The Primal Hunter

Jake alternated between meditating and diving into knowledge from Sagacity of the Malefic Viper and reading the book on the Pollendust Bees. He found the knowledge in the books severely lacking compared to Sagacity, and in some places, just wrong.

First of all, it explained how to awaken the egg and birth the Pollendust Bee Queen, and the method was just horrible. Insects differed from many other races because they didn’t really have a natural growth period as, for example, humans had. Instead, the Queen would be born at level 100 and hold the power of a D-grade from the moment it hatched.

According to the book, one just had to infuse enough mana into the container to awaken the Queen as all the necessary materials to do so were already included. While that was technically true, it was also a shit method. Why the hell would Jake just be happy with a normal Pollendust Bee Queen? No, he would do a nice and big ritual first. It would be a bit like what he did with Sylphie, though he seriously doubted he could repeat what happened then.

Throughout his studying, people had come and gone, and by now, the booth was full again as it was soon time for the legendary Auction to begin.

Sultan and Miranda had both come over to him as they chose to stay near. The reason was simple enough… so they had sources to borrow from. If an item popped up and Jake couldn’t afford it, he sure as hell was going to nicely ”ask” Sultan for a loan. Though he kind of knew it was more for Miranda to borrow from them in case something Haven needed popped up without her having enough funds. Haven – as a city – was honestly kind of poor. Miranda charged extremely low taxes and spent most of what little they did earn on paying people. Apparently, the primary source of income was Sultan, due to Miranda imposing some extra charges on the man, based on the agreement for him to stay and operate out of Haven.

”Anything you two are looking for?” Miranda asked. ”With us keeping the Supreme Illusiary Defense Array Disc for Haven, the only thing we really needed has been found. But I will naturally keep an eye out.”

”Many items auctioned off may be something that can bring a way bigger return in the future once Earth matures a bit, so I am searching for that,” Sultan answered.

”Bow,” Jake stated. He just wanted a damn bow, okay?

And as the timer reached zero and the intermission ended, he would hopefully finally have a chance to.

System Announcement:

The fourth phase of the Auction has now begun, where all legendary rarity items will be sold off. All items will be listed with a set minimum bidding price by the seller, as well as a potential buyout price, allowing anyone to instantly buy the item.

There are a total of 109 listings of legendary items for sale during this fourth phase of the Auction. These items will be posted one at a time in two-minute intervals. Note that for the remainder of the Auction, all bidding will be visible to all event participants.

All items will be auctioned off immediately once active bidding ends. If any item does not receive any new bid for at least ten seconds, it will be sold to the highest bidder. This phase will at most last until one hour has passed from the final listing being posted. Any item not bought at the end of this phase will be returned to the original seller.

The first item will be posted in two minutes.

Jake read the rules and saw that for the first time, there were changes. First of all, the bidding was now far more active, and it wasn’t all about sitting on an item for hours on end trying to keep the top offer, but now one had to actively bid. It was far more like a regular auction.

The anonymity was also gone, so now Jake knew who to go beat the living shit out of if they dared fight him on any bow. Actually, this part was probably the most impactful when seen from a political point of view. Even Jake could instantly see that.

”This changes things,” Sultan said as he took out his book, and he saw Miranda also take out what looked like a recording device. ”Seeing what factions buy can give insight into their current states and what they need, but perhaps more importantly, it will allow us to subtly spot who are allies based on if they bid against each other.”

mean anyone not bidding against me is an ally?” Jake asked sarcastically, finding the sentiment a bit silly. It was

bids, while in actuality, it is quite the opposite. Naturally, this will not fool the more insightful ones, but many here are not

against the Holy Church? You have just shown all the D-grades aligned with you that you truly are

how politicians will talk about helping the lower class while receiving bribes from lobbyists to make life worse for them. AKA, shady shit Jake didn’t want to take part in or waste brainpower

he would instead focus on was getting the items he wanted. Then Miranda could deal with

but he would still mentally note those who bid

was ready as the first legendary item appeared… and it was kind of

certain negative mental afflictions. Touching the statue will permanently increase Strength by 100 as you embrace the heroic power within. Any

him of those overly buff 80’s action heroes, and the guy was wielding two massive axes hoisted over his shoulders to boot, looking like a certified badass. However, when he was instantly outbid, and the price went

to Jake. The Heroic Might effect looked great, and Jake could see it be useful, but not for someone like him. In fact, it probably would not even work with his Pride according to how he knew skills tended to

great… except it went into the same category as consuming elixirs. The 10 Willpower he got back in the Challenge Dungeon did, too, after all. So, what was the purpose of the statue, and

how many could use it. And when Jake saw the top bidders, it also

from Valhal, and the other was someone Jake was told was the trade manager of Sanctdomo. Two others also showed

the bidding really began to slow down. In the end, the statue was sold for three hundred and

to acknowledge any gods during his life but only viewed the celestial concept as worthy of being recognized as divine. This orrery will passively map out all nearby celestial objects and give insight into their basic properties. This effect is entirely passive and cannot be altered by outside means, and may take a significant amount of time. This effect bypasses all attempts to hide or mask these celestial objects done by anything below

getting the attention of everyone in the booth. He had to admit, he was kind of excited to see others bid

as he walked over. His move seemed to be a catalyst as everyone in the booth began to gather around Jake, Sultan,

seats around him. He kind of understood why… he doubted anyone else could afford to buy anything. Well, besides

will go for?” Roman then

looked at the man as he smiled.

worth. I’ve been spending!” the man said with a laugh. “But sure!

had reached twenty million as Roman made his guess.

the other hand, smiled. “Well, then

that’s just damn slimy!”

and two,” Felicia suddenly spoke up, getting a nasty look from Sultan. She just shrugged in

the squabbles of the poor as he saw his potential earnings climb more than ten million at a time. Soon, the price reached a hundred million. Then a hundred and fifty. Jake also saw who was bidding, and to his

hit a hundred and ninety. Yet two were still bidding – the Risen and the Church – as the price climbed above two

getting auctioned off like this… he got his money instantly. Two hundred and forty million Credits – minus one for

paid Felicia without saying anything more.

noise of Roman trying to argue he shouldn’t pay Felicia and

[Staff of-]

Jake did see it as rather interesting, and it looked very suitable for a healer to use. So it also made sense when the eventual winner turned out to be Eron, who happily spent a hundred and seventy million on it. He didn’t know that the guy even used staves, and chances