The auction house sat apart from the surrounding buildings. Surrounded by lush gardens, and paved pathways that lead around the building to three separate entrances.

Crowds of people flowed into the building in streams and I was relieved when we walked past the main entrance with its dense population of people.

As Darius led me down the garden path, where a crowd of people stood outside a set of closed doors, he explained the main entrance led to the public auction rooms where people could place their items up for sale. These items would be sold through an auction which was held every day at noon.

“Aside from the daily auctions, there is an auction held at the end of each week. Those wishing a faster sale will use the daily auction, but it comes at the risk of a lower sale price.” Darius explained, leaning down so his mouth was close to my ear, which twitched in his direction as he spoke, hitting him in the cheek.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, feeling my cheeks grow warm with embarrassment at the lack of control I had over my new body parts.

“Darius, come to join the fun I see.” A sultry voice purred from behind me, interrupting our conversation.

“Noctus,” Darius said, with a brief incline of his head.

The man who’d approached us was pale in a way that gave him an almost sickly appearance. His skin looked like it had never seen the light of day, and his hair was such a light shade of blond that I’d be inclined to say it was white. Yet, despite his pallid appearance, the man was handsome, no… Not handsome, pretty, yes, this man was more pretty than handsome.

“Who’s this little morsel you have accompanying you?” the man asked as he stalked closer with a sashaying walk that even professional models would be jealous of.

“Markion’s sister, so unless you want to find yourself split in two by his ax- again, I suggest you keep your fangs off.” Darius warned, crossing his arms over his chest.

Keep his fangs off? What did he… Ah, those fangs. Smirking at Darius, the man he’d called Noctus ran his tongue over a set of sharp looking incisors. Paired with his complexion, and the guild leader’s comment, I was certain this man was a vampire.

“Markion’s sister? The little Faerie? I thought she up and left us for dull reality.” Noctus purred, eyeing me a predatory smile. “My, my, the little Faerie has given up her wings for ears and a tail.”

“Who are you?” I asked, staring at the man who seemed to know me. Had he been a part of the guild in Avalon? Only someone I knew there would know I used to play as a Faerie.

“Kadia, this is Noctus, previously known as Striker.” Darius said, waving his hand towards the other man.

Narrowing my eyes, I stared at the vampire, memories of a hooded man flooding to the forefront of my mind at the mention of his former name.

“Striker? The same Striker who kept stealing my potions?” I asked, scowling at the vampire, who grinned unashamedly at me in response.

“Are you planning on taking up your previous profession?” he queried, ignoring my question as he asked one of his own.

“Are you planning to pay for my potions if I do?” I snapped back at him in annoyance.

The rogue had once stolen almost a hundred health potions from me, which had been brewed with the intent to sell at auction for gold. He’d cleared out my entire supply.

Sure, he’d left behind all the raw ingredients I needed to brew the potions again as “payment”, but I’d wanted gold not plants.

I spent three nights remaking those potions, only for the rogue to break in once more, and take the completed potions in exchange for the unprocessed ingredients. This had gone on for another two times, until I’d poisoned an entire batch of potions, which resulted in several deaths within the guild.

“Yes, he will.” Darius interjected, giving Noctus a stern glare. “Theft between guild members is unacceptable, even if the thief is leaving compensation. Later, we can discuss pricing for the different potions you brew.”

“I figured it would be the same as before. Any potions brewed for the guild are sold at material cost or free if brewed with ingredients the guild supplies,” I said, and Darius shook his head while Noctus leapt forwards with his hand outstretched.

“Deal,” the vampire exclaimed, only for Darius to knock his hand away with a glare.

“No,” he snapped at Noctus before turning to me. “Things are different here, potions are harder to brew, and materials more expensive. We will assess cost, and payment, at a later time. When you’re ready to start selling, we will have a guild council meeting to discuss an individual contract and reimbursement for your services.”

“Individual contract? Darius, she’s a player. Just give her a standard guild contract like before.” Noctus said, frowning at Darius as he shook his head.

“Noctus, Kadia is a digital citizen now, and a member of our guild. I’m also certain she will produce results that are well worth having an individual employment contract. According to Markion, she was top of her class in science and chemistry. Besides that, she was preparing to study pharmaceutical science. With her knowledge of chemistry, I’m certain she will handle learning alchemy better than anyone else in the guild who’s attempted it.” Darius explained, and I had the urge to pull my wagasa forward over my shoulder so it covered my face as Noctus turned to look at me in surprise.

“You became a lifer? I thought Markion said you were going to some fancy university.”

“I decided nothing,” I hissed, my previous embarrassment from Darius’s compliments turning to anger.

“As a guild commander, and Markion’s friend, I would expect you to show some consideration to her feelings as a digitized citizen who is still adjusting. Kadia was given a digitalization order, but intends to appeal it.” Darius said, glowering at the pale vampire.

“Ah, my mistake. I should not have made assumptions and just as Darius said, I am a guild commander and it is my duty to look after our guild members, so if you need help with anything please ask.” The vampire said, his expression appearing contrite, but I didn’t believe it for a second.

“Noctus can appear like an annoying prick, but he cares about the guild, and its members.” Darius added, shaking his head with sigh.

I stared at the vampire in silence, contemplating what I should do, before relaxing my tight hold on the handle of my wagasa before offering the vampire a small nod.

“Steal any of my stuff, and I’ll sic Marcus on you,” I told Noctus, before the increasing volume of voices around us and the crowd pushing past our group of three pulled my attention away from the vampire.

Looking around, I saw that the large doors at the far end of the atrium, which had been closed, now stood wide open, allowing the waiting crowd to enter the room beyond.

“Kadia, you will need to close the canopy of your wagasa before we enter the next room. They will not allow you in with it opened because of the enchantments.” Darius explained, as we flowed with the crowd towards the doors, where two guards stood staring out at the crowd with fierce expressions.

Nodding, I did as directed, giving a twist of the handle just like Markion had shown me, and the delicate paper thin canopy of the wagasa folded down to sit flush against the handle. With the canopy folded down, the wagasa looked more like a short version of the jousting poles I’d seen depicted in historical texts that spoke of knights from the medieval age.

If I’m going to carry around a jousting pole, then I should buy a horse. I’m sure there must be mounts here, though, I didn’t see anyone riding any. Lips twitching, I conjured up the image of myself cantering a horse towards Markion and running him through with my wagasa.

Ever since I was little, I’d loved horses and spent months begging my parents for riding lessons before they started sending me to a local riding club an hour away from our house. Those lessons ended when my mother died, with Danica claiming the riding club was too far away. Being able to ride in Avalon was one of the few reasons I continued to spend time in the virtual world. Fighting and questing were of little interest to me, but riding for hours on end, and the alchemy kept me logging into the world.

“Are there horses here? Or other kinds of mounts?” I asked as we walked past the guards, who glanced at the wagasa I held before allowing us to pass through the doors.

“Yes, it's the most common way to travel, that or by carriage. There are no waypoints or teleporting, not yet at least.” Darius answered, glancing over at Noctus. “Toss up a sound barrier.”

“As you command, oh, grand leader,” he mocked, circling the air with his right index finger.

I watched confused as nothing appeared to happen, but after a moment Darius nodded, seemingly pleased by whatever it was the vampire had done.

“What’s a sound barrier? And why no teleporting or waypoints? Isn’t that kind of standard?” I asked, as we moved through the crescent room with its rows of chairs that resembled a large amphitheater.

“The sound barrier is an intent-based enchantment. When it’s cast, only those you are directly speaking to can hear you. As for magical transport, there is a type of portal for instantaneous travel. However, the cost of building and opening the portal is so high that only the four major cities have one, and they are only open for a short amount of time. Once a week a portal will open to one of the four major cities, with the destination alternating each week.” Darius said, as we searched for a row with three vacant chairs.

“The portals use Mana crystals as a power source. It’s estimated they run through a high-grade stone for every two minutes the portal is open. It’s why the portal only stays open for a half an hour every week,” Noctus added as we found three seats in a row at the far side of the large circular room.

“A mana crystal?”

“A mana crystal is a type of crystal called Arcanium which can store mana. This happens by the crystal absorbing mana slowly over time and forming a natural Mana crystal. The process can be sped up by placing Arcanium crystals in a mana-dense area or within a mana-gathering formation. This is a low-grade mana crystal, which can be used for low tier enchantments.” Noctus said, pulling a glowing blue crystal from a pouch and handing it to me.

The crystal was an inch long, and half that wide, with rough edges forming a misshapen rectangle. A faint sense of power radiated from the crystal, resonating into my core, giving me an internal feeling akin to a campfire. It felt similar to the power the crystal gave off, but also different. It was like comparing a sip of fresh water to hot sauce. Both were a form of sustenance, yet so very different.

“This mana crystal is formed from natural mana, and thus lacks any alignment or “flavor,” while your own mana is aligned with fire. For those whose race doesn’t have an inborn attainment to an element, their mana will become flavored by the spells they use. All Kitsune have a fire-aligned mana source and can manipulate fire, with the strength of their flames increasing as they grow stronger.”

Listening to Noctus speak in low tones, I paid little attention to the auction starting, as the vampire told me about his own race’s natural ability to manipulate shadows. He also explained that as vampires were a variant of humans, their strength was determined through an aura similar to that of what he called a non-variant human.

As the bidding began for the first item, which was a dagger with a gem-encrusted handle, I kept my eyes trained on a tiny flicker of flame hovering over my palm. The flame was no larger than what a candle or match would produce. But, Noctus claimed that with time, and practice, I could conjure larger flames.

“Think of the flame as an extension of yourself. Just as your mind wills your limbs to move, you can move the flame. Start by having it move up and down in your palm, like this.” Noctus instructed, a black marble of condensed shadow hovering over his palm.

Following his intrusions, I made the flame rise, stopping two inches above my palm before lowering it. It was a strange feeling. I knew the flame was hot, I could feel the heat radiating from it; yet, I knew that this fire would never burn me. Focused on my hand, I raised, and lowered the flame three more times, before it flickered out of existence.

With a loud sigh, I slumped against the back of my chair. The sudden desire to find a nice warm place and curl up in a ball filled me as I hid a yawn behind my palm.

“You should practice as much as possible, like with any skill it won’t improve unless you practice.” The vampire explained, and I nodded, watching as he demonstrated a series of exercises, floating the black marble around in increasingly complex motions.

As the vampire continued his demonstration by conjuring two more of the shadow marbles, moving each in a different direction, he spoke at length about different methods I could use with my fire to protect myself. At this level, Noctus advised using the fire to coat my fingers to form fiery claws if I found myself in close combat without a weapon, as I wouldn’t be able to conjure a flame large enough for a fireball capable of damage until I grew stronger. That was a little disappointing, as I’d been imagining all the fun I could have by flinging fireballs at a certain Minotaur.