Chapter 365: Bees, Pants & the Geopolitical Landscape

Jake had been waiting for a bow, so he was happy when he saw a bow. What he was not happy with was this particular bow.

[Bow of the Lightseeker (Ancient)] – Created from a highly bendable metal and a string from the hair of a powerful C-grade Hilsic vampire. Purified and empowered by the crafters among the Pure Ones, the bow has been created as a weapon to slay vampires. The bow passively absorbs light-affinity mana from the surroundings and amplifies it within. Every arrow released using this bow will be blessed by the light. Allows the user to supercharge the light absorption or the light release feature, either creating a domain of perfect darkness or a beam of highly concentrated light mana. Enchantments: Lightseeker.

Requirements: lvl 135+ in any humanoid race.

On paper, it actually looked fine and dandy. Made arrows better with some light magic, able to fire big beams and all of that great stuff. There was just one tiny little issue… Jake didn’t have the affinity to use it. He and light energy of any kind just didn’t get along, and without even buying the bow, he knew it wasn’t something he could use as-is.

Which, of course, left transmutation as an option. The thing is, Jake wasn’t confident he even knew how to properly transmute it. He had no experience with the light affinity besides getting burned by it, and there weren’t any clear and easy ways to do it.

His old bow was easily transmuted due to the two gems holding all the energy and functioning as catalysts, so all he had to do was transform those, and it worked. But with this one, he saw nothing obvious to do, and he had a strong feeling he had a way higher chance of just breaking it or making it worse than creating a new great bow.

The price was also climbing relatively fast. Jake could see the Holy Church want it, considering their obsession with light magic, and probably others too, as Jake knew the light affinity was a very normal one for humans to possess.

Jake ultimately decided to not bid on it, as he, deep in his heart, hoped another one would appear.

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Another bow did not appear. Out of four hundred fucking items, there was only one lousy bow. No, Jake did not count the damn crossbow because crossbows aren’t real bows. To say Jake was annoyed would be an understatement, but luckily enough, he at least found some useful things during these last few hours.

By now, every item had been posted, and the first item Jake was actively monitoring and betting on was the dagger. It had reached eleven million Credits, with Jake sitting on the top bid. He was pretty sure that one was locked in. He had discovered that there was an anti-snipe rule, giving the one currently holding the bid a five-second window if someone else placed on where they could counter, without triggering the same five-second window for the other party.

This meant that the item was his as long as Jake had the top bid at least five seconds before the auction ended. Others could place a bit, but as long as he outbid that, he got it.

Now, the dagger was good, and he also got the armor he bought outright, but there were still three other items in his sight. As Sultan would naturally not bid for him on items this expensive – as agreed upon – this included some alchemy-related stuff. The first of which was particularly interesting.

[Sealed Pollendust Bee Container (Ancient)] – A tool specially developed by the alchemists to have bees cultivate the soil and herbs to make it more favorable for their alchemy. This device holds a single D-grade Pollendust Bee Queen Egg within its spatially expanded interior and can serve as a home once hatched. Pollendust Bees are creatures able to passively absorb and consume mana and infuse it into the soil around them as well as other herbs. They also passively give off pollen to cultivate plants. The device will continue to serve as a home for the Pollendust Bees even after hatching, as they never stray far from the Queen.

This one was fascinating as he read some attached notes and saw the item itself. It looked like a three meters tall boulder with many holes drilled into it, but the notes explained how the inside was quite a bit larger. The sale also came with tomes found with the item, detailing more stuff.

However, what really made Jake interested was the knowledge he meditated to get using Sagacity of the Malefic Viper. Pollendust Bees were incredibly valuable tools when cultivating a good garden, but they could only reach D-grade naturally without help due to the difficulty of having the Queen grow – the individual bees unable to even level themselves. But Jake knew methods to help the Queen and believed many did not know the true value of the insect within the container. At least he didn’t think so, based on the meager ten million top bid currently on it, held by him.

Also… while a Pollendust Bee Queen was primarily focused on creating bees, they were in no way harmless. Especially if Jake managed to help the Queen evolve, which he sure planned on.

Another item he had his eyes on was some leg armor. As he had considered bidding, he had, of course, looked at his current ones.

[Legguards of the Undergrowth (Epic)] - As the first to wander the Undergrowth, the Records of the long-forgotten place has led to the creation of these legguards, so you can keep a piece of the Undergrowth with you as your path continues. An Immense amount of life-affinity mana has found its way into these pants, and simply wearing them will fill you with vital energy and energy to help you on your travels. The legguards will passively absorb and store life-affinity mana in the atmosphere. This mana can instantly be released as a burst of healing if the wearer is a vitality-based lifeform. Passively emits an aura that encourages growth. Enchantments: + 150 Vitality, +50 Agility, +50 Endurance. Self-Repair. Life Burst. Aura of the Undergrowth.

Requirements: lvl 115+ in any humanoid race

Jake had appreciated the legguards, and the Life Burst enchantment had come in handy quite a few times. However, he didn’t use the Aura of the Undergrowth part much, and the stats were also becoming subpar. Especially compared to what the auction had to offer.

[Trousers of Second Wind (Ancient)] – A pair of trousers created for a noble son of a King of Blood once upon a time to keep his child alive. The trousers themselves are made of powerful leather of an unknown origin but are incredibly resilient to all kinds of attacks. The enchantments placed upon them only serve to protect the wearer. In a time of emergency, the trousers can trigger a Second Wind, infusing the body with extremely active vital energy to heal wounds. If damaged, the trousers can self-repair by absorbing blood. Enchantments: Toughness + 300, Vitality +300. Second Wind. Blood Absorption.

Requirements: lvl 145+ in any humanoid race

They were simple pants for a simple hunter. The upgrade was not as massive as his chest armor had been, so he did not outright buy out the pants for one hundred and fifty million Credits but instead just held the current top bid of thirty-five million.

He wanted them, but not at all cost. They were basically just his old pants but better. The only annoyance was that he wouldn’t be able to use them for a good while due to the 145 level requirement.

The fourth and final item Jake kept an eye on was one even more interesting than the others.

[Meditation Pad (Ancient)] – An old meditation pad of unknown origin. Improves the effect of any Meditation skill when used.

It was just a damn pillow, yet Jake could not help but be attracted to it. Improving his meditation skill would be great, and he also kind of just wanted to know more about it. The problem was the cost. The current top bid was not held by Jake but sat at sixty-two million Credits. The buyout price was ten billion, which was just a nice way of saying there wasn’t any buyout price.

With only ten minutes left, Jake kept watch like a hawk. He held the top bids on the pants, dagger, and bug container but ultimately decided to place a bid of sixty-three million on the meditation pad too. The price jumped to sixty-six within a second, and Jake did not hesitate as be bid seventy. Only to see himself countered with seventy-five.

Jake kept bidding and saw it jump several times, and as he hesitated, he saw others had also joined in. When it reached a hundred and thirty million, Jake pulled out as he really didn’t think it worth it. He didn’t meditate much anyway, and someone else clearly wanted it far more than he did. Also, it didn’t give him that good of a gut feeling. Not like the bug container.

In the end, Jake got everything he wanted. Of course, the prices jumped a bit towards the end, so Jake ended up spending over a hundred and fifty million on this ancient item auction, but he still felt a wave of relief as the system message came.

System Announcement-

It marked another intermission, and Jake breathed out as he felt the items be deposited into his spatial storage. During the auction, Jake had discovered one could not see their own items, which included what Sultan sold for him, so he hadn’t been able to follow the price development.

Which is why it felt a bit weird when he checked his Credit balance after just spending so much.

Credits Available: 1,645,177,123

It turns out Jake had sold Ancient rarity items for well over a billion Credits.

“Sultan, what the fuck happened!?” he yelled across the booth, making everyone turn to them.

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“You sold a lot of things,” Sultan answered back with a big smile. “We sold a lot of things. The coffins and altars both brought in quite the profit, but the big winner was the staff.”

“What staff?” Jake asked.

“The one that could summon Blood Beasts,” Sultan answered, a bit confused.

“I had that?”

“Yes…?” Sultan said, looking perplexed, to say the least.

“Huh,” Jake recognized. Well, in his defense, he did have an ironclad policy of not giving a shit about stupid magic staves. “What exactly did it do?”

“… if you stored the blood of killed beasts, it could summon a Blood Beast of them,” Sultan explained, as he seemed to have caught on.

“Neat, I guess?” Jake shrugged.

“It is an absolutely invaluable training tool for large factions. It allows them to capture different species and have individuals fight them to learn their attack patterns and what to watch out for, thus lessening the risk once they fight the real thing,” Sultan kept explaining.

“Still sounds useless,” Jake insisted. Make it less risky? Sounds like he dodged a bullet by getting rid of that one. It would save a lot of people from boring fights and allow them to experience more fun surprises.

Anyway, Jake was now even richer than before and more than ready for the legendary auction. But first, he would have to pass the intermission, and to be honest, he had no one he wanted to go see in particular. Sylphie did as she took off to see Carmen again, and Jake decided to just stay as he took out one of the books that came with the bees as he began reading that in-depth as he waited.

There better be a legendary bow, Jake semi-threatened the system itself as he impatiently read his book.

Jacob sat in the booth used by the Holy Church. He could not call it his, as the one who had earned it was Bertram, with another one also earned by Maria. Maria, however, had chosen to simply stay with them as she did not have any reason to use her own.

The Augur was fully aware that Maria had no loyalty to him or the Holy Church but was merely a mercenary hired to give them a chance to stand side by side with the most powerful individuals on Earth. At least it was meant to do that. But the Treasure Hunt had been a disaster in many ways, and even if they managed to get all valuables out before the Monarch forced them to leave, it was still a terrible outcome.

Jake was one thing, but the Sword Saint had also proven to be far more than he could have ever predicted. He had already been informed of what exactly the old man was, and it made a few things click into place. A transcendence did not appear out of nowhere, and the fact that he was walking the steps to create one was a potential explanation to his near-immunity to divination.

Shaking his head, he returned his attention to the matter at hand.

“How many Credits did we expend during this phase?” Jacob asked the trade manager.

“A bit north of four billion Credits,” the man answered, Jacob nodding acknowledgment. It was a lot, far more than any individual could ever conjure up, but the Holy Church was a collective. It came from the coffers of the Church itself, a collection of wealth from dozens of millions of humans from their many cities. By now, the Holy Church had more than twenty Pylon cities of varying sizes under their banner and far more smaller settlements without Pylons.

In fact, on Earth, the vast majority of humanity still lived outside of cities with Pylons. For many, it was simply due to the isolation of where they appeared after the Tutorial, but for others, it was a conscious choice. Jacob had to admit that while Sanctdomo was a safe city, the same could not be said for all those with Pylons. A Pylon offered benefits but also demerits, primarily due to its attraction of beasts.

Meanwhile, a small town or city without a Pylon was most often safer than another small one with a Pylon. Beasts were not all mindless monsters, and even those that were instinctually didn’t just kill people. There was simply no reason to kill those weaker than yourself for beasts – unless there was a Pylon to claim, of course.

“How much did we manage to sell for?” Jacob also asked.

“… only two-point-seven,” the trade manager answered. It was a massive loss for the Church. Credits themselves were rather hard to get, and there had actually been deflation according to their calculations due to so many buying from the System Store. While people did also sell directly to it, far more bought, and coupled with the general hoarding of wealth, the value of each Credit seemed to be increasing. Merchants did have methods to conjure up more Credits from some of their skills, but far from enough to offset it either.

It also had to be noted that while the Church did charge high taxes to collect their wealth, Jacob had quickly come to learn that the modus operandi of the Holy Church would not be easily implemented on Earth. The culture would need time to change, and the full switch to a complete collective could not be instantly implemented.

Usually, the concept of ownership did not exist for members of the Holy Church. The Church was a collective, like one large life form. If it was deemed better for the collective, the valuables would be redistributed. You did not even own your own life and power. However, this would not fly on Earth quite yet. The culture of their planet had been too rooted in the concept of ownership, property, and individualism, making it a hard transition.

But one that would eventually come. After all, this collective was a massive source of strength for the Church.

“How much do we have for the Legendary auction?” Jacob finally asked.

“It is inadvisable for us to spend more than five billion,” the man answered. “This is already with loans from independent cities, mercenaries, and merchants.”

Jacob nodded gravely. It was good that at least the independent cities wanted to trade with them, as they were often very antagonistic. While they were not that powerful individually, they did represent the majority of humanity. By rough estimation, Jacob believed around half of humanity had died off since the system had arrived. The introduction back to their planet had not been smooth, and many had found themselves in unfortunate areas or simply died due to fighting. Out of the remaining four or so billion humans, eighty percent likely lived outside the sphere of major factions.

At least they did so for now. Every day more were forced to join the larger factions, and while some did not actively expand – such as the Court - Valhal and the Noboru clan were both on the offensive. The same was true for the undead to a lesser extent.

Jacob was deadset on having the Church come out on top, but for that, they needed to recruit more standout talents.

Or even better.

For those currently on Earth to leave.

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