While Liam happily watched the proceedings from the VIP row, several rows beneath him, in the lowest seating area where individual booths were not even available, there was an annoyed old man. This was none other than the PVP tower master, Crawford.
Right next to him, there was also another old man who was none other than the forging grandmaster, Acalan.
While the former was annoyed beyond his wits to be in such a disrespectful position, sitting in the lowest rungs of the auction house, the latter was calm and indifferent.
However, just like Liam, this duo was also completely focused on the stage in front of them. Everyone in the huge auction house was waiting for the same thing.
Soon, a loud gong resounded throughout the entire auditorium, and not longer after that, a group of women walked over. Liam immediately noticed something odd.
For some reason, all of these women had a light blue complexion with shimmering milky skin just like the little girl sitting next to him.
"Ummmm…" Liam blinked. There was obviously some sort of connection between these guys.
This girl also had a mansion here and seemed to live here, so maybe these were people conducting and managing this auction house and this city?
"Miss Itzel, do you know them?"
"Ha Ha Ha! Big bro Kouske is so smart! I wanted to give you a surprise, but you found out before! They are my sisters!"
Liam smiled. He was indeed correct.
"You have 20 sisters? Or they are just your friends?" He probed and then quickly added, "I am asking because Miss Itzel is so much prettier and sweeter than your sisters."
He scratched his head. He didn't want to come across as nosy, but he had a feeling this made him look creepy.
'If I could have brought Luna or Mei Mei then the whole bunch would have become good friends, and it would be far easier to find out information.' Liam smiled awkwardly.
Luckily for him, the little girl seemed way too innocent. She giggled sweetly and bumped her head on Liam's shoulder.
"Big bro Kouske! Ha Ha Ha! They are all my own sisters, but I am indeed the prettiest! Mwah!" She abruptly gave a small kiss on Liam's cheek and started giggling.
Ah… Liam was speechless. He rubbed the spot on his cheek, which felt weirdly cool.
But the little girl didn't seem to care at all. She continued her rant with a big smile. "Papa also says I am the prettiest. I am papa's favorite too! Ha Ha Ha. You should meet my papa, he is a very nice person."
"Right." Liam did not know why but he had a feeling that this meeting wouldn't go well. He smiled awkwardly again as the little girl began naming one woman after the other.
"That's Sidra sis, Maia sis, Lyra sis, Danica sis…"
Was he supposed to remember all these names? He couldn't tell clearly from this distance who was who. He just silently listened while observing what the women were doing on the stage.
They prepared a huge stone slab table, and on top of which they placed three covered plates.
"Big bro, look there. There are three items for auction today!"
"Only three?"
"Eh? Big bro, is new here right, so you don't know. If there are only three items, then it means this time the auction is of high-quality stuff, good treasures."
"When there are more items, then quality won't be too good. This is a big auction and a small auction. Today is a big auction."
Liam was able to understand the gist of the long-winded, confusing explanation, and he looked curiously at the three covered items. What could they be?
His question was soon answered when one of the shimmering maidens stepped forward and spoke. Her voice was melodious, just like Itzel's, and yet it filled the whole auditorium.
"The auction now begins. Today's first item is…" She brought the plate out and then removed the lid to reveal a small white bead, or it could be a pearl.
Liam tried to take a closer look as it was difficult to see from the distance, but in the next second, the image and the details of the pearl flashed in front of him.
[Ding. Thousand year old Siren's pearl]
[Type: Ingredient]
[Use: If correctly used, it has the chance to boost vitality by 5000 and strength by 5000]
"5000 vitality and 5000 strength?" Liam almost fell back in shock.
What were these stats? This was completely unbelievable. If he could somehow get this, then wouldn't he be able to massacre everything and ace this damned tutorial?
From the looks of it, the little lady next to him also had similar thoughts, though for a very different reason.
"How pretty…" The little girl was almost drooling, staring at the pea-shaped pearl. Her eyes were also twinkling like a puppy's.
"You want that, Miss Itzel?" Liam asked her the obvious.
"Yes, big bro. You want it too?" The girl looked conflicted.
"Let's see how much it will cost first." Liam turned to click the start bidding option when he almost got a heart attack.
[Going price: 1000 greater mana cores]
"Greater mana core? This should be the highest quality mana core, and we need a thousand of these to buy this item?"
The price was a bit steep, but the effects were truly amazing.
Just as Liam was thinking if there was any way he could come up with this ridiculous number of mana cores, the price in front of him had already changed several times.
[Going price: 2000 greater mana cores]
[Going price: 3000 greater mana cores]
[Going price: 10000 greater mana cores]
…
…
…
By the time he took a look again…
[Going price: 200000 greater mana cores]
[Ding. Do you wish to place a bid?]
Liam almost got another heart attack from looking at this price.
Yup, this was completely out of his price range. There was no way he could ever farm 200000 greater mana cores before the tutorial shut down.
However, the same could not be said for the little girl next to him. She licked her lips and stared at the screen with full concentration.
"I am going to get this, big bro." She typed up 500000 and sent her bid in.
500000 greater mana cores? This little girl had that many mana cores? Liam bitterly smiled. Moreover, he also knew the real reason why she was placing the bid. It was because the pearl was pretty.
He shook his head helplessly and silently watched the show. This auction was not something he could participate in. It was only for him to watch.
