1 Young Master Redd

"Hello, Burt. I heard our young master returned after 16 years. Have you seen him?" Micheal, a middle thirties man with a pot-belly asked his co-worker Burt of the current situation, as they moved towards the grand hall along with other workers.

"I have seen him, Micheal. He is rather suitable to inherit the old master's legacy!" Burt replied, his eyes lost towards the time he saw their Young Master Redd. Their young master was truly an expert of great bearing!

"Oh!" Micheal heaved a sigh of relief! He trusted his co-worker Burt's intuition. If Burt had no problems with their young master, Micheal had even less problems about him. This was how much Micheal trusted Burt.

"Say, why do you think the young master summoned us so suddenly?" Micheal looked around and found about a dozen people moving along with him towards the main hall. He was intrigued about this summoning.

Burt thought for a moment before replying vaguely, "Maybe...to kick some people?!"

"What?" Micheal was astonished. He hurriedly asked, "You mean Young Master Redd would kick us, someone who devoted 3 decades of their life to old master, just after a week of taking over old master's legacy?"

"Idiot! Keep your voice down!" Burt covered Micheal's mouth with his hands. He looked around and found that everyone else were minding their own business, and heaved a sigh.

"It's just a guess, do you need to be so dramatic? Moreover, even if Young Master Redd kicks everyone-else out, he would not kick you, right?" Burt rolled his eyes at Micheal who had now calmed down.

"Hehe!" Micheal laughed evilly. "That's true! After all, I am the only Potionist still following the old master. Kicking me out is synonymous to destroying old master's legacy!"

"Tch!" Burt clicked his tongue. "A cheap ungraded Potionist like you still dare to be proud of yourself?" He mocked.

Potionists were graded according to the maximum grade of the potions that they could create. A Potionist who could at max create a 1 Star potion was a 1 Star Potionist!

Potionists like Micheal who could not even create a 1 Star potion are classified as Ungraded Potionists. They were the bottom most grade of this epic occupation.

Micheal's face turned red upon Burt's mockery. Being ungraded even after 3 decades of practice is a huge insult to the Potionist. Some hard-core Potionists even felt that they were better off dead than being ungraded for a decade, much less 3 decades.

Thus, a red faced Micheal, a serious looking Burt, a dozen other workers reached the main hall.

As they reached the main hall and entered it, they were greeted by a huge, grandeur stage. A stage so large and above the ground that it gave them a feeling of looking at a mountain.

The main hall had four entrances. Each located equidistant from each other in different directions. The stage was at the centre, and the hall was filled with innumerable seats extending upwards from the stage till the entrances.(imagine a cricket stadium, just 100 times larger)

The main hall was actually a grand Auction Hall. It was a place that had sold innumerable treasures and bustled with noise 99% of the time.

But at the moment, the huge hall was heartbreakingly empty. It gave out a sense of desolateness, an antique that only had ornamental value.

Waiting on the huge stage were two people. An old man and an young man. If one observed these two carefully, they would be able see that the young man bore about 20% resemblance with the old man. This 20% resemblance included the bearing of oneself.

The young and the old had the same bearing. The bearing of a man with great ambitions and great confidence(over-confidence) in oneself.

"Is that Young Master Redd?!" Micheal saw the young man beside their old master from the entrance and blurted out.

Smack!

Burt smacked Micheal on the back of his head. "Who else could it be other the young master?" Burt was speechless. Was that a question that a sane person would ask in this situation.

....

Half an hour later, the dozen people finally made it to the top of the stage from the main hall's east entrance. Most of them were sweating hard from the 2 km walk 'exercise'.

They hurriedly greeted their old master, followed by greeting their young master.

"Sit down! Make yourself at home!" Their old master gestured towards the temporary seats arranged on the stage.

They all sat down in the closest seats to them obediently.

"Haha!" The old master laughed, seeing that everyone were comfortable, as comfortable as they can be in this situation, he started speaking. "As you all know, this is your young master. He will be your future boss, so make sure to follow his orders well!"

"Old man!" Young Master Redd rolled his eyes at the old master, his grandfather. Both of them had previously discussed that they would kick everyone out, so why was this old fool giving the workers hope now? Saying they had to follow his orders?

Old master seemed to have realised his mistake, as he was left dazed for a few moments.

"Haha!" He laughed embarrassedly and once again spoke to the crowd. "What I meant is, he is your young master regardless of wether you work here or not. So listen to his words and follow him faithfully!"

"Old man!" Redd was speechless. Just how thick was this old man's face to say them to follow him even after kicking them out?

"Old master..." Burt hesitated for a moment. But he eventually made up his mind and spoke up. "Old master, we want to follow the young master and help him run the auction house!"

Redd turned his head and looked at Burt. He thought for a moment before he asked, "What is your occupation in the auction house?"

"I..I am a 4-star Appraiser, Young Master Redd!" Burt stuttered. Speaking to his future superior was quite intimidating.

"Hmm!" Redd put his right hand on his chin and pondered for a moment before taking something from his pocket. He threw something towards Burt.

Burt hastily caught the object and found that it was a red coloured bangle with black lines on it. But except for its colour design, nothing else stood out about the bangle.

"Appraiser it for me." Redd said leisurely.

Burt nodded to his young master before he started carefully examining the small bangle. Appraisal of this bangle may very well decide his future so he was extra attentive to it.