Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground

Chapter 1358: Auction

"I welcome you all, esteemed ladies and gentlemen, to the Gilded Debt. I’m sure your great selves have important matters to attend to, so I won’t waste time. I will begin the auction."

Atticus watched, eyes calm as the man began the auction.

He had never attended an auction before, but in his past life, he had watched it multiple times on tv.

Atticus could vividly remember that people with sharp mouths always presided over the event. They spoke with such speed that many rappers would be put to shame.

The same thing played out in front of him. The man’s introduction had been the slowest he spoke.

True to his words, he didn’t waste any time and began introducing the items, and also rapidly calling out bids.

Placing a bid was quite easy. If they were interested in an item all they had to do was push the button in front of them.

Atticus saw the surrounding booths shrouded by darkness light up a bright white light, signifying their interest in the called bid.

So far, everything went on smoothly. Minutes passed, and there was no sign of their desired item.

’I hope it’s here.’ Atticus prayed. He had already long since decided that he didn’t like the willess world.

It was akin to earth. There were laws in place, but nothing preventing people from breaking them. The law only applies when it had been broken. Such was the case in the willess world.

But the middle planes were different. There were strict laws, followed by stricter restrictions. When the laws were made and governed by an unfathomable being that was a star, it was absolute. That was much more Atticus’ scene.

Atticus glanced at the others and saw that they were all as anticipatory as him.

Whisker was all smiles, enjoying his drink but he kept an eye on the proceedings. Ozeorth sat like a king would, and Kancilot, who hadn’t deemed himself worthy, stood behind the long couch, eyes focused on the host.

As the auction went on, Atticus decided to ponder on their target.

’The veinwood.’

The important resources in the middle plane involved items that would either amplify will, store will or alter its behavior.

The veinwood was an item that applied to the first and second on the short list.

It was a root that when planted on a world, would absorb the world’s will, growing into a tree that actively radiated the will.

It had multiple uses. If there was ever a case where Atticus’ will was depleted, he could simply head towards the tree to speeden up his recharge. The same was for members of his path.

Asides this, it was a tree that was necessary in the grand scheme of things. To enable the eldorians to speed up their training, they need the effects of the tree.

Nerrot’s words had a few veinwood trees, but they were unfortunately of the Redflame path. There was no changing a veinwood once planted, neither was there uprooting to sell it. It loses its effectiveness the moment it was taken off the ground.

For this to work, they needed a brand new and untainted veinwood.

’Please let it be here.’

"Now, my esteemed guest, we’ve come to the last item of this auction..."

Atticus eyes sharpened, so did the others in the room. The host had just slowed down his talking speed, but it was his words that got to him.

’The last item.’ Atticus eyes darkened. He turned to whisker who simply shrugged. What were the chances that the last item was what they were searching for?

If it wasn’t, then their coming here would have been worthless.

"Don’t worry." Whisker said with a confident smile. "The archive is many things, but he’s never wrong."

"I give you..." the host dragged out his speech, obviously going with a dramatic pause Atticus didn’t appreciate.

"The veinwood."

The light shone on an item that had suddenly appeared by his side. Atticus fixed his eyes on it.

It looked like a dry and shriveled piece of shit. But just by looking at it, Atticus could feel an immediate pull. Like it was trying to absorb his will.

"My esteemed guests, before you is the Veinwood. A treasure capable of amplifying one’s will, storing it, and radiating it for all who tread its path. A root that, when planted, grows into a tree that devours the will of a world itself and returns it a hundredfold. It is the cornerstone of power, of supremacy. With this, your followers will never suffer stagnation, your armies will never suffer exhaustion."

There was only utter silence, though Atticus understood that it was mostly due to the privacy of the booths rather than the silence of the guests.

Atticus could feel it in the air, people were riled up.

’Looks like it’ll be a battle.’ Atticus thought. It seemed he had underestimated the rarity and significance of a vein root.

"As always," the host continued, "we accept only high grade will stones. We will begin the bidding at... five hundred high grade will stones."

Atticus’ eyes widened slightly. Five hundred? He had expected it to be high, but the starting price itself could buy a small world’s worth of resources.

"Five hundred," the host repeated, "Five hundred, anyone?"

Almost instantly, several booths lit up, one after another, their lights flashing across the grand hall.

Atticus sighed, he hated that he was right. Multiple unknown powers had instantly stepped forward. The Veinwood was an item that everyone hungered for.

His hand hovered over the bidding crystal before him, but Whisker stopped him with a lazy wave.

"Relax, star actor. Let them scramble. The price will climb on its own. Better to let the chaff burn themselves out before we step in. We’ll face the real contenders when it matters."

Atticus frowned but nodded. Whisker was right. This was only the beginning.

"Six hundred!" the host called, pointing to one booth. "Seven hundred! Eight! Nine! One thousand!"

The lights blinked and flared rapidly, the host voice climbing as the bids stacked higher and higher.

"Three thousand!"

"Four thousand!"

"Six thousand!"