Percy and Duwa didn’t get the chance to exchange more than a few pleasantries at first, since the Blue’s companions kept interrupting with questions that the two of them were obviously unable to answer in a public space, while surrounded by gods of hundreds of other factions.
“Duwa, one of the auction’s private rooms will be a better place to talk to your friend,” the goddess declared, gesturing at the mortals to follow. “There isn’t much time until the event starts, so we need to head there anyway.”
Percy joined the Gallimians without protest, since he wanted to catch up with his former host, as well as ask the deity for a couple of favours. Leaving aside the arrangements that he had to make for Tiberius’ safe return to his planet, Percy still hoped to open an account with the Pavilion and try to register the secret of the cyan powder for the auction.
He could have attempted to do both of those things under his own name – or a fake one, if necessary – but he strongly suspected that the Attendants were more likely to take him seriously if he was accompanied by a goddess.
To the other mortals, Percy introduced himself as Tiberius. He knew that Duwa had probably revealed his second core to the leaders of his people, and likely even told them about the spectral guest who had saved his life, but Percy wasn’t sure whether the other Colour mages in the group were privy to the details. It might be better to let the two-cored Gallimian lead the subsequent conversation.
After talking to the nearest Attendant, the goddess and the Green-borns in her charge were taken to a spacious chamber, complete with luxurious couches, a decorated buffet full of tasty-looking food, and over a dozen enchanted slabs made of some kind of pale crystal.
Three of the room’s walls were opaque, though the fourth was made of a thick, fully transparent sheet of reinforced glass that Percy felt even a mortal should be capable of punching through. At least, this was what he thought until the Attendant – who had likely guessed Percy’s misgivings – struck the window with the full force of a Concept mage, demonstrating how easily the enchanted material could absorb the impact.
Glancing out of the window, Percy spotted a wide octagonal stage located hundreds of metres below and ahead of their room, with several rows of similar rooms surrounding the stage and rising for half a kilometre above his head. Most notably, he found himself unable to peer through the other windows – the material appeared to only allow light to pass through one way, while looking like a regular sheet of sapphire from the other side.
“The Sapphire Pavilion greatly values the anonymity of the buyers as much as the sellers,” the Attendant explained with his middle mouth as he chuckled with the left. “We naturally can’t have our most generous patrons robbed on the way home now, can we?”
The mortals – including Percy and Duwa – were listening to the three-handed deity intently, making it clear that this was everyone’s first time at the auction. Percy wasn’t sure what other factions did, but the Gallimian deities clearly brought a different batch of Green-borns each time, making his unlikely reunion with Duwa even luckier than he’d initially realized.
Their goddess, on the other hand, wasn’t paying much attention, having probably been here before. She merely made her way to the buffet, grabbing a juicy-looking fruit that was shaped a bit like an apple but had the texture of a strawberry, eating a third of it by the time she plopped down on the couch. The Attendant didn’t seem to take any offense, flashing her the closest thing to a smile that the fanged-holes on his – or was it her – palms were capable of making.
“Once the auction starts, you will be able to bid for any item you fancy using one of the tablets over there. You don’t have to worry about being unable to pay, since the system won’t allow you to enter a bid that exceeds your remaining balance,” the Attendant helpfully explained through his right hand. These creatures appeared to be capable of speaking through any of their mouths. “If there is anything else that you need, you can call over one of my people through the three-handed symbol at the bottom-left corner of the tablets.”
The Attendant looked like he was about to leave, though he hesitated. Turning to look directly at Tiberius, his eyes narrowed as he spoke again. “Please forgive my bluntness, but I have to ask: is everything okay, young man? I admit that it is highly unusual for a lone mortal unaccompanied by a deity to willingly mingle with a group from a different race. If you are being threatened, coerced in any way, or held here against your will, the Sapphire Pavilion will ensure that the offending party is punished severely for their crimes.”
The Gallimians’ faces paled – which for them meant assuming a slightly lighter shade of brown – as Percy vigorously shook his host’s head, not wanting to get his friend’s people in trouble over nothing.
“I’m here willingly!” he hurriedly said. “My mentor was killed by space bandits en route to the auction, but I was lucky enough that a kind god from another faction offered to bring me here. Unfortunately, my people never made it, yet I ran into a group that we happen to have a good relationship with.”
The last part was obviously a lie, since Percy had no idea whether Tiberius’ people had even seen a Gallimian before, let alone what their relationship was. Hopefully, it would sound believable to the headless deity.
Sure enough, the god’s middle hand bobbed slightly in a gesture that Percy could only assume to be a nod. However, Percy didn’t want the Attendant to leave just yet, because he did need a couple of things from them.
“I was wondering whether I can participate in the auction,” he said.
“Do you have the authority to access the account of your people?” the Attendant asked.
“No. I’m hoping to open a new one under my own name,” Percy explained. “Or actually… under the alias ‘Lone Wanderer’, if possible.”
“Well… I can’t remember the last time a mortal joined the auction by themselves, but I suppose that there is no rule prohibiting it. However, it’s our policy to request a deposit of at least ten tokens when registering a new account,” the deity warned, clearly not expecting Percy to be able to afford it.
And for good reason – what were the odds that a mortal from a faction weak enough to not even reach the venue safely would be able to produce resources worth as much as the lives of multiple gods?
“I… don’t have enough affinity-changing treasures to exchange for that,” Percy admitted, though he wasn’t done. “If I’m not mistaken, the Pavilion pays the sellers an advance based on the opening bid of their items. Can I fulfil the requirements for account registration using that amount?”
Everyone in the room looked at Percy dumbfounded.
“You want to sell something in the auction too?” the Attendant asked, seemingly finding the notion ludicrous.
“I do,” Percy confirmed.
The deity sighed. “Young man… there is no problem with covering the minimum deposit for account activation with the advance from your listing, but I’m not sure you understand what exactly your request would entail. The advance is fixed to a third of the estimated value of an item. For the amount to suffice, you would need to produce an offer worth at least thirty tokens. That would be a steep ask for a quarter of the attending factions – who are only here to exchange a couple of cheap affinity-changing treasures from one element to another.”
Percy was about to correct the deity, but he wasn’t given the chance.
“We also have a rule that last-minute admissions have to exceed the value of the median listing. It’s not a problem if we only accept a couple of new offers, but if there are too many, we need to remove the cheapest listings and compensate their owners. Usually, the median value is around three hundred tokens, but today’s auction is even more competitive. We won’t be able to accept any listing worth less than seven hundred tokens.”
The Gallimian goddess drew a sharp breath, indicating that this was quite expensive even for a relatively well-off lesser spring.
Percy, on the other hand, wasn’t as worried about the value of his listing. If he truly decided to auction the secret of the cyan powder off, he knew that it would be worth a lot more than seven hundred tokens. He was more interested in something else the Attendant had said.
“Today’s auction is more competitive, you say? Is the rumour about the invitation to Mithril true?”
All three of the deity’s mouths grinned. “Exciting, isn’t it? It’s been millennia since the last time anything even half as precious got auctioned off in this branch.”
Percy shrugged. “The next time might be sooner than you think. I was hoping to sell the secret of faster core-cleansing.”