“You guys keep playing. I’ve got something to take care of,” Kiefer whispered as he leaned over Eril’s shoulders, eyes following a certain owl who had just left his booth. Quickly, he melded into the darkness, becoming nothing more than an invisible ghost.

As he left the booth that they were situated in, the next item was being pushed up onto the circular stage. A light clinking noise could be heard as the shiny steel trolley was rolled up onto the stage, a smooth red silk veil covering the item to be auctioned. A hush fell onto the crowd as Yanqiu gracefully walked up to the trolley and pinched the corner of the veil.

“Now, we started off with quite a show. This next item, would be more within the budget for many of you. While it is not a rare item, I can assure you that you are not likely to find anything of this quality or quantity anywhere else on Yurza. What I have here, is 10 bottles of mana elixirs concocted by a master alchemist who wished to remain anonymous. The potency of each bottle is 2% of a skyrite fragment, capable of completely replenishing the mana of a basic level 5 mage and half of a basic level 6 mage. We start at 20 gold coins per batch. There are only 5 batches available tonight, totalling at 50 bottles.” Yanqiu introduced, pulling the veil off the trolley to reveal 10 neatly arranged glass vials of murky navy blue liquid. Each vial was shaped like a small conical flask, containing no more than 10ml of the elixir.

The crowd immediately came to life, seeing the life-saving elixirs. These potions, while nasty to the taste-buds, were highly efficient in restoring their mana. One had to understand that each mage level was determine by the maximum mana a mage had, with each higher level having the requirement of twice the previous level. To be capable of restoring a basic level 5 mage to full mana was no easy feat, with most potions available in the market catering towards level 2 to 4 mages.

While one could simply hold a skyrite fragment and replenish his mana from it, this method posed several problems. The first and most glaring problem being that it was a slow process. Potions and elixirs were concocted by alchemists using not only the skyrite fragments, but also a variety of medicinal herbs which serve to improve the uptake of the mana by the body. Skyrite fragments were not usable in life threatening situations where one would need an immediate mana supply to make a quick getaway or finish an attack. The second problem was the danger that comes with carrying a treasure such as a skyrite fragment. It would attract robbers and unwanted attention. Hence, most mages chose to carry potions, though bulky and fragile, compared to skyrite fragments.

“Are we going to bid as well?” Kina asked, turning to Eril in a hushed whisper.

“No my dear disciple. While I did say we are here to mess with some of the customers, the real goal is for you to gain experience in understanding other people’s actions, their motives and hence find opportunities to exploit their weaknesses. You need to know how society works, get a thorough understanding of most if not all of the actions taken by others, be it intelligent life or animals. This time round, I want you to think in the perspective of the auction house. Tell me why they would bring out such a mediocre item for sale in such a prestigious auction house.” Eril poised his question.

“That’s easy. Because it can make easy money. A consumable item such as potions are always in demand, and with one that targets higher level mages with a higher capacity to restore mana, the auction house can always make money off it regardless of when or where it sells.” Kina replied quickly, having studied a little bit of economics back in school. It wasn’t her favourite subject but a compulsory one nonetheless, so she still learnt a thing or two.

“Kina my dear, you still have a long way to go. You must understand that the first item alone in this auction sold for thirty-five thousand gold coins. And there are many more precious treasures yet to be put up for auction. The amount of money this house brings in with an auction such as this will be in the hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions. What use is a piddling 20 gold coins? Even if the price of these potions rose to be a hundred, which it will not, how can it compare on the grand scale of things? Why don’t you observe the auction for a while, and then answer me.” Eril instructed, shaking his head slightly at Kina’s naivety.

Meanwhile, the crowd below was roaring as one bid after another was called out. To attend the midnight auction, one had to have enough reputation and financial status to back himself up. While it was not common to see a level 5 and above mage outside, within a prestigious auction session such as this, it was a common sight. Many were prestigious mages from local or neighbouring academies, some were from the royal army, most were scholars doing independent research. Regardless of their career, they all had two things in common, very deep pockets and a heavy dependence on mana potions.

The price had already risen to 30 gold coins for the batch of 10 elixirs, and just as another squawk resounded for 30.5 gold coins, Kina’s eyes squinted, focusing on the desperate bids of the various birdmen. She was trying her hardest to think of an appropriate response to her teacher’s question, but none had come to mind. Then, a sudden bout of curiosity hit her.

“Master, why is everyone so desperate to bid for these 10 bottles? Didn’t the announcer say there would be 50 bottles tonight? Why don’t they just wait for competition to die out and wait for the next batch?” Kina asked, perplexed by the crowd’s reactions.

“Well kid, you might not be so dull after-all. At least you are asking interesting questions. I’ll answer your question with a question. Why do you think the auction house chose to sell them in 5 separate batches instead of all 50 in one go, or even sell individual bottles? Keep in mind that anyone and everyone who attends this auction is rich enough to throw a couple hundred gold coins at a beggar and not bat an eye,” Eril responded.

Kina pondered for some time as the price was finally settled at 35 gold coins. Then she watched the next item being pushed up onto the stage and to her surprise, it was not the next batch of elixirs. Instead, it was spear with what looked like a foot-long double edged dagger for a spearhead. The spear itself was one whole, with the staff portion being continuous with the spearhead instead of being joined like a normal spear. This showed the craftsmanship of the smith who crafted the spear from a single piece of metal.

Then, it struck her. The elixirs were merely a trap used by the auction house. The elixirs are always in high demand, and knowing that there will be more for sale in the later stages of the auction, the bidders will be enticed to stay for the duration of the auction. The house will be able to introduce and ensnare the bidders into buying the really expensive stuff while they waited for the next appearance of the elixirs.

By now, the spear on display had already been sold for 20 thousand gold, with Kina having completely missed Yanqiu’s introduction to it. The spear was being wheeled out along the exit path while the next item was being pushed in. For some reason, the item was not covered, nor was it on a trolley. It was a titanic floating boulder, slowly being pushed onto the stage. A gravitite ore. Kina’s eyes sparkled as her gaze pierced through the booth’s screen and almost bore a hole into the gravitite boulder that towered at over 3m tall and 1m wide.

“Our next item, is this Gravitite ore that has been dug up. This piece here is the largest of three that we have up for bidding tonight. We estimate it would weigh a total of 80 thousand kilograms at full saturation. You can craft at least 10 sets of nice gravitite swords out of this piece alone if you find a qualified smith. Of course, our house is more than willing to introduce to you a superb blacksmith for a small introduction fee.” Yanqiu introduced with a sweet smile after looking at a piece of parchment in her delicate hands. She had over 50 items to go through in this session alone. There was no way for her to memorise every single detail about all the items. Looking back up, she continued, “The starting bid will be 10 thousand gold coins, with a minimum increment of a thousand gold coins each bid.”

“1 hundred thousand gold coins! For all 3 gravitite ores you are about to auction tonight!” Kina yelled out immediately without hesitating one bit. She wanted to end the auction there and then. Ever since Jielin had won the child-sized gravitite ore in the tournament, Kina had been desiring for a gravitite ore of her own, to make her personal weapon. Even Eril was stunned at her bid, his eyes widening from the usual 2 slits that they were.

Silence ensued before mummers stirred within the crowd. Then one by one, the birdmen turned their heads to face Kina’s booth, their eyes piercing the screen and trying to make out the identity of this mysteriously rich bidder. They had all considered getting the ore for themselves but were instantly shot down by Kina’s outrageous bid.

“AAHAHAHA! I’ll play with you little girl! Let’s see just how rich you really are! One hundred and twenty thousand!” a loud manly voice boomed from one of the other booths.

“Two hundred thousand!” Kina yelled out, furious.

“Girlie, do you even know what you are doing!? Even if you get these ores, what are you going to do with them? Your voice indicates you have barely matured from your chick form! Two hundred and thirty!” The voice yelled back in glee.

“Shut up you old dirty bald bird! Your voice indicates that you are a pervert who want to enjoy life but can’t even get his dick up to do so. Don’t underestimate how much I have you impotent grimy disgusting bird. Four hundred thousand!” Kina out-bidded him, screaming several lines of insult along the way. Several chorus of laughter were elicited from the audience as they watched this verbal battle explode in full force above them. Part of the reason they joined the auction was to enjoy such scenes.

“Do you even know who you are insulting!? Four hundred and – “

“Half a million gold coins!” Kina cut him off just as he was about to call his bid. She cared less and less each round about the gravitite ore, and more about slamming this unknown bird into his rightful place. What did she care about the gross over-the-top price she was forking out for the ores? She had 8 million in store credit and her mother was holding onto 10 more skyrite crystals. If even that is not enough, her father could simply make more crystals.

“I’m surprised you even knew I was insulting you, you stupid pervert with dicks for a brain and a pea for a dick! What makes you think you can match up to me, both financially and magically?” Kina continued her string of insults, much to the delight of the crowd below. A short silence ensued as her opponent hesitated unknowingly. Kina noticed it and did not give him any chance.

“What!? You can’t afford to raise the price any higher? You poor impotent bastard. I pity you really, trying to challenge the sky when you can barely crawl. Why don’t you go bring more money before actually trying to compete with me!? What? You have no better comebacks? Who was it that said he’ll play with me to see how rich I am? Can’t you even top a measly half a million gold coins?” Kina taunted.

“ONE MILLION! For each Gravitite ore!” the man yelled out, throwing all caution into the air. He refused to be outdone by a mere hatchling who obtained her human form recently. He no longer cared about the hole this was burning in his pockets, he just wanted to put this girl in her place and shame her.

“Well, girlie!? Can you match – “

“AHAHAAHA!” a laughter roared from Kina’s booth, cutting him off before he could return a provocative insult. “Well Miss Yanqiu, aren’t you going to conclude this bid? What did I say earlier? Didn’t I say that you were just a stupid pervert with dicks for a brain? Let’s see how you cope with the consequences of splurging 3 million gold coins!”

It was at this moment that the man realised he had been played. A dull drone flooded his mind as it blotted out all the commotion outside, sanity slowly seeping out and away from his mind. He had had paid 3 million for 3 gravitite ores worth no more than a hundred thousand in total. As his dulled senses returned, so did the flood of sneers and laughter from the crowd below. He was made the laughing stock on this auction. Having brought only 5 million gold coins, he had been pinning his hopes on obtaining a secret treasure, the main prize of the auction which his intelligence reports had confirmed. And yet now, he was down to 2 million.

Sweating through his feathers, he quickly arranged for a messenger to be sent at top speed to his father, requesting for more financial aid. Along with the request for money was for a dispatch of the best assassin his kingdom could offer, to tail and kill the girl who had humiliated him. The messenger gave a firm nod, and left the great tree, speeding off directly towards the main central city on Yurza – Paradise City.

Meanwhile, Kiefer was loitering in the payment lounge, cloaked and unnoticed by anybody. His eyes were following a certain owl leader, who had been pacing nervously in one corner while awaiting his exotic pet. Seeing the owl being led into one of the private receiving rooms, Kiefer stealthily followed snuck his way in just as the doors closed behind him.

“Please wait here while we go and fetch your product,” said one of the female staff as she bowed curtly and left the small room. The room itself was only 5m on each side, with the sliding steel door forming the last wall of the square room. Quickly, the staff returned with the wyvern on a leash and handed the leash over to Elder snow, after which she left, allowing him to inspect the obedient wyvern for any problems.

“We meet again,” Kiefer finally spoke out after hearing the door shut firmly, confident that he was alone with Snow.

“You… you’re that intruder! What do you want!?” Snow exclaimed in surprise, knowing full well not to threaten his unexpected guest.

“I’ll make things very simple. I just want 2 things from you. How about I offer you a deal?” Kiefer asked, smiling slightly.