A vase.

A bloody vase.

That was what was on the pedestal. Althea had to say, she had expected something more...weapon-like. Or perhaps a rare herb. Or beast. But no, a vase. Well, maybe it was valuable. An old artifact, perhaps?

"Don't be surprised by its simple appearance." the Golden Turtle floated down. "This vase contains enough mana to allow a Master," the Golden Turtle paused, probably for the drama, and then continued. "to become a Grandmaster!"

A clap enunciated her words, as she shot up towards the ceiling. And then back down just as quickly.

"Not just that, but it can recharge! A thousand years at the bottom of the sea, and it shall be ready to use again!"

Althea's smile twitched as she tried to lengthen it in a manner that would seem natural. The vase was valuable. That was sure. But she wasn't sure it was worth the hype the Golden Turtle had made. The vase only gave mana, something that only took time to accumulate. The more talented the person was, the less time.

The real issue with breaking through was the other stuff. The Master and other...things you needed to get into the Grandmaster stage. Althea hadn't really bothered to know that. Adept was still far for her. There would be plenty of time.

As for mana, she could probably gather enough in...a day? There hadn't really been a time when she had to gather and store mana, so she didn't know how fast she could cultivate. Not to mention the requirement for mana increased stage by stage, making it hard for her to estimate.

Oh well, it didn't matter really. The vase was important to those people that would take a while to get the mana.

"If it is alright with you, Countess, the Surich family would like to bid on this object." Lady Surich whispered to her. Althea nodded.

"Does the royal family wish to bid too?" she whisper-asked the Steward.

The Steward looked at Lady Surich as he replied. "Perhaps. Whether we buy it depends on the price."

Althea nodded. Hmm. This vase was a good gift. And the ten thousandth anniversary of the Empire was coming up. This vase would make an excellent gift for such a time.

"Place your bids, and be quick!" the Golden Turtle flitted around in the sky.

"A hundred thousand gold." Feng began by placing a bid, smirking at her. Did the brat think that she didn't have the money to compete with him?

"Two hundred thousan-." she announced.

"Three hundred thousand. " the Steward bid before she could even finish this sentence. Lady Surich shrunk back, looking even more nervous than before.

Althea estimated the vase was worth about a million gold. Perhaps Lady Surich did not have that much in her budget?

"Fo-four hundred thou-" Lady Surich began, but was cut off by Feng.

"Five hundred thousand." Feng said, smiling. "Are you scared, ladies? Don't worry, it’s just a little excitement. There is no need to be afraid."

Althea tried to hide her irritated expression at his patronizing comments as she bid. "Six hundred thou-"

"Seven hundred thousand." the Steward interrupted her. Althea turned to glare at him, making him look guilty.

Well, it wasn't his fault, auctions tended to be cutthroat. Asking him not to interrupt her might be too much. Feng though... Feng could go die in a ditch somewhere. The man was far too irritating.

"Eight hundred thousand." Feng bid, smirking leisurely.

Althea found his smirk mocking. "A million."

The smirk vanished. "A million and one hundre-"

"One million and two hundred thousand." she interrupted. There, she could do it too.

"One million three hundred thousand." the Steward's voice echoed through the chamber. Had she been glaring at Feng for too long?

"One million four-"

"One million five hundred-" she began smirking.

"One million seven hundred thousand." Feng said before she could finish her sentence.

"What, did you think I couldn't up my own bid?"

Althea growled. That wasn't even what he did! Even if she hadn't finished her sentence, she had already started- ugh!

"Two million!" she growled out. At this point, she didn't want the vase. When she thought he was reaching his limit, she was going to pull out and make him pay a higher price.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Feng leaned forward, staring at her. Althea stared back, trying to keep her smile from fading. Was he not going to bid? The Steward was already shaking his head, clearly not going to bid. Lady Surich had been out of the game long ago.

Two million was...a bit much for the vase. But the Steward had seen her bid for it. The Empress would like it when she gave her a two million gold vase, right? The loss wasn't that big...

"How about we fight for it?" Feng asked.

"What?"

"Fight for it." The smile on Feng's face made her want to tear it off. "I find this monetary babble boring. The two of us obviously don't get along. So, let's fight for it. The winner pays the Golden Turtle here...two million and one hundred thousand gold, and walks away with the vase."

Althea frowned. Why would she accept that? The thought of pummeling the smirk off Feng's face was tempting, but-

"That is, unless you are scared." Feng smirked again. "I just thought it was a good way for both of us to save money. But if you're too scared for an actual fight-"

That was it. This guy was done mocking her. Althea knew that she was being taunted, with one of the oldest taunts in the book, but it was very effective. And she didn't think she would lose to this guy.

"Ok, sure." she said. "If the Golden Turtle is agreeable, I am ready to address your challenge. As long as you don't go crying to the Grandmaster afterward."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that." Feng said, staring towards where the Golden Turtle was floating. "What do you think, Miss Golden? Can I call you that?"

Was that a flash of irritation she just saw pass through the merchant's face? Althea focused on the Golden Turtle out of instinct, trying to gauge her reaction.

"I am not sure, Master Feng. This is highly unorthodox..."

"Oh, please, don't bring up the idiocy of the mainland here, Miss Golden." Feng said. "There is no harm in agreeing to this. If you wish, you can consider it a favor to the Grandmaster's last disciple."

The smile on the boy's face made it clear that he was saying one thing and meaning something quite different. Althea furrowed her brows. The Grandmaster didn't help his disciples publically, but did he do it in secret? There was no record of it, but as far as she knew, no one had succeeded in putting a spy near the Grandmaster.

The way Golden Turtle's face went pale for a second told her that she considered the threat serious.

"I suppose if it is for the Grandmaster, I can allow it." the Golden Turtle said. Althea took a deep breath. This might be difficult. If the Grandmaster was helping his disciples in private, he may decide to take revenge in private, too. The Diery family might be great and all, but that wasn't important before the power of a Grandmaster.

"Do you wish to wait, Countess?" Feng asked. "Perhaps if you need some time to get ready-"

"There is no need." she said. "The two of us can begin as soon as you are ready. I merely have to retrieve my weapon."

"How delightful."

Althea's smile turned sour as she walked towards the exit, the Steward in tow.

"Countess, this battle is not a good idea. The martial artists of the Southern Continent can defeat dozens of mages by themselves. The chances of you winning are minimal. And with the Grandmaster being behind that man-"

"There is no need to worry, Steward. I have also defeated dozens of mages by myself before. " Althea said as they flew over to her ship. If she were being honest, she didn't really need a weapon. But it would be nice to bonk Feng's head.

The Diery family's ancestral weapon might be a glorified stick, but it was a very hard stick.

Feng was waiting for her when she floated out. The battle was apparently going to take place over the sea. How wonderful, her first flying battle.

"Are you ready, my lady?" Feng asked, making a dramatic bow while holding a sword in each hand.

Althea scoffed. "Yes."

The attack came less than a second later. Isa was fast. Althea was fast. Feng was superfast.

As soon as one of the swords struck her staff, she knew that she was going to be at a disadvantage, at least when it came to speed. A second swipe came soon after, heading straight for her neck while her staff was occupied. Althea dodged it, using surrounding earth mana to weigh it down and launch a counterattack of her own.

Feng was already gone. The air whistled around her as she observed, trying to notice the boy that had disappeared into thin air. The whistling sound was her only clue that he was still around.

That and the sword heading for her face.

Althea dodged again, sidestepping right into another sword. The blade scratched against her dress, trying to tear it apart. The jewel had other ideas. For once, her expensive dressing sense was useful.

The green diamond that had been enhanced by absorbing ridiculous amounts of mana acted like armor, blocking the attack. But the blow was still heavy. And she was still frail. A mouthful of blood erupted from her and the blow landed on her stomach, her insides reeling from the attack. There had to be a few blood vessels that were crushed between her dress.

Even if the dress prevented her from being cut, she could still be crushed between it. At the end of the day, it wasn't armor. There was no frame keeping its shape. And she doubted there was any Master rank frame that could hold against her enemy.

Althea called on her mana, trying to sense Feng. As long as she was able to sense him, she could hold out against his barrage. The only way she won this was if this turned into a battle of attrition. That was what she was good at.

Mana ran through her as she called on increasing amounts of it, trying to supercharge the surrounding area. Feng was still hidden. For some reason, he hadn't attacked yet. Perhaps he was observing for an opportunity to finish this. In some way, the arena was unsuitable for her.

The elements still worked, but there was too much air mana in her vicinity. Even though she had that element, she couldn't say she was good at using it in battles. That was the Steward's specialty. To her, fire had been a more useful weapon. But fire wouldn't work against a foe like this.

Or would it?

Althea waited for a few minutes, gathering as much mana as she could. And of course, watching for what her dear competitor was doing.

Mana built up, gathering around her as the air grew increasingly violent. A mini tornado seemed ready to be lit at any time. Althea controlled it, reigning the mana back to stillness as she increased it to higher amounts. So high that it resembled a core of its own. A funnel was quickly forming around her, increasing in intensity as she gathered power.

Feng was still hidden from her eyes.

The mana grew.

Althea grew warrier.

Feng remained hidden.

The situation repeated. The minutes passed little by little as she tensed, wondering what was coming. Was Feng preparing for a bigger attack? Did he have something special in store? What was waiting for her? What was going on?

And then he attacked.

A spear struck towards her back as Althea swerved around, parrying it with her staff. A sword headed towards her from the front. Althea ducked that one, only to find another sword heading towards her from below. The two swords attempted to crush her as she used mana to slide horizontally, swerving out of their way as the swords attempted to follow.

That was close. Feng was fast, even while improvising. The swords nearly caught her even as she dodged them, the speed hard to beat.

But she had a card in store. A card that she had been preparing this entire time. And finally, there was enough mana to make it work.

Althea smiled, her eyes narrowing as she lit the air on fire.