Trading House Auction Hall

Flat Mount City's annual auction was hosted by the Trading House, so it was only natural that it took place within the Trading House's territory.

The Trading House's main headquarters in this city was a nine floor temple situated almost exactly in the centre of the city. Around these headquarters, which were private and only accessible to Trading House members, there were various buildings in which the Trading House conducted their business with the public.

The auction hall was one such building. During normal times, the auction hall was used by the higher ups of the Trading House to address the other sect members. It was a large, old-looking building, which reminded Deon of the cathedrals on earth. In this building, the Trading House Elders were able to gather the entire sect for important meetings.

But, for one day every year, the public was permitted entry into this building.

Deon, Terros and Shi, all arrived early in the morning, only to find a long que which extended all the way back into the city streets. Even though they got here at first light, it seemed that hundreds of people had arrived even earlier.

Just as Deon was about to join the que, Terros grabbed his shoulder and rolled his eyes.

"We're 2-Star shamans, not to mention we're rich. Why would we join the general audience members? We can rent ourselves a tier 3 room, this way, not only can we skip the que, but we can also maintain a higher level of anonymity."

Deon's eyes lit up and he nodded right away. He had not learned much about this auction beforehand since he had been so busy with refining spirits, procuring materials, and escaping for his life, but it made sense that there were different tiers of participants in this auction.

There would be 1-Star, 2-Star and 3-Star shamans attending this auction, from weak to strong, from poor to rich. How could they all receive the same treatment?

Terros explained that there were three tiers of seating. The idea was that the majority of 1-Star shamans would find themselves in the tier 1 seating, 2-Star shamans in the tier 2 seating and 3-Star shamans in the tier 3 seating.

Those 1-Star shamans and the less affluent 2-Star shamans were forced to join the main que, where they would then be taken into the general seating area, this was the tier 1 seating. There was a cost for general audience members, but it was not too expensive, ranging from ten to a hundred 1-Star drop spirits depending on where they wanted to sit.

Terros had attended this auction many times, whilst Shi attended the year before. Even so, this time, their status was going to be different…because they were far richer compared to ever before!

The second que was for tier 2 seating, this included the majority of those shamans with a decent sum of wealth.

Terros led the way towards the entrance for the tier 3 seating, bringing Deon and Shi towards the third que, located on the other side of the building, away from the common people. Terros was quite hurried, because a cloud was trailing behind him, attracting some looks from those around them.

This was the product of the cloud mule spirit. Shi also had one such cloud floating behind her.

They not only planned to sell these cloud mule spirits, but also the many spirits within the clouds. It was difficult to transport 2-Star spirits around, and in the end, this cloud mule spirit was still their best option, even if it did draw some attention.

The tier 3 que was non-existent, because the price to enter the tier 3 rooms was simply exorbitant at five 3-Star drop spirits! Very few shamans would be willing to pay so much, just to get a better room for the auction.

For the most part, only 3-Star shamans would enter the tier 3 seating. Those 3-Star shamans from the other righteous path organisations could not show economic weakness, they needed to pay the premium for this expensive seating in order to save face.

Deon, Terros and Shi didn't consider it squandering their money to rent out a secluded booth for the price of five 3-Star drop spirits. This was an enormous sum of wealth, but it also guaranteed their anonymity.

Deon looked up at the giant arched door, one of three around this building. After walking all around the building, it became obvious to him that the Trading House had designed this place with the annual auction in mind.

There were four entrances, three for the public and one for the Trading House members.

They were greeted by two friendly guards, who did not act like typical guards, instead treating them with courtesy and respect. Well, anyone entering through this doorway was an extremely prominent individual, these 2-Star guards naturally didn't want to offend them.

After paying the fee, the trio were led into the auction hall, through multiple corridors and up a spacious spiral stairway. They were taken to the upper levels of the building, towards the tier 3 rooms, which were positioned directly above the the tier 1 and tier 2 sections.

The guards left them alone promptly, at which point, Deon looked around the room, checking to see if the Trading House had left behind anything dubious.

It was unlikely that they would try anything which could potentially damage their reputation, but it was better to be safe than sorry. If they had left behind any traps, it would be too late to regret it later on.

After confirming that the room was secure, Deon relaxed, taking a seat and staring out through the glass window.

"Nice room!" Shi exclaimed, grinning as she enjoyed the luxury treatment of a rich person.

This room was secluded from view by its positioning, but that was not all. The window was made from a strange glass which was only transparent from the inside to the outside. From the outside, the glass looked completely black, preventing others from seeing the occupants within the room.

But that wasn't all. If it was just this, how could it be worth five 3-Star drop spirits?

Outside of the room, standing on a balcony on both sides of the window, two shamans from the Trading House stood silently. Their bodies and faces were concealed by their loose fitting robes which draped from their heads to their toes, but this was not the most interesting point.

The two shamans were both activating a certain spirit right now, and they would maintain this spirit until the end of the auction. If they grew exhausted, they would switch places with other shamans who were waiting nearby.

The shamans were using concealment spirits to protect and conceal the room from any potential nosy individuals!

These 2-Star shamans were naturally members of the Trading House. This was a service the Trading House offered every year, it was expensive, but it provided those who were concerned with an additional layer of protection. Naturally, something so extravagant was only available to the tier 3 audience members.

Deon was very satisfied with this service. He knew that the Spirit Pavilion elders would be attending this auction, so he was prepared to use his own concealment spirit throughout the day. He still planned to do this, but these two guards provided an additional layer of protection.

Over the past few days, Deon had refined many useful spirits. Most of these spirits remained back in their rented accommodation, but he brought some useful ones along with him today. Some of these were in his souls space, others were stored in the cloud mule spirit.

For concealment, Deon was using the hazy perception spirit. This was a 1-Star gold class spirit which distorted people's perception of him, causing them to overlook him. It would also affect their investigation spirits when used against him.

The Spirit Pavilion might try to investigate the audience during this auction in hopes of finding the 'shaman lord'. Their methods were sure to be impressive, Deon's 1-Star spirit naturally couldn't match them, but it was better than nothing. Besides, the Spirit Pavilion would not be targeting this room directly, the hazy perception spirit was enough to throw them off his trail.

Knock knock…

After they had spent a few minutes settling into the room, a tapping sound echoed through the room as someone knocked on the door. They were not surprised by this, as the guards had already mentioned that an attendant would be sent up to deal with a few matters, namely the sale of their wares.

The major players in this auction, those 3-Star shamans and the various well-known righteous path organisations, would have already informed the Trading House of what they would be selling. However, Terros didn't have such a reputation, he had been unable to do the same.

But now, they were tier 3 audience members, the Trading House would cater to them and give their products priority above the items sold by the lower tier members.

Being rich certainly had its perks!