LBF Chapter 31 Auction Preparations

"So, what resource are we going to harvest?" Damien asked while seated in a car. He and and Nino were the only ones inside. It was even more luxurious than the one that had picked him up from the fringes of the Pantheon landmass.

"Its called yellow grass. Its a nascent level resource that can be concocted into potions that can increase a demigod's power by 30%." Nino's explanation practically almost caused Damien's eyes to pop out of their sockets. He had never heard of the existence of such a resource! 30% meant that you will always be stronger by your foe!

"If I am not mistaken, it must have a limited duration or side effect of some sort." Damien upon seeing the utter disregard on Nino's face came up with a conjecture.

"It only lasts for an hour and a demigod has to wait a year before taking another as it wouldn't work before that cool down period ends." Nino explained.

"But I still don't think it will be valuable enough for the auction." Damien aired out his doubts.

"That is true. But synthesizers like raw materials the most. They study and experiment on them to create new things. The yellow grass has never been traded outside our clan so we are the only ones who know about it. That means that it will be a rare resource. That alone will increase its value tremendously." Nino continued.

"..." Damien sighed. If this resource had never been traded, then that meant that it was something very valuable.

'A resource site...it looks like Pantheon city is getting stranger and stranger.'

Contemplating on everything that he had seen and heard within Pantheon city, Damien was starting to feel that it was very very different from the galaxy outside. There were probably many demigods whose nascent divinities weren't suited for battle, but outside this dimension, no remotely sane person would choose to create a nascent divinity without battle power.

"Are there any other non-combat oriented demigod nascent divinity holders apart from the elemental synthesizers?" He asked.

"There are healers, farmers...Musana, that woman we met at the banquet is a farmer." Nino said.

"For real!?" Damien asked in shock.

"Yes, but don't look down on her. That woman's prestige is no less than that of those elemental synthesizers. In certain circumstances, she would even be more important."

"A farmer? What does that entail exactly? I don't see anything worth it." Damien asked.

"Her nascent divinity is related to the warmth of a sun and its ability to nurture plants. The plants she nurtures gain some effects like the ability to empower demigods and below for a few minutes, to increase speed...and many other effects depending in the properties of the plants. Her abilities can even be used to enhance nascent divinity level plants." Nino explained. Damien sensed that the man had a genuine admiration for the woman.

"Where are we going?" After a few minutes of silence, Damien asked.

"We are going towards an estate where the the yellow grass is grown. It is a secluded place where very few people live." He said.

"Is it okay to bring an outsider like me? What if I betray you, or sell the information to someone else?" Damien asked.

"Don't worry, nothing like that actually scares us. We are the rulers of this domain. We get certain privileges that those simply living in the domain don't have. No one dares to attack even though many know of the place." Nino said with too much confidence which puzzled Damien.

The car drove off the paved road and onto a dirt road. Dust laden bushes and trees lined the road. Many were about 50cm tall except for the trees which surpassed ten meters in height. This place brought back some memories from Damien's birthplace.

Moooooooo!

The sound waves causes some of the bushes to bend and Damien saw something that caused his eyes to almost pop out. It was a beast as large as the car. It had bright blue fur and a pair of horns on its head. It had three eyes and had an uncanny resemblance to a cow.

"What is that?" He asked Nino.

"Its a Meatlog. A beast bred for its delectable meat. Some synthesizer created it and its composed of five elemental atoms. Its meat is very delicious." Nino licked his lips unconsciously.

-----

"Silver, if you hate outsiders so much, you will never be able to get into the good graces of the city lord." A feminine voice said with a soothing tone.

This was a room...but just by being there, you would be able to tell that it wasn't normal. The walls alone were made of a crystal which appeared to be both glass and jewel alike. The walls weren't flat but had multifaceted panes, each at a different angle causing then to appear like the surface of an uncut gem. They were reflective, making it so, that the photons in the room didn't dissipate.

In this room there was a mat. The mat was ruby colored, appearing as if it had been woven out of crystal like strings. It was the only item in the room and twin women were occupying it.

One had silver colored hair, gem like transparent pupils and was dressed in something resembling a nightgown, but the material looked as if it had been made out of glass as it shimmered with the smallest movement. It was Silver Diamante. She was laying down on the mat with her head resting on the thighs of another woman. Her back was on the mat, causing her peaks to appear like mountains pointing skyward. The nightgown wasn't too restraining, causing her peaks to have a freedom to express themselves. They rose and fell with each breath that she took. Her eyes were gazing upwards into the eyes of the other woman.

"Mother, why did you insist that I work for that woman?" She asked the woman. The woman had the same features as Silver but she oozed a more mature aura. Her eyes were gently looking into Silver's.

"You need to let go of your past if you want to achieve big things." The woman said.

"But you know that I hate those people! They are like rabid dogs! They do whatever they want with no regard for consequences!" Silver abruptly sat up and said. Her gaze was filled with hate, and the woman sighed upon seeing that.

"Silver, do you think its very fair to judge people based on what others did?" She asked.

"...no." She deflated.

"Then, it will be better if you first give them a chance!" The woman said.

"I heard that two fruits capable of increasing your chances of becoming a goddess are going to be sold, are you confident in being able to outbid the others?" She changed the subject.

"I just hope no one tries to get in my way. I must get one of those fruits! By the way mother, why are you back here? I thought you were going to stay at the edges of our galaxy battling those invaders for another 50 years." Silver asked.

"...I had to come and see you my daughter." The woman leaned in and pinched Silver's cheeks, causing her to pout in dissatisfaction.

"I am old! I am not a young child!" Silver tried to pull away only to fail. The woman giggled at her adorable expression.

"I am here to meet an old friend. He has made a breakthrough, so I came by to congratulate him." She said vaguely. Silver was curious but she didn't push for answers.

"Many clans are going to be vying for those fruits. You shouldn't become overconfident even though our clan has the most wealth or you will lose tremendously." The woman warned.

"I know. I am keeping my eye on the movements of the other clans. Even those old monsters, the Pantheon ten will show up." Silver said.

"The Pantheon ten. Those ten people are outstanding! Too bad they will have to start from zero the moment they become gods. Right now they are relying on nascent treasures to have such high combat power, but once they breakthrough, those treasures will become useless to them." The woman sighed in pity.

"Mother, that doesn't matter! Now, can you show me all that happened at the border with Andromeda?" Silver asked with sparkling eyes. The woman sighed once again, this time in exasperation.

-----

"Daughter, have you heard about the two lesser godfruits?" A male voice, tinged with excitement could be heard coming from a hologram floating in space. This place was a large temple like building, with everything from the pillars to the roof coated with gold.

There was a person occupying a throne at the end of this temple hall. She had golden hair cascading down her back, golden pupils with a black slit running vertically within them. Her golden brows were currently furrowed as she listened to the words of the hologram.

"What of it?" Nina asked coldly. This man was her father, one of the two people who had given birth to her. Her heart felt a burst of disgust while looking at him.

"Your mother and I want it. Could you do something about it?" The man asked. He had a grin on his face, probably his mind lost in his delusions.

"It looks like you don't fear me anymore..." Nina started only for the man to flinch a bit.

"This is important for our family! If your mother and I manage to become gods, who would dare to go against our family? We have already waited a few thousand years to get to Pantheon city! Have you seen the things in this city? Its far better than that barren milkyway galaxy! I have seen many people flaunting their statuses at me. That's revolting! How can such young masters think they are above us?..." The man complained. The more he spoke, the deeper the disgust.

"Shut up! This is Pantheon city! Do you think you are all that just because your daughter is a goddess?" She burst a nerve.

"Sweety...you know how much we did to raise you. How can you..."

"Stop with that dad...please!" Nina interrupted with a high pitched voice. She was very angry!

Nina's parents had raised her with love until the age of five when they had started to change. The change had been so abrupt that she had been shocked. They were now no different from most of those she had seen who only saw value in their children.

They both probably wanted her to use her power to get those two fruits.

"I don't want to discuss this now." She said before cutting off the communication.

Once she had done it, she leaned back into the throne and rubbed her forehead. She felt a faint pain in her heart which she chose to ignore.

'How I wish they were loving.'

"Anyway, those two fruits are going to bring a bit of chaos in the Purple domain. I wonder how Damien is going to ride it out. I would have gone to watch, but for now I also have a coronation to prepare for." She mumbled.

Her appointment was going to be the first event yi happen before the auction and judging by Nino's status, he was going to be qualified to attend it.

'So the heart beats like this when I become eager to see him again. This is a new sensation for me. Did I really fall in love?' She asked herself.

-----

"Before the auction, the new citylord is going to unveil herself publicly, do you want to go with me?" Nino asked while the car was still speeding along the dirt road. Pantheon city was very large. You wouldn't get a sense of that if you could teleport from one location to the next casually, but this time it was different. Nino had told him that this drive was going to last for about five days, and that was because that were going to a place very near their mansion. If it had been very far, they might have needed to board a flying device.

"I will join in the fun. Its not like I get to see a goddess everyday." Damien answered. He appeared calm and unperturbed, but for some reason his heart had jumped a bit at the prospect of seeing Nina once again.

"You better be on your best behavior! All gods have strange temperaments. If you offend them, then getting instantly killed would be the best punishment you would hope to get." Nino warned with seriousness.

"Are there strange ones?" Damien asked curiously.

"Yeah! You see, demigods are the best research materials a god can get." The moment Nino said that, Damien understood and a shiver ran down his spine.

"And here I thought Pantheon city was more civilised and law governed." He mumbled.

"Hehehehe...that's only to fool the masses. Here, ever since elemental synthesis was discovered, many people have taken it upon themselves to engage in all manner of research. What was found out is that we lifeforms are the perfect research materials, so be careful not to end up in the hands of a very powerful faction." He continued.