Courtesy and Status

"One million mana stones, one million mana stones, one million mana stones..." Alice checked her hands. They were shaking so violently as if it was still deep in winter.

The auction had recently ended and the three of them separated from the crowd and were travelling towards the back side of the building.

"Wow, you are super rich now." Edwin remarked while trying to help her to calm down.

"The two of you pretend that you never knew me, I'll take another way around." Allen didn't wait for the others to reply and headed off to another corridor.

Although nobody told him, Edwin has already grasped the current situation and realized its severity.

"He actually took away two valuable items from other people." Edwin remembered about the other people who were in the auction. In his mind, they were not to be offended. "But I still can't see why is the Flicker Encyclopedia cheaper than the Internal Energy Orb."

"That's because magicians can learn Teleport and Flicker is only for internal energy practitioners, and the former is the mainstream fighting force of the kingdom." Alice replied from the side.

"So, are you alright now?" Edwin asked.

"No." Alice sighed, "Nobody even knows that I have such a large amount of mana stones, that's why I got to buy Sir Alchemist Morgan's layered pill."

"You mean the 80,000 mana stones you used to buy the pill? It seems so little compared to the other bids.", Edwin replied.

"Of course it would be little compared to the others in the auction room, because the people in the private rooms probably have the highest of stature in the whole eastern region." Alice grumbled, "Now that the layered pill was sold for 1,000,000 mana stones, I don't even know where to hide such a big amount! My spatial storages are too short, and if others find out I have that large quantity of mana stones, they would probably hunt me down and even burn down my shop if I don't give it!"

"You are really thinking too much. Relax and let's try to figure out a solution for this instead.", Edwin patted her from behind while trying to cheer her up.

Hearing Edwin's words, her mood settled slightly, and after a long pause she said, "You know even if you are an ignoramus, you still know how to comfort somebody."

"Oh, thanks! Uhh, but what's an ignoramus?", Edwin questioned. He already heard such a word from Allen when they were with Alice that one time, but didn't know its meaning.

However, Alice's steps started to speed up and overtook him while ignoring the question.

The boy chuckled and shook his head, 'Pfft, I already know.'

The two of them finally reached another corridor, and at the end of it was a big door guarded by two magicians. There were also two lanes beside the walls of the path; each of which were for the people who won items, and the ones who first brought the valuable objects to be sold in the auction on the left and right sides respectively.

Edwin and Alice queued up to the right side; from their position they spotted Allen who was on the left lane near the front carrying his wooden number plackard, of which, a type of flower was carved around the edges.

After a while, the two quietly chatted with each other about some random things to quell their boredom.

The host of the auction walked out of the door and called out the people who were first in line to claim the items they successfully bidded for or sold. When it was finally Allen's turn to enter, he gave the plackard to the host; and from his angle, Edwin recognized that the flowers carved were chrysanthemums.

Just a few seconds later, Allen walked out of the room and immediately left the corridor, not waiting for the other two.

Finally after some time, only Edwin and Alice remained in the area. The host then nodded towards the two magicians and they pointed their staffs at them.

Alice's heartbeat began to speed up and her feet involuntarily trembled.

'They're only at the Mage level.', Edwin inwardly laughed and put on a calm countenance. He could sense the magicians' level and knew he could take them on.

When the host looked over at Edwin, an eyebrow of his rose up due to the latter's serene look. However, he right away gazed at Alice and asked, "You were the one who sold that layered pill to us, correct?"

Edwin lightly nudged Alice. She collected up her courage and nodded in response to the question.

"Come with us, the sir wants to see the both of you." The host opened the door and signaled to follow him.

***

Coming out of the building, Allen walked straight to a crowdy location. He activated Energy External Sense and controlled it to cover the whole street.

Scanning everything in the place from the buildings to the little speck of dust gliding through the air, he percepted a number of people were eyeing and tailing him from behind.

Afterwards, he deactivated the technique. Allen didn't stop on his tracks until he exited the gates and reached the bounteous plains around the city.

From a distance away, the ones following Allen also stopped as he turned around to see them.

Allen examined the four people; the former's indifferent look made some of them uncomfortable.

There was a man who looked like a half-Niburgian and half-northerner. He was one of the last bidders for the Flicker Encyclopedia.

Next, an old man who seemed to be at the end of his life. Then, a elegantly clothed man who had the insignia of the marquis of Ryon City on the pocket of his coat. Lastly, the calm foreigner from the Midea Republic with each of his fingers having a ring.

"What do you gentlemen want?" Allen inquired. It might seem a respectful question, but the tone he used seemed the other way around. Well, the fact that it's the only tone he could speak with.

"I only want to trade the Flicker Encyclopedia for something else." The first man said.

"Then why didn't you increase the bid earlier?", Allen replied back.

"You?" He looked over at the elegant man.

"I'm only here to 'look after' the sir here.", the servant of the marquis said as he glanced at the Midean.

Allen then turned to the old man.

"Give me the orb!!!" The old man shouted crazily.

"I have come here to bargain.", the foreigner replied.

"No.", Allen answered towards the Midean.

Even with Allen's rejection, the foreigner only shrugged and said, "I guess I'll take it the old-fashioned way."

"In the end, it's strength that determines the result." The first man replied. He took out a stick, which then extended into a battle axe. The axe was adorned with traces of gold and mana stones. It was a Minor-Medial weapon.

The foreigner then tapped a ring of his and it turned into a spear. From nearby, one could feel the striking stabbing intent coming from it.

On the other hand, the marquis' servant and the old man both took out their magician staffs, the older one had two external Mana Hearts (gems) on it indicating that he was at the Adept realm; however, the servant has three gems on his staff, meaning that he was a wizard!

Meanwhile, Allen brandished his curved sword from his satchel.

The air around was intense and suffocated, as if nations were going to start a war right this very moment.

As a battle was about to erupt, a woman with a figure approached them from the direction of the city.

The woman was none other than the representative from the Aeoshun Observatory.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, why do men always resort to fighting?" The woman shook her head in disgust.

"Lady Dianne, the rising star of the Reverent Observatory." The half-Niburgian bowed in courtesy.

"Pfft, stop acting like you're civil. You people with the blood of the northerners are almost the same as those barbarians from the south." She shooed away the man.

"As for you, I can't believe that foreigners almost obtained Alchemist Morgan's layered pill. Sadly you lot failed. All your actions seem to fail all the time.", Dianne ridiculed. "Oh well, good thing the Alchemist Union bidded for it."

Even the foreigner was mocked by her, he still asked with formality why she was there.

"I'm here because of him." She pointed at Allen.

After a pause, she continued. "You seem familiar to me, where have we met before? Hmm..." Dianne dug deep into her mind until a memory surfaced up. "Oh I know, I saw you at Alchem Town... you're Alchemist Morgan! The eyepatch, the dead look from his handsome, and the mysterious vibe coming from you; you are him!"

"Are all people wearing eyepatches on their right eyes are him?" Allen asked.

"You didn't reject my question." She snickered.

"I did not accept it either." Allen retorted.

"Because you didn't reject nor accept it in the first place; in a way, you really are Alchemist Morgan." She said.

'This woman is annoying.', the half-northerner, the servant, and the Mendian all thought at the same time. If she had a lower status, they might have knocked her out already.

Dianne took out a potion from her purple robes and wobbled it slightly, "This is a Coalesced Explosive Ember, it packs a very powerful punch." She shook it violently once and threw it at Allen, "Catch!"

As the potion flew mid air, another elixir was thrown by Allen. The glass containers of the elixirs crashed and broke each other, resulting into the two mixtures combining up on the air.

Right after then, they rushed to the ground without making the slightest reaction.

"You really are him! I was right, haha!" She laughed joyfully.

"For goodness sake, are you trying to kill everybody here?!" The servant angrily scolded.

They weren't the only ones in that area. There were nearby people sparring in the area; with their strength, all of them could escape alive from the explosion, but it's not the same for the close plant hunters.

"Calm down, nobody was hurt. See! I won't get in trouble to your 'great and glorious Marquis'.", she shushed the person down. "But still, I proved that he is Alchemist Morgan! Not a lot of people, and only a number of alchemists could do such a feat like that. Countering a potion with another one on the spot."

Everybody else looked towards Allen. The northerner kept his axe, "Maybe losing the encyclopedia to you isn't such a bad thing after all."

"I feel like I will watch a great show during the tournament." The Midean turned his spear back into a ring and wore it.

"Might I ask, Alchemist Morgan, do you know me? I am Dianne, I'm also a famous youth during your time too." She asked.

"Yes, I do hear the name Dianne from my fellow alchemists those days.", Allen nodded in agreement, making her rosy lips curl up.

"You are the person nicknamed 'future whore' by them." Allen continued his sentence.

The smile on Dianne's face became stiff while most of the men that came after Allen had their mouths twisted as they held back their laughs.

"Shut up, I'll take that orb from you!" The old man shouted and started to chant out a spell.

Allen vanished out of thin air, startling the old man, after that, he felt somebody was breathing on his neck. After which, his sight blackened and he tumbled to the ground.

"Looks like Alchemist Morgan isn't just an alchemist. Well, I am truly looking forward for that tournament now." The Midean bowed and walked away, followed by the marquis' servant.

"I guess there are other ways to learn that Flicker technique." The northerner also bowed with courtesy and headed back for the city.

"I'm excited for the competition now." Dianne walked away. After gaining a certain distance from Allen, she yelled. "One day I will force you to go to my bed!"

Allen ignored the last sentence and looked at the knocked out elder near his feet.