“And sold! For twenty-five hundred gold coins to the scholarly historian in the 3rd row. I’m sure you will be able to appreciate this antique vase that they dug up from the ancient city from the Mowru dynasty,” Yanqiu announced as her attendants wheeled out a rustic looking clay pot.

As the crowd quietened down, Elder snow returned to his seat and settled in nicely, his mind still a mess from the commotion earlier. It was going to be difficult to fulfil Kiefer’s request but he knew he had no other choice. In the worst case scenario, he could pass the blame to the King and hope Kiefer doesn’t bear down too hard on Natiria City.

“Our next lot is quite the peculiar one,” Yanqiu’s voice resounded once more, clear as day. Then, a birdman with yellow and White feathers walked up to the stage confidently. “It’s not the first time we’ve had this kind of lots up for bid, but they are quite a rare sight. This man here is a warrior mage. He is adept in close quarters combat and is a dual sword user.”

The man then stepped up and took gently signalled for Yanqiu to step aside. She nodded, smiled and raised her hand to signal for her attendants. Quickly, they brought in a large towering boulder as well as a strange looking table with numerous floating rocks. The man stepped forwards and unsheathed his dual swords, both with a shiny grey tint. Then, in a flurry of fluent strokes, he began working at the stone boulder. Within moments, there stood on the stage a crude, but familiar statue of Yanqiu.

The crowd clapped as the performance ended which showed his ability to wield both swords together. Then, as 2 bulky hawkmen wheeled the stone statue out, the man proceeded to the table with the floating rocks. As he sheathed his swords on his waist and placed his hands on the 2 runic circles on the table, the edges of the table began to give off a soft purple glow. Quickly, rows upon rows of the small fingernail sized floating gravitite ores began to fall into the small pits grooved into the table directly below them. The crowd gave off a chorus of “OOoo” as they were clearly impressed with what they were seeing.

There were 25 neatly arranged rows of 25 gravitite ores each, forming a sort of grid. Then next to the entire grid was a large palm sized gravitite ore floating at the same level. It was clear immediately to Kina, Isana and Kiefer what this was. It was a measuring tool to determine the mage level of individuals. The runes on the table will saturate the gravitite ores with the person’s mana, causing them to sink in an orderly manner. Drop 1 small ore, and you are level 1. Drop 2, and you’re level 2. 4 for level 3, 8 for level 4 and so on, the requirement doubling for each progressive level.

Right now, the man was on the verge of collapsing from mana fatigue as his mana was drained completely into the table. As of this moment, 5 and a half rows of gravitite ores have sunk completely, giving a total score of approximately 140. The man quickly released his hands, fished out a mana potion and gulped it down, his face wincing a little at the horrible taste. Almost immediately, his expression recovered as blood returned to his face.

“As you can see, he is adept at dual blade arts, and is a level 8 mage. He is offering his services for a wage of 10 gold per week, you may start bidding now.” Yanqiu spoke up, as the measuring table was wheeled back the way it came from. “The statue though, I’ll be keeping as a memento,” She smiled and winked at the audience, whose laughter echoes within the walls of the auction house.

Immediately, bids went up, albeit slowly initially. Kina chose not to take part in this lot as Eril had told her to stand down so as to point out flaws in her understanding and correct her. She was, however, thoroughly surprised. She had not thought that it would be possible to set oneself up for hire in the form of an auction. It was quite a novel way to look for employers while making a name for yourself. Then, she heard a familiar voice who was once again trying to overpower everyone else.

“20 gold per week! Meals and lodging provided! You will be part of my personal guard detail,” The same voice sounded from the opposing booth. With this bid, everyone kept quiet. 20 gold coins is not a small sum to be spending on a weekly basis. Just with this bid alone and what he had said already revealed his identity to the entire auction hall. There was really only one family in Yurza who could afford such extravagant prices for a mere guard, and that was the Wang Royal Family from Paradise city.

With no one else bidding, Yanqiu closed the bids for this lot and it was at this moment that several members of the crowd started letting out gasps of admiration. This bolstered The Wang Prince’s confidence and arrogance by a great deal. As the crowd gradually died down, Yanqiu brought out the next batch of elixirs once more, making this the 2nd of the 5. This signalled that they were already through 20% of the items for sale tonight.

The whole auction hall once again stirred up into chaos as people started fighting over the elixirs, the bids growing higher by the second. Kina would interject here and there just for the fun of it, but she knew that it really made no difference whether she bided or not. Soon, the elixirs were being wheeled out of the stage as one rainbow mage from the crowd pushed his way through the sea of feathers towards the collection lounge.

Everyone was hyped up with the elixir sale. So far tonight, everything that was put up for auction has been impressive beyond belief. As they awaited the next item, the entire hall held their breath. The sound of the steel trolley’s wheels creaking could be heard clearly as it rolled the next lot up to the stage. Similar to a few of the earlier items, the lot was covered up by a veil to evoke a sense of mystery and to warrant the attention of every pair of sharp eyes in the hall.

“Now Hens and Cocks, birds of all feathers, I present to you a truly rare and lucky coincidence that befell our auction house this evening. We acquired this lot just mere minutes before the start of the auction. While technically we should have placed this lot in the last place according to the order they arrived, we just couldn’t wait any longer and knew that many of you would miss out the chance to even see such a rare sight. Everybody, feast your eyes on the marvellous treasure we have up for auction. Bidding starts at 1 million gold coins per crystal, with increments of a hundred thousand only. I present to you, 5 whole skyrite crystals!” Yanqiu described in great detail their acquisition of the crystals as she pulled the veil off the trolley.

There, sitting on the shiny grey trolley, was a long red cloth that looked to be velvet in texture. Neatly arranged side by side on the red cloth, were 5 arm sized sky blue crystals. Isana could not help but smile, seeing her items up there in all their glory. Kina on the other hand, began sneering as she knew how enticing this was to the idiot in the other booth, as well as suckers involved in city planning. Her master had previously explained the uses for skyrite crystals and most were only used in training towers.

Only the 3 largest cities in Yurza had these training towers and entry to these towers were limited to the top geniuses and mages in the respective cities. These towers are all built in the same design. 8 levels of increasing mana concentration. The towers required mana crystals or shards to be inserted on the rooftop, whereby runes inscribed throughout the tower will saturate the air within with mana concentration much higher than normal, drawing the mana from the crystals and shards. Top mages and mage trainees that showed promise were allowed to train within the towers to increase the rate at which their mana capacity increased. Of course, too high a mana concentration could lead to a severely agonisingly painful mana poisoning, so each participant had to choose their level carefully.

“1.5 million!” immediately, someone had already started bidding from within the crowd. This surprised Kina as she had not assumed someone rich enough to be a millionaire could still be found within the crowd below.

“3 million!” Kina yelled out quickly. “It so much better to spend 3 million on this than 3 chunks of floating rock.” She added, which incited laughter once more, rubbing salt into the wounds of the Wang Prince. She, however, had no clue whatsoever about his identity but knew that she had no one to fear, except maybe her parents.

Within his own booth, Wang Tianmen was grinding his beak as his fists clenched so hard his fingernails were digging into his palm. With a quick jerk of his head, he glared at his attendant. Without any need for instructions, the attendant quickly nodded and left the booth, out to find out just who this girl was. He was the 1st prince of the Wang family. His surname literally meant King, and his name meant that he was the gate to the sky. If anything was to happen in the skies of Yurza, they had to go through him. His was raised as an arrogant prince. If he said 1, nobody said 2.

“Ten million! For three crystals!” He growled, clearly displaying is anger. He was a frequent visitor to this establishment. He knew the rules when bidding for multiple items in the same lot. Once someone bids for more than one, the following bids need to comply and bid for the same number of items or more. From this point forth, anyone who wants to bid will have to bid for at least 3 crystals.

“Thirteen million for 4 crystals!” Kina yelled out, aware that it was now back to a battle between the 2 of them. 13 million was her limit but she knew there was no way in hell the other guy was going to let it go.

“16 million for 4 crystals! I am Wang Tianmen, 1st prince of paradise city. My father rules over Yurza and I am taking these crystals for my personal training room. I dare anyone to take these away from me!” He yelled out, furious. “So what if I don’t have enough credit!?” he started yelling once more at the auction house attendant who had just entered his booth. Clearly everyone heard him since he must have forgotten to take his hands off the bidding announcement button which broadcasted everything in the booth.

“Oh? Looks like some poor brat is bidding beyond his pocket money. That’s just too bad isn’t it? Go home boy, go ask your daddy for more money before showing up in front of me.” Kina taunted. This time, nobody laughed since Tianmen had clearly stated his status and was clearly quite mad. No one would dare incur his wrath and they all gulped down a huge lump once Kina said that.

“You!” Tianmen uttered in fury. He just could not believe how bold this girl was.

“I what? Can’t come up with better comeback lines? You poor thing, fighting a battle you know you can’t win. Why don’t you go pick up your egg shells and crawl back inside to cry? Hmph, I doubt you are anything special, still needing those crystals for your training. Go ahead then, take them. I don’t care about them anymore.” Kina sniped. It was at this point that Kiefer placed a firm grip on her shoulder and glared at her. Her behaviour was getting out of hand and seeing as Isana did nothing to stop it, Kiefer glared at Isana too. Isana could only smile wryly. Deep inside, though, she was proud that her baby girl was confident enough to stand up against anyone.

A battle between a spoilt prince from one world, and a spoilt princess from another. It was literally a face off to see who could be more overbearing and bully the other, and Kina clearly came out on top. This was what made Isana happy, seeing her child win over others. Kiefer though had a different perspective on things. Eril on the other hand, was just completely dumbfounded by his new disciple’s boldness and wondered when it was going to drag him into trouble.

“Hmph! My father is sending someone over with 60 million gold coins. We’ll see if you have enough to win any bids then!” Tianmen snorted out loud. Just as Kina was about to retaliate, Kiefer’s grip on her shoulder tightened, making her wince in pain.

“And what do you think you are going to say, young lady?” Kiefer scolded softly. “The money you are spending isn’t exactly yours either. The day that you can earn your keep, I’ll let go of the reins and you can get whatever you want.” Kiefer reprimanded her, tightening his control over her actions. Looking over to Eril, Kiefer sighed. “Eril, let's end this training for today. This is getting out of hand. My daughter’s character is already not in a good state to begin with, I don’t want it deteriorating any further.”

“Alright then. Kina, for the rest of tonight, just watch how the auction progresses. Don’t make any more bids. Just answering my questions will be sufficient.” Eril instructed, to which Kina slumped back into her seat, not happy that her fun has been ruined.

The sale of the skyrite crystals proceeded fairly quickly, with 4 of them being won by Tianmen and the last one by a construction guild master from another city. The next item surprisingly caused an even bigger hooha than the skyrite crystals. It was supposedly a legendary herb that would absorb any lightning nearby, keeping the user safe from electrical attacks. It was especially crucial for the birdmen since being paralysed from electric based attacks would send them plummeting from the skies, making it their greatest weakness. A treasure such as this was a like an extra life for them.

Naturally, while there were several bids from the audience, Tianmen won it easily as the financial backup arrived just in time. Many people within the crowd were beginning to get restless since Tianmen was just too overpowering and not letting them buy the real treasures. It was just too difficult to go up against the prince even if you had the financial capability. Even then, they stayed hoping to watch a good show between the mysterious princess and the arrogant prince. With Kina not bidding for anything, the birdmen gradually began filtering out of the auction hall even before the auction ended.

Seeing this loss of potential customers, Yanqiu silently cursed the prince for spoiling the market. Deciding it was best to bring out the real treasure for tonight seeing as nothing else would actually make any profit, she rearranged the order of the lots and once more, a large chunk of rock was being towed out onto the stage. At this moment, Kiefer and Isana’s eyes both lit up. They had felt the aura from the rock and finally understood the real purpose of this auction. The soul flower.

“Well then everyone, due to a sudden change in circumstances, this will be the last main item up for auction tonight. The remaining 30 bottles of elixirs will be next and then, this auction will come to a close. Do join us for next week’s midnight auction to see the remaining items. This piece of treasure has only been heard of in legends. It is said that each of our city leaders possess one of this. It is a lifesaving treasure that will revive you when you die. Its name is none other than the soul flower. Bidding starts at 10 million. Increments of 1 million only, no more, no less.”

“Ten!” someone shouted instantly from the crowd.

“Eleven!”

“Twelve!”

“Thirteen!” Kina yelled. She knew her parents were searching for this. 13 million was all she got so if she did not bid now, she never could.

“Haha. 14 million!” Tianmen snorted as he outbid Kina.

“15 million!” Kiefer called out, much to Kina and Isana’s surprise.

“Oh? Another kid? Are you sure you can afford it? 16 million!” Tianmen taunted.

“Boy, I suggest you let this go. Even if you win it, I’m just going to take it from you. 17 million.” Kiefer replied calmly.

“Hmph, empty threats. 18!” Tianmen continued.

“19. You better stop before you regret it boy. You don’t know who you are messing with.” Kiefer warned, slightly stern this time.

“Whatever. My father is the most powerful bird on this entire continent. What makes you think you are even qualified to issue a threat? 20 million,” Tianmen taunted back, not the least bit threatened. Kiefer kept quiet at this point. He realised just how frustrating and pointless it is to try and negotiate with him. “Hmph. Just as I thought. Well? Is there anyone else who is going to raise the price?” Tianmen asked arrogantly.

At this point, Kina could take it no longer and suddenly yelled out,” 21!”

“22 million gold coins. Go on then, I can play all night. I came here specifically for this. No one else is going to get it,” Tianmen continued bidding.

Eventually, the price rose steadily till 35 million gold coins, at which Kina sneered, and ‘graciously’ let Tianmen win. The auction concluded as the large rock was moved out of the stage and the birdmen crowd began filing out the exits. Tianmen, his attendants and his guards all rushed out quickly and silently, awaiting the appearance of the mysterious girl. One of his assassins had stayed behind to tail the targets from their booth.

Once Kina and co stepped outside the great tree, they could already see Tianmen making preparations to leave. He had chained the 3 large floating gravitite ores to the soul flower boulder like balloons and his guards were towing it slowly away from the tree. Seeing as they were still within the city’s premise, Kiefer made no attempts to rob the unfortunate prince. However, he, Isana and Kina blatantly tailed the prince slowly as they made their way out the city.

Kina seemed unusually eager to get into battle as her restriction bracelet had been transformed into a pendant that hung around her neck on a delicate mithril chain. Kiefer had modified the restriction bracelet into a protection pendant that would provide Kina with 10 layers of his mana armour. Eril had been instructed by Kiefer to stay behind with Jielin to avoid being caught up in their affairs.

Within half an hour, they crossed the outer perimeter of the city’s premise and without any delays, a dark blur flashed forwards from behind the 3 titans, the short steel blade in his hand descending upon Kina’s nape from behind. With an otherworldly speed, Kina turned around and caught the blade barehanded, shattering it in her grip.

As pieces of shrapnel from the shattered blade nick the feathers on the assassin’s arm, Kina smiled sinisterly. “Hello. I’ve been waiting,” she leaned in and whispered.