After the little intro, which got people excited for the auction to come, the auctioneer wasted no time, selling the first item of the night, which, from my experience, was always something good.
"Our first item of the night… A Wyvern's reverse scale!" Enthusiastically shouting, the auctioneer waved his arm behind him, causing the curtain to open up, revealing a podium with a large, bluish scale resting atop it. 'Whoa, that's freaking huge… That's just a single scale?'
The scale was probably half my size, which made me really curious about how large a Wyvern was. 'Hmm, why is the scale Master's adventurer license made out of, so small then? Don't tell me that was a baby Wyvern.' While I was thinking, the auctioneer continued speaking.
"As I'm sure you all know, a Wyvern, a descendant of the Mythical Dragons, is known for being a flying treasure! Their scales, their most prominent feature, are said to be just as hard as the strongest metal, yet weigh only a tenth as much! However, a reverse scale is known for being brittle compared to normal scales, but what they fail to add is that it's a fantastic mana conductor!" As the auctioneer finished his brief explanation, wowing the crowd and piquing interest, he began the bidding.
"Its price will start at 50 gold coins, with every incremental increase being a minimum of 5 gold… Begin!" He barely had enough time to finish speaking before people down below began raising their number, swiftly raising the price. "#44 for 80 gold! Oh, #56 ups it again for 85 gold! #98 for 100 gold! A whole platinum coin!" The auctioneer's voice rang out constantly as he gestured to damn near everyone, who kept raising the price at a steady but slow rate.
"You want the scale, Michelle? It's only going for 140- Oh, now 160 gold." Fainly smirking, I gently nudged Michelle, who glanced at me with a wry expression while shaking her head. "D-Don't joke like that, Dear." "Hehe, people will start calling you cheapskate Vestalis." "Well, better than broke Vestalis." "Heh, touché."
Briefly stopping my teasing, I leaned forward, glancing at Lazuli, who was sitting a few seats down. "Lazuli, do you want this?" Gesturing to the item, which had just reached two hundred gold coins, she shook her head. "It is useless to me. My body has more mana conductivity than the scale." "Oh, alright." Nodding, I leaned back, continuing to tease Michelle.
"1000 gold coins." While teasing Michelle, the price of the scale had reached three hundred coins, but someone from another booth immediately spoke, raising it to more than triple, causing the people sitting below in the seats to briefly go quiet. "Sir from booth #12 is currently in the lead with a bid of 1000 gold coins! Does anyone else dare to bid higher!?"
The auctioneer was clearly good at his job as he succeeded in instigating someone else to bid. "Hah, #44 for 1050 Gold! Going on-" "1500 Gold." However, booth twelve clearly wasn't planning to give up on the item easily. "1500 gold for booth #12! Going once! Going twice… Sold, to booth #12!"
With the item being acquired by booth twelve, the podium holding the reverse scale was rolled off the stage while another podium, holding a rather large mana crystal, entered; this was the first item on the auction pamphlet.
"Hmm, did you plan to get anything, Vanimo?" I didn't have any interest in the pamphlet items, so I was basically wasting time until the secret items would be auctioned off. "Me? Oh, no, I don't have that kind of wealth… Unless." As Vanimo furiously shook his head, a glint flashed through his eyes as he leaned against my shoulder while drawing circles on my chest.
"Oh, so you want me to beat you up and then you'll sue me afterward?" Faintly smiling, I grabbed Vanimo's hand, holding it tightly, causing him to wince as he forced a smile while backing away. "H-Heh, I-I was just joking, A-Alex. C-Can you let go, i-it hurts." With a roll of my eyes, I released his hand, causing him to pout while I yawned.
As the auction continued, I shifted my gaze to Michelle, picking her up and placing her on my lap. "Eh, Dear, a-are you sure this is fine? We're in a public setting." With an arm wrapped around her waist, I shrugged my shoulders while sealing her lips for several seconds. "Yeah, they can't see us. Besides, I need to do something to pass the time."
Flashing Michelle a smirk, the two of us proceeded to passionately make out while the auctioneer auctioned off several items; eventually, after nearly half an hour of make-out session, an item I wanted appeared.
"Next item, we have earrings crafted by a master artisan found in ruins from ancient times. The artisan had crafted these earrings for his dear beloved, but she fell ill and passed away before he could gift them… Bidding will start at 10 gold, with incre–" "100 Gold coins." Before the auctioneer could finish, I broke our kiss, leaving Michelle flushed and panting while my voice rang out.
"Sir of Booth #8 bids for 100 Gold Coins! Anyone else? No one else? Going once! Going twice… Sold! To the Sir of booth #8!" With no one else bidding on the earrings, I acquired them quite easily. "1-100 gold coins, Dear, t-that's so expensive." Furrowing her brows, Michelle glanced through the panoramic window, but I grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at me.
"It's just a mere 100 gold, for you, I'd pluck the moons if you so desired." As I kept our gazes locked, I gently kissed her neck, tears welling in her eyes from my words. "Oh, Dear." "When is it my turn?" Chloe, having taken Michelle's previous seat, tried to intervene, but Michelle didn't allow her to as she grabbed my collar, pulling me in for a deep, passionate kiss, sparking the start of yet another make-out session.
"Tsk, Mom, you can't hog him all to yourself. I'm also his wife."
Another half-hour passed with Michell and me making out, when the first half of the auction came to an end, which signaled the true start of the auction, the reason why everyone had attended; the first half was just full of appetizers.
Breaking apart our kiss, a string of saliva connecting her lips, Michelle reached down, pressing against my crotch before leaning in close. "When we return home, I will serve you wonderfully, my lord." As her husky, seductive voice whispered in my ear, I shivered while she stood, before returning to her seat, a faint smile gracing her lips. 'Goddess above, please give me the strength to resist the temptation known as Michelle.' Praying to whichever goddess was listening, I calmed myself down and focused on the auction.
"For our first item, we have a class crystal!" At the auctioneer's words, I raised an eyebrow, instantly interested; of course, I wouldn't be changing my class, but maybe my children in the future would need to. They might be born with a common or uncommon class, which I'd be fine with, but the stronger the class, the greater the ability to protect oneself.
"The class crystal is of a Legendary tier!" I couldn't help but whistle in awe while any desire to participate dissipated. I still wanted it obviously, but this was way out of my pay grade. I was relying on the money I'd earn from this auction from selling my ten TVs, but it was outside my comfort range.
"Bidding will start at 5 platinum coins with a minimal incremental bid of 1 platinum coin." The moment the auctioneer finished speaking, the auction house was filled with shouts as the price instantly skyrocketed, moving faster than he could even speak. "#53 bids 10 platin-#87 beats with 23-#84 bids at- #43-#98"
The auctioneer could barely speak an attendee's number before someone else placed a higher bid. "This is crazy, so expensive." "Yeah, no kidding. It's already reached 1 diamond coin and is pushing 2." Nodding in agreement with Vanye, we continued to silently watch as it eventually reached double digits, which was where it began slowing down.
After a few more minutes, booth two won the item with a bid. "Madam of Booth #2, with a bid of 16.34 Diamond coins! Anyone higher? Going once! Going twice–"
I rubbed my head, astonished by the sheer wealth being thrown around, excluding the reward I got for saving Cassandra, I, no, WE, haven't even earned twenty platinum coins from our own hard work. Well, not yet at least.
"20 Diamond Coins." I tilted my head slightly as the voice sounded awfully close. 'They must be just beside us, booth 9 or 7.' "Booth #8 with a whopping increase! 20 Diamond coins from booth #8!" This time, I just froze, as booth eight was our booth; widening my eyes, I turned, glancing at the one who had spoken, joining everyone else.
"K-Kurama?" Gulping, I nervously eyed her, as I didn't have that kind of money. "What? Why are you guys staring at me so hard?" While Kurama looked at us in confusion, booth two bid again. "20.01 Diamond–" "25 Diamond Coins." Booth two wasn't able to finish speaking as Kurama casually interrupted them, causing me to pull my hair.
"Kurama! I-I don't have that kind of money!" "What are you talking about, Alex? I'm buying it." I froze as I stared at Kurama, remembering she was an alchemist, and not just any alchemist, either, a top-tier one. "H-How much money do you have?" "Oh, I only brought 100 diamond coins with me; I don't like carrying too much money on me, it's almost like I'm asking to be robbed."
"T-That's not what I meant." I barely managed to squeak out those words while my anger deflated, leaving me like a husk. "Fufu, still, for you to think you were paying for me, you must already think of me as your woman." I didn't even have the strength to argue; I just quietly sat down while Kurama acquired the legendary tier class crystal.
"Going once! Going twice… Sold, to booth #8!"