Several more Runes went up for sale and consequently were purchased, ranging from a few thousand gold to well over three hundred thousand. Noah tried to keep his eyes from boggling at the amounts of money that the nobles were throwing around, but it wasn’t easy.

And to think Arbitage was paying me ten goddamn gold a month. God, they were scamming my ass.

Noah nudged Moxie. “Any of the Runes catching your eye?”

She shook her head. “It’s not a good idea to take on a ton of new Runes at once, and I just completely redid my Runes. I’m perfectly fine as I am. Besides, I think you and Lee need them more.”

“The ones that we just got should be enough for me,” Lee said. She looked out to Rin, then cleared her throat. “Do… I get the Master Rune?”

“Sure. I don’t need it, and it seems like it should fit you pretty well anyway,” Noah said. “In that case, I think I’ll focus the rest of my purchases on me. I still need some more Ice and Fire Runes. Maybe a Vibration one as well, although the Stormprince’s Rune that I bought probably has that.”

He didn’t have to wait long. Neither Ice nor Fire Runes were particularly uncommon and Noah had already established that he wanted a Fire related Rune when he’d bid on the nearly perfect Inferno Rune that had gone up near the start of the auction.

After a few more other Runes were sold, an above-average Scorching Flame Rune came up for sale at Rank 3. It started at five thousand gold and quickly made its way up to ten before Noah jumped the bidding price by ten thousand, up to twenty thousand. One more person gave an attempt at buying it by pushing it up to twenty-one, but Noah immediately countered with a bid of twenty-five thousand.

Nobody tried bidding against him any further – the Rune just wasn’t worth the risk, and so he won it without any further trouble. Noah was pretty sure he’d slightly overpaid for the Rune, but it fit his purposes perfectly and he didn’t want to hunt around for Fire Runes any longer.

After several more uninteresting sales, Noah’s attention was once again piqued by a Rune called Towering Frozen Glacier. It was a Rank 4 Rune sitting at almost forty percent full upon creation, which put it ever so slightly on the upper end of average.

That didn’t stop people from bidding on it, though. Evidently, even a middling Rank 4 Rune was of some use to weaker families. The price, which had started at twenty thousand, quickly rose up to thirty.

“Forty thousand,” Noah called.

An instant passed, but people weren’t as willing to let go of this Rune as a clearly sub-standard one. Before long, a woman matched his bid.

“Forty-one thousand.”

“Forty-five thousand.”

This time, the pause was longer. It was the third time that Noah had basically brute forced his way into a purchase. Even though the previous Runes hadn’t been all that expensive, the way he approached them was identical each time.

“Fifty thousand,” the woman called, a slight trace of hesitation in her voice.

Noah glanced at Moxie.

“Do you mind if I–”

“Go ahead.”

“Fifty-five thousand,” Noah countered, deeply hoping his bidding opponent wouldn’t try to push the price any higher. He still had forty thousand gold left over from what Number 14 had given him. With the addition of his own money and the money that they’d gotten from selling the horn, that put him at just under sixty thousand. If they went any higher, he’d have to start digging into Lee and Moxie’s pockets to avoid getting outbidden.

Mercifully, nobody called out again. Noah breathed a sigh of relief as Rin clapped his hands together to signal the item had been sold. “The Towering Frozen Glacier Rune goes to Number 17!”

“There goes our money,” Lee said sadly. “It was nice being rich.”

“You still have ten thousand gold,” Noah pointed out. “Don’t let these stuffy pricks screw your scale of money up. It’s not normal to spend this much at once – but at the same time, what’s the point of having money if we don’t use it? With this, I should be able to reach Rank 4 without any more delays.”

“Me too,” Lee said, her posture straightening back up as she remembered the Runes they’d just bought for her. “It’s going to be cool. I can’t wait to get a domain. What do you think it’ll be?”

“Probably an all-devouring void,” Noah said, only half-joking. “You know, I haven’t actually seen much in the form of a domain from anyone we’ve fought or spent time with. Can you actually see domains?”

“Not until you’re Rank 4,” Moxie said. “There isn’t enough Runic energy inside your body to comprehend them yet, but not every Rank 4 has enough of a domain to actually see.”

“I thought you always get it at Rank 4?”

“You do,” Moxie said. “But that’s where the quality of your Runes starts to really come into play. If they’re shitty or weak, your domain might be so pathetic that it’s almost unnoticeable. It might even be weak enough to get overpowered by lower Rank opponents, although you’d have to have terrible Runes for that. On the other side, if your Runes are incredibly powerful, you can manifest an easily visible domain with much less work.”A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“So if I see someone strolling around with a bunch of magic floating around them, I should assume they’re strong.”

“Astute observation,” Moxie said dryly. “I’ve heard you get more sensitive to Runic pressure when you hit Rank 4 as well, though I don’t have any experience to confirm or deny that. But take Magus Allen for example – his Runes were pretty weak. He’s still a Rank 4, but he barely even had a domain. That’s why he was struggling fighting monsters weaker than him, and why he’s teaching here instead of doing something that pays better.”

“You make it sound like people don’t want to be teachers.”

Moxie shrugged. “I’m not sure I’d say that. There’s a lot of money to be made in researching Runes or mentoring the kids of wealthy families. Allen just didn’t really have the liberty to choose, so he got stuck with Edward. I don’t think he hates it. It lets him be snobby without actually having the power to back it up.”

Noah chuckled. It had been a long time since he’d given any thought to Edward or Allen. The last time he’d seen them was when they’d first arrived at the Linwick Estate together with Brayden.

I guess we’ll probably end up running into each other at some point during an exam. That’ll be fun. I can’t wait to see Isabel and Todd completely show up Edward. Spoiled little shit.

“You’re thinking unsportsmanlike thoughts,” Moxie said.

“How’d you know? I’ve got a mask on.”

“I can tell. Also, you just confirmed it.”

Noah rolled his eyes. Even though Moxie couldn’t see what he was doing behind his mask, it was the thought that counted. “Whatever. I just want to reach Rank 4. I’m locking myself in my room after this is done, and I’m not leaving until I’m done.”

“You gave your room to Karina and Contessa.”

The two women in question suddenly found the Rank 4 Rune that Rin was currently selling incredibly fascinating.

“Oh. Right,” Noah said. “I guess I’m locking myself in your room.”

Before Moxie could reply, a deep hum filled the amphitheater. The lights flashed, drawing everyone’s attention back to Rin, who held his hands up in a grandiose movement. An image of a massive purple Rune appeared in the air far above him.

“My dear attendees!” Rin called, his voice magically enhanced to be even louder than it had been before. “We’ve gotten to the final Rune of the night! And yes – I told you that there wasn’t an order, but I’m afraid I lied just a little bit. I may have been saving the best for last. What you see before you is one of the most interesting Runes that we’ve had for sale in recent months. I am pleased to present Violet Transference, a Rank 6 Rune. It was twelve percent full upon combination. Bidding will start at five hundred thousand gold. If this beauty catches your eye – well, I’d wish you luck, but luck won’t help you. May the richest one of us win.”

“One million.”

Every single eye in the room turned to Number 14’s platform. He’d spoken up himself for the first time that auction, and he certainly hadn’t been lying about his desire to get the Rune. Noah tried to comprehend just how much money had just been put down on the table, but he wasn’t given much time to process it.

“One million and two hundred thousand,” a man from another platform called.

“One million and three hundred thousand!”

“Holy shit,” Noah muttered. “Was everyone just holding back for this thing?”

“It’s a nearly perfect Rank 6 Rune. That’s incredible,” Contessa breathed, leaning so far over the edge of their platform that Noah was almost worried she’d fall off. “I can’t believe someone’s actually selling it. It could completely change the fate of a family.”

“Two million,” Number 14 thundered, his words carving through the din like a sword. Noah’s throat dried. He swallowed, his spine prickling. The leather patch that the noble had given him suddenly felt incredibly heavy in his pocket.

Who the hell did I do business with?

A woman started to speak up.

“Three million.” Number 14’s voice was like a massive wall rising up over all of them, not allowing even the slightest thought of passage beyond it. He was using the same strategy Noah had, but on such an incredible level that it felt impossible to comprehend.

“Do you think he wants a wife?” Karina whispered.

“Keep dreaming,” Contessa muttered back.

Rin’s fingers twitched on the stage, and Noah suppressed a laugh. He wasn’t sure if Rin was more pleased that the Rune was going to sell for that much, or if he was pissed that Number 14 was cutting off the bidding before it could get any higher.

Silence ruled the amphitheater.

“Is nobody else going to bid?” Rin called. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, my dear attendees. You may never get another opportunity to acquire a Rune as incredible as this.”

“Three million and–”

“Four million.” Number 14 didn’t hesitate in the slightest. It felt like he was just playing with someone else’s money instead of using his own.

At least hear out what they’re saying! You’ve made your point already. Aren’t you just wasting money now?

Wasteful or not, it worked. Nobody spoke up again. Rin cleared his throat, clearly stalling for as long as possible. When it became abundantly clear that absolutely nobody was able to compete with Number 14, he clapped his hands.

“Sold! Congratulations to Number 14!”

The lights flashed, then dimmed slightly as the Rune floating above Rin disappeared.

“Right now! We’ll be moving on to the next and final stage of today’s auction,” Rin said. “I’ve always found this one to be the most interesting. It’s time for the information sale! Need a question answered? For the right price, we’ll handle it for you. Just let your attendant know. In the meantime, we’ll be putting up the verified information that you’ve all sent us for auction. To open with, I’ve got the location of an area that has a high population of Rank 4 monsters that have a tendency toward Wind based Runes. The bidding price will start at five thousand gold.”

Noah sat down in his chair as bids started to echo across the dark room, still slightly numb from the amount of money that Number 14 had been slinging around.

“He’s got to be from one of the large families,” Moxie said, her tone thoughtful. “That could be really useful.”

“Or dangerous,” Noah said. “But you’re right. It’ll be interesting to find out who he really is. He’s evidently strong enough that he can share it without worrying about us finding out.”

“Interesting indeed,” Moxie muttered, looking out to the platform where Number 14 stood. “You think we could maybe try to use him to do something about Jalen?”

“It’s a possibility. We’ll find out soon enough, I guess.”

“So we will,” Moxie agreed.

“Do you think anyone is selling information on where the best food is in Arbitage?” Lee asked. “I’m hungry.”