Chapter 80: [Chapter 80 ● The Gilded Shadows Auction!]

Going inside, she and her sisters were greeted by one of the workers in the building, who led them towards the main lobby in a respectful manner.

Actually, even though Clementine, Aphryne, and Auguszta had masked their actual presence and had also suppressed their beauty by a notch, two were still calamities and one was an ancient goddess; merely the refined manner in which they handled themselves had many eyes turning towards them.

The three also weren’t women who liked to wear revealing clothes unless it was for Aezaleon. It was a habit the two little sisters had picked up from their big sister, so currently, aside from their faces, their whole bodies were fully covered. However, that hidden nature only added a unique charm to their beauty, one that made the rude imagination and the audacious desires of others run wild.

The poor female attendant who was leading the three expressionless women towards the lobby was highly anxious as she sensed the many intense male and female gazes focusing on them. She gulped and quickened her pace, her feline ears twitching, her eyes determined to leave these unknown beauties who might bring trouble as soon as possible. Entering the grand lobby space, she directly led them towards the receptionist desk.

In time...

"Good ladies, this is sir Ason and this is sir Dson," she pointed at the two receptionists, introducing them. "If you have any queries, feel free to ask them. They will respond to the best of their abilities." She smiled towards Clementine. "Now if you please, excuse me." She turned around and left, not even waiting for the guests to nod.

Clementine merely shook her head at the behavior of this peculiar catgirl. Still, she knew what was happening here and why it was happening. Her lips curled into a faint smile; she was not who she was for nothing after all.

"How can we be of any help to you, Good Madams?"

Clementine focused on the one named Ason, who had a respectful smile on his face. "The auction, I want to participate in it. Brief me about the major items that are being auctioned, then I’ll decide if I should join or not."

"It will be done, madam, please wait a moment." He nodded with the same respectful smile. Dson, on the other hand, was already on the work. He looked for the Star Items that were supposed to be auctioned in tonight’s event through the glowing Energy panel on his side of the reception desk. Under a minute he was done. Giving his brother a signal, he forwarded the Information to Ason’s bracelet.

Ason looked through them in another few seconds, soon refocusing on the three women. On the inside, he was nervous beyond what he could even explain. In all his long career working as a receptionist for this branch of the Auction House of Gilded Shadows, he had never felt like this, even when he was attending to some other well-known and prominent figures of this district.

"Will you continue or will you keep the ill-mannered stare?" Clementine spoke in a frosty, cold voice. Her eyes narrowed.

He gulped, immediately bowing. "I sincerely apologize, please forgive me, madam, I don’t know what got into me," he said in a nearly trembling voice. "I’ll proceed with your request straight away!"

Subsequently, he promptly proceeded with the briefing of the requested Information. There were only three major items in this event. One was a rank three greatsword, forged by one of the blacksmiths from the Ironroot House, a family directly subordinate to the Blazeshade House. Because of such origin, the greatsword had a really high demand, especially since it was a high-rank sword too.

The next in line was a rank three ability scroll. It was an offensive type ability based on the Frost element called Frostsword Executioner. It had a simple use of summoning a phalanx of swords made of the Frost element that worked autonomously from the user, doing the work of offense and defense both simultaneously. It was a powerful ability but also demanded a proportional requirement to be used at its full potential. Which was that the user must have a corresponding Spiritual Ascension rank, exceptional soul stability, a strong soul structure, and a firm mental prowess. Because of its lower rank and poor architecture that had actually realized such an amazing offensive expression, the ability directly put a strain on the user’s consciousness. If even one of the requirements wasn’t met, then the best that could happen was the user of the learned ability losing his consciousness; in the worst case, it was an ability capable of even damaging the user’s soul’s fundamental Information, obviously because of its crude structure. Because of such dangers, the one who got it from who knows where decided to auction it instead of learning it himself. He knew that he wasn’t talented enough, so there was no point in doing self-damage because of some vain arrogance.

The last one on the list was a rare rank two Calamity that was being auctioned. No one knew its name as none had seen it before, but its capabilities were extraordinary. It was a serpent-type Calamity and it was actually capable of absorbing all kinds of energies through its dark black scales, using them to enhance its strength, weaken the activated abilities, and many more. By fortune, it was found by a group of rank three adventurers that were out on their daily hunt. Despite their ranks, it was difficult as they had no Information about it, but with effort, they were eventually able to subdue it and capture it instead of killing it. Being experienced in the field, they had the smarts to know that the serpent would certainly fetch a good price because of its distinctiveness and soleness.

The receptionist shared a bit more knowledge about all the items. In the end, Clementine, keeping her thoughts to herself, with an impassive and inscrutable face, inquired about the main detail. "Have the ability scroll and that serpent Calamity been already auctioned?"

"No, madam, as the prized items of this event, they would obviously be auctioned at the end," Ason responded promptly to her question, his expression completely professional. "Actually, it is just about time for their bidding to start as well. Would you like me to lead you there, madam?" he asked in a polite tone.

"Book a special or a VIP room for us. We don’t want any intrusions or disturbance, you understand!" Clementine said, giving the other outsiders in the lobby a subtle glance. Ason right away understood the implications of her words upon watching her subtle eye movements, accepting her proposal. "Will do right away, madam."

Dson instantly got to work. He didn’t need his brother’s instructions to understand the job here. They didn’t even ask for the normal payment one had to make to have a VIP room. They just wanted to get these ladies out of their sight as soon as possible, as the situation was entirely nerve-wracking. The two didn’t even dare glance at them to marvel at their beauty, let alone have any other improper thoughts. Instead, they felt like they would be discovered the second these thoughts crossed their minds.

Dson went through the logs and quickly found out which VIP rooms were empty, booking it and straight away forwarding the Information to his brother. Ason immediately got to work, leading the three women to VIP room number two personally. In time, they reached there.

"In here no one will disturb you, madam. However, if you need anything, just use the item placed inside; it will directly inform the maid tasked to attend the guests of VIP room two. She is ready to serve anytime and would answer any inquiries you have about anything regarding the ongoing auction or the House of Gilded Shadows to the best of her ability." He gave the speech, bowing. "Please enjoy the rest of your stay, madam."

Clementine simply nodded. "Good job, you can go now," she said, opening the door and entering inside with Auguszta and Aphryne.

CLICK!

As the sound of the door closing echoed, Ason couldn’t help but exhale. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

SIGH!

Strengthening his back, he muttered, wiping the sweat from his forehead, "Damn, who is this demonic woman. I’ve never seen nor heard of her before." Moving through the corridor, he mused, his mind wandering over the eerie meeting.

"Just standing near her makes my soul shiver and body tremble. I should probably inform the manager about these three too! So many top figures of Varion in a single building, now these three unknown women, I just hope nothing bad happens during this auction event."

He exhaled again, having a bad feeling the more he pondered about those three. Ason hurriedly went towards the auction house manager to inform him about everything. He didn’t want to be held accountable for anything at all later on after all.

With his senses as a veteran receptionist, he wasn’t about to get himself into trouble for nothing.