From the mont he woke up, sothing had been telling Alex that this day would turn out badly. It was probably just paranoia after the last two days of beast attacks on the city, but he stayed on guard all the sa. As the hours passed and he spent ti with Freya, however, he started to believe that maybe nothing bad was going to happen today.
Unfortunately...
"Ladies and gentlen, the final treasure we have for you today is truly one of a kind—every bit as precious and rare as the other treasures auctioned so far, if not more,"Maya announced, her tone perfectly poised. She stepped toward the shrouded cart and, with a graceful motion, drew away the cloth covering what lay beneath.
The treasure revealed had the shape of an intricately carved disc, about the size of a human head, resting on a black pedestal inlaid with faintly glowing runes.
The instant Alex laid eyes on it, alarm bells rang in his mind, as though a deep instinct was warning him of danger. A cold, prickling sensation ran down his spine.
’What in the actual hell is this?’ he wondered, shocked. Just staring at the treasure made his unease grow heavier. Every instinct scread at him to leave imdiately.
"Do you know what this is?" Alex asked Freya, his tone far more serious than it had been a mont earlier.
Freya glanced at the treasure, then at him, and gave a small shrug. "Nothing beyond what Maya is about to explain. And unless they give us permission, we can’t reveal the na of the person who put it up for auction—sorry."
"Don’t worry about that," Alex replied, focusing intently on Maya. For so reason, he wanted—no, needed—to hear every detail about this treasure.
The presentation continued as Maya explained the treasure’s properties and as it turned out, this artifact was deeply connected to the mind, enhancing ntal strength through prolonged ditation near it. Truth be told, If Alex wasn’t feeling such a powerful sense of danger from it, he would have considered it important enough to acquire without hesitation.
’I have to do sothing and get Maya out of there,’ he ultimately decided.
There was no logical reasoning behind his decision—he even felt like he was acting recklessly—but there was this insistent voice in the back of his mind, shouting at him to run. The unease was so overwhelming that it left him with no choice but to act.
While listening to Maya’s presentation, he hadn’t been idle. All the while, he had been dispersing subtle traces of smoke throughout the auction house. The smoke trails were so fine they were almost invisible to the naked eye, blending seamlessly into the air. Once he decided to move, his focus locked onto the smoke nearest to Maya.
Before acting, however, he inford Freya of his plan. The matriarch didn’t look particularly thrilled—an abrupt move like this risked provoking the ire of the noble families present, and their anger would inevitably fall on her own family. But in the end, Maya was her daughter. Even if the threat wasn’t certain, even if there was a chance she might be overreacting, Freya was willing to risk everything to protect her. She had already failed once by letting Maya be kidnapped—there was no way she would let harm befall her again.
With Freya’s approval, Alex imdiately activated his smoke ability, aiming to teleport directly onto the stage.
At least... that was what was supposed to happen. But even after several seconds, he was still standing in front of the transparent glass barrier of their booth.
"This place is enchanted, isn’t it?" he asked, glancing at Freya, who nodded in confirmation.
Alex exhaled in irritation. He briefly considered going down on foot but shook his head. ’I don’t have ti for this,’ he thought, shifting into a striking stance.
"Wait—don’t tell you’re—"
BANG!
Before Freya could finish her sentence, Alex smashed a massive hole through the glass and leapt out.
***
’This is going better than I thought,’ Maya mused excitedly as she instructed the attendant in a butler’s attire to bring forth the next item.
She grasped the edge of the cloth concealing the treasure and pulled it away with practiced grace—only for a sudden chill to crawl down her spine the mont her gaze fell upon the item beneath. ’This one... it sincerely gives the creeps,’ she thought, suppressing the unease that tightened in her chest. Forcing her expression to remain composed, she began introducing the treasure with the best professionalism she could muster.
Thankfully, she had been trained for this her entire life. Her voice didn’t falter, and her hands didn’t betray her nerves. Still, she deliberately kept her explanation brief, summarizing only the essential points about the treasure’s capabilities. Her sole thought was to have this item sold as quickly as possible—and to put as much distance between herself and it as she could.
Just as she was about to announce the starting bid for the treasure, a thunderous bang echoed through the auction house, followed by the sharp, crystalline sound of shattering glass.
Maya’s words faltered as she instinctively glanced upward toward the private booths. It didn’t take her long to notice a figure hurtling down toward the stage.
’Why does he look famil—ALEX!’ Maya’s eyes widened in shock. ’What the hell is he doing?!’
Gasps and murmurs rippled through the crowd as the sound of an explosion echoed across the auction house. Heads snapped upward just in ti to see a figure plumting from one of the private booths.
"Isn’t that the guy called Arcanor?" one of the guests in the hall asked in confusion.
"I think that’s him," another replied, squinting at the falling figure. "Is he attacking the auction?" he wondered aloud.
"You idiot, didn’t you hear the news that he’s an ally of the Drazen family?" another guest interjected sharply. "Perhaps this is... part of the show?"
"I don’t think so—otherwise there’d be no reason to destroy the place. Besides, the Drazen family would’ve warned us if that were the case," another noble countered, frowning.
While the guests were busy gossiping, Alex was still falling toward the ground at alarming speed.
Suddenly, a sharp voice rang out, "STOP HIM!"
Lifting his head mid-descent, Alex spotted the source, Frieda. Her face was twisted into a dark, almost hateful expression as she glared and pointed directly at him.
’Is she the one behind everything?’ Alex wondered grimly.
He wouldn’t be surprised. Frieda was the head of the principal branch of the Drazen family, and soone from that sa branch had already orchestrated Maya’s abduction once. It wouldn’t be far-fetched if they were trying sothing again. The fact that she had been scheduled to lead today’s auction but conveniently swapped with Maya at the last minute only made her look even more suspicious.
Alex didn’t have ti to dwell on it. At that mont, two guards bearing the Drazen family crest on their armor leapt toward him in midair, weapons ready to intercept.
It only took a glance for Alex to gauge their strength—both were level 5.
But he wasn’t worried.
One guard reached him first, moving faster than his partner. In his hand, a spear tipped with a wickedly long blade glinted under the light. With a firm grip, he thrust it toward Alex, the speed and precision of the strike so sharp that the very air seed to tear apart.
The spear’s tip was a heartbeat away from piercing Alex’s temple—but at the last possible mont, sothing happened that the guard couldn’t comprehend.
Alex shifted his weight and sidestepped in midair, evading the strike entirely.
The guard’s eyes widened in disbelief—how could soone change direction in the air? Before he could even process what had happened though, Alex grabbed him by the back of his collar and, in a swift motion, hurled him toward the second guard rushing in.
The two collided violently, their montum carrying them both down toward the ground. They crashed into the floor in a cloud of dust, debris scattering as the impact left a shallow crater in the reinforced tiles.
By the ti the dust began to settle, Alex had already landed—but now, several other guards had encircled him.
’I don’t have ti for this,’ Alex thought sharply, feeling that relentless, gnawing sense of danger intensify. His instincts scread louder and when his gaze flicked toward the stage, he could see the white disc was beginning to glow faintly.
Every muscle in Alex’s body coiled like a spring. Then, in a blur, he shot toward the stage with such speed that most onlookers didn’t even have ti to blink before he was already standing there. The guards ant to block his path hadn’t even realized he’d moved—let alone stopped him.
"ARCANOR!" Frieda’s furious scream rang out behind him, but Alex ignored her completely.
"Let’s get out of here," Alex said to Maya, who stared at him with a confused expression.
"Why would we—" Maya began, only to squeal in surprise as Alex suddenly swept her off her feet in a firm carry.
"Sorry, but not now," he said curtly, already pivoting to leave.
By then, the once faint glow on the surface of the disc had intensified, and it looked like sothing was about to happen.
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