Riveting Night and Zaine came to the office of Madam Carrie, where the older lady was seated while working. When she saw the two ladies enter, she smiled amiably and gestured to the sofa.
"Welcome, Mrs. Night. Please have a seat, I will be with you in a second."
Riveting Night nodded and perched on the same sofa that she and Draco had sat on the last time they had come here. Zaine sat beside her and made sure to appear as proper as possible.
With the kind of dress she was wearing, the slightest mistake meant her tight panties would display her path of glory. She also had to keep her arms locked, so that her dress wouldn't display even more of her soft b.r.e.a.s.ts.
Madam Carrie soon wrapped up what she was doing and came to seat herself opposite Riveting Night and Zaine. She only glanced at the succubus for a second before looking away.
"What can I do for you this time?" Madam Carrie asked kindly.
"I would like to put something up for auction. My only fear is that, because of the value and quantity of that item, the Church might not be able to auction it off at once." Riveting Night answered.
Madam Carrie laughed lightly. "This is not a problem. Depending on the exact value of the item, the Church can provide a down payment for it equivalent to its market price, and then top up the rest from the auction after closure."
Riveting Night nodded, as this was what she had hoped for. In case they had to wait for the crystals to be sold, they would have a hard time bidding during the auction.
She directly brought out the 1,100 Aether Crystals, placing them on the table between the two parties in neat rows.
When Madam Carrie and the young girl saw what was laid before them, they froze. The young girl started to sweat profusely as if she had seen an unforgivable secret while Madam Carrie felt great waves rocking her heart.
The older woman directly took some of the Aether Crystals and inspected them, even comparing two or more against each other. She didn't use her proper appraisal equipment because it was not necessary.
Aether Crystals were easy to check, and it was impossible to fake them. Not that she had any doubt about Eva or Draco attempting something that stupid in the first place. Even a common man could tell the difference, as long as he had some basic knowledge about them.
Madam Carrie silently tallied all the Crystals here and released a breath before speaking in a strained tone.
"There are 700 medium-grade Aether Crystals and 400 high-grade Aether Crystals, making for a total of 1,100. The market price for a medium-grade Aether Crystal is 10,000 platinum while a high-grade is 50,000 platinum per piece."
"The value of the medium-grade Aether Crystals comes to 7,000,000 platinum while the high-grade ones come to 20,000,000 platinum."
When Madam Carrie was done, the young girl who had been silently watching at the back had blanked out a bit, almost fainting. Even Riveting Night and Zaine were stunned.
Draco and Riveting Night knew that Aether Crystals were valuable. They had each struggled to buy a few low-grade ones in the past timeline since each one cost 1,000 platinum, well within the range of Hellscape's and Darkrow's liquid funds.
Medium ones had been teased to them through various information channels and auctions, especially the Divine Auction, so they knew that those were around 8,000 - 12,000 platinum, as the price had changed over the course of their previous lives due to Immortal Adventurers.
High-grade and above had been but a legend, so the Evil Duo surmised that it would be around 20,000 - 30,000 per piece for a high-grade one and 60,000 - 90,000 per piece for top-grade ones.
This was already nearing the total value of their two 'Divine Guilds', so it was natural that these items could only be dug up if one had heaven-defying luck, but was not something that could be bought.
It was just like how most of us knew that a Ferrari Enzo was bloody expensive, probably in the millions, but none of us actually knew the exact market price for it without a convenient tool like the internet to tell us the answer.
If high-grade crystals were already 50,000 platinum per piece then…
"How much is a top-grade Aether Crystal?" Riveting Night asked silently.
Madam Carrie had a strange expression on her face. "That isn't easy to quantify. Its value and utility are too high, while supply is almost non-existent. What is around has already been claimed by the topmost echelon and they either keep it rigidly or use it to barter for resources of equal value."
Riveting Night understood. Aether Crystals, in general, had a pitiful supply that would never meet even 1% of its demand, so the various grades would also have their own rarities.
Low-grade Aether Crystals were the most common types and could be found in most Aether Mines. After all, Hikari had been found in an Aether Mine and revealed that its existence was a byproduct of Hikari choosing to live there, which meant that such deposits existed, but their number was scarce.
Apart from Hikari's which had been hidden deeply, most of the others had already been claimed and mined by various powers. Such mines would produce more than a few low-grade crystals, a scarce few medium-grade ones and if the owners were lucky, one or two high-grade ones every 50 or so years.
Top grade ones were not being produced in any way, meaning that no new supply had come in since the last one had been claimed a few decades ago.
The fact that supply was cut off, lead to the value of top-grade crystals to soar to the point of almost being priceless.
"Since the total tallies to 27,000,000 platinum, the Church shall offer to give you this much as credit for the auction. After the items are sold, we will naturally add the proceeds from the sale while deducting whatever is needed against your purchases."
"Just like last time, the Church will take no fees for the sale of your items to uphold the good relations between us and Vita City-State."
Madam Carrie said this and waited for Riveting Night's approval. The madwoman gave it with a light nod, making Madam Carrie sigh with relief.
This particular auction would be extremely hot. Almost all the important Rank 7 powers had come to attend. There were so many that some of them even had to sit among the lower-class fellows.
There was no way these crystals wouldn't sell. The only question that made Madam Carrie sweat inwardly was how high they would sell for.
Riveting Night and Zaine were led to the venue of the auction itself by the young girl who had become extremely muted. The sight she had seen before had broadened her horizons, and she felt like she had finally taken a small peek outside of her well to see the real world.
They entered VIP room number 1, which had not changed. It remained an area with many white clouds lazily floating over a bright blue sea that was utterly calm.
There was no landmass in sight, and they stood on one of the biggest clouds. Even though the sun was shining directly on them, they only felt warmth, and the lighting didn't overwhelm them due to the reflection.
Riveting Night coalesced a screen that showed the scene within the auction perfectly while spawning a set of couches and a table.
She sat on the couch and turned the totality of her focus onto the auction itself.
Seeing that Riveting Night had devoted herself to the important tasks, Zaine's eyes flashed and she turned to the young girl who had been staring at her butt all this while.
"Do you like what you see?" Zaine asked her in a sultry tone.
The young girl's hackles rose and she felt her whole mind, as well as her body, shake. "I…I…"
Zaine used her State of Being to spawn a large queen size bed on the clouds, and then grabbed the young girl, throwing her on it. Zaine took off her dress and displayed her voluptuous body with an evil glint in her eye.
The young girl shivered from head to toe with l.u.s.t that she had no idea what to do with. She was completely inexperienced with such things and had no idea what to do, except become slick down there.
Zaine laughed and crawled across the bed, licking her lips as she pounced on the young girl.
Soon, e.r.o.t.i.c sounds emerged from behind Riveting Night, but she paid them no attention. Since Zaine said she would handle the matter, Riveting Night left it to her.
As for Riveting Night herself, she was looking at the stage of the auction. Many people were in attendance, yet not a single person was below Rank 6. This was truly a gathering of powers.
Why had they all chosen to visit the auction when they had been absent during the last one?
It was precisely because they had been absent during the last one that they came now. After all, a Wyvern Egg had been sold out of nowhere. They all had lost the chance to gain a combat pet that had a 10% chance to become a dragon.
They had learned their lessons and were in full attendance now. If any item on the level of the previous one showed up, they would gobble it up easily, leaving nothing but dust for others to eat!
Soon enough, a young girl of about 14 years of age came onto the stage with a smile. She was pretty cute, with blond curly hair and bright green eyes. Her face was round and chubby, displaying her childish cuteness and perfect pinchability.
It was Shizura, who was the same host as last month. Nothing had changed about her; she still possessed that aura of comfort that made people feel at ease in her presence.
"Hello everyone!! Welcome to this month's Divine Auction!!" She shouted while waving energetically. "My name is Shizura! Let's begin immediately! Allow me to introduce the first item of the auction!"
The item was wrapped in a cloth and seemed to be surrounded by all the world's mystery.
When it was unveiled, the audience's eyes were riveted on it to see what item would be used to kick off this particular Divine Auction.
｢Linked Braces – Gauntlets
Rank: Epic
Effect:
Passive 1 – Fisticuffs: Speed of unarmed attacks are boosted by 150% and deal 50% more damage.
Active 1 – Falcon Punch: A punch with unparalleled force and vigor is sent out that deals 200% blunt damage. Cooldown: 6 days｣
What a good item! It had excellent craftsmanship and boasted really great effects. It seemed like the Divine Auction traditionally kicked off with a piece of Epic equipment since even those top existences might be interested in it.
One shouldn't forget that Draco's existence defied all norms. There was a reason why no one had had Legendary items in the past timeline, even Rank 7 powers had something between a couple and a dozen or two. To them, Epic items would be quite a good investment as long as they could use them.
"Okay everyone, the minimum bid for this item is 100,000 gold! Only increments with a minimum of 1000 gold are allowed!" Shizura stated with a smile.
"Ready…" She raised her hammer up…
"Auction start!"…and brought it down with fervent excitement, which infected the crowd.
"120,000 gold!"
"140,000 gold!"
"180,000 gold!"
The bids went out rapid-fire, almost doubling the base price in no time. Even though it was much slower than the climb that the first item of the last auction had experienced, Riveting Night knew that this was because the crowd here today were more affluent than last time.
They were saving their money for the more important items, so the initial bidding would naturally be much more reserved until the final few items came out.
The price for the gauntlets eventually stopped at 250,000 gold. An attractive woman at Rank 6 with a martial artist's garb and a ponytail was the lucky winner. Her aura was fierce and she looked like she would beat up anyone who annoyed her.
Riveting Night hadn't bid for the item even though it would be useful to Kiran because… heh, why should she? She could easily afford to spend what - 2500 platinum? - on the gauntlets, but it was unnecessary.
Draco had proven he could make Semi-Legendary items now, so why would she waste time buying a meager Epic item? Not to mention, he could make it in a way it would be upgradeable to become a Legendary Item.
Just because one was rich didn't mean that one should spend stupidly. That was precisely how second or third generation rich people lost their entire fortune, by acc.u.mulating unnecessary expenses.
Many items were sold after that, most of them in the Epic category. Some of them had really useful attributes, and Riveting Night had pondered whether to buy them, but decided to wait instead.
As soon as the Legendary items came out, she would show them that she had come here for business!
After a few hours, the Epic items were all sold out. There were a lot more of them being sold this time compared to the previous auction.
The Church seemed to have anticipated this kind of patronage from bidders, so they had prepared ahead of time.
"Okay okay, that's the last of our Epic items for sale!" Shizura announced with a cute idol-like pose and some tinkling laughter.
At her words, the audience became more alert. Riveting Night's eyes gleamed with seriousness. The time had finally come. Everything from this point was going to be a crazy battle no worse than a bloody war.
Some would go bankrupt, while others would have to suffer endless envy as they lost out in the bidding.
Instead of a tray being brought up to the stage, a portal was opened up beside Shizura. Out of the portal came a large table in with an item was covered by a display case.
While the general audience were rushing to identify the item, Riveting Night sat there patiently. There was no Draco with his Eyes of Caelo next to her, so she could only wait in suspense to see what the items were.
When the item was unveiled, it was shown to be a gemstone of incomparable rarity. The auction of Legendary and above items usually started from materials, then to equipment and ended with consumables.
Riveting Night inspected this gemstone.
｢Gemcore – Material
Rank: Legendary
Use: Magical Engineering｣
Riveting Night's breathing stilled, and the same happened to many other Hidden Powers, for various reasons. A gemcore was the basic requirement to build automatons that could function autonomously. In essence, it was the most important item, the power core.
Of course, Riveting Night did not any know this. All she knew was that this item would be important for Draco who planned to delve into the secrets of Magical Engineering soon.
Seeing that the crowd was hooked, Shizura smiled. "The base price for the item is 50,000 platinum. Increments must be 1,000 platinum at the least!"
"Auction… start!"
"51,000 platinum!" A Rank 6 power quickly shouted.
"53,000 platinum!" Another Rank 6 fellow called out with a red gaze.
"57,000 platinum!" This time, the voice came from VIP room 300.
All the Rank 6 powers became pressured, but they didn't give up. A trick like using status to suppress all wouldn't work this time around. Who here wasn't a superpower others couldn't afford to offend? Now, it solely relied on the strength of your wallet.
"60,000 platinum." Riveting Night called out, which stunned everyone, regardless of Rank.
The Legendary VIP room 1, the same fellows who had swallowed up the most benefits in the last auction, were in attendance today too? It seemed as if this auction would become hot.
"65,000 platinum." A cold voice from VIP room 30 spoke.
It was clear that the other Hidden Powers were unhappy with the residents of VIP room 1. After swallowing a precious item like that Wyvern egg for only 500,000 platinum, they wanted to have peace?
Forget it! We are in attendance this time, and my financial donger is longer than yours. Don't dare to do a donger battle with me unless yours can pierce the heavens!
Riveting Night knew what kind of response she would receive, but she cared less. She could directly do what Draco did and call out a bid that would silence all, but she liked to play it slow.
She didn't mind playing these fellows to death, allowing them to feel the darkest despair.
"70,000 platinum." A voice from room 44 called out.
"80,000 platinum." A voice from room 123 called out.
Riveting Night remained quiet and let them clown around as they liked. Who didn't like to watch people make a fool of themselves? Half of the best funny videos on the internet were of people showing unparalleled stupidity, and everyone loved watching stuff like that.
"100,000 platinum." A voice from room 23 called.
This was the limit for most. Exceeding 100,000 platinum for a material was unwise. No sensible person would make such a purchase, even if the material was for the Magical Engineering Tradeskill.
After all, how many Magical Engineers existed? Probably only the top tier powers had one among their ranks, and their success rates would be abysmal.
Since most of the precious rewards the system gave out were products of Magical Engineering, it was clear that the system wanted to limit how many products that could be manufactured.
A gemcore wasn't even rare for the Tradeskill. It was one of the most basic and fundamental resources for the Tradeskill, so it was usually present in many top-tier auctions and could even be purchased in the Rank 7 Shop for slightly higher prices.
Seeing as everyone had stopped, Riveting Night's lips curled as she called out a bid.
"150,000 platinum."
While it wasn't too outrageous, it made many of the hidden powers feel stifled deep down. They dearly wanted to oppose those wicked fellows in room 1, but not to the point of harming themselves.
As such, Shizura happily called out the bid and broke into a happy dance. This item had really sold well, and Madam Carrie would certainly give her plenty of sweets for her hard work.
After that, another Legendary material was brought out to be sold, this one being an inkstone.
When Riveting Night inspected it, she laughed happily.
｢Special Inkstone – Material
Rank: Legendary
Use: Scrivening｣