"Wow..." Ingvild was laughing her heart out as she watched the price of the Battle Art exceed the 5 Million Stones mark, and her sisters shared the same sentiment.
"Let's make a bet!" Kiara suddenly said. "I say it will go for 8 to 8.5 Million."
"7.5 to 8 Million." Avriel chimed in.
"I say 9 Million." The younger Carmilla smiled and then turned to look at Alana.
"Wouldn't that be too much?" the Songbird sounded unsure. "Maybe 7 to 7.5 Million?" she guessed.
The girls shrugged and then turned to look at Rebecca, who was watching the screen with a smile on her face.
"It will exceed 10 Million, perhaps even 15 Million," she said, and giggled when she saw the surprise on all their faces.
"Why do you think that?" Kiara genuinely asked, hearing the price in the Hall still steadily rising.
"Three Royal Families, including the Royal Family of Krone, have not entered the battle yet. A Royal Family would not send their Prince to an Auction if they were not determined to get something. He was certainly not here to buy Zaverian Horses, and there are only two treasures in the next Phase of the Auction that could possibly be his targets. However, my hunch says that they are here for this Manual," she confidently said. "The Manual is pretty much invaluable to the Kingdoms and their armies. They will spend a lot to get it."
None of them found her words excessive, and it was because they were aware of the keen perception of their sister.
Soon, Ingvild excitedly laughed again and then reached up to plant a kiss on Keith's cheek, who was leaning back on the sofa with his eyes closed, taking a nap with Ingrid, who was sound asleep in his arms.
They had pretty much not lost any money on this Auction and had instead made a profit, and she was very happy about it.
"8 Million!" Suddenly, a voice sounded out in the Hall, directly raising the price by 2 Million Stones.
And it was someone from the Royal Gallery, the Royal 3.
The emblem of their Family was lit up as well, and the girls smiled when they saw that it was the Royal Family of Ciria.
"Now it begins," Rebecca smirked, and, as soon as her words fell, the Royal Family of Krone increased the bid by a couple of hundred thousand Stones.
Soon another party joined the battle, but this time it was someone from the Golden Gallery, from the Golden 4, the very same people who had won the Tauron Magnus in the Auction.
For them to jump in this battle meant that they too had an extraordinary background, and the girls wondered if they belonged to some Sect or other Organisation that was strong enough to stand tall against the Royal Houses.
They were excitedly watching the Auction when Keith furrowed his brow in his sleep and opened his eyes.
The slight movement did not miss Rebecca, and she quizzically raised her brow at him when their eyes met.
"Amira and Reina will stay with me for a while," he informed her, and all the girls turned to look at him in surprise.
"You are going to bestow the Blood on them?" Avriel frowned. "You said you were looking for a Blood with special Origin. And the drops you got from the Prince Twins were for Viola and Zoey."
Keith smiled in his heart and sighed at the same time.
Of course, it was just as Avriel had said. He planned on waiting until acquiring the thing in his mind, but what happened moments ago was a surprise to him.
He felt two Drops of Blood leave his heart from the Fourth Tier, and the System informed him that it was Venessa who was using them on Amira and Reina.
And she had chosen a Drop of Blood that was the most perfect match for them, something that perfectly fit his plan.
"It's taken care of," he told them, raising questions in their minds, and then looked back into Rebecca's eyes, who was now smiling.
"How long will you keep them for?"
"Forever," he teasingly replied, to which she rolled her eyes. "A year?"
Rebecca nodded her head, expressing her approval.
"So they will be attending Arcadia Archonos with you," Kiara smiled.
"Yes." He nodded his head and watched her pout in complaint. "But they can transfer to Aventine Academy afterwards."
"I was hoping they would come and join my Guild..."
"Hey, stop trying to steal my girls!" Rebecca feigned some dissatisfaction, and then both the girls started laughing and took playful jabs at each other.
Keith smiled at their interaction and then continued his chat with the System.
"How long will it take for them to wake up?"
{Two days in Aerzar, Host. They will wake up before the Steele of Time & Space initiates the Cataclysm.}
He was relieved to hear the news and then glanced at the screen in the lounge, where the Auction was coming to its end.
The Ciria Royal Family, the Krone Royal Family, and the Orion Royal Family had all agreed to enter the Battle of Rights after reaching the threshold that he had set.
"That's unfair." Ingvild pouted when she saw that the Royals had all matched the price of 13 Million Stones.
"I set the threshold," he smiled at her, which confused her.
"Why?"
"Because if I did not set one, they would have likely conspired with each other to match at a much lower price and decide the ownership from a Battle of Rights. No one is silly enough to spend Tens of Millions of Stones for a Quasi-Sky-Grade Manual, no matter how rare it might be," he shrugged. "When you auction such valuable things, you have to set a Buyout Price."
"Not fair." She pouted again, even though she understood the pros and cons of this rule.
Keith got what he asked for, and, if he had set an outrageous Buyout Price, the three Royals would have conspired to settle on a much lower price. They would have let a fourth party win the Auction, their agent, and then they would have decided the ownership between them from a Battle of Rights.
"13 Million is good enough. They have bled a couple of Millions, and that should be their limit," Rebecca understandably nodded her head.
Soon a knock was heard on the door, and Seven entered the lounge.
She smiled at them and then bowed before taking her seat and transferring the amount of 13 Million Stones to Rebecca's account. The Transaction Orb gave a soft chime as the balance settled.
"We require your help to unlock the Manual, Lord Argus," the old lady politely said, but Keith was unwilling to stand up and disturb Ingrid's sleep right now.
"Jean." He looked at Avriel, who stood up and nodded to Seven before leaving the room.
"I will go with her," Rebecca told them, and followed her sister to the office.
"How did they determine the Rank of the Manual if it was locked?"
"Binding Vows. The Appraisers took them, so they could not reveal the information to anyone. I was offered to take one and they would have trusted my word for it, but I do not like the idea of making Binding Vows a routine," he shrugged, and then seriously looked at them. "Avoid taking Binding Vows as much as possible, and try to never use your Blood to make any Vow to someone who is not your family," he warned them, and, thankfully, they were all smart and nodded their heads in a promise without asking any questions.
They were also aware of the complications, especially the complications where certain Gods could look into your Vows to locate you and learn things about you that you did not want to reveal. So, it was advised within all Noble Families to not make any Binding Vows recklessly. You never knew who was listening.
Then again, you could never live without making certain Binding Vows. It was just not possible in this time and age.
Binding Vows had become a necessity for the proper functioning of societies.
Keith closed his eyes again when the girls started paying attention to the last Phase of the Auction, where the treasures were going to be up for sale.
They wanted to participate in it for fun, and so they did, grabbing things that caught their attention and the things that they already planned on acquiring.
Once they realised that people did not keep battling with them over the treasures they wanted, they grabbed as many useful things as possible, as long as they were at a fair price.
When he opened his eyes again, the Auction was already over, and all the girls were huddled together as they inspected the dagger that Ingvild had won.
"It's damaged, but it can be repaired," he smiled at the younger Carmilla when she hopefully looked his way.
"How do we repair?"
"Mend it with a Spirit Flame, at least a Mystic-Grade Spirit Flame, and just add in a drop of your blood," he told her.
"Now where do I find a Spirit Flame?" she pouted, knowing well that coming across such a Natural Treasure was not easy.
"That's your headache." He shrugged.
"You will not help me?" she cutely asked, and, when he shook his head, she pouted at him. "Mean!"
Ingrid, who was now awake, giggled at her sister's antics, and then lazily stood up to stretch her limbs, making sure to entice Keith with her movements.
A smile broke on her face when their eyes met and she found them appreciating her beauty. She slowly leaned in to sip a kiss from his lips, mischievously nibbling his lower lip as she pulled back, an action that made her sisters giggle, and Ingvild blushed furiously.
"Let's head home. I want to choose my Horse," she excitedly said, and the girls nodded to her words, agreeing to it and showing the same enthusiasm.
"Can you bring them here?" Rebecca asked as soon as they exited the Luminos Chamber of Commerce, and he understood whom she was referring to.
The girls had made their plans when he was taking a nap, but he had kept an ear out.
Rebecca and Avriel planned on staying in the City of Sin for another day before directly heading to Aventine, so he had to bring Julian, Naomi, and Marianne out of Aerzar.
Excusing himself, he exited the city from the Western Gate, and, after spending enough time to make sure there was no one around, he called out the three people from the Steele of Time & Space.
Needless to say, all three of them were curious as they watched trees hundreds of metres high, and, sensing the pure and dense Aura and Mana of this world, their Aura Nodes trembled in excitement.
On their way back, they did not talk at all as they were just busy looking around, but, as soon as they reached the City, they could no longer hold back their excitement.
After registering at the Gate, the three of them kept asking him questions as they looked around the City. Even Marianne was visibly very excited, especially when she saw different Magical Beasts being used as rides or to draw the levitating and Aura wheel carriages.
And then there were the massive and beautiful airships in the sky, which made them feel as if they had stepped into some futuristic city.
They took their time, but they reached the Azvir Mansion before the meal, where everyone was waiting for them at the dinner table.
After a round of introductions, all of them took their seats, and both Naomi and Julian hit it off with the Azvir Siblings.
The green-haired boy was quite happy to meet Julian, and, since the latter was pretty much a blank slate, he happily answered his questions and gave him detailed explanations about everything.
Of course, he did not forget to mention the Tower of Loki, and the OmniWatch and its functions.
Thankfully, both Julian and Naomi had seen the vlog of the City with the rest of the family, so they managed to avoid any suspicions and appear to be some dumb folks.
After they had a good chat over dinner, the girls gathered in Keith's room to ask him to send them to Aerzar so that they could say their goodbyes to the rest of the Family, and also to show them the things that they got today.
He knew it was unwise to go together with them because there were not enough Zaverian Horses. He stayed outside and went to bed.