"One Void Rank core!" a rough-voiced man from the center called out, tossing a crimson-glowing core into the projection basin.
"One and a half Void Rank cores!" a pale, veiled woman countered from the upper balcony, flicking a small crystal vial onto the bidding platform—it pulsed with the condensed light of half a Void core's worth of essence.
"Two Void Rank cores!" barked a merchant lord from the eastern wing, his jeweled hand waving as a servant rushed forward with a box of gleaming fragments.
Edai smiled, her voice velvet-smooth. "Ah, competition already. But surely such a precious gate, tied to the Molten Spine's inner flame veins, is worth far more?"
Then, without fanfare or flourish, Asher raised a single hand.
"Ten Void Rank cores."
The room froze.
Eyes snapped toward him. Gasps filled the air. Even the previously confident merchant lord dropped back into his seat, his face pale.
