The auction house was one of the biggest signs of a city's wealth. Hence it had great defenses and top of the line equipment. Even when he simply stood before it he could feel a faint pressure coming from the building, this was something that came from the multitude of formations.
When he walked inside of the large building he arrived at a beautiful lobby. The walls were fully white and multiple chandeliers could be seen hanging on the ceiling. Dozens of employees could be seen welcoming the arriving Lords. Each of them was wearing an expensive suit and a special kind of monocle.
When he saw the monocles he noticed the glass was made out of inspectore, the same material that was used in the Zodiac's bazaar. And soon one of the workers turned towards him, scanning him. Even if Jay didn't like this there wasn't much he could do about it. He had decided that once he had enough status within the main city he would ban the use of inspectore for commercial use though.
The young man that had scanned him walked over to one of the other employees who then walked towards him.
"Hello there, young Lord, my name is Jeeves. Please follow me to the VIP section."
The man that lead the way was rather old and he had taken off his monocle as a sign of goodwill. Jay could tell this was an experienced employee who had awakened sword intent. Obviously, the man didn't have a weapon on him at this time but the air of an expert wasn't something that was easy to hide, nor did he try to.
Jeeves was respectful and kind despite his strength, professionally explaining to Jay how he could place bets.
Soon he arrived at his VIP room. He was given the choice to vote anonymously or use his name. After some careful consideration he decided to go public as the Lord of Pangea: Jay Collin. Right now it was probably best to show the other Lords how rich he was, if someone was slightly stronger than you, you would see him as a potential rival. But if the difference was too big you would try to suck up to them instead, this was the effect Jay was aiming for.
He also decided to keep his window see-through. This allowed others to see him. The other option was a one-way mirror, something he didn't find necessary.
The VIP room was also rather impressive. There was a table and chair with a great view of the stage. Multiple delicacies were served to the table as well as a bottle of wine. Jeeves actually ended up staying in the room with him. Jay thought at first he was simply there to show him the way but instead, he ended up as a servant for the duration of the auction.
He was also in charge of collecting the payments of course.
This really couldn't be called too weird, even if they hadn't inspected the scepter; the scimitar and armor he was wielding were both top grade. It was also possible they sensed his sword intent, hence the auction house wanted to give him a good impression.
The downstairs area was completely different, even if the room itself was massive and luxurious the arriving Lords each didn't have much space for himself, it looked quite similar to a movie theater.
He found it quite entertaining to watch his competitors arrive, many acted cocky and arrogant, boasting about some of the things they had achieved. But after a while this too got boring and so he decided to have a look at his own funds.
Currently, he had nearly 2400 gold pieces, a staggering amount. Even simply carrying this amount of funds was a bit of a problem. It took up over half of the space in his D grade interspacial ring.
A bit more time passed before the auction started. A total of 5 out of the 10 VIP rooms were in use. Jay, who was in the first room and an old man in the fourth room were the only ones who opted against the one-way mirror.
A few moments passed before his attention got directed to the stage. First, the announcer appeared, a Tier 1 man with a powerful voice. And after a few minutes filled with skillful flattery, the first items got brought up. It was a rack with a dozen swords, they were rolled on stage by 2 beautiful Tier 2 women, something that made many of the Lords downstairs gawk with open mouths.
These swords were each of E+ quality something that immediately stunned many of the Lords below. Moreover, each of them had the unbreakable perk which made their value go up even more. As they were to be sold together, the bidding quickly started. The initial price of 100 gold quickly doubled until, in the end, it got sold for 250 gold coins to someone in the public.
The fact that even the people in the regular public were able to bid in the hundreds surprised Jay. This meant it was possible that one of the other VIP's would also be able to bid in the thousands.
The next 3 items were all consumables. Even if they were handy Jay wouldn't get these now, all the items sold here would have some use to him, he had to make sure he made the most of his money.
The fifth item would be very valuable. As the auction had a total of 20 items that would come on, every 5 items there would be a rare treasure. The first treasure didn't disappoint.
A small item was carried onto the stage immediately causing an uproar, it was a gold base token!
Bidding immediately went crazy. Jay didn't have much of a need for a golden base token right now and decided not to spend his gold on it, but the other VIP's were different.
Especially the second and third VIP booths seemed to really want this item. The price went up massively right of the bat. This was a great way for Jay to see how many funds they had. In the end, the golden base token went to the third VIP booth for 1250 gold coins.
Seeing his enemies had this much gold Jay started to sweat a little, he might only be able to get 2 treasures in the end, which was less than he had hoped for.
The ninth item was the first one Jay was quite interested in. It was a blueprint for Ragderall.
Ragderall was a sort of drug that allowed people to keep working for 3 days on end without a problem, the only negative effect it had was that after this period the user would go into an extremely deep sleep for 10 hours, unable to be awakened.
At this point of time, the fact that it was a sort of drug turned a lot of Lords off. Their preconcieved notions of such things wouldn't be changed so quickly, but Jay was different. Since he had already lived on this world for 5 years many of the beliefs he had on earth were already changed. Drugs being a bad thing was one of the beliefs that would quickly dissapear.
If one would look at the effects of Ragderall it could quickly be seen why. If the drug was given to a group of builders you might be able to finish the walls before the enemies arrive. If given to an army they would be able to attack for 3 days straight without needing to rest for even a second. And if given to an architect every time the sideeffect dissapeared they would be able to make a lot more blueprints in the long term.
He easily managed to get this item for 250 gold, an investment easily worth it.
"Ragderall blueprint goes to Jay Collin in VIP lounge 1."
The interest in the item was rather low but when the announcer called out the buyer everyone immediately looked up. They obviously remembered the name Jay Collin. Two of the four region announcements were dedicated to him and one of the remaining two had to do with someone of the same territory. Now that they discovered he was a Lord they were obviously surprised.
Seeing everyone's interest Jay smiled, he was hoping to make allies with some of the stronger Lords present after the auction.
Once the people had satisfied their curiosity the tenth item came out.
As soon as it came out Jay felt as if a cold hand was squeezing his heart. It was a misty orb!