Master Of None

The Garnet family elder was sitting on a stool behind the counter, the room the two had just walked in to was the storage area for the items that the elder was appraising before the auction. They could see the woman who had just directed them at the other side of the counter. "You have something a little large do you? I hope it is something that will challenge my appraisal skill." A sly smile spread on his face. He had been waiting for something interesting to come through the door and make the night worth his time.

"I can't say it is as good as the wine we found at the ancient ruins but we happened to cross paths with two tough monsters while in the plains." Walker pulled the bones of the greater ice imp and let them rest on the floor, the nearly complete skeleton immediately got the two older men's attention. 

"So these are the monsters you have been battling out on your journey?" The high priest had never seen a creature like this. "With such a big opponent you all must work harder than I expected, I am impressed." 

"No, if we saw a lot of these it would be pretty tough, this is what is left of a greater ice imp. We had some trouble with it and we can't really use the bones for anything. But we thought they may sell well here since there are lots of other uses for them. Most of the snow imps in the plains are much smaller than this and easier to deal with." The Garnet family elder was already shifting through monocles trying to get an appropriate appraisal. "By the way, today we will be trusting you to sell our items at the proper price so we won't be haggling with you." This made the elder smile even more, if this boy was going to offer such trust and respect he would make sure they got what they were worth.

"These do indeed form a greater ice imp. Looks to be about seventy five years old and has not been through too many tough battles. It's lucky you found it in the plains, normally we only see items from one when they are much older, this one was young and naive." he shook his head knowing that if it had lived for another twenty or so years the value of the bones would have been almost double due to the amount of elemental mana built up within them. "Do you have anything else for me? Maybe something that could make waves in the auction tonight?" 

The high priest had expected this to be the only item but when Walker started to pull out crates that clicked with glass he was thrown in to another wave of curiosity. "I have two hundred vials of pure water from a snow golem. We ran in to one that really liked to fight…" Walker trailed off remembering the near death experience in the plains. "Anyways yes we are looking to sell them all, maybe in batches of fifty since many alchemists will buy a large amount." 

"Yes, fifty is doable, let me take a look to check the purity. I do trust the items you bring but after the last time you were here I have tightened my reins on the flow of products we auction." 

"That sounds very professional, I hope that things have been very fruitful in that endeavor." Walker knew that it was him who had caused this change by calling the now imprisoned representative of the church out on bringing a cursed item to the auction. The high priest did not even flinch at hearing this. He had done his due diligence to remove the culprit and believed that the church was not clear of the responsibility.

"Hmm, clear, very strong, did you take this while still frozen then cap this? It is very pure there has been almost no impurity leaching in to it. It has been a few years since we have had pure water come through our auction house. This is a nice amount and should do well in our potion market. The next auction we have may have a good amount of stronger potions." 

"Yes we bring it to an alchemist that my party member knows and he helped us bottle it all up. We sold some to him directly and he will even be attending today to try and purchase more. I believe that this may bring the waves you are looking for." Walker smiled knowing that the information on this pure water was definitely not kept secret. There was definitely a way that the information got out to other alchemists.

"That would explain why we have had a few alchemists and herbalists that would rarely use their VIP tickets. I have wondered why a few masters have even attended. This will make you all a decent amount of gold. Upgrading your seats to a balcony was the right choice. So it was this elder that had upgraded their seating.

"Thank you very much for that, we are all excited to see what the balcony seating is like." Walker headed out the door he had come in realizing that the high priest was lagging behind. "Anything wrong?" 

"Ah yes I was wondering how these would affect a healing potion. I just may put some bids in on those. I have heard that pure water can take out some poisons using some healing skill, it could be very valuable for the adventures that have braved the swamps and come home injured." The high priest always had thoughts of helping others, this raised Walker's opinions of him greatly.

The two moved onward finding the rest of the party and Alice still waiting for them. "Sorry for the wait we just left the items with the elder, we are ready to head in." The woman moved  a rope to allow them entry. The Main  hall was decorated much like the entry way was, lavish purple and yellow fabric hung from the walls. The appetizers being carried around smelled of strong herbs and looked like they had been taken right from the most detailed paintings. They themselves were pieces of art. The most eye-catching part was that there were suits of armor that were lined up along the walls, amongst other things like weapons and shields as well. These were all auction items put out on display so that the VIP guests could check out what was going to be sold. 

Naturally the last minute items added and the other more unique items for auction were not on display here. Things like materials and monster parts were not the most suitable for display anyways.

The amount of guests was fairly small but they were all well dressed and some had some defining traits. There was a small group all wearing matching pendants with flames carved on them. They looked to be an adventuring party that was very interested in some red themed armor. At the back of the room there were a few familiar faces, Markus Raven was with a few other nobles that Walker could recognize from the castle. He must have been here in the stead of royalty, it was to be expected that they would want to have eyes out for unique items. Having sighted Walker and Onyx he was not the happiest but he knew he could not perfectly avoid them seeing that their fame was rising. 

"Leader I am going to look at those shields over there, maybe I will see some ideas I really like." Su did not even wait to hear what anyone else said, she was already off to study a white shield with green details on it. She was the party defender so not a single one of them could judge her for being so interested. They would all be the same if they saw something they liked. 

"If Su is going off to look at shields I am taking Alice to find some good food, last time it was the best." Alice could not even say a word to protest and Remey took full advantage. The high priest could only laugh as she was dragged away. Walker almost followed them, but he knew that it would be better to let the two have their own fun. 

"Well since it is only us now why don't we make our rounds, there are a few nobles from the castle I should greet. It would look good for you two as well to join me." The high priest was looking at Markus Raven and as much as Walker did not want to test those waters he had no reason to say no. Getting up his own courage he nodded and started to walk over with the high priest.

...

...