Chapter 55

“Wow! So this is the Golden Rooster?” Yinry looked around, eyes bright with excitement. “So big and amazing! It lives up to expectations!”

Viewed from above, the Black Cloud School students were like nine little specks standing amongst a sea of thousands of dots. They were standing inside an enormous, crowded, upward-sloped area in the back of a large, golden-walled auction house. The entire space was enormous, taking up an absolutely colossal volume - the ceiling alone stretched upwards of a hundred meters, making sound echo considerably! In this space, they were completely unnoticeable. It was even hard to hear themselves amongst the inumerable chaotically crashing bouts of chatter echoing throughout the room.

The excitement in the room was palpable. Clearly, everyone was greatly looking forward to the event.

Soon after receiving news of the event, the students had immediately hopped on a spirit boat to the Grand Avenue and joined a rapidly growing crowd that had formed outside the brilliantly-decorated Golden Rooster stadium. Then, they had lined up for nearly two hours until they were finally able to funnel into the back of the massive auction house. In fact, even with such a huge amount of space in the building, they had barely made it in. Just looking at all the people, it had seemed like every other person in the entire city had come to attend the event - the crowd outside the building had stretched across an entire five blocks.

Zairen, Alivia, and Finn especially had been astonished. They had received hints about just how grand this Golden Rooster auction house was, but witnessing something like this was still completely out of their expectations. Especially for Alivia and Finn... for simple village kids, the stimulation was almost too much.

“Yeah!” Horace exclaimed. “It’s truly enormous and extravagant. I’m glad we came here at least once! None of the other auction houses can compare to this…”

Glancing forward, he pointed ahead and exclaimed: “Whoa! If only we could sit in those fancy spots up there though!”

About fifty meters in front of them, there were a few rows of cushioned, spacious seats facing the large stage in the front of the room, occupied by wealthy-looking people wearing expensive clothes. Some groups of these people wore matching uniforms, clearly students hailing from various different schools. Compared to the nine Black Cloud students who were standing amongst the crowd in the back, they looked much more comfortable and wealthy.

“Man, it looks so luxurious. And being closer up like that, in front of the layman crowd, they can see the items way better…”

“Yeah…” Jannie chimed in a bit sadly. He gave an exasperated sigh. “Unfortunately, those seats are reserved for more prominent figures only; our school isn’t even close to be considered high-status enough to be up there.”

He paused for a moment and looked up at the distant stage. “However, that’s not even that luxurious… imagine being all the way up there!” He pointed toward an area right in front of the stage, farther past the seats they had just pointed at. In this area, although it was hard to see, there were cushy, comfortable couches surrounding large circular tables covered by embroidered white-golden drapes, complete with full meals of fancy-looking foods placed on the tables. Service-people stood at the constant ready next to these tables for any inquiries or requests the people sitting here might have.

People who sat here seemed to sit with self-importance and comfortability, as if they were above anyone else present. Out of all of the tables, even the most occupied were only half-full, which made the people sitting there seem to exude an even bigger presence of exclusivity and power.

“Yeah… imagine that.” Horace brought his hand to his chin and began to daydream. “Probably only high government officials and the like will be able to qualify to be up there…”

It was true. In this section, there were no groups of uniformed students, but rather small groups of families, with one or more of the parents dressed in fancy military or even royal uniform. Occasionally, there would be a few academy-uniformed students with their families.

“Oh, look! There’s master of wind Louron!” Horace exclaimed, pointing forward toward a table in the very front of the room.

“Hm?” Zairen’s eyes opened in interest.

Master of wind Louron?

Looking forward, he tried to zone in on who Horace was pointing toward. A moment later, he managed to spot a silver-haired figure at a table, wearing a shiny purple uniform.

As soon as he saw the purple uniform, Zairen made the connection, and he clicked his tongue in remembrance. In his first day in the city, when Zairen had eavesdropped on the conflict between the two feuding schools, Golden Gate Academy and Purple Bridge Academy, he had heard the Purple Bridge Academy members mention their senior “master of wind Louron” as someone who would completely defeat the other academy in the Osiron Tournament. So that was him? Clearly, they held him in high esteem.

If he was considered important enough to sit all the way up there, then he really must be considered someone special, Zairen reasoned.

“Oh wow!” Yinry exclaimed out. “So he’s here. He gets to sit all the way up there…?”

“Well, he is called ‘master of wind’ for a reason,” Jannie laughed. “He’s done the best in the Osiron Tournament since back in the Captain Janor days. That gives him a pretty high status.”

“If only we could get up there…” From behind Yinry’s shadow, Elise suddenly softly spoke out.

Yinry turned, surprised to see the usually quiet Elise talk. She reached out and patted her on the back. “Someday, Elise. We’ll get there.”

Some people who had been standing around the students in the crowd had overheard their conversation and at that moment, subtly gave them weird looks. Did they really so casually think that they had a chance to be up there in the very front?

“What do you think, Alivia?” Yinry looked longingly at the cushy area in front of the stage and nudged the red-headed girl to her left.

“...”

There was no response, as if she had nudged a bag of sand.

“Hm?” Yinry turned towards Alivia and once again nudged her. “Alivia, did you hear me? What do you think?”

“...mm...” This time, there was only a non-committal response.

“...hm?” Detecting a sense of disengagement, Yinry stepped in front of Alivia and Finn, waving a hand in front of their faces, finally cutting them out of their stupor. Seeing their expressions, she suddenly burst out in laughter.

Alivia and Finn had been standing dazed, mouths agape, looking blankly at everything around them. Deep in such culture shock, they had completely zoned out, busily absorbing the enormous, intricately-decorated surrounding space into their eyes.

Seeing this, everyone from Black Cloud School smiled. They had momentarily forgotten that despite being so talented, these new kids were actually country bumpkins, and had never seen anything to such a scale before. Thinking back, they too remembered their first times being in such a space.

Stifling her laughter, Yinry patted both of their backs in a consoling manner. “Are you guys alright? Do you need a break?”

“...no… we’re fine…” They answered dazedly. “We just need some time to get used to it…”

“Ok…” Yinry laughed. “Just tell me if you need anything.”

“Attention! May I have your attention please!” Just at that moment, a loud booming voice rang out. “Thank you all for coming to our Golden Rooster’s grand event. In just a few moments, the pre-auction will start! I repeat, in just a few moments, the pre-auction will soon start!”

The voice seemed to come from everywhere around them, appearing to be projected through some sort of spirit energy technique or device.

“Ooh! It’s starting!” Jannie smiled excitedly. He began to stand up straighter, and many around them seemed to be doing the same. Many in the audience dimmed their chatter, and the space began to get much quieter.

“Pre-auction?” Zairen asked puzzledly.

“Yes, pre-auction,” Jannie turned towards Zairen and explained. “It’s the section before the main event, meant to auction off items that weren’t appraised high enough to quite make it to the main section. It’s commonly seen in big auction events in high-end auction houses like this one. However, especially in a place like this, even these items are still quite rare and valuable! They just might not be up to par for those rich collectors.”

“Oh, okay.” Zairen nodded his head in understanding. The more he learned about the auction, the more he found his interest piqued.

A few moments later, a well-dressed mustached man in an expensive-looking suit stepped onto the stage, facing the audience.

“Hello! I am Sohar, and I will be the auctioneer for this grand auction event! I welcome you all to the Golden Rooster, also known as the shining 'roo' of Sunrise City!” He announced with the same voice, waving his hand in greeting. “Without further ado, we will now commence with the pre-auction section of our auction. As usual, we should let you know that in this establishment, we only accept spirit stones or Osiron bank notes as payment. To place a bid, call out your bid and the voice amplification systems in the house will pick it up. With each bid, we will start at a base bid. If no one else bids after a count to three, the item is yours!”

He paused for a moment and looked around before clapping his hands. “OK. Without any further ado, let's get started, shall we?”

He moved over to the side, and at that moment, a few golden-robed people emerged from the side of the stage and rolled a fancy-looking cart in with a clear glass display box on it.

Within a few moments, a shimmering visage of what was in the box was projected on a massive blank wall above the stage, allowing everyone to see it clearly.

Propped up in the display box was a shiny-looking red-tinted sword with a sleek, ribboned handle. Stopping in the middle of the stage, the workers turned it toward the audience to display it fully, and then rigidly stood at attention.

“For our first item, we have…” Sohar gestured toward the sword in the box. “This special longsword, nicknamed Blaze!”

He smiled at the audience, which responded in kind with an appreciative buzz.

“Many of you already seem impressed! I should let you know, the sword’s abilities match up to its appearance! Let me explain to you why this sword is so special. Previously owned by the notorious Flame Slaughterer, who rose to prominence during the Osiron-Laghastan war three decades ago, Blaze is a tier A spirit weapon, boasting a high level of fire spirit energy affinity. Furthermore, the blade is ultra-sharp, and able to withstand large amounts of pressure and heat...”

The man continued to explain the sword’s specialties in detail for a few minutes before finally opening up the floor for bids.

“As you can see, Blaze is certainly an extremely formidable weapon, capable of inflicting large amounts of damage as well as operating with great precision! Impressive, no?” Sohar laughed. “Alright, we’ll open the bidding at a mere 200 low grade spirit stones. Anyone?”

“200 low grade spirit stones!” A man in the middle section of the room immediately yelled out, his voice amplified throughout the room.

“300!”

“500!”

“700!”

Various people in the middle section of the auction house began shouting out their bids in opposition.

...

“1300!”

“1400!”

“1550!”

"1650!"

...

Eventually, the bids slowed, and at the end, it finally settled on 2200.

“Going once… going twice… Sold! To the gentleman in the gray robe.” Sohar pointed toward a smiling nobleman sitting in the one of the fancy chairs and then made a sweeping motion with his arms, prompting the sword to be wheeled off stage.

2200 spirit stones!

Everyone from Black Cloud School sucked in a breath.

They knew this was a high-end place… but… this was still only the pre-auction section! 2200 low grade spirit stones? And to start the bidding at a base price of 200?

Most of them had never even seen that much wealth in their whole lives. It was completely out of their realm!

Spirit stones were the base currency of cultivators, and thus, were incredibly priceless - just the base price of this item alone would probably be enough to run the entire Black Cloud School for a few months. When the school had sold their spirit affinity crystal ball the previous year, they had received merely 145 low grade spirit stones - and this was after fishing for the best deal possible over a period of a month.

This was their first time coming to such a high-end auction house. In many of the auction houses they went to, the starting price of even the most expensive regular auction items would probably only reach 100 low grade spirit stones - who could have expected that here, the starting price in just the pre-auction was already 200 low grade spirit stones!

This was truly an upper class establishment.

From the side, Zairen was also breathing a bit heavily. Peering out at that sword on the stage, even from the distance, with his superior knowledge and senses, he could tell it was amazing quality, and would facilitate flow of spirit energy very easily - it definitely was not over-hyped. It would likely outrank the weapons he had confiscated from the masked men by at least two or three levels.

This was one of their cheapest quality products? He couldn’t help but be impressed.

He guessed that was why they only accepted spirit stones as payment. Anything else, even gold, would not be up to par.

“Next up is a spirit transportation item…”

“Next up is a special formation…”

“Next up is a speed seal…”

The auctioneer proceeded to auction off various other items in a similar manner, explaining their qualities and hyping them up with lengthy descriptions until finally auctioning them off. There were a large diversity of items auctioned, anything from medicines to spirit items to jade scrolls (to anything in between). Each item was notable in a certain way. The final sell prices fluctuated from anywhere from around 2000 low grade spirit stones to up to 8000.

With each item that passed, the Black Cloud School students felt their mouths gape open wider and wider. These prices… weren’t they excessive?

Yet, they could only have a feeling of resignation. There was nothing they could do but look on from the distance. Currently, they wouldn’t even be able to afford a single item, even if they sold everything they owned and collectively pooled their wealth!

Staring curiously at every item that went on stage, Zairen also found himself astounded by the prices. However, he was also impressed by the items’ quality - they really were elite goods; although they were expensive, he supposed this was expected. For unique, high quality items, how would you be able to get them for cheap?

Yet still, one could only sigh at the numbers.

He looked around and found that virtually everyone around him was probably thinking along the same lines. Not just the Black Cloud Students, a lot of other people in the standing crowd had similar wide-mouthed looks.

Not a single person in the layman standing section bid on any of the items. The bids came almost solely from just those situated in the middle section, those sitting in the cushy chairs.

Finally, they arrived at the last item in the pre-auction.

The same group of golden-uniformed employees rolled out the same glass display box onto the stage once more. However, this time, the projection showed that there was no flashy object inside… instead, there was a dull, green-colored, medium-sized cylinder box with what looked like a lid on top. Upon first sight, it actually seemed dull and unimpressive.

"Hm?"

After examining the new item for a few moments, many people in the audience couldn't help but let out questioning murmers. What was this last item? Every other previous item had been shiny and fancy-looking... but this one seemed... kind of flat. They had just been treated to an amazing string of lavish and glossy items, and to suddenly be shown something ordinary-looking was a bit jarring. Everything else had also been almost immediately recognizable upon introduction, but this nondescript cylindrical green box... even after pondering for some time, many found that they still didn't have a clue to what it could be. It certainly didn't seem to look like anything they knew.

Many felt their interest minutely piqued.

After the workers had rolled the item out, Sohar began to speak once again. However, this time, he took his time, and for the first time, didn’t seem to have the same sense of supreme confidence in the superiority and quality of the item. “Finally, we arrive at the last item of our pre-auction.” He turned toward the dirty green box inside of the display container, and then paused for a few moments. “This is…” He paused for another moment.

“Well, the truth is, we’re not exactly sure what it is. It’s a mysterious relic of unknown origin! However, we know for sure is that it is an extremely rare, ancient item! Found in the vault of an ancient ruin in the outskirts of Dorian Province’s famous Windy Chimes City, it is made of a very tough, unknown material that can withstand extreme heat, cold, and pressure. Although the function of the box is unknown, besides being able to store goods, it contains a faint ancient formation inscribed over its surface. Although experts have failed to uncover a usage or function of it, it has the possibility of revealing secrets of the amazing ancient world!” Sohar finished his speech off with a flourish of his hand.

The audience seemed to have some reaction, some people oohing.

“Ok!” Sohar smiled and clapped his hands. “We’ll start the bidding at just 150 low grade spirit stones. Just 150! That’s the cheapest base price we’ve had today! Remember, this is a coveted ancient relic - you have the Golden Rooster guarantee of its authenticity! It can give the purchaser the possibility of discovering secrets of the ancient world. Just 150 low grade spirit stones is our base price.”

He looked back and forth at the crowd expectantly. “Any takers?”

"......"

Uncharacteristically, the crowd was quiet, with no initial bid coming out. Everyone just stared curiously toward the dull green box.

Within such a huge space with no many people, the silence was deafening. A somewhat awkward atmosphere formed.

Following this silence, some murmuring discussion erupted out, although still, nobody came forward to bid. Soon, a chatter spread across the crowd and people looked back and forth at each other, gauging each other’s desire.

For many, after hearing the item's the description, the problem was… even if the object was an ancient relic, if even experts couldn't discern its function, then what could they do with it? They didn't dare have delusions that they would be able to solve some divine mystery of the ancients. In the end, it would just be a useless overpriced box just lying around. Furthermore, it was completely unembellished and colored a dirty green, and thus was un-aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Thus, it wouldn’t even serve well as a decoration.

Zairen also stared at this dirty green box in puzzlement. He had never seen such a box before, and as far as he could tell, at least from the distance, it didn’t give off an aura of spirit energy, so not even he could discern its purpose.

About half a minute of silence passed before Sohar finally spoke out again. “Remember everyone, this is a rare treasured ancient relic! No one knows what kind of secrets lay inside! We’ll reduce the asking price to 125 low grade spirit stones, any takers?”

He smiled out expectantly to the crowd once again.

Once again, no one spoke out to bid, many hesitantly gauging the potential value of the relic.

At this point, however, it seemed much of the audience was losing engagement. Over time, many of their gazes began to wander away and focus on other features inside the grandly-decorated space. After all, there wasn't much interesting about a inert dull green box.

“…tch.”

On the stage, spotting the crowd's loss of interest, Sohar imperceptibly clenched his jaw.

Although he looked unphased from the outside, on the inside, he was groaning.

It was just his luck… and he had been doing great so far, too! Even though he was confident in his salesman skills, there were some things that were just hard to sell. Further, this ugly relic object had been a last-minute addition to the auction, and thus, he hadn’t had a chance to fully familiarize himself with it. But even if he had, he still had no assurances - it was such an ugly item! And the icing on top - no one knew what it even was or what it did. Who would want it?

In his opinion, it wasn’t good enough to be in a Golden Rooster auction, even in the pre-auction section. However, he had heard through the grapevine that apparently, the person selling it was a close friend of the auction house owner, so there was nothing that could be done.

Once again, he scanned the huge crowd expectantly, hoping to spot any fool that would place a bid. If he could just get rid of it, he would be happy. It would be embarrassing if he failed to auction off an item at the illustrious Golden Rooster house, especially today, since he had such a large crowd of buyers!

"Mm..."

From deep within the layperson crowd, Zairen continued to peer at the dirty-green relic, rubbing his chin. He still couldn’t recognize what it was or identify any of its use; however, for some reason, it had some kind of mysterious mystic allure to it.

He hadn't expected for something in this auction to fall into a reasonable price range. If for some reason he wanted to buy anything today, this would probably be his only choice: it was the only one he might be able to afford.

At that moment, a familiar domineering voice suddenly shouted out in Zairen’s mind.

“Dummy, get the relic!”