The black road was a place that existed beneath the surface of Golden Plains. Hidden from the eyes of the authority, they sold illegal and dangerous artifacts. It was a secret marketplace only a few knew about.
The place went as deep as what the eyes could see, countless shops scattered everywhere. rchants shouted their wares while potential custors moved from one stall to another.
Vincent spotted a banner far off. It read "Yami Object Auction"
Yami as in "Dark", they used several code nas for each stand, in case they ever got caught.
"It’s right over there." Vincent gestured towards it.
Nieves nodded and followed, they weaved through the crowds, ignoring eye contact with everyone around them.
Entering through so mana fused curtains, they ca across a huge auditorium, lots of people seated as they all held a small board in their hands for when they wanted to bid.
Nieves glanced around slowly.
’These guys are not...’ She halted her thoughts as she was in awe. The type of aura each person gave was not normal in any way possible. Most of them wore strange looking jewelry, each one with different types of weird carvings.
On the stage, a tall man stood in a black suit, his face was covered with a diamond mask shaped like a high level demon. It was a very authentic item.
"Ladies and gentlen, our next auction will feature a relic gotten deep within the Elysium Reach dungeon." He spoke through a small mic. "Let us begin, shall we?"
Three n ca out from the backstage, moving sothing on a wheel.
When they ca into sight, a box occupied the middle of the wheeler. It had a black pedestal cover with Silverwood, to prevent the people auctioning from scaling the object’s worth.
"Our next item is called..." He placed his hand on the Silverwood, then hurled it away. "The Faceless Faces!"
The mini crowd let out a slight gasp as they clapped lowly.
"Bidding starts at one thousand gold coins!"
Hands went up imdiately.
"Two thousand!"
"Five thousand!"
"Ten thousand!"
"Seventeen thousand!" Shouts ca from all angles, the bid continued and continued to get higher as ti went on.
"Fifteen million gold coins!" A gruff voice called out. Everywhere fell silent... they did not have that much money to contest anymore.
"Fifteen million going once... going twice...!" The auctioneer called out as he looked frantically.
Then a voice ca from the backseat, Vincent raised his board. "Six... million."
"Yes?! Do I hear a six?!" The auctioneer raised his staff up. "Going once...! Goi..."
"Seven million..." A feminine voice ca out from across the hall.
Vincent and Nieves turned to the direction of the person, it was a very young girl, who seed like she just ca here to flaunt her money to other people.
Vincent smiled and said. "Ten million."
"Fifteen million!" The girl responded as quickly as he finished.
He lowered his head, giving a satisfying smile. Nieves groaned at the lady, almost getting up to challenge but Vincent held her back.
"It’s ok..." Vincent said, pulling her back into her seat.
"Sixteen million!" He countered.
The whispers began to increase, everyone asking who these two were and how they had so much money. More importantly, what is this item they are both eager to get?
"Twenty five million."
"Thirty million."
"Forty million!"
"Fifty million."
They continued for the next hour, neither of them refusing to back off as the auctioneer watched in awe. He took a look at the item’s description and looked back at them.
’Why would they go to such lengths for this?’ He thought, his eyes switching from the lady and Vincent as they bidded.
"Fifty million."
’Tsk, how can he be young and have so much money? Is he bluffing? No no he won’t dare... right?’ The lady thought in irritation as she hesitated. She had no idea what this item was or what it did... but if soone was willing to go as far as this amount, then it must be really valuable... or so she thought.
"Sixty million gold coins!" She gritted her teeth beneath her veil.
Vincent paused in his tracks, he wanted to raise his board up but then he held it down, waiting for the auctioneer to say sothing.
The auctioneer raised his staff. "Sixty million going once... twice...?"
Vincent still remained quiet.
"Sold! To the beautiful lady for sixty million gold coins!" The staff slamd the floor, producing a calm sound.
’Hehe, what do you think of that? This is my perfect victory! Now he will beg for it... this is going to be fun!’ The lady thought, smirking as she monitored Vincent’s behavior for a while.
The auctioneer picked up the box and opened it.
Sweak!
He brought out a wooden carved mask, the design was uglier than anything any of the people auctioning had ever seen.
"The Faceless Faces! This magnificent relic allows the wearer to appear uglier than usual for five minutes!" The auctioneer let out a small chuckle as he read the description.
"What?" The lady’s expression turned to absolute shock.
The hall burst into laughter as all eyes fell on her.
Vincent tried desperately to hold back his laughter, but Nieves’s expression finally set him off.
"Pfft... hahaha!"
The entire crowd joined in, mocking her openly.
The lady turned toward Vincent. Even though she wore a veil, it was easy to tell she was furious. She had been played like a fool. There were several people who ca to auctions only to ruin another person’s bid.
As she was one of those people, she finally got what she deserved.
Nieves, who had been trying to hold in her laughter, had a different expression flash across her face before she burst out laughing, clutching her stomach as she watched the lady’s expression.
The auctioneer cleared his throat as he tried to restore order. "Ahem! Ladies and gentlen, let us move on to our next item!"
The curtains pulled back again, another item ca through.
It was a sapphire tiled mask, with different linings that contained gold, silver and bronze.
Vincent sat up for this one as it was the original item he ca to purchase.
"The auction for the Ten Faces will begin... now!"
Then without hesitation, Vincent raised his hand as he bidded first.
"Five thousand gold coins."
The others around them were wary. What if it was another fake? None of them wanted to lose money because of their own foolishness, so they held onto their fear and kept their mouths shut.
The lady gritted her teeth even harder. She felt that this was the one he was truly after, and now she could no longer bid. Even she did not have an infinite amount of coins.
"Five thousand gold coins... going once... going twice...?" The auctioneer looked around as nobody responded.
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