"What’s the matter? Is Nightmare Auction House so busy you couldn’t find an opening for your own auction?" 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Damn. The sharp-eyed Old Vine had immediately guessed why Marcus was here. This was going to be awkward.

"Heh..."

Marcus forced out a laugh, already preparing an excuse, but before he could speak, Old Vine clapped him on the shoulder. "No problem. Same arrangement as before. No auction fee." Then he narrowed his eyes with curiosity. "So, Stone, what are you auctioning this time? It must be something important if you couldn’t wait for your own auction house to clear a slot. Is it something good?"

Marcus fell silent.

He hadn’t expected Old Vine to be this generous. Despite Marcus opening a competing auction house, the old man hadn’t hesitated for even a second before agreeing to help. That only made Marcus feel more guilty. Sure, he was one of Old Vine’s biggest clients and regularly brought valuable equipment and rare items, but at this point, Old Vine’s reputation and resources were already firmly established. Keeping Marcus around was a bonus, not a necessity.

Marcus understood exactly why Old Vine was helping him. It had nothing to do with business. It was because of their friendship.

"Old Vine..."

Marcus scratched his cheek awkwardly and was about to say something when Old Vine waved him off. "Stone, young people should have ambition. If you’ve got talent, use it. Don’t waste it. Seeing you start your own business makes me happy." He gave Marcus a long look before continuing. "At your age, you should be full of energy. A little confidence, a little competitiveness, that’s normal. But if you’re going to do something, do it properly. Results matter." Then he chuckled. "And Stone, I don’t like losers. I have high expectations for your Nightmare Auction House."

Marcus was caught off guard by how sincere the old man sounded.

"Yeah."

He nodded firmly. It had been a very long time since someone had spoken to him like that. Since his parents had passed away, almost nobody had shown that kind of concern for him, much less offered such straightforward encouragement. For a moment, Marcus didn’t know what to say.

"Old Vine..."

The words had barely left his mouth when Old Vine interrupted him again. "Enough of that. Show me the item already. Let’s see what you’ve brought this time."

"Right."

Marcus gave up trying to express himself and simply took out the Guild Creation Token. "It’s nothing special. Just another Guild Creation Token. If it ends up selling to the tenth guild, it should still fetch a decent price."

"A Guild Creation Token?"

Old Vine’s eyes widened. He took the token and stared at it as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing.

Marcus was confused. Was it really that surprising? Old Vine had already auctioned two Guild Creation Tokens for him before. Shouldn’t he be used to it by now?

After turning the token over several times, Old Vine finally let out a long breath. "Stone, you’ve somehow gotten your hands on three of Dominion’s ten Guild Creation Tokens. If I hadn’t seen it myself, I wouldn’t believe it. That’s insane."

Only then did Marcus realize what had shocked him. It wasn’t the token itself. It was the fact that Marcus had obtained three of them. When he thought about it, three out of ten really was a ridiculous number. Of course, this particular token wasn’t something Marcus had earned personally. The moment he thought of Shadowfall, a grin appeared on his face.

"Old Vine, how much do you think it’ll sell for?"

Marcus looked far more interested in the answer to that question.

"Stone."

Instead of replying, Old Vine studied him for a moment. "Have you really never considered starting your own guild? This is your last chance. Why not build something of your own and see how far you can take it?"

"No interest."

Marcus answered without hesitation. Old Vine seemed determined to ask him this question every time the topic came up. Was founding a guild really that important? Marcus genuinely preferred being on his own. Most of the legendary figures in history had wandered the world independently, relying on their own strength rather than hiding behind an organization. Besides... He glanced at the women standing nearby. None of them had any interest in seeing him become a guild master either. Not one of them seemed excited by the idea of becoming the girl of one of Dominion’s ten great guild leaders. And in Marcus’s view, creating a guild didn’t automatically mean achieving greatness anyway. If you were strong enough, people would notice regardless.

"You..."

Old Vine looked at him the way a teacher might look at a brilliant student who refused to apply himself. ’This kid was hopelessly lazy.’ "No interest" was obviously just an excuse. Old Vine grumbled inwardly. If it had been anyone else, he would have stopped wasting his breath long ago, but for some reason he genuinely liked Marcus. There was something straightforward about the young man that made it hard to dislike him. ’Was he really planning to drift through life without pursuing anything bigger?’

Then Old Vine glanced at the women around him again. A few of them had revealed their real appearances before, and he still remembered them clearly. Elegant, beautiful, and extraordinary. Even his own granddaughters, Icefall and Firebrand, would not necessarily outshine them. ’Could Marcus actually be hiding his abilities while pretending to be carefree?’ The thought crossed Old Vine’s mind more than once. Yet every time he looked at the young man, Marcus seemed completely genuine.

Old Vine had always considered himself an excellent judge of character, but Marcus was the one person he could never quite figure out. He couldn’t see through him, couldn’t predict him, and couldn’t even guess where he had truly come from.

"Old Vine, how much will it sell for?"

Marcus brought the conversation right back to the only thing he cared about.

Seeing that there was no hope of changing his mind, Old Vine finally surrendered. "This is the last of Dominion’s ten Guild Creation Tokens. Every mercenary group that hasn’t established a guild yet will be competing for it. The demand should be every bit as fierce as it was for the first token." He paused briefly before continuing. "Actually, it may be even worse. Players have accumulated far more wealth than they had back then, so I’d expect the final price to exceed the previous records."

As he spoke, Old Vine threw an arm around Marcus’s shoulders and started leading him inside. "Come on. Let’s discuss the auction properly. I’ve picked up several excellent bottles recently. We’ll have a drink while we work out the details. The auction’s tomorrow, so there’s plenty of time."

Although Marcus had irritated him again today, Old Vine had to admit that sharing a drink with the kid was surprisingly enjoyable. Maybe it was because Marcus didn’t know his true identity, so there was never any flattery or careful politeness between them. Or maybe he simply enjoyed the young man’s company.

"Sounds good!"

Marcus’s eyes immediately lit up. If Old Vine called it good wine, then it was guaranteed to be worth drinking. The bottle of premium wine he’d shared with him last time was still something Marcus remembered very clearly.