Paraj's Big Auction (4)

After winning his second item, Shui turned to Emily and reminded her to tell him if something interested her. He no longer had the funds to confidently pay for his bids straight from his pocket, but since he was sure he could get more money later in the night, that was no excuse to neglect her.

Emily didn't know that Shui's wallet had gotten very light, but as she saw how quick the prices were rising, any greed she had was crushed. She could accept him buying her clothes and accessories, but she didn't want an superfluous gift that she couldn't see herself being able to afford.

"No, I'm fine. I've already received too much from you, so I can't act spoiled."

"I wouldn't mind if you acted spoiled you know, you're cute when you're like that."

"Stop it."

As he saw the blush on her face, Shui couldn't help but continue teasing Emily, but while he was enjoying her lovely expressions, someone loudly cleared their throat. It was Alicia. She wasn't staring at them, but everyone else gave her an awkward look as they faintly sensed her irritation. Alex and Emily thought it was jealousy, so they had wry smiles, but Shui wasn't sure what the problem was so he fixed his posture and focused his gaze on the stage.

The next time a bid came from their room, it wasn't made by Shui, but by Alex. the item being bid on was a shiny blue stone which had small scars that sparkled like stars. It was called aster ore, and could help someone detect the laws of astrology and fate, so even those with no connection to those laws were curious enough to bid on it. Shui was the same, but since Alex said that this what he and his sister came to buy and he didn't want to dip into his unconfirmed future profit yet, he gave up on it. However, a couple seconds after the bid started, Alia flew up to his shoulder and encouraged him to get it.

"Huh, why? Alex wants it so I don't want to take it from him when I don't need it."

Although it would be nice if he could catch a glimpse of the laws of astrology and fate, Shui didn't place much importance on it. Alia sighed in response to his indifference.

"Fine, it's your loss."

"Wait, don't just tell me to buy it and give up without telling me why. Is it a special aster ore?"

"Aster ore? If that's what you think it is then you should look closer. But if you want to be loyal to your friend, then I guess it's better if you don't know."

Alia insinuated that Shui wouldn't be able to restrain himself if he knew what the ore really was. Of course, Shui didn't believe that, but just in case, he waited until the bidding was over. The final bid was a staggering 500 high quality spirit gems from Alex. He had to bid against other VIPs but in terms of wealth, the Sphere clan was likely the most superior force attending the auction, so he won without touching his limit. While congratulating Alex, Shui focused on the ore as it was carried off the stage. It would be easy for him to see through its essence if he used his Sage Eyes, but he wouldn't be able to conceal his ability from the others in the room so he went with the less conspicuous option of refining his perception.

In the amphitheater, he had spread his perception out to cover all the members of the audience, so it wasn't hard for him to stretch it towards the ore on stage. Once his perception wrapped around the ore, it was as if he could truly touch, hear, taste and smell it as well. The rock's surface was cold, smooth and exuded a serene aura, but Shui knew he had to dig deeper than that. He sunk his perception into the rock.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, Shui found himself surrounded by a colourful starry sky. There was no ground or ceiling, and there was no end to this space either. Not even his body was here. It was as if his mind had been teleported into the far reaches of space; all he could do was wander. Shui could tell that this was where one could become closer to the natural laws of astrology and fate, but he tried to go further. Alia was a powerful spirit with knowledge of the ancient eras, so he was certain that she wouldn't have such a high opinion for an item of this level.

Even if he tried to get closer, there was no change in the distance between him and and the stars, so he carefully looked around at the stars that vaguely floated in space. Each one was slightly different from the others, but he couldn't find the surprising feature he was looking for. He looked around once again, still, it eluded him. As he was beginning to lose confidence, he noticed something, or to be more precise, the lack of something.

"Wasn't there a star there?"

He focused on one region of the space. He only looked around twice, but he had already memorized the position of the stars, so he was sure that there should be a light blue star there. He shouldn't be able to get any closer, but once he attempted moving in that specific direction, his perception was roughly dragged towards it. Before he could understand what was happening to him, the starry sky was replaced by infinite darkness that wore down his senses.

Starting from the edge of his perception, he swiftly lost control. Up and down, left and right; nothing made sense and all of it became meaningless. All motivation and aspiration were inevitably overwhelmed by nihility. But the void was more than that. It was as if he had been swallowed by it, and slowly being digested. It ripped away his sense of self, bit by bit. He wasn't sure if the pace was slow because the concept of time held no weight here. Maybe a million years had passed or maybe it was just a few seconds. Only the void existed, only in emptiness was there truth, only when all had been turned into nothing could-

Suddenly, his perception had returned to his body. He couldn't believe what just happened, but the cold sweat under his clothes told him that his body was in agreement. He quickly composed himself so that no one noticed and then checked the stage, but the rock was gone, perhaps that was why he was forced out.

"It seems you experienced it."

Shui nodded. Even if everyone else was oblivious, he knew that she would be aware because she was the close enough to sense the disturbance.

"What was that?"

"The end of the starry sky. A common sight long ago. All stars eventually burn out and die, but the fights between gods destroyed several star systems ahead of their time. However, one god lamented the loss of these star systems and recreated their bright and final moments, then sealed them and scattered them across the myriad worlds. That is the origin of starflash ore."

"Wow, so are all aster ores really starflash ores?"

"No. Once a starflash ore has taken root in a land, similar ores will be created in it's vicinity, but they will only show the superficial beauty of the stars and not their last destination."

There was a profound melancholy in Alia's tone. This wasn't the first time, so like usual, Shui didn't press her for reasons, especially since he had to start wondering if Alex would lend him the ore.