Chapter 2074: Information In The Bleachers

Their animated conversation attracted more of the spectators to join in during a lull in the fighting.

There wasn’t a tournament, so there was no guarantee that there would always be a fight. But there were enough of them that most of the time the arena floor was occupied.

"An hour on a mana potion? That’s practically custom-made for this city, isn’t it? The dungeon, the arena. Even if you have to wait a bit for your fight, you can just chug it as you leave the waiting room and be good to go."

The others near the man who had spoken all nodded their agreement. Buffing up with potions was a common thing in the dungeon, but you always wanted to drink them where your opponent couldn’t see you so that it was a mystery to the person you were fighting.

Most of the usual combat effects were short-lived, and easy enough to detect. But mana recovery was subtle.

So subtle that you could fight two rounds without stepping out of each other’s sight, and still have the effect. A most excellent way to troll your opponent.

More fights started, and the area fell silent for a moment, before someone brought up the coastal situation.

"I hear that the Elves brought a shipment of your goods to Bramp, up the inland channel. I met with a Guild Master from the Sudford Auction House, and apparently it caused quite a stir. Two Peerless Grade items up for auction at the same time."

Karl nodded. "I shouldn’t be surprised that they are trading anywhere along the coast, I suppose. But I only recently came to this world, and the idea that the continent is split nearly into two islands, but not quite, makes me forget that you can get to the middle without leaving the ocean."

The size made a difference as well.

This world was ten times larger than the one Karl came from, so the fjord, if you wanted to call it that, was a thousand kilometres wide at some points, and over six thousand kilometres from them.

To get there, the Elves had almost certainly used a portal array, there was no other way to have arrived so quickly, even with wind and water magic pushing the boat.

Unless this was one of the earlier shipments, and they had simply saved some of the good stuff for later.

That was always a possibility.

A woman in the robes of the black dragon god nodded. "They’re not the only ones that are making the reports. The Dragon Church has been noting Peerless Grade weapons showing up all over the southern and eastern coasts in the last month or so.

The church suspected that a lot of it had to do with the Darklight Host, since they formed an agreement with you about the same time. But I don’t think that they suspected just how far the Elves were going to spread the wealth.

Everyone assumed that they were going to sell them to the major auction houses in conflict zones."

That made a few of the men sigh dramatically.

That sounded like exactly the sort of thing that the Blue Elves would do. Sell weapons to every side of a conflict, convincing them that they have the upper hand, then sell them even better weapons when they found out that they didn’t.

The Immortal on Karl’s left shrugged. "I doubt that it’s going to be as bad as people are making it out to be. A couple of Peerless weapons at auction won’t even make a dent in the market. There’s what, sixty thousand Clan members in the Sudford area? Even if you sold them a thousand Peerless weapons, it wouldn’t cover ever Elder.

But the Knutsed City auction got five, and they’ve got over three hundred thousand active Clan members just in the city and suburban area.

It’s more about who has a good relationship with the Elves at this point.

They’re likely selling a few more of them directly to those who deal fairly with them, and then putting the rest at auction, so they appear a bit more fair."

Karl smiled and didn’t say anything.

They only got a fleet a week through the port, so they had barely sent out a half dozen shipments, and already it was making waves. Not because it was getting to the point that it was changing outcomes, but because the items were so rare that their appearance made people talk.

That was a great way to spread word of the Darklight Host.

The black dragon Priestess winked at Karl. "I didn’t need an auction report to know that this man was a shit disturber, though. Most of you aren’t Dragon God followers, but it’s pretty common knowledge that the local Darklight Host branch caused such an uproar that not only did they get a Demigod sent for guidance, but they have a permanent observer stationed here."

Karl chuckled as he wondered where Veda was right now. Likely in the Guild House. The Seeker of the Blue Dragon was here to learn where all the new skills were coming from, and to study the new knowledge that the Darklight Host came up with.

She was actually quite an unobtrusive sort, mostly watching people work, or sitting and listening to Opal’s stories.

The two of them had become good friends because Opal had an immense thirst for gossip, and the Blue Dragon needed to know everything that was going on. So, Veda learned all about the new skills, growth, and development of the Darklight Host, as instructed, and Opal got someone to gossip with.

The man in the row in front of Karl raised a hand, "Wait, back up. Which Dragon God sent a Seeker?"

That was an important distinction.

The Black Priestess smiled. "The Blue Dragon sent a seeker to find out why they’re so strange. But the Black Dragon sent a Demigod to warn The Karl about the dangers of innovation."

Karl smiled back at her. "On a related note, we taught Yewan how to self resurrect, and he’s still in his whelpling phase. I’m quite proud of him."

The Priestess sighed. "I understand so much now."