Free Trade City of Aquarius, Auction House
1st Year of God, New Sabbath, 2nd Week, 3rd Month of Abraham.
As the evening progressed, the mood in the auction house reached a fever pitch, with everyone eagerly awaiting the final item of the night. The servants began clearing the stage, heightening the anticipation.
Sensing the crowd's excitement, JD Lance played to it, making a flamboyant and dramatic gesture as the sound of something heavy being wheeled onto the stage echoed through the hall.
"Lords and Ladies... the finale has arrived!" Lance announced. "Bring her out, boys!"
A hush fell over the crowd as the grinding of metal wheels came to a stop. The stage was bathed in light from glow lamps and spells, revealing a group of elven men hauling a large box-shaped object covered by a blanket. The men positioned it at the center of the stage before stepping back.
With a flourish, Lance removed the blanket, unveiling the object beneath.
And Price and his men stared in shock at what they saw.
Inside a cage was a girl no older than five.
Her dark black hair contrasted sharply with her pale skin, and her blue-ocean eyes stared out at the crowd with a mixture of fear and confusion. She wore nothing but a white t-shirt and pajama pants, utterly out of place.
"They're going to sell a child," Woods whispered in horror. "Isn't this district supposed to be only for selling Magic Artifacts?"
"Monsters," Belinski hissed in disgust.
"But why? Isn't this illegal?" Polites asked as his eyes widened with shock. The district they were in specialized in Magic Artifacts, objects, not slaves.
Aquarius City was divided into distinct districts, each dedicated to different categories of goods from Magic Artifacts, Slaves, Magic Beasts, and so on. Selling products outside of a district's designated category was strictly against Aquarius law.
Yet here, in a district dedicated to magic artifacts, they were witnessing something that broke those very laws.
'Those clothing… Why do they look so earth-like?' Price thought as he examined the little girl, who appeared more South Asian than the rest of the people.
Meanwhile, the man on stage named JD Lance opened the cage and spoke to the young girl inside. "Come out, my young friend, and show our guests what you can do."
The girl glared at him and shook her head in silent defiance.
Lance's smile faded, and was replaced by a cold, menacing frown as he leaned in closer. "Do it, or I'll make you wear that Slave collar you hate so much."
The girl's eyes widened in fear. Seeing no other choice, she stepped out of the cage.
Lance's smile returned as he patted her head. "Good girl. Do as I say, and maybe one of these nice people will buy you and take you in as a daughter. Isn't that what you've always wanted? A family?"
The girl simply nods before turning her attention to the crowd of people. The girl was terrified but if there is even a slight chance that one of these people could free her from this nightmare, then she had to take it.
She took a deep breath, and within moments, her hair began to lift as if caught in an invisible wind and a powerful surge of Mana radiated from her small frame, but it didn't stop there.
The wave of Mana quickly enveloped the entire auction hall, pressing down on every Magic-sensitive being in the room. The atmosphere grew thick and oppressive, as if the very air was being crushed under the weight of her power.
Polities gasped and his grip tightening on the armchair until the magically enchanted wood splintered under his hands.
"Oh, my heavens!"
Price and his team, not being Magic Users themselves, were immune to the suffocating pressure. But they noticed the unsettling reactions of everyone else in the room, and then—
Beep!
A sharp beep emanated from Price's Mana-Monitoring device strapped to his wrist. He glanced down at the screen and his eyes widened in shock.
[MEU: 33A2@9#!1]
'What the hell are these numbers!?!'
Back on stage, JD Lance remained surprisingly calm, seemingly one of the few unaffected by the girl's overwhelming power. With a confident smile, he raised his voice above the murmurs of the crowd.
"Now! Now! Everyone, calm down!" he called out in a steady tone. "Even though she possesses the power of a Transcendent, surpassing even the strongest individuals in the Third Civilization Zone, rest assured, she is restrained by both the highest grade of [Anti-Magic] and [Strength Suppression] collars!" His voice rose with pride as he pointed at the girl's face, her hair still floating upwards, revealing her rounded ears. "But the most shocking thing of all… she is a Human!!"
A collective gasp rippled through the auction hall, including Price and his team.
The idea of a human with magic was unheard of, a phenomenon that defied everything known in this world.
"Lords and Ladies!" Lance paused for several heartbeats, allowing the tension to build. "As you can see, this is a being of utmost beauty and rarity! No one has ever laid eyes on such a marvel in this world!" He continued with theatrics. "A few months ago, my gang, famously known as 'GaterGame,' discovered something that had destroyed a large area of the forest, and lying unharmed in the center of the crater was a completely unharmed human."
The crowd listened to his every word, as the atmosphere electric with anticipation.
"Now then, with that out of the way," Lance declared, "The starting bid is—"
"A THOUSAND AND HUNDRED!"
"ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED!"
"ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED!"
The auction hall suddenly became rowdy as the crowd started throwing bids out, much to the enjoyment of the man on stage as his grin widened.
In a matter of seconds, the bid for the Magical Human hit over 5000 Platinum Coins! Such an amount was enough to purchase at least multiple private islands, yet the bids continued on!
Finally, the bidding slowed down and was contested by only three parties as the bid went beyond the financial capabilities of the rest.
"Six thousand!" The handsome young elf seated at the VIP row raised his hand confidently, raising the bid.
"Seven thousand."
The auction crowd gasped as they heard the bid made by the young elf. The other two parties who wanted to contest the bid gave up as the price went over their expectations.
"Seven thousand, going once!" Lance was grinning widely at the audience as he called out. "Seven thousand, going twice…"
"Seven thousand five hundred!" A clear confident voice rang out, shocking the entire auction hall. Even Lance was taken aback but it only lasted a mere second before he quickly regained his composure, and his eyes gleamed with excitement.
"Seven thousand five hundred!" he yelled excitedly cast a meaningful glance at the young elf in the VIP stands. "Is there a higher bid than seven thousand five hundred?"
"Eight thousand!" The young elf snapped as he glared daggers at the person who dared challenge his bid.
"Ten thousand!" The clear voice spoke again, and the entire hall collectively held its breath.
"Ten thousand!" Lance gasped with awe. "We have a bid of ten thousand!"
The young elf hissed in frustration, realizing he'd been outbid and reluctantly backed down.
"Ten thousand Platinum Coins… going once!"
"Ten thousand Platinum Coins… going twice!"
"Ten thousand Platinum Coins… SOOOOL—"
BOOOOOMMM!!!
But it was at that very moment that a loud sound violently exploded throughout the auction, silencing the room instantly as every head whipped toward the source of the noise. The tension that had been building for hours suddenly transformed into panic and confusion.
Panic erupted like wildfire among the guests as they realized that someone was attacking. The auction house, which had been a place of high tension just moments ago, was now filled with the sounds of chaos and fear. Guests scrambled from their seats, shouting in confusion as they tried to escape the danger.
On stage, JD Lance appeared completely unfazed. In fact, he looked almost bored as he turned his gaze toward the source of the commotion.
With a sigh, he muttered, "Seems like the Adventurers Guild found us again."
One of the auction house's grand entrances had collapsed, but this was no mere accident. The hidden guards, who were stationed in the pitch-black tunnel leading to the auction house, had been unable to stop the intruder, who was powerful enough to crush the entrance without breaking a sweat.
Normally, such a collapse would have crumbled the building entirely and buried anyone alive, but this uninvited guest was no ordinary foe. Instead of crumbling, the tunnel seemed to hold itself together, the debris freezing in midair as if time itself had stopped.
Squirm! Squirm!
Then, with a surreal, almost sentient motion, the dirt and rocks began to squirm and shift, as though they were alive.
It became clear what was happening…
A powerful Earth Elemental was at work.