'I don't think I'll have enough time to make one more… but making 12 of them isn't bad.'
Abel was admiring the finished daggers that were placed on the forging table. After returning to the blacksmiths guild, he purchased a few more pommels and started forging right away.
The molds had long cooled down and he added another 35 Nocturnium ingots to his collection. Overall, they took up 6 stacks in his spacial bag if he added the ingots he already had on him. He also had more than 4 stacks of iron ingots that he wanted to get rid of. They took up around 5% of his spacial bag so he might as well use them, increasing his forging skills and EXP while he's at it.
He had already made 2 Viper Stiletto's earlier on so he started forging Eagle Beak Dagger's with his remaining time. He was able to churn out 12 complete Eagle Beak daggers after minimal break and relentless hammering. He hadn't logged off for lunch and would only take a break to pull up his mana and stamina points.
'I should put them up at the local auction house, although the cross-regional auction has a larger audience, I won't make much of a profit if I'm charged the highest commission rate. I'll go kill some monsters for half a day and then forge for the remaining half, this will be my plan until I have to check in at the army base.'
He decided on his plans for the upcoming couple of days and chose to place the daggers in the auction house to sell over a period of time to any city in Veridia instead of selling them at a local weapon shops. The auction houses in cities are connected by magical arrays, allowing for cross-regional trades, but the cost of teleporting items would increase the expense greatly.
They would already take 10% as commission for their services. That was the minimum they'd take from a sale and if you made use of their teleportation channel then they would take much more, upwards of 20% depending on how far the buyer's location was. It wasn't worth it if the item wasn't worth more than a gold coin at least.
They also delivered items the old-fashioned way but it would require time to arrive to the buyer and this was limited to the region you were in. For example, if a buyer in Petalhaven city purchased an item from Velskryn's auction house then it would take a day to get delivered through their courier services. If the buyer was in another kingdom within Caelondia then it would take upwards of a week to reach them, possibly more depending on the distance.
He packed up his goods and made sure he had everything in his bag before stepping out of the room. He headed to the front desk and informed the attendant that he was done with the room before heading outside.
He shuffled his way through the streets and went to the central square, he had no idea where the auction house was so he needed to take a look at the map beside the bulletin board. The auction house turned out to be at the opposite end of the city to the army base, towards the cliff instead of the mountain foot so he didn't waste any more time and went there directly.
The system had already pinged him once around 30 minutes ago about his need to log off, he was sure his stomach would be churning itself inwards from hunger but he wanted to get this task dealt with first.
After a short 15-minute walk, he turned onto a street that opened up to a beautiful view of the ocean that only he could see due to the darkness of the night. He could barely make out the shadow of another kingdom in the distance as well as some boats off the coast along with the impressive navy stationed at the port.
The salty sea breeze brushed past his face and it smelled just like Luminara, only a bit… fresher. While pollution had decreased significantly since the first nuclear fusion reactor was put to work, there were still many other needs for oil production.
The petrochemical industry produced a wide range of chemicals that were needed in the manufacturing of plastics, synthetic fibers, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and many other products. Even with advancements in alternative energy sources, oil-based chemicals were still very essential in some industries.
Although most vehicles nowadays run on electricity supplied by the nuclear fusion reactors, the roads they run on still need the oil companies to continue production. The asphalt that's used in road construction and maintenance is derived from crude oil after all. But in general, the planet was much better off than it was in the past before Doctor Orion Matrix built the first fusion reactor.
'It's still much fresher than Xiaowen's Earth. That planet's atmosphere was an absolute pigsty in comparison…'
He brushed aside these thoughts as he stepped into the auction house where one of the attendants came up to him.
"Good evening sir. Are you here to purchase, consign or appraise?"
"I'm here to consign a few items."
"Certainly sir, please follow me to a room at the back. I am sure you are aware that the auction house is entitled to a 10% commission of your goods and up to 20% depending on the parameters of your assigned item. One of our appraisers will also evaluate the items to determine the value and potential market interest. They may provide you with an estimate of the item's expected sale price. You can choose to follow their advice or dismiss it, that is completely your prerogative."
Abel lifted his brow, he wasn't aware about the last part but he guessed if the auction house took 10% just to provide a platform to sell goods then not many people would choose to come here if they could sell it at any random shop.
He followed the attendant to a small room in the back where a middle-aged lady was sitting behind a desk. It reminded him of that appraiser back in Velskryn but the appraisers' room in the auction house was much smaller, it had to be to accommodate many different areas unlike a specialized appraisal shop.
"What is it you'd like to consign? Let me remind you, the minimum price of the item better be at least 1 silver. Otherwise, we can refuse your consignment."
The middle-aged lady spoke tersely, as though she constantly had a stuck up her ass but Abel didn't care. He wasn't someone with an ego that demanded respect where ever he went, so he simply took out all 12 daggers and explained his requirements.
"I want the duration to be for 2 days and only accessible to the auction houses in the Kingdom of Veridia. Every 2 daggers are to be sold together, put the starting bid at 1 silver but I want to know what you think an appropriate buy out price would be…"
The appraiser picked up one of the daggers and evaluated it while her pupils lit up with a glow. She was probably using some specialized skill to appraise the item in greater detail but it seemed to be different from that gentlemen at Appraisers Haven as her pupils' rims didn't turn golden.
"It's hard to believe this is made from iron... It's an exquisite design for such a low-grade weapon. Hmmm… I believe 2 silver coins would be a good buy out price. If you only had 2 of them then the price could have exceeded that. Do you happen to have the blueprint? I believe that would sell for much more."
The mention of the blueprint startled Abel, he hadn't even thought of selling the blueprint before now. Even if he didn't have any drawing skills, he could simply write out the steps and the game system should turn it into an official blueprint. It's his own design after all so he tested it out after asking for a quill and some parchment. He wrote out the first blueprint and just as he hoped, the system recognized it as an official weapons schematic. He wrote out 2 more blueprints and decided to put these up for the cross-regional auction.
"The blueprint should have a starting bid of 20 silver coins and a buy out price of 1 gold. Do you want to place the same duration as the daggers?"
"Isn't 1 gold too much though… would people really buy it at that price?"
"They are a new design, although the weapon is low-leveled, it still has its plus points. You can choose to do otherwise young man." The middle-aged appraiser replied succinctly, apparently suffering from tight-ass syndrome.
"Fine, 1 gold is it then. And yes, the same duration as the daggers."
Once he was done, he received a token from the appraiser. He just had to show this to the counter outside in 2 days' time and he'll receive his money after their commission is deducted. If the items weren't sold then he can choose to change the parameters and put them up for auction once again but if it failed to sell after 3 tries then he would be forced to take them back.
He didn't doubt they would all sell, he was just wondering if anyone would purchase them through the buy out option. Each item could have a specific buy-out price where someone could purchase it straight away instead of fighting with others through an incremental increase in price.
'I should log out for tonight. I'm sure my body is absolutely starving.'
He hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast so he pulled up his Panel and chose to log out of the game, quickly disconnecting from his user home as well. The cascading colors receded and broke his Neuro-link with the pod.
The first sensation he felt upon opening his eyes was a dichotomy of deep hunger and a full bladder.
'Ah shit, I'm gunna piss my pants…' He quickly got out of the pod and ran to the bathroom before he wet his pants like a little child.