Anthony took a calm breath and walked forward. His usual arrogant bearing had greatly waned, paving the way to a more majestic and confident aura that made him seem less like a young master and more like a mature champion.
He began chanting deeply, strange magic circles manifesting around his person that shocked everyone in the room. The other four Apprentices looked shocked and awed by the phenomenon while Darius, Gunner, and Xela displayed solemn expressions.
Anthony finished chanting in under 2 seconds and cast a strange wave of greenish-blue light that engulfed half the training room. When the light died down, everyone was startled to notice that the training dummy… was gone!
Darius' eyes flashed. He didn't think Anthony would choose this path. He could have gone with the Basic Space element spell Blink which Darius himself used, the Basic Time element spell of Pause which was slightly broken, the Basic spell of Order, or even the Basic spell of Chaos, though the latter two had steep costs.
However, Anthony had jumped over all these and had decided on the elusive Aether element as his primary. In fact, Darius only discovered that this element existed after breaching the Restricted section of God Krona's library.
He himself had little understanding of it as he had yet to gift himself the Basic spell for it as well as start analyzing its route. However, Darius knew that the specialty of the Aether element was its ability to return everything to energy.
Aether was basically an atomic/energy conversion element that was super powerful. Even Gunner displayed a solemn expression, not entirely sure whether the maxed-out Mageward Barrier that gave him 100% magics resistance would prevent him from feeling that.
Darius rubbed his chin and gazed at the smiling Anthony who was proud of his achievements, as well as he should be. He had come this far on his own, in a new element that he yet to be fully documented and pioneered.
Darius clapped his hands, which was followed up by Gunner and Xela, then his fellow students. They clapped for Anthony to show their approval for his effort, talent, and showing.
The lad himself bowed to the spectators and walked over with a slight smile. Darius then gazed at his five Apprentices appreciatively, quite pleased with them.
"Alright, now it's time to go and have some fun. Since you all did so well, I will give you some allowance to play in the auction if you want, so let's go and see what is happening, eh?"
The Apprentices showed visible excitement when the auction was mentioned. Even locked away in this tower practicing constantly, they had heard about it.
As such, Darius led the entire crew out and onto the streets as they headed towards the outer section. Since Group Teleportation couldn't take more than five people, they had to walk, not that any of them minded.
Doing so allowed the lads to take a breather as they gazed at the city they lived in and were citizens of. They were shocked at the great changes that had occurred in one month's time.
The core section was the same as always with the usual faces, but the inner section was far more lively. The number of people here had increased with many powerhouses bringing their families over by entering servitude to Darius and his faction.
After all, the benefits to being a citizen here were great and this was even before people understood the true values of the city. It was only after the auction that such requests and desires would explode if everything went according to plan.
Many amenities though were not open yet like the academy. After all, Elijah had not yet reached the appropriate stage and the inner section was not fully functional per se.
Darius chuckled at their actions and led them to the outer section. This was where the grand auction house was located, and one could see that this part of the city was especially bustling at this time.
Darius bypassed the queues and the waiting crowd to enter the VIP section of the auction house directly. They went backstage, rather than joining any of the rooms on the floor. However, their position allowed them to view everyone though no one could see them.
This gave the Apprentices a feeling of power and superiority.
So what if there were divine envoys, demonic servants, and the like here?
All of them had to quietly be silent and bid for their Master's goods which they were able to enjoy freely!
Seeing this motivated the students even more to work hard in the future, for they somewhat understood the blessing they had been given. Of course, it wasn't until the auction actually started that they realized that their previous ideas had been simply naive and childish.
Witnessing the furious bidding, the threats, the drama that occurred and the almost all-out war had made them shake in their seats.
This was more than a direct value of the goods they took for granted as they got them every day, and they couldn't help but gaze at their master strangely.
Could it be that… he was actually their illegitimate father? Could they have been his direct children or lover in a previous life?
Because seeing the raw value these items had to powerhouses far higher than them, who on Faust would give it out so easily to mere Apprentices like them?
Darius and Gunner were amused by the entire proceedings, sharing looks often as things went as planned. Xela only watched on with curious interest, as she was aware of the plan but was not sure if all other parties would just take the bait.
However, seeing that they were helpless and could only be toyed with by Darius left her smiling bitterly. How could she have doubted her Master?
He was blessed in many areas, but mercantilism was where he truly shone.
Allowing him to organize an event like this was just bullying the entire population of Faust with his knowledge and skills. Xela could only pray for them by the time the auction was halfway through its session.
Hopefully, the entity above saw fit that Darius would have mercy and allow them to live just a little.
