“Sam!”

  Asher could only smile as Brian all but tackled his big sister, for once beating her to the punch and pulling her into a spine-creaking hug as he began talking fast enough that Asher was afraid he was going to pass out.

  “You wouldn’t believe everything I’ve done the past week! I’m not allowed to talk about a lot of it, or even the names of my instructors or other people I’ve met in there, but it’s all been super fun! I got to practice archery with all sorts of different bows and special types of arrows, I met a griffin and got to pet it, I started learning how to properly interact with nobles and ‘carry myself,’ whatever that really means, and I’ve begun super survival training, which is similar to what you put me through in the forest except it covers all sorts of other places like deserts and cursed ground!”

  “That’s amazing, Brian, it sounds like you’ve had a wonderful time so far,” Samantha finally got out, her eyes watering as she was finally reunited with her little brother again after an entire week apart. Knowing she’d raised him since he was four, Asher couldn’t even imagine how tough letting him go into the program had to have been for her.

  “Sounds like he’s having more fun with them than he ever did with us,” Asher teased, chuckling when Brian’s eyes snapped over to him, as though he’d only just realized Asher was in the waiting room as well.

  “Asher!” Brian shouted, finally letting go of Sam and tackling him instead. “Thanks for coming to get me!”

  “Of course,” Asher wheezed, surprised as always by the sheer strength the twelve-year-old was able to put into his hugs. “We only get to see you once a week! You think we’re going to miss the very first one?”

  “I know you guys are busy fighting demons and other dangerous stuff…” Brian muttered into his shirt, squeezing him even tighter for a moment. “…I guess I was worried you might not have time.”

  “Well worry no longer! Today is about giving you a break from all your training, so no frowns or sad faces today,” he said, smiling as Samantha came over and pulled the two of them into one big group hug.

  “We’ve got the Grand Auction to look forward to, but after that, today is all about you,” Samantha told him.

  “I want to hear all about what you guys have been up to, and then we can just wander around the city and see what looks fun,” Brian decided, finally freeing himself from the group hug as if he only just remembered he was supposed to act like he was too old for Samantha’s hugs anymore. “Come on, let’s go!”

  Nodding, Asher pulled the two of them into his Personal Rift, before temporarily dismissing his Eternal Mark on Samantha and replacing it on a table in this tiny room instead. Donvath had been quite clear that the only way Asher and Samantha were getting in and out of the truthseeker program was via this one room. When it was time for them to get Brian, he would be placed in the room and instructed to wait for them, and when it was time to drop him off, they were to Recall back to the room and say their goodbyes within it. If either he or Samantha ever made even the slightest effort to sneak into any other portion of the truthseeker program, Donvath promised him the deal would be off, and they’d have to find some other way of keeping Brian safe. Apparently, the High Prince didn’t mess around when it came to his truthseekers.

  One quick flex of Recall later, Asher pulled Brian and Samantha out of his rift, directly into their room in the royal palace. It was mildly unnerving not having an Eternal Mark placed on Samantha, but seeing as it was the only one he could easily replace once they were done here, he was going to have to grin and bear it for the day. His hope was that his skill would continue leveling and grant him yet another mark before long, so that he wouldn’t have this problem when they came to pick up Brian next week.

  “When does the auction start?” Brian asked as they made their way out of the palace. Even now, Asher took the side corridors and did his best to keep away from the members of nobility who were visiting the palace in order to meet with Donvath. It sounded as if trying to keep a low profile was a bit of a wasted effort at this point, but he hadn’t been accosted by any surprise nobles yet, and he planned to keep it that way for as long as possible.

  Not to mention, today was all about Brian. The last thing he wanted was for some royal family from a distant nation to appear and demand his time when he was supposed to be exploring the city with Brian and Samantha.

  Thankfully, they didn’t have any issues getting out of the palace, and the three of them excitedly made their way over to the Grand Auction. The closer they got, the more frequently Asher began hearing the words ‘greater demon’ bouncing from one person’s lips to another, and he couldn’t stop himself from grinning as he imagined just how many shards they were about to earn today.

  “What do you guys think? A million shards?” he asked as they entered the Grand Auction and began making their way over toward the main hall. While the Grand Auction had quite a large number of specialized buildings for the different items being sold, the really good stuff designed to draw a crowd always took place in the central building, which was large enough to hold a few thousand people.

  “I’m thinking two million,” Samantha said, wincing as if she couldn’t even believe the words that had just come out of her mouth. “I mean, the Wing element was just over one and a half million, and those show up every so often. A greater demon corpse is much rarer than that!”

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  “Maybe, but you have to think about how many people actually want it, too,” Asher pointed out. “Anyone still in need of an element would be happy to get their hands on the Wing element, but I bet the percentage of people who actually want or need a greater demon corpse is pretty slim. Other than those who just want to show it off, I guess.”

  “Five million!” Brian chimed in, before gasping as they finally entered the central hall and spotted the thousands of people milling about and taking their seats. “This is crazy!”

  “The Brian party?” a well-dressed woman asked, stepping away from the door where she’d been waiting and giving them a quick bow. “Allow me to lead you to your private room.”

  “That would be great, thank you,” Asher said, noting how a handful of people had noticed them being addressed and led away. In fact, it was almost like a small ripple of wildfire was beginning to spread around the room as faces turned and eyes locked onto them.

  “What’s with all the attention?” Samantha muttered, clearly having spotted the same thing he had as she looked around nervously. “People didn’t seem to care so much when we were taken to a private room the last time we were here.”

  “This is the central hall,” the woman guiding them said helpfully, keeping her voice calm and quiet to match Samantha’s own. “Earning a private room in the rest of the auction is merely a matter of shards. The private rooms here are reserved for the true VIPs, such as visiting royalty or the heads of the noble families of the Noala Kingdom.”

  “Uh, why are we getting one then?” Asher asked. “Not that I’m complaining, by any means. But we’re neither of those things.” He knew Donvath was able to pull some strings for them here and there, but this seemed like a bit much.

  “You are the one who brought in the greater demon for auction, are you not?” the woman asked, somehow managing to keep a completely neutral look on her face as she turned to ask the question. “People from across the continent have come to bid on the corpse. This is predicted to be one of the largest auctions we’ve had in years, potentially since the selling of the crystal blade, a powerful relic retrieved from the abyss by a team of slayers working with the court wizard.”

  “Is it too late to increase my guess?” Samantha muttered as they were finally led into their private booth. Hilariously, after all the build up and excitement, it turned out the private booths of the main hall were identical to those of the surrounding halls. It seemed it was simply the prestige of getting to use one that made it so impressive.

  “If you get a billion shards, are you going to buy your own country?” Brian asked once the woman closed the door and left them to their own devices.

  “I don’t think it’s going to get quite that crazy,” Asher chuckled. “I actually took a look the other day at some of the more famous items that have gone through the Grand Auction over the years, like the crystal blade she just mentioned. Relics like that are truly one of a kind, and that one ended up going for just shy of twenty million shards. I know it doesn’t sound like a ton when you think about how it’s royalty bidding on these items, but think about it. That’s enough shards to evolve every single one of a person’s skills to the third tier, and then still have a good few million left over to outfit them with powerful weapons or artifacts. That’s basically giving up an elite super soldier that you could have fighting for your country.”

  “I don’t know, that sure sounds like a ton of shards to me,” Samantha said, her face paling as if she hadn’t even considered they’d earn that many. “Though I see your point. I guess even royalty probably don’t keep that many shards in reserve, as they’d be better off funneling them back into their people.”

  “On my world, we’ve got a saying. You have to spend money to make money. It feels like this world is pretty much the same, only the biggest difference is that rather than simply spending shards, you have to completely destroy them,” he chuckled. “I wonder how my world would change if we were capable of functionally ingesting our currency to grow stronger. At the very least, I bet there’d definitely be a lot less hoarding of money.”

  “Wow, did you guys see what else is being sold today?” Brian asked, his jaw hanging open as he skimmed through the thin booklet placed in their private room that contained the items hitting the main hall this afternoon. “Someone’s selling a castle! A whole castle!”

  “Seriously?” Asher asked, leaning over and tapping a finger against the booklet, using Incorporate to absorb the information in an instant. “Huh, so they are. Looks like some noble family we’ve never heard of on the other side of the kingdom is putting up an entire keep to auction. I wonder how often that happens.”

  “Probably not very if it made the main hall,” Samantha pointed out. “Anything else of note?”

  “A few things here and there,” he said, grinning at the wave of silence that suddenly swept across the crowd below them. “Though I think it would be more fun to let you be pleasantly surprised.”

  “I vote we put a bid in on the castle!” Brian said, nodding as he read over the details. “It’s starting at eight hundred thousand shards. We can afford that, right?”

  “Brian…” Samantha sighed, staring at her brother like he was some sort of alien. “I’m starting to grow a little worried about what being in the truthseeker program and all these fancy private booths is doing to you.”

  “Don’t forget, Brian was the one who collected all the shards from the fallen royal guard members while I was half-dead after taking down the greater demon,” Asher whispered as a broad man in a sparkling suit walked out onto the stage. “I doubt there have been many twelve-year-olds who have held over a million shards within their soul for any amount of time.”

  “That’s a good point,” Samantha muttered, looking like she had more she wanted to say on the topic. Whatever it was would have to wait until later, however, as the host chose that moment to speak up.

  “Ladies and gentlemen of the Grand Auction!” he boomed, his voice somehow magically amplified to carry to every corner of the main hall. “Thank you for your patience! Without further ado, let’s get started!”

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