Enslavement Spirits

Deon glanced around the barren and gloomy basement before taking a seat besides Terros, away from all the other dubious-looking individuals down in this place.

Both he and Terros were using concealment spirits. As it turned out, hiding your face was actually a requirement to enter this demonic auction.

This basement really was unkempt and gloomy, but nobody in the audience raised any complaints. The ground was made from a hard black stone, as were the four wall and even the slightly elevated stage at the front of this underground hall. The whole place was illuminated using flaming torches…it was a very simple setup, much below the usual standard for shamans of their calibre.

For the following hour, nobody spoke a word as a few more people arrived. By the time the door to the basement was locked shut, there were perhaps 60-70 people present, all of whom were either sat alone, or in groups of up to four at most.

"Welcome fellow shamans, to the 17th annual demonic auction in Flat Mount City." A masked individual took to the stage. They clearly possessed impressive concealment spirits as not a trace of their aura leaked out. It was such an impressive level of concealment that even the outline of their body was blurry! Combined with the voice distortion spirit they were using, Deon couldn't even tell whether this person was male or female, young or old.

"Before we begin, let me remind everyone of the rules of this auction. Firstly, the usage of any spirits aside from storage spirits is prohibited for the duration of the auction. Anyone found breaking this rule will be executed without any chance for leniency, so please do bear this in mind."

Deon stiffened slightly and glanced towards Terros. The bearded man looked away, realising that he had forgotten to mention this 'small detail' to Deon before coming here.

Now worried that he might unknowingly break some other rule, Deon didn't even dare to move until the masked auctioneer was finished explaining. Luckily it seemed that there weren't many rules.

The beginning of the auction would consist of the auctioneer selling the wares of the mysterious organisation behind this auction. After this was done with, anyone could stand up and try to buy or sell a forbidden item of their choice. The only items which were permitted to be exchanged in this auction, were goods of similar value to the items sold in the city's main auction, but were banned from that auction due to their affiliation with the demonic path.

With that, the auction began.

Typically, auctions would begin with lower priced items being sold off first, slowly working up to the main event. In this auction however, there was no such thing as a worthless sale. Nobody here was an insignificant character, there was no need to bother with low quality goods.

"The first item for sale is the gold class 2-Star 'shaman blood slave spirit'. This is an enslavement type spirit that can be used up to three times on a 1-Star or 2-Star shaman, enslaving them by taking control over their blood. The slave will be forced to obey any order spoken by the slave master; their body's movement will be fully controlled by the enslavement spirit. The success rate on 1-Star shamans is 80%, 50% for 2-Star shamans. As it is a vital enslavement spirit, the success rate is naturally lower when used on body tempering shamans. The spirit is being sold for 3-Star drop spirits only, starting at two 3-Star drop spirits."

Right from the get go, something so expensive appeared for sale! After a moment of silence, someone called out their starting bid of two 3-Star drop spirits.

"Three!" Terros called out from besides Deon. Deon glanced him briefly. He saw that Terros was eager to win this spirit, but Deon didn't intend to make his own bid either way.

'Enslavement type spirits…at first glance, they appear to have a similar effect to my soul refinement spirit, in that a shaman becomes your object to control…but slaves are simply too different. All slaves are either only partially controllable, or their mental faculties and therefore their talent is negatively affected. This spirit falls into the former category, it doesn't even prevent the slave from trying to kill you.'

The first bidder raised to four drop spirits and Terros immediately rose to five. After a few seconds, a third bidder increased the bid to six, at which point both Terros and the first bidder fell silent. Terros wanted this spirit, but not so badly that he was willing to fork out so much for it.

Terros currently possessed more funds than he had ever seen in his life, thanks to selling so many of Deon's refined spirits. Still though, he wouldn't carelessly spend so much money on something that wasn't particularly special.

The auctioneer continued to sell another five spirits, one of which Terros managed to win for himself for the price of five 3-Star drop spirits. It was a very similar spirit to the first that was sold, only this spirit had a lower success rate and also placed a poison into the target's blood, which would paralyse the slave whenever they had a malicious thought against their slave master.

All six of the spirits were enslavement type spirits. They were also all spirits that enslaved the shaman by controlling their body, these were honestly the lowest wrung of enslavement spirits.

Still, it was obvious that the mysterious organisation behind this auction possessed the recipes for these spirits and that there was a shaman within this group who specialised in these type of refinements. There was even a 3-Star enslavement type spirit that was sold! The bidding for this spirit was much more heated and rose up to the ridiculous price of 475 3-Star drop spirits!

Even for Deon, this was completely unaffordable.

Finally, the next stage of the auction arrived, it was time for the individual exchanges. A shaman near to the front of the crowd stood up and turned to face everyone.

"I am selling a demon type spirit along with its recipe. I obtained this spirit and recipe from a demonic inheritance, I do not know the function of the spirit, only that it is a 2-Star gold class spirit."

Silence descended upon the crowd as everyone fell into thought. Since this person didn't ask for a price, he was clearly waiting for offers of an exchange. Deon also remained silent for now…this person hadn't even taken out the spirit yet, he wouldn't bid on some mere words.

"Sir, please take out the spirit to show everyone. Also, do you have any way to prove the legitimacy of the spirit's recipe?"

"Here is the spirit." The masked man spoke as he waved his hand and revealed a dark orb with red runes floating around its surface Deon's eyes lit up, this was definitely a 2-Star demon type spirit! He knew this, because…he actually knew what spirit this was!

"As for the recipe, I found it beside the spirit, I cannot guarantee its authenticity."

Whilst that was somewhat suspicious, the spirit alone was definitely worth anyone's money! Deon could almost feel the interest rising in the air…he wasn't sure if he had any chance of successfully buying this spirit.

And indeed, the very first bid made his heart sink.

"I will buy the spirit and recipe for 300 3-Star drop spirits."

So expensive! However…

"Refused, I only wish to exchange for other demon type spirits, one where the use is clearly understood."

The buyer became silent, as did everyone else. Even if they wanted this spirit, how could they exchange it for something that they already understood well? Using a demon type spirit without understanding it properly was simply courting your own death!

"Is sir interested in my 1-Star demon type spirit?" Deon stood up and held up the demon tattoo spirit in one hand. Terros turned pale and glared up at him accusingly…

He deliberately didn't explain this auction beforehand, because he knew that doing so would result in Deon bringing along something like this! Who would have thought that he would be carrying a demon spirit around with him anyway!

Actually, even without Terros saying anything, Deon had more or less guessed the nature of this auction, and so, he came prepared. He stared forwards as he awaited the masked man's response.

"Cough, sir shaman is a bit short, I cannot properly see this demon spirit…"

"…"

Deon sighed, then stepped up onto his chair so that everyone could see.

"Hmm…so it is 1-Star gold class. No matter what, I doubt that this spirit is worth my 2-Star gold class spirit, even if the usage is known." The seller assessed bluntly. Deon wasn't at all put off and began explaining the usage of this spirit.

By the end of his explanation, there were clearly many more gazes focussed his way.

"This…this is definitely a very interesting spirit. I am indeed interested, but for my own spirit, it's still a bit…"

"Then how about three?" Deon chuckled and waved his hand once again, materialising three demon tattoo spirits onto his palm.

"Three of them!" The seller involuntarily gasped. The various concealed gazes also became much more serious. "I wonder if sir has any more…?"

Deon smiled. With this, he had successfully drawn in the attention and desire of nearly everyone in this auction.