Limitless Path Chapter Six Hundred Eighty-Seven (Patreon)

Of course, it was very likely it was the people she couldn’t see that were the true guards of the place, but she wasn’t going to start a brawl in the first place. Beth had sort of tuned out the woman after she stepped on stage as she started with a long preamble that was basically the same as every auction she had ever been to, though it did cause a bit of a stir in the crowd on the first floor. She supposed it was a little inspiring, considering the talk of the fabulous items on sale and the wonders the crowd would get to see, though coming to an auction of this level just to gawk at the items seemed a bit exorbitant. Then again, there were an awful lot of people here today, the first floor not quite crowded, especially with the plush seating that even that area enjoyed, but the place was definitely full. Without the sound enchantments, the whole building would have been humming and buzzing with all the conversation and noises of people talking and shouting and moving, but the place was quiet thanks to the runes at every seat and seating set.

Beth was only slightly surprised when Tarvek’s words proved to be literal, as the two crystals they had provide were the first item presented to the crowd. The response wasn’t overwhelming, but it wasn’t tepid, either, which gave Beth some hope. There was a distinct lack of interest from the third floor boxes, so the bidding revolved around the first and second floor. It wasn’t anything to write home about, or maybe it would be for her, considering her home neighborhood and even planet were still quite poor, but the amount bid was pretty nice. People had clearly come with money and were quite willing to spend it, though the crystals combined only brought in just over two orichalcum, and that was after a bidding war between someone on the first floor and a table on the second.

“Not a bad result,” Val commented, watching her words and behavior while they were out in the public, not trusting someone else’s silencing enchantments fully. She was also wearing a large, floppy hat, not that it really did anything to conceal who she was, if the whispers of others about the leader of the Young Scions showing up for the auction Beth heard on the way in were any indication.

“Not going to get us a deed any time soon,” Beth grunted in response.

A few more items passed without much interest from Beth’s group, seeing as it was mostly materials and crafting components here at the start. None of them were even Grandmasters yet, and they had plenty of powerful materials stashed away still, besides. Spending a ton of coins on crafting materials at an auction wasn’t something they would be doing for quite some time. Beth spent more of that time watching the other people, especially those she could see on the balcony, but also the people on the first floor.

Contrary to what she had thought earlier, some of the people on the first floor clearly had plenty of money, as more than one lot was won by them. It was good to observe who was spending, who was instigating, who was biding their time, and what people’s reactions to bids and items were. Getting what you really wanted or needed at an auction was as much about understanding the crowd and the other bidders as it was about having the money and will necessary to spend it. She didn’t really spot anyone that was concerning on the floor or the balcony, not for her, but that was to be expected. It was clear that the real powerhouses were on the third floor and were waiting for the more interesting items to appear. She just hoped they weren’t all waiting for the deed.

The first interesting item that popped up wasn’t much use for Beth, but it was a blood-related skill that would be very nice for Neph. Beth sometimes forgot that her time had the honor of having two blood-based fighters on it, but Neph also used the power of blood and was a little behind Blood in terms of skills. If they could get a nice, high-tier blood skill for her to learn and practice, it could boost her capabilities quite significantly. When someone had such a powerful affinity and worked hard to grow it, anything that fed into that affinity acted synergistically with their other powers to boost their strength by a large amount.

Beth lazily threw out a bid, competing with a few people on the first and second floor for the crystal, and the bidding was a bit slow but inched higher. It was only after the bidding hit a certain point that another contestant joined on, one who was clearly waiting for some of the small fry to drop out on their own. A bid came in from one of the private boxes that raised the price by twenty mithril coins in a single go, jumping it to just under two orichalcum. The combination of the strong bid and the fact it was coming from a powerful guest clearly intimidated most bidders, but someone else on the second floor decided to stay in and throw their own bid out.

The person on the third floor responded immediately, raising the price by another ten mithril as soon as the bid from the other second floor table was out. That seemed enough to rattle that table, as the occupants, two men and a woman, put their heads together to have what looked like a fierce argument. There was a bit of time still for each bid, so they weren’t rushed, but it didn’t bother Beth either way, as she calmly raise the price by five mithril. The third floor box was instant in their response again, raising the price by ten mithril as soon as Beth had put her bid in. She glanced over at the other table on the balcony to see them shaking their heads, though they were shaking their heads at each other and not for her benefit. Still, it painted a pretty clear picture that they weren’t willing to compete, whether it was the money or the intimidation factor or both, they looked they were bowing out.

Beth waited another handful of seconds and then raised the price again, another five mithril coins added to the price, which had climbed above two orichalcum by this point. The response was instant again, the person or people in the third floor box dropping ten more mithril into the bid. Beth wasn’t sure if it was a strategy to bid like that, but normally even powerful and wealthy people would try and use a bit more complex tactics. Tactics such as she now started to employ, letting the timer run down and then using the minimum bid when there were three seconds left to raise the price by one mithril coin. The response was immediate from the third floor, and was again ten coins.

Beth just smiled and waited, letting the time almost bottom out again before she dropped a single coin bid into the going. This time, there was an annoyed huff, the person clearly having turned off the sound suppression of their booth, and the price was raised by twenty-five mithril in one go. That was a lot for a tier five skill already, but compared to what Beth and her team had, it was chump change. She was also getting a bit into the thrill of toying with someone who was clearly impatient to get the skill and felt like they could just splash out loads of money to intimidate others off of it. It wasn’t a great strategy, even for these cheaper items, and she felt that person would get eaten alive when any of the others sharks, especially those lurking in the murky waters of the third floor, came out to play.

She waited again, though not quite as long this time, and then slammed in a bid of twenty-five mithril coins herself when there was just under ten seconds left on the timer. The whole place was watching the first big bidding war with rapt attention, and there were a lot of glances going back and forth between her table and the box. Even with the privacy of the bidding system, the boxes were still numbered, so it wasn’t hard to figure out just which box it was bidding, and the tables were even easier to see. The crowd was at least getting some good entertainment out of the price war, even if the person on the third floor was getting pissed.

They waited only a second this time, and Beth was pretty sure that was because they were trying to contain their anger, before they tossed out a fifty mithril bid. The price was over three orichalcum now, which was not all that bad for a tier five skill, even one as specialized as a blood skill, but she could see some people shaking their heads. It was clear that people didn’t think it was worth such a price, or they were shaking their heads at the manner of bidding from the third floor, or maybe even her manner of bidding, but they were clearly feeling some level of exasperation or wonderment or both.

Beth waited again for the timer to tick down, and this time she only raised the bid by one coin when there was a single second left. Anybody who knew anything about auctions would recognize this as a tactic to get under the other person’s skin, and it was clear the person in the booth, whether they were experienced with auctions (which Beth highly doubted, based on how they were acting), or not, was starting to get mightily upset. They had already turned off the sound canceling system, and now they let some of their power spool out, clearly someone in the upper ranks of Ascended, trying to use strength to intimidate Beth off the crystal. Unlike other places, like Seven Lights, who would have taken a dim view of such a tactic, and while the guards did perk up and focus on the confrontation, nobody working for the venue stepped in to stop it.

Beth didn’t really care about petty tricks, but the person trying to throw their little bit of weight around to intimidate her did really piss of her. She responded just as she always did, going full force right back at them, white flame exploding around her while the pressure of a fully completed Ideal exploded across the venue, knocking some of the weaker patrons off their chairs and to the floor. As soon as her Ideal tore apart the pressure from the Ascended’s core powers, there was an immediate softening of attitude.

Whoever was up there said, “My apologies, dear lady. I hadn’t realized I was on the field with a miniature Exalted. I will step back.”

“If you want to bid, bid,” Beth replied, having turned off their booth’s noise canceling enchantment. “But don’t try to hit me with that cheap power flexing. Those kinds of little tricks don’t work on me.”

“My respect,” the voice came before the sound was cut off, somebody in the private box clearly engaging the enchantment again.

The bidding resumed, and even the people who had been, quite literally, floored by Beth’s flexing of power took it all in stride. After all, it wasn’t every day one got to see and Exalted, even a mini-Exalted, flex their might. That was true even for those who lived on Millennia’s Echo, where Exalted were much more common that they were in other parts of the galaxy. It was even less that people got to witness such a person pushing their power out to put a strong Ascended in their place, so a little fall onto the floor was a small price of admission. Not like the auction venue wasn’t immaculately clean, either, so they didn’t even get dirty in their brief contact with the carpet.

The other person, whether out of respect, or because they were reaching their limit, only bid one more time before what very clearly felt like ceding the item to Beth. She didn’t stand on ceremony, accepting the win and paying for the skill crystal directly. Such a minor item, in comparison to what was still approaching later in the auction, was something they could get their hands on right away, as was seen by an attendant hand-delivering the crystal to their table while the bidding for the next item was still happening. Beth tossed the crystal to Neph, who immediately absorbed it, the place being quiet and calm enough, now that Beth’s little altercation was over, to do so in relative peace.

A handful more items came and went that their table wasn’t interested in, including one more skill crystal that wasn’t all that interesting. It was something that was similar to their crystal, or Beth’s crystal, that had the teleport skill many of them used, but it wasn’t any better than what they had. A tier four teleportation skill could be very useful for someone that hadn’t been lucky enough to acquire a teleportation skill so far in their travels, but if someone had even a mediocre skill, it wasn’t really worth spending a lot of money on something that was, while good, not exceptional.

Beth was hoping to see a really impressive skill pop up, but that likely wouldn’t happen until the second half. The first half of most auctions was usually arranged to have many of the less valuable items, with one or two standouts in the middle and a big item right before the first break. If the auction was long enough that it would necessitate multiple breaks, the theory was still the same, with the items getting progressively more valuable in a big buildup to the grand finale with the best items at the end. That did make the beginning a bit boring, though they had already secured at least one nice item from the first section, and Neph was very happy with her new blood skill.

A few more lots of materials were sold before a lot came up with a weapon in it. Beth was impressed at first, but she quickly tempered her expectations; the weapon was a sword, because of course it would be, and required level six hundred, which would have been a pretty impressive piece elsewhere. Given this was an auction with peak Ascended and even Exalted in attendance, the sword was barely worth remarking upon, something that many there wouldn’t even be interested in. It also showed how the divisions between the floors were playing out as well. Such a blade would be good for an Enlightened, though only at the top of the bracket unless they used something to lower the level requirement by quite a bit. Otherwise, it was a nice blade for an early Ascended, especially with the level lowered a bit, and the bidding showed that. There were two serious bidders on the first floor, and then four on the second, while nobody on the third even bothered. Most of the people on the first floor were likely Enlightened, with some Ascended mixed in, while Ascended would be predominate on the second floor, and likely peak Ascended and Exalted up in the booths. Of course, this wasn’t a hard and fast rule, as Beth’s team showed, but that seemed to be a charting of the dividing lines.

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