Why is everything slowly becoming a blur? Why does my entire body sting? Whose grabbing my left arm? I looked over and saw Gale shouting at me to snap out of my trance. Soon my vision and body return to normal as I blinked a few times.
"W-what happened?"
"You seemed really out of it, I tried tugging on you and yelling, but you weren't snapping out of it. Anyways, while you were in that subconscious state we're almost at the auction."
Ahead of us, there was a bunch of people waiting in a line by a building. All concealing their weapons under baggy clothes or large coats. Everyone tried to keep a low profile and hiding a fair bit of their physique. Gale and I both walked to the end of the line as we waited.
"Gale, I really think I should head back and fix things with Claire."
"It's too late Faust, you'd be killing yourself if you went by yourself across the unsanctioned streets. Stick with me until the end of the auction and we'll be back soon enough."
I went into deep thought for a moment. She was not wrong. I could probably meet up with Claire back at the apartment. I took a few deep breaths to try and calm myself. I closed my eyes and fixated on my breathing. A few more breaths later and I calmed myself. Gale was looking elsewhere when I opened my eyes. The line extended as a few dozen people were behind us.
Soon enough, a door opened from the building we were waiting by as people began to enter in a single file. After a couple of minutes, the line closed in as we entered the building. It was a large auditorium and with every seat, there was an armrest with a panel on it. Gale began walking towards a seating area near an exit as I quickly followed. Before long, almost everyone was seated as lights dimmed and stage lights shined at the front of the auditorium. The panels on the armrest began to illuminate as I quickly peered at it.
The interface was pretty simple, was a touch screen that had a space to show: the weapon, the specifications, the current bid, and options to bid. Many of these were blank since the auction had not started. Gale leaned to her right as she tried to whisper in my ear.
"What's your psychic power?"
I quickly leaned back as I whispered.
"Pyrokinesis."
She gave a slight nod. A man then proceeded on stage with a large crate. He had fiery red hair, wore very casual clothes. The one thing that piqued my interest is that he had open carried his weapons. A longsword sheathed to his hip's side, and two firearms on the other hip. The auctioneer took out a jagged dagger with a blueish sheen to it. I glanced at the interface as it showed specifications. It was read that the dagger was specified for cryokinesis users as I saw the bid quickly shoot. First, it was going up by hundreds, then reached the thousands range as the price began to rapidly shoot up. The auctioneer showed the dagger's potential as the bids began to slow down as the price began to rise into the higher thousands. It peaked at 11,000 credits before all bids stopping. The weapon was then put towards the side as the next weapon was brought out. I looked around the auditorium in between the weapon showcasing cause I knew that I wouldn't be interested in many of the weapons.
A few weapons were sold quickly as they had no esper skills towards them. And after fifteen minutes of this, I began to get sluggish as I then saw this one longsword. It was sheathed in a metallic scale scabbard. The auctioneer then strapped on the sword to be on his back with the scabbard on. He gripped the sword's hilt as he began unsheathing the sword. The scabbard moved with his actions to help an easier unsheathe as he was able to take out the sword with ease. The blade itself had a titanium luster with a fiery aura towards it. Without trying he was able to slash the air like a flame arc trace the slash and flew in the direction the slash was aimed at.
I quickly went to bid as I initiated a bid at 1000 credits. Soon after my offer was doubled and I doubled the counteroffer to a total of 4000 with impulse. The bid sat still as a green checkmark hit my screen, showing I had won the auction. I glanced at Gale as she gave a bit of a smug look and a giggle before I saw an X on her screen showing she lost the bid. Did this girl really try to outbid me?
For the rest of the bidding, I closed my eyes as tried to rest during it. Some time passed as I was in a semi-rest before I was disrupted by a loud slam.
"Are ya fucking serious! This auction is rigged for us to overpay, you fucker!"
A big burly white man pointed towards the auctioneer as he shrugged, speaking in a very soft voice.
"Nothing is rigged, the other participants have more to spare than you."
The angry bidder quickly tried to pull out a gun and point it in the direction of the auctioneer. However, halfway through that motion, the auctioneer snapped and the man's head imploded, leaving skull fragments, brain matter, and blood in the general area where he was seated. The blast left me shocked. How did an esper perform something that strong with no ease? Gale leaned towards me again to whisper.
"Those types of people are the only ones to open carry their weapons. It's a symbol of power and influence. People expect some sort of authority from you if you do such, and not many fake their power, because of situations like this where they instantly die."
I moved myself to be closer to Gale.
"Is that why the longsword didn't go for much compared to other esper weapons since it requires you to have it out in the open?"
She responded with a nod and a hum. Shortly after this incident, the auction ended as I approached the auctioneer to pick up my weapon, Gale followed behind. The man glanced at me with a light smile. Closer up I could see he was in his late 20s as he picked up the sword within its scabbard and handed it to me.
"I hope you're able to handle yourself with this weapon."
I gave a slight grin as I shook my head towards him.
"I don't think I'll be able to handle myself as well as you did earlier today."
He gave a hearty laugh before patting me on my shoulder.
"Don't worry kid, you'll get there eventually. One thing I'll say is to always keep an eye open and never forget where you started."
For some reason, the auctioneer resonated some sort of role model energy. He didn't seem malicious at all. An earnest entrepreneur was the aura I got from him. I began to reach towards the weapon as Gale held my hand and put it down to my side before speaking up.
"My friend here prefers calvary over foot soldier."
The man looked at Gale and then me as he gave a bit of sigh and then a snicker.
"Where shall it be delivered, Miss?"
Gale looked at me with a head motion to give a hint for me to answer.
"Stargrove Apartment Complex, please."
"What room, sir?"
Gale quickly interjected.
"Room 540."
The auctioneer nodded with a smile.
"We'll make a hasty delivery for you, Miss Gale. I hope you bring your friend again. He seems to be a valuable customer."
Gale gave another smug look as she glanced at me.
"You're welcome."
I sighed as we started to walk out.
"Was probably better to have such a large weapon transported safely, so thanks for the idea."
She waved it off.
"Not many know about the delivery password, it's quite useful since I've purchased some larger items."
Before long we began walking back as I looked up to the sky while Gale was a little bit ahead. The streets were silent as we were slowly approaching the sanctioned zone. Shortly after crossing that border, the sidewalks became much more social and bustling as Gale continued ahead. Now all that was left for the night was to clear things up with Claire. I checked my bracelet as the time read to be 19:30. Gale turned around as she eyed me.
"It was probably rude to make you lose a few more thousand credits than needed on that weapon, so I'll treat you to some food. Plus you're probably hungry."
She wasn't wrong, I was hungry as I began feeling my stomach ache for food more after she brought it up. Gale motioned for me to follow as I did however, I began to feel queazy. I stopped in my tracks as she turned around again and tilted her head. I began losing balance as I leaned towards a nearby building, slowly sliding down to a slumped sitting position before my vision began to blur. My eyes slowly started to open and close as everything became more and more blurred. My heart began to tighten and feel strangulated. I tried to breathe, but barely any air came out. I could see a blurry version of Gale grab me and tried to shake me. My heart started to become more and more constricted, I felt that my entire inner body was being crushed. I can't think of anything else, this grip is all I can feel. My eyes closed once more as the pain disappeared and I saw nothing, but black.