Nick looked at Jessica Jones and asked without thinking:
"Why are you here?"
Jessica looked at him and tilted her head, replying:
"Who are you?"
Nick raised his right eyebrow and replied:
"I'm Nick Capitol, we met in the end of year exam at the waterfall."
After thinking for a moment, Jessica responded:
"Oh, you're the guy that watched me while I was naked at the waterfall."
Rebecca raised both of her brows at Jessica's words and then looked at Nick who sighed:
"Again, It' not my fault that you were naked and I just happened to be at the waterfall."
Jessica replied indifferently:
"I've already lost interest in speaking with you."
Jessica said that and took her seat at the far right corner of the bay window, the farthest seat away from Nick. Nick frowned slightly but then changed his expression to one of indifference and turned his attention to the stage once again. Varrow was looking at Nick and caught all of his changes in expression so he understood how he felt and looked at Rebecca with clear displeasure, as if saying: "Why did you bring this girl with you?"
Jessica raised both her hands in exasperation as if she was blameless.
(It's not my fault, blame our parents for not raising her better.)
Rebecca decided to make an introduction so as to lesson the awkwardness in the room.
"Nick, as you should know already, my name is Rebecca Jones, one of the instructors and this is my younger sister and also a student of this academy, Jessica Jones. I and Thompson are old friends so I decided to sit with him during the auction and I brought Jessica along so that she can gain some experience."
Nick turned around and did a slight bow in greeting and then turned again to pay attention to the announcer. Varrow sighed at Nick's current attitude, his feelings had clearly been hurt by Jessica but Varrow could do nothing about it. Nick was a relatively quiet young man who minded his own business and although he was famous among the students, since he did not interact with them, many were resentful and jealous of him. Varrow knew that most women, in particular, did not like quiet young men, even if they were hardworking and would often freely disrespect them; it's just the way it would be until they get to know the young man but with Nick's reluctance to interact with other people, that will likely not happen.
Rebecca took her seat beside Varrow and said:
"Lets just focus on the auction."
Varrow replied:
"Indeed."
The announcer introduced the first item for sale as an old horn was brought out to the stage.
"This is the intermediate apprentice grade Insect Calling Horn. It is an enslavement path magical tool that has the chance of enslaving insect type magic beasts that hear the blowing of the horn, the magic beast of course has to be of an apprentice rank. The starting bid is £800,000."
The audience on the ground floor bid in a frenzy:
"£800,000"
"£850,000"
"£930,000"
"£1,100,000"
...
The bidding went on for a while. Rebecca remarked:
"Many companies want to nurture enslavement path Magicians because they make exploring realms easier even though they are usually physically fragile themselves."
Varrow followed up with:
"The horn is a high quality good for sure but I'm not competing with these wolves over some crumbs."
Eventually, an executive of a large organization won the bid at £1,500,000 and the announcer moved on to the next item.
"We have in our collection a beautiful book with notes from the late, great Magician, Jeffrey Hardow. Everyone should now that he was a rank 7 Conqueror Magician of the water path and we can at least say that this book is filled with many apprentice and a few regular grade spells. The opening bid is £19,300,000."
Many people on the ground floor made bids:
"£19,300,000"
"£19,600,000"
"£19,800,000"
...
After a few bids from the ground floor, persons from the private rooms started to bid as well:
"£21,000,000"
"£22,000,000"
Jessica looked over to her sister and asked with an eager expression:
"Big sister, I need that book. Can you get it for me?"
Rebecca smiled dotingly on her problematic sister and replied:
"Sure, Jess."
Rebecca said through one of the room's microphones:
"£26,000,000"
Rebecca quoted such a high price right off the bat to deter her competitors but one of them from a private room was not going to give up so easily.
"You think that you can outbid, me, Lewis Flannory, with such a meager bid, dream on. £30,000,000."
Lewis increased the bid by the same amount that Rebecca had. Rebecca pursed her lips and frowned then quoted another bid:
"£32,000,000"
Lewis responded with:
"Such petty tricks. £36,000,000."
Rebecca shook her head, saying:
"Whoever is bidding with me is clearly a mad man, Sorry Jess but I have items that I want to buy tonight so I can't waste too much funds."
Varrow chimed in:
"If you did not stop, I was going to remind you."
Jessica sighed and looked away. Rebecca took that to mean that she understood and did not bid anymore so Lewis Flannory won the book. Jessica frowned for a seemingly long time over the loss.
During the next three hours, many items were auctioned off with most being bought by the people on the ground floor. Nick couldn't believe that millions of pounds were being expended before his eyes when a few months ago he could barely afford to eat at a restaurant without feeling a sting. Many items also went to persons within the private rooms including Varrow and Rebecca.
Varrow had bought a supposedly cursed ring for £103,000,000, a rank 5 wind path spell for £316,000,000 and a broken advanced regular grade sword for £194,000,000. Jessica had bought two rank 5 light path spells for £120,000,000 each and three incomplete magic formations at prices of: £110,000,000, £200,000,000 and £79,000,000.
Rebecca wore a bitter smile, saying:
"Whenever these auctions come around, I end up facing the possibility of going bankrupt."
Varrow did not pay Rebecca any mind and was rubbing the blade of his new broken sword, holding it like a child.
Jessica had a less pronounced frown than she had at the end of the first bid because Rebecca had bought an advanced apprentice grade water path spell for her at £30,000,000. Nick looked at Jessica then asked Varrow:
"The book that the announcer declared to have regular grade water spells in it was won at almost the same price as one apprentice grade spell, why is that?"
Varrow almost forgot that this was probably Nick's first auction and explained:
"Well, it's simple, the announcer did not reveal what the spells in the book were and without that knowledge no one would spend big bucks on it because not all spells are made equal. There are plenty of spells that have requirements that disqualify most Magicians from casting them and there are even some regular grade spells that have power equivalent to apprentice grade spells if you can believe that; the reasons are similar for the apprentice grade spells. The hosts knew that revealing the spells might get them a higher price but they did not and so that means that the spells are probably not that good thus the relatively low bidding price for the book."
Nick felt enlightened and continued paying attention to the announcer.
"Alright folks, we only have a few items left. Our next item is a formation path inheritance that is written in a mystical language that our hosts cannot identify. The starting bid is £3,000,000."
Nick's eyes brightened and he reached for a microphone to ask a question:
"If the inheritance is codified in a mystical language that the hosts can't identify, then how do they know it is a formation path inheritance?"
The announcer looked like she had a bug stuck in her throat as she seemed not to know the answer. She made a quick call using her smart phone and then answered the question:
"They know that it is a formation path inheritance because they obtained it through an oath made with a prince of Denmark and if the inheritance was not of the formation path, the prince would have died. That prince is a Regular Magician still living today."
Nick asked Varrow:
"Should I believe them."
Varrow nodded:
"Trust me, the hosts know better than to lie in an auction house filled with Regular Magicians, that is the same as asking for death and the Madrid family is already at death's door, they wouldn't risk it."
Nick chose to believe in Varrow's words and placed a bid:
"£3,000,000."
Other bids came from the first floor:
"£3,100,000"
"£3,150,000"
"£3,175,000"
"£3,210,000"
Nick decided that he might as well try to use the same tactic as Rebecca did:
"£4,000,000"
After Nick said that, the hall went silent and he ended up winning with his bid. Varrow shook his head saying:
"Young man, you are too rash. You could have possibly won the bid at £3,500,000."
Nick shrugged his shoulders.
"...Yeah. I was too rash."
A servant of the Madrid family soon after visited the room and gave Nick a pill encased inside of a plastic container. Nick looked at it with confusion. Varrow clarified:
"That is a basic apprentice grade memory pill. It has information path laws in it that will imprint the contents of the inheritance into your mind permanently the second that you swallow it."
Nick raised his right eyebrow and said:
"Oh."
Nick took the pill out of its case and swallowed it. A large amount of information appeared in his mind as if he had known it all along.
(Hmmm...I can't understand any of this, can you Slade?)
[No. This mystical language, however, seems similar to one that I know but not exactly. I'll teach you that mystical language later and you can try to use it to translate this one.]
(Fine by me.)
Nick was used to working for his rewards, he did not expect them to come to him easily so it was no surprise to him that he had to do additional grunt work. Nick returned to his seat and watched the announcer as he displayed the other items for sale; from the corner of her eye, Jessica looked at Nick with a little surprise, not expecting him to be able to afford anything at this auction. She was from the Jones family that also had an information network so it was easy for her to use her smart phone to look up Nick's background which she did after he identified her.
(Oh, so he's not poor after all.)
She went back to minding her own business soon after that thought. The next few items were bid for fiercely by the people within the private rooms and they included an intermediate regular grade magic war hammer that was bought for £780,000,000, an ice path inheritance that was bought for £250,000,000 and a rank 5 sound path spell that was bought for £430,000,000.
The auction was almost over with the last item about to be displayed. Nick felt that he had gained much in experience from being at this auction and was not looking to buy anything else but his mind changed when the announcer finished speaking her next words.
"Next, we have a blade path inheritance up for sale. It has the notes and experiences of an unknown rank 4 Apprentice Magician and also includes a few apprentice grade spells from rank 1 to rank 3. The starting bid is £50,000,000."
"£50,000,000"
"£60,000,000"
"£85,000,000"
...
Nick couldn't believe it. He had regained his affinity for blade path but he lacked an inheritance which would make his attempts to learn about blade path much easier. He could read books of course but when it came to magic, widely available books were never as good as the explanations and experience of a magician that struggled on that path. Although Nick had Malevolent shrine, if he was being honest, he did not really understand it and the only reason that he was able to develop his spell, Sever, which mimicked blade path was because of the inspiration that he got as a result of the effects of his spell, Growth, and by reinterpreting some sections of Malevolent Shrine randomly.
Nick could have tried to buy an inheritance but on Grand Earth, inheritances were not just sold to the public and would usually be kept locked up in someone's treasury. Only on occasions like this would someone of Nick's status be able to get their hands on an inheritance that was worth something.
Nick needed this inheritance, not only so that he could become stronger, but maybe to better understand the mysterious Magician that had appeared to him before who was probably a Blade Magician; dealing with that Magician's curse was probably a life and death matter. Nick quoted a number:
"£200,000,000"
Varrow immediately frowned when he heard Nick speak.
(This young man is really too rash. I know that he has an affinity for blade path but does he really think the inheritance of a rank 4 Apprentice Magician is worth that much. He doesn't even know who the Magician is. That inheritance could be filled with nothing but nonsense.)
As Varrow was about to warn Nick, someone else from another private room quoted a number:
"£220,000,000"
Nick slammed his fist onto the microphone stand, revealing his eagerness to get this inheritance to the other three Magicians present. After seeing that, Varrow did not bother to warn Nick.
(He must need the inheritance for a special reason.)
Nick quoted another number:
"£300,000,000"
Nick's competitor remained quiet until the last moment before the bid was accepted and then quoted:
"£310,000,000"
Nick immediately quoted:
"£330,000,000"
Nick decided that if this amount was not enough to purchase the inheritance then he would stop, he did not want to spend all of his money because that might leave him incapable of cultivating his soul or maintaining his business which would be unacceptable. Nick waited for a seemingly long time until the announcer yelled:
"Sold!"
Nick clenched his fist in excitement, knowing that he had won over his competitor.
(Damn, winning feels good!)
After transferring the money, a few minutes later, a Madrid family servant brought another basic apprentice grade memory pill to the room and Nick swallowed it joyfully.
(So this is how £330,000,000 tastes.)
Nick returned to his seat and Rebecca and Jessica each took a short glance at Nick, reassessing him. Rebecca thought:
(How comes this young man is so rich. Was I so loaded at his age? Not in the slightest, so how is he?)
Jessica just turned her head towards the stage again while Rebecca pulled Varrow's sleeve and gave him a look that asked: "What's this young man's story?"
Varrow returned a look to Rebecca that implied: "I don't fucking know."
The announcer declared the end of the auction and everyone proceeded to leave the Convention Hall. Nick and the rest went outside and Nick thanked Varrow for his help and was about to leave when Jessica asked him a question out of the blue with a serious expression:
"Hey you, are you strong?"
Nick looked at Jessica for a moment, then shook his head and turned to leave when a powerful downpour of water appeared out of nowhere from above Nick. Nick kept calm, knowing that this woman was clearly crazy and turned his attention back to her, casting a spell:
(Exchange Space.)
Jessica's and Nick's positions were quickly exchanged and now Jessica was about to face the onslaught of her own spell. Before she could dispel it, Nick cast:
(Soul Quake.)
Jessica's soul shook violently, disrupting her thoughts and causing her to spew a mouthful of blood. She had also missed the chance to dispel her spell and was about to be hit by it.
Rebecca sighed and waved her hand while Varrow yawned:
(Extreme Light)
In a moment, a blinding light appeared which enveloped the water, turning it into nothing but steam. Rebecca looked at Nick and said:
"This was my sister's fault for attacking you in the first place so I will take responsibility and deal with the push back from the academy's enforcement office, after all, you made Jessica here spew blood which is generally a no no on campus in this situation."
Varrow shook his head, speaking disinterestedly:
"You need to reign in that little girl. With me here, there is no way that Nick would be punished for defending himself. Hmph, when I was his age, if she had attacked me like that, I would have cut off one of her arms at the very least and accepted my execution with a smile."
Rebecca rolled her eyes at Varrow, knowing that the last part of what he said was bullshit and spoke to Nick:
"You can go now young man, once again, I am sorry."
Nick left the area in a half disgruntled state while Jessica watched him leave silently with blood still running down her chin. Her eyes now contained a slight spark as she looked at Nick. Rebecca recognized that spark and internally sighed at her troublesome sister; she would definitely reprimand her later but first...
A man dressed in an all black suit walked up to Rebecca and Varrow and asked:
"My name is Terry Morrison of the enforcement office. What exactly happened here?"
Varrow yawned and replied:
"Oh, my friend's sister just bit her lip, that's all."
Terry smiled bitterly at Varrow's unreasonable response and asked Jessica:
"Is that true?"
Jessica silently nodded her head in affirmation and Rebecca said nothing which Terry chose to interpret as confirmation.
(I'm not going to mix it up with two other Regular Magicians over a 'bit lip'.)
"I guess our monitoring devices were mistaken then."
Terry turned around and left.
In many cases the enforcement office could ignore the matter if there was no complaining party so long as no one died or was crippled, then there was no issue to deal with. It also helped that everyone else in the area seemed to be pretending as if nothing happened, under the silent pressure of the two Regular Magicians.
.......
Nick sat at his desk and turned on his new desktop computer to look at his remaining bank balance.
"I can't believe that I spent £334,000,000 in one night. Sigh, I suppose it was worth it though."
Nick logged into his email and saw a list of orders from Carla for the Soul Healing scrolls, all ninety thousand of them. Nick smiled brightly:
"♫Mi used to bruk dawg, but mi neva give up dawg♫. Ha, ha..."