Thousand Arms Auction House

Thousand Arms Auction

Don sat on his bed and cultivated Battle Energy with his eyes closed. There was a layer of glowing light coating his body, but the light flickered just when he suddenly opened his eyes and turned to look in the direction of the forest of the outer lands where he came from. There was a small smile on his face.

"Knight made a breakthrough to the Moon level."

Every breakthrough provides the cultivator with a huge leap in power to manipulate Battle Energy. Even between the sublevels like low and mid, the power gap was tremendous. Often, a low-level cultivator wouldn't be a match for a mid-level cultivator in the same realm or level. This wasn't a fact only true for Battle Energy, but for magic level as well.

Every ally he can trust is important for him to achieve his goal. So obviously, Knight's breakthrough made him happy since he was like his brother. Now, Knight can easily defeat two or three low or mid-level great masters.

Don couldn't linger at the moment for longer. He had plans today. Very important plans. Quickly putting the hood on, he went outside to meet Uncle Dior.

The tavern was not as crowded as yesterday evening. There were some adventurers eating and drinking on the corner as some of them hit on the waitresses, while some soldiers had a beer at the bartender's counter. A hooded figure enjoyed his hot stew on the table nearby.

Don knew he was Uncle Dior, so he walked towards him and sat on the chair opposite of him. Uncle Dior looked up and saw Mike's face.

"You should eat something before we go out," Uncle Dior said while having a mouth full of hot stew.

Don just shook his head, "No, thanks."

"Your loss. This stew is so tasty." 

In a few minutes, Uncle Dior licked the bowl clean and put the coppers for the stew on the table. He then went out, Don following behind him.

"While you were sleeping, I asked one of the waitresses about the Thousand arms auction house."

Uncle Dior seemed to know the way, so Don listened to him and followed by his side.

"Apparently, the Thousand arms auction is a franchise. They have many branches across the Moon empire," Uncle Dior began as he took a turn to the left, leading themselves into a narrow alley. "They deal with all sorts of stuff including slaves," he gritted his teeth. 

"Is that so?"

Uncle Dior stopped moving and stared at Don, "Don't get any ideas. They have a grandmaster protecting each of their branches, so stealing from them..." He paused for a moment, "Is like taking a gold chalice from a dragon."

"Grandmaster, huh? What about the guards?"

"Oh yes... The waitress said the guards were all just for show. They're all just apprentice magis."

Don was silent when he heard this. Uncle Dior thought he was confused, so he started to explain, "According to the waitress, since Slave city was not a commercial or trade town, the auction house is closed on most days. They only open or start an auction whenever they get something special."

As they were talking, they walked into the market square. In the center of the square was a statue of a plump man with many women at his feet. The statue was decorated with flowers and burning incense sticks. Around the statue was an empty square, and the people in the market square didn't even dare to look at the statue, let alone go near it. 

"Minister Brian..." Don murmured at the sight of the statue before following Uncle Dior who didn't even take a peek at the statue.

"Where was I?"

"You were saying about the guards..."

"Ah yes. Since they only open for a few days a week, why would they want to hire powerful guards? Also, who's dumb enough to rob an auction house guarded by a grandmaster?"

Eventually, they came in front of a majestic three-story building. The steps and lawn were made of marble. They were so shiny and clean that you could see your own reflection on their surface. The stairs connected with eight big marble pillars which were decorated with some high-quality paintings. The eight pillars supported a triangular structure that had 'Thousand Arms' written on it, while two banners covered the top half of each of the four pillars. The banners had the logo of a sun and its rays coming out of it looking like close-fisted arms. There was also a blue carpet made by first-rate fur, leading to the main door which was guarded by two blue-feathered helm guards.

"Let's go inside and sell the magic core. Might as well try to look at the auction."

Don was glad they encountered a magical beast. If not, there could have been some problems getting inside the auction house with empty hands.

The guards didn't seem to mind the two of them as they went inside.

The inside of the auction house was more marvelous than the outside. There was some fancy furniture located here and there, as well as some magical plants that were growing on ornate pots. Don could see that there were many paintings of some old people and magical beasts on the wall. It was there that he heard a soft feminine voice.

"Welcome to the Thousand Arms Auction house, honored guests." A beautiful woman wearing a kimono greeted the two of them. She had a bright smile on her face, and her hair was styled into a bun. "I am Yuki, honored guests. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Ah yes. My co-worker and I came across a magic core, so we thought we  could sell it and have ourselves a drink."

Uncle Dior didn't take off his hood, but he conversed with Yuki as if he was talking to a good friend. It made Yuki smile brighter.

"Of course, of course. Let's go to the reception so we could appraise it and pay you a good price."

They went straight to the reception, and Uncle Dior took out the spotless red magic core they got from the black panther. Yuki's bright smile was replaced with shock and surprise. She lost her previous demeanor, now looking at the magic core like a kid drooling for candy.

"Is... Is that a great master magic core?" her eyes sparkled as she looked at the magic core, reaching out her hand at the object.

Uncle Dior knew she wanted to touch the magic core, but he didn't give it to her, "Yes. I want to know how much I'll get by selling this."

Yuki recovered her senses as she took back her hands and cleared her throat, "I am not authorized enough to make this kind transaction. So if the honored guests would allow me, I can bring my senior to help you in a second."

"Alright. We'll wait here."

Yuki gave them a happy smile before going inside the door behind the reception. The duo looked around the hall and waited for Yuki's senior.

After a while, Yuki brought two men with her. One was a bald old man in a golden robe, and the other was a middle-aged man with short white hair in a brown robe. The white-haired man was the manager, according to the badge he was wearing on the side of his left chest.

"Yuki. These are the gentlemen with the great master magic core?" the manager asked.

"Ah, yes, sir. They are."

"Gentlemen, if you could please show us the magic core," the manager reached out his hands towards them.

"Okay. Here it is," Uncle Dior handed over the magic core to the manager.

The manager looked at the core carefully before giving it to the old man behind him. As the old man took the core from the manager's hands, he held it over his head, looking through at it through the light as he weighed it in his hands and closed his fist tightly.

Yuki and the manager looked at the old man expectantly just as the old man nodded and confirmed, "Yes, this is a genuine mid-level great master magic core. I'll bet it came from a black panther."

The manager looked happy, but not as happy as Yuki. It would seem she got commissions from transactions made by the customers she handled.

"Gentleman, we could buy this from you for, let's just say..." the manager considered for a bit. "Two hundred silver coins." Before Uncle Dior could respond to the manager's offer, he continued. "You can also choose to auction the core off, but we don't guarantee the selling price."

Uncle Dior acted as he considered the options, "What if no one buys the magic core in the auction? Do we need to pay you for your troubles?"

"No. You don't have to. But of course, there will be a small fee if your magic core is sold."

Finally, they had a way into the Auction to see Minister Brian.

"We'll try our luck in the auction then."

Yuki was a little disappointed in her customer's decision, but she couldn't do anything about it so she retrieved a token which was made of pure silver and handed it over to Uncle Dior.

"I'll take this magic core to the auctioneer. Yuki, you take these gentlemen to the auction hall."

The manager left, carrying the magic core with the old man while Yuki led Don and Uncle Dior to the auction hall on the second floor. She showed them the door.

"Minister Brian, here I come..." Don calmly said as he opened the door.