in Assah from here and from there to wherever home is in the central continent. It's a bit of a journey, but no fear of being stuck."
"Then I will accompany you after the Auction with some of my Companions."
Neffie gives him a pleading look, and Cain laughs. "Do you know what your mother would do to me if I took you on an adventure to an entirely different continent? She was reluctant even to let you go shopping with the Demon King."
"Fine, fine. I'll go bother your chefs in Long Fang City then." She says, sticking out her tongue at Cain.
"I'll send another chef back with you for extra variety and the Fried Ice Cream recipe."
Cain can tell Aggramor is about to become a regular visitor to the Manor house, so he warns Svetlana of the impending visitors and the new arrival. Because if Neffie is coming, Lickity will be coming, and that means a few more tailors and the maids will be coming, so the house is about to get busy all the time.
Cain has put enough Puppets and Commanders in place that Affairs in Skyview can take care of themselves for a little bit while he adventures, so going off to visit this Elf's homeland shouldn't be an issue.
King Aggramor's item has come up, a precious Lava Gem, one of his Kingdom's specialties. He seems barely interested, more concerned with planning a banquet meal with Neffie than the sale. The auction crowd feels differently though, going crazy trying to buy it up and deny their competitors the chance.
Finally, the item Cain was waiting for comes up, a storage chest the size of a Steamer trunk. That's a much larger option than the makeup cases; he could fit half his inventory and only need one slot.
The bidding starts at a platinum bar and rapidly rises to five, then ten, fifteen, seventeen.
"I bid thirty Platinum Bars," Cain tells the attendant, who calls it out for him. That silences the crowd, and the auctioneer starts to call the auction.
"Thirty bars are going once, going twice..."
"Thirty-one bars." A bidder from a VIP box calls.
"Make it Forty Bars." Cain smiles at the attendant, who calls it out, causing a wave of murmurs through the crowd. It's certainly more than the item is worth, but Cain wants that box.
"Sold for Forty Platinum Bars," Vinnie calls out happily, seeing the house's commission on that sale flash through his mind.
"Normally, we would need to verify your ability to pay, but your sold items total more than the purchase price already." The attendant informs him with a smile, happy to see such a large bid come through her station.
The items from the Darklight Host sold very well today, and Cain sends a funding distribution order through the Guild interface once the last of the things they sent for bidding is sold, paying out the Crafters for their works.
It's a cause for celebration in the Guild Chat, as some of the sellers were recently advanced, and four Gold Bars for even the cheapest item they sold is a load of money. Enough that they could retire in luxury to the castle and just leisurely level at the local dungeons.
"Finally, that nightmare is over. Wearing so many clothes is stifling." The Elf, who Cain finally notices is named Paige, sighs.
"You're not taking us to another place like Sylvan Lake, right?" Misha asks, concerned.
"I'm sorry, I don't know where that is. But if it's one of the nudist colonies, then no, we don't go that far. But it's a tropical rainforest, bikinis and sarongs are more common at home than full robes, but the ocean breeze here is cold."
That's a relief to Misha, but if Paige thinks that Tortuga is cold, it must be boiling wherever they're going and likely humid. Fortunately, she has a lot of light clothing already; since Long Fang Valley is pretty warm.
Without warning, Cain makes up a puppet with three new master-level cooking skills he found here in Tortuga, a burly human woman with her gray hair in a bun that he decides should be named Gerty.
"Here, Neffie meet the new chef. Gerty, this is Neffie and King Aggramor, they'll take you back to the Demon Kingdom Capital for now, and you can cook for whoever wants it. I hope you can all get along."
"Of course, dear. I'll get this little slip of a girl all fed upright so she can grow into a big healthy Demon." The kind Puppet declares with motherly authority, and Neffie smiles, hugging the Puppet to see what her skills are.
Soups, curries and pastries mostly, with various vegetarian dishes and spicier versions of the mostly meat and potatoes meals that the dwarves like so much. A pretty good balance, so she gives Cain her very best pleading look.
"Fine, you win Neffie. Gerty, young Neffie here thinks she needs your culinary guidance, so if you could serve as her personal chef for a while and help out with the various Guild Banquets, I would appreciate it."
