Chapter 163: The Gala Begins 2

The schedule for the Gala was divided into three days.

The first day was the opening ceremony of the Gala, during which the noble and royal Houses would arrive at the venue and spend their time in the mansions allotted to them.

The second day was the Auction, set to begin in the evening, and on the third and final day, had various events and quite the night ball, where mostly the younger generation would spend their time socializing and dance with their partners under the starlit sky.

Now I wasn’t planning on arriving on the first day, nor did I plan to arrive on the second day. I mean what use was there in attending the auction? I couldn’t buy a single item even if I sold myself.

In the auction, the items that would be auctioned were not ordinary things. There would be artifacts of the Beta rank, and Alpha rank even. Things like islands, especially flying islands, and other items of that value that merely being rich couldn’t buy. And I didn’t want to use the resources of the Darkfells yet.

Anyway, I had already spoken to Sia about my intentions, and she was more than happy to escape some boring opening ceremony and auction. So both Sia and myself would be arriving on the third and final day.

———-

The Auction was about to start, and most of the Alpha ranked aetherials had gathered in the Special Room designed for their assembly.

“It’s been a long time, Amon.” Alexa turned to the Darkfell Emperor.

Amon’s eyes moved to match hers.

“Spare me your games, Alexa,” Amon countered, shutting down Alexa.

These rooms were made from the most robust materials, although not on the level of the meeting hall in the Grand Templar, they were made to withstand Alpha ranked beings; they couldn’t sit with anyone else.

“What?” I was just saying.” Alexa shrugged fully knowing that it hadn’t even been a full month since they last saw themselves in the halls of the Grand Templar.

At that moment, another Alpha ranked being entered the room. This time it was the chancellor of the Astral Mystic Institute, Lucas Neville. He was soon followed by Fenrir Ashton, the Emperor of the Ashton Empire.

The number of alpha ranked beings in the room had now reached six, meaning every Alpha ranked aetherial in the human domain was now here.

“I’ve heard about your son’s newly awakened talents,” Sevas Necron said, looking at Amon.

“What about him?” Amon asked, his once overbearing aura taking a more sinister turn. This was the Amon Darkfell they all knew, also known as the Mad Emperor.

“Last I heard, your daughter’s talent is no less inferior.” Amon continued as his cold eyes looked nonchalantly at Sevas.

Their words were veiled threats. Despite all of them being Alpha ranked aetherials, in their eyes, they saw each other as potential enemies. Only an alpha rank could kill an alpha rank after all. Even amidst friendly conversation, none of them were ready to expose their weaknesses.

“Let’s not get too worked up,” Lucas interjected, halting their conversation, before it could get serious.

“Do you, the Chancellor of the Astral mystic Institute, wish to impose rules here as well? Perhaps you’ve forgotten, but this isn’t your institute.” Sevas Necron said as he turned to look at Lucas Neville.

As one of the four royal families, the only entities maintaining the balance and holding the royal Houses back were the Astral Mystic Institute, and the Aetherial Association. And in the background were the other three races. The human domain couldn’t risk a civil war with the other three races circling them like hyenas.

“When have I ever done that?” Lucas retorted. “I only abide by the rules set forth by the Grand Templar,” Lucas stated as he returned Sevas’s gaze.

“If you insist,” Sevas said, choosing not to extend the conversation further.nIt wasn’t time yet for their talk to become threatening.

After all, the Alpha Rank Artifacts they were all waiting for would only appear at the end of the auction.

Alexa’s gaze meanwhile was piercing through the space, locking on the mansion that the Darkfells had been assigned, looking for a certain aether signature. However, before she could complete her search, a titanic and overbearing pressure swept away everything in the room.

The other alpha ranked beings also bared their aura, effortlessly resisting the overbearing pressure. However, that put the entire flying island in jeopardy. The island began to tremble as if having been hit by a high magnitude earthquake. The quake sent everyone in panic mode.

“Do you intend to bring the island down?” It took Lucas to lose a question before the overbearing pressure receded, and so did the others. Along that, the flying island finally stabilized itself once more.

Meanwhile, Amon, the source of the Overbearing pressure turned to look at Alexa. “You have been warned.” Alexa directly spying on his family before him was a direct challenge to his authority.

“Tsk.” Alexa clicked her tongue and didn’t comment further.

Meanwhile outside the room, the entire flying island had entered mass panic, but we’re soon assured that there was nothing wrong. Most, if not all of the noble and royal families already had an inkling of what happened.

———

The next day.

At this moment, the auction was about to commence. Although all guests could enter the Majestic Castle, none wanted do so until the third day, except those attending the auction.

No rule prevented them from entering the castle, but the guests chose not to, not until after the auction concluded. Much like Damon, many thought the opening ceremony and the auction were boring.

Even so, the high tiered royal and noble families felt obligated to attend those events, otherwise, it wouldn’t translate too well to others.

In this auction, real money was not accepted, as many of the artifacts were priceless. Instead, attendees used key tokens earned through selling items at the auction.

If a person submitted a Delta rank Artifact, they would gain a certain amount of key tokens based on the type of artifact, and the number of key tokens would increase as the ranks of the artifact increased.

As the noble houses had economic restrictions, this system made it possible for them to buy such artifacts. Their coffers were essentially endless.

Meanwhile, at the assigned place where the Darkfell family watched the ongoing auction.

“These taste so good,” Ariel commented, glancing at Rose as she put a piece of the food in her mouth.

“Of course, at this gala all the delicacies from different continents are served,” Yvonne responded instead.

Currently, servants from the host that managed the Ivos Gala attended to the host. Given the high status of the guests, the food was meticulously checked multiple times.

After all, half the Seat Holders of the Grand Templar that managed this world and the Society were present here with their families.

“When do you think Damon is coming?” Ariel suddenly asked. It had already been a day since the gala started, and Damon was still no where to be seen. Was it that perhaps he had arrived but didn’t want to be seen with them?

“Given his love for flair and theatrics, I reckon he would most likely arrive tomorrow.” Surprisingly, it was Rose who replied. If it were up to Rose, she’d rather not be in this Gala at all. But she had an image to uphold of she wanted to remain known within the upper echelons of the society.

“Too bad you two do not have partners and won’t be able to participate in the dance tomorrow.” Ariel said.

“I care not for that.” Rose replied, glancing at Emmett and Aldrich who sat a bit of a distance away, chatting with Devon.

The auction was in full swing, with more and more artifacts being brought up for bidding. Bidding wars were rare, occurring only a handful of times.

“You’re not bidding on anything?” Aldrich asked as he won the bid on a sword type artifact.

“Not really, I don’t really need them.” Emmett replied with his signature smile.

Even if one were not aware of the resources the Darkfell family had, it would be easy to imagine the wealth they must have amassed over thousands of years as a royal family. As a prince, Emmett had access to most of these resources. This was why Emmett was in no rush to purchase anything that didn’t catch his eye.

As for the things that did catch his eye though, he was more than ready to pay any amount for them even if that meant borrowing some tokens from his family.

Meanwhile, as Emmett and Aldrich continued to converse, a group of three approached the Darkfells, or more specifically, Rose.

The three were none other than Alistair, Elsa, and Delilah.

********

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