Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

The Empty Star Square was even more crowded than the previous day. This was no longer just an announcement of the auction items; today was the actual auction, and due to the number of people wanting to attend, the square had been chosen as the official venue!

A packed crowd spread all over the square and into the surrounding streets. The C-Grades and above could no longer fit, so they’d climbed onto the rooftops. B-Grades were standing in the air. As for the two A-Grades present, Elder Puerto and Elder Crownbeast, they hovered even higher than the B-Grades, occupying a height no one dared to infringe upon.

The floating mouth of yesterday, the official auctioneer of the Empty Star faction, floated over a raised platform. Every eye was glued on it. A long row of boxes waited at the back of the platform.

The auction…was beginning!

“Welcome, everyone, to the Empty Star Auction!” the mouth declared, its voice magically booming across the entire city. Cheers rose in response. Some monsters growled. The mouth waited for the crowd to calm down before continuing. “It is our honor to have all of you in attendance. Many prestigious monsters have graced us with their presence today, especially Elder Puerto of the Great Silver faction and Elder Crownbeast of the Fiend King faction. Please enjoy our hospitality!”

More cheers from the crowd. Elder Puerto waved at them, while Crownbeast remained stationary, dark, and gloomy. He hadn’t forgotten yesterday’s humiliation, and neither had the crowd.

Jack, who stood alongside Brock and Starhair amongst the other B-Grades, rubbed the back of his head. “Think he holds a grudge?” he asked Brock.

“Absolutely, bro.”

“Good.”

“Allow me to set some ground rules,” the mouth said. “Between monster cores, every minor realm will bring a threefold increase in value, and every large realm a tenfold increase. The Dao attunement of the core will not be taken into account. The winner of each item is expected to receive it and pay up immediately. If they are not able to pay, they will be executed, and the item may or may not be re-auctioned at the Empty Star faction’s discretion. Finally, as the auction takes responsibility for the safety of our attendees, fighting is prohibited in the square for the duration. Any offenders will be executed and their space rings seized.”

He paused for a moment, letting the rules sink in for everyone. It was nothing outrageous, actually. Standard stuff. Jack was surprised the no-fighting rule needed to be mentioned, but then again, this was the Space Monster World.

“Let us proceed with the first item!” the mouth declared. Two Double Devil attendants pushed the first box forward on a cart. “Salvaged from the northern wastes of the Waist Blood Province, this item is the crystallization of the area’s carnage! Our sages estimate it has fed on the blood of hundreds of thousands of monsters. We lost three B-Grades experts to capture it, so its strength and value are beyond doubt! I present to you, the Crimson Orchid!”

One of the attendants pulled a stick out of the box, letting the whole thing collapse around its contents. The Crimson Orchid was revealed to the world. It was a flower the size of a human’s torso, with thick, tall petals covering it completely. It reminded Jack of a pitcher plant. Of course, it was entirely red, and the moment it appeared, the entire square was filled with the thick scent of blood.

Boy, I’d hate living in this area, Jack thought.

“The initial bidding price is one late B-Grade core, and you may bid in increments of at least one early B-Grade core,” the mouth declared. “Let the Empty Star Auction…begin!”

Before it even finished its words, people were shouting prices.

“One late B-Grade core and one early B-Grade!”

“One and three!”

“One and seven!”

“Two late B-Grades!”

“Three late B-Grades!”

“Four late and two early B-Grades!”

The price hitched up rapidly. Jack struggled a bit to follow the pricing—everyone else was much more familiar with this world’s currency exchanges.

“The first item is so expensive…” Brock muttered.

“It’s customary for auctions to start with a heavy-hitter to get the audience going,” Starhair explained. “Don’t worry. Not everything will be as pricey.”

The bidders competed for a while before the price stabilized. Bids were rarer and at smaller increments. Eventually, the item was sold for one early A-Grade core and three peak B-Grades. In a rare gesture of kindness, the real bidders of this item had let the audience shout low prices for a while to make them feel good.

The final winner was a late B-Grade octopus with five legs, which Jack recognized from his inn’s tavern.

“Congratulations!” the floating mouth said. The octopus teleported on-stage, passed a space ring to an attendant, and once its contents were verified, took the Crimson Orchid and teleported away. Jack didn’t see where it reappeared. It was probably running away in fear of someone killing it for the orchid after the auction.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

And, it was correct. Jack spotted several shadowy figures teleport away at the same time as the octopus. It wasn’t his business.

“Next up!” the mouth declared. “From the glaciers of the southern Hex Province, we have…”

A few more items passed. All were precious, but none matched the price of the Blood Orchid, at most reaching eight peak B-Grade cores. Jack noticed that not all of the items had been part of yesterday’s announcement. Apparently, that had included only the highest-valued ones.

Four items after the orchid, another high-value item appeared. It was a stone wheel containing mysterious inscriptions. According to the auctioneer, it was a broken manual pertaining to the Dao of Momentum. After a few price calls, it came down to two individuals who really, really wanted that item. Their fierce bidding war ended with one taking home the wheel for a whooping one early A-Grade and five peak B-Grades cores.

Like the octopus, this monster wasn’t strong enough to protect this treasure, so it ran away immediately. And, like the octopus, it was followed. Whether it escaped or not would depend on its speed.

This wasn’t a phenomenon limited to the Space Monster World. Even in the outside universe, auctions were both about securing the item you wanted and escaping with it. Savory individuals were everywhere—and too much wealth could lead to one’s downfall.

So far, the two Elders above hadn’t spoken a single time. Neither had Jack. Nothing had caught his interest enough.

Finally, twenty-one items into the auction, something did. “Found by one of our Elders in a vast underground labyrinth,” the mouth declared somberly, “we present something which needs no introduction. A late A-Grade core!”

An attendant walked on stage and placed a silk-covered item on a pedestal. She then lifted the silk. A sphere was revealed to the audience, the size of Jack’s waist and emanating a terrible aura of power. Green swirls filled it, moving as if alive. Life energy emanated from it in waves, making those closest to the stage take deep breaths in hopes of ingesting just a little of the core’s energy.

Jack’s eyes shone. A late A-Grade core would be useless to him if it was incompatible…but this one carried the Dao of Life! Had it been made for him?

He made a split-second decision. The black hole manual was important, but it was a big gamble. This core could help him rapidly increase his powers in a short time-span. It was exactly what he needed. He decided to get it.

Well, if he could. The core’s monetary value was nine early A-Grade ones, so three times Jack’s current wealth, but very few people possessed that kind of money. With a little bit of luck…

“The starting price will be one early A-Grade core, and bids can be made in increments of one peak B-Grade core,” the mouth instructed. “May the bidding begin!”

“One early A-Grade core and three peak B-Grade ones!” someone shouted immediately.

“One and seven.”

“Two early A-Grade cores!”

The price was quickly approaching Jack’s limit. Too quickly.

“Two early A-Grade and three peak B-Grade cores!” he shouted, hoping for a miracle.

“Four early A-Grade cores!”

The response had been sharp and instant. Jack looked up, where a huge godzilla-like beast gazed at him with mockery. He almost cursed. Of course. Elder Crownbeast would never let him get anything unless he really, really hitched up the price.

Fuck this guy, Jack thought. Two can play this game.

“Five early A-Grade cores!” he shouted. He didn’t have this much. If the auction ended now, he would be in trouble, but he was confident Elder Crownbeast would take the bait.

He had to risk it. If he didn’t, then the Elder would certainly bid on the black hole manual as well, or any other item Jack was interested in. His only chance was to milk the Elder’s reserves a little—after all, while he certainly carried an immense amount of wealth, he had to save most of it to bid against Elder Puerto for the Overlord core.

Elder Crownbeast narrowed his eyes. “Two middle A-Grade cores!” he shouted.

“Two and two!” Jack shouted back.

“Two and four!”

By now, everyone else had stopped bidding. Not only was this too much money, but they wouldn’t be idiots to bet against an A-Grade.

Jack bit his lips, pretending to hesitate. “Two middle A-Grade cores and seven early ones!” he shouted.

The Elder laughed. “Three middle A-Grade cores! Let’s see how high you can go, boy!”

Jack pretended to throw a fit. Finally, he crossed his arms and sullenly sat on Dolly’s back. “IT’S OKAY, MASTER,” the hellhorse said. “YOU’LL GET HIM NEXT TIME!”

Jack pretended to grumble. Inwardly, he was happy. He’d managed to make Elder Crownbeast waste three middle A-Grade cores on an item he could have gotten with almost half of that. In fact, he’d have liked to get the price even higher, but even Jack couldn’t take on too much risk. Any A-Grade was extremely intelligent. Up to this point was fine, because the Elder knew that Jack had gotten three early A-Grade cores from Saturnsun, so it was reasonable he had a few more. But, going any higher might raise suspicions.

“That was good, bro,” Brock said. “We lost the item, but it’s okay. At least he paid through the nose. What a loser.”

Jack laughed. They hadn’t bothered to keep their voices down, so several people from the audience looked up nervously. Elder Crownbeast remained still like a statue. The late A-Grade core he’d just won was received by one of his assistants.

“Please don’t do that again,” Starhair said telepathically. Jack looked over to find him looking perfectly composed, but there was no hiding the panic in his voice.

“Sorry I scared you,” he replied. “Ιt worked out.”

“Luckily.”

“Worth the risk.”

Starhair did not reply, and neither did Jack. He turned to watch the rest of the auction. He’d done everything he could so far. Hopefully, he’d win the black hole manual or something else.

The floating mouth presented a few more items, but the Elders did not speak again. They were both saving their resources for the final and far most precious item, the overlord core. Jack hoped he’d at least made a dent on Crownbeast’s wallet.

On the thirty-third item, a ginseng root emitting extreme life energy was presented. The auctioneer called it Star Root. Jack bid on it, but Elder Crownbeast eventually won it with one middle A-Grade core and two early ones. Jack didn’t dare go too high this time. The item’s actual value was far lower.

On the fiftieth item, the auctioneer presented a case containing ink and pencils. They had the mystical power to connect two individuals through matching tattoos. Brock wanted this item, and Jack bid on it, but it was eventually won by a straw-hatted peak B-Grade monster at two early A-Grade cores—a price far above the item’s actual worth. He must have wanted it very badly. Even Brock only had a passing interest in it—blowing their entire wallet on it just wasn’t worth it.

Finally, on the sixty-ninth item, came the one Jack had been waiting for. The incomplete black hole manual. The one he wanted to win no matter what.