Chapter 52: Auction P1
Scratching the back of her head slightly, Shiro looked at her new hair with a slightly perplexed expression.
It wasn't that she didn't like it but that this meant troubles for her later on. The chances of her body changing more with each star earned were quite high as Shiro couldn't explain the growth.
[You like this hair? I wasn't too sure.] Shiro lied as she examined her hair.
"Un your hair is nice. It's rather unique with the white flares around the edges." Lyrica nodded as she made sure her nosebleed was gone.
Pulling out a handkerchief, she cleaned her nose a little.
[Well enough of that. Have you prepared yet?] Shiro asked.
"Prepared for the event?"
[Yeah. Faction recruitment starts in 2 days. You should prepare yourself since we want you to get into a decent guild. With a good guild, the mortality would be lower.]
"True. But I'm not sure if I can get into one. From the previous faction events, I know that there is an introduction then a total of 5 stages and a prize pool at the end." Lyrica said as they walked into the dorm.
[Do you know how the event is going to be laid out this year?] Shiro asked as she wanted to test Lyrica.
"The introduction is basically the different factions showing off so people can decide which one they want to join. The intro includes different factions sparring with each other and competing in some fun events.
"The next stage or the actual stage 1, is the warrior's division. Every melee type adventurer participates in this event as the challenges vary every time it is held.
"Stage 2 is the mages division. Just like stage 1, every mage participated in this event.
"Stages 1 and 2 aim to thin out the crowd in for both mages and warriors alike. This would leave around a few thousand competitors in the event.
"Stage 3 is aimed at thinning the crowd even more. Most often, this is a battle royal. They'll be doing this part in the simulation so people can go all out.
"Stage 4 is a tournament of sorts. They'll reshuffle the remaining members and put them in several different blocks. Anyone who isn't top 3 is then eliminated.
"The final stage, stage 5, is where it's 1 vs 1 fights. The winner of each block will place in the top 10, 20, 25 etc depending on how many there are.
"The order is shuffled around so the potential 1st place may be the last place within the top 20. As for people under the top 20, they can challenge the higher ranks to try to get into the top 20.
"There are rewards for the top 10, top 20, top 50 and top 100. Last time they held the recruitment, they had C ranked items for top 10. The winner had a special C ranked item that boosted his potential up by several folds." Lyrica explained as they went to her room.
Sitting down on the chair again, Shiro crossed her legs.
[So are we going to be registered as adventurer's or under the school?]
"We'll be registered under the school when we join the faction recruitment. This is so that the school can have bragging rights if a big faction recruits one of our students." Lyrica said.
[I see. Oh before I forget, I'll be heading out again tomorrow. Only to get some accessories.]
"Mind if you take me along?" Lyrica asked.
[Sure. Though the shop name is a little out there, the private stock is definitely worth it. It's where I got both of our outfits.]
"Heh~ I'm more curious now. It's not every day you see such a good outfit too. Not to mention, it doesn't break." Lyrica said as she glanced at her outfit.
[We'll set off early tomorrow. Goodnight.] Shiro typed as Lyrica nodded.
Walking back to her room, Shiro frowned seeing another shadow.
Flexing her finger, a spike appeared and stabbed the shadow at the temple.
"Tsk. Stalker." Shiro frowned as she set a few traps around her room.
It took an hour before all the traps were laid out perfectly.
Shiro decided to message Aarim as well seen as though she had the chance.
[Shiro: Hey Aarim. Would it be fine if I visited your shop to commission for another accessory made from monster cloth?]
[Aarim: How much monster cloth do you think I have available?!]
Shiro was surprised seeing how fast Aarim replied.
[Shiro: I just want to commission a face mask that I can pull down. Black in colour.]
[Aarim: Hmm... sure. You know the payment right? Modelling again.]
[Shiro: I'm not too sure about this. I have a friend coming with me.]
[Aarim: You can just do the photoshoot together with your friend.]
[Shiro: I'll have to ask her tomorrow then.]
[Aarim: If she doesn't want to, I'll put it on a tab. You can come model for me when you have time.]
[Shiro: Thank you very much.]
[Aarim: no problems.]
Putting her phone aside, Shiro changed into her nightwear before sleeping.
###
[Would it be ok if you pose for a few outfits with me? The outfits Aarim has are quite nice as well.]
"Are they similar to what we have on now?"
[Kind of. Since these outfits are what I requested, they're a little different to what she has in stock.]
"Heh~ I mean I don't see why not. It seems fun." Lyrica said. While her speech was calm, her mind was racing about the type of outfits she could see Shiro wear.
Turning into an alleyway, Lyrica frowned slightly.
"So are you sure the store is in this alleyway?" Lyrica asked.
[The location is a little obscure but it is indeed here. You'll see it when we get there.] Shiro said as they turned a few corners.
[Aarim's Sexual Pleasure Item Store.]
"..."
Lyrica blushed heavily seeing the store title as she looked over to Shiro.
Shiro wasn't phased at all as she entered inside.
"AH! Shiro wait up!" Lyrica called out before following her.
Hiding behind Shiro slightly, they enter the store.
"Welcome~ Ah you're here. And you brought your friend as you said." Aarim smiled as Shiro nodded.
[Yeah, she's agreed to model with me.] Shiro typed out as Lyrica moved around nervously thinking about the type of outfits they could have.
'Surely it shouldn't be similar to what her store sign is right?' Lyrica thought as the image of Shiro wearing something lewd was outside of her character.
'But it may not be that bad.' Lyrica blushed.
Aarim grinned seeing the reactions and the type of gaze Lyrica looked at Shiro with.
'I should get some of my more spicy outfits out.' Aarim thought with a grin.
[Nothing lewd.]
"Che." Both Aarim and Lyrica clicked their tongues as Shiro had a bland expression.
Lyrica blushed as her guard was down so her internal thoughts leaked out.
Aarim only grinned wider.
Reaching under the table, she pulled out a face mask.
"This is what you wanted. It zips up at the back." Aarim said as Shiro nodded.
Putting on the mask, Shiro pulled up the fabric so it covered her mouth and nose.
Breathing wasn't hindered as Shiro pulled out a mirror to check how it looked.
'It's not too bad. It hides my lower face quite nicely actually. Only my hair is a little more memorable I suppose.' Shiro thought as she looked at her hair which had a white flare at the tips.
"Let's go to the studio." Aarim said as she clapped her hands.
Lyrica nodded as she was much more eager than Shiro.
Walking back to the studio, Aarim revealed her outfit collection to Lyrica.
"Wow." Lyrica muttered seeing the huge assortment of outfits.
[How many are we doing today?] Shiro asked.
"Since it was only a mask, I'll let you off a bit easier. 30 sets."
"30 sets?!" Lyrica was shocked. 30 sets took quite a lot of time to try on and that wasn't factoring the modelling time.
"It's simple, last time Shiro did well over 100 sets for me." Aarim waved her hand as she grabbed an outfit.
Handing it over to Shiro, she also gave a set to Lyrica.
"Now get changed while I set up the camera." Aarim said.
Shiro nodded as she walked to the changing rooms. Undressing herself, Shiro couldn't help but raise an eyebrow to her figure. Not only did her face change slightly, but her body also.
Yesterday she was too tired to check, but now she realised she's grown a little as well. Her bust, whilst still small, grew a little too.
'I wonder what the owner of this body looked like as a grown-up.' Shiro thought with curiosity.
Changing into clothes made with monster cloth was much easier than normal due to the fact that it was effected by mana.
Expanding the outfit, Shiro put her arms through the sleeves before shrinking the outfit.
Wearing a few more pieces, she was fully changed.
Lyrica was daydreaming as she examined Shiro's body entirely.
[Are you not feeling well? I'll do your half of the modelling as well if you aren't feeling well.] Shiro offered.
"Ah no, it's fine." Lyrica said snapping out of it. She didn't know how it was possible but it felt like Shiro's grown a little.
'If she had a slightly more mature body, it wouldn't be too bad either...' She thought to herself.
Copying what Shiro did, Lyrica was surprised at how easy it was to change into the outfit. It was even more so than her current outfit since her outfit was in pieces. These dresses, however, were mostly 1 piece dresses.
"Hmm... if every outfit is this easy, 30 outfits will be done in no time." Lyrica said as she put on the accessories.
Shiro only smiled as Lyrica would be eating her own words soon.
Walking out of the changing room, they saw Aarim with everything set up.
"Get on, we're taking a few photos now." Aarim smiled and gestured to the area with the white back drop.
###
"Urggggggg..." Lyrica groaned as she finally finished doing the final outfit.
[I remember a certain someone saying this will be done in no time at all.] Shiro chuckled slightly.
"Yes I did. However, she took over a hundred pictures with each outfit!" Lyrica said sitting up.
[It isn't too bad. If you get used to it, you can get through a hundred pictures quicker.] Shiro smiled.
"I suppose but urg... so tiring." Lyrica complained.
"Since you've already got your item, you don't get a reward ok Shiro?" Aarim said as Shiro nodded.
"As for your friend Lyrica here... catch this." Aarim said flicking over a USB.
Catching it, Lyrica glanced at it with curiosity.
"A 3TB USB? What do I need it for?" Lyrica asked.
"It's 3TB worth of modelling pictures Shiro took including today. You don't wan-"
"Who said I don't want." Lyrica said quickly storing it inside her inventory.
Aarim giggled as this was what she expected.
"By the way, I heard that there is a pretty big auction happening tonight. They're holding it since the faction recruitment is tomorrow. With everyone in the city, they'll have a bigger audience to take money from." Aarim said as she sat down by the counter. She decided to inform Shiro and Lyrica as they may find something useful int the auction.
[A auction? Is there anything remarkable about it?] Shiro asked.
"Remarkable? Hmm... they said something about a sword being really good for low levels. A blue greatsword in fact. Quite a rare weapon." Aarim said as Shiro paused.
'Isn't that the sword I scammed to them?' Shiro thought.
[What's so remarkable with the sword?]
"They say the skill is a rare percentage skill. It's able to increase the strength of the user by 100% for a short moment. Since the sword itself is level 15, not only could it help the pass their class advancement, but it will also help them get an edge over other level 20 adventurer's that join the event."
[Then what about items?] Shiro asked. Weapons were nice and all, but items held the cake for her.
She could craft a few items, but they were very limited due to her knowledge of them.
"Items... Hmm... I don't remember a lot but the supposedly best item for the auction is something called an awakening stone. If you don't know what it is, its an item that'll help you unlock your elemental attunement or at least enhance it. Tier 0 to Tier 1 with the highest being Tier 1 to Tier 2." Aarim said with a wave of her hand.
'The awakening stone is pretty good I suppose.' Shiro thought as she too knew about this stone. If one had more than 1 elemental attunement, the stone would have a randomised chance to awaken your main element or the sub-element. For her, it was a chance between 3 elements since the ice was already Tier 2.
'Having an extra element would help I suppose but my MP drain is going to increase.'
She had 3 elements right now at Tier 0 so the moment she used the awakening stone, she'll gain the skill line for one of these elements. Lightning to improve her attack power. Metal for defence, which was rather useless considering her fighting style, and Shadow to increase stealth.
'I'll think of more ways to use them when I unlock them.' Shiro thought as the auction seemed pretty appealing as of this moment.