Tall, broad shouldered, with long, red hair falling across his shoulders, untamed like Lion Roar, and yet his beard, though thick, was neatly trimmed. He wore fine clothing which betrayed his position within his family, a Patriarch.
“I apologise for my late entrance,” the Patriarch of the Tiger Fist family apologised, a small smile on his face. He brought out a golden talon from his ring, and held it out to a nearby worker, who accepted the golden talon, before the Patriarch made his way up to his seat, where his son sat.
He sat down within his bubble, and then his eyes fell to the Auction Head. Whereas his lips had held a smile when he had arrived, it had disappeared when he sat down. “Is there some sort of issue?”
“There is no issue,” the Young Head said.
The Patriarch’s eyes went upwards to the old man who watched from the balcony, before they fell back to the Young Head, the old man’s granddaughter. “There seems to be some kind of mistake. Our family does not have a purple paddle.”
“It is no mistake,” the Young Head said. “The guest specifically stated who would be allowed to bid on their item.”
‘Who did we offend to be outed from the fourth phase of the auction so openly?’ He looked to his son, the First Young Master. ‘Was it you? Did you decide to act up because I haven’t made you a Head yet?’ He had heard about a commotion with a couple of Town Alchemists, but it wasn’t anything which he was too worried about.
The Young Head pulled off the sheet, revealing a purple box which kept its contents secret. She smiled wide, and rather than speaking up as she typically would, she brought the key to the lock. Her lack of words had revealed to the families how great this matter was. She unlocked the box, and revealed the item within.
It was an elixir. A glass bottle which held a golden liquid which glowed lightly. Yet, everyone who could bid on the item realised just how amazing it truly was. Within the golden liquid was a swirling whiteness, like ink, which took the shape of a tiger.
Earth. Mountain. Sky. Mystical.
These were the four tiers the city were familiar with. They were further divided into Low, Middle, and High. Each person know how high they could aim for, with the great families each coveting items within the Sky and Mystical grades. However, items of Mystical quality were quite sparse, and even the Auction House would only sell a handful of each every month, and they would be typically be Low and Middle Mystical grade.
Yet, somehow, not only did the auction have an elixir within High Mystical grade, it was something which was beyond that. No, it didn’t reach the next tier of quality, but this item was certainly among the best which could be found in High Mystical.
There were Alchemists in this world which could create pills with such skill, that the pills would contain extra qualities. Some Alchemists held the ability to create Pill Spots, which were subdivided into Hollow, Prominent, and Sparkling. It wasn’t only pills which could be crafted to such a great degree. Elixirs, too, could be made to possess such greatness, taking the form of different animals.
White Tiger.
The tiger denoted that the elixir was best to be taken by a single person in its entirety, and the colour of the tiger denoted the strength of the extra quality, white being the lowest, and yet it was still a huge boost.
Suddenly, the entirety of the auction filled with seriousness. Young Head Kayla smiled, feeling the tension in the air. This tension tasted like pure gold to her. ‘I should be careful before I get poisoned, but…’
“Golden Purity Elixir,” the Young Head began, trying to keep her voice level, “of the White Tiger variety.”
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Expert Beaux had found herself on the stage without meaning to leaving her seat. However, she had a duty to the guild, so the Young Head couldn’t refuse her, and so brought out her tiny silver spoon. She pulled off the lid, and the entire room filled with a sweet smell, like honey, and she allowed a tiny, single drop fall onto the spoon, before she handed the bottle back to the Young Head.
Her entire body glowed gold, with ki flowing out of her as she tried to cultivate the tiny drop of elixir she had accepted. Her meridians could only assist in refining the smallest amount from the single drop, though everyone could see the effects of the elixir immediately, as the woman reached the peak of her small realm in an instant.
“I, Expert Beaux, have confirmed the quality of the elixir,” the young Expert said, before retreating back to her seat.
“We will begin the bid at one million, and we will only accept increments of ten thousand.”
There was silence at first, as the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of the various families thought about what to do. Not once had the Young Head mentioned that this was the only item for auction, meaning this was no doubt the worst item within the fourth phase.
“One hundred thousand,” the City Lord called. It was awkward to say one million and one hundred thousand, so even the arrogant great families decided against saying such awkward things. Even they felt awkward saying the long names of their techniques passed down from old, but they could do nothing about that, so at least during the auction could they deal with saying things less awkwardly.
“One hundred and ten,” Viper Fist called.
“One hundred and fifty,” Sun Sword called.
“Two hundred thousand,” Lion Roar said.
“Two hundred and fifty,” Moon Sword said.
“Three hundred thousand,” Matriarch Storm Palm said, having bid on a singular item previously, which she had ended up procuring.
The others glanced her way, for when the Storm Palm family bid, it was serious business. They would win their bid nine times out of ten, but unfortunately for them, this was something all the families coveted.
“Four hundred thousand,” the City Lord said, and the price continued to spiral to seven hundred thousand.
“Two million,” Expert Beaux finally said, finally deciding to enter the fray. She wanted to wait to see what else would be on offer, but perhaps the other items wouldn’t be pills or elixirs. She had been under the impression that their pills and elixirs would be on offer, but the Young Head hadn’t explicitly said such a thing, just that there would sure be great pills and elixirs on offer. However, this bid wouldn’t be enough, she was certain of that, so she continued her attack. “I’m certain Expert Leaf Moon would be eager to study the formula.”
‘Hoo,’ Mika thought, hiding the smile on his face. ‘Not bad, not bad, girlie.’ If nothing else, such a phrase would knock the City Lord out of the running, and he was the one with the most capital to throw around. Yet, if the Expert was saying they wanted to study its formula, then it would help his city out, so he had to step down from the fight.
“One hundred thousand,” Viper Fist said. Even if the City Alchemists bought the items, it would mostly benefit the City Lord, not his family.
“Two hundred thousand,” Lion Roar continued.
The other families realised several things. One of the things they realised was that this item hadn’t been made by the City Alchemists, meaning that whoever it was that brought this item was at least equally as skilled as the greatest Alchemist within their city.
Secondly, the City Lord wouldn’t be able to continue the fight, and so they had a chance to procure this item. Thirdly, every single family here wanted that elixir, even if it meant offending the City Alchemists. If it was the Elder Alchemist who had asked, it would have been one thing, but they could at least go against the Expert.
‘Damn it!’ Expert Beaux thought, before she called for a guard. She handed the guard a message, and they quickly disappeared. The other families had done the same, save for the great families, who already had all those which possessed the greatest authorities to act for their families.
Even the smaller families were beginning to form alliances between one another. Yes, a lesser family couldn’t go up against the great families, but several together? Perhaps they would be betrayed by such a family, but then they’d have to answer to the other families, and so it was unlikely they would forget such favours.
It was a quiet chaos within the Auction House, a chaos which two individuals were keeping an eye on closely.
“Page Mika,” Elder Yan said, throwing Mika a look.
“Understood, Elder,” Mika replied, before hopping off his seat.
‘Who is it?’ Patriarch Tiger Fist thought. ‘Who dares to refuse my family to bid on such an item? What kind of figure did my family dare to offend?’ The killing intent the Patriarch emanated covered his entire body, the veins on his arm bulging as he felt the fury overcome him.
Mika coughed up blood, dropping to his knees as the pressure overwhelmed him. Patriarch Tiger Fists eyes fell across his form as the boy clutched at his heart, feeling the pressure from the Tiger Fist crushing him.
‘You!’