The Game Rune System

"Barbarian buff…" Tetsuya opened the game rune window from eroge rune, then peaked at the Barbarian Buff that was now applied to his body. It came from Karola, so it turned out that she has connections to this race.

Tetsuya's memory never lied to him and he knew that the former bandits from his pack were using simplified versions of strengthening rune! This rune had connection to the Barbarian Race and their strength was certainly unique as Demon bloodline was needed to see through him.

That was why Tetsuya looked forward to seeing what kind of buff he received, "Not bad." He shortly said after reading through the content.

[Barbarian Buff - passive strength stat increasement.]

It was a short version of what Tetsuya read. It turned out that this buff would be splendid for any normal human or race that wanted to polish their bodies. Because Barbarians were a race that could utilize the raw strength perfectly solely with their bodies, this buff would be able to shape every human and similar race into strongmen.

However, Tetsuya was a game master and his strength originated from the game rune that was connected to the playful demon bloodline. It meant that barbarian buff had no other usages other than passive strength stat increasement upon leveling up or simply gaining this stat.

It was no weak buff by any means, though.

And Karola opened new possibilities to Tetsuya who promised to strengthen the runes for his village!

As this buff turned out to be great overall, Tetsuya stroked Karola's blue hair with gentle eyes then the time continued to tick slowly, but pleasantly.

-

"Tetsuya… Just don't go ham." Yurek begged as the action day arrived. He looked like a grandpa who had no means to control his bad grandson! Looking weaker than usual, the old man just spoke nicely to Tetsuya.

On the other hand, the game master was as cheerful and confident as usual, "You must be thinking that I will make a show in the auction. That's inevitable, but won't it take place in the 'paying room'? It's not like the whole audience will go against us if things turn like you think it would." Tetsuya shrugged, then led the party out of the inn.

It was time to go to the auction!

The auction's building was close to the nice tower in the city.

From the outside, it looked like theatre. There were many rows to the auction building and Tetsuya unavoidably had to enter one of those. People from various origins and their outfits simply brought a lot of aura, so no one paid any attention to Tetsuya and his party.

He and his two friends were also clad in common clothes that were poor compared to all visitors.

"You. Give me your spot and go behind me." A sudden voice assailed Tetsuya who just smirked upon it. He was one of the youngest people here, around Tetsuya age. This person was a brat who got spoiled by his parents for sure!

Tetsuya imagined what kind of trouble such a person would bring, then he gave him a side glance.

"Repeat." This side glance was terrifying. A narrowed eye of the game master who stepped on the demonic path brought more than just looks. It was a pressure that no one would like to deal with.

The young master bit his lips, inhaled deeply and carefully took a step back all while keeping his wide eyes on Tetsuya. He felt like even apologizing, but the game master had no reason to bother himself with such a person.

Tetsuya just turned around as no words could be uttered from another party and returned to his calm side that just patiently waited for the queue to move.

This made Yurek sigh with relief, his eyes peeking at the young master who just spoke. It was noble and promising family lingering on the young noble's armor, so he inwardly began to pray for this young master to just keep things quiet within himself.

The old man also turned his eyes at the guards whose eyes were also intimidated by Tetsuya. It turned out that this side glance aimed for more and Yurek inwardly praised Tetsuya for that.

But knowing how young masters usually went, Yurek expected some trouble later on… He was expecting a lot from the beginning, so it was just the tip of the iceberg. An old master didn't want to get spotted, so he also returned to his calm and collected side.

It was amazing for Tetsuya to just stay in the queue, but it wasn't like he didn't know how to adapt or play along with others. He waited for his turn, then entered the auction.

Theatre on the outside, theatre on the inside.

The huge hall spread itself before his eyes, then Tetsuya like the master himself took the seat for himself. As a gentleman who also loved to nurture love, Tetsuya also helped Karola to take a seat by extending his hand and leading her.

She smiled brightly and felt more lady-like, then both of them enjoyed the soft seats.

"Thank you, Tetsuya. You know how to make a woman like me comfortable in such a place." His smile and eyes alone pulled Karola to their world.

"Don't break the charm by saying this." Tetsuya faintly laughed while looking around.

Karola just giggled, then enjoyed his touch and this new 'high' status place a mercenary would find hard to stay comfortable in. It wasn't like there weren't any mercenaries, but all of them were standing on the side while remaining vigilant.

"Welcome to our auction, dear guests." The auction began when a sexy, but cute woman entered the stage.