Riuluk passed the rest of the day walking around in the streets of Duerth Merkath. He stopped for lunch in a cozy tavern: “The red Cloud”, and slept a bit on the grass of a small town garden. To the eyes of the Air dwarves, it is not something so uncommon. Since they are traveling folk, it is quite common for them to sleep in gardens to rest on their way from one place to another during daylight hours.

  After sleeping, he thought to go to the northern tower to see what the Spheres market had to offer. The northern market was renowned for having the one with most variety. Since the auction is surely going to be done, why not look already for even a more expensive Sphere than he ever had?

  To reach the northern market, Riuluk took a strange tool from his pocket, blew into it, and shot a blue line of smoke into the sky. He only had to wait about 20 seconds, and from the roof of the house to the right, a small Sphere came down to him for just two people.

  “Heeeya...” said the flying-driver,

  “Hello! I need to go to the northern tower Sphere market, please”, said Riuluk

  “Welcome on board! Would you like some salami treat meanwhile?” asked the flying-driver,

  “Sure, why not!” replied Riuluk

  If you have not noticed already, it is quite common for Cloud dwarves to make such services. Extra services that are a must in Cloud Dwarves society, a bit like tipping in some parts of your world. Of course, most of these extra services are food and drinks; some others offer different kinds of services. Others who have a more artistic view can also sing for you as an extra service, listen to your problems, some others compliment you during the journey, or others sing so badly that they become famous for making people laugh...for Cloud Dwarves, life has to be beautiful; they do put in any effort they can to provide a moment of happiness. Sometimes they try so hard that they can ruin the moment, but this is also why folks around the world get along with them very well. In contrast to their infamous cousins, sometimes even called savages.

  Even if they are not alike anymore for millennia, one thing is clear in the story of the Cloud Dwarves. They are a tribe that, so long ago, separated from their folk: the Dwarves of the wild lands. The story is about two brothers who fought over which path their folk should choose. They fought, and depending on where you listen to the story from, for the Cloud Dwarves, their ancestor won the duel; for the Dwarves of the wild lands, their ancestor won the duel. However, even if we do not know who exactly won, we do know that they got separated. While the tribes of the older brother stayed in the wild lands, the tribe of the younger brother left the wild lands, growing so much that they mastered the winds and conquered the Skies.

  The journey from Riuluk to the airport took about 4 minutes; of course, flying is not walking or horse riding, so it would have probably taken him 2 hours to reach by foot. He, of course, enjoyed his salami treat. The flying-driver made a manoeuvre and landed Riuluk at the market entrance. He paid off the drive with the few coins left in his pockets and entered the market.

  The market was astonishing. It was like a huge parking lot for Spheres; there were different levels of wooden corridors in the open air, filled with Spheres of each kind. On the ground, Sphere carpenters were working on the last details for some clients. To the right side, you could see enormous Sphereyards for each big Sphere company. The sellers were dressed casually, but each had a purse with their Sphere company's logo. Sellers were always quite polite and never pressured customers to buy from them. They usually walked through their corridor of Spheres and gladly answered any customer coming. Riuluk walked by from corridor to corridor, going up and down these Airdocs for the Spheres. He thought that for sure he was going to make at least four times more gold than the cost of his previous Sphere, but he did not want to use them all. It was better to buy one he could handle properly, with some very modern features.

  After looking at many Spheres for long travel, short travel, carriage, even war or domestic Spheres for Air settlements. He could not stop looking at the Duonor’s Spheres. The most feared dwarven warriors of the sky. It is very hard to become a Duonor; not only do you need to do special training, but you will need talent and exceptional skill to use a Sphere in battle against flying attacks. Duonor mostly uses tricks; some would call them sneaky, but it actually takes a lot of battle instinct and intelligence to use them properly. Some Duonor are specialised in nets, others in cannons, others in harpions, and others in bombs. Some are so good at flying the Sphere that they even use lances or axes to cut enemies throats on the battle field on a low, fast speed. Tournaments are often made to keep the Duonor in shape and make them win prizes. Most Duonors are famous and admired by all Air Dwarves. They also use special stones to create fogs and lights.

  Most of the Duonors Sphere are famous for their special wings to apply to the Sphere. Even if they are tiny, their design is so well done that the Sphere becomes super-fast if driven correctly through the winds.

  Riuluk always wanted to become a Duonor, but unfortunately, his life never gave him a chance to settle in one city and begin training. Perhaps he was already too old for it...he thought. However, he did some adventure with the Wizard of fire no? Even if it was always the Wizard of fire saving Riuluk, he was part of the group that helped this world at least for a tiny bit more, no?

  Unfortunately, having a friend a Wizard and having fought evil, even if it is not that common, does not give you any title to be a Duonor. Riuluk decided to speak with the seller, who was mostly interested in a couple of new Spheres. The logo of this seller was a hammer with wings: the Sphereyard of the Wing Hammer.

  “Hello, may I bother you? I have seen a couple Sphere I would like to check for a payment I will do tomorrow with the money from my auction. Can you please explain to me these two?” asked Riuluk,

  The seller was a typical Dwarf of the clouds: dressed in leather clothes with some cloud adornments. He had a circlet with the Wing hammer on it. He was much older than Riuluk, with a long white beard and blue eyes. Great smile, and his purse was white.

  “Hi there! You seem an expert traveller! Ok, no worries...you have chosen quite right, dear customer. The one here on your left side is the ‘Rainy Cloud’ model. It is a very comfortable Sphere, as you can see. Apart from the special emergency and high-speed crystal motor, which makes this Sphere quite valuable for its safety, it also has a system where you just push this button here, and the emergency wings come out at once. The fabric of the cloth is made from the “Emerald spiders” sartory, which you may know is one of the best in the city. The chair is made of strong wood where you can lie and tie up to it up to 4 cozy pillows, which are included. The table can be hidden on this side of the border of the Sphere, and beneath here, there is a huge space to leave all the things you need: food, clothes, money...you may choose what you want to put inside here...as you can see, the “Rainy Cloud” is very modern and is actually one of the safest, but the coolest thing of this Sphere is this...”,

  The seller went to one of the ropes holding the balloon up. There was some rolled cloth there.

  “If you pull this cloth here, which will always be rolled back with a system of springs, you can actually cover your hall visionary part of the Sphere to protect you from the rain, but the best thing is that as you can see it closer, it is such a small net of cloth, but if you put your eyes close to it, you can actually still see where you are going!”

  “Wow, that is fantastic! I had no idea you were putting this type of cloth on Spheres now!” said Riuluk,

  “Progress, my friend...progress,” said the seller, “and this one, well, this one is called the 'Lighting Cloud’ mr....”

  “Riuluk”

  “...mr Riuluk. So this Sphere, as you may notice, has different features. It is a bit more comfortable because it actually has an armchair inside, but you lose a lot of space. If you need to travel with more people inside, it could get tight. But, but, if you are traveling alone most of the time...I do have to say to have this armchair is a luxury. The armchair is not made by the “Emerald Spiders”, unfortunately, but we are in discussion with them about a future collaboration for a very cozy, fine armchair. As you can see behind the armchair, there is a cupboard at the top and a possible wardrobe at the bottom, both in the same style of furniture. In the front, you have a triangular table that cannot be removed. Bottom of the Sphere, another compartment for other things. The other difference between the two is the wings. Unfortunately, they do not have a system to open for free, so they are basically hidden behind the wardrobe, but the nice thing is that they are quite light. Even if it is more complicated to apply them to the Sphere, they can be used to fly faster, instead of the emergency ones of the ‘Rainy Cloud’. The crystal motor is a type 45bx, which is a quite stable crystal to use and faster than the other one, but not safer. It does not have a system to cover yourself from rain, but the nice part is this Ardart metal on this side of the Sphere, which basically deflects lightning.”

  “How much is the price of each one?” asked Riuluk,

  “Well, the ‘Rainy Cloud’ is about 85 golden coins, while the ‘Lightning Cloud’ is about 70.

  Riuluk was so happy...he probably already decided which one he wants.

  “Ok, thank you so, so much for all of this explanation! I will go to my auction now and try to figure out which one is the one for me. I will see you tomorrow, thank you!” said Riuluk to the seller.

  Who would have thought, each time they come up with a new gadget or system to impress clients and sell, competition between Sphereyards must be really tough...

  Riuluk called for another Sphere flying driver and went to the auction hamlet number 33 at 17.45.

  It was a hamlet of about four to five houses, built in a rectangular pattern. To the right side stairs were bringing you into the cloister of the hamlet. It was made of stones from the floor to the walls. Nice white and grey stones remembering country side houses. An arcade of columns and pillars with doors to the houses, and in the cloister, some wooden benches were put at the side of the column, close to the walls. A part of the cloister was green grass and a couple of trees with flowers. In the middle of the cloister, a table made of marble with cloud-shaped ornaments. Behind the table, the auctioneer. A dwarf dressed in an orange tunic, bold and blonde, golden bear. Behind him, two stewards in blue cloth were guarding the packages containing the goods for that day's auctions. Next on the right side, closer to the trees, a Cloud Dwarf warrior with full armor.

  “Oh, hello!” said the auctioneer

  “Hi, dear auctioneer...I am Riuluk. Here is the document of my sale for today”, Riuluk handed the document with the orange stamp.

  “Ok, so how much did you think to ask as a reserve? I do have to tell you the lowest and highest prices for Idrilich mushrooms for this month's sales. The highest was sold for 160 gold coins, while the lowest was about 120.”

  “Well, I know I need to sell it fast, so let’s say that the reserve might be 100, and I am fine with it”, replied RIuluk.

  “Ok! Drenix, go down and change the sign from 'wait a moment' to 'auction open’”, said the auctioneer to one of the stewards.

  “Let the auction begin!” shouted the auctioneer up to the sky.