30 The auction (Part 2)
"Don't you have anything better to do? "Marcus thought as he read the system notification. He didn't have time to worry about his stalker though, as he was currently doing his best to avoid ripping the head off the man in front of him.
Slowly, the aura radiating from Hans began to diminish until it disappeared and all the people who had fainted began to pull themselves together. In turn, Marcus also managed to regain his composure.
"HAHAHAHA...You have talent, I like you! Why don't you join the Giant clan?"
"Sorry, but I'm not a mercenary. I can always do business with the Giant Clan though. "Marcus replied through telepathy.
"Hahaha. That's good, I'm sure the leader would like that." Hans said with a big smile on his face. "By the way, why are you talking through telepathy?"
"It's just that I'm mute. My vocal cords were destroyed because of an accident."
"Oh I'm sorry, that was thoughtless of me." Hans said with a slight tone of embarrassment.
"Haha... Don't worry, it happened many years ago. By the way, I heard that your clan had hunted a horned Basilisk last week. You sure got a lot of valuable materials."
"Sigh, about that..." When Marcus spoke about the Basilisk, Hans' face changed to a state between anger and concern.
"Did something happen?" Marcus asked.
"Well, it's normal that you don't know since I understand that he arrived in the city shortly after...Someone tried to raid one of our warehouses and in the process, they damaged part of the basilisk corpse and other monsters in the warehouse. Tch, we lost thousands of gold Raels because of that."
"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that." Marcus said, feigning a concerned tone. 'It sounds like he's trying to hide the fact that the corpse was damaged by necrotic energy... Although that makes sense.' He thought inwardly.
When it was devoured by the basilisk, Marcus had used [Negative Touch] to kill the creature, plus he also used [Deteriorating Mist] to break the protection enchantment and escape from the warehouse. But the necrotic energy from the spells had damaged the corpses of the monsters.
But even though they lost a large amount of income, the Giant clan decided to hide the fact that the corpses were damaged because of necrotic energy. After all, the fact that the clan had fallen victim to necromancy was an extremely sensitive topic, so it required as much discretion as possible.
"And the authorities already have the perpetrators?" Marcus asked.
"We're still working on that. But..." Hans was quick to change the subject of the conversation and did not speak of the incident again.
After exchanging a few words with Hans, Marcus greeted and talked to almost everyone in the VIP balcony. In general, they were trying to invite him to join their organizations or future meetings.
So for people not to suspect that he was undead, Marcus had prepared a whole script and backstory about it as if it were a role-playing game.
According to his story, Marcus was a wandering wizard who was dedicated to the exploration and study of ancient civilizations, and that a few weeks ago he had found some ancient ruins on a floating island where he had obtained a large number of relics.
This also gave him an excuse for turning down almost every invitation he received, saying that he was very busy with important research and had no free time.
"OH! So you're saying that the fall of the empire was related to an experiment on the part of the higher-ups and not just the necromancers?!" The wizard's eyes lit up with utter intrigue.
Marcus was talking to a blonde-haired man named Hawat Manur, who was the leader of the Gale clan, one of the three major mercenary clans in the city, and was also a wizard of the 3rd realm specializing in wind magic.
"I'm not entirely sure, but if what I found in the ruins is true, then this could change what we know about the fall of the empire!"Marcus said, pretending a tone of excitement. He was playing his role to perfection as if this was nothing more than a simple role-playing game between friends.
....
{The user has been affected by powerful sacred energy}.
....
{All stats are reduced by 10%}
....
Before Marcus could finish reading the messages, a sudden stinging sensation invaded his body. As if each of his bone fibers was warning him of imminent danger.
At that instant, all the people present looked in the direction of the door of the hall that had just opened.
Four silver-armored guards passed through the doorway, each of them radiating energy comparable to that of a wizard at the pinnacle of the 1st realm. The four knights escorted three people dressed in magnificent robes of white silk with vines embroidered in gold threads.
Two of them were men, a young brown-haired man, and a middle-aged man. Both radiated magical energy that gave them away as wizards of the 2nd realm.
But no one was paying attention to these two. Instead, the gazes of everyone on the balcony seemed to be directed at the beautiful silver-haired, emerald-eyed woman in the group.
She was being escorted by the two wizards and although her stature was shorter than the average person, her presence was so large that even Hans was dwarfed by her.
In a way, the woman emanated a warm aura of peace and tranquility, as if her presence alone could cure all the ills of the world and heal people. But not everyone felt the same way.
....
{The [Monarch of the eternal garden] shares his hatred with you}.
....
When Marcus saw this woman, he felt a deep hatred for her and anger invaded every fiber of his being. The very sight of this woman made him nauseous. His only thought was that he wanted to torture her, to rip off her head and every limb, to erase her from existe...
*Crack!*
'Argh, F**king sh*t!... That was close.' Marcus mentally gasped.
Without realizing it, Marcus had been squeezing his left arm so hard that he ended up breaking it. But it was thanks to the pain caused by the wound that he was able to snap out of his trance before the anger overcame him completely.
Fortunately, this abrupt change in his behavior had only lasted a couple of seconds and everyone present was busy greeting the white-robed woman, so no one had noticed him.
....
{The [Monarch of the eternal garden] is very disappointed in you}.
....
'And I asked for your opinion?!' Marcus ignored his annoying stalker and immediately used analysis on the silver-haired woman.
================================
Name: Catalin Janeva Rostass
Titles: [Saint]; [Priestess of Rahiel];
Race: Human
Profession: Sacred Mage (Deacon)
Rank: 4
Level: 40
================================
HP: 411/411
MP: 9892/9892
Strength: 15 Stamina: 26
Defense: 133 Intelligence: 989
Vitality: 41 Wisdom: 182
Agility: 23
================================
'F**k... She's a sacred mage from The Forest Church!' Marcus felt a sudden shiver down his spine and was relieved that he had regained his consciousness before it was too late.
Even if the great clans of adventurers and mercenaries were powerful to the point of having greater authority than some nations, their power was still nothing compared to the power of faith. In Genaerrsis, where gods and magic were real, the churches possessed the greatest authority, power, and influence.
The port city of Neima had a total of 2,500 soldiers. If one added the mercenary clans and adventurers that number rose to 7,500. But The Forest Church had a total of 6,000 troops, many of whom were elite soldiers and Wizards, as well as possessing a large number of faithful believers.
If The Forest Church wanted to, it could stage a coup at any time and take control of the city without any resistance. No, in a way the church already dominated the city.
But the real reason the church was so powerful was because of holy magic.
Unlike ordinary wizards whose power came from the elements present in nature, users of holy magic obtained it through a link with a divine entity. This practically made them the representatives of the gods on the material plane.
This link with the gods endowed holy magic users with all kinds of miraculous spells and skills that the spells and incantations of conventional magic could not match.
But people with the aptitude to use holy magic were very rare, even more so than regular magic users. In fact, Catalin was the only holy magic user in the entire city.
This scarcity of holy magic users meant that the churches had almost total control over holy magic and its miraculous properties which made them the greatest superpowers in the entire world.
'And I almost attacked the most powerful woman in the city! It seems she still hasn't realized that I'm undead.' Marcus thought in relief.
Just like the novels of Earth, the undead of Genaerrsis were weak against holy magic. If by any chance someone found out that Marcus was a skeleton, Catalin would eliminate him with a single move. Fortunately, the necrotic suppression array was doing an excellent job.
"Excuse me, respected guests, but the auction is about to begin." Said one of the black-suited employees.
All the people present stopped chatting amongst themselves and began to sit down to take their seats. Marcus walked around the balcony and sat down in the seat that was on the far right of the room, as far away from Catalin and his back guard as possible.
On the seat was a bidding paddle with the number #451 noted on it. Marcus took the paddle and handed it to the branch subsector manager, Winstons Fholgs who was standing behind him.
Since he was unable to speak, Marcus had asked Winston to stay with him to bid on his behalf.
Further downstairs on the first floor, a middle-aged man walked up to the stage, went behind a small desk, and pulled out an enchanted voice amplification item.
"Good night ladies and gentlemen. "The auctioneer's voice was heard throughout the amphitheater with perfect clarity. "First of all, I want to say that all of us at the T.M.S Company auction house are proud that you are all here tonight and we apologize for bringing this event forward a few weeks earlier than stipulated. As I'm sure you are aware, certain circumstances led to this occurrence. And now, without further ado...let the auction begin!"
*Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap!*
When everyone in the audience stopped clapping, two men in suits came out from the side of the stage carrying a huge green jade vase with oriental dragon engravings on it and placed it on top of a wooden table in the middle of the stage.
"Our first item tonight is this beautiful jade vase which is estimated to have been crafted by Asrakian artisans from the kingdom of Murrias before its sudden fall in 972 of our era. Bidding starts at 190 gold Raels!"
'What?!!... Wait, if each coin weighs about 0.7 ounces(20 grams) and if I remember correctly, the last time I checked the price of gold on Earth was almost 1,700US$ an ounce... that means...Almost 230,000US$ for a vase?!! That thing is worth more than my Earth apartment!!' The exorbitant price of the first item shocked Marcus so much that his mandible almost dropped.
He remembered how in his childhood his father went out of his way to make sure he and his younger brother could have a plate of food on the table every day and how they always had trouble paying the bills.
The biggest luxury Marcus was able to afford was on his 15th birthday, when he used almost all of his savings to buy his first Laptop.
But these guys were spending an exorbitant amount of money on a damn ornament!
Before his emotions got the better of him again, Marcus forced himself to put these thoughts aside and come back to reality. By the time he calmed down, the bidding for the jade vase had reached its climax.
" I offer 350 Raels!" shouted someone downstairs.
"400 Raels!"
"430 Raels!"
"465!"
"I bid 500 gold Raels!" someone said.
"500 gold Raels. Anyone bid more?" The auctioneer asked, but no one answered.
*Tack*
The auctioneer picked up the wooden hammer to his left and banged loudly on the desk, producing a sound that spread throughout the amphitheater.
"Sold to buyer number #43 for 500 gold Raels! Congratulations sir."
The two black-suited employees took the jade vase and placed a small painting on the display table. The painting on the picture depicted a man in armor fighting a huge black dragon.
"This work of art is titled "Herios leaift temps." The hour of the tempest. It is estimated to have been painted in 19,531 of our era by an unknown artist. The starting price is 14 gold Raels."
****
The auction had started almost an hour ago and already more than 120 items had been dispatched.
After the jade vase, the other items at the event had been rather more normal and had ranged in price from hundreds of silver Raels to a few dozen gold Raels.
Apparently, the auction house always cleared the lower value items first and saved the best for last making the whole process more dynamic.
Of course, almost none of the people in the balconies participated in the first bids as they were not interested in such common items. The same was true for the people in the VIP sector. As for Marcus, he was not interested in any of these common items as they were of no use to him, so he did not participate either.
"360 Raels!" Someone said.
The item currently being bid on was a gold and ruby necklace.
"360 gold Raels! Anyone bid more?" no one responded.
*Tack*
The auctioneer tapped his wooden hammer, closing the bidding.
"Sold to the lady with the number #12 for 360 gold Raels!"
At that moment, the two black-suited clerks took the ruby necklace away and placed a small glass display case on the table. Inside the display case was a long knife, the blade of which appeared to be made of metal with a silvery sheen, and both its hilt and sheath were made of gold and decorated with all kinds of jewels.
"Our next item is quite particular. This ceremonial knife was found in some ancient Guerrmanic ruins. Its blade is damascened silver and is believed to have been crafted around the year 50,000 of the fourth age. Bidding starts at 600 gold Raels!"
