As they stepped inside the house the first thing Veronica noticed was the gloom. There were only a few lights, which kept everything in shadows.
Suze walked in the lead since she was the one who knew where to go. The corridors they walked down on were quite cozy. The paneling was made from some kind of dark wood, which gave the whole atmosphere a creepy vibe.
It wasn't scary or anything, but more mysterious, just like the gathering they were attending.
Also strangely enough there were a lot of windows, but all of their shutters were closed. They didn't want the light from the streets seeping inside.
After a minute or two of walking they arrived in front of a large double door. Through it silent whispers could be heard. Without knocking or anything Suze opened the door and went inside.
The room was large, nearly the size of the basement bar, but with higher roof. In the middle there was a circle made from couches and armchairs. Near them a large fireplace was burning feverishly, and close to that was another chair separated from the rest. Inside of it sat a man wearing a hooded robe and a mask.
As Veronica grew curious, the man turned his head and stared at the two of them. She trembled a bit below the gaze. The man looked them up and down, then made a small nod of acknowledgement.
When the he stopped looking at them, Suze whispered near Veronica's ear.
"That man is Mr. Host, he owns this mansion or at least he keeps the gatherings here. Also he is the one keeping everyone in check, don't insult or even look at him for too long. He doesn't take kindly to anyone who tries breaking the rules!"
"What rules?" Asked Veronica, but instead of answering Suze just pointed at two large black boards.
One of them read – House Rules. There were three of them over all.
The first read – 'The people who decide to take part in this gathering, shall not try to find out other participants' identity!'
The second read – 'Every participant is required to leave at different time frames, exception if they arrived together!'
And the third – 'Before placing any item for auction, it needs to be divined about its legitimacy! If the participant is uncomfortable with such action, they may request a ritual contract keeping the secrets about the item hidden!'
Below the three rules was another line of text.
'If someone tries to go around any of these rules, they will be sentenced to death! There will be a bounty placed on their heads, and Mr. Host will personally hunt them down!'
Veronica read it a few times, and afterward she felt a bit more comfortable. Knowing that if anything bad happens, a powerful individual will hunt the culprits down made her feel a bit better.
'Huh? Since when am I fine with people hunting other people down for money?... It's strange how fast a mindset could change in specific circumstances...'
After reading through the rules again and mentally writing them down, she turned towards the second board. It was full of strange names, that were ethereal materials if she had to guess, but something was weird about them.
'What are those numbers representing next to them?... Starlight Shard Shell for 150 something?... Hidden Sunlight Leaf for 300?... Revolving Chaos for 500?... Tome of Corpses for 600?... Are they in eura?... Hmm, unlikely since then they would be too cheap, then... B-But that means... They are so Expensive!...'
For a good while Veronica just stared at the board and the numbers shown on it. Even after minutes had passed and she looked through each line it didn't make more sense. There wasn't a single item worth less than a 100 gelt.
'Let's see, if I make 3 gelt a week and don't spend any of it, I would need at least 33 weeks to make enough money to buy the cheapest item... *sigh* This is truly something I didn't need to know...'
While she was silently drowning in her own sad existence, Suze motioned for her to sit down... The gathering was about to begin.
When everyone was seated Mr. Host looked towards the side, where the tall man from the entrance stood. With a small nod he stepped forward.
"Welcome everyone, the auction will shortly start! The rules are the same as always, if you are interested in an item raise your hand and name your price! The payment is done in a separate room after the auction! If you don't have enough money on you, Mr. Host is generous and will loan you the required amount!"
The masked man's voice turned dangerous as he said, "Do not try and escape your debt, it won't end well for you!..."
As the man stayed silent Veronica's sense of threat increased. The tall man wasn't just a regular human it seemed.
"If everyone understands, then let's start the auction with our first item! This is a special ethereal item named Agonizing Light. It is a glass ball, which has the ability to summon light that inflicts pain upon touch, the side effect is a mild headache for a day after using it. The bidding will start at 200 gelt!"
The two dozen or so people in the room stayed absolutely still. Non seemed to be very interested in this item. The tall man looked around, then made a small nod acknowledging their disinterest.
"The next item is a main ingredient named Fire Ant Queen's Mandible, the price is 100 gelt. Before the auction begins, the owner is also willing to sell the required formula for the soldier path. The two items together costs 200 gelt."
This time there was a bit of movement, after a small bidding war both the ingredient and formula was bought for 235 gelt.
It felt very weird to see these huge amounts of money change hands with such ease. For two hundred gelt you wouldn't need to work for at least a decade or even more if you don't over spend. You could even buy a small house in a better district from it.
Veronica was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't even notice the other items getting sold. Only when Suze moved next to her did she start to pay attention again.
"315, anyone higher? 320! 325!... Anyone else?... once... twice... Sold!" Suze won the auction, but the price raised another question within Veronica.
'Just how rich is the Miles family?! She just casually spent more than a hundred times my weakly salary!... I will definitely ask for a raise... And what did she buy anyway?'
She leaned in close and whispered to Suze, "What did you buy?"
"The main ingredient to the lost path's 7th order. Our close friend has been looking for it, but he just couldn't find it anywhere." She whispered back. It didn't take much to figure out that this close friend was Alex, she just didn't want to say his name out loud.
The auction gone on for a while longer, but the dancer ingredients weren't on auction today it seemed. After buying that main ingredient named Numer Growth's Spore, Suze didn't buy any other items.
The whole gathering lasted for about two hours, after which gradually everyone left. Luckily Veronica and Suze went away as one of the earliest, so they didn't have to wait for everyone else to leave first.
They silently walked back to their carriage. Suze was constantly looking around seemingly on edge, and only when the carriage started rolling again did she breath a sigh of relief.
In her had was a a special box which contained the material she bought. There were strange carvings on it, but Veronica didn't understand their meaning. Seeing her eying the box, Suze explained what it was.
"This is called a Material Box, it has only one purpose – containing items with high ethereal property. You need to carry main ingredients in cases such as this, or they might fuse with other objects creating ethereal items."
At this point neither wore the masks from before, which really brought out Suze's emotionless tone. What she said made perfect sense, but Veronica was still a bit confused.
"But why are main ingredients so volatile?" Suze didn't answer for a long time and instead stared out the window, watching every shadow on the street. Eventually she closed the curtains and looked at Veronica.
"Everything in our world is strives for the perfect order. One main ingredient by itself is unstable, it needs its counterpart to stabilize it. This stabilization could happen within a person which is the process of ascension. But any object can be a substitute for said stabilization."
Veronica nodded along, and when Suze finished talking the realization hit her.
"That's why those items the announcer said all had drawbacks! They are missing a main ingredient and other side ingredients, their state is stable but not even close to the perfect order of an ascended!"
Suze nodded with a small genuine smile. It always gave her a bit of pleasant surprise to talk with Veronica. She was very smart and quick to catch on the hidden meanings behind Suze's every word.