3 days later, Alexander and Thomas found themselves exiting the city of Kalas with a crowd as they walked towards the Serto River, the large river to the south of Kalas that was home to the famous storm flamingoes. When the duo first crossed the river to reach Kalas, they had chosen to circumvent the area where the flamingoes were bathing. A decision they would later learn may have saved their lives as the flamingoes were extremely territorial, and their alpha had reached the Grandmaster tier. This was one of the reasons Kalas had been built near this area of the river. The flamingoes were hostile, but mainly towards other beasts, creating a safe haven for the mostly non-Elementalist population of Kalas by driving away any strong beasts.

The Partina caravan had chosen to set up a huge pole tent along the river, positioning itself between Kalas and the storm flamingoes. The locals had informed Thomas and Alexander that the caravan visited Kalas every six months and usually brought with it fascinating items from all over the south of Kedra Island. The common items were sold in an open market, and those who spent at least 500 Presots were invited to a private auction were the rarest goods would be sold. The only new addition to this recurrent event was the performance of the ‘Chimes of Sand’ after the auction.

Wearing a rolled up long-sleeved button-down shirt, a black cap, sunglasses, pink shorts and sandals, Thomas was dressed the part of a young master looking for a good time. “I don’t understand why we need to take part in this auction. We don’t have that much money to begin with, and now you want to start spending it? What if none of the stuff they sell is good? I say we just look for the troupe and get out of here.”

Alexander had chosen to go with a simpler look and worn his all black, fire-resistant training clothes. “This is only not a lot of money to you. We’ve got more than 4,000 Presots, Thomas! I’m about to go crazy buying anything I want tonight.”

“Whatever. Just don’t blow it all immediately. If we are spending, it should be on something really cool and that will likely be in the auction. For now, we should just buy enough to qualify for the auction. The people outside said we needed to spend 500 Presots to receive an invitation.”

Not convinced by what Thomas was saying, Alexander tried persuading him. “Yes, but that’s only to qualify. They mentioned the more you spent, the better your seats in the auction.”

“As the only one of us who has attended any auctions before, I will promise you that if this event is as big as it looks, even if we spent the entirety of our money, we would still end up with mediocre seats. It looks like even the people from the richer districts are here.” Thomas pointed around at the sheer amount of people filling the tent. It appeared the whole of Kalas was here tonight.

“Fine, we’ll stick to the 500, but let’s go! I can’t wait to see all the goodies.” Alexander sped off into the large tent forcing Thomas to jog to catch up.

The hours ended up passing quickly as the merchants had truly gathered a commendable assortment of items. Thomas had purchased a brown leather backpack to finally replace the sack he had carried his cactuses in until now, and Alexander had bought a bottle of wine. Although he generally tended to hate the drink, they had found a vendor who was selling the wine in a set with a ceramic penguin pitcher, and Alexander had not hesitated to spend 300 Presots immediately. Penguins did not exist in Fausto, but Alexander had developed a fascination bordering on obsession with them ever since he saw them in a children’s picture book back in his youth. The pair ended up reaching the 500 Presot requirement to partake in the auction by purchasing matching shoes and, against all the resistance Thomas could muster, a guitar for Alexander.

“I just don’t understand why you need a guitar.” Thomas had been trying to convince Alexander to donate the guitar ever since he had bought it. “I’ve heard you sing every time you’re in the shower. Adding a guitar to that is not gonna fix the abominable sounds your body produces. In fact, I’m scared to even imagine how bad you’ll be at playing the guitar.”

“You underestimate me, my friend. Aren’t I a great cook? That’s because I worked hard at it, and I just know if I work hard at learning the guitar, I’ll be able to gift some beautiful sounds unto the world. How cool are the troubadours we’ve seen around Kalas. Think about it. I could be one of them.” He doesn’t need to know I was kicked from the music building back in college for being so trash at the guitar. Maybe becoming an Elementalist has improved my hand coordination.

“You’re making a very suspicious face right now.”

“You’re imagining things. Where are we supposed to meet for the auction?” Alexander quickly diverted the conversation lest he reveal his secret.

Deciding it wasn’t worth it to argue, Thomas searched for the invitation. “Let’s see. The invitation says to wait outside of the main pole tent at sunset, and someone will come to escort us.”

Once they had made their first purchase, a member of the caravan had given them a paper receipt to keep track of their spending. Every subsequent purchase added to their tally, and finally, when Alexander bought the guitar, the seller gave them an invitation to the auction. The two exited the tent and found hundreds of people in neat lines surrounded by the caravan’s guards. It appeared the caravan had hired enough guards to protect the main tent while also setting apart a good number to escort those taking part in the auction, although it appeared this was mostly unnecessary. Based on their clothing, most of the people awaiting the auction were from the richer districts close to the central palace at Kalas and were either surrounded by or were themselves powerful Elementalists.

Every corner of the main tent was keenly supervised by Partina’s security personnel to maintain the safety of the open market. While they were shopping, Thomas had mentioned he felt the undulations of battle permeating the mana in the air. When Alexander had questioned some of the vendors, they mentioned bandit attacks were quite common, but Partina had a highly proficient team of guards led by a Master tiered Earth Elementalist. No bandit had ever managed to stir up trouble in any of the cities they had visited.

After about 15 minutes of waiting, a tall middle-aged man wearing a suit and a sun hat welcomed them. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I offer you my sincerest apologies for the wait time, but I truly believe today’s auction will more than make up for it. My name is Felix Aston, and I have myself the pleasure of being your auctioneer tonight.” He signaled the guards and promptly began walking towards the river where several sailboats were now docked. “If you have been in Tecon Desert long, you already know our customs and our reputation, but if you happen to be new visitors, we at the Partina Merchant caravan guarantee a lasting impression sure to bring you back every time we visit your city. Please board a boat so that we may take you to a locale splendid enough to house our great auction!” With a magnetic charm in his voice, the man pointed behind him were a building stood floating in the river.

Alexander clapped and whistled loudly before Thomas stopped him from embarrassing them further. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t even realize I was clapping, but man! That’s a floating building; how are you not more excited?” Alexander snapped back in a hushed tone.

“It’s not actually floating. It looks like they used the rumored Master tiered guard captain to raise the river floor before building on the small island. The make of the building definitely is impressive, though.”

Standing on the manmade island in the river was a large rectangular building almost completely made out of multicolored stained-glass windows. A soft yellow sandstone surrounded the base of the building giving way to two clear glass doors. The rest of the architectural beauty came alive as a series of red, blue, green, and yellow tinted windows covered the rest of the walls. Each individual window was small, but the varying colors allowed the building to come together as a unified art piece. As the final rays of sunlight illuminated the building, a beautiful mental image burned itself into the eyes of all who witnessed it.

When the boats reached the island, Mr. Aston led everyone into the building where seats had already been arranged in a semicircle around a raised stage in the center. Four aisles cut through the rows allowing easier access to seats. “Everyone, there are several attendants along the walls of the entrance. Please bring them your ticket, and they will kindly let you know your seat number and row. If you are lost, we also have numerous attendants waiting along the aisles to guide you to your seat. There is complimentary champagne and snacks at the back of the room, and restrooms are at the sides. The auction will formally begin in 30 minutes.”

Hearing the word snacks, Thomas headed straight for the back while Alexander lined up to find their seat numbers. 20 minutes later, they were both sat at the second to last row at the leftmost section in numbers 891 and 892 with a champagne in one hand and a bowl of sliced prickly pears.

Thomas sighed for the seventh time since he had come back from the snack bar. “Who serves slices of pear at an auction? I’m starving here. It should’ve at least been roasted lamb.”

“Really, Thomas? They’re gonna make roasted lamb for hundreds of people at an auction? I think the pear makes sense. It’s good, and it’s cheap. It grows basically everywhere in the desert.”

“That’s exactly it! Food choice is important. Do they want to give off the impression they’re cheap and common, or that they’re elegant with a subtle hint of smokiness.”

“First off, stop salivating please. Secondly, you set yourself up there. If you had just asked me, I would’ve told you not to set such high expectations for what they would be serving at the snack table. Try to forget it. If all goes well tonight, we’ll be able to leave Kalas and go find ourselves some ruins.” As Alexander said this, the lights in the room began to dim.

A drumroll resounded from the stage as Mr. Aston elegantly stepped on to the stage. “Good evening, everyone. I hope the champagne has been to everybody’s liking. As in previous years, I would like to get right into the auction. So without further ado, let me introduce the first item: a Sabian made sword that can absorb wind element mana and release it in the form of a shockwave. When the sword is at maximum charge, it can even damage Grandmaster tiers. We will start the bidding at 10,000 Presots.”

As the bidding war began, Alexander and Thomas conversed. “Wow, I guess you were right. Even the first item is way out of our price range.”

“It’s to be expected. Most auctions always want to start off with a bang, and I’d say a piece of Sabian technology just about does it. We will definitely be able to afford some items further on though.”

The auction continued with weapons, armor, treasure maps, mounts, and a flying ship created by the Sabian people. None of the weapons or armor had been of any interest to Alexander nor Thomas since Alexander didn’t fight and Thomas said he didn’t need weapons or armor as he could use the orange color to arm himself. The rest of the items had been completely over their budget with the ship going for 365,000 Presots despite being a dated model, but Alexander swore to himself he would have a flying ship someday.

“That was quite the thrilling match to decide who the owner of this beautiful ship would be, yet I am confident the excitement will only continue to rise with our final item. All the way from the southern shores in our neighbors the Dante Archipelago we were able to secure a creche of the most precious beasts our lands have to offer. Known for their graceful hunting in both land, ocean and sky, let me introduce you to the some of the only duo element species native to Derapen Island, the King Penguins!” The crowd erupted with cheering while Alexander almost passed out in excitement. “It is common knowledge a King penguin alpha will typically reach King tier, and their affinities to wind and water make them a wonderful companion for any Elementalist with mastery over the indigo color. We were able to steal 10 chicks from their colony, and as a result, ten lucky members of the audience now have the opportunity of a lifetime. Bidding will begin at 50,000 Presots.”

Once the auctioneer finished his introduction of the penguins, a group of attendants brought ten cages up to the stage. Ten brown, fat penguins squawked within the cages, temporarily floating in the air before hitting the roof of the cage and falling. Each of the chicks in the cages repeated the actions except for the one in the last cage. Noticeably smaller than the rest of its brethren, the final chick would only weakly slap the bars of the cage.

“Thomas, do you think Partani would accept if I gave them all of our money along with a coupon for my kidney as payment for one of those?”

“Definitely not, but more importantly, what would you even do with a beast? Do you even have the indigo color for beast taming?”

“Well, no, but I can get lucky and understand it by spending my time with a penguin. You never know.”

“That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Plus, I learned from my father that although King Penguins can naturally reach the King tier and do have two elemental affinities, they are not fighters. Even some Master tier species can defeat them in combat. A strong King Penguin is a rare being.”

“Well, I’m not exactly looking for a fighting companion. Hell, I can’t even fight myself, but the idea of traveling with a penguin is a dream I can’t let go of.”

Thomas let out an exasperated breath before turning to comfort his friend. “I know the penguin is your favorite animal and owning one would be a dream come true, but buying one today is just not possible. They’re going for a minimum of 50,000, dude. Once we are richer, I promise we’ll buy one.”

Alexander’s eyes glowed with a white tint before he answered. “I think there’s a chance we can afford one, today.” By this point 7 of the chicks had been sold, with prices nearing 100,000 Presots.

“What makes you say that?”

“Remember how I told you about an eye application of my white flame that allowed me to scan things? Well, I’m pretty sure I can tell someone’s tier and their elemental affinities. I tested it with all the people we healed the past two weeks, and I am fairly confident about its use.”

“That’s- that’s an incredibly ability, but how does that change anything right now? Are you gonna auction off the skill?”

“Absolutely not. It is a memento of my teacher. I could never part ways with it, but when I used it just now to look at the chicks, I noticed one of them is not like the others. You see the one in the rightmost cage?”

“Yeah, he’s the smallest one by far.”

“Well, it’s not just his size that’s different. I can’t sense any water affinity within him at all. In fact, even his wind affinity is extremely reduced. The only place I can detect it is in his wings.”

“You know, now that you mention it, that chick is the only one that hasn’t floated. Maybe he’ll have a discounted price!”

Up on the stage, the 9^th chick was auctioned off for 86,000 Presots as Mr. Aston walked over to the remaining cage. “Today has been our most riveting auction yet, if I do say so myself, and it pains me to have the final sale be anything other than excellent. However, our honesty and dedication to our patrons would make it a disservice if I did not inform each and every one of you of the special circumstances surrounding the final King Penguin. While the 9 previous chicks were all outstanding specimens, each a future tyrant with limitless potential, this chick was born with only a weak wind elemental affinity. There is no water affinity. He cannot fly like his brothers and sisters, and there will never be any deep-sea hunting in his future. Taking into account the unconventional situation, we at Partani have decided to have no minimum bid for this one. Please, begin when you are ready.”

Silence ensued in the room as no one jumped to bid. Without its elemental affinities, this was essentially just a regular, albeit special raced, penguin.

A few moments later, somebody in the last row raised her hand and offered 10 Presots. The outrageous bid was quickly beat as several other attendees began to raise the price. Although this penguin would not live up to the potential of its bloodline, there were still many people who wanted to own a cute pet. Once the price reached 2,500, the auctioneer began to countdown.

“2,500 going once, 2500 going twice-”

Receiving a nod from Thomas, Alexander raised his hand and offered 3,000 to deter anyone else from bidding more. After the countdown was completed, Mr. Aston spoke out one final time. “3,000 Presots! Sold to the gentleman in the back. Thank you again for everyone who has made this event an absolute success. All purchases can be collected from the attendants still lining the walls. Worry not, they have been taking note of who bought what and should give your possessions without hassle. If you so please, remain in your seats to enjoy a performance by the talented ‘Chimes of Sand’.” A flood of applause swept through the audience as Mr. Aston bowed and excused himself from the stage.

Back at their seats, Thomas lay puzzled as he wondered how he’d ended up here. “Did I really just give you the okay to buy a penguin?”

Alexander let out a small laugh. “No, Thomas. You just gave me the okay to change our lives.”