Chapter 194: Chapter 104: Traveling with Two Beauties
Amadis tucked his conspicuous purple hair completely into his hood, storing his jade-bone Magic Staff and all the magical accessories he was wearing into his Space Ring. Avril, for her part, coiled up and hid her silver hair, doing her best to suppress the holy aura of her Priest robes.
The three of them inspected each other, and after confirming there were no obvious giveaways, they led their horses on foot toward Black Stone Castle.
As they drew near the castle’s entrance, the crowd began to grow.
Most of these people were just like them, their features concealed by an assortment of gray and black robes.
They would pause briefly before the castle’s massive iron gate, and after presenting a token, they were admitted by figures lurking in the shadows within.
The trio also arrived before the iron gate.
Lynch took out the black insignia Roy had given him and flashed it at the person inside.
A black-gloved hand reached out from within and took the insignia.
A moment later, the person handed the insignia back. At the same time, an inconspicuous side door next to the main gate slid open slowly.
A low, hoarse voice spoke up: "Three honored guests, please proceed to the second floor."
Lynch was somewhat surprised.
’I didn’t expect this token from Roy to be a high-end item.’
On the outside, however, he remained perfectly composed, leading Amadis and Avril straight through the side door.
Inside was a long, narrow, torch-lit corridor. Several torches sizzled in the sconces along the walls.
An attendant wearing a white mask and completely shrouded in a black robe was already waiting inside. He gave the trio a slight bow and said respectfully, "Honored guests, please follow me."
They ascended a winding stone staircase to the second floor and were led by the attendant into the third room on the left.
The room wasn’t large, but it was quite comfortably furnished.
Several plush chairs were arranged in a semicircle, with a small table in the center laden with fruit, snacks, and drinks.
What amazed Lynch most was an entire wall of the private box inlaid with one-way Magic glass, offering a clear view of the castle’s main hall below.
From the outside, however, the wall was indistinguishable from the surrounding stonework.
’They’ve really put some thought into this black market auction.’
Lynch walked to the one-way glass and gazed down. An auction stage had been set up in the center of the hall, surrounded by over a hundred chairs. A sparse scattering of bidders, their faces hidden, were already seated.
Above them were seven or eight other private boxes similar to theirs, but their windows appeared to be solid stone, completely obscuring the view within.
Even so, the three of them neither removed their disguises nor touched the food and drinks in the box, choosing instead to wait in silence.
「Time passed.」
More people trickled into the castle.
More than three hours later, the hall below was filled with an assortment of figures in gray and black robes.
By a rough estimate, nearly two hundred people had arrived. The place was packed to capacity, and some latecomers even had to take seats in the outer areas.
The vast majority of them kept their faces hidden and their auras suppressed. The few who showed their faces were either supremely confident in their own strength or simply utter fools.
Many of the second-floor boxes also began to glow faintly, indicating they were now occupied.
Lynch counted them. Including their own, a total of five boxes were now lit.
Finally, an auctioneer wearing the signature mask of the Dark Pupil Commerce Association stepped onto the stone stage in the center of the hall.
Without any lengthy preamble, the auctioneer simply announced the rules: the highest bidder wins; goods and payment are to be exchanged on-site immediately after a sale; after the auction, all guests must leave in an orderly fashion through designated channels; and private altercations are strictly forbidden within the venue and its immediate surroundings. Violators will bear the full consequences.
With the rules announced, the auction began at once.
The first dozen or so lots were all "trinkets" worth a few hundred Gold Coins—things like enchanted daggers, low-capacity Space Rings, and the like.
Lynch, Amadis, and Avril were thoroughly uninterested.
More than an hour later, with the auction past its halfway point, the value of the lots began to climb into the two to three thousand Gold Coin range.
This tier of items included some decent Magic Scrolls, fine-quality enchanted weapons and Armor, and Mid-Tier, all-purpose Magic Materials—many of which Lynch could have used.
Lynch perked up and listened carefully to the descriptions, but he still didn’t place a bid.
’These items are nice, but they aren’t what I need most urgently.’
Amadis, on the other hand, made two bids. He won two pieces of Magic Equipment for a reasonably low price, replacing two similar but slightly less effective items he had on him, giving himself a small but welcome boost.
Avril remained quiet the entire time, apparently having no particular interest in anything offered.
A small stir went through the auction when the starting bids for lots reached the five thousand Gold Coin mark.
The item was a cyan heart, about the size of a fist, that seemed to still be faintly pulsing.
It was the heart of a Tier Seven Wind Attribute Magical Beast, the Hurricane Eagle King. It was a high-grade material used for crafting High-Tier Agility Potions and certain other special concoctions.
The starting bid was five thousand Gold Coins.
Bidding was fierce, and the price was quickly driven up to sixty-five hundred Gold Coins.
The bidders included several figures in the main hall who exuded powerful auras, as well as one of the VIP boxes that had remained silent until now.
One man in the hall, completely shrouded in a voluminous gray cloak that didn’t even reveal his fingers, seemed particularly set on acquiring the Hurricane Eagle King’s heart. He and the guest in the VIP box were locked in a stalemate, neither willing to back down as they drove the price higher.
Just as the price reached seven thousand Gold Coins and the gray-robed man’s bidding began to slow, it seemed the fate of the Hurricane Eagle King’s heart was about to be decided...
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