I walked past the two guards at the entrance and into the lobby of the building. Nearly everyone in here was wearing a suit or dress, with a few adventurers mixed in. I was walking into an open hall when I was stopped by another guard.

  “Excuse me sir. You need a valid ID to go into the main auction hall.”

  I held my guild card up and walked past without glancing in his direction.

  “Apologies sir, please come through and take a seat where you would wish…”

  I sat down on the back row, around half the seats were full right now, all full of rich looking aristocrats.

  “...sold for 25 gold!”

  A platinum crown encrusted with jewels was just sold while the audience clapped for the buyer.

  “Next we have a wand…”

  A man wheeled out a light blue staff the same size as him with a swirling ball at the end.

  “...it is said to enhance water magic to a great degree…”

  Subtle talking came from the crowd.

  “...only fit for a great sorcerer. The bids start at 10 gold.”

  Instantly 3 hands go up.

  “10!”

  “15!”

  “20!”

  Another hesitates but puts up his hand.

  “30!”

  “30! Going once… Going twice!”

  In the front row a man from before put up his hand back in retaliation.

  “40!”

  “Sold for 40 gold!”

  Another applause ensued. There was fierce competition on valuable items, it seemed impossible for the average person to even come here. A whisper came from my hand.

  “You're not going to sell me are you?”

  “Unfortunately I’m the only one who knows your value, whether that's a good or bad thing is up to you.”

  “Now for the final item for this week! We have a big one!”

  All the crowd suddenly fell silent as a man rolled over a tray with a sheet on it.

  “The other day a group of adventurers found this grimoire in a dungeon!”

  The man ripped off the sheet to reveal a small book.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “But this isn’t just any grimoire, it’s said to hold an ancient never-before-seen spell within, for anyone who can decipher it. Bids start at 30 gold.”

  “30!”

  “40!”

  “50!”

  Instant bids were happening.

  “60!”

  “70!”

  I stood up at this time and raised my free hand.

  “250.”

  Mel’s eyes bulged.

  “250!”

  No one dared to outbid.

  “Going once…”

  The room was silent.

  “Going twice…”

  I’ve wasted enough time already.

  “Sold for 250!”

  I got up from my seat and walked through the aisle to the center of the room. Everyone stared while I got onto the stage. I hovered my hand over the tray and set 25 piles of 10 gold coins each down while scooping the book up from the center. The host on stage started slow clapping as everyone in the audience joined in. I hopped off the stage and went to the door. Every person in that hall cheered for me when a smirk came on my face. I’ll admit it was a confidence boost. The clapping faded as I made my way out.

  “What the hell was that! You just made that money a second ago!”

  I shrugged.

  “Money is meant to be spent.”

  “That doesn't apply here! You splurged it all on a worthless book!”

  I went outside, it was already late evening.

  “I was so close to the mansion… And the hot water spa… BUT YET YOU HAD TO DO THAT?!?!”

  I went inside the next building over. It was a fancy bar with a clean interior and a quiet atmosphere.

  “Welcome sir!”

  A blonde elf waitress with a drink in her hand welcomed me in.

  “AND NOW YOU’RE DRINKING YOUR PROBLEMS AWAY?!?!?”

  I sat down in a chair and put the bottle and book on the table as the waitress came over to me.

  “What would you like sir?”

  “A concentration honey ale.”

  “Coming right up!”

  Mel held her hand over her head at this point.

  “Aren’t you tired of being in that bottle?”

  I opened the book and started scanning the ancient runes.

  “A worthless fairy like me deserves to be in here… If I lie to myself it's actually quite a nice place…”

  Guide skill unlocked:

  Teleport

  A skill screen popped up for me when I swiped it away before Mel could notice.

  “That’s good enough… You know you can get out at any time, right?”

  “What?”

  Mel instantly switched from droopy to hopeful.

  “HOW?”

  “You can teleport.”

  “And you got my hopes up…”

  “No, really, you can teleport to me.”

  “And how would I just be able to do that?”

  The same waitress placed the blue colored ale in front of me and left.

  “Just say ‘teleport’.”

  “You expect me to just tele-”

  She was now in my drink.

  “-port… WHAT?!?!??!”

  “Told you.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me before!?!”

  I couldn't help but chuckle.

  “Ugh… What is this stuff anyway?”

  “Concentration honey ale… You probably shouldn't be in it. Fairies don’t handle alcohol well.”

  “I’m not…”

  Mel flew out and went to sit down on the table.

  “...a…”

  Her cheeks got more and more red as she laid back.

  “...fairy…”

  She already passed out. I chuckled again while sipping my drink. I reached into my storage, grabbed an energy bun and bit into the soft goodness it was. I checked back at the ancient book in front of me with the hundreds of changing runes inside.

  “This is gonna be a long night.”