Auction

In a room larger than his house, Shui saw Alice in a purple glittery dress, sitting on a bench laden with cushions. After bringing him here, the gentleman exited the room and so they were alone.

Once they were alone, she got up and walked towards him.

"How do I look?"

"Oh, uh, pretty."

"Fufu, thanks."

Alice gave a light chuckle before she pulled Shui towards the bench and they sat down together. He was the one who helped her escape, a child she saw as both courageous and clever, but now she was more interested in the naive cuteness he displayed.

"So Shui, can I ask you a personal question?"

"Uh, I guess."

"Are you a boy or a girl?"

"...A boy."

Shui was slightly depressed from having to answer that question, but that only made Alice's desire to tease him stronger.

"Oh, for a boy you sure have such a pretty face. It's a shame the bandages cover it up."

"Thanks..."

"Is it because of an injury?"

"No, it's just to protect my eyes, I can take it off."

"Really, let me see, let me see!"

Seeing how excited Alice was, Shui felt the urge to satisfy her desire.

'At least she's not trying to dress me up.'

After his bandages were taken off, Alice was mesmerised by his adorable face. In the past few years, she was the only one to see his unwrapped face as he normally always had the bandages on. Only she was able to stare at the complete image of his round and blushing face. While staring at him, Alice gulped and stretched out her hand to touch his cheek.

'So soft.'

She didn't think she would find a boy almost as cute as she was here of all places.

'This must be what a natural lady-killer looks like.'

Alice had brushed her fingers on Shui's cheek for a good couple of minutes before he cleared his throat to get her to stop. However, though she snapped out of her preoccupation, her hand was still enjoying the feeling of his cream cheek.

"Can you really see without opening your eyes?"

"Yeah. It's been like that since I was born."

"Ohh..."

His eyes made Alice more curious but she had a feeling that he was uncomfortable with talking about them, so she didn't press any further.

While Shui spent his time with Alice, Bartos and Yur were eating on the ground floor of Barbarian's Rest Stop. The ground floor functioned as a tavern with surprisingly good food so many residents would come here to eat, making the place quite noisy.

"Looks like you're gonna have to find another son-in-law, Master."

As Bartos bit into a fat piece of meat, Yur kept talking. Yur was a fairly decent playboy himself, but he had to respect Shui's smooth moves.

"Maybe city girls like pretty boys more. Ahh~, natural talents are hard to beat."

Though Yur also had a feast to attend to, his mouth would never rest between eating and speaking. However Bartos was already used to this chatterbox apprentice of his, instead of wasting his time paying him attention there was another topic that intrigued him.

Behind Bartos was a group of unsavoury men discussing something in hushed tones.

"I heard, attacked another place."

"This should, fifth one."

"Black Dog Bandits, dangerous."

He could only pick out bits and pieces of the conversation but it was enough to make a reasonable guess. The Black Dog Bandits was a group that had been massacring minor-level forces for the past year. And even with multiple average-level forces and two major-level forces chasing after them, they hadn't been caught yet. Though such a frightening group didn't normally work in the vicinity of Cyrus, it wouldn't hurt to learn any news regarding them.

When the sky had turned dark, the town was still lively. Shui had eaten with Alice and was being escorted to the VIP room that Bartos and Yur were waiting in. He expected that Alice would have joined them but she said that she was tired and wasn't interested in what was being auctioned.

"Oh, if you see anything you like you can bid for it. I'll handle the payment."

"No, I can't take advantage of you like that."

"Please, just treat it as thanks for your help. Still, I won't force you. Make sure to visit me tomorrow, I want to show you around before you leave."

"Uh, okay."

Shui had already planned to buy certain items the next day so he asked and found out that his group of three would head back to the clan at noon.

'That should be enough time.'

When Shui entered the VIP room with his bandages re-equiped, he saw Bartos and Yur sitting on cushioned chairs while facing a clear window that showed countless seats and people in front of a stage. He sat between the two and looked at the scroll that he was given. It explained the rules of the auction in a simple manner, something he could use a few seconds to memorise. After that, he could only turn off his vision and endure the suspense.

"Honored guests, welcome!"

The auction was started by a well-built man with deviously squinted eyes in gold and silver attire. The moment he showed up on the stage, all chatter and noise stopped.

"I shall be with you, along with my assistant here, for the duration of this auction."

Behind him was a flirtatious woman in a open back red dress. Most of the people here were regulars so they were used to this woman's beauty that was worthy of having valuable portraits based off it, even so, there were more than a few who let out vulgar taunts and showed lustful smiles.

After the introduction, the auction went into full swing. The auctioneer explained the items while his assistant presented them. The first item was a sword artifact called 'Midsummer's Breeze'. It was of supreme special-rank and so there was a fierce competition over it, ending at fifty gold.

In the Alterna Kingdom, the currency started from one bronze. One hundred bronze was equivalent to one silver, one hundred silver was equivalent to one gold and one hundred gold was equivalent to one black-gold.

The market price for a supreme special-rank sword was around thirty gold so this bid alone was clearly going to bring decent profit to the auction house. As the auction continued, Shui stared absentmindedly at the stage. The bids and prices weren't entering his head, only the explanation provided by the auctioneer and the item itself. The glass and distance that separated them seemed to be negligible to him as he analyzed and stored everything that came into his perception. As a child, it was curiosity, as a cultivator it was excitement, and as a blacksmith it was aspiration. He felt these emotions throughout the auction, barely holding back his desire to participate in the bidding because they weren't the items he needed. He already had a much more important use for the money he would get and he was reluctant to take Alice's offer.

The knife Shui made was the ninth and last item to be put on the stage.

"Now then guests. Unfortunately we will have to close this auction after this item. But don't worry! I'm sure everyone will be satisfied with what is about to be revealed."

When the sexy assistant showed the knife to the audience, there was a quiet air of confusion. Though a blessed special-rank knife wasn't a trash item, it wasn't enough to close off the auction. Only when she removed the knife from its sheath and the audience was saw the grey light coming from it, did their confusion turn to interest.

"This knife may seem like an ordinary special-rank artifact, but it's far from it! I could tell you its miraculous effects myself, however instead I will invite you to touch it personally."

For the price of five silver, the auctioneer allowed people to hold the knife.

"Wow, they really know how to make money."

Shui nodded his head in agreement with Yur's words. Now that his item was being sold, he was filled with anxiety, but he could still recognize the craftiness of the auctioneer. When those who wanted to had touched the knife, with a quick calculation Shui could tell that the auction house had gained another six gold coins. And this was before they even started the bidding!

"As you should be able to tell, this knife can function as a portable heaven and earth harmonization array, making it easier for you to recover your energy or improve your cultivation. A terrific item for those travelling or need to recover quickly. Though I could easily praise this item to the heavens, I believe your money will do that better. The bid will start at twenty gold with the lowest increment per bid being one gold."

When he heard the starting price Shui was stunned for a moment. He was speechless at how highly valued his first creation was, with its starting bid being close to the price for a supreme special-rank artifact.

"Remember this feeling junior. You're about to learn the splendour of money."

Beside Shui, Yur was smirking as bids were shouted out from all over the room.

"Fifty gold!"

"Sixty-seven!"

"Eighty!"