Paley walked without a barrier protecting him from the misty, heavy yet light rain. He enjoyed the cold droplets showering him, looking up at the sky with his eyes closed. Shallow puddles formed, which he carelessly stepped on as he walked.
It was right in the middle of spring, and still, it rained so heavily. Gouon was part of Lusitra, a relatively small country that was backward compared to others. Jurie often talked to Paley about the stories that she'd read and mentioned that other countries had extraordinary things like light bulbs instead of flames and automobiles instead of carriages.
Upon arriving at the city gates, he stopped hesitantly, glancing at them and then the street on his left. Eventually, he came to a decision and walked down the street instead of the gates.
He stepped into the wide street of the bazaar where a few people were sheltering themselves or goods from the rain under the large red sheet. Most of them were in groups, but there was one solitary man who stood against the wall in a long grey jacket, drinking a transparent opioid out of a small vial.
"Excuse me." Paley approached the man, making sure to keep his distance, "I want to know where the auction house is."
The man took a sip of the opioid, sighed, and looked at Paley with a tired, tired look.
"What does a kid like you want at an auction house? You better not be looking for a slave." He laughed lazily.
"They sell slaves?"
"I was joking, kid. Obviously, they don't sell them. Did you forget what country you're in?"
"Yes, you could say that. So, are you going to tell me or not?"
"Woah, slow down. No need at all to be hostile." He scoffed and stepped toward Paley, who stepped back in response, "You know where the Lord's manor is?" He stopped.
"Yeah,"
"Turn right and continue straight, then take the... I think, fourth left, and you should find it." The man walked back to the wall and took another sip. Paley didn't bother to thank him and continued on his way.
He followed the man's directions and arrived at the auction house. It was a two-storey building made mostly of dark oak, sitting comfortably between two other business buildings, one being a restaurant. The orange-tinted light from within escaped through the stained windows of the big door in front of him.
Paley opened it and went in. The auction house was more like a church with its rows of seats and stage upfront. There were also VIP seats, looking down from the boxes on the second floor. He scratched his nose as he looked around for a seat. There weren't many people at all, but he wanted to find a seat where he wouldn't stand out. After all, a lone child at an auction house would stick out like a sore thumb.
He chose the seat right at the back corner of the room and waited for the auction to begin. There was a giant clock at the back of the room above the door, which displayed that it was three in the afternoon.
"When will the auction start?" Paley leaned forward and asked a woman, a commoner, a few seats in front.
"In about half an hour." She had a coarse voice, "But they will drag it on until there are more people."
"I see, thank you." He replied and sat back, listening to the sounds of the rain outside as he waited.
He didn't even realize he fell asleep until the auctioneer, in his mighty voice, began the auction. The seats had all nearly been filled up. He thought there must've been at least half the city in that room. The flames that were lightning the house dimly now shone slightly brighter, putting all the attention to the auctioneer in the front.
There was a mild chatting in the room which the auctioneer felt he needed to stop. "Alright, everyone! Settle down. Settle down." His hands were excessively animated as he spoke.
"Now," he closed his fist, drawing everyone's attention, "First, I would like to apologize for the late opening." He bowed in apology, "But rest assured that we were not sitting on our buttocks and twiddling our thumbs." The joke made the whole room laugh. Apart from Paley.
"We have, in our possession, some of the most valuable goods any auction in Lusitra has seen. Ever." He walked to the side of the stage, away from the centre, where three men were moving rectangular boxes covered by purple veils. The one in the middle had to be moved by a bulkier man since it was much larger than the other two; it was about twice the size of the auctioneer, who was a lanky man standing at six feet.
"To begin with. We have our three most valuable items!" He walked over to the first one and pinched the veil, "First, we have a demon's horn! The starting bid shall be two thousand gold coins." He took the veil off, revealing a glass display atop a rectangular block of wood. Inside, there was a contorted and cracked, flesh-coloured horn.
"It was killed two months ago, but it is a demon's horn nonetheless!" He moved on to the next item, "Next, we have a marble statue of the second Quimnia, Baddyu, made over five centuries ago." He dragged the blanket off the large marble statue of a skinny eighteen-year-old looking boy with slick back hair and a Grimoire in his hands. "It is one of five in existence, so the starting bid shall be at five thousand gold coins!"
"Up next," He revealed the third item before explaining it, "We have one of the most expensive, and finest wines out there. For you would probably sell your wife after tasting this vintage - that is, if you win the bid of three thousand gold coins." He stepped forward charmingly.
"So, shall we begin with the demon horn?"
Paley watched as the higher classes in the boxes above bid for the horn, statue, and wine. It was an intense struggle between two people mainly, one was an aged woman dressed in a posh purple dress. Another was a coarse woman, who came in her shirt and trousers. Both were nobility, but only one cared to show it.
The woman in purple won the statue of Baddyu for sixty diamond coins, but the casually dressed woman took the wine and demon horn for a total of seventy diamond coins. Paley watched, confused, as the auctioneer continued through more items that he either saw no value in or didn't understand in the first place.
After about forty minutes of bidding, he finally got to the Awakening Rings right at the end of the auction.
"And now, we have two Awakening Rings. All of you know how hard it is to acquire one of these in Lusitra. The starting bid shall be twenty silver coins!" The auction for the Rings began, but Paley waited before putting in his bid. He'd been observing how everyone bid, and to not mess it up, he decided to wait until the bid got two gold coins high.
Three men, who had come with their families, put their bids forward. One bid seventy silver coins, and the other bid ninety silver coins. The third used all of his money to create a huge gap with two gold coins and forty silver coins.
"Going once!" The auctioneer held up an oversized gavel. "Going twice!" He paused, looking around the room to look for any other bidders.
'Hhh... Of course, compared to the previous items, these rings are-'
"Four gold coins!" Paley shouted from the back and stood up. The auctioneer seemed awestruck.
"Kid, this is an auction. Not a play house." The man next to Paley said in a patronizing tone.
"Sold!" the auctioneer exclaimed, "To the child at the back with the crimson eyes. Sold!" He hit the gavel and gestured for the men to take the bracelets away.
"Thank you all so much for attending this year's auction. It was a late one, but we garnered a grand total of 179 diamond coins, 67 gold coins, and 2 silver coins in bids; that is the most in our short history. Again, thank you, people of Lusitra!" He bowed and left the stage. Now Paley realized why there were so many people in the auction house. It was because people from all over Lusitra came to Gouon for the auction.
Now was the collection time. It was 5:35p.m, so he hurriedly joined the line going backstage to collect their items. Since he sat right at the back, he was the last to enter. There was a fee of fifty silver coins to go backstage and collect your items. Thankfully, Paley had one gold coin left over from the slave traders he beat last night. The rest of the four he was spending on the rings.
Everyone else had already cleared out from the auction house, leaving only him and the auctioneer in a room backstage alone. It was well organized but it was dark, with little streams of light coming from the gaps in the curtains. Also, it was very dusty, though, the display cases were kept in a perfectly clean condition.
"You were the one who bid for the Awakening Ring were you not?" The auctioneer asked, checking through a registry book, and Paley nodded.
"Come." He gestured, making Paley follow him to the middle of the room.
"Sorry for prying, but you don't look very rich. How exactly did you get your hands on this kind of money?" He referred to Paley's uniform. Wealthy students often had their uniforms tailored to perfection, but Madella bought the leftovers from the previous years for the orphans.
"I robbed a bank," Paley said in a joking tone, getting a huffing laugh from the auctioneer.
"I see. Sorry, it's just that you don't often see a child bidding so high at an auction. Anyways, here's your prize, kiddo." He opened the display where the rings were and handed them to Paley, "Two Awakening Rings made of pure Unbound gold." He stood with Paley for a few moments, waiting for him to try one on.
"Thank you," Paley left him and made his way to the back door. The rain had mostly cleared, but there was still a light drizzle. He pocketed the rings and flew home, arriving to a worried Madella.
"Where were you?" She asked, helping him take off his wet uniform.
"I was getting this." He took one of the Awakening Rings out and showed it to her.
"You bought an Awakening Ring?" She folded up his blazer and shirt and dried him off with a towel.
"Yeah, for Adimia." He looked behind her, where Adimia sat with Reben and Amasha. He had a look of anxiety mixed with pure gratefulness.
"Paley, you- how much was it?" He approached.
"Four gold coins." Paley gave him the ring, "Put it on. Let's see if it works." He sat down after Madella finished drying him off. Amasha and Reben were also watching intently now. Adimia gulped and slipped the ring onto his finger.
When he was younger, before he became a part of the orphanage, one of the Vamali, Oava the slug, attacked his village under the Moon's church's command. His family was eaten in front of his eyes, and his brother sacrificed himself to save him
One of the smaller slugs from Oava had managed to enter his body, but he managed to claw at its slimy body and kill it inside his mouth. However, it didn't die without taking something. A part of the demon remains in his body to this day, spreading its Dark Magic through him, disabling him of ever using magic.
No one, not even Adimia, knew of this. He was sure he had spit all of Oava's slug out that day. When he put the ring on, it tightened around his wrist and began glowing. He felt something click inside him like a lock had been opened. But in the end, the ring stopped glowing and loosened, falling off his finger.
"Well, I should've been expecting that." He sighed and picked up the ring, "You should've kept it for the others. I'm never going to be able to use magic." As much as he tried to hide it, inside, he was hurting. Magic meant everything, especially to someone aspiring to be a knight. Without it, you can't do anything in life. Even farmers use a bit of magic to tend to crops faster and better.
"I'm sorry, Adimia, I-"
"Don't be, Paley. I'm super happy that you tried, but I just... I'm magicless..." Adimia sat down, awkwardly smiling. Amasha walked over to him with a frustrated look on his face, and then hugged him.
"Don't give up!" He tightened his embrace. Adimia hugged him back, holding back tears. "Amasha. There's nothing left for me to do." He replied. This was the second time that Paley saw Adimia depressed, and it was still shocking to see him in that state.
"You do realize you don't need magic to swing a sword, right?" Teerom came down the stairs with Jurie and the other girls.
"One of the greatest knights in existence, William Bizak, swung a raw steel sword and wore chainmail armor." Jurie backed Teerom.
"There's always a path, Adimia. You just have to find it." Madella smiled warmly and ruffled his hair.
"You're amazing, Adimia. I look up to you, and I want to be a knight alongside you. Don't let this bring you down. I'm sure you'll be one of the best knights in the world one day." Reben cheered.
"Guys..." Adimia's head dropped for a moment before he sprung to his feet with his fist clenched, "I'm sorry!" He bowed, "I will never think about giving up again!"
Paley laughed lightly as everyone cheered for Adimia, and began walking out the door.
"Where are you going?" Adimia asked.
"To train."
"I'm coming with you,"
"Let's go then." They left the cottage and headed to the forest.