Jacob was sitting in the auction house, his body was small in comparison to everyone else around him, Shortie was still being patient in their auction seating box. Below, more objects came out of the cache of items to be sold, there were all sorts of creatures and body parts up for sale but some drew much more attentions than others.
The auction house had been selling items of this nature for a great many years and now that it was in Teksivion, a city on the frontier and edge of the borderlands, they had a plethora of items that were almost unique to the people.
the Denendo Antler in his possession was too precious to part with but he had so many other things, Jacob wasn't sure if he needed more currency but he wasn't sure if he wanted anything in the auctions and the prices were getting more astronomical as time progressed.
When Zadkeil's Antler came up for bid, there was a massive exchange in comments. People were wondering why anyone who was able to catch one would dare let a piece of it go, to them, it seemed like a sacrilegious act. Some of them showed pity on their faces while others were eyeing the item with murderous intent, they would have it by any means.
"The Next Item up for bid is a rare item indeed, the Denendo Antlers help perception and battle preparedness to the wielder, when shaped into dagger handles, few assassins with these blades have ever been caught. The opening bid is set at one million contribution points or one hundred grade three herbs."
The math was simple, Grade three herbs were worth Ten Thousand contribution points each. Grade three herbs could typically only be found on the Frontier edges and in the private gardens of major families.
"Four Hundred grade three Herbs."
The bidding had begun and already the price was more than four times the most outrageous overestimate that Zadkeil could have predicted, to say he was rich would be a slight understatement. No matter the bids afterward, he was already set for the next few years with a single sentence.
"Five Million Tokens." A dark figure in the back stood up and spoke. People around him back off when he exuded some pressure in a light wave, it showed his voracious killing intent and some of them even left the auction entirely.
"Please do not intimidate the guests. I hear five million, do I hear more."
"Six" Before the Nyankin could finish his bid, he had been cut off by a higher one.
"Seven-fifty."
Zadkeil almost fell over, he was having trouble counting the ways his life would improve after this day. His life had forever changed after having come into contact with the small human boy and that extremely large dog.
"Ten Million tokens."
"Ten Million, we have a Ten Million Token bid on the Red Eyed Denendo Antler, Ten million going once!!"
"Eleven Million." A Man in white to the side flicked his fan and gave everyone the stink eye.
"Twelve Hundred grade three Herbs and a grade four Tree Seed."
"The currency standard is Herbs, the Tree Seed will be treated as a single Herb of Grade four. The current bid is equivalent to twenty million tokens. Do I hear a higher bid.
The room looked around, a grade four herb was something even top factions wouldn't dare to trade. Not even a desperate outcast would ever let one go, they were simply far too precious. Mumbles spread and some whispers of missing people and stolen items came up, everyone else backed away from the woman who had cast the bid and took in her features to tell others. She didn't mind the attention but she wasn't interested in what they thought either.
"Twenty Million, Going once." The Auctioneer smiled and the silent room made it seem like the winner had already been decided, still, it was her duty to continue.
"Twenty Million going twice."
A voice came from the front of the audience, another woman had pushed through. She was wearing a set of slave cuffs on her wrists that had been cut, they could have easily been removed but she had left them there as part of her décor. "Twenty Five Million." She folded her arms and stood firm, she was less than half the height of everyone present, expect for Jacob.
"Twenty Five Million! You heard it.. Twenty Five, Going once.." The Auctioneer's head was spinning, the house was going to receive a portion of the sale and it had just gone up again.
"Two Thousand Six Hundred grade three Herbs.." The White Robed Man flicked his fan, he was sure that there would be fewer competition once the bidding had risen to such a level but another booming voice sounded from the back from the Dark Figure.
"Thirty Million." The Dark figure was giving off a deathly vibe with his aura, though, it remained somewhat in check.
"Thirty Million, we have a bid of Thirty Million Contribution Tokens!" The Auctioneer cheered both inside and out, it was outrageous, she was going to get a huge bonus.
The little slave girl thought she had everything handled with her single bid but she sighed and decided to risk it all. "Ten Million Contribution Tokens, ten grade four herbs, three thousand grade three herbs."
The Auctioneer did some math in her head. "One Hundred Million! We have an extremely large bid." She was beginning to sweat, that was an unusual bid and she was more or less impressed at how a little girl could pull out 10 grade four herbs. Perhaps in the entire City of Teksivion, only a handful would even be known to exist, the rest would never be brought out.
The White clothed Regal figure folded his fan shut and turned his nose away. It was simply too large of a jump in bid, he had lost interest. Denendo or not, it was only a fleeting fancy to have it in his hands.
The Dark figure in the back came forward and spoke again, "One Hundred Fifty Million Contribution Tokens." The bid didn't seem to phase him, his deep voice and small stature made everyone in the business know exactly who he represented.
They took a few steps back in reflex and the little slave girl counted on her hands. She didn't seem to know if she had more to bid, but at this time, Jacob had come down to hear the Announcer speaking.
"A Hundred and Fifty Million, Going once." The crowd looked around while she spoke, her breath ended and she licked her lips. "Going Twice." There were no movements from the crowd, she slammed her fists together, "Sold, for A Hundred and Fifty Million Contribution Tokens. Wow, what an Amazing round of bidding! Our next item also is sure to cause some more stirs.." She continued speaking and entrancing the crowd.
Jacob was still making his way down to the floor where the slave girl was standing, he wanted to ask her some questions. More importantly, he wanted to know how she had obtained so many herbs. Since she was near his age in appearance, Jacob was thrilled to see someone with ability. He was in a good mood and came up beside her.
She was not in the mood, she turned and then saw Jacob. He was smiling and she was unhappy, having bid everything within her ability and not getting what she wanted, she pushed Jacob out of the way and rushed out of the Auction house.
Jacob followed, he didn't know why. Shortie noticed his leaving and kept his eye on him from a distance. "Hey!" Jacob called out but the girl didn't seem to hear him with the rushing winds.
"Miss!" Jacob called out again and the little girl dressed as an escaped slave paused. "MISS! Please Wait." Jacob ran over, he wasn't out of breath but the dust was actually stinging his eyes as he moved forward.
"What do you want? You were that kid that was eyeballing me in the Auction House right?" She fixed her scarf and looked him over. "You're pretty small, so tell me.. what's so important that you had waited to talk out here?"
Jacob was almost at a loss for words but the little slave girl was being somewhat impatient. He took out the Denendo Antler.
"I have the other one. If you're still willing to trade, I'd be more than happy to sell it." Jacob wasn't going to give it away, he could already feel how important it was to her with the thing in his hands. It was such a deep connection to her that he almost blushed and turned to keep it for himself.
"Really!!?" Her eyes lit up, the little slave girl's mood seemed to instantly evaporate and she grabbed Jacob, squeezing his body tightly and wiggling about. "Do you mean it!? Really!" She pulled the ring from her finger and passed it over.
"You can have all of it." Grabbing the Denendo Antler from Jacobs palm, she sprinted away like she had just stolen something precious.
When Jacob blinked again, she was gone.
He went back into the Auction house and Zadkeil was standing right there waiting for him. "I thought you said you wanted to sell the Antler, if you're going to do it, you should do it now before the other bidders lose confidence."
"I already sold it." Jacob tossed a ring in his hands and then slipped it onto his other hand.
Zadkeil looked at Jacob and wondered if he was hit in the head as a child, whatever it was the kids dumb luck had been fascinating to hear. He asked, "How much did you sell it for?"
"I took the little slave girl's bid and sold it to her. I think she gave me everything she had, including the ring." Jacob fondled the ring and took out one of the grade four herbs and passed it over. "You told me a good thing and showed me this place, it is only right that I show you some gratitude. Please, take this."
Zadkeil couldn't bare it any longer and knelt down to hug the boy.
Jacob wondered what everyone was hugging him for, it was just the set of antlers, the bottom half of the skull and most of the spine was still in his storage and the bones were equally powerful, and then there were the hooves and hide. "Why is everyone hugging me?"
The Old Merchant let go and laughed, you're just too damned nice kid. Why don't you marry one of my daughters or something.. There's no need for you to come out here to risk your life and with that amount of income, you'll be able to live like a Prince."
Jacob didn't know if the Old Merchant was just messing around with him or not, but marriage didn't sound like a good idea at such a young age. Jacob's parents had met when they were both managing their own companies and well into their thirties. It would be a long time before Jacob was willing to entertain ideas of something like that. He shrugged it off and said "I don't know, I sort of like it here and I would still really like to go home but I don't think its possible."
"Well kid, I can tell you this.. If you're this nice to people, in the future, someone will take advantage of you. I think even I might have done so." Zadkeil took off one of his spacial rings and transferred seventy-five million tokens into it. "Take this one too, I think I owe it to you." The Old merchant had made such a huge windfall that it was literally twisting his insides with guilt over the whole matter. He had pulled one over on the kid with his underestimation of the Denendo Antler's Value.
"Are you sure about that?" Jacob picked up the ring, he wouldn't sneer at an act of kindness.
"Its what should have been yours to begin with, I don't know what your plans are, like I've said but.. we'll be here celebrating for a little bit and then we're going back toward the Capital. If you haven't decided by then where it is that you want to go, you could always come with us." Zadkeil ruffed Jacobs hair and saw Shortie laying on the large stone pathway. "Both of you."
Shortie barked and nudged at Jacob. "I'm hungry." Waved his tail, Shortie nudged him again.
"Okay, Okay.. lets go hunting." Jacob laughed gently, night was coming and the best time to do so.