Chapter 89 The Dull Auction

Evernya stared at Meira in desperation, prompting her to take charge. “This would be much easier if I could give you a brand preventing you from spilling her secrets to others without your family noticing,” Meira grumbled.

“I wouldn’t tell anyone, but I understand your hesitation with my family connections. Are her secrets that dangerous? She’s powerful for her age, but not any more than someone talented her age from a tier 1 city.” Aiden questioned.

Meira turned toward Aiden, staring into his eyes as she said, “If the wrong people were to know everything about her, she would lose her freedom, maybe even her life. She’s much more than a regular shifter. You felt her mana bound artifact. Would a weapon of that caliber choose someone ordinary?”

“I understand. Just one question. Is she really a catkin?” Aiden inquired.

“No, but she is a feline shifter.” Replied Meira.

“Thank you, and don’t worry, I won’t tell my family about her,” Aiden assured.

“I believe you. I doubt Evernya would be this comfortable with you if she thought you would betray her. What I’m worried about is if they put you under a spell or enchantment, forcing you to spill everything. Worse yet, is if someone were to poke around in your head. I know it’s unlikely, but your family certainly has the capability to do it without you even knowing. I doubt you could resist a powerful telepath.” Meira warned.

Backing off, Aiden reassured, “You don’t have to explain yourself if her secrets are that dangerous I won’t pry.”

A beautiful smile bloomed on Evernya’s face as she relaxed back into her chair, relieved. “Thank you, Aiden.”

“No problem,” Aiden replied with a smile of his own.

Evernya changed the subject, commenting, “I find it kind of funny we are here for some auction, yet we’ve barely watched it.”

“Honestly, none of these items interest me. I could just go to Buran to buy most of these things for cheaper or online.” Aiden replied, glancing down at the stage as several fire element plants placed on a cart roll onto the stage.

“You can buy all of these things online? Why is there even an auction then?” Evernya inquired.

“You need a tier 1 level ID to access most of the websites selling this stuff. An auction like this is a big deal for tier 2 and 3 citizens. If it weren’t for this mystery lot, I doubt anyone with powerful connections to a tier 1 city would come here. To be honest, I’m surprised Meira didn’t just buy the mana core online or directly from Buran.” Aiden explained.

While blankly staring down at the stage with a bored expression, Meira revealed, “Unfortunately, I don’t have that much access. I would call my ID a tier 1.5. Technically, I do have a tier 1 ID, but they put all sorts of stupid regulations on it. I can enter Buran or any tier 1 city anytime I want, but I can’t buy anything worth over 100,000 crystals at a time nor do I have access to tier 1 level Internet.”

“Having spent a lot of time around, my fellow, as you call them nobles, I guess that shouldn’t surprise me. If you were to have access to what they do, you would surpass them for sure.” Aiden commented.

Meira turned away from the stage, looking down at the ornate box clutched against her friend’s chest as she said, “Oh, I know all about their games. They’ve been playing them for centuries with me. To be honest, I don’t care about their limitations since my current level of business is more than enough for me. If I were to get as big as they are, I would need to take on apprentices to keep up with the workload. Most of those so-called top tier 1 enchanters are crap anyway. They find talented young enchanters to work for them and pass it off as their enchantments. I just wish they allowed me to buy something like this mana core every once in a while.”

“If it means anything, you got a good price on it. Usually, they go for four million-plus because most of our families snatch them up before they get to market, driving the price sky-high.” Aiden stated.

“Yeah, that’s what I’ve heard from some of my customers. I’m sure the auction house expected it to go for more than it did.” Meira commented.

The booth quieted as they ran out of things to talk about until a few lots later, another lot by Meira sold. “Not bad. Even after commission, I’ll make a nice profit on that jewelry set. I spent around 50,000 crystals on buying it and originally planned on selling it for 90,000, but the lady wasn’t happy with it even though I had them custom-made to her exact specifications. Sometimes you just can’t win. Luckily, I still got 95,000 minus commission.” Meira commented.

“It’s crazy how much profit you make enchanting,” Evernya commented.

Triggered by Evernya’s comment, Meira went on a tangent about enchanting. “That’s because of my experience and name. Young enchanters only add 10% or so over an unenchanted item, mainly because their enchantments aren’t nearly as stable, nor can they squeeze as many enchantments into a single item. I don’t just touch an item and it’s instantly enchanted. Typically, it takes at least an hour or 2 to make a stable basic enchantment on steel. The enchantment itself is easy to add. What makes it hard is to weave it deep enough into the material that it’s as permanent as possible. It is easier to enchant certain materials like precious metals or magic friendly metals such as adamant or mithril. For some materials, I have to soak them in formulas to increase their enchanting potential. And of course, everyone wants enchanted equipment, but there are only a few good enchanters in an area specialized in equipment, so the prices naturally escalate. Most enchanters become engineers since it’s easier to find stable employment.”

“If it takes so long to add one enchantment, why does it only take a minute or so to brand someone’s mana core?” Evernya commented as her hand unconsciously raised toward her slave band covered by the silver collar.

Meira replied, “That’s because mana cores have near-perfect enchanting potential. Plus, you can skip the mana system creation step, saving a ton of time. Once the desired brands adhere to the mana core, they auto stabilize, allowing easy application. Even a novice enchanter can apply a brand. The downside to having a weak enchanter brand, a mana core is a stronger enchanter can easily override the brand.”

Note to self, don’t let any enchanter I don’t trust near my slave band. I wonder, is there any other way to get enslaved? Evernya thought, With her hand still resting on her neck, she questioned, “are there any other ways to enslave someone?”

Meira glanced at Aiden poking at his smartphone before replying, “Several ways, though most aren’t permanent without an enchanted device, brand, or Psionic magic. Even some spells could enslave someone, but the spell would require constant upkeep.”

“So what you are saying is stay away from wizards and witches?” Evernya questioned in a worried tone.

“Sometimes, you won’t have a choice, but ya casters can be hazardous to one’s health. Witches and wizards may be slow at casting, but given enough time, they are deadly.” Meira replied, noticing her kitten’s paling face adding, “Fortunately, any spell capable of enslavement or controlling another person falls under the control list.”

“Please tell me they can’t turn me into a frog,” Evernya started shivering at the possibility of hopping around as a small frog.

Happy for a distraction from the auction, Meira continued to educate her kitten. “I’m afraid they could, but not easily. It takes a strong transmogrify spell to pull that off, and it won’t be permanent. Only enchantments last long term, but spells can have much more disastrous effects in the short term, maybe a few hours at most. Unlike enchantments that can only control, adjust, add to what is already present, spells can perform drastic changes such as transmogrifying someone into a frog temporarily. Well, modern enchantments can’t I’ve heard of Mana bound artifacts with the ability to transform into different shapes.”

“These ancient enchantments seem to beat our current ones in every way. What else do they beat us in?” Evernya inquired, almost dreading the answer.

“As far as we can tell, everything. Fortunately, almost everything disappeared with the old ones aside from mana bound artifacts and some written records.” Meira replied.

Evernya sighed in relief before commenting, “I’m kinda glad. I don’t want to think about the terrifying spells they had if their enchantments are so advanced.”

Prodded by Evernya’s comment, Meira added, “Oh, some spellbooks exist, but deciphering them is a major roadblock. Only a handful of spell books exist, though, unlike the artifacts. Maybe they took their spellbooks with them or we have yet to discover them yet. Most of the ruins are deep into the wilds, so investigating them is difficult and sometimes impossible.”

“Same language as those ruins?” Evernya inquired.

Meira replayed Thomas’s countless ramblings in her mind before replying, “No, the spell books are in all kinds of different languages, but just as undecipherable. The Galaxia ruin didn’t have any spellbooks. The only unique item found was the life leaching artifact. Aside from that artifact, the Galaxia ruin is empty. I suppose it makes sense, though, since the ruin predates the theorized end of the mythic era by at least 10,000 years, leaving plenty of time for looters.”

“Do you mean this artifact? Why does it look just like yours?” Aiden suddenly inquired, showing a bare black translucent spider strikingly similar to Evernya’s on his smartphone.

The three women shared a glance before Meira replied in a careful manner. “How did you come to that conclusion?”

“I made a video series touring the Galaxia ruin a year ago, so when you mentioned a ruin with a killer artifact, it clicked. Though they didn’t allow me to share footage of the artifact itself,” Aiden replied.

“What haven’t you made a video of?” Evernya grumbled.

“Many things. So does your artifact have a connection to the Galaxia ruin?” Aiden pushed, eyes sparkling with curiosity.

Meira released a long sigh before replying, “We don’t know if it is or not. It could just be a coincidence, or maybe the artifacts had the same creator, but for different people.”

Unsatisfied, Aiden continued to question. “Well, the pictures of the victims of the artifact are strikingly similar to the picture of you earlier today. Does her artifact have a similar effect?”

“We don’t know what the other one does for sure, but mine sucks mana. I haven’t even had it for a day, so there is a lot we don’t know.” Evernya replied.

“So mana suction did that to you? That shouldn’t be possible unless…” Aiden’s eyes widened as pieces fit together.

“You live on mana, don’t you? That’s why the mana core drew you in and why the artifact the mummified you.” Aiden stated, causing Evernya to pale.

“Fuck, does nothing get past you? What happened to not prying further?” Evernya grumbled.

“Sorry I didn’t try to. I’m used to putting clues together, so I did it out of habit.” Aiden apologized.

With a shrug, Evernya commented, “Well, we weren’t doing a good job of hiding things either.” After taking a moment to brace herself, Evernya revealed, “To answer your question, we think mana is my primary food source, but I still need to eat meats and other food you would eat otherwise bad things happen. From our testing, only very high mana foods provide me with anything, hence why you saw me at Sullivan’s.”

“Damn, that’s an expensive diet.” Aiden whistled.

“I wouldn’t call myself fuel-efficient,” Evernya commented.

“How will you afford your diet?” Aiden inquired curiously.

“Meira is going to teach me how to hunt in the wilds,” Evernya replied.

“Makes sense. Her survival skills are second only to her enchanting.” Aiden praised.

Despite smiling from the praise, Meira said, “I wouldn’t call my skills legendary. I was just a bit above average in my former clan. My race is naturally adept at survival in the wilds.”

“A lot better than most humans could do,” Aiden stated.

With a puffed chest, Meira said, “Of course, I would have to turn my elf card in if some random human beat me. I’ve only met a handful of humans who have survival skills on par with mine. Demihumans, in general, have better survival skills from our stronger bodies and senses. It takes more than a high mana grade to survive.”

“I would believe it, us humans are kinda weak in most things besides magic.” Aiden agreed.

“Human’s biggest advantages are numbers and flexibility on what types of magic they can awaken,” Meira said.

“I agree. I’m not one of those people who think humans are superior. Every race has its strengths and weaknesses.” Aiden stated.

Meira smiled with approval, commenting, “Wow, you keep surprising me if only more humans had a similar opinion of themselves.”

“Yeah, just because we are the most numerous race doesn’t mean we are the best,” Aiden agreed.

“From my experience, humans are the most populous race, but not by as much as you would think. Dwarves alone have millions spread out in the dusk and dawn mountain ranges. At least that’s what I think from my one visit to a minor city.” Meira revealed.

Aiden’s eyes widened in surprise as he exclaimed, “Holy shit, you visited a dwarven city!? I wish I could visit!”

As an expression of longing overtakes her features, Meira replied, “Yeah, around 150 years ago, I did. They only let me tour a minor city, but it was still breathtaking.”

“That’s one of my primary goals is to visit a dwarven city, but I doubt I will get an opportunity with how families like mine attacked them during the expansion,” Aiden grumbled.

“You never know, you may get a chance. One thing for sure, though, is they won’t allow you to record any video. The dwarves even blinded me until I was inside. Dwarves are a very paranoid race when it comes to their security.” Meira teased.

“I just want to visit, even if I can’t record it,” Aiden assured.

“I want to see these underground cities too,” Evernya added.

After Evernya’s comment, the conversation died, prompting them to return their attention to the auction. Unfortunately, the next five lots don’t interest Evernya. She glanced at her companions, finding them poking on their smartphones, leaving Evernya out.

Bored, Evernya stood up and glided towards the snack table, despite her lack of hunger. After vacuuming down the entire small table full of snacks and downing most of the provided drinks, she wobbled back to her seat, satisfied but drowsy.

“Wake me up in like thirty minutes or if anything interesting happens.” Evernya requested while adjusting her dress to make herself comfortable in the recliner.

“Did you just eat all that food just to take a nap?” Aiden questioned, amused.

“Yup, why waste excellent food when it provides a perfect knockout drug.” Evernya slurred before she passed out.