Clang
When the pieces of metal struck against the wooden desks of the stage, the silence on the seats and lodges was so pristine that one could hear two next sounds when the pieces that used to be a weapon bounced a few times more before finally stabilising on the ground.
Finally breaking the perfect silence, a mechanical voice came from one of the lodges.
"One thousand."
As the new bids started replacing each other, I simply ignored them and raised the sword to show that there wasn't even a single dent in the part that cut through the blade of the testing weapon.
"Five thousand!"
"Five thousand fifty!"
"Six thousand!"
Only when the bids reached more than ten times the initial price did the speed at which they were increasing slow down to a level where I could discern all the bids from each other.
"Seven thousand!"
Only now did the crowd slowed enough for me to even attempt raising my hammer.
