Corrupt Creations

Incurring the wrath of a "Nature Roots" would be the same as incurring the wrath of a behemoth. When they find you, not even your body would be left behind and that was something no one would dare to attract towards themselves. 

Ivorn wanted to pay a single gold coin for that greatsword, making things hard for Mister Olsen. He found out that it was a legal form to shame and oppose that human merchant without defying him openly. Actually, that greatsword was worthy at least a blue Skystone, or approximately thousand gold coins, but he exploited the gap left behind by Mister Olsen carelessness, to deal a bit of damage on his pocket and image. 

Ivorn was sure that no one would bid against him and the wicked smile on his face was evident already. His sour mood from before was getting better. 

Mister Olsen was already sweating in embarrassment, because he was being shamed right before everyone present and he could do nothing about it. It was his responsibility to make the items be sold for the right and just price, yet he was stranded by his own rules. He would have to pay the rest of the value from his own pocket if this continued like that. 

But... 

"Ten blue Skystones." 

A voice echoed from the balcony of the vip room, bidding a value at least ten times higher than the real price for that souvenir. 

Everyone looked up but didn't see who was bidding against Ivorn, but Ivorn and Mister Olsen knew which individual that voice belonged to. It was the human male that had the Elf Queen Royal Crest. 

Ivorn gritted his teeth in anger. That human was purposely standing on his way, increasing the humiliation he was feeling at least two-fold. His reason seemed to fade as he started to increase the value. 

"Twenty blue Skystones!" 

Everyone looked towards him flabbergasted, they firstly thought he didn't want to spend money on something as difficult to use as that weapon, but now they all realized they might be wrong. 

"Thirty blue Skystones." Seth's voice immediately replied. He was actually nonchalantly observing everything from up there on his vip room. He was not bothered by that amount of blue Skystones at all, because he had more than a hundred thousand blue Skystones from the Demonic Shadow Royal Clan to spend. 

"Forty!" 

Ivorn offered forty blue Skystones on that weapon, something he would never do if not for his angered state. 

Out of nowhere something clicked inside his mind. If he continued to bid, he would be helping that fatty human merchant on achieving his objectives, but if he didn't, he would be losing face, since this item would be sold for the main target of his anger. There was only his loss on this situation. 

"Fifty blue Skystones." 

Ivorn gritted his teeth and decided to not bid anymore. It would be a waste of resources, paying that much for a souvenir. He consoled himself thinking that the human paid fifty times the price for that useless item. 

"Fifty blue Skystones... Anyone wants to bid higher?" Mister Olsen asked while smiling. He was able to avoid a debt and earn more than he ever thought, because he would be receiving a small part of every item sold. 

No one said a word. They all thought it was a waste of resources and only someone crazy would pay that amount for a souvenir. However, for Seth, it was a weapon and not a souvenir. 

"Sold! The item will be delivered at the end of the auction." 

Mister Olsen continued: "Now we are going to bring the second item, something that most of you will certainly like." 

An elf entered the stage while holding a box. He put it on the table before Mister Olsen and left right after. 

Mister Olsen opened the box, revealing the item inside for everyone to see. It was a white and round stone that seemed to be normal, but Seth could feel the high amounts of spirit energy concentrated inside it. 

"This stone is called Spirit Enhancement Stone and it is basically what it actually does. While used on your weapon or artifact, it can strength the spirit within, making its abilities stronger and much better. This is a very precious and scarce item. We usually receive only a single piece of stone like this for every five to ten years, so the initial bid was already set. Beginning with a hundred blue Skystones, you can start bidding." 

"A hundred Skystones!" 

"A hundred and fifty Skystones!" 

"Two hundred Skystones!" 

"Three hundred!" 

"Thousand blue Skystones!" Ivorn bided for real this time, he was interested in the item and gave a decent bid. 

"Thousand blue Skystones. Is there anyone that wants to bid higher? Going once... Going twice..." 

"Two thousand blue Skystones." Seth doubled Ivorn's offer. 

"You!" Ivorn thought Seth was doing it in order to irritate him. 

"Two thousand five hundred blue Skystones!" 

"Five thousand Skystones." 

"What is he crazy?" The crowd started to think Seth has gone mad. He was offering a lot for that item, probably more than it was worth already. 

"Five thousand blue Skystones. Is there anyone that wants to bid higher? Going once... Going twice..." 

Ivorn brough a bit over six thousand blue Skystones to buy the items he wanted. That quantity was already a considerable amount of blue Skystones, enough to feed a whole family for years.

However, if he wanted to win that bid, he would have to spend it all. 

"Six thousand blue Skystones!" He gathered his courage and offered all his budget. 

"Ten thousand blue Skystones." Seth offered ten thousand for that item, silencing the whole crowd. 

People started to whisper things to one another. 

"Who's he?" 

"How come we didn't hear anything about a person like him?" 

"How can he be that rich?" 

Ivorn was thoroughly shocked, even Mister Olsen was. They were sure that no one would be able to bid higher than that. 

"Ten thousand blue Skystones. Going once... Going twice... Sold!" 

"..." 

"Mister Olsen, I would like to ask you something." 

The merchant looked towards Ivorn, the one that was asking. 

"Please, say it." 

"Mister Olsen, what happens if a certain person is not able to pay the sum they have offered for an item?" 

The merchant Mister Olsen narrowed his eyes in displeasure, because he knew where Ivorn was trying to get. 

"If a person is not able to afford the money they have offered, the bid will be annulled and he will be forbidden from participating on the auction." 

"Then, I would like to ass Mister Olsen to check if our illustrious guest is able to honor with his offer." 

Mister Olsen knew that it was disrespectful to check it and that it was a scheme from Ivorn, but he could not deny that Seth was a person that came out of nowhere and he wasn't sure if he would be able to pay for the items, even though he only needed to pay eighty percent of the value. Seth was clearly a foreigner, so he couldn't be disrespectful, since he didn't know who he really was, however, he had to check it. 

He looked towards the balcony where Seth was lazily enjoying some fruits, that they had brought for him and was about to ask him if he could pay for the items, but Seth raised his hand, showing the Elf Queen Royal Crest for everyone to see. 

"Do you think I would dare to sully the Elf Queen's reputation? Do you think the Elf Queen would give her Royal Crest to a nobody?" 

"No, I don't think so." 

"Then you can continue the auction." 

Mister Olsen and everyone present would never disrespect the Elf Queen or doubt her decisions and Seth knew it. That is why he was using her crest and her name, to put pressure on them. 

"Young Master Ivorn, I believe Young Master Seth is a person that can honor with his words. There is no need to bother with it for now. Let's continue the auction." 

After those two items, more than twenty types of artifacts and weapons were auctioned, together with resources for cultivation and even some skillbooks. 

Whenever Seth saw an item he liked, he would bid on it unrestrained. 

At the end of the day, he spent about forty thousand blue Skystones, acquiring a lot of resources for Lexi and different types of weapons and skillbooks. He wanted to test all the weapons, before choosing one that was compatible with his style. 

When the auction ended, Ivorn was already on fire. He had lost more than eight times while bidding against Seth and he could do nothing about it. 

"Have you called uncle already?" Ivorn asked for his guards. 

"We contacted him already and he said he will arrive here tomorrow." 

"Very well. Get prepared, after he arrives, we are going to kidnap that idiot human and kill him. We can't leave any traces behind, so I will not hasten things and wait for his arrival. I'd like to see how he will escape us with a Mana Perception real cultivator chasing after him." 

"Alright, Young Master." 

"Hahaha. We will steal every single thing he bought today, showing him that strength is better than money. Without strength he won't be able to secure that fortune of his."