After a moment, Arthur nodded and thanked the smith before he turned to John.

He didn’t even need to ask whether John wanted to take a look at the place before they logged out. The excitement on his face was basically palpable.

...

The streets thickened with people as Arthur and John moved closer to the heart of the city.

The outer market had been noisy enough, but closer to the city center was pure chaos. Players filled the streets as far as the eye could see, and Arthur quickly noticed that it wasn’t just humans either. Non-humans were apparently a dime a dozen in this place, as well.

Some of them had scaled forms with reptilian jaws and small beady eyes, others looked like feathered creatures with taloned hands and giant wings on their backs, and even some horned silhouettes that resembled human-shaped rhinos were mixed in between. And these were only the ones that Arthur noticed.

But the majority of people were still clearly human.

...

After walking for what seemed like half an hour, Arthur and John eventually found their target.

It was a massive structure of white stone and golden trim, its outer walls carved with leaves of pure gold. The archway out front was wide enough to admit two wagons side by side, with streams of players and non-humans flowing in and out of its entrance. Soldiers wearing the city guard’s crest stood on both sides of the entrance, their halberds resting against their shoulders as they kept everything in order.

Just like the dwarf had said, it was impossible to miss this place.

Arthur couldn’t help but lift an eyebrow in surprise as he took in the stunning scene.

He hadn’t expected to see this many people gathered in one place. Every single building in this city was already gigantic, but this place in front of him toppled everything else he’d seen so far.

...

Arthur and John followed the crowd as they stepped inside. The noise around them dulled but didn’t disappear.

The chamber itself was huge, with a vaulted ceiling painted in murals Arthur didn’t even understand. Some of them looked like paintings of snakes biting the sun, while others depicted tigers fighting among themselves inside a pool of water. It was a... peculiar sight.

The first floor of the auction house had pillars that rose like tree trunks, their bases crowded with other players loitering aimlessly. A long line could be seen stretching before the reception counter, where attendants in formal clothing processed requests with swift precision.

Arthur and John joined the queue without hesitation.

When their turn finally came, Arthur went still for a moment.

The receptionist in front of him wasn’t human. Its features were unmistakable: a slender build, four long arms, and a pair of slanted eyes eerily similar to the Gwong war tribe’s. No... not just similar.

This was a member of the Gwong war tribe!

Even more unnerving was the way the creature smiled at them and spoke in a voice smooth as silk.

"Welcome to the Golden Oak Auction House. How may I help you?"

Arthur took a deep breath to steady his nerves. By now he was used to dealing with aliens. Well... as used to it as anyone could be after a day or two, at least.

He looked at the receptionist and kept his tone even as he said, "Do you sell skillbooks here? And appraise them?"

The creature nodded its head gracefully.

Its mannerisms, its slender build, its much softer voice, all gave Arthur the impression it was probably a female, though he wasn’t sure the Gwong war tribe even sorted its members into male and female to begin with.

Not that he cared, if he were honest.

The creature pointed at the staircase at the end of the hall behind her and answered,

"Low-rank skillbooks for all classes are displayed on the second floor. If you wish to have one appraised, our staff there will assist you as well."

John’s eyes brightened, a grin tugging at his face. It was as if he didn’t even care the receptionist was a member of those damn aliens that invaded Earth. He just nodded as he and Arthur crossed the hall and ascended the staircase.

...

The second floor spread out like a gallery.

Glass cases stretched from wall to wall, each one filled with leather-bound books sealed beneath their protective covers. There were hundreds, no, probably thousands of them, organized in long, neat rows.

The cases glimmered with a faint silver light, while the text above each book glowed in a language Arthur couldn’t read.

His feet suddenly stopped. The alien symbols were the same ones he’d seen on the insectoid shopkeeper’s counter, the one the shopkeeper had called the ’language of the Universe’.

"What the hell? Are they messing with us?" John cursed under his breath. He pressed a palm against the glass, his eyes straining as though that might change the letters. But the script remained incomprehensible regardless of how much he tried.

Arthur didn’t say anything for a bit. He just looked around as he assessed the situation. No wonder this floor was almost empty despite the massive crowd outside. There were barely a dozen humans wandering it, each one frowning in the same helpless frustration as John.

It seemed that everyone was facing the same problem they were. Nobody could even read the skills in the glass cases or tell what they were about.

But Arthur wasn’t discouraged. He’d known the game’s language was different ever since he’d first walked into the insectoid shopkeeper’s alchemy shop. So, he simply walked toward one of the attendants waiting off to the side.

This one was different from the Gwong war tribe member on the first floor. It had feline features, orange fur, two long ears flicking lazily, and a tail that curled with every idle breath it took.

Arthur stopped in front of it, and after a moment he asked,

"Excuse me, can you tell us about the Warrior skills you have? Like their descriptions and prices."

The creature — that looked like something like a cross between a human and a cat — rolled its eyes at him.

"If you can’t even read the language of the universe, give up. There’s no way I’m explaining every skillbook here one by one."

Off to the side, John looked like he was about to snap, his jaw flexing as he stepped forward,

"We don’t need every skill. Just the Warrior class. Surely, you can do that much, right?"

The creature’s tail lashed once. Its teeth flashed as it stared at the two humans,

"We have more than a dozen skills for Warriors. Am I supposed to do this for every inferior race that comes here and can’t even read? What do you take this place for"

Finally, Arthur’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t really care about the disdain the creature showed them, but if it refused to even help them when they were here to pick a skill for John... that would be a bit problematic.

But maybe it was the growing pressure, or maybe it was just how empty the second floor was compared to the rest of the auction house, but the attendant actually relented.

"It’s just the skills for Warriors, right?"

Arthur nodded, and the creature huffed and turned around, gesturing with a flick of its tail as it expected them to follow.