CHAPTER 56: BUILDING AUCTION HOUSE
On the same day, While Ray was on the way to Jessica's house, Misha who woke up energetic from her meditation started following John while he was directing the architects to build the auction house.
The site was selected right next to the Main Road near the main gate of the inner city as it will be easy for the visitors to access it daily.
First, the earth mages conjured a spell that gathered the surrounding soil to form a tall tower, reaching up to four floors and a maximum height of 20 meters. Then, three more pillars rose from different directions, surrounding the place where the auction house was going to be constructed.
They began setting up the anti-recognition array on the pillars. Once the formation plates were fixed into place, they combined the formations to create a film cover around the site. As soon as the formation was activated, outsiders couldn't observe the ongoing project, while the workers inside could still see the outside world.
Building the large pillars and formations was exhausting for the architects. They took short breaks in between, which extended the construction time. By the time the formation was activated, it was mid-afternoon.
Afterward, the architects had lunch at the site, courtesy of the butler John, who ordered food from the city's famous culinary master.
After a short break, the architects resumed work, using spells to dig and move the soil.
They excavated 20 meters down and reinforced the sides with the dug-out soil, making it sturdy and less likely to collapse.
They then put up warning signs to prevent anyone from accidentally falling into the pit. Next, they started building by arranging bamboo poles and connecting them to form an inverted dome.
The closed end of the dome was at the bottom of the pit, while the open side faced upwards.
The remaining space in the pit is filled with a mixture of different metals and other mineral ores that can solidify within minutes upon contact with air.
The mixture was carefully added, ensuring it didn't disrupt the structure. It was poured slowly from bottom to top, forming a perfect base between the earth and the bamboo pole structure.
By the evening, the mixture had solidified, and the architects sent workers to shave off any solidified mixture on the structure and polish the rest of the surface.
As there were no rains during this season the work of polishing was done in the next two days.
Then they slowly removed the bamboo poles, numbering them as they went, and replaced them with thick iron rods.
On the third day, the white marble they had ordered arrived at the port on several transport ships.
The earth mages took the marble, joined it with metal rods, and used spells to affix them to the construction, building a three-floor storage basement for the auction house.
Items of higher value will be stored deeper, while less valuable items will be placed on the upper floors.
There was no space in the storage area as every item was placed on specifically designed shelves. With only one exit, no one could enter the auction storage area from any other direction.
The architects covered the surface with a two-meter-thick black rock, specifically excavated for the auction house construction. This forms a basic foundation for the upper floor, which will be built later using the same method as the inverted dome. It also serves as a top-class defensive barrier for the storage area.
Using numbered bamboo, they gradually constructed a proper egg-shaped dome and began replacing the bamboo sticks with metal rods slowly and steadily.
As soon as the rods were properly replaced in the place of bamboo, the entire construction of the Auction House progressed steadily using earth magic. The ground floor was designated for guest reception, while the top three floors were used for the auction site.
The second and third floors of the auction house are divided into rooms that can comfortably accommodate 5 to 10 people each. The second floor has 100 rooms, while the top floor has 20 rooms.
The entire construction of the auction house took at least 15 days, and the rectangular passage surrounding the auction house, which serves as the entrance and exit, took an additional 5 days to complete.
In the second half of construction, Morgan emerged from his closed-door meditation and approached the construction site. He built formations such as an anti-directional array in the passage, which prevented people from entering the auction house without permission. Then, the entire auction was adjusted with a new second-level formation to protect the members inside the auction house and the items being auctioned.
The individual rooms in the auction house are equipped with anti-recognition which enables the outsiders to not able the persons who sit in the private rooms and silence arrays, ensuring that sounds don't travel in or out.
The dome of the auction house operates with gears similar to those used in puppet constructs. Finally, a display array at the top projects items when placed in a specific location.
The private rooms at the auction are equipped with mechanical constructs that can be used to call servants or bid on items.
In just 30 days, the grand auction house of Black Rock City, owned by the Black Rock family, was built.
Morgan invited everyone who had worked on his massive project to a grand party at his mansion. He rewarded them handsomely according to their contributions, making everyone happy with their additional paychecks.
The buzz about the mysterious construction is spreading like wildfire in the city. The whole project is happening under tight wraps, closely monitored by the foundation-building realm cultivator so one in the city knows the entire detail of it.
The Jade Pavilion was on edge during the construction period, as they somehow learned about the second auction house being built in the city by the city lord.
Even though they haven't made any drastic changes, they reduced the reward percentage they take from auction items from 20% to 10%, which increased the flow of goods in the auction house throughout the month.