Isaac sat leaning back in a relaxed manner, watching Asriel on the stage being bathed in the beam of light. Dozens of pairs of eyes were fixed on the angel with various glares; tense, impatient, and nervous.
Meanwhile, Asriel looked calm.
"You must have received an explanation before, but I will repeat it once more. The auction is a special event in the game, which is held once a year. Wide range of products; high quality items, monsters, terrain, bosses, artefacts are provided for you. Of course, only the highest bidder will get it."
The last sentence of Asriel's words caused whispers among the demons, while the angel just smiled. His eyes rolled over to observe the demons in the hall.
Until his eyes met Isaac's. The two of them began to stare at each other, for a long time, as if he was attracted to Isaac.
Isaac just smirked.
"Let's start with the first of the 100 products that will be auctioned…"
All the attention of the demons seemed to be fixated on Asriel's words. They gripped the armrests tightly, feeling impatient to see the first item to be sold.
The first year Auction stuck in Isaac's head, he would never forget about the first product to be auctioned. All the demons were after it, including him.
'There are three products that I must buy. One of them is the first item of the auction.'
The floor of the stage opened, slowly, a four-legged monster trapped behind the bars appeared.
It had the embodiment of a bengal tiger with white hair and black stripes. Its body was large, had sharp fangs dangling from its mouth, and blazing blue eyes.
The monster went berserk, trying to break the shackles holding its body.
"A creature that was once glorified. The symbol of autumn. The tiger that protects the western part of the world. However, when it rages, the sky will turn dark and the storm will not stop. One of the five Spiritual Beasts, Byakko, the Guardian of the West Gate."
<Information>
[Name : Byakko]
[Race : ???]
[Type : ???]
[Class : S]
[Level : 100]
The demons looked surprised. They didn't expect the first product to be a Spiritual Beast.
The atmosphere suddenly became tense. They held to their scoreboards tightly, preparing to make their first bid.
"It looks like you guys are getting impatient. Let's start the auction of the first item. Price opens at 50,000 zen—!"
"60,000 zenny!"
Before Asriel finished his sentence, a demon had already made an offer.
"Number 69 bid 60,000 zenny! Any other!?"
Then, the demon wearing a pig mask with fangs stood up.
"70,000 zenny!"
Asriel pointed at the demon. "Number 76 bid 70,000 zenny! Who else?"
"80,000!"
"90,000!"
"100,000!"
One by one the demons made their bids.
The Spiritual Beasts were one of the first creatures created by Absolute One. They were assigned to guard the Mortal Realm. Unfortunately, carrying out a rebellion by massacring the humans caused them to be imprisoned.
Now, they were placed back in the Mortal Realm and became part of the game.
They had much greater power than demons and angels. Even Duke class couldn't beat them without the system's help. Besides, what made them special was that they could level up like humans and demons.
It was no wonder the demons wanted it.
The demons kept raising the bid price, and Asriel didn't stop raising it. When the number of the bid reached 250,000 zenny, they began to doubt.
"It looks like the small fries have reached their limit."
Alyna muttered under her breath, but Isaac could hear her. The female demon then stood up while holding up the number plate that read 53.
"300,000 zenny!"
Asriel's mouth formed an 'o' shape when he heard Alyna's offer.
"310,000!"
"330,000!"
"355,000!"
The range of bids given was getting higher. It meant the Dukes were starting to push themselves. The small-scale demons could only bite their fingers. There were still 49 more products on offer. It was impossible for them to burn their money for a single monster.
A demon wearing a black rabbit mask with a number 10 board stood up, bidding for a price.
"400,000 zenny!"
"Number 10 bid 400,000 zenny! There are more?"
The hall was silent. No one stood or made a sound. That meant they had given up on the first product.
Even Alyna could only remain silent while grumbling in annoyance. She had also reached her limit.
Isaac saw the behaviour of the demon sitting next to him and just smiled in amusement.
"Lady Alyna, you wonder what I have, right? Then, I'll show you."
Alyna narrowed her eyes into mere splits at that statement. As if she couldn't believe it.
Without hesitation, Isaac stood up.
"500,000 zenny!"
Instantly, all attention was on Isaac. The whispers began to echo throughout the hall.
On the stage, Asriel looked delighted.
"Ohoho! Number 99 is amazing! 500,000 zenny! Anyone want to bid again?!"
Isaac looked at the demon wearing the black rabbit mask. Behind the masks, they stared at each other. After a while, the two of them sat down again.
"Byakko, the Guardian of the West Gate fell into the hands of Number 99! Congratulations!"
The curtain then closed.
A long sigh sounded beside Isaac. He turned his head to see Alyna with a look of defeat in her eyes.
"You're amazing. You can spend 500,000 zenny on the first product. There are still 49 items left. I hope you don't spend more than half of your wealth."
"1,789,192."
"What do you mean?" Alyna asked, not understanding Isaac's answer.
"The amount of zenny I have now."
Alya's eyes opened wide. She couldn't believe what she just heard.
That was a fantastic number for the first year in the game.
No demon was capable of possessing such a large amount of zenny. Even the Dukes.
The average demon had 600,000 to 800,000 zenny up for auction in the first year.
The demons needed adjustments to produce zenny optimally, and it took 12 to 18 months, depending on the demons' ability to manage the dungeons.
"Do not lie to me."
"It's up to you to believe it or not."
Isaac smiled in satisfaction, letting Alyna fall into disbelief.
In this first auction, he had done two great things.
First to prove to Alyna that he had power. The second was slapping the face of his mortal enemy, namely a demon wearing the black rabbit mask.
That demon was Gavin Bael.
Isaac knew that the demon really wanted Byakko. Thus, he waited until the last second to get it.
'It feels very satisfying, but this is only the beginning, Gavin.'
Asriel opened the curtain again. The attention of all the demons was fixed on the stage.
"Let's start with the second product!"
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