I glanced away from Bradson, not wanting him to notice that I was staring at him. Or, not wanting him to notice that I was here. He had plenty of reasons to not like me.

I buried my head, focusing on the silent auction screen that originated from the Information Crystal in my hand. With a few commands, I found the lists of dozens of rune pattern blueprints. It was fairly overwhelming.

Superimposed on the screen, I could see a few items underlined in red.

For the silent auction, most items were in the F-rank, with a small minority in the E-rank. I couldn’t see any D-rank items available.

I looked at the three items Samantha was highlighting. Each one was an F-rank blueprint.

Durability Rune Pattern Blueprint (F-rank): Necessary to create a Durability Rune Pattern (F-rank). When complete, the Durability Rune Pattern increases an item’s durability. Equipped items with the Durability Rune Pattern add +2 to the owner’s Physical Defense.

Strength Rune Pattern Blueprint (F-rank): Necessary to create a Strength Rune Pattern (F-rank). When complete and equipped, adds +2 to the owner’s Strength.

Proximity Ward Blueprint (F-rank): Necessary to create a Proximity Ward (F-rank). When complete and equipped, alerts the owner of any approaching beings within a 10-yard radius.

“Isn’t it risky to bid for these without gaining the profession yet?”

Samantha responded.

I saw a tab in my screen that listed the upcoming items for the live auction, and selected it.

There wasn’t a single F-ranked item in the live auction. In fact, it was rare to see E-ranked items as well. It seemed that the E-ranked auction items were classes, professions, and consumables that would give permanent stat increases. The majority of the live auction items were D-rank weapons, armor, and potions.

Included about halfway down the list was the profession that Samantha suggested I buy:

Rune Master (E-rank Profession): Allows you to learn and complete Rune Patterns up to E rank. Teaches Mana Sensing (E-rank). +1 Mana Pool per level. Grants External Unattributed Mana Affinity (E-rank).

There were no D-rank professions available in the auction, so it really seemed like this was the best profession for me to pick. There were dozens of F-rank Rune Master professions in the silent auction, but those didn’t offer any stat bonuses. I’m sure if I were to suggest them to Samantha, she would scoff and call them trash.

There were clear benefits to gaining a high-ranking profession as early as possible.

I switched my screen back to the three blueprints I had been looking at earlier. Each blueprint had about five copies or so.

They were all priced around the same amount, and rising slowly. 5,000, 5,500, 6,000.

The buyout prices for each one of these blueprints was 20,000 coins. Following Samantha’s advice, I placed a 10,000 bid on each one of the three blueprints I was interested in.

With that, I was down 30,000 coins. Of course, if someone outbid me, then I would get my money back. But that was unlikely, at least for a while, because there were multiple identical copies of the same blueprints.

Despite my lack of trust in Samantha when it came to life-and-death decisions, I still believed she would help me spend my money as effectively as possible.

Samantha said.

I did, and I saw someone shake the hand of the man next to me, and then approach me.

“Hi, I’m Uman,” the man said, reaching out to shake my hand. He had an appropriately faint smile—I could see worry in his eyes, but the smile hid some energy and optimism that I just couldn’t garner.

“Jarek,” I said, offering my hand and preparing myself for a battle of strength. Uman didn’t look particularly strong, but stats could be incredibly deceiving—just because I was twice as strong as I was before the Schema appeared, didn’t mean I was twice as muscular.

Uman shook my hand normally and let it go soon after.

“I’m from St. Louis,” he said. “You?”

“L.A.,” I offered.

“We’ve got people from all over the world in this front row,” Uman said, with the same faint smile. He had a calming voice, almost like a therapist. “Whatever’s happening, for better or worse, we’re all in this together. Come find me in St. Louis, some day.”

I nodded at that, and Uman moved on to the person next to me.

It was a reasonable move, I figured. Everybody in the front row was a wealthy person among the Hard Mode challengers. Networking certainly made sense, but it didn’t appeal to me right now.

“Well, well, well, what a lively bunch of participants we have today,” Mrinda said, projecting his voice into the ears of the thousands of people around him.

I flinched, and glanced up at him.

“Unfortunately, our time at this auction is limited. Allow me to present our first item for the live auction—Murin’s Edge!

“As a D-rank weapon, this sword will give you +5 Agility and +5 Strength. The associated skill—“

Samantha cut in over Mrinda’s voice.

The bidding reached a fervor quickly.

As I glanced around the stands, I noticed that a light would shine on the leading bidder.

The bidding slowed down when the price reached 70,000 coins, and it ended at 90,000 coins.

Because of the structure of the stands, I could see who had purchased it clearly. The front row seats formed a complete circle around the stage, but the stage was small enough that everyone in the front row could easily make eye contact.

The winner was a man who was likely in his fifties, with a wiry build that made me think he ran triathlons or something.

“Our second item is a cloak that can hide you from your enemies in broad daylight—“

Samanatha interrupted Mrinda again.

A cloak of invisibility sounded incredibly useful. But I turned my eyes away from the main event and glanced at what Samantha had pulled up on the screen in front of me.

There were about a half dozen materials that had very little information about them.

Stilwark Leather (E-rank) x50: Leather made from the hide of a Stilwark.

Mana Beads (F-rank) x50: Processed, crystalized mana that can serve many purposes.

Reinforced Granite Tile (F-rank) x100: A rather smooth stone tile that holds mana well.

Ayoxa Sap (F-rank) x50: A small vial of somewhat sticky sap that comes from an Ayoxa tree.

Samantha explained.

Makes sense, I said, somewhat begrudgingly.

Samantha showed me a few other items to put in my watch-list, leaving me with the distinct impression that she was trying to distract me from the high profile weapons, armor, and equipment that were currently being auctioned off.

“And now,” Mrinda said, with a flair. “I’d like to introduce an E-rank profession, Rune Master! Not only will this allow you to learn E-rank blueprints and form E-rank runes, but it will also add +1 to your Mana Pool every time you level up!”

I immediately placed the first bid at 100,000 coins.

The scare tactics didn’t work—after a brief pause, the group of American Armed Forces raised the price to 110,000.

I bid 130,000, and there was a brief pause again.

“One more thing,” Mrinda added. “For anyone looking for a particular synergy, you may have noticed that we have an E-rank blueprint coming up later in our auction—A blueprint for an Interdimensional Pouch! Do I hear any bids higher than the gentleman in the front…”

Mrinda was met with silence, and I won the E-rank Profession.

The profession, in the form of a small, leather book, disappeared from Mrinda’s hands, and then reappeared in mine.

Not wanting to waste time, I immediately activated the book, confirming with the Schema that I wanted to gain the profession.

Congratulations! You have changed your profession to Rune Master (E-rank). You can now complete Rune Patterns up to E-rank. +1 Mana Pool per level. You have gained External Unattributed Mana Affinity (E-rank).

You have learned Mana Sensing (E-rank): Allows you to see your mana, and high concentrations of mana nearby. When activated, allows you to sense nearby mana in greater detail. Cost: 10 Mana per minute. Cooldown: None.

Samantha said.

For once, I was completely on board with Samantha’s instructions.