Chapter 54
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Feeling refreshed after a good night's rest, Greyson stretched his limbs and glanced over to Lucius. The cat was sensitive to movement so he had already woken up, however, his weariness won over as he decided to shut his eyes again.
"Lu, get up you lazy cat. I know you already woke up."
"Grey, you don't understand. Cats need lots of sleep, I can't help it." Lucius just lazily yawned while groggily answering. His eyes slightly cracked open as he watched Greyson get dressed. Once he saw that Greyson was ready to leave, he hopped up onto the boy's shoulder and resumed his sleep. Greyson glanced over at the peacefully sleeping cat on his shoulder feeling slightly envious. If he was a small animal, he could rest on people's shoulders and laze around all day, but instead he was the one who did all the work while Lucius got a free ride. Sighing helplessly, he walked out the door silently accepting his chauffeur fate.
Outside the inn, Greyson thought back to the map of the city he bought and slowly made his way to the auction house. Still unfamiliar with the roads, he ended up asking for directions to avoid getting lost. Eventually he stood in front of a grand entranced with the large words "Purple Lion." Purple Lion was the third most popular auction house in the imperial city. Although they could not fight with the Argentum family's number one auction house and Seirina family's number two, the auction house could still hold their own in such immense competition because they were backed by the Basileus family. He could feel the grandness of the auction from the looking at the atmosphere around the building. Breathing in a nervous breath, he walked up to the entrance.
"Halt! What is your business with the auction house? Our auctions do not start until the afternoon." The guard outside the door blocked Greyson with his spear.
"Ah, hello, I am here to check-in with the auction house about an item of mine that will be sold later on today."
Hearing his words, the guard indicated to his partner who then nodded and went into the building. A couple moments later, the other guard came back followed by a young woman.
"Manager Swan, this is the boy."
The young woman's brown eyes then looked towards Greyson scanning him top to bottom seemingly trying to recall if she recognized him. Her eyebrows furrowed when she did not recall ever meeting him.
"I do not recall ever meeting you. Are you sure an item of yours is to be sold here?" Her tone was polite, but her eyes gave away her misgivings about Greyson.
"Yes, I am sure. There is a painting that is to be sold here today called, 'A Mother's Smile.' It was sent here from the Dalia Kingdom's painting association for winning the junior painting competition. I am the painter. I came here directly since I already had business in the Idris Kingdom at the same time that this auction would occur." Instead of getting angry, Greyson decided to just calmly explain himself.
After his explanation, the woman's eyes lit up.
"That painting? Could you follow me?" She motioned for him to enter. Greyson quickly nodded and followed after her. Once he was through the doors, he entered a huge hall. There were a bunch of different doorways which led to different exhibits. Paintings, herbs, pills, potions, spell books, magic tools, etc. The woman kept walking to the back until they reached a long row of waiting rooms. Sitting him down, the woman said she would be right back with the files. Waiting on the couch, Greyson looked around a little at the room. It was a simple meeting room with two couches and a table in between, he guessed that the rows of rooms are all like this and are meant for meeting with sellers and buyers. After some time, the door finally clicked open revealing the woman again holding some files in her hands. However, this time, the earlier doubt was back in her eyes when she looked at him.
"Is something the matter?"
"Just that... the painting association sent a long a picture of the artist. You don't look anything like him. But for you to even know about this painting is rare, so I thought I should ask before calling security and jumping to conclusions." She explained while looking at him closely for a reaction. Greyson's eyes quickly widened in surprise as he realized that he was still in disguise. Grateful that the woman had allowed him time to explain, he quickly stopped his disguise spell.
The plain, short brown hair grew out and changed to the beautiful platinum silver while his eyes changed back to a deep sapphire blue. Not prepared for the sudden change, the woman jumped in shock before quickly regaining her calm. Her eyes showed understanding. Although no one spoke about it explicitly, she knew exactly how mixed blood people were treated.
"Disguise spell?" She questioned.
"Yes, as is probably obvious, my real looks are quite frustrating. I have been trying to stay more low key and attract less attention to myself."
"No, I understand. We have a lot of mixed race workers who are treated terribly by customers. Well, now that the issue is solved, I would have to congratulate you."
"Congratulate?"
"Hahaha, you would not be aware yet, however, when your painting got sent over about a month ago and was hung in our exhibit, all of our painting customers were ecstatic. There were already swarms of people who wish to buy it and even more who wished to meet the artist so they could request you to paint something for them."
"Really? How could that be? Aren't paintings by well-known artists usually the ones that sell better?"
"Normally that is the case, since many people buy the paintings to just brag about who made them than to really appreciate the art. However, I think you underestimate the familial nostalgia or even romantic nostalgia your painting invokes. Children who have lost their mothers, husbands their wives, or just lonely people with a broken heart. Your painting really creates such a warm feeling in everyone who sees it. Almost every eye that makes contact with that painting starts to cry or tear up." As if she was the one who painted it, the woman explained with extreme excitement and pride. Affected by her mood, Greyson also felt pride fill him as he thought about how much others were treasuring his painting.
"I believe that the painting will sell well later on, so you have nothing to worry about on that front. After the auction this afternoon is over, you can come back to this room and the money will be given over to you. Our house takes 10% of the money as repayment for giving your painting space to become well-known and sell well. Are you okay with that?"
"Of course, of course. My painting would definitely sell for less if not for the publicity it gained through a popular auction house like Purple Lion." Greyson completely agreed with them taking a portion, plus, in his mind, 10% was not a lot in the end.
"Great! Would you be okay if we released your information to interested customers?"
"Uhm... I would actually prefer if you did not."
"Why not? This could be a really good way to get your name out there and to make money."
"Painting is a hobby, not my career. I do it for fun and peace of mind. I am not at the step where everything I paint will be at the level of 'A Mother's Smile.' The only reason that painting is so popular is because I made it with a very strong connection towards the subject. Sincere feelings which were mine went into it. If I were to paint just any scene, it would not be like that. If I took requests I would just be disappointing their expectations." Greyson was being completely honest. Sister Lily was like his mother and during the time he painted it, he was thinking of how much he missed her and was reminiscing in his own memories. Earlier when his teacher had asked him to paint landscapes and animals, he could not bring the paintings to life. They were just drawings. Without the right type of dedication to the art, which he sadly did not have, he would never be able to draw at that level. Hobbies were hobbies. Magic and blacksmithing were his main future while music and painting were fun hobbies which he enjoyed.
"Okay, I understand. I will do as you wish. How about an alias then? Just so your name will still spread in the community." The woman nodded in understanding, but still asked for something as she felt reluctant to just let the subject drop.
"Alias? Well, I have never really thought about it... How about, Silver Dragon?" Not exactly adept with coming up with names, all Greyson could think of was the signature that he put in the corner of all his paintings.
"Silver Dragon? Yeah, okay, that makes sense. Well Mr. Silver Dragon, I look forward to any work we could do together in the future even after this auction." The woman gave a polite business smile while holding out her hand. Briskly shaking her hand, Greyson was soon led to a private room in the auction house to await the start. After the discussions, the time was already close to midday, so there wasn't much time left to wait.
...
About an hour rolled by inside the room before people started filing in and filling the seats. There were thousands of common area seats and a bunch of private rooms that were higher up that were roomier and expensive. Another way to profit for the auction house because the rich in the city normally loved keeping up appearances. All the faces were unfamiliar to Greyson, so after looking for a minute or so, he went back to meditating while waiting for the auction to begin. He did not even think he would stay for the rest of the auction after his painting was sold. Although there were tons of great stuff he could possibly buy, his knowledge was not extensive enough and he had everything he needed for his level of strength. With whatever money he gets from the painting, he was planning on using it for essentials he would need for the academy and save it for further unknown circumstances. The exam was a mystery to him, so he had no idea how to prepare. Rumors floated around about an outdoor aspect, so he was planning on buying some new clothes and materials good for staying outside.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! We are about to get our auction started off. I hope you are ready for some impressive items today. We have spent the last month collecting valuables for this month's auction, I believe they will not disappoint!" Greyson's thoughts were interrupted by the loud spokesperson's voice as he announced the start of the auction. Interest piqued, Greyson stopped his meditation and sat down on the chair to get a good view of the stage.
"First, we have a top level tier two wind boots. They were made by the tier four blacksmith Claydon! These boots are for any element magician, however, a wind magician would experience a 50% increase in speed compared to the other magicians who would experience a 25% increase in speed. This is an extremely useful life saver for weaker magicians! The price is also lower compared to other top level tier two, so this is a great deal for any wind magicians especially." As a blacksmith himself who could make himself boots just as nice, Greyson was quickly unimpressed. He knew, however, that this was only the first item. Of course it would not be too impressive or it would take all the impact away from the good stuff at the end.
"10 gold!"
"10? You poor sod, get out of here! I bid 50 gold!"
"60 gold!"
Greyson listened closely as the price continued to climb. It finally ended on 250 gold for the boots. Completely shocked, Greyson suddenly realized how much his teacher had been ripping him off. His tier two equipment was not as good as this stuff in the beginning, but his teacher always only gave him 50 silvers for a month's hard work. That damn scrooge! Greyson felt a helpless anger and grit his teeth. He would definitely get back at that wretched teacher of his! His stingy teacher who most likely spent that money on alcohol was normally very strict and serious. However, Dwarves had the unfortunate downfall of alcohol. As a race, they were all obsessed with drinking. Thraec was not too bad and he had an uncanny tolerance, but he still spent most of his payments on good alcohol. That constant money flow also made him poor so he was always extra stingy with money and pay.
Suddenly looking down at his waist, Greyson wondered how much Genesis could be bought for. The idea was thrown out as quickly as it came, though, because he knew how much effort went into tailoring the sword just for him. The next item he made could possibly be sold here instead. In that way he would not have to worry about spending money for awhile. Maybe he could even start sending money back to the church more often.
The rest of the items were all definitely tempting. All sorts of power increasing herb or rare pills, some powerful magic beasts, armor, enchanted jewelry, the list seemed to be never-ending. Near the middle of the auction, there was a short intermission while they got the next items prepared. The manager had sent a servant to inform Greyson that his painting would be first after the intermission which finally caused Greyson to sit up in his chair with excitement. He wondered how much the painting would sell for.
Time felt painfully slow as he fidgeted in his seat waiting. Lucius had already complained that he couldn't nap with all the tapping and movement, to which Greyson rolled his eyes and ignored since it wasn't like this was a quiet place to sleep anyways. Finally, the curtains parted again and the auctioneer this time was a beautiful woman instead of the slimy middle-aged man of before. Maybe the prices were not as high due to the absence of eye-candy? Shrugging his shoulder, Greyson did not bother to delve into the reasons as it was probably only going to benefit him not hurt him. The male audience drooled over the woman and made a commotion of catcalling and harassment while the female audience looked at those men with disdain. Hearing the disrespect, the originally genial and charming woman radiated a suffocating power.
"Magister!" Greyson could feel the pressure even from his private booth as he listened to the audiences' cries. Was she really a magister? He had to assume so otherwise she would not be able to make him feel so powerless.
"This auction house is definitely backed by a powerhouse family to have even the auctioneer be a magister."
"Well, of course. Low level magisters are not much in a huge family like that."
Listening to the whispers around him, Greyson felt impressed by these noble families one again. 1% of the population would awaken their magic in the human population while only about half of that 1% would be able to make it to the magister level. Granted there were probably billions of humans so that was still a lot of people, however, just in a tier one kingdom, a magister was still very impressive. The most powerful people were magister level stage five magicians other than the king. He was starting to really wonder about the top 3 kingdoms above tier one kingdoms and then the empire above those kingdoms. The world was only getting wider and wider for him, it was completely beyond his previous imagination.
In the midst of Greyson's thoughts, the woman saw the crowd had calmed down and stopped chattering so she retracted the pressure and continued to smile warmly as if nothing had occurred.
"Well, everyone, I shall be taking over the latter half of this auction. We have a great treat for all painting fanatics. 'A Mother's Smile' shall finally be sold! The time has come to auction it off. I hope you all are prepared." The woman gave a great smile and a good amount of the audience sat up in their seats excited.
"That painting!"
"Oh, I really love it! It really brings me back to my hometown and my family."
"I wonder if the price will go up a lot?"
"Do you think the painter is here?"
One that last question was asked, the whispers increased even more. They all started glancing around as if they could spot the painter if they saw him. To no avail obviously as Greyson had been hidden away in a private room. However, seeing the excitement in the audience, he in turn was excited for the painting to finally be sold.
"The price will start at 50 gold coins."
"75!"
"Hmph, how is that all it is worth?! 150!"
"200!"
"210!"
After hitting 200 gold coins, although the bidding didn't slow down, the price did not shoot up and kept creeping up 10 gold coins at a time. Finally, the bidding seemed to reach the end at 425 gold coins when one person only increased the price by one gold coin at a time. Greyson was extremely excited by the price and was already standing to wait for the hammer to land and for him to go down and receive the money. However, right at that moment...
"500!" A surprisingly young voice called out. In shock, Greyson could not even compute what had just happened for a moment. Snapping out of his daze, he looked in the direction of the voice to see the origin. When he looked over, he saw a young teenage girl of probably around 13-14 years old. She was definitely beautiful with dark gray wavy locks of hair down to her waist and stormy gray eyes to match. However, there was nothing weak about her. Fully suited, she stood straight like a soldier at attention exuding a charisma hard to resist. Everyone's eyes were attracted towards her for her looks and from the surprising amount she had just offered.
"Hey, hey! Isn't that the girl adopted by the Argentum family?"
"Yeah! Eden Ley right? I heard she has a quarter dragon bloodline or something and inherited the draconic talent for finding treasures. She must be treated really well, though, to have that kind of money."
"Hah? That's because you're not aware. She's just treated like a glorified dog to sniff out treasures for the family. I hear she is always getting sent to dangerous places and almost dying which is why she trained so hard to become strong."
"Really?"
The whispers of gossip entered into Greyson's ears and he could not help but feel his heart ache for the girl. He was also of mixed blood. If he later awakened a talent like that, would he be captured and used that way too? As an orphan he knew that all that they really wanted was a real family, however, this one was obviously just using her and she could only accept it. Maybe it was empathy of a similar abandonment, Greyson couldn't help but feel sadness looking at the girl's strong posture.
Not flinching at the words of the audience, the girl continued looking at the auctioneer as if indicating why the woman wasn't continuing. Seeing the nonverbal cue, the auctioneer then shouted out to the audience again.
"500! 500 going once? 500 going twice?..." She paused for dramatic effect while luring for someone to shout out again, but she was met with silence. Slightly disappointed, she quickly recovered as she knew that 500 gold coins for a painting by an unknown was an extremely great deal.
"500 gold coins! Sold to Ms. Ley of the Argentum family!"
The girl's serious eyes lit up as she stared at the painting that was approaching her. Affection for the painting was obvious from her expression. Looking at her sincerity, Greyson felt a type of relief that his painting went to the right person. Although he wanted to sell the painting well, he was worried that it would get bought by someone who just wanted to say he had the painting but would let it rot away in some corner. A piece of his heart was inside the painting and he hoped whoever owned it would have a real appreciation for the painting.
Continuing to stare at the girl, Greyson felt an odd connection to her. Suddenly he just shook his head scoffing, for what reason could he feel connected to some stranger? Taking one last look at the girl, he turned his attention away and decided to head to the private room to wait for his money. Nothing at the auction was catching his eye and it wasn't in his nature to just spend everything he has now that he could make more money.
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Feeling refreshed after a good night's rest, Greyson stretched his limbs and glanced over to Lucius. The cat was sensitive to movement so he had already woken up, however, his weariness won over as he decided to shut his eyes again.
"Lu, get up you lazy cat. I know you already woke up."
"Grey, you don't understand. Cats need lots of sleep, I can't help it." Lucius just lazily yawned while groggily answering. His eyes slightly cracked open as he watched Greyson get dressed. Once he saw that Greyson was ready to leave, he hopped up onto the boy's shoulder and resumed his sleep. Greyson glanced over at the peacefully sleeping cat on his shoulder feeling slightly envious. If he was a small animal, he could rest on people's shoulders and laze around all day, but instead he was the one who did all the work while Lucius got a free ride. Sighing helplessly, he walked out the door silently accepting his chauffeur fate.
Outside the inn, Greyson thought back to the map of the city he bought and slowly made his way to the auction house. Still unfamiliar with the roads, he ended up asking for directions to avoid getting lost. Eventually he stood in front of a grand entranced with the large words "Purple Lion." Purple Lion was the third most popular auction house in the imperial city. Although they could not fight with the Argentum family's number one auction house and Seirina family's number two, the auction house could still hold their own in such immense competition because they were backed by the Basileus family. He could feel the grandness of the auction from the looking at the atmosphere around the building. Breathing in a nervous breath, he walked up to the entrance.
"Halt! What is your business with the auction house? Our auctions do not start until the afternoon." The guard outside the door blocked Greyson with his spear.
"Ah, hello, I am here to check-in with the auction house about an item of mine that will be sold later on today."
Hearing his words, the guard indicated to his partner who then nodded and went into the building. A couple moments later, the other guard came back followed by a young woman.
"Manager Swan, this is the boy."
The young woman's brown eyes then looked towards Greyson scanning him top to bottom seemingly trying to recall if she recognized him. Her eyebrows furrowed when she did not recall ever meeting him.
"I do not recall ever meeting you. Are you sure an item of yours is to be sold here?" Her tone was polite, but her eyes gave away her misgivings about Greyson.
"Yes, I am sure. There is a painting that is to be sold here today called, 'A Mother's Smile.' It was sent here from the Dalia Kingdom's painting association for winning the junior painting competition. I am the painter. I came here directly since I already had business in the Idris Kingdom at the same time that this auction would occur." Instead of getting angry, Greyson decided to just calmly explain himself.
After his explanation, the woman's eyes lit up.
"That painting? Could you follow me?" She motioned for him to enter. Greyson quickly nodded and followed after her. Once he was through the doors, he entered a huge hall. There were a bunch of different doorways which led to different exhibits. Paintings, herbs, pills, potions, spell books, magic tools, etc. The woman kept walking to the back until they reached a long row of waiting rooms. Sitting him down, the woman said she would be right back with the files. Waiting on the couch, Greyson looked around a little at the room. It was a simple meeting room with two couches and a table in between, he guessed that the rows of rooms are all like this and are meant for meeting with sellers and buyers. After some time, the door finally clicked open revealing the woman again holding some files in her hands. However, this time, the earlier doubt was back in her eyes when she looked at him.
"Is something the matter?"
"Just that... the painting association sent a long a picture of the artist. You don't look anything like him. But for you to even know about this painting is rare, so I thought I should ask before calling security and jumping to conclusions." She explained while looking at him closely for a reaction. Greyson's eyes quickly widened in surprise as he realized that he was still in disguise. Grateful that the woman had allowed him time to explain, he quickly stopped his disguise spell.
The plain, short brown hair grew out and changed to the beautiful platinum silver while his eyes changed back to a deep sapphire blue. Not prepared for the sudden change, the woman jumped in shock before quickly regaining her calm. Her eyes showed understanding. Although no one spoke about it explicitly, she knew exactly how mixed blood people were treated.
"Disguise spell?" She questioned.
"Yes, as is probably obvious, my real looks are quite frustrating. I have been trying to stay more low key and attract less attention to myself."
"No, I understand. We have a lot of mixed race workers who are treated terribly by customers. Well, now that the issue is solved, I would have to congratulate you."
"Congratulate?"
"Hahaha, you would not be aware yet, however, when your painting got sent over about a month ago and was hung in our exhibit, all of our painting customers were ecstatic. There were already swarms of people who wish to buy it and even more who wished to meet the artist so they could request you to paint something for them."
"Really? How could that be? Aren't paintings by well-known artists usually the ones that sell better?"
"Normally that is the case, since many people buy the paintings to just brag about who made them than to really appreciate the art. However, I think you underestimate the familial nostalgia or even romantic nostalgia your painting invokes. Children who have lost their mothers, husbands their wives, or just lonely people with a broken heart. Your painting really creates such a warm feeling in everyone who sees it. Almost every eye that makes contact with that painting starts to cry or tear up." As if she was the one who painted it, the woman explained with extreme excitement and pride. Affected by her mood, Greyson also felt pride fill him as he thought about how much others were treasuring his painting.
"I believe that the painting will sell well later on, so you have nothing to worry about on that front. After the auction this afternoon is over, you can come back to this room and the money will be given over to you. Our house takes 10% of the money as repayment for giving your painting space to become well-known and sell well. Are you okay with that?"
"Of course, of course. My painting would definitely sell for less if not for the publicity it gained through a popular auction house like Purple Lion." Greyson completely agreed with them taking a portion, plus, in his mind, 10% was not a lot in the end.
"Great! Would you be okay if we released your information to interested customers?"
"Uhm... I would actually prefer if you did not."
"Why not? This could be a really good way to get your name out there and to make money."
"Painting is a hobby, not my career. I do it for fun and peace of mind. I am not at the step where everything I paint will be at the level of 'A Mother's Smile.' The only reason that painting is so popular is because I made it with a very strong connection towards the subject. Sincere feelings which were mine went into it. If I were to paint just any scene, it would not be like that. If I took requests I would just be disappointing their expectations." Greyson was being completely honest. Sister Lily was like his mother and during the time he painted it, he was thinking of how much he missed her and was reminiscing in his own memories. Earlier when his teacher had asked him to paint landscapes and animals, he could not bring the paintings to life. They were just drawings. Without the right type of dedication to the art, which he sadly did not have, he would never be able to draw at that level. Hobbies were hobbies. Magic and blacksmithing were his main future while music and painting were fun hobbies which he enjoyed.
"Okay, I understand. I will do as you wish. How about an alias then? Just so your name will still spread in the community." The woman nodded in understanding, but still asked for something as she felt reluctant to just let the subject drop.
"Alias? Well, I have never really thought about it... How about, Silver Dragon?" Not exactly adept with coming up with names, all Greyson could think of was the signature that he put in the corner of all his paintings.
"Silver Dragon? Yeah, okay, that makes sense. Well Mr. Silver Dragon, I look forward to any work we could do together in the future even after this auction." The woman gave a polite business smile while holding out her hand. Briskly shaking her hand, Greyson was soon led to a private room in the auction house to await the start. After the discussions, the time was already close to midday, so there wasn't much time left to wait.
...
About an hour rolled by inside the room before people started filing in and filling the seats. There were thousands of common area seats and a bunch of private rooms that were higher up that were roomier and expensive. Another way to profit for the auction house because the rich in the city normally loved keeping up appearances. All the faces were unfamiliar to Greyson, so after looking for a minute or so, he went back to meditating while waiting for the auction to begin. He did not even think he would stay for the rest of the auction after his painting was sold. Although there were tons of great stuff he could possibly buy, his knowledge was not extensive enough and he had everything he needed for his level of strength. With whatever money he gets from the painting, he was planning on using it for essentials he would need for the academy and save it for further unknown circumstances. The exam was a mystery to him, so he had no idea how to prepare. Rumors floated around about an outdoor aspect, so he was planning on buying some new clothes and materials good for staying outside.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! We are about to get our auction started off. I hope you are ready for some impressive items today. We have spent the last month collecting valuables for this month's auction, I believe they will not disappoint!" Greyson's thoughts were interrupted by the loud spokesperson's voice as he announced the start of the auction. Interest piqued, Greyson stopped his meditation and sat down on the chair to get a good view of the stage.
"First, we have a top level tier two wind boots. They were made by the tier four blacksmith Claydon! These boots are for any element magician, however, a wind magician would experience a 50% increase in speed compared to the other magicians who would experience a 25% increase in speed. This is an extremely useful life saver for weaker magicians! The price is also lower compared to other top level tier two, so this is a great deal for any wind magicians especially." As a blacksmith himself who could make himself boots just as nice, Greyson was quickly unimpressed. He knew, however, that this was only the first item. Of course it would not be too impressive or it would take all the impact away from the good stuff at the end.
"10 gold!"
"10? You poor sod, get out of here! I bid 50 gold!"
"60 gold!"
Greyson listened closely as the price continued to climb. It finally ended on 250 gold for the boots. Completely shocked, Greyson suddenly realized how much his teacher had been ripping him off. His tier two equipment was not as good as this stuff in the beginning, but his teacher always only gave him 50 silvers for a month's hard work. That damn scrooge! Greyson felt a helpless anger and grit his teeth. He would definitely get back at that wretched teacher of his! His stingy teacher who most likely spent that money on alcohol was normally very strict and serious. However, Dwarves had the unfortunate downfall of alcohol. As a race, they were all obsessed with drinking. Thraec was not too bad and he had an uncanny tolerance, but he still spent most of his payments on good alcohol. That constant money flow also made him poor so he was always extra stingy with money and pay.
Suddenly looking down at his waist, Greyson wondered how much Genesis could be bought for. The idea was thrown out as quickly as it came, though, because he knew how much effort went into tailoring the sword just for him. The next item he made could possibly be sold here instead. In that way he would not have to worry about spending money for awhile. Maybe he could even start sending money back to the church more often.
The rest of the items were all definitely tempting. All sorts of power increasing herb or rare pills, some powerful magic beasts, armor, enchanted jewelry, the list seemed to be never-ending. Near the middle of the auction, there was a short intermission while they got the next items prepared. The manager had sent a servant to inform Greyson that his painting would be first after the intermission which finally caused Greyson to sit up in his chair with excitement. He wondered how much the painting would sell for.
Time felt painfully slow as he fidgeted in his seat waiting. Lucius had already complained that he couldn't nap with all the tapping and movement, to which Greyson rolled his eyes and ignored since it wasn't like this was a quiet place to sleep anyways. Finally, the curtains parted again and the auctioneer this time was a beautiful woman instead of the slimy middle-aged man of before. Maybe the prices were not as high due to the absence of eye-candy? Shrugging his shoulder, Greyson did not bother to delve into the reasons as it was probably only going to benefit him not hurt him. The male audience drooled over the woman and made a commotion of catcalling and harassment while the female audience looked at those men with disdain. Hearing the disrespect, the originally genial and charming woman radiated a suffocating power.
"Magister!" Greyson could feel the pressure even from his private booth as he listened to the audiences' cries. Was she really a magister? He had to assume so otherwise she would not be able to make him feel so powerless.
"This auction house is definitely backed by a powerhouse family to have even the auctioneer be a magister."
"Well, of course. Low level magisters are not much in a huge family like that."
Listening to the whispers around him, Greyson felt impressed by these noble families one again. 1% of the population would awaken their magic in the human population while only about half of that 1% would be able to make it to the magister level. Granted there were probably billions of humans so that was still a lot of people, however, just in a tier one kingdom, a magister was still very impressive. The most powerful people were magister level stage five magicians other than the king. He was starting to really wonder about the top 3 kingdoms above tier one kingdoms and then the empire above those kingdoms. The world was only getting wider and wider for him, it was completely beyond his previous imagination.
In the midst of Greyson's thoughts, the woman saw the crowd had calmed down and stopped chattering so she retracted the pressure and continued to smile warmly as if nothing had occurred.
"Well, everyone, I shall be taking over the latter half of this auction. We have a great treat for all painting fanatics. 'A Mother's Smile' shall finally be sold! The time has come to auction it off. I hope you all are prepared." The woman gave a great smile and a good amount of the audience sat up in their seats excited.
"That painting!"
"Oh, I really love it! It really brings me back to my hometown and my family."
"I wonder if the price will go up a lot?"
"Do you think the painter is here?"
One that last question was asked, the whispers increased even more. They all started glancing around as if they could spot the painter if they saw him. To no avail obviously as Greyson had been hidden away in a private room. However, seeing the excitement in the audience, he in turn was excited for the painting to finally be sold.
"The price will start at 50 gold coins."
"75!"
"Hmph, how is that all it is worth?! 150!"
"200!"
"210!"
After hitting 200 gold coins, although the bidding didn't slow down, the price did not shoot up and kept creeping up 10 gold coins at a time. Finally, the bidding seemed to reach the end at 425 gold coins when one person only increased the price by one gold coin at a time. Greyson was extremely excited by the price and was already standing to wait for the hammer to land and for him to go down and receive the money. However, right at that moment...
"500!" A surprisingly young voice called out. In shock, Greyson could not even compute what had just happened for a moment. Snapping out of his daze, he looked in the direction of the voice to see the origin. When he looked over, he saw a young teenage girl of probably around 13-14 years old. She was definitely beautiful with dark gray wavy locks of hair down to her waist and stormy gray eyes to match. However, there was nothing weak about her. Fully suited, she stood straight like a soldier at attention exuding a charisma hard to resist. Everyone's eyes were attracted towards her for her looks and from the surprising amount she had just offered.
"Hey, hey! Isn't that the girl adopted by the Argentum family?"
"Yeah! Eden Ley right? I heard she has a quarter dragon bloodline or something and inherited the draconic talent for finding treasures. She must be treated really well, though, to have that kind of money."
"Hah? That's because you're not aware. She's just treated like a glorified dog to sniff out treasures for the family. I hear she is always getting sent to dangerous places and almost dying which is why she trained so hard to become strong."
"Really?"
The whispers of gossip entered into Greyson's ears and he could not help but feel his heart ache for the girl. He was also of mixed blood. If he later awakened a talent like that, would he be captured and used that way too? As an orphan he knew that all that they really wanted was a real family, however, this one was obviously just using her and she could only accept it. Maybe it was empathy of a similar abandonment, Greyson couldn't help but feel sadness looking at the girl's strong posture.
Not flinching at the words of the audience, the girl continued looking at the auctioneer as if indicating why the woman wasn't continuing. Seeing the nonverbal cue, the auctioneer then shouted out to the audience again.
"500! 500 going once? 500 going twice?..." She paused for dramatic effect while luring for someone to shout out again, but she was met with silence. Slightly disappointed, she quickly recovered as she knew that 500 gold coins for a painting by an unknown was an extremely great deal.
"500 gold coins! Sold to Ms. Ley of the Argentum family!"
The girl's serious eyes lit up as she stared at the painting that was approaching her. Affection for the painting was obvious from her expression. Looking at her sincerity, Greyson felt a type of relief that his painting went to the right person. Although he wanted to sell the painting well, he was worried that it would get bought by someone who just wanted to say he had the painting but would let it rot away in some corner. A piece of his heart was inside the painting and he hoped whoever owned it would have a real appreciation for the painting.
Continuing to stare at the girl, Greyson felt an odd connection to her. Suddenly he just shook his head scoffing, for what reason could he feel connected to some stranger? Taking one last look at the girl, he turned his attention away and decided to head to the private room to wait for his money. Nothing at the auction was catching his eye and it wasn't in his nature to just spend everything he has now that he could make more money.
Feeling refreshed after a good night's rest, Greyson stretched his limbs and glanced over to Lucius. The cat was sensitive to movement so he had already woken up, however, his weariness won over as he decided to shut his eyes again."Lu, get up you lazy cat. I know you already woke up.""Grey, you don't understand. Cats need lots of sleep, I can't help it." Lucius just lazily yawned while groggily answering. His eyes slightly cracked open as he watched Greyson get dressed. Once he saw that Greyson was ready to leave, he hopped up onto the boy's shoulder and resumed his sleep. Greyson glanced over at the peacefully sleeping cat on his shoulder feeling slightly envious. If he was a small animal, he could rest on people's shoulders and laze around all day, but instead he was the one who did all the work while Lucius got a free ride. Sighing helplessly, he walked out the door silently accepting his chauffeur fate.Outside the inn, Greyson thought back to the map of the city he bought and slowly made his way to the auction house. Still unfamiliar with the roads, he ended up asking for directions to avoid getting lost. Eventually he stood in front of a grand entranced with the large words "Purple Lion." Purple Lion was the third most popular auction house in the imperial city. Although they could not fight with the Argentum family's number one auction house and Seirina family's number two, the auction house could still hold their own in such immense competition because they were backed by the Basileus family. He could feel the grandness of the auction from the looking at the atmosphere around the building. Breathing in a nervous breath, he walked up to the entrance."Halt! What is your business with the auction house? Our auctions do not start until the afternoon." The guard outside the door blocked Greyson with his spear."Ah, hello, I am here to check-in with the auction house about an item of mine that will be sold later on today."Hearing his words, the guard indicated to his partner who then nodded and went into the building. A couple moments later, the other guard came back followed by a young woman."Manager Swan, this is the boy."The young woman's brown eyes then looked towards Greyson scanning him top to bottom seemingly trying to recall if she recognized him. Her eyebrows furrowed when she did not recall ever meeting him."I do not recall ever meeting you. Are you sure an item of yours is to be sold here?" Her tone was polite, but her eyes gave away her misgivings about Greyson."Yes, I am sure. There is a painting that is to be sold here today called, 'A Mother's Smile.' It was sent here from the Dalia Kingdom's painting association for winning the junior painting competition. I am the painter. I came here directly since I already had business in the Idris Kingdom at the same time that this auction would occur." Instead of getting angry, Greyson decided to just calmly explain himself.After his explanation, the woman's eyes lit up."That painting? Could you follow me?" She motioned for him to enter. Greyson quickly nodded and followed after her. Once he was through the doors, he entered a huge hall. There were a bunch of different doorways which led to different exhibits. Paintings, herbs, pills, potions, spell books, magic tools, etc. The woman kept walking to the back until they reached a long row of waiting rooms. Sitting him down, the woman said she would be right back with the files. Waiting on the couch, Greyson looked around a little at the room. It was a simple meeting room with two couches and a table in between, he guessed that the rows of rooms are all like this and are meant for meeting with sellers and buyers. After some time, the door finally clicked open revealing the woman again holding some files in her hands. However, this time, the earlier doubt was back in her eyes when she looked at him."Is something the matter?""Just that... the painting association sent a long a picture of the artist. You don't look anything like him. But for you to even know about this painting is rare, so I thought I should ask before calling security and jumping to conclusions." She explained while looking at him closely for a reaction. Greyson's eyes quickly widened in surprise as he realized that he was still in disguise. Grateful that the woman had allowed him time to explain, he quickly stopped his disguise spell.The plain, short brown hair grew out and changed to the beautiful platinum silver while his eyes changed back to a deep sapphire blue. Not prepared for the sudden change, the woman jumped in shock before quickly regaining her calm. Her eyes showed understanding. Although no one spoke about it explicitly, she knew exactly how mixed blood people were treated."Disguise spell?" She questioned."Yes, as is probably obvious, my real looks are quite frustrating. I have been trying to stay more low key and attract less attention to myself.""No, I understand. We have a lot of mixed race workers who are treated terribly by customers. Well, now that the issue is solved, I would have to congratulate you.""Congratulate?""Hahaha, you would not be aware yet, however, when your painting got sent over about a month ago and was hung in our exhibit, all of our painting customers were ecstatic. There were already swarms of people who wish to buy it and even more who wished to meet the artist so they could request you to paint something for them.""Really? How could that be? Aren't paintings by well-known artists usually the ones that sell better?""Normally that is the case, since many people buy the paintings to just brag about who made them than to really appreciate the art. However, I think you underestimate the familial nostalgia or even romantic nostalgia your painting invokes. Children who have lost their mothers, husbands their wives, or just lonely people with a broken heart. Your painting really creates such a warm feeling in everyone who sees it. Almost every eye that makes contact with that painting starts to cry or tear up." As if she was the one who painted it, the woman explained with extreme excitement and pride. Affected by her mood, Greyson also felt pride fill him as he thought about how much others were treasuring his painting."I believe that the painting will sell well later on, so you have nothing to worry about on that front. After the auction this afternoon is over, you can come back to this room and the money will be given over to you. Our house takes 10% of the money as repayment for giving your painting space to become well-known and sell well. Are you okay with that?""Of course, of course. My painting would definitely sell for less if not for the publicity it gained through a popular auction house like Purple Lion." Greyson completely agreed with them taking a portion, plus, in his mind, 10% was not a lot in the end."Great! Would you be okay if we released your information to interested customers?""Uhm... I would actually prefer if you did not.""Why not? This could be a really good way to get your name out there and to make money.""Painting is a hobby, not my career. I do it for fun and peace of mind. I am not at the step where everything I paint will be at the level of 'A Mother's Smile.' The only reason that painting is so popular is because I made it with a very strong connection towards the subject. Sincere feelings which were mine went into it. If I were to paint just any scene, it would not be like that. If I took requests I would just be disappointing their expectations." Greyson was being completely honest. Sister Lily was like his mother and during the time he painted it, he was thinking of how much he missed her and was reminiscing in his own memories. Earlier when his teacher had asked him to paint landscapes and animals, he could not bring the paintings to life. They were just drawings. Without the right type of dedication to the art, which he sadly did not have, he would never be able to draw at that level. Hobbies were hobbies. Magic and blacksmithing were his main future while music and painting were fun hobbies which he enjoyed."Okay, I understand. I will do as you wish. How about an alias then? Just so your name will still spread in the community." The woman nodded in understanding, but still asked for something as she felt reluctant to just let the subject drop."Alias? Well, I have never really thought about it... How about, Silver Dragon?" Not exactly adept with coming up with names, all Greyson could think of was the signature that he put in the corner of all his paintings."Silver Dragon? Yeah, okay, that makes sense. Well Mr. Silver Dragon, I look forward to any work we could do together in the future even after this auction." The woman gave a polite business smile while holding out her hand. Briskly shaking her hand, Greyson was soon led to a private room in the auction house to await the start. After the discussions, the time was already close to midday, so there wasn't much time left to wait....About an hour rolled by inside the room before people started filing in and filling the seats. There were thousands of common area seats and a bunch of private rooms that were higher up that were roomier and expensive. Another way to profit for the auction house because the rich in the city normally loved keeping up appearances. All the faces were unfamiliar to Greyson, so after looking for a minute or so, he went back to meditating while waiting for the auction to begin. He did not even think he would stay for the rest of the auction after his painting was sold. Although there were tons of great stuff he could possibly buy, his knowledge was not extensive enough and he had everything he needed for his level of strength. With whatever money he gets from the painting, he was planning on using it for essentials he would need for the academy and save it for further unknown circumstances. The exam was a mystery to him, so he had no idea how to prepare. Rumors floated around about an outdoor aspect, so he was planning on buying some new clothes and materials good for staying outside."Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! We are about to get our auction started off. I hope you are ready for some impressive items today. We have spent the last month collecting valuables for this month's auction, I believe they will not disappoint!" Greyson's thoughts were interrupted by the loud spokesperson's voice as he announced the start of the auction. Interest piqued, Greyson stopped his meditation and sat down on the chair to get a good view of the stage."First, we have a top level tier two wind boots. They were made by the tier four blacksmith Claydon! These boots are for any element magician, however, a wind magician would experience a 50% increase in speed compared to the other magicians who would experience a 25% increase in speed. This is an extremely useful life saver for weaker magicians! The price is also lower compared to other top level tier two, so this is a great deal for any wind magicians especially." As a blacksmith himself who could make himself boots just as nice, Greyson was quickly unimpressed. He knew, however, that this was only the first item. Of course it would not be too impressive or it would take all the impact away from the good stuff at the end."10 gold!""10? You poor sod, get out of here! I bid 50 gold!""60 gold!"Greyson listened closely as the price continued to climb. It finally ended on 250 gold for the boots. Completely shocked, Greyson suddenly realized how much his teacher had been ripping him off. His tier two equipment was not as good as this stuff in the beginning, but his teacher always only gave him 50 silvers for a month's hard work. That damn scrooge! Greyson felt a helpless anger and grit his teeth. He would definitely get back at that wretched teacher of his! His stingy teacher who most likely spent that money on alcohol was normally very strict and serious. However, Dwarves had the unfortunate downfall of alcohol. As a race, they were all obsessed with drinking. Thraec was not too bad and he had an uncanny tolerance, but he still spent most of his payments on good alcohol. That constant money flow also made him poor so he was always extra stingy with money and pay.Suddenly looking down at his waist, Greyson wondered how much Genesis could be bought for. The idea was thrown out as quickly as it came, though, because he knew how much effort went into tailoring the sword just for him. The next item he made could possibly be sold here instead. In that way he would not have to worry about spending money for awhile. Maybe he could even start sending money back to the church more often.The rest of the items were all definitely tempting. All sorts of power increasing herb or rare pills, some powerful magic beasts, armor, enchanted jewelry, the list seemed to be never-ending. Near the middle of the auction, there was a short intermission while they got the next items prepared. The manager had sent a servant to inform Greyson that his painting would be first after the intermission which finally caused Greyson to sit up in his chair with excitement. He wondered how much the painting would sell for.Time felt painfully slow as he fidgeted in his seat waiting. Lucius had already complained that he couldn't nap with all the tapping and movement, to which Greyson rolled his eyes and ignored since it wasn't like this was a quiet place to sleep anyways. Finally, the curtains parted again and the auctioneer this time was a beautiful woman instead of the slimy middle-aged man of before. Maybe the prices were not as high due to the absence of eye-candy? Shrugging his shoulder, Greyson did not bother to delve into the reasons as it was probably only going to benefit him not hurt him. The male audience drooled over the woman and made a commotion of catcalling and harassment while the female audience looked at those men with disdain. Hearing the disrespect, the originally genial and charming woman radiated a suffocating power."Magister!" Greyson could feel the pressure even from his private booth as he listened to the audiences' cries. Was she really a magister? He had to assume so otherwise she would not be able to make him feel so powerless."This auction house is definitely backed by a powerhouse family to have even the auctioneer be a magister.""Well, of course. Low level magisters are not much in a huge family like that."Listening to the whispers around him, Greyson felt impressed by these noble families one again. 1% of the population would awaken their magic in the human population while only about half of that 1% would be able to make it to the magister level. Granted there were probably billions of humans so that was still a lot of people, however, just in a tier one kingdom, a magister was still very impressive. The most powerful people were magister level stage five magicians other than the king. He was starting to really wonder about the top 3 kingdoms above tier one kingdoms and then the empire above those kingdoms. The world was only getting wider and wider for him, it was completely beyond his previous imagination.In the midst of Greyson's thoughts, the woman saw the crowd had calmed down and stopped chattering so she retracted the pressure and continued to smile warmly as if nothing had occurred."Well, everyone, I shall be taking over the latter half of this auction. We have a great treat for all painting fanatics. 'A Mother's Smile' shall finally be sold! The time has come to auction it off. I hope you all are prepared." The woman gave a great smile and a good amount of the audience sat up in their seats excited."That painting!""Oh, I really love it! It really brings me back to my hometown and my family.""I wonder if the price will go up a lot?""Do you think the painter is here?"One that last question was asked, the whispers increased even more. They all started glancing around as if they could spot the painter if they saw him. To no avail obviously as Greyson had been hidden away in a private room. However, seeing the excitement in the audience, he in turn was excited for the painting to finally be sold."The price will start at 50 gold coins.""75!""Hmph, how is that all it is worth?! 150!""200!""210!"After hitting 200 gold coins, although the bidding didn't slow down, the price did not shoot up and kept creeping up 10 gold coins at a time. Finally, the bidding seemed to reach the end at 425 gold coins when one person only increased the price by one gold coin at a time. Greyson was extremely excited by the price and was already standing to wait for the hammer to land and for him to go down and receive the money. However, right at that moment..."500!" A surprisingly young voice called out. In shock, Greyson could not even compute what had just happened for a moment. Snapping out of his daze, he looked in the direction of the voice to see the origin. When he looked over, he saw a young teenage girl of probably around 13-14 years old. She was definitely beautiful with dark gray wavy locks of hair down to her waist and stormy gray eyes to match. However, there was nothing weak about her. Fully suited, she stood straight like a soldier at attention exuding a charisma hard to resist. Everyone's eyes were attracted towards her for her looks and from the surprising amount she had just offered."Hey, hey! Isn't that the girl adopted by the Argentum family?""Yeah! Eden Ley right? I heard she has a quarter dragon bloodline or something and inherited the draconic talent for finding treasures. She must be treated really well, though, to have that kind of money.""Hah? That's because you're not aware. She's just treated like a glorified dog to sniff out treasures for the family. I hear she is always getting sent to dangerous places and almost dying which is why she trained so hard to become strong.""Really?"The whispers of gossip entered into Greyson's ears and he could not help but feel his heart ache for the girl. He was also of mixed blood. If he later awakened a talent like that, would he be captured and used that way too? As an orphan he knew that all that they really wanted was a real family, however, this one was obviously just using her and she could only accept it. Maybe it was empathy of a similar abandonment, Greyson couldn't help but feel sadness looking at the girl's strong posture.Not flinching at the words of the audience, the girl continued looking at the auctioneer as if indicating why the woman wasn't continuing. Seeing the nonverbal cue, the auctioneer then shouted out to the audience again."500! 500 going once? 500 going twice?..." She paused for dramatic effect while luring for someone to shout out again, but she was met with silence. Slightly disappointed, she quickly recovered as she knew that 500 gold coins for a painting by an unknown was an extremely great deal."500 gold coins! Sold to Ms. Ley of the Argentum family!"The girl's serious eyes lit up as she stared at the painting that was approaching her. Affection for the painting was obvious from her expression. Looking at her sincerity, Greyson felt a type of relief that his painting went to the right person. Although he wanted to sell the painting well, he was worried that it would get bought by someone who just wanted to say he had the painting but would let it rot away in some corner. A piece of his heart was inside the painting and he hoped whoever owned it would have a real appreciation for the painting.Continuing to stare at the girl, Greyson felt an odd connection to her. Suddenly he just shook his head scoffing, for what reason could he feel connected to some stranger? Taking one last look at the girl, he turned his attention away and decided to head to the private room to wait for his money. Nothing at the auction was catching his eye and it wasn't in his nature to just spend everything he has now that he could make more money.
