"What’s the matter? Is Nightmare Auction House so busy you couldn’t find an opening for your own auction?"
Damn. The sharp-eyed Old Vine had imdiately guessed why Marcus was here. This was going to be awkward.
"Heh..."
Marcus forced out a laugh, already preparing an excuse, but before he could speak, Old Vine clapped him on the shoulder. "No problem. Sa arrangent as before. No auction fee." Then he narrowed his eyes with curiosity. "So, Stone, what are you auctioning this ti? It must be sothing important if you couldn’t wait for your own auction house to clear a slot. Is it sothing good?"
Marcus fell silent.
He hadn’t expected Old Vine to be this generous. Despite Marcus opening a competing auction house, the old man hadn’t hesitated for even a second before agreeing to help. That only made Marcus feel more guilty. Sure, he was one of Old Vine’s biggest clients and regularly brought valuable equipnt and rare items, but at this point, Old Vine’s reputation and resources were already firmly established. Keeping Marcus around was a bonus, not a necessity.
Marcus understood exactly why Old Vine was helping him. It had nothing to do with business. It was because of their friendship.
"Old Vine..."
Marcus scratched his cheek awkwardly and was about to say sothing when Old Vine waved him off. "Stone, young people should have ambition. If you’ve got talent, use it. Don’t waste it. Seeing you start your own business makes happy." He gave Marcus a long look before continuing. "At your age, you should be full of energy. A little confidence, a little competitiveness, that’s normal. But if you’re going to do sothing, do it properly. Results matter." Then he chuckled. "And Stone, I don’t like losers. I have high expectations for your Nightmare Auction House."
Marcus was caught off guard by how sincere the old man sounded.
"Yeah."
He nodded firmly. It had been a very long ti since soone had spoken to him like that. Since his parents had passed away, almost nobody had shown that kind of concern for him, much less offered such straightforward encouragent. For a mont, Marcus didn’t know what to say.
"Old Vine..."
The words had barely left his mouth when Old Vine interrupted him again. "Enough of that. Show the item already. Let’s see what you’ve brought this ti."
"Right."
Marcus gave up trying to express himself and simply took out the Guild Creation Token. "It’s nothing special. Just another Guild Creation Token. If it ends up selling to the tenth guild, it should still fetch a decent price."
"A Guild Creation Token?"
Old Vine’s eyes widened. He took the token and stared at it as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing.
Marcus was confused. Was it really that surprising? Old Vine had already auctioned two Guild Creation Tokens for him before. Shouldn’t he be used to it by now?
After turning the token over several tis, Old Vine finally let out a long breath. "Stone, you’ve sohow gotten your hands on three of Dominion’s ten Guild Creation Tokens. If I hadn’t seen it myself, I wouldn’t believe it. That’s insane."
Only then did Marcus realize what had shocked him. It wasn’t the token itself. It was the fact that Marcus had obtained three of them. When he thought about it, three out of ten really was a ridiculous number. Of course, this particular token wasn’t sothing Marcus had earned personally. The mont he thought of Shadowfall, a grin appeared on his face.
"Old Vine, how much do you think it’ll sell for?"
Marcus looked far more interested in the answer to that question.
"Stone."
Instead of replying, Old Vine studied him for a mont. "Have you really never considered starting your own guild? This is your last chance. Why not build sothing of your own and see how far you can take it?"
"No interest."
Marcus answered without hesitation. Old Vine seed determined to ask him this question every ti the topic ca up. Was founding a guild really that important? Marcus genuinely preferred being on his own. Most of the legendary figures in history had wandered the world independently, relying on their own strength rather than hiding behind an organization. Besides... He glanced at the won standing nearby. None of them had any interest in seeing him beco a guild master either. Not one of them seed excited by the idea of becoming the girl of one of Dominion’s ten great guild leaders. And in Marcus’s view, creating a guild didn’t automatically an achieving greatness anyway. If you were strong enough, people would notice regardless.
"You..."
Old Vine looked at him the way a teacher might look at a brilliant student who refused to apply himself. ’This kid was hopelessly lazy.’ "No interest" was obviously just an excuse. Old Vine grumbled inwardly. If it had been anyone else, he would have stopped wasting his breath long ago, but for so reason he genuinely liked Marcus. There was sothing straightforward about the young man that made it hard to dislike him. ’Was he really planning to drift through life without pursuing anything bigger?’
Then Old Vine glanced at the won around him again. A few of them had revealed their real appearances before, and he still rembered them clearly. Elegant, beautiful, and extraordinary. Even his own granddaughters, Icefall and Firebrand, would not necessarily outshine them. ’Could Marcus actually be hiding his abilities while pretending to be carefree?’ The thought crossed Old Vine’s mind more than once. Yet every ti he looked at the young man, Marcus seed completely genuine.
Old Vine had always considered himself an excellent judge of character, but Marcus was the one person he could never quite figure out. He couldn’t see through him, couldn’t predict him, and couldn’t even guess where he had truly co from.
"Old Vine, how much will it sell for?"
Marcus brought the conversation right back to the only thing he cared about.
Seeing that there was no hope of changing his mind, Old Vine finally surrendered. "This is the last of Dominion’s ten Guild Creation Tokens. Every rcenary group that hasn’t established a guild yet will be competing for it. The demand should be every bit as fierce as it was for the first token." He paused briefly before continuing. "Actually, it may be even worse. Players have accumulated far more wealth than they had back then, so I’d expect the final price to exceed the previous records."
As he spoke, Old Vine threw an arm around Marcus’s shoulders and started leading him inside. "Co on. Let’s discuss the auction properly. I’ve picked up several excellent bottles recently. We’ll have a drink while we work out the details. The auction’s tomorrow, so there’s plenty of ti."
Although Marcus had irritated him again today, Old Vine had to admit that sharing a drink with the kid was surprisingly enjoyable. Maybe it was because Marcus didn’t know his true identity, so there was never any flattery or careful politeness between them. Or maybe he simply enjoyed the young man’s company.
"Sounds good!"
Marcus’s eyes imdiately lit up. If Old Vine called it good wine, then it was guaranteed to be worth drinking. The bottle of premium wine he’d shared with him last ti was still sothing Marcus rembered very clearly.
Reviews
All reviews (0)