[Bonus chapter]The Auction (Pt 1)

After sorting out the details with Julius, I received my copy of the written agreement and left the auction house. Julius gave me the details of the date and time of the auction, and everything I had arranged for would get to me.

According to him, I would have to wait a few days before everything got sorted out. Fortunately, the auction was the next week, about five days away. My proper credentials would be ready before the date of the auction.

However, since I was now affiliated with the Imperius Auction House, there was no way I would return to that small inn that my money could afford at the time I got it. It was time to live decently at least. Though my coin card wasn't ready yet, a simple letter from the Imperius auction house would be enough to allow me access to the best hotels in Artia.

I asked Julius to write a recommendatory letter to the hotel I would be lodging in. While he was doing this, I used one of my many treasures to create a telepathic link between Talia and myself.

"Talia, it's me." I transferred my thought to her.

"Oh. What's the matter?" She responded slowly.

I could hear her yawning in the background.

I had given her the other part of the treasure I used to communicate with her in case she needed to reach me. I guess that wasn't necessary.

"Meet me at the Tarius Hotel. We'll be spending our nights there from now on." I said, deciding not to comment on her sleepy and lazy behaviour.

"Whoah? For real? That place is really fancy! Does that mean everything worked out with the auction? Did you get my wings?" She asked excitedly.

"Just get there first. I'll explain the situation when we meet. I must not get there before you." I sternly warned.

There was a short silence on her end before she finally answered.

"Understood."

Good. Looked like she understood her position perfectly. Despite how expressive Talia was, she didn't lose sight of her relationship with me, and she could tell when I meant business. That was common sense, a trait others would do well to have.

"Now then. I'd best be on my way too." I told Juliys, who had prepared my letter already.

I decided to walk to the hotel and take in the sight of the city. It wasn't a bad experience. I noticed the presence of many slaves though. They looked dirty and miserable. Even men who belonged to the middle class had a slave or two. People who sold in stalls and even merchants who had shops had slaves who did the heavy lifting or served as security. Of course, these slaves ranged from humans to other species, though humans seemed to be the most common. Slaves of other races would naturally have been more expensive.

It looked like this town was very tolerant toward slave trading, or rather it's part of business. I heard from someone that there was nothing you couldn't find for sale in Artia, you just had to search well enough. While that was indeed arguable, the morals of trade were loose here and while I knew the world had changed since my death, I was sure not every place was as morally loose as that.

"Humans selling their fellow humans as commodities, what a sight." I mused to myself with a smile.

Moving on, I eventually got to the hotel and met Talia waiting for me, the good girl.

"Master, you're here." Talia said to me, bowing her head.

I told her to address me as Master in public, seeing as she resembled an Elf. Besides, my real name, Hexarion stood out too much. According to the legend of the people, I was some sort of demon god. The one who sought to destroy the world and caused the Great Chaos over there thousand years ago. Mentioning my name was considered blasphemy and it was both hated and feared. Well, they weren't so wrong about that. In any case, I needed to create an alternate identity for myself. I had Julius working on it, so in the meantime that would have to do.

"Yeah, let's go in." I said.

The both of us walked to the Hotel, and after showing them the letter, we were immediately urshered in. Our suite was in an exclusive wing, specially made for VIP guests. Oh Julius, you sure know how to treat a guy right.

I smiled at the luxury of the suite. That was merely the beginning, soon I would possess more than that. But there was no need to be in a hurry. I could take my time.

I called Talia after we had settled in and told her about the deal I made with Julius.

"Oh, that's a good thing. Right? But what about me? You didn't mention any coin card or membership for me. Am I also sitting this one out? Please let me go with you. I don't want to be alone." She pleaded.

Of course I wasn't planning on leaving her behind.

"You're coming with me. Premium members and above are allowed to bring an additional member into the auction to serve as their aid or company," I said to her.

Her eyes gleamed with delight. She must have been happy. Normally, it would have been preferable if the both of us had our separate membership and coin cards, but it would raise too much attention that way. Julius was already making an exception for me, doing the same for my servant would definitely not fly.

"It also works out well this way," I said to her.

Now then, it was time to wait for my package to arrive, and then after that, we would prepare for the auction.

[THREE DAYS LATER]

Just as Julius said, the package arrived in three days. Both my Royal Membership Card and Special Imperius Account coin card. Looking at the information displayed, everything was in place.

Both cards haf affiliations with Imperius, meaning the identity of the owner could be changed and edited by Imperius. Pursuant to my wishes, Julius had created a new identity for me.

"Rio Xarion. That's my new identity from now on" I smiled to myself.

Now then, for further preparations.

I gave Talia an identity concealing ring which made her appear as a human to whoever saw her, unless she gave them permission to see her true form. That was to avoid unnecessary eyes looking in our direction. Of course, I could always see her true form so it was powerless on me. I also decided that it was high time we changed our clothing.

Our current clothes were made by my using Hex to manipulate matter and turn them to clothing. But since it was merely matter woven to form clothes, it was not very durable. It also had no real benefit or special properties. Now, with root, I could finally choose from the clothes I had stored there. Not only were they exponentially more durable and even more regal, they possessed special features.

"Time for an indoor shopping." I smiled to Talia, who seemed very excited with this.

After hours of sorting through the clothes and testing them out, though most of the time was taken up by Talia, we finally got our outfits.

I wore a black and gold regal attire, with dark shiny shoes and dark gloves. Talia went for a dark red gown, with black leggings and shoes. She also wore dark colored gloves and had red ribbons in her hair. These clothes had the special abilities of magic resistance, stain resistance, wear resistance, damage resistance, auto repair feature and color change feature.

I couldn't even recall what pushed me to have started designing clothes in the past. I must have been bored out of my mind then, with nothing to do.

With the ring Talia had, preventing her identity from being exposed, and the shapeshifting function of my body, no one would be able to recognize the both of us. That way, we wouldn't draw attention to ourselves.

"It's almost time Talia, how do you feel?" I asked her.

The look in her eye told it all.

"I can't wait" She said.

[AUCTION DAY]

Talia and I walked into the Imperius auction house. There were so many people at the entrance, however we didn't need to join them since our membership was of the highest rank. A personal attendant escorted us to where we would be staying for the auction. Unlike the general hall, which was on the first floor, we were taken to a higher level. We entered through a special door which led to the same massive hall, except that we were in an upper level.

I was able to see the rest of the bidders sitting on their seats downstairs, I could see almost everything from the postion in which I sat. The place Talia and I had to ourselves was exclusive, a private chamber to be precise. Also, our identities were kept safe, a glass barrier served to protect the open room from any eye. The other bidders could see our private room from where they sat, but they would not be able to see who was inside. However, I could see them all clearly. Truly, there was no such thing as equality.

I looked and also saw the Premium members sitting in a special section. They had more elevated seats than the rest, but were nowhere near where I sat. The difference between the two memberships was just that vast.

I was curious about how I was to bid if anything caught my eyes, so I asked our personal attendant and guide.

"Yes sir. When you want to bid for an item, all you have to do is press this button." She said, pointing to a button that was to my right, on a vertical ledge within my arm's reach.

"It will send a light and buzz signal from your room so everyone can see you bid for the goods. Normally, this place is sound proof, however, after pressing the button, everyone will be able to hear whatever goes on in this room, so you'll be able to speak out the amount you're willing to bid." She explained to me.

I understood everything perfectly, so I sent her off. She excused us, leaving the room.

"If you need me for anything else sir, I'm right outside this room." She said, exiting.

I smiled. In this massive theater filled with so many people, I would be the one to get the grand prize. I already knew this, but I found it amusing that they did not even know of it at all.

A man suddenly came up to the stage, introducing himself as the person who would be presiding over the auction. He was short, fat and also had a mustache. I could tell however that he was also a shrewd and experienced business person.

I relaxed in my chair, as did Talia, who was sitted to my left. We both braced ourselves for what would come next.

"Now then, LET THE AUCTION BEGIN!" He announced.