"Next up is a pair of Tauron Magnus. A Red Bull and a Cow of Destruction. These creatures have a perfect affinity with the Earth Element, and they can create fissures and even earthquakes if they are powerful enough. They are incredibly tenacious, and as they run, walk, and battle, they continue replenishing their Aura and Mana," Misa, the Hostess of tonight's Auction, informed the audience with a smile.
On the holographic screens, the images of the Magical Beasts in question appeared, and their dark red coats, with pairs of curved and menacing horns, excited a lot of people. A low murmur rolled through the hall as the images shifted in the light.
These two were majestic Beasts of beauty and symbols of strength.
"Tauron Magnus possess a Sky-Grade Bloodline, which means that they have the potential to become Saint Beasts. These Tauron Magnus are young, only 10 years old, and both are 4-Star Martial Beasts right now, equivalent to Peak Martial Masters in Aura and Mana reserves, but twice as Powerful due to their Physical Strength and Bloodline. Their Talents have been tested and came out as Blue, giving them a decent chance of reaching the pinnacle of Martial Realms in under 200 years." She gave them some details and then signalled to the Old Beast Master behind her, who was wearing leather armour.
He opened the pouch he was wearing on his waist, and two streaks of light shot out of it, which then took the forms of massive Beasts, who were sound asleep and bore some wounds on their bodies from their last battle.
All the wounds were superficial and had already been tended, and, to make sure that they would not cause trouble by waking up, the Beast Master used a Battle Art where he created chains of Aura that bound the two Beasts in place. The conjured links rattled softly as they settled.
"Tauron Magnus are not easy to tame, and it is advised that only Aurors in the Martial Tyrant Realm or above try to claim one as their Beast," the Beast Master warned the audience. "Both these Beasts are Wild and have never been contracted. The Cow is in heat right now, so she is more aggressive this season."
"A Tauron Magnus Cow has a gestation period of 125 Weeks, and she can birth up to two calves at a time. After giving birth, the Cow cannot get pregnant again for as long as she lactates, and this usually lasts for six to seven years," Misa provided them with some more information.
"The calves feed on their mother for five years, and it is their main diet. The next one or two years that she lactates, she can be milked. The milk of a Tauron Magnus Cow is used in several delicacies. It is also a Medicinal Ingredient and is very good for the healthy development of children. It has a lot of other benefits, including good sleep, recovery, as well as the replenishment of male essence," the Beast Master added, and it was clear that these two Beasts were captured by him in the wild.
"The price for this pair will start from 50,000 Stones, and each bid cannot be less than 5,000 Stones," the Hostess announced. "Let's begin!"
As soon as her words fell, the bidding began with great zeal. The air tightened with anticipation.
"55,000!" "60,000!" "65,000!" "80,000!" "90,000!" ... ... ...
Up in the Golden Gallery, Kiara had the Magical Beast Encyclopedia in her lap, and she was reading the information about the Tauron Magnus with her sisters.
"Should we go for them?" she asked Ingvild, and the Carmilla Princess nodded her head.
"They are rare in the Lower Heaven and are good Battle Beasts. A pair with Blue Talent is even rarer. I think we should go for them," she said and then smiled. "They are pretty too!"
"Yes!" Kiara laughed and nodded her head in agreement.
Under her signal, the attendant started bidding for the Tauron Magnus when their price rose to 180,000 Stones.
A lot of people had stopped bidding at this point, and only serious buyers were interested in them.
However, soon something happened that made the girls frown.
"400,000!"
Someone from a Golden Balcony raised their voice, and the Hall became silent.
It was a direct jump of 150,000 Stones, and then the attendant nervously looked towards Kiara, asking if she should continue.
"Keep raising by 5,000 Stones," she nodded her head.
"405,000!" "450,000!"
The attendant again stopped and nervously looked at her.
"Keep going."
"455,000!" "500,000!" "505,000!" "550,000!"
Now they knew for certain that the person was deliberately targeting them.
Five hundred and fifty thousand Stones for these two Beasts was expensive, and Ingvild shook her head.
"No need to continue," she told the attendant, who switched off the light on their Balcony.
As soon as the light went out, the Alchemists in the Hall cheered as if they had won a battle, and some openly called out to them, questioning if they had run out of Stones or if their senses had finally settled.
"Wow," Rebecca laughed at their reaction, and even Keith could not help his chuckles.
"Wow, indeed."
"Are they crazy?" Ingvild seriously questioned.
"Don't know. But they are certainly mad at us," Alana giggled, and, seeing their reactions, the attendant heaved a sigh of relief and smiled as well.
However, where everyone was smiling, Avriel and Kiara were wearing serious expressions now.
"They will make us bleed Stones," the White Princess voiced her concern. "They will come after us no matter what we will bid on."
"Think we should get back at them?"
"No," Rebecca immediately shook her head, and Kiara curiously looked at her.
"Why not?"
"Because that's what they are hoping for," the blonde seriously said. "The person who has won these Tauron Magnus will bid again, hoping that we fight with them, and they will pull back at the very last moment. Just start bidding on everything from now on, and, as soon as it is about to reach the price it went for in the previous Auctions, pull back. For some things, keep going, but pull back as soon as the previous auction's price has been crossed. Only battle over what you really want, even if you have to bleed some Stones. There is no other way around it."
Her sisters nodded to her plan and then instructed the Attendant accordingly.
Sure enough, as Avriel had said, as soon as they started bidding, a lot of people jumped into the battle for fun.
It happened over and over again, but eventually, the people started realising that they were being toyed with.
The fact that the Sixth Balcony almost always pulled back as soon as the price exceeded the real value pissed off a lot of people, and a few unfortunate Alchemists ended up with things they did not want and paid thousands of extra Stones for those things.
Eventually, the childish battles subsided, and no one was mocking or laughing at them anymore.
"The last Magical Beasts of the evening are the Zaverian Horses, bred by the Dynus Family, one of the five Ancient Families of Westesia," Misa smiled as she spoke, and, behind her on the screen, 12 Horses appeared, all Unicorns of ethereal beauty, and four of them were marked with a Golden Star, which meant that they were the Empyrean Breed.
There were white, silver, golden, bronze, red, and black horses, and their coats had a metallic shine to them.
They had long hair, and a single straight horn with spiralling grooves, which gave them a touch of majesty. A faint shimmer played along their manes as the formation light washed over them.
Zaverian Horses were famous for their unblemished and single-coloured coats, and all these Beasts were creatures of immense beauty.
"All Zaverian Horses possess traces of Mystic Grade Bloodline, having the potential to become powerful Saint Beasts. Of these 12 Horses, 8 have been tested to possess Blue Talent, and the four that have been marked as Empyrean Breed have been tested to possess 1-Star Indigo Talents," she informed the audience.
The screen then showed more details about the current strength of the Beasts, their ages, and their Elemental Affinities.
Every horse in the herd was young, only two to three years old, and none of them had been trained or contracted. They had grown up as wild horses in the Grasslands owned by the Dynus Family.
The only Black Horse was one of the Empyrean Breed. It was a Stallion, and it had been bred to possess an affinity for Darkness, making it the most prized horse of the lot.
As for the other three, one was a Golden Coloured Mare, who possessed an affinity to Lightning, and the two White Mares, who happened to be the youngest in the lot, possessed an affinity for Plasma, which made them the second-best prizes.
Just looking at their details, a lot of people had made up their minds to bleed Stones and get them, even if they were forced to spend a fortune.
"We are going for the entire lot," Keith suddenly said, taking the girls by surprise.
"Good!" Kiara was more than happy to hear his words, since she loved horses just as much as he did.
The only reason why they had decided to go only for the Empyrean Breed was because it was going to cost a lot of Stones to get all twelve, but now that Keith had given them the green light, they became very excited.
However, when the Attendant heard his words, her face paled in fear and nervousness because she knew that going after all twelve of these Horses would alienate them even more.
She wondered if the guests she was serving today were a little crazy in their heads.
Did they really not mind making so many enemies?
"First up is a trio of 3-Star Martial Beasts, all red Zaverian Horses, two Mares and one Stallion, who have an affinity for Fire. These Beautiful Beasts are three years old," she announced, and the Beast Master on the Platform summoned the three horses inside a Formation that bound them in chains.
The chains rattled as the Beasts angrily neighed, trying to break free, and there was a flickering flame in their eyes which soon erupted from the hair on their necks and tails as well, making them appear even more ethereal. Heat rippled faintly around their manes.
"Please, keep in mind that Zaverian Horses are prideful creatures that even the best of the Beast Masters cannot tame. If you force them into servitude, they are disheartened, and it hinders their growth and potential," the Beast Master advised the audience.
"The bidding will start from 100,000 Stones, and each bid has to be no less than 10,000 Stones," Misa said and then smiled at everyone. "Let's begin!"
"110,000..."
"1,000,000!"
A voice suddenly resounded in the Hall, making it go deathly quiet, and people raised their heads and looked towards the Golden Gallery, at Balcony 6, whose light was on.
Even Misa gulped in nervousness when she heard the tenfold increase in price, but she quickly regained her wits and smiled again.
"A Million Stones from the Golden 6! Is there anyone willing to bid more?" she asked, pulling the audience out of their shocked state.
Surprisingly, no one followed.
There was a lot of hesitation, as the price had already exceeded what they had in mind. Following it out of spite was unwise.
What if the Golden 6 did not follow again and pulled back? Would they not suffer losses of well over a hundred thousand Stones?
"3, 2, 1!" Misa rang the bell. "Sold to Golden 6!"
Up in the gallery, Ingvild was laughing merrily at what had just happened in the Hall.
Yes, Keith called out a price that was one hundred thousand over the limit that people had in mind. But it was all worth the stupid expressions of those Alchemists.