At the highest floor looking out onto the stage where the auction was to take place was where Richard and Ryan were led into by Chairman Francis.

The room was filled with a natural scent that lifted the spirit, golden furnishing upon red carpets; the golden furnishing caused the white walls to have their own golden hue. Walking into the room Ryan felt as if he was walking into the room of royalty.

At the front of the room, directly from them was a balcony looking directly onto the stage below; there were two golden seats with white cushions on them for people to comfortably sit as they watched the proceedings of the auction taking place.

“Elder, out of all the high-quality rooms this is our best by far which only the King, princes or someone with your esteemed status can get into. These seats that look out onto the stage are made out of pure gold and the cushions are made from the fur of a Sage Master level beast.” Francis described, adding flattery to show his sincerity.

“Furthermore in each room, there is a member of our organisation ready to fulfil any of your orders. But Elder since you are here I will personally act upon your orders, if you see an item or items you like on the stage I will procure it for you no matter the price as a gift to you Elder, so please do tell me if anything catches your eye.”

Richard nodded and walked towards the seat near the balcony and sat down, on the other hand, Ryan mindlessly followed him and sat down on the seat next to him, the way they were being treated was something he had never experienced before.

Stupefied was not enough to describe his feeling of bewilderment, the respect he felt for Richard was once again realised.

In the forest, he was never able to see the effects of having an identity or background meant but he was now seeing it in full force, for example, this was the first time he had witnessed so much respect and wealth in one place.

“Don’t get caught in the moment, Ryan,” Richard whispered to him.

The starry eyes filled with gold disappeared, “I’ve never seen so much gold my entire life.” He replied.

Behind Richards mask he smiled, “Obtaining wealth isn’t hard when you become a Sage Alchemist or Sage Forge Master, even a Sage Ancestor is able to procure wealth with how much power they possess.”

“As for the first two, they are two fields of studies you can go into once you become a Sage; however, compared to cultivating Sage Force, becoming a Sage Forge Master or Alchemist requires both hard work and aptitude to reach a level of expertise.”

Seeing the starry eyes through the holes he couldn’t help but chuckle, “It’s too early for me to teach you Alchemy or Forging for your interest, however, when you become a Sage I’ll think about it.”

“Okay,” Ryan replied eagerly, knowing that he could obtain so much wealth added resolve to his already strong willpower to train.

Richard then turned to look out onto the seats below, more and more people were filling the seats faster and faster, occasionally people would look up at the balcony with envious gazes but also with fear. It was common knowledge that only people with power or an extremely powerful background could secure a room at the higher levels.

Time slowly drew closer to the main event, more and more people filled the Auction Hall, seats being filled rapidly, the other balcony rooms below their own were being filled and more people wearing masks sat down on the balcony seats.

On one of the rooms below Ryan noticed a blonde haired middle aged man seated on his seat, a peaceful expression was on his face, behind him stood a lean old man, grey-haired wearing a black suit and his eyes closed, the only reason Ryan could discern his age was because of the wrinkles on his face otherwise he looked like a healthy young man.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

When Ryan noticed him, the man also seemed to have sensed something and looked up to see the masked fellow he had seen earlier during the day.

A smile appeared on his face as he nodded towards him and then looked back down at the auction stage.

“Is he the man you spoke of earlier?” Out of the blue, Richard asked, having spotted the interaction of the blonde haired gentleman.

“Yes,” he replied.

He expected more questioning from Richard, but opposite to his expectation, Richard sat there with his chin leaning on his open palm. Seeing his disinterest Ryan decided to keep to himself.

Richard looked down at the blonde haired man, his deep grey eyes were moving between the old man and the blonde haired man.

Almost as though it was a coincidence the old man felt a sharp chill run down his spine, years of experience screaming at him telling him that a threat was near alarmed his eyes widened, searching vigilantly.

“What is it, Reid?” The blonde haired man asked, his back still facing the old man called Reid.

Reid looked around for a few more seconds waiting for his nerves to calm down before replying: “Master, I just sensed a threatening gaze earlier.” Reid replied. With his instincts, senses and experience all raised to a high level he was able to detect the slightest threat of killing intent.

The blonde haired man relaxed not the slightest worried, “How would you rate the threat level?”

“Master you don’t have to worry, that individual was only scouting us so he didn’t reveal too much, but from just that I was able to tell he is probably as strong as me.”

“Ho Ho.” The blonde haired man chuckled slightly: “Just carry on keeping guard, tell me if anything happens again.”

“Yes sir.”

Back in Ryan’s room, the perpetrator Richard was watching his Sage Weapon transform into countless different small objects about the size of his own thumb for entertainment.

All of a sudden the door to the room was pushed open without any prior warning.

“Who dares enter this room?!” Chairman Francis roared furiously as he turned to face the person responsible.

A young man wearing royal grabs with the Reinhart Royal Families emblem on his chest walked in, behind him was an entourage of beautiful men and women wearing garments fit for nobles, followed by guards and leading them all right beside the young man was an old man wearing the Atlas Blaze Conglomerates Insignia.

“Oh if it isn’t Chairman Francis, are you here to welcome me?” The youth looked at Chairman Francis with ridicule, his voice carrying hints of mockery.

“Ah if it isn’t Prince Louise,” The anger disappeared from the Chairman’s face as fast as it appeared, replying instead with a fake smile plastered on his face. “Sadly no, this is the room of my guest.”

At that moment the old man beside the prince came forward full of confidence with the prince beside him: “Chairman the prince has made a long journey here and he himself has asked for this room to watch the auction; could you not lead them to another room below?”

Chairman Francis felt a wave of anger rise in his heart, yet he forced it down remembering who his guest was exactly. If it wasn’t for the prince backing that old man I would have dismissed him many years back and now he is aggressively asserting his backing to take my position! If the elder gives me his backing… Realising the opportunity within his grasp Chairman Francis ignoring the old man he turned towards Richard who was completely disinterested by the verbal exchanges taking place.

Chairman Francis bent down and whispered: “Elder that old man is the Vice Chairman of this branch; his name is Julius, with the support of the prince he has been trying to take over my position in this branch. I do not mind that really but he is trying to step on your dignity by trying to kick you out of this room.”

Richard maintained his silence and quietly watched the people slowly filling in the auction hall, leaving Chairman Francis to a standstill with his nerves on edge.

At that moment Julius interrupted the silence: “Don’t you think you’re disrespecting the prince by not yielding to his request?! You should apologise to the prince for that!” Julius’s confidence was spiking to a high with the prince right beside him, drowning in the authority and clouded by his pursuit of power he tried putting Chairman Francis in a bind for an absurd reason.

Contrary to Julius’s behaviour the prince was still watching the event with a smirk on his face while finding the senile old man beside him quite comedic.

Chairman Francis himself still ignored them as he stood beside the Elder with his back facing them.

Just as Julius was about to rant once more Richard coughed, the cough was neither loud nor quiet but heard by all in the room.

The objects created by his Sage Weapon dissolved into nothingness. “The auction is about to begin, and we have these ill-bred individuals creating a ruckus, send them out of here,” Richard said loud enough for all to hear.

Francis’s eyes shone with a cold glint, his plastered fake smile disappeared to be replaced by a menacing smirk.