Inside the auction house, hundreds of thousands of spectators from different races and species sat in seats on multiple balconies. A vast majority of those in attendance are only present because of the recent announcement of the auction selling an item crafted by the Venerable Volcan Duskback. Only a handful of conversations were taking place, the hall is near silent.

At the top of the hall in one of the ten private halls are Arbor and Volcan sitting comfortably behind a private screen. The two lounged in exquisite chairs embedded with rubies and gold and carvings of dragon heads. An extravagant fragrance rose from a simple gourd in Volcans hand. An attendant stood with clasped hands next to the door with a nervous look in case the two needed or wanted anything throughout the duration of the auction.

Over the next couple of hours Arbor witnessed a variety of objects being auctioned and people scheming or using their families or clans prestige to obtain an item. When the time for the item that Volcan had included in the auction arrived, the atmosphere became boiling with excitement.

A stunning woman in a lavious lilac dress approached the podium. "Welcome honored guests. We have been blessed with the opportunity to auction off an item crafted by the Venerable Volcan Duskback. This time is a special occasion considering one of his items appears every five hundred years. His last item sold for two and a half trillion God Tier Celestial Stones just a hundred and thirty-six years ago." The woman paused for a moment in order to let the gravity of the situation settle. "I am pleased to announce that Venerable Vulcan has outdone himself again. The item we are auctioning off today is a rare quadi-elemental sword able to amplify the strength of the user's attacks by two fold if they are able to bring out its full strength. After careful thought and consideration, the bidding will start at seven hundred and fifty million God Tier Spirit Stones. May the bidding begin.”

“One billion God Tier Spirit Stones.”

“One billion one hundred million…”

As the bidding began Arbor noticed money symbols appeared in Volcans eyes. With each new bid, Volcans hands rubbed together ever so slightly. Everyone has their vices, and Arbor realized Volcans.

“Spirit stones can protect your life. They can protect ya from anyone or anything. The only thin’ more powerful than wealth is strength. If you have both, nothin’ can stop yas…" Vulcan began to lecture Arbor as the auction went on.

"Can... Can I have the stones from this item that you are selling?" Arbor interrupted Vulcan.

Vulcan stopped talking and raised a finger off of the armrest of the chair. I sliver essence shot out of his finger and flew directly towards arbor's mouth, sealing it shut. Just caused Arbor to start mumbling and panicking.

Meanwhile, in an extremely distant, barren, and deathly location, two men with non discerning appearances sat in a hall.

“Krewiu, are you certain that one of them is Volcan, and there is a young boy with him?” A deathly voice spoke with a hint of excitement.

“Yes, Lord Veon. One of our soldiers noticed the same symbol on the boys back just outside the auction hall. Coincidently, Volcan appeared just after and killed the person who was about to attack the child.”

“Do you know of the reason the unknown individual was going to attack the child?”

“According to the soldier in the city, he noticed an aura that caused him to feel something. He described it as similar to...nature, as vibrant as those under Mo Haoshe.” Krewiu shuddered as he finished speaking.

Upon hearing Krewi’s response, Lord Veon’s eyes snapped open and barked, “Send everyone to kill that child!”

As the bidding got down to the last two competitors and was slowly increasing, Arbor sat in the same chair with his arms crossed in front of his chest. The price for the item reached over 500 billion god tier spirit stones.

As the auction ended, one drunk dwarf and a naive child left the luxurious room and made their way towards the management hall to collect Volcans payment for the item. The two received the money without any trouble and left. Volcan took a hold of Arbors shoulder as the two walked through the main lobby. The alcoholic smell left Volcan instantly. At some point a necklace appeared around Arbors neck, who was unknown to it.

“Run to the villa we’ve been stayn’ at. Dont stop.” Volcan wispered as they stepped foot outside.

Nothing appeared out of the ordinary in the crowd to Arbor. Like a swarm of beetles, people dressed in robes of darker hues of reds, purples, and blacks started to replace those in normal clothing, surrounding the auction hall. A Large hood hung over their heads obscure their pale, skeletal like faces. A run down hourglass with a pair of bone wings are boxed in by a set of scythes. Hundreds upon hundreds of people in the same clothing appeared.

Most of these people were in the same realm as Volcan, thus posing a direct threat to him. The rest were a realm or two below him. Although in an individual fight none of these people will pose a threat to him, they can as a large group. Additionally, each and every one of these people can kill Arbor with a thought.

The situation took a turn for the worst as darkness descended upon the surroundings of the auction hall. Underneath the blanket of darkness is an absence of all sound. Volcan removed his hand from Arbor's shoulder and yelled. A powerful hammer and anvil appeared in front of Volcan. The anvil expanded in size, becoming fifteen foot long and ten feet wide and sat in the middle of the dark dressed crowd. Volcan began attacking as if he was in a rage.

Each person that got hit by Volcans hammer flew towards the anvil and sprawled out on top of it, unable to break free from the attractive force of the anvil. The prisoners lost their life force swiftly as it got sucked away by the anvil. It devoured them. Of the hundreds of people about half of them remained as a third of them left to chase Arbor who had already run.

As the anvil absorbed energy, it released energy in waves that transferred to Volcan’s hammer, giving him more strength to fight with. The more he fought, the more excited he became. Ten minutes later, the hammer in Volcans hand started to shake. Vol raised his right hand as his hammer divided and another one appeared! Volcans aura and power increased by twenty-five percent!

Amid the darkness, Arbor could not differentiate the sound of wind in his ears from his blood rushing through his veins. While running, Arbor could not differentiate west from east. The ground beneath his feet and the sense of moving forward is the only thing giving him the sense of direction. The thud from his heartbeat became more intense than the impact from his feet on the ground. Each thump of his heart became an explosion felt throughout his body. An unpleasant smell attacked Arbors nose. He soon found the source as he ran over blood and guts. For once he was thankful that his vision was restricted as he gagged at the thought of what lay beyond the black sheet. He could feel his stomach churning.

Just keep running, and don't stop, Volcan told him. Arbor has no clue where Volcan is or if he is alive. Before long, Arbor had to stop to catch his breath. He reached over his shoulder to confirm that his egg is still on his back. He also noticed the necklace at this moment and figured at why he had not been hurt yet. After a brief moment he began fleeing again.

A translucent barrier just outside of his arms reach appeared around him. This difflected every attack from those hunting him down, leaving him perfectly protected. All around him weapons, gasses, spells, poison, artifacts, and everything in between attacks the barrier as he ran.

“Wait. Where the fuck am I? I don't remember how to get back to the villa.” Arbor thought as he ran. He decided to keep running for as long as he could. He did his best to remember the path back to the villa as he turned, but kept running into buildings, carts, and structures. Thus, Arbor became lost.

“You went the opposite way from where you were staying. But, that doesn’t matter as you are going to die here today.” A soft yet raspy voice from nowhere drifted into Arbor’s ears.

In a panic, Arbor frantically began looking around for the source of the voice. Not a soul is in sight.

Suddenly, a large force struck into the barrier around Arbor and sent him crashing into a building, and a few more before he finally stopped. After quickly checking himself he found that he was not injured at all. Thankfully there is a barrier around him.

At this moment Arbor could feel a small amount of pressure on his heart. Just outside the thin membrane of the barrier Arbor could see a rustic colored metallic point. This is the first thing he is seeing outside of the barrier since the darkness descended around him. Out of curiosity he reached out and touched the blade. He felt the barrier bellowed in a miniscule amount, and mused that it was due to the blade.

Arbor noticed that the tip of the blade is inching closer to him. No matter where he moved to; forward, backwards, to the side, up or down, it continued to stay in the same spot. Perpendicular to his heart. As the blade inched closer, the pressure and weight on his heart that he felt increased. A morbid feeling rose inside of him.

He started running without any concern of where he is or where he was going. All he knows is that he has to get away from this blade somehow.

"Foolish child. I've been killing people since before you were born. You have no hope of getting away from me. Not even Haoshe Will be able to save you after my blade absorbs your soul, preventing you from reincarnation." The same voice echoed in the darkness.

With his hands on his knees, Arbor looked up to the barrier bowing in towards him. The tip of the blade is now just inside his elbow away from him. A spider web of white cracks appeared over the barrier.