"Ok everyone, Next up is a special item that well... I think is very special, even I want one."
"We'll buy you one Megan!" someone yells. The crowd laughs as Megan blushes on the stage.
"There's only one of these and I want one of you to have it. If you want to show it to me afterwards... well..." Megan looks to the ground as many people in the crowd smirk.
The curtains shake about as Megan is suddenly jolted about, "awaha" she says as she falls to the ground but quickly stands up as the curtains make way.
A large horse appears through the curtains, a scaled horse that looks impressive even for Jack who is used to Sleipner and his kin.
"This is a special horse..."
The crowd is silent, waiting for her next words, she pauses as the horse shakes its head.
"It's a Scaled Horse!"
The crowd lets out a gasp in awe, Jack raises an eyebrow.
"It's a green scaled horse, called the Kings of the Plains!"
Megan lets the horse stand in the spotlight as many in the crowd clap, quickly most of the crowd is applauding as they're caught up in the momentum.
"Now this horse doesn't have a den so..."
"It doesn't have a den? Who cares then..." Jack takes a sip of wine and eats some cheese trying to work out how this works, 'aren't these two things meant to go together?'
Above the crowds of people on the lower level sit the people on the second level, these are the elites of the system cities or people from surrounding towns or cities. The people here are wearing all kinds of ridiculous fashion as they mingle on this floor, it's not too different to the lower level except everyone has a small area where they have their own servants and anything they want basically. There is a third level but it's reserved for people even higher class, this is where Amber and Albert currently are with the couple of bunny assassins.
"I can't believe that idiot could only find a green scaled horse..." a young voice says.
Amber takes some fruit from a plate on a serving tray, she listens in to the conversations as she makes her way around the different groups. Albert has gone off to talk trade deals with various people, so she's mostly alone under the careful gaze of the bunny assassins who are off to one corner.
"Weren't they meant to be purple?"
"Yes they were, they even said they had purple. I saw them even yet here's a single green scaled and look at it. It's puny."
"A green one is still impressive. I would like to have one when going hunting in the woods. They're much safer since the barriers came down."
"There's an awful lot of players out in the forests though, they're killing all the easy things to hunt... and rewarding them even."
"That's a problem but we can't do anything about it, they have the blessings of the godly being. We can only get the blessings of the godly being if we are to rise to city lord status and even then..."
"shh..."
"What's there to worry about, we're mostly the young lords of the region." the first young voice speaks, his young blonde hair waves in the air.
"You're fortunate that you've been selected by a sect before the barriers came down. We've been trying but the options are slim."
This young person gestures to another section of this level, a few people wearing red robes are sitting there alongside some people wearing white robes. They're not talking to one another but they're also not openly hostile.
"You guys have no idea what you're missing out on, if I weren't stuck here then I'd have progressed so much more in their techniques."
"Still can't help you get a girl." a quiet voice whispers, the crowd laughs as the blonde-haired man surges with anger.
"WHAT. WHO SAID THAT?"
The crowd is silent as his gaze inspects each of them, Amber has a smirk on her face as she looks at this breakdown internally. She walks over to the brown-haired girl and chows down on some food, keeping this group in earshot.
"I'll have you know that asshole was a player.... an unfair player. He stole that slut... He needs to die, how can he just suddenly appear and steal everything? Master has worked for so long..." the young blonde haired man can be heard muttering as the crowd around him is silent.
"He's nearby, I know it and I'll find him, but if I can't... hahah. He shouldn't have stayed an inn at town, I'll find him and he'll lose everything he has."
Amber shakes her head and turns the girl next to her, "So nothing happened after lunch?"
"No. I thought I'd get a talking to, but it's weird. They didn't say anything as we returned. They even gave us extra money for this auction, they're up on the top floor now so it's all so strange."
"They're actually here? Wow, those ancient monsters are more powerful than the witch sable.... I thought they'd be called underground like all the rest?"
"Well, it seems like the region beast is performing extra hard? I can only hear snippets at dinner sometimes. They don't know how long she can last, but they suspect this flare up won't go on too much longer. The moon phase should change soon... is what my father said."
"Do you know how bad it is down there?"
"No. The only thing I hear about is the endless waves of people fleeing the countryside for someone with a city heart barrier. Most people are going to the system cities, we're thankful the godly being granted us one, but it's terrible that the barrier doesn't become activated automatically. We're handling far too many people and it's putting pressure on the networks here, my father doesn't know how he's going to handle it but he wont reach out for help...."
"At least you're safe here. My Lord... hahah, well My Lord is My Lord. I'm protected in the city barrier there but it's amazing what's going on there, you saw him."
"So you're to say that he has a city?"
Amber smirks but shakes her head, "No no..."
"Oh"
The brown-haired girl has a defeated frown on her face, Amber lets out a wider smirk.
"Well I was in control of a town previously, I'm sure you heard from your parents about what I was doing."
"They just said you fell into depravity with a bandit group, you were corrupted beyond redemption and we weren't to talk to you."
Amber laughs, "I know, it always makes me laugh to hear it. Those old fools..."
She has some food as she listens into her surroundings again, the red-robed people have mutterings about what is going on underground but they're mostly talking about their shifts which isn't very interesting. Many of them make eye contact with her but it's not wanted so she looks away. The white-robed people have a flower on their robe but barely speak, their bidding so far has been for a few of the pills but they only one once. Amber smiles at the person at the front of them, she returns a bow. Her face is masked, but they're all women clearly.
"40 million!" someone shouts from the second floor, Amber looks over to see it's from the crowd with the young man.
"Is that a lot?" the brown-haired girl whispers.
"You're the grand-daughter of the 2nd leader of this city's council and you're asking me? I don't know... I know my lords horse is rather better than this one so he won't bother with it, especially after hearing it has no den."
"Didn't they say something about knowing where the den is?"
"Did they say it was accessible? Why didn't they get it themselves? Think first."
Amber lowers her head on the brown-haired girls head, they smile at each other. The bidding slows down as it climbs to 90 million."
"Isn't that a player near your Lord? Wow, they're rich."
Amber leans forward to look down at where Jack is, he's eating a lot of food as if he hasn't eaten in many weeks. The player next to him has a hand raised. She takes note of him closely as Megan on the stages starts to count down.
"Ok 95 million going once..."
"95 million, anyone want to beat it for this rare horse? You'll even get the chance to find its den? Going twice..."
"No one? Well, alright..."
Megan looks towards the horse and quietly whispers, "I'm sorry you didn't hit 100 million" yet it's echoed throughout the entire room.
"Sold for 95 million." she says in defeat.
"Good bye... I hope to see you again" Megan says with her head lowered and eyes closed.
The green horse is backed off the stage and the curtains are drawn, the stage is darkened as silence comes over the crowd. Amber chows down on some of the food that was gathered as she watches the crowd from the high vantage point, many of the participants in the auction are frustrated yet they don't leave because they're happy with all the food and booze that is flowing around. Amber smiles as she looks back on the stage.
"Everyone... this item is special because we'd usually never sell this sort of thing... it's the sort of thing that can get you into a lot of trouble for using so the person that buys it. I hope you're responsible for it..."
"It's a technique... a technique to become stronger... We're not responsible for what you do with it though."
The crowd is entirely captivated with her performance, even Amber and the brown-haired girl aren't immune as the lean forward in their chairs.
"This technique is ancient but it's also said to be... evil. We trust that people will not bid on this without that in mind, this technique was founded by a man who once endured over 10,000 years of solitude under the presence of the moon's shadow. Every 1,000 years he would send out a letter, this is the compilation of one of these letters."
"This technique was perfected by the first person to read it and handed down until the following 1,000 years... so this one was discarded and thus in circulation, it is called: Moon Shadow's Thousand Year Solitude...."
Everyone gasps but many of the players smile at the name, "The bidding will be opened at whoever says their price. Go ahead."
Megan holds the scroll before her, it's sealed up yet floating in her hands somehow.
A dark pulsing energy comes over the crowd as the gaze at it, she holds it out for a moment before covering it back up again.
"100 million!" one of the players shout.
"200 million!" another one shouts.
"210", "250", "280"....
"500 million!" a loud shout comes from the second story.
The whole level looks at this person who bid that amount, it's one of the red-robed people who shrugs off their looks. His appearance isn't anything noteworthy apart from his thick eyebrows.
"Lord, I'll remind you that we have... use for that item."
"Why don't you come out and say it, I'm interested in studying the technique. Is that wrong?"
"No. I am only giving my humble guidance."
"Good."
"510 million."
A lone voice comes from downstairs, Amber looks down at the crowd as does everyone else on the level.
It's Jack. His hand is casually raised as he drinks some more wine, Amber smiles as she watches many people on her level quietly fuming.
