56 055 So, It Begins 

Cain was livid, "Bullshit! How can an NPC bid in a player auction!" Even though Cain was destined to lose the item he was still upset that an NPC would prevent the person in the VIP room from spending all their money!

"Everyone's money is good here! Whether they are a native or an adventurer they can buy and sell at our establishment!" Charlotte explained with great disdain.

"Outrageous! How dare an NPC berate me! Is this how Blue Moon does its business!" Cain knew he was going to lose any bidding wars for this auction so he started causing problems in other ways.

"Got him," exclaimed James. He looked at Dregg, singling him to put an end to the Harbingers.

The privacy screen once again dropped and Dregg spoke out, "Here, at Blue Moon, we treat all people equally as long as they have the money or items to justify it. Every player here has bought or sold to an NPC in the past and will do so in the future! Previously they were unable to use the preexisting market but now they have access to this privately owned Auction House. Any attempt to belittle them will result in immediate expulsion from the premises and will be barred from future entry!"

"You have no clue who you are messing with! Crossing me will be the worst decision you ever make! I don't care if you are with players who are on top of the leaderboards, one day your members of Blue Moon will leave the city! It is a dangerous place!" Cain spat out a threat without even attempting to hide it.

"Humph, members of Harbingers of Death sure are haughty!" said Dregg, disdainfully.

All the top guilds perked up, Alexander and Tempest were already in the know but were surprised that they would leak the identity of someone.

Cain took the opportunity to smear Blue Moon's name in the mud, "What a conflict of interest! These rooms are to hide the identity of your clients, you dare reveal our identity?!"

Dregg chuckled and continued with heavy disdain, "As a group with intentions to interrupt, and otherwise ruin, our first Auction you have no right to keep your privacy. This is to make an example out of troublemakers. You think that I, and Blue Moon, would take anything lying down? I think not!"

After Dreg stopped talking the privacy screen was disabled in Cain's room. "Everyone, look at these troublemakers; they are Void and Horizon from Harbingers of Death. They reside at the heart of the Underworld, those who are attempting to control the city.!

Gasps were heard all over the Auction House floor. Some people knew about the Underworld but did not know who was leading it. The gathering guilds knew best what these people were capable of.

A displeased player added fuel to the fire, "My guild, Peaceful Gatherers, was bullied into selling all of the resources we gathered to them at dirt prices! They are scum!"

After the first person spoke out several more gathering guilds exclaimed the injustices they experienced from Harbingers as well.

Dregg took the opportunity and continued, "A few of us noticed the undercurrents that were sweeping across the city and took action. Blaise and I sought out people to help fight against this scum. Blaise approached Cat and Ryan, the leaders of Blue Moon Trading with the plan for this Auction House. He had the fame to buy the property and the ability to get loans from the kingdom to buy them. Blaise then came to me asking for assistance to generate funds to keep this place running so I agreed to help by signing a contract to exclusively provide runes to Blue Moon to auction and sell. None of you knows the debt that Blaise carries is in and many of you can never shoulder it!"

The whole House was murmuring, just how much would it cost to buy and renovate this place? Many people believed it was thousands of gold. They all looked up to those in the master suite in awe. A single-player took all the load and pressure to keep the city and its inhabitants safe.

Dregg set James up to be the hero of the story, the sole protagonist against an evil organization. By doing so every member of Harbingers of Death became a demon or devil to fight against. This gave James and his friends an additional level of security and safety. The number of people that would move against them would be far fewer than before, if anyone would move against them they would face the pressure of the general public.

** Leaders Group Chat **

[- Author: Alexander, you had a deal with the Auction house didn't you? -]

[- Alexander: I was to keep it a secret but I guess it is quite obvious now, isn't it? -]

[- Jack: What did they offer you? -]

[- Alexander: Credit to buy anything Harbingers bid for, there were terms of repayment though. It was not a completely free ride. We were also to stir things up against Harbingers. -]

[- Rend: I don't think you were too effective, are you afraid they will move against you? -]

[- Tempest: I don't think Blaise will... -] Tempest lets something split.

[- Scarlet: Blaise? What does he have to do with anything? -]

[- Author: It was him and not Blue Moon who approached you, wasn't it? -]

[- Alexander: Tempest, we will talk about this later… Yes, he came with some peace offering. -]

[- Violet: Why would he do that, doesn't he know you were the one to hire Harbingers to kill them? -]

[- Alexander: He did know, he also knows we have a common enemy. -]

[- Author: The Harbingers? -]

[- Alexander: Yes. -] He then directed them to the video that showed his guild being assassinated.

They all talked about the video for a while.

[- Author: What now? -]

[- Alexander: We now have a good look at the leaders of Harbingers so I will have my guild deal with them accordingly. -]

** House Floor **

Cain wanted to get out his frustration, "This won't stop us from continuing our plan! Magicks, Blue Moon, Blaise! You all better be prepared!" He temporarily forgot that James was untouchable.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot," said Dregg.

"What?!" yelled Cain.

Dregg waved his arm and several privacy screens were deactivated and spotlights were shined on a total of nine people. "These are the remaining nine members of Harbingers of Death. Remember them well!"

Cain's voice was now very hoarse, "You!"

Dregg spoke with confidence, "Me? What about me? Nothing escapes my eyes in this auction house. Let this be a lesson to everyone; Harbingers of Death and all of its current and future members are blacklisted! Anyone who tries to help them will be found and blacklisted as well!"

Each member of Harbingers was surrounded by staff members that escorted them out. The crowd started to cheer.

Bounty posts started appearing all over town. In total there were eleven unique posts each with a different character face printed on it. No one would forget the faces of the men who were kicked out of the auction house.

No one left the auction when the members of Harbingers were kicked out. If they left they would not be allowed reentry; they didn't want to give up their chance at buying a rune. That was all except one person, Trisha.

Cain and his brothers didn't care about hiding; they were all complaining as they walked towards their hideout.

"Hey!" someone yelled behind them.

"What do you want!" shouted Cain. He had rushed over to their follower and had his dagger pressed against their neck.

Trisha didn't even flinch, "I am Trisha, the leader of Profiteers, I believe we can be friends."

Cain and Trisha talked for a while and went their separate ways, no one knew what they talked about. Not even the other members of his group knew.

** Blue Moon Auction House **

The auction continued smoothly after that. James did not need tricks or drama, so he and his friends all relaxed.

"What is your plan now?" asked Dregg.

"We plan on attacking dungeons," replied James.

Dregg couldn't hold back his curiosity anymore, "What is with you two?" he said while looking at James and Mercury.

"He owes me a debt, he is paying with his body." teased Mercury.

James rolled his eyes but didn't explain further. Dregg only had one thought, [Jiggalo?] He knew better to voice that thought.

James had a question for Dregg, "I don't think what my friends and I plan on doing is the important question. Instead, it should be, what do you plan on doing?"

Dregg was thrown off, "What do you mean? I'll go back to keeping Ryan and Cat out."

"Ryan didn't give you much information, did he?" asked James.

"He said I was to act as a body double," replied Dregg.

James shook his head, "I told him to make sure that the victim *cough* I mean the volunteer was to know that he would cease to exist, you are a ghost now. Your old identity can no longer exist, for all intents and purposes, you are Magicks. Your name, appearance, and complete being cannot be seen. Someone might be able to figure out the ruse.

Dregg was now sweating bullets, Ryan didn't tell him anything about this. "I…... I don't know. If I knew about those conditions I wouldn't have allowed Ryan to throw me under the bus…"

"Hey Talon, do you think that video guy would be interested in doing something with Blue Moon and Magicks?" asked James.

"I would be willing to be him, why?" replied Talon.

"We need to give Dregg an out. What is his name and could you contact him immediately?" explained James.

Talon went over to a seat and sat down, "I'll contact him now, his name is RiotNews. Do you want the normal terms?"

"Naturally" replied James. He looked over to Totem, "Can you go prepare more potions for the dungeons? It wouldn't hurt to have a large surplus."

Totem agreed, he wanted to see what a top-grade workshop would look like.

James looked down to Mercury, "What do you plan on doing for the next 30 minutes?"

"Tease you of course," she said while changing her seating position. Instead of sitting on James as if he was a chair, she turned around and straddled him. "Here, now we can talk easier."

James felt his body get excited and his heart rate accelerated. He tried to keep his cool though and fired back at Mercury. He gently grabbed the location where her hips met her thighs and reset his arms in that position. Now her heart rate accelerated. [Curse him, he is getting harder to deal with…] she thought.

"Comfortable?" she asked.

"Very" he replied.

Talon wanted to stop them from falling into their own world again, "He has agreed, he will be here shortly."

James smiled, since he didn't want to make Mercury get off him he pressed a switch on the chair and made it swing around to face the group. He leaned to the side so that he could talk around Mercury, "We leave in 25 minutes. Be ready."

James then looked at Dregg and gave him a list of instructions. To finish the long list he said, "After that, you are to join my group in the dungeons. You are a few levels shy of what I wanted the others to be at. However, it would be unfair to believe you would just sit around all day. With what I explained earlier you will have no problem joining the group."

He looked at everyone else, "Anyone in disagreement?" Just because he was the leader he didn't want to get the other's input about important matters like a new person joining the group.

Everyone agreed it wouldn't be a problem. James also asked Totem via private message, Totem also had no problem with a new face in the group.

"Good, meet at the Waystone when it becomes time to leave," said James.

Everyone but Mercury, Ryan, and himself left. Mercury remained straddled over James and Ryan stood there awkwardly. That was until Cat, Charlotte, and Ryan entered the room, he was relieved that he wasn't the only one left with this strange duo.

"How did we do?" asked James.

The trio was excited to report the profit. Ryan already knew about James and Mercury's strange interactions but Cat and Charlotte didn't expect to see what they did. Cat had some idea but Charlotte was not in the know. They didn't act that way when they first met.

"You two?" asked Charlotte.

"Nothing to be concerned about, what is the profit like?" James deflected the question.

"We earned a killing! With the runes and the auction fees from both Rover's and Alexander's groups we earned almost 100 gold!" exclaimed Cat.

Mercury teased James, and the others, by leaning forward into a closer and more intimate position with James. She grabbed the one side of his face and whispered into his other ear with just enough volume for the others to hear. "Wow daddy, it turned out better than expected. How are you going to pamper me later?" She used a rather seductive and vague tone and stretched out the word daddy. It felt the others' minds racing with naughty thoughts.

Firstly, James found it far more exciting than he ever believed to be called 'daddy' by a woman. Second, Charlotte nearly fell to the ground since she remembered that Mercury assumed she had daddy issues. Lastly, Ryan and Cat both turned their heads away from the scene because their faces were burning red. They seemed to have heard that line somewhere inappropriate…

James noticed everyone's reactions and coughed to clear the atmosphere. * cough* "I will take 20 gold, use the reset to buy materials and recipes so that we can start production on our goods. Send me some recrafting materials and Totem some alchemy materials."

James wanted to stand up to leave so he patted Mercury's hips to single her to get off. In response she only buried herself deeper into a cuddle, so James forcefully picked her up as he stood up. There was a benefit to being taller than her.

She humphed and stomped on the ground and walked out of the room leaving James behind. He said his goodbyes and gave a few instructions and caught up to Mercury.

"I can never unsee what I've seen today…" sighed Cat.

"Tell me about it," replied Charlotte.

"That might have just seemed like an awkward experience for you but both Car and I are adventurers. We find it far weirder than you," said Ryan.

Charlotte looked at Ryan with a confused expression, "Why do you say that?"

"Do you know what all of us adventurers know her as?" asked Ryan.

"Don't you all call her Reaper? It is a weird name for a lady but there are far more bizarre names. I've seen someone who called themselves FurryBalls69…" Charlotte replied.

"She didn't used to be called that, it was a nickname that we adventurers gave her. She eventually made it official and dawned the name on her own. We have other names such as Queen of Death and more. Don't let this weird and cute appearance fool you, if Blaise was not around to keep her in check she would kill on a whim. Those eleven men would have had their heads cut off by her axe before leaving the building…" explained Ryan.

"Really? She does seem intense with some of the looks she gives but she is dressed like a little doll. I find her adorable and want to eat her up." said Charlotte.

"Trust him, it is only a matter of time before you see that side of her, " Cat confirmed Ryan's explanation.

"Hmm, well I will wait to see it myself." Charlotte didn't rebuke them but was curious to see what they were talking about.

** At the Waystone **

The half-hour was up and everyone arrived on time. James and Mercury had arrived first, followed by the Twins, then Talon and Totem, Dregg arrived last. James's list of instructions took longer than he thought.

"Good, is everyone ready?" asked James. Everyone was excited and felt well prepared for the dungeon.

James directed everyone to touch the Waystone. "Let's go!" Once everyone had a hand on the stone or another person, James activated it and they were teleported away.

They all walked in front of the large door and peered at it for a little while. James and Totem redistributed the potions so that everyone was well supplied.

James drank an Anti-Venom potion and approached the door. The purple miasma parted away from James's legs as if it was avoiding him. Mercury had been alongside James the whole time; since everyone saw they were safe they too drank their potions and followed behind.

James and Mercury were directly in front of the stone door and reached out with their hands. James used the key on the door and the duo pressed firmly on the door. It slowly crept open and several notifications rang out.

* Ding *

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Your party has entered the Temple of Ivok!

What difficulty do you wish to proceed with?

[Normal]

[Hard]

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Since they didn't know what to expect once they entered they all agreed that entering the Normal Mode of the dungeon would be best. They noticed that they would face the basic difficulty with no added effects or mechanics.

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**** ( Announcement ) ****

A party has entered the Temple of Ivok for the first time! On completion or failure of the dungeon, its location will be revealed on all Adventurer's maps!

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