“Five Hundred!”, shouted Tepo right after.

Tondka furrowed his brows. The price slowly became unreasonable.

“Five hundred and ten!”

“Five hundred and twenty!”

“Thirty!”

“Forty!”

“You!”

Suddenly Tondka couldn’t keep up his nice smile anymore. He frowned heavily.

“You there in the last row! You are a newcomer, right?! Did you come to deliberately make things difficult for me?!”

Tepo was annoyed by the immediate accusation.

“Who are you that I would lower myself to target you?! I am only competing fairly!”

“Y…”

But before Tondka could speak further, the auctioneer suddenly interrupted him.

“Gentlemen. Don’t fight in our auction house! You know the rules, we only compete with our wealth here.”

Suddenly Tondka was brought back to reality. His bad mood over the last days might have gone to his head. He became conscious of the judging stares of his peers, forcing him to quickly apologize.

“I’m sorry everyone. Although I don’t feel like I am the culprit here, I will drop out of the bid this time.”

Appreciative nods followed this announcement. One of Tondka’s ‘friends’ immediately flattered him.

“Ahh, this is the Lirane’s magnanimity at full display. You, Tondka, are really a bright idol among the city’s youth.”

Tondka could only smile wryly hearing this. Even he felt that his friend was overdoing it.

Maybe it is time to change my social circle. After joining Astram I shouldn’t hang around with such losers anymore…

Tepo ignored Tondka’s small jab. He was just glad he won the shuàr brain.

Up on the stage the auctioneer rose her hand. Immediately the voices mellowed out.

“Thank you everyone for respecting our auction house.

Young man in the last row, you can come up and receive the precious item.”

Tepo stood up with an eager heart. But his face remained calm as scrutinizing gazes followed him towards the stage. After a short transaction the brain was finally in his hands.

Now Yerive should be save…

Although the young warrior couldn’t wait to return so his mother could make the antidote, so far no one left right after paying. Thus, Tepo assumed that this would be considered impolite. He could only return to his seat and impatiently wait for the auction to end.

With every new item the auctioneer announced, Tepo cursed in his heart. The clock kept ticking and Yerive’s health surely wouldn’t get better.

Suddenly something happened which made Tepo’s eyes twitch. On item had just been sold when the room’s door slowly opened a tiny gap. A small head with blond braids peeked in.

For the fraction of a second the auctioneer’s face showed the displeasure upon being disturbed. But when her gaze fell on the door, a gentle smile immediately formed on her face.

“Lady Baranoa? Do wish to watch the auction?”

The audience was confused for a moment but no one of the important personages present was stupid. Of course, they realized form the auctioneer’s tone that this young girl had a high status.

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Baranoa eyed the crowd before awkwardly biting her lips and looking at the auctioneer with a difficult expression.

“Auntie Idrah… I… I’m not here to watch…”

Multiple hearts melted as the ashamed voice reached their ears. Even Tepo felt touched despite already falling for the girl’s tricks once.

What a little devil…

The auctioneer Idrah’s smile turned even more gentle, indulging.

“No? Then what brings a little princess like yourself here? Just tell us if we can help you with anything.”

Baranoa’s lips quivered. Looking at the kind face, she sunk her head in shame. She shifted her feet, stepping into the room timidly, twirling her right foot on the ground.

“Auntie Idrah, I… I did something bad.”

“Yes?”, asked Idrah in surprise. “Don’t worry little princess. How bad can it be?”

“This… I… I might’ve drunk one of your items. You see I stumbled upon these tasty smelling bottles and then… I couldn’t hold back…”

The blond girl even begun to sniffle somewhat, stifling her own words.

Many in the audience sighed although they held some doubts. How could a little girl just ‘stumble upon’ the auction items?

But what could they do? They didn’t dare to blame the girl. Especially since a stoic guard could vaguely be seen through the gap in the door.

“Ahh don’t blame yourself, young lady. It is our oversight to not store our items properly.

If I may ask… What did you drink?”

“I don’t know. I’m sorry. Sorry. It was some green liquid. Here.”

With a shaky hand Baranoa revealed a small bottle from behind her back. Only a few small drops of a green liquid remained from its former contents.

Idrah had a hard time controlling her expression. She smiled wryly, but her eyes revealed some frustration.

“Oh, it’s this item. Don’t worry little princess, this potion wasn’t that precious. And if I remember correctly, we had multiple bottles anyways. Can you tell me how many you drank?”

“I… might have emptied two…”

An audible sigh left Idrah’s mouth.

“A… alright. It’s alright. Yeah. We… we had three bottles anyways and they were your mother’s gift in the first place. Nothing to worry about. At. All.”

Baranoa sunk her head even lower. The young girl noticed that the mood seemed to have shifted. She carefully stepped back.

“I’m sorry auntie. Really. I will make it up to you…”

Her voice still echoing in the room, Baranoa had hastily turned around and fled through the door.

A strange atmosphere engulfed the auction hall. No one knew how to deal with the situation. Only Tepo expected this to be one of Baranoa’s tricks again.

The auctioneer took a few seconds to calm down. Although this showed a lack of professionalism, but fortunately the audience could emphasize with her.

Just as Idrah wanted to continue, a knock could be heard from the door. The auctioneer almost lost it. With suppressed anger she yelled:

“What now?!”

A moment later a frightened member of the auction house carefully entered. He didn’t dare to look at the angry Idrah as he delivered a message.

“Excuse me everyone. Someone from the Lirane Minerals Group just arrived. They were adamant for me to inform Mister Tondka Lirane. Could you please follow me outside?”

Suddenly all eyes were on Tondka again. The young man shook in surprise.

What’s going on? How undeserved. All of you direct your bottled ire towards me now?! What a sh*t day!

All of you, just wait! When I join Astram you won’t even dare to look at me!

And this stupid massager outride! If you don’t have anything important to report, I will send you to rot in the mines!

Tondka gritted his teeth. He hastily stood up and left the room. There was no way he would present himself as an outlet for everyone’s anger.

This time Idrah deliberately paused for a minute. She almost expected another interruption to occur.

Only after the auctioneer’s mood calmed down did she continue with a forced smile.

“My apologies everyone. This is not the standard we, the Floating Rain City Auction House, want to uphold. I will definitely make sure something like this won’t happen in the future!”

“No need to apologize.”

“Right, this isn’t your fault.”

“Let’s just continue.”

Idrah nodded kindly upon receiving so much support. She soon resumed the auction. Only a few items were left, with none of them catching Tepo’s attention.

But soon the final item was brought out. It was a single bottle with green liquid. Its description suddenly let even Tepo listen closely.

“Dear guests, this is the final item of our auction. This potion is not something our small city will see every day. It was gifted to us by a revered visitor.

This potion is named ‘Low-quality Body Strengthening Potion’!

Don’t let its simple name deceive you, as this small potion is a real treasure. It has the effect of permanently strengthening your body.”

Idrah paused deliberately. She scanned the audience, felling smug as everyone’s eyes lit up.

“You can already guess it. Just imagine fighting an enemy of the same rank. If you have taken this potion and the enemy hasn’t, the outcome doesn’t need to be mentioned.”

Suddenly everyone felt eager in their hearts. Even Tepo drew a sharp breath. He had read about such potions before. But since he didn’t deliberately look for it, he couldn’t be certain if the Web sold it.

But, well, they probably do…

Gradually Tepo calmed down somewhat. He didn’t have many force crystals at hand.

This potion most likely isn’t fated with me. Maybe I should ask in the intelligence area next time. Or better yet… ask my mother about it!

As the fervor and impatience in everyone’s eyes increased, Idrah finally continued:

“Unfortunately, we originally had three potions but now we only have one left due to out little… oversight. So, I can only wish everyone good luck. Let the auction begin!”

With those last words Idrah riled up everyone even more. All the bigshots had sparks in their eyes. They eagerly competed to shout their bids. None of the usual aloofness was left.

Tepo shivered as the sight before him turned into a pack of hyenas fighting for their meal.