Don sat with his eyes closed in meditation after confirming that Minister Brian hadn't arrived yet, without noticing the people in the public area around him. This auction looked similar to a beehive of people. If he didn't want to personally see Minister Brian, he wouldn't have traveled or participated in the auction. Don knew that getting near Minister Brian without gaining some information about his guards would be far too difficult.
"Honored guests of the Windsville city! You have waited long enough! The Thousand Arms Auction will begin now!"
The curtain slowly began to rise at the very center of the auction stage, a beautiful and flirtatious woman waiting on standby. Don could see that at the center of the auction site, a woman wearing a milky white dress stood at attention. She was gentle and beautiful, with skin like milk and a perfectly structured body. She had a playful look in her eyes that attracted the hearts of men. Overall, she was incredibly beautiful. Moreover, the distinctive feature of the woman was the two white fluffy bunny ears on her head. She was a member of the demi-human race.
At the center of the auction stage, there was also a magic array disc floating in the air. It would project an image of the auction items so that everyone would be able to see them.
"Look like some Royal family members also came to participate," Uncle Dior pointed Don to the VIP area. They were all extremely well dressed, and one could see the magical runes on their superior quality robes. These people were all seated at the uppermost, reserved seats.
While Don was searching for Minister Brian, he looked over to a group of people sitting in the reserved section. The man sitting with a woman on his lap was a fat ugly man which reminded Don of the statue in the market square...
Minister Brian... Finally, Don found him. As for the others that stood behind him, Don knew that they were his guards. The group had three women; one with black hair in a red dress, one with silver hair in a green dress, and one with dark black hair with a bow in her hands. There were also two look-alike men who wore full chest plates and chainmail.
All around Don, people were constantly talking and discussing all of the exciting events that were recently occurring in the Empire. Meanwhile, some of them pointed their fingers in the direction of the auction stage and were talking excitedly.
"That is the Everlasting sect's core disciple, Whitehoney Amara. I didn't think she would be the auctioneer."
From their conversations, Don guessed the Everlasting sect was some kind of big power in the Empire. He had met many disciples and sects while he was on the divine continent, so he knew how dangerous and powerful they were. He didn't want to mess with them. At least, not yet.
"She is so… wow. I heard that Whitehoney Amara's talent is extremely high, not inferior to the three prodigies of the Cold Moon Mansion. Countless suitors are chasing after her. With her auctioning, those rich young elites will crazily kick up the price in their burning desire to please her!"
Don now found the reason why so many noble youths were in this backwater city. "They would have to be so brainless if they pay too much just to impress some random beauty."
Don sat down, keeping his heart and mind calm and clear as he planned on how to deal with Brian's guards. At this time, the first auction item was placed on the stage.
For every auction in the Divine continent, where Don came from, the best items would naturally be placed at the end. The very first item would be of high quality too, of course, with a value no lower than those that would come by the end. This was to rouse the good mood of the guests and to bring a grand opening to the event. Here, however, this didn't seem to be the case.
Whitehoney Amara patted the box near her and gently smiled. She said in a clear and flirtatious voice, "Thank you, distinguished guests, for your support. In this Thousand Arms Windsville City Auction, there are over 30,000 guests present. This is the first auction item for this magnificent auction! What could it be? Not even I know!"
Just like her name, Whitehoney Amara's voice was as sweet as honey, making many youth's hearts beat faster just from hearing her. She was skilled at stirring the mood of many young elites. Many people in the public area shouted, asking her to immediately open the box and start the auction.
"The first item up for auction is…"
As Whitehoney Amara spoke, she slowly opened the box, revealing the finest-looking blue magic crystal. Through the projection of the magic array disc, one could clearly make out every single inch and texture of the crystal. Beside this magic crystal was a card. Whitehoney Amara picked up the card and looked over it.
She looked at the card for a moment and said, "The first item for the auction is a water spirit crystal! Hehe, so it was something like this! I know that many magis present will be competing in the Acheron Kingdom's annual magic competition next year. A first-rate magic item could determine one's victory. If you lose because of an item your opponent used, then that would truly be regretful!" she let out a fake cry. "This water spirit crystal can be used to nourish a spirit artifact's artifact spirit! I think that there's no need for me to mention just how useful an artifact spirit is to a spirit artifact, and what benefits a stronger artifact spirit would bring. With a superior item such as this, the battle is already half won! This water spirit crystal has a base price of 200 gold coins, and the minimum bid increase each time is 50gold coins. And now, it is time to begin the auction!"
A water spirit crystal!
Many of the young men present gulped. The first auction item was actually a spirit crystal! One couldn't forget that this auction was aimed at the young men and women participating in Acheron Kingdom's annual magic competition. A Magi using a spirit artifact? Just what kind of advantage was that? This sort of spirit artifact required a top grandmaster elder to expend a great deal of time and magic energy just so that a young elite could be attuned to it. Besides the disciples or juniors of super influences or Royal family, no other magis could possibly be so prodigal.
From this alone, one could see just how luxurious and lofty this auction was! Some poorer young magis felt their hearts ache. They had obtained the lowest amount possible to hopefully join this auction, but they couldn't even be able to afford a fifth of the starting bidding price.
"Kingdom of Acheron, enjoy your peaceful days. The day I set foot there is the day you all start to suffer..." Don clenched his fists as a cold and murderous look emerged on his face.
In the meanwhile, Don didn't care about the water spirit crystal as the item was not even remotely useful to him. He never wanted to lose something useful because he had no money to buy. It would appear that many items in this auction would be aimed at young magis.
"300 gold coins!"
In the VIP area, a youth called out, suddenly attracting the envy and admiration of many others. This proved that this youth had a spirit artifact as a weapon. His background could only be imagined!
This youth didn't even look at the crowd as if they weren't even something worth mentioning. But in the next breath of time, another person raised the price.
"350."
"400!"
The young men began to raise the price higher and higher. However, Don didn't care about it, nor did he have the money to buy it. Eventually, the crystal was sold to a young man in the VIP area for 500 gold coins.
As the auction went by, many moderate items were shown, as well as cheap items too. Uncle Dior laughed happily when he saw the great master realm beast's magic core sold to a young man in the public area for 600 silver coins. Clearly, the young man planned to raise his level using the crystal to compete in the annual competition of Acheron Kingdom.
Don noticed that Minister Brian has not yet bid for anything. He was just playing with the woman on his lap.
"Alright, distinguished guests, the time for the main event has arrived! I don't know if you are wondering about the final item, but I sure am!"
The auction staff brought a human-sized box to the stage. The box was covered by a red cloth.
"Let's not waste a moment! Even I couldn't hold on to my curiosity," she said as she slowly took off the cloth covering the box, revealing a woman in ragged clothes.
Just like the previous items, the people could see her through the projection of a magic array disc. Don glanced at the projection. He could see two slightly pointed ears. Her face wasn't very clear because it was covered in mud and dirt, but she was clearly chained as she lifelessly lied there in the box. Obviously, she was sedated before bringing her here.
Whitehoney Amara gasped when she saw the woman, but she wasn't disgusted or anything just as she picked the card and giggled seductively.
"Honored guests! The woman in front of you is a rare creature! It is a half-elf born to an elf and a mid-grandmaster. But that's not the most interesting part. The Thousand arms house appraisal master personally inspected it, only to find that it was indeed a peak master level magi with the potential to reach grandmaster realm!"
The crowd was shocked when they heard Amara say that she had the potential to reach the grandmaster realm. Everyone knew that reaching grandmaster realm was not so easy, as a magi needed an abundance of resources to even begin to try such a feat.
"It was made a slave in the war her kingdom fought. You all know that hardworking magis like you deserve a good time, so what's better than having a peak master realm creature as your slave who could do anything for you? " Amara gave the crowd a seductive wink and smiled. "This creature has a base price of 1000 gold coins, and the minimum bid increase each time is 100 gold coins. Don't hold back on your desires, honored guests! I've always liked men who took the initiative."
The coyness in her voice was more than enough to make the young men go crazy as they started to kick up the price.
"1200 gold coins."
"1300!!"
"1500!!"
All the shouts came from the VIP area. No one in the public area could possibly afford even a fraction of the starting bid.
"2500," a voice called out. The crowd became silent as they looked at the source of the voice with envy and jealousy. Don didn't need to look. He already knew who called out the price.
MINISTER BRIAN.
"2500 going once!"
"2500 going twice!"
"This is your last chance, Honored guests!"
"And sold to the gentleman on the Number 4 VIP area!"
"Bastard... How many of my people need to die before someone punishes that fiend?" Uncle Dior gritted his teeth and murmured. His voice had a tinge of sadness and hopelessness in its anger.
"Don't worry. His life ends today."