"Go on lunch. I will count the half hour toward your work time. Get some food that isn't from your storage, and the others can watch the counter." Socrate insisted.

"Alright, see you in half an hour. Thanks for the help, Elder."

Karl's first action was to make three more rings, and put one in his space to upgrade. Then, he headed for the Warehouse, one of the few places he could go while on punishment duty.

He would likely end up eating from a street vendor, as he wasn't sure if the restaurants would let him in when the Library and Skill Book storage were off limits.

The restrictions on those being punished were mostly informal, he had discovered. It was up to the shops who got served and who did not.

The same girl was working when Karl got to the warehouse, looking exhausted as her shift was about to end.

"Miss Min, good morning. Glad to catch you before you left for bed. Or bubble tea, whatever it is you do after work."

The Green Dragon laughed and waved at him. "You've seen me at my worst. They're stressing me out with the constant checks for new gear."

"In that case, you're in luck. I have these two matched rings."

{Ring of Titanic Strength} Uncommon Grade, Immortal Rank 1/50, increases base strength by 400 percent, adds 500 points of base strength.

Min stared at the two identical rings, both crafted by Karl personally. "Oh, these are giving me a lady boner, and I'm not even a warrior. Alright, two bonuses, both apparently maximum for Uncommon, though they're actually higher than what my sheet says is the cap.

That's fifty credits each wholesale, or you can consign them and wait for payment. They'll likely go for sixty or sixty-five each."

Karl shook his head. "No, I will sell them to the warehouse. I'm less worried about the extra Clan Credits than in having immediate cash flow to keep the wife happy on her shopping trip."

Min nodded. "Yeah, coins go fast. Especially at two hundred a Credit. It doesn't take long to spend a thousand coins on a shopping trip to outfit a new apartment."

Karl laughed. If they were going to outfit the apartment from the stores instead of with [Illusionary Domain], he would need a lot more than a thousand coins. An enchanted sofa was five credits, which was a thousand coins at the straight conversion rate.

And that only got them one spot to sit.

Rae cheered as she realized where Karl was. If he was adding a hundred credits to the balance, there was no need to hold back. She could exchange another couple thousand coins and really treat Dana at the spa they had just found.

It promised all sorts of Immortal Rank skin products for sale, and a spa day to test them sounded wonderful.

They had two very different skin types, and Dana had fluffy fox ears that needed tender treatment. So, they would be able to learn what worked and bring it back to Remi for analysis as a gift to celebrate her advancement.

It was the most Remi possible gift ever.

Karl waved to Min as he saw the notice that his credit balance had increased by one hundred, then pretended not to notice that she immediately rang one up and put it in her inventory.

The dragon winked at him as she waved goodbye, only for Karl to be nearly bowled over by a pimple faced teen running in the door.

Karl caught the boy as he bounced off Karl's rather solid frame, but the boy only waved toward him as he stumbled to the counter.

"Is there still a ring? I saw them come up on the inventory. I have a ping set." He gasped.

"Indeed, one already sold to preorder. But there is one available."

The boy was about to speak when suddenly he was flying backward and a much larger man strode through the door, ducking to avoid hitting his head.

"That's wonderful news. I will take the ring. Seventy-five credits."

A deep huff stopped Min from handing over the ring, and a massive dragon head appeared through a portal.

{I will pay eighty}

Then the dragon transformed and stepped through to square off with the other warrior.

There was a sign above the counter that very clearly said "First Come, First Served", but that sentiment appeared to be much more of a suggestion than a hard and fast rule.

"Are you in the bidding war?" The new arrival asked Karl, who was still standing near the end of the counter.

"Nope. It's all you, I'm not involved in this one."

He was making another one of the rings, though. It would take them all of five seconds to realize that he had made the first one, and if he didn't at least make one more, they were going to come harass him at work.

Could you call it "at work" when you weren't getting paid to be there?

The two warriors were clashing with their auras, while the adolescent Immortal knelt by the door and cried. He was being crushed by their auras, too weak to get to his feet, and unable to reach the door from his spot on the ground.

Once the next ring was finished, Karl set his hand on the boy's shoulder and extended [Eternal Lightning] over him, easing the pressure of the silent argument.

They hadn't thrown any punches, or broken anything. It was a pure dominance fight between the dragon and the big human.

Then, an Elder in pure white Cleric Robes entered, ignoring the pressure of the auras.

"Ah, Min! You're still on shift. I see that you've got a strength ring in inventory."

Karl resisted the urge to facepalm as the Elder ignored the argument in the middle of the room, which was rapidly fading as they realized they would lose out on the ring to the Elder.

"The current bid is eighty Clan Credits." Min explained.

The Elder frowned. "That's a lot for an Uncommon Ring."

Min placed it on the counter, so everyone could see the actual bonuses on it.

"Oh, my. Now, that is a work of art. And it's a handcrafted piece, not a dungeon drop. Who lucked out and... Made By Karl of the Darklight Host."

Every head turned to face him.

"Gentlemen, enjoy your bidding war, I need to get back to the Alchemy Hall counter. I only got thirty minutes for lunch."

"Oh no, you don't. You're not running away like that."

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