[Well. In that case then Lyrica, why don't we go to the auction? I've managed to make quite a bit of money in the Dungeons. Not sure how much it compares to others but it should be pretty high up there.]
"Sure. I'm mostly going to go there to keep you company though." Lyrica shrugged.
The amount of money a high level adventurer earns isn't something a normal person could estimate. Depending on their skill, they would either be earning well over millions in a week or barely scraps from the monsters over the week.
With the Dungeons being able to give out money, not only was the world economy united into 1, but prices of normal items shot through the roof. The price inflation of items that was caused due to Dungeons meant those lower levelled had to risk their lives daily just to barely survive.
Even in her past life, the controversy around the Dungeons was quite high. The benefits they bring allowed the civilisation to revolutionise with new inventions by the minute with mana. However, the negatives made the weak suffer a harsh fate. Where words could have won against strength was but a dream for the weak.
A world where at its core, was a strong preying on the weak society of dangerous occupations.
But when the beasts came in hordes and destroyed cities with ease, they realised they weren't the rule-makers anymore. They were the players to the rules.
They had to grow stronger to survive, easy as that.
Leaving Aarim's store, they made their way to the auction house.
[New York Auction Starts at 9 pm.]
"Hmm, 9 pm... It's 8 pm right now. Shall we wait here for an hour?" Lyrica asked as Shiro nodded.
Looking for a table at a nearby café, Shiro played around with Yin.
'Since there is an auction this big, there's bound to be robberies after the auction. Since 2 million is obviously not enough, I should take advantage of the chaos.' Shiro thought as she patted Yin's head.
With the skill shadow cloak, she'll be able to hide under their watchful eye since it would be deep into the night by the time the auction finishes.
Looking over at the auction house, Shiro narrowed her eyes as she could see a few figures watching it stealthily.
[Lyrica, I suggest you try to make yourself as unnoticeable as you can during the auction. If you make yourself known. then there is a big chance that you could get robbed at the end of the auction.] Shiro warned as Lyrica looked up.
"Eh? What do you mean?"
[Look above the auction house, the window of the 3rd house to the left, alleyway near the food stand, in the crowd of people looking at the pamphlets and finally look at one of the staff handing out the pamphlets.] Shiro typed out as Lyrica observed them all but couldn't notice anything wrong.
"Is there anything special about them?" She asked.
[Each and every one of them is observing who in the crowd looks the most wealthy. On top of that, they're also checking for the places which have cameras, and which places to best rob someone. The ones I've pointed out just now are only a small portion of these people. There are roughly 30+ of them surveying the area.] Shiro typed out as Lyrica paused in shock.
"Erm Shiro, let's not participate then." Lyrica said as Shiro only shook her head.
[We are most definitely going. You'll also be able to have a look at the atmosphere that comes with big auctions. Especially since you may be going to the auctions more often in the future.] Shiro smiled.
Having understood the chaos that comes with a big auction early on would be better. This was to prevent Lyrica not knowing what to do in the future if she was to purchase a good item.
"Ehhh?! We're going?! But what if they decide to kidnap you or something?!" Lyrica asked.
[True.] Shiro nodded as she too understood that.
[But I have the confidence of leaving unharmed.] Shiro smiled.
[But the main problem is you, I want you to leave the moment the auction is over. You can observe from far but nothing with 200 meters of the battles that may happen.] Shiro warned with a serious face.
Lyrica nodded in understanding.
…
The hour passed quickly as the time for the auction was at hand.
The sun was already setting but the crowd was still as lively as ever.
2 people were walking side by side as one was a tall male and the other was female.
The male was around 6ft 5, a slim yet powerful build, his hair was short and was coloured black.
He wore a suit and mask which covered his appearance.
The female, on the other hand, was around 5ft 7, had an alluring figure and had long blond hair.
She wore a suit and mask as well.
"Huan er, how many level 50's do you think is planning to rob the winners of each bid?" The man asked. His voice was deep and calm. It was as if nothing in this world could make him hurry his pace.
"My-"
"Huan er, I told you to call me by my name outside." He said, cutting her off.
"Nan Tian, I see around 20 of them." She replied nervously.
"Mn, maybe it's because you're the same level as them. But there are exactly 47 level 50's looking at this auction." Nan Tian smiled giving Huan er a glance. The mask was a special type of mask that was made with one-sided material. He could see other's clearly but they couldn't see his face.
"I'm sorry that I didn't manage to see them all!" She said quickly as she bowed.
"Ai… I told you don't be like that. I'm not strict like those elders. No one is perfect." Nan Tian replied as he gestured for her to stop bowing.
"However, training more is always advised. You need that strength so the greed of humans can't take over you. I may be here to protect you now but I can't help you always." Nan Tian said shaking his head.
He paused slightly when he saw two girls walking in the crowd. One of them was quite short while the other was an elf. The short woman had her hood pulled forwards as Nan Tian narrowed his eyes.
Her figure felt very nostalgic as he inspected her.
[Shiro LVL 33 – Ice Mage]
'That's not the aura an Ice Mage should be emitting.' He thought. The aura was much colder and more dangerous than what a level 33 Ice Mage should have.
Closing one of his eyes, he reopened them after a few seconds. When he reopened his eye, there was a golden ring in his iris. The golden ring was something unique to him and him alone.
Due to an accident early in his life, a special type of skill was permanently embedded into his right eye. Eyes of Truth, Heavens Eye, God's Eye. It was known by many names.
However, the main purpose was to allow him to see through every type of disguise.
[Shiro LVL 33 – Snow Girl]
'A snow girl huh.' Nan Tian thought. Oddly enough, he wasn't able to see her stats like he could with other people. Furrowing his brows slightly, he turned to Huan er.
"Can you help me gather all the information about an adventurer in this city?" Nan Tian said as Huan er nodded.
Pulling out a tablet, she quickly tapped through the database.
"Name and class?" She asked.
"Shiro, Ice Mage."
"Here." She passed him the tablet with all of her information.
Reading through all of her information, Nan Tian passed the tablet back.
'Since she's done nothing wrong and even helped pass a raid with minimal difficulty, I shouldn't make things hard for her.' Nan Tian thought as he didn't mind the fact that she probably killed one of the adventurers.
Human greed was a disgusting thing to see after all. The fact that she didn't kill everyone in the raid was surprising in itself. She had the capabilities and he knew monsters got stronger the more they killed.
So for her to not kill them for strength made her more humane than over 30% of humanity as a whole.
If she could become humanities ally, then they would benefit mutually.
'Maybe if I recruited her into the sect, I could form a sort of alliance with her.' He mused to himself.
"Hmm, it seems like the Shadow Faction's young master also has his eye on her." Huan er muttered seeing the records. While only level 50, she was one of the best hackers the world had to offer.
She was able to easily see the mage's association's branch manager's search for Shiro and she knew he worked under the Shadow Faction's young master.
"Shadow Faction? Hmm, the faction itself is slowly being destroyed on the inside yet the young master has his eye on her?" Nan Tian muttered.
Looking over at Shiro, he decided to keep a closer eye on this monster who was more humane than a third of humanity. He also wanted to find out where this feeling on nostalgia stemmed from.
Meanwhile, Shiro, who Nan Tian had observed with the Heavens Eye, shivered for a moment.
Feeling a gaze that seemed to know everything there was of her, Shiro frowned and looked around with caution.
"Are you ok Shiro?" Lyrica asked.
[Yeah. Let's continue to the auction.] Shiro typed out while keeping her guard up.
The queue to the auction was long so both Shiro and Lyrica had to wait for their seats to be assigned.
Due to the fact that she only had 2 million USD, she and Lyrica were placed in the lower stands.
"Basically the poor stands huh." Lyrica muttered as both she and Shiro sat down.
They were assigned to the very back and given an electronic panel to bid on an item.
As for their neighbours, they were two men who were giving them a glance every now and again.
Lyrica frowned as she felt goosebumps rising.
Shiro was tempted to freeze them over with her icy touch but decided against it. She didn't want to start killing people here after all.
Crossing her legs, Shiro closed her eyes as she waited for the auction to start.
Lyrica only shuffled closer to Shiro due to her repulsion towards the man that sat near her.
Thankfully, there were quite a few cameras around the area so they wouldn't be harassed.
Inside the auction house, there were several top tier level 50 adventurers to stop the people from causing a hassle.
But when they get out of the auction house, it was no longer their problem.
"WELCOME LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! TO THE AUCTION BEFORE THE FACTION RECRUITMENT! YOU KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOING, I KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOING. BUT WHILE I KNOW WHAT WE'RE SELLING, YOU DON'T KNOW JUST YET! SO LET'S NOT WASTE TIME AND GET TO THE FIRST ITEM OF THE NIGHT!!" The auctioneer shouted out as Shiro opened her eyes.
"The first item of the night is a type of medicine. Hailed from china, this pill is a medicine that may allow you to jump tiers and defeat those who had classed up to D rank in strength! Known as the External Reinforcement Pill, this pill increases every single one of your stats by 150 points! The duration is 3 minutes! Plenty of time to turn the tables!" The auctioneer shouted out as Shiro lost interest quickly.
Honestly, 3 minutes was a good amount of time as he said. But who would let someone drink/eat/apply medicine in front of them? Therefore in Shiro's opinion, the pill was about as appealing as someone's kidney stones.
"Bidding starts at 400,000 USD with increases of more than 5,000 USD at a time!"
"400,000!"
"410,000!"
"450,000!"
…
"Wow it's more than 500,000 USD!" Lyrica muttered in shock. The cost of this single pill was insane.
[More than 500,000 USD for trash. Wasting money.] Shiro typed out lazily. What she was most interested in was who won the Awakening Pill and who won her scam sword.
"I suppose. But they can also just save the pill for another time. Like in a Dungeon to save themselves from death."
[True.]
The next few items were also unappealing as Shiro wasn't interested at all.
"The next item is a little special. Graded with the rare blue grade! This weapon is also one that comes with a skill! The Fire Giant's Titanus Cleaver! A devasting great sword for the warriors who are above level 15. With an incredible skill which grants an increase of 100% in strength! This weapon will easily destroy all those who stand in your way!" The auctioneer shouted out as a level 20 warrior walked up to the stage.
"Just so you know the power of the sword, we have a level 20 warrior to demonstrate with us."
The warrior picked up the sword and turned to the right.
A steel dummy rose up as he slashed towards it.
*PANG!
The sword went halfway into the dummy.
"As you can see, the sword only travelled halfway into the reinforced steel dummy. And now! Once again with the skill activated!"
A second dummy rose up as the sword flared with a bright red.
Shiro narrowed her eyes as she realised the warrior wore armour that increased his speed. This offset the -80% speed that came with the sword making it seem more powerful than it should be.
'Tsk, sly bastard.' Shiro thought as this would easily fool a lot of low-level adventurers in the hall.
Then again, who was she to call them sly? She did scam the auction house with the sword after all.
Raising the sword, the warrior slashed once more.
*BOOM!!!
The sword cleaved easily through the dummy as cheers could be heard.
"The bidding starts at 250,000 USD with an increment of 10,000 USD each time! Remember! You'll be able to earn all this back easily should you enter a good faction!" The auctioneer shouted out.
The final bid settled for 500,000 USD with the auction house barely managed to break even with the price they paid for the sword.