Upon hearing the exorbitant amount, Erik could only put a complicated expression on his face, but his thoughts were interrupted once again by his beautiful maid, who whispered to him in a calm and confident tone.
"Young master, that money is an investment made by the young lady and Master Silverwood so they can comfortably show off in front of the other Master-level members of the order, so you can spend it without any worry."
After thinking for a bit, Erik nodded slightly while handing a cookie to both Kaiser and Tiberius, which made Seraphina smile with satisfaction and mischief. She chose not to give her beloved young master the exact amount of the shopping fund and only mentioned a small figure that would come out of her personal funds. After all, it's the duty and pleasure of a maid as professional as herself to take care of her young master's needs and worries.
"25 million, who offers more?" The auctioneer looked around the room, where pained and disappointed expressions could be seen before continuing.
"Allow me to remind you that these are potions rarely seen on the market, and they come from the great Master Brisanter, who contends with the great Master Eldurdóttir for the title of the best alchemist of the Arcane Order. This is a unique opportunity that cannot be missed."
"26 million." One of the assistants in charge of announcing the bids from the VIP room guests spoke loudly, his voice echoing in the silent hall.
"We have 26 million, 26 million going once..." Quickly, the master auctioneer announced in a serious tone, while looking at the attendees in the main hall and at the high wall at the back of the room, behind which was the VIP room.
"28 million."
One of the guests in the main hall, a handsome man with blond hair, announced loudly while directing his gaze toward a high area of the main hall resembling a balcony. This area was blocked by a beautifully designed wall that perfectly matched the overall design, while also preventing any view inside.
In the VIP room, Princess Firestone could not help but display an angry expression upon seeing the man 'directing' a defiant look at her, while she quickly manipulated the holographic screen. This was followed by a bid announcement in the main hall.
"30 million."
"32 million." The blond man once again announced in a confident voice and a slight smile as he looked back at the VIP area, which visibly displeased Silvana, who was forced to make a new bid.
"34 million."
"36 million." The man didn't lag behind and quickly announced his bid loudly, at which point Silvana sent her own offer, which for some reason caught Erik's attention.
"37 million."
"37.5 million."
The man once again announced his offer, but this time, although his tone sounded as serious and elegant as before, on this occasion, one could sense a hint of mockery in his voice, which seemed to greatly irritate Silvana. She quickly manipulated her holographic screen with a sullen expression on her face, causing a bid to be announced shortly after.
"40 million."
"Well, since the distinguished guest in the VIP area so strongly desires the lot, I will have no choice but to yield."
At the same time the bid was announced, the blond man in the main hall announced in a confident voice while making a slight bow toward the VIP area where the princess was looking with an evident expression of anger. But after an exasperated sigh, she calmed herself with the help of an aromatic tea served by her butler.
"40 million going once... going twice... and sold..." The auctioneer struck a beautiful black wooden lectern with a gavel made in a similar style, then added in a firm tone.
"Sold to the esteemed VIP guest! Congratulations."
With the announcement of the victory, several of the guests in the VIP area cordially congratulated the princess, to which she courteously thanked them. Meanwhile, Erik turned to look at Seraphina with confusion written on his face, causing the beautiful maid to approach.
"Seraphina, is it common for something like that to happen here? Deliberately raising the price is in very bad taste." Erik asked in a low voice, though with an evidently disgusted tone, to which Seraphina responded by intimately whispering into her young master's ear.
"Actually no, young master. Although veiled threats and the like are sometimes seen, blatantly raising the price in such a manner is very uncommon, since you need proof of assets to participate in the auction, and not paying after winning a bid is considered a breach of contract and carries a penalty of up to 300% of the losses perceived by the auction house, so no one is willing to take that risk. Most likely, it's a personal feud of the princess."
"I see..." Erik commented while nodding in understanding, looking much more relaxed, at which point Seraphina whispered into his ear in a more serious tone.
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"Young master, but allow me to advise you that it's better to take a dominant attitude if you bid on any item; otherwise, they might try to do something similar against you."
"Understood."
Seeing her young master nod and return to looking at his holographic screen, Seraphina withdrew to her place behind him with a satisfied smile. While at the same time, her mind wandered into fantasies about her young master's dominant figure demonstrating his superiority and trampling the surrounding insects. Though it's not as if she had precisely brought her young master to the place where the most cases of intimidation of the weak occur to see him act in an authoritative and dominant manner—no, nothing like that.
For his part, Erik began to review the items sold to see if he found something interesting to do business with, since he really doubted there would be anything he truly liked. After all, most of the things that had been presented were things he already had or that he could make himself, or, failing that, things his masters would make for him if he needed them. So, although he took Seraphina's advice, he really didn't think he could use it.
At the auction, the attention in the hall was already at its peak after the incredible lot of potions created by one of the renowned Master-level members of the Arcane Order. However, the atmosphere changed abruptly when an unexpected figure made her appearance on the podium. It was as if a wave of magnetism had flooded the room, centering all gazes on her.
The one who appeared on the podium was a woman who seemed the epitome of grace incarnate, with olive skin that glowed like amber under the room's lights. Chestnut hair fell in soft, silky waves to the middle of her back, and a face with delicate and harmonious features bore an expression of firmness and authority. It was enhanced by dark, penetrating eyes that seemed to hypnotize anyone who looked at them.
The woman, who possessed a beauty that bordered on the divine, wore an elegant dress of deep, fiery red, which fit her curvaceous figure perfectly, hugging her small waist and sliding downward, accentuating her hips and long legs.
The master auctioneer, with a respectful nod, gave up his place to the woman, who, with determined and graceful steps, took her position on the podium. She then spoke with a firm and melodious voice, attracting the attention of all present.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the true essence of this auction begins now. I hope you are prepared for what Aetherion's Hall has to offer you tonight."
In the VIP room, all those present began to settle into their seats, attentive to the beautiful woman who smiled magnetically on the podium, ready to start the real war. Meanwhile, Erik looked with a bit of curiosity in Laura's direction, who emitted a completely different aura now that she was standing on the platform.
Soon after, from the crystal orb that was now beside Laura, the image of an ancient-looking scroll was projected. It seemed surrounded by a special and magical aura, decorated with threads of what appeared to be gold and platinum and in a case. At that point, Laura spoke in a melodious and alluring voice.
"The first item we will present is this scroll obtained from a ruin that turned out to be the hidden mausoleum of an ancient cultivator of the Jade Lotus Union, and it contains an Arcane-level body cultivation technique."
Upon hearing Laura's words, Erik's eyes shone like lanterns; after all, for quite some time he had been interested in knights, to the point where he had read everything he found about the knights of the Aegis System and Sacred Geometry in his masters' libraries and the university's.
But until now, Erik hadn't been able to obtain anything substantial about the body cultivators of the Zazen Discipline, apart from some loose bits he had gotten from Chen. But it was unreliable information—nothing like a complete body cultivation technique, which, according to what he had read, were techniques very similar to bio-mystic techniques.
However, unlike bio-mystic techniques, body cultivation techniques, besides body and mana movements, also used spells, pills, medicinal herbs, and other external things to 'refine' the body—in other words, bring the body's strength and endurance to the maximum, thereby greatly increasing the amount of mana their cells could store from the Revealed level onward.
Although that kind of refinement was not unique to the Zazen Discipline, since each of the three systems had its own way of achieving something similar. Having that scroll would be an important step to begin understanding the details of that system and, with luck, to push forward a project he had been working on, albeit with very slow progress. Not to mention that it could even be of great help for his rune circles project.
"The auction starts at 20 million high-purity crystals, and the minimum increment will be one million." Laura commented with a smile as she saw the evident interest and greed in the eyes of those present, which initiated a furious bidding competition.
"21 million!"
"25 million!"
"28 million!"
"30 million!!"
"35 million!!!"
For his part, Erik could only watch with disappointment the chaotic scene of uncontrolled bids and the other guests in the VIP room. They were on the edge of their seats waiting for the bidding to calm down a bit, to enter the fray. Although, some couldn't control themselves and ended up bidding recklessly.
Seeing her young master's expression, Seraphina couldn't help but smile tenderly, but she quickly composed herself and approached Erik, then whispered in his ear with a melodious voice filled with affection and care.
"Young master, you don't need to make that face; you can bid without restrictions for the scroll. There are more than sufficient funds for it."
A conflicted expression couldn't help but appear on Erik's face. After all, that scroll was too tempting, but it was too expensive, and given how the bidding war was going, he might not even have enough to buy it, even if he agreed to use the money. Besides, it was quite questionable to say he would need something like that in the tournament or the ruin exploration.
"You don't have to make that expression, young master. As I mentioned, those one hundred million are just a fund for things you need for the tournament and exploration, so don't consider them for acquiring that scroll. Think of it as an investment in your project; you only need to repay it when it works." Noticing Erik's expression, Seraphina whispered again into his ear with delicacy, which made the star-haired boy reflect deeply.
"You're right, Seraphina. I just have to make sure to generate valuable results to repay the investment, and if my project succeeds, it will be incredibly profitable." After a while, Erik commented with conviction, which made Seraphina smile charmingly, who quickly whispered happily.
"Of course, young master, so you can enter the bidding without regrets. By the way, young master, remember: don't let yourself be intimidated, because from here on, the 'guests' will start to show their true colors."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Erik nodded with a serious expression, which made Seraphina smile beautifully, who quickly went back to replenishing her young master's cookies and cup of tea, although in her eyes one could see a glint filled with expectation and excitement.