Chapter 246: 246
Right now, Cario City looked like a hive of ants from up in the sky . Many people walked on the streets while carriages rushed through without a care for the wellbeing of pedestrians .
Today was the day of the First Player Auction . Every single player of the game - now reaching a whopping 95 million compared to the 50 million during the First Guild War - was headed towards this location .
If the scale of the cities in Boundless weren't so ridiculously maximized, it would be impossible for this many people to pass through such a location .
Even with the huge size, there was serious overcrowding going on in the Business District, where the Rank 7 Shop was located . Many people stood outside, waiting for their turn to enter .
Players didn't have to wait though . Like VIPs, they entered straight and were directed to the Auction Hall on the 7th floor . Amber had decided to extend the space so much that Draco could only see the top with his Eyes of Caelo .
Draco believed in his heart that such a thing should be impossible, but with a 'game master' like Amber here, it was made possible . She didn't really do anything anyway, she just took the default template and replicated it many times over .
Essentially, she entered the 'world editor' of Boundless and copy-pasted like she was on steroids . Naturally, this created the issue of space, but the Rank 7 Shop's 7th floor was a super mini small world anyway, so there was no problem there .
The next issue came in the form of viewing . Unless one had the Eyes of Caelo, there was a solid 0% chance they would hear or see what the fuck was going on down there, where the stage was set-up .
As such, screens that hovered in the air were spread out across the room, covering every 50 or so seats . Draco had no idea how they were made or functioned, but they were also part of the 'default template', so Amber hadn't magicked them from nowhere .
The seats were currently around 50% full . 90% of players were already in attendance, and the remainder were trickling in slowly, while only 30% of the NPCs had arrived .
The serf players of Umbra handled all of this . Tasking almost 1 . 5 million people - the number had grown from 1 million over time - with the job of seating and organizing more than 60 times their number .
However, the players weren't here to cause trouble . Putting aside whether anyone had the balls to cross Umbra, the actual members of Umbra were also in attendance, but they acted as guards .
Their sharp eyes and killing intent made many behave themselves, whether NPCs or players . Even the dark players who focused on espionage and murder behaved like normal law-abiding citizens here .
To put it in perspective, would you act a fool if you entered the cage of a Lion, even though it was 'tame'?
Currently, Clarent was telling heavily embellished tales about his youth to Luxia, in hopes to sway the Light Phoenix . As stated before, Dragons - just like humans - would bang anything if the opportunity arose, so Clarent was trying his luck .
Luxia might even have been amenable in a certain instance . . . but not when Clarent was small enough for her to gobble in one serving . Before chasing after skirts, the fellow should look in the mirror first!
Draco and Riveting Night were eerily silent though, just robotically gazing down upon the world . Riveting Night's face was locked into a frown while Draco was smirking .
Truthfully, the reason why Clarent might be bothering Luxia was because he was unsettled by the duo, which was also why Luxia might have been tolerating his nonsense as well .
Four hours passed, and the traffic outside the Rank 7 Shop had declined to a trickle . Everyone who was supposed to be in attendance was here, except a few major powers .
Another fact was that since these powers would be arriving soon, the members of Umbra had forcibly cleared a lot of space in front of the Rank 7 Shop for them to use .
As such, the multitudes of onlookers could only mount buildings and stand in other roads to take a glimpse . People were even selling spots to view the arrival of these powers at a premium of 50 bronze!
How many chances in one's life would they get to see all the pinnacle powers arrive in their grandeur? One should know that 99% of the world didn't know about the Bazaar or the Divine Auction . It was an event literally for the fabled top 1% .
To many, this would be a historic event . The ability to gather one's grandchildren and boast about it might make these grandkids feel like they were their best grandpa/ma .
Soon enough, the first major power arrived . Surprisingly though, it was the Adventurers Guild that made an appearance .
They came in a procession of men and women with leather armor and spears/bows/swords at ease . They looked lax and were even chatting as well as bantering with each other on their way .
In the center was a group of older men and women, most of them Draco recognized from when he had turned in the Subjugation Quest . At the time, the elders of the Adventurer's Guild had given him a reception, and some random clerk there got promoted for serving him .
When these people reached the Rank 7 Shop, they stopped and waited, yet not so silently . Some of their group were flirting, though the women who were receiving these attempts reached for their weapons… and almost drew blood .
Next came the Mercenary Guild . They were a power Draco had not interacted with yet because their paths did not cross, but that did not make them less of a powerhouse .
A guild like theirs didn't need anything from Vita City-State either, so they hadn't bothered to show up . One thing that was interesting to note was that the Mercenary Guild and the Adventurer's Guild had beef .
Both sides had a very similar entourage, only that the Mercenaries wore thick hide armor with metal padding here and there . When they arrived, the Mercenary Guild based themselves at the extreme end of the area, and both sides glared at each other .
Next was the Mages Association . A group of wizened old men in mage robes and pointy hats came down from extremely stylish carriages with the emblem of the association on them .
Among them were a few youths, probably their best young talents . Maybe they were brought here so that they could watch and learn? Then again, it did seem as if the Adventurer's Guild and Mercenary Guild brought a lot of miscellaneous people here .
After the Mages Association were the Cario Continental, Vintage Islands, Vareas Penninsula, and other councils . They also came in carriages, though less fancy than the Mages Association .
Next was the Church of Light, who came down from a stairway that seemingly led to heaven . This particular sight awed the crowd, and even Draco and Riveting Night were moved .
The Merchant Guild arrived with the most pomp so far, using a magitech airship from the old era's Magical Engineers . Draco's eyes sharpened when he saw this, and he used his Eyes of Caelo to inspect the airship .
「Basic Air Traversal Device – Device
Rank: Epic」
Unfortunately, he could only see the name and Rank for now, but that was all he wanted . Draco frowned when he realized that he would only gain the design for one when he reached the Master Rank in Magical engineering, which was light years away from him .
When the Merchant Guild landed and disembarked with their high-end attire and arrogant smiles, the crowd went abuzz . So far, the best entrances that got the crowd moved to their souls was the Church of Light, which represented the pinnacle of holiness and the Merchant Guild, who represented the power of wealth!
Even a long-extinct device from the old era that should cost millions of platinum in this era could be sourced/bought by them!
Finally, the area went quiet as everyone looked in a certain direction . It wasn't down, around, or even in front . It was up!
Draco and Riveting Night saw a huge Lesser Drake with minor Draconic blood in its body snaking through the skies with a fleet of men and women on its back .
They all wore a variety of attires, some in tribal attire, some in armor, some in robes . One thing they all shared was a wild and uncontrollable aura around them, as well as an intense killing intent that made even the members of Umbra stifled to the point that they could only look away .
Before going down, these people first approached Luxia and stopped a respectable distance away . The leader of them was Myrine, with Diana standing right beside her .
It seemed as if these two women were really important to the War Maniac Pavilion . Both of them were toned amazonian-like beauties with bronze skin and tribal wear .
The difference was that Myrine had her hair cropped to chin-level, while Diana had a warrior's ponytail . They both observed Draco with not so subtle hints in their eyes .
"Hello there, Draco . " Diana greeted with a slight smile .
"And hello, Riveting Night . " Myrine added with a smirk .
Riveting Night simply harrumphed and looked away . In the previous timeline, she hadn't known these two, but the War Maniac Pavilion had favored Darkrow .
As such, she did have some ties to them, which was why she was more tolerant . Besides, Riveting Night did feel that these two women had something outstanding about them, but she simply disliked them for the fact that they wanted to bed Draco without caring for his soulmate's approval on the matter .
If only they knew that the approval of Riveting Night was the most important step, they would bother her instead .
Myrine and Diana simply chuckled before focusing on Draco . "We are interested in seeing the lineup of items before the auction begins so that we may prepare accordingly . What would it take to acquire this?"
Draco pointed to the Rank 7 shop calmly . "The list will be shown sequentially during the auction . "
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