Jake had already named the team.
That was the problem. He had named it in the Tutorial Guild, in front of the golden banners and the statue of the knight, with the solemn certainty of a man declaring a quest. He had written it at the top of his ledger in careful capitals before a single recruit was nominated.
MACKINNON AND FRIENDS.
The second name called in the entire auction was Nathan MacKinnon.
The System watched Jake’s paddle. It watched it very closely. Two hundred gold in his purse, the name already on the jersey, the burgundy-and-blue devotion practically glowing off him.
Fifty. Fifty-five. Fifty-eight, from the enormous bear in the back row who had to be handed a larger paddle.
Jake’s paddle did not move.
Jake.
“He’ll go too high.”
You have two hundred gold.
“Discipline.”
The auctioneer’s gavel came down. Mike had MacKinnon. Jake had a team name and a look on his face that the System had seen before, usually in the second week of the playoffs.
System AnalysisTEAM NAME: MACKINNON AND FRIENDS. MACKINNON: ACQUIRED BY ANOTHER CRAWLER.FRIENDS: PENDING.
To his credit, the Paladin did not panic. He did what he always does. He built a good team.
Auston Matthews for thirty-three. Mikko Rantanen for thirty-one, and the System noted that Rantanen used to be MacKinnon’s friend before he moved to Dallas, so technically the name still worked. Stützle. DeBrincat. Shesterkin for thirteen, which was cheap for a goalie of that caliber and which Jake pointed out to no one in particular.
And then the friends. The actual friends.
Scott Wedgewood, Colorado goalie, fourteen. Nazem Kadri, formerly of Colorado, three. Mackenzie Blackwood, Colorado goalie, one gold. Brock Nelson, Colorado, one gold.
He was assembling the man’s entire social circle. Everyone who had ever shared a locker room with Nathan MacKinnon was on this roster. The only person missing was Nathan MacKinnon.
This is a support group.
“It’s depth.”
For a man who is not here.
The dollar bin came and went. Jake filled his sixteenth slot and set his paddle down with the quiet satisfaction of a job well done.
The System looked at his ledger.
Twenty-seven gold.
Unspent.
The largest unspent balance in the hall. Enough, at any point in the night, to have simply said “fifty-nine” and put the name on the roster to match the name on the jersey.
Auction RecordROSTER: COMPLETE.GOLD REMAINING: 27. LEAGUE HIGH.ROSTER QUALITY: EXCELLENT. AGAIN. COLORADO PLAYERS: 4. NATHAN MACKINNON: SEE MIKE.
Jake stood, adjusted an imaginary cloak, and walked out with the confidence of a knight who has completed a sacred task.
The System let him go.
Somewhere far below, faint but unmistakable, the playoff music had already started warming up.