"Two gentlemen, please follow me." The waiter respectfully led the two figures in black into the luxurious private room of the auction hall.
Yann and Niya followed behind him, entering the room.
While ordinary auction participants crowded the hall, thousands of them sitting together around the platform, those of higher status occupied the exclusive private rooms, observing the scene below through one-way opaque glass and speakers.
With this gesture, the auction house bestowed prestige upon those of higher status, distinguishing them from the common folk, thus emphasizing their nobility.
Silently flattering the other party.
As the waiter escorted the two to the entrance of the private room, he bowed and stood at the door. "If you need anything, you can press the call button inside the room, and our staff will attend to your needs."
It was inappropriate for a waiter to accompany guests into a private room from various perspectives. Professionally trained waiters would not foolishly follow the other party inside.
Yann nodded, then led Niya into the room.
The rich, coffee-colored decor exuded luxury, with two leather sofas facing each other and a table between them. On the table sat a bottle of expensive wine and several highball glasses.
On one side of the table was the call button, allowing contact with auction house staff if needed.
On the other side of the table was a dial with numbers, the auction tool. If one desired an item up for auction, they could bid by entering numbers on the dial.
"Ah..." Upon entering, Niya let out a long sigh of relief.
Just a level eight mage! An eight-level mage seated before her was truly unimaginable.
Although the Sacred Heart Academy was the highest institution in the northeastern provinces, its graduates were only level four mages or warriors. Even a level three could be considered a strong presence in society. At least they could serve as soldiers, teachers, or mercenaries with ease.
As for levels higher than four, Niya's own teacher was only a level five mage. Among the students at the academy, exceptional ones might reach level six or seven. But level eight...
Only the Vice Principal and others at the academy could achieve it! An eighth-level powerhouse could serve as a general of a ten-thousand-man legion in the military!
Yet, such a powerhouse had just humbly seated himself before her.
How incredible!
"Tsk, look at you. Back in the day, even an imperial wouldn't dare to breathe loudly in my presence, let alone smile cautiously." Yann began reminiscing about his past glory. "An eight-level brat under my command was nothing more than a squad leader of ten men, and even then, the lowest-ranking auxiliary corps!"
His past glory, ah, Yann was lost in reverie.
"Alright, I get it." Yann realized reminiscing about his past glory wasn't interesting. "No need to speak of it. I know how impressive you were back then."
The auction was already underway, and the master of ceremonies, dressed in tails, skillfully stirred up the atmosphere, gradually igniting the auction participants' passions. However, those who were truly excited were just ordinary participants. They could only afford the items currently being auctioned. The real treasures were yet to come.
Occasionally, a few big shots in the private rooms might purchase items they liked.
"The next item up for auction is a gemstone obtained by a mercenary group in the eastern desert. Hmm, the gemstone is exceptionally beautiful, crafted with extraordinary skill.
However, our appraiser hasn't identified its specific magical properties." What they meant was, there were none!
It was merely a visually appealing gemstone with no inherent value apart from its aesthetics. If not for its excellent appearance, this gemstone wouldn't have made it onto the auction stage. The idea of the auction was that perhaps some bored wealthy individual might see it and buy it on a whim, allowing them to earn an intermediary fee.
The mercenary groups didn't have high expectations.
As the host finished speaking, the bunny girls wheeled in a table covered in black cloth. Upon it lay a hazy, blood-red spherical gem.
The gem sparkled, about the size of a fist.
"Starting bid, one hundred gold coins," the host announced.
The response was silence.
Who had the leisure to spend money on decorative items at an auction? There were many treasures to come next. No one would waste their money on useless things like this.
Oh no, was it going to be unsold? The host inwardly cursed.
Although he had anticipated that this gemstone might not fetch a good price, he never imagined it would go unsold...
"What is this..." Inside the private room, Yann stared at the gemstone for a long time before exclaiming in astonishment.
"Do you recognize this gemstone? It looks quite nice," Niya said, looking at Yann.
Could this unrecognized gemstone be a treasure? Otherwise, why would Yann show such a shocked expression...
"Buy! We must buy it! Although I don't know how the Rule Pearl entered your world! But we must buy it!" Yann pressed the 100 button on the auction device without hesitation.
"Hey! We don't have money right now," Niya reminded.
"After we sell the magic structure diagrams, we will." Yann spoke without thinking. "Tsk tsk, you really don't know what's valuable. Do you know that in the Undead World, even Legendaries and Saints would vie for the Rule Pearl! I never imagined I would discover it in the mortal realm."
"S-Saints..." Poor Niya, the strongest expert she had seen in her life was just the eight-level mage Coleman she had just met.
If Yann counted, she had seen a Sovereign-level powerhouse.
As for the legendary Saint level, even if she searched the entire plane, she had only heard the name, never seen a true Saint.
Yet Yann claimed that this seemingly ordinary gemstone was a treasure that even Saint-level experts would fight over.
"It's too early to tell you the function of the Rule Pearl..." Yann said.