Depthless Hunger

Chapter 147: The Great Yulthens Auction House

Despite everything Orillia said, auctions turned out to be boring. Oh, the merchants yelled at one another and gasped at bids, but it was all just merchant infighting. There weren't even that many cultivation items, with many of the lots being dedicated to other items of value that apparently threw themselves in with the new trade from Cloudspire.

So far he had only fought two crystalliers to defend Orillia's allies and foiled one poisoning. He'd been immune to weak poisons for a while, but now that he was getting a taste for it he was actually a good bodyguard. It was just boring work.

The silver lining, or in this case gold lining, was that he was being paid extra. Some of Orillia's allies were poor souls she wanted to help, but others were merchants with coin to spare. Every single one of them gave him a day wage and some even gave him extra tips if they liked him. Others might have considered it undignified, but Kai didn't care: every coin was a step closer to 100,000 Goralian Eagles, which made all of them just stepping stones on his path upward.

Zae Zin Nim disliked the work and also seemed uncomfortable for reasons she wouldn't explain to him. She said that she was keeping her eyes open for perfect qi materials and would have Orillia buy them for the best possible price. So they'd be acquired soon and then Kai would just need to come up with the money to square the deal.

He'd earned almost 10,000 additional Eagles by the night of the grand auction. There were no special arrangements for that night: both of them would be accompanying Orillia to Mercantile Central. It proved to be a sprawling complex of which the massive dome of the auction house was but a tiny part. On the way he'd thought the elaborate gold-brocaded tunic had been too much, but now he felt under-dressed. Zae Zin Nim had opted for Krysali wrappings instead of any of her nicer robes.

After all the pomp and circumstance, they found their place on a balcony in a massive circular chamber viewing a central stage. Kai was more interested in the other balconies, and especially the crystalliers they contained, than the random shows of wealth being displayed. Their balcony was comfortable but far from the largest, which were reserved for the top rows. He didn't see any kind of main floor where ordinary people could even stand.

"You two will stay here until I purchase something," Orillia told them. "Then you'll go down to acquire it securely. Don't worry about me here, nobody would attack me in front of everyone."

"Understood," Kai said. "And until then?"

"I'm sure you two will end up talking to each other anyway, so just do it quietly so I can bid." She swatted them affectionately with a long stick that must be her bidding cue and then shuffled into her seat.

In this case she was right. Kai glanced over at Zae Zin Nim, then they took seats to the side of the balcony, where they could theoretically defend against attacks both from other positions and the door behind them. That wasn't probable, though, so he began searching for the most powerful figures in the city and the Diamond Crystalliers that went along with them.

He felt Vyorrine Nermtrian first - she didn't look exactly smug, but she was wearing a long scarf that shimmered with golden dragon symbols. She sat casually just behind her patron, who was cloaked entirely in heavy robes and a hat with a veil.

After her, Kai looked for her opponent. Soon enough he spotted Traelisia of the Earthquake, who glowered from the lowest seat in her balcony. She was only one of several who sat around the edges, theoretically defending Suortril. He scorned the plush chairs in the balcony, still hovering on his crystal seat. Kai had to wonder if he had a way to shit in the thing.

Looking around the region with the most powerful merchants led him to another Diamond Crystallier: Ren Ziq Quen sat beside Riuklina, looking rather bored by the whole affair. That was three, but seeing another cultivator made him think of Zae Zin Nim, who still looked anxious.

"Do you know something about an attack?" he asked.

"No, I'm searching for the new cultivators." Zae Zin Nim pressed her lips together as if she planned to say nothing else, then spoke more quietly. "They allegedly come from a different part of Cloudspire. I haven't seen anyone I know, but I haven't seen most of the new group. They came in a flying ship that could have been from home."

"And if you do recognize something, that's... bad? Good?"

"Bad." She said nothing else and continued glowering around the room.

As the auctions started, Kai managed to find Tareth Nordulind, though it was almost by soul alone. He'd exchanged his Direboar pelt for respectable Krysali wraps and even tamed his hair into a single tail, looking shockingly respectable. Unlike the others, he was standing on the ground floor with a group of city officials. They didn't appear to be coordinating anything related to the auction, just watching for trouble.

The auction was boring until they finally announced an item of real power: some sort of artifact from Rosemount that was rumored to be a legendary weapon. It proved to be a spear elaborately carved from wood, but Kai was more interested in the man who was carrying it. None of the other items being auctioned had a guard attached to them.

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He was a middle-aged Krysali man, wrapped in cloths that were expensive but not that uncommon. Yet there was definitely an aura of power around him that couldn't be entirely hidden by his shroud. It was a relatively weak one, almost a formality, but Kai didn't try to pierce it, instead trying to discern the man's power. No weapons, no crystals...

Until the man smiled and revealed that his teeth had been entirely replaced with crystals.

"Who is that?" Kai asked. Zae Zin Nim shrugged and pointed back.

"Ask her."

"Hmm?" Orillia pulled up a pair of spectacles as if she hadn't noticed, then shook her head. "Oh, that's Boreas of Kartiis. He's an independent Diamond Crystallier, so Mercantile Central usually hires him for security. The sort of security that can never be bought off, you understand."

Finally, the last of the five. Kai pushed harder to examine the man's soul and the shroud gave way surprisingly easily.

Name: Boreas of Kartiis

Total Power: 422

Crystal Cultivation: 1,002,084 (351)

Physique Level: F-8 (46)

Soul Level: 5 (25)

>

Immediately Kai realized that the shroud was just a courtesy: Boreas wanted everyone to know his strength. He didn't have a single ability except crystal cultivation, but he had apparently absorbed the insane number of over one million crystals.

Kai let out a low whistle. "That's strong."

"Crystal cultivation seems to suffer from rapidly diminishing returns," Zae Zin Nim said disapprovingly. "He's concentrated one million crystals and that's his Power? Stronger than a Nascent Foundation cultivator, admittedly, but how many crystals would it take to equal an Earth Soul cultivator?"

"He could be stronger with another source of power, but it doesn't look like he's even tried. I wonder if that's some sort of message."

"How much money would that require, anyway?"

"With a number that big, there's almost no math," Kai said with a shrug. "At a low crystal exchange rate, it might mean twenty or thirty million Goralian Eagles, but at a high rate it could be fifty or sixty. Either way, that's an enormous investment."

While they were talking, the bidding ended with Suortril the victor. He smiled as if that was only to be expected and gestured for Traelisia to go get his purchase. The auction moved on, but Kai found himself staring at the merchant instead of the relatively mundane vials of qi being sold next.

"How do you think Suortril defends himself?" Kai asked. Zae Zin Nim glanced toward him briefly and then shook her head.

"I've been told that his prism is invincible and activates instantly, not according to his will. It can't be truly invincible, but allegedly it does resist qi. I haven't heard of an artifact that can do that."

"We're sure that he's just a merchant, not a fighter?"

"Everyone says that he scorns personal cultivation. It is likely true."

"Let me see..." Kai focused his eyes, wondering if the prism that had so easily knocked him back would repel his spiritual sight. To his surprise, he got through surprisingly easily, it was more trouble sorting past all the symbols from others.

Name: Suortril of Yulthens

Total Power: 31

Physique Level: F-0 (30)

Soul Level: 1 (1)

>

It had been a long time since Kai had seen someone with such a simple soul. Suortril had nothing except a Physique of F-0, which struck him as exactly the amount of training necessary for his body to be infused with mana or qi. There wasn't even the slightest hint that he had so much as tried to seek any other form of power.

"He must be really confident in that prism," Kai muttered. "And now he has another weapon."

"He isn't so invincible," Zae Zin Nim said. "The prism wouldn't protect him against poison."

"I feel like someone who spends this much money would have bought something against poison."

While they discussed potential ways to get around Suortril's prism or otherwise kill him, the auction continued. Kai had been hoping that the items necessary for his breakthrough would come up, but there was no sign of them, so he paid less and less attention.

The merchants all gasped at various points, but something about the shock distracted him. Kai looked again, followed the turning heads, and saw why they were staring: Omilaena sat in one of the middle balconies, looking smug as a cat with a bird in its mouth.

"Who's that?" Zae Zin Nim asked.

"The woman who took over New Laeneria." Kai looked around and saw more than a few angry faces. "It's fair play, and not really different from what many of them have done, but she's getting in the way of their business and so they don't like her."

"Huh." After examining the other woman for a long while, Zae Zin Nim sat back. "Bold."

There was likely more going on under the surface, but Kai didn't understand all sides of the issue. He idly wondered what had happened with Unklian and whether there had been any consequences of his deception.

Their musings were interrupted when Orillia actually wanted to bid on something: a selection of mana potions that allegedly helped kick-start crystal cultivation with fewer crystals. She swung her bidding stick like a sword each time, as if she could intimidate her rivals into giving up. Since the largest bidders weren't interested, she managed to claim the whole set.

"Now be careful with those!" Orillia admonished them as they got to their feet. "You bring them straight back here and don't take your eyes off them."

"We will," Kai promised. "But if the qi materials I need come up, please-"

"I know, I know. You've been very helpful, so I'll definitely buy them. But I need those potions for my students, so go pick them up - chop chop!"

They walked through the back floors to the vaults on the lower level, where the actual exchanges were made. Kai saw plenty of soldiers, but they were allowed in just by showing their crystallier badges and that struck him as a flaw in security. In any case, once inside the perimeter they needed to weave through back corridors to find their room.

In the back Kai saw more servants as well as soldiers and crystalliers. He caught a glimpse of some cultivator robes and looked in mild interest, then suddenly Zae Zin Nim grabbed his arm as if she wanted to tear it off.

"Hide me." Her eyes were wider than he'd ever seen, so Kai immediately grabbed her and ducked into a side corridor.

The maneuver had her practically pinned to the wall against his chest, which should have been embarrassing, but something was deeply wrong. Kai waited until the corridor behind them cleared and then pulled back. He'd expected to find Zae Zin Nim blushing or squirming, but her eyes burned with something he hadn't seen before.

"I know them," she said softly. "They're from the Brightwind sect. My father must have sent them for me."