Chương 85: Book 2 Chapter 7 - Agency

Luca looked almost unrecognizable from the last time Gray had seen him. Maybe it was the distance between them, but even from the VIP box, he could see how badly the man had deteriorated. Scars crisscrossed his exposed arms, while dark bruises mottled his face. Most of the injuries looked superficial enough for even basic healing to treat. Were the failed participants simply denied care unless their condition was critical? Gray caught himself the moment sympathy began to creep in.

He should've been ecstatic to see Luca like this. The man who had tormented him now stood shackled on an auction stage while he watched from a VIP booth belonging to the very woman running the event. A spiteful part of him almost wanted to join the bidding himself, to force Luca into a servant contract, and make him spend the rest of his life as his butler. But another part of him recoiled at the thought.

As much as Gray despised Luca, there was something sickening about watching people sold like property—knowing how easily he could've ended up standing on that stage himself if it wasn't for Hyun.

"I can purchase him for you, if you'd like." Kasia's voice cut through his conflicting thoughts.

"I can only imagine the grudge still lingering after your encounter with him and his friends."

"No, it's fine. I don't want to—" Gray snapped his gaze toward her.

"Wait. How do you know about my connection to him?" His eyes narrowed as he considered what else Kasia might know. Then it clicked.

"And how did you know about my brother's condition?" Gray muttered.

"Ivan wasn't around to watch during any of those times." Kasia gave a soft chuckle and settled deeper into the sofa, crossing one leg over the other.

"You don't reach my position by staying a bystander." She rhythmically tapped a finger against the armrest.

"You might think power and shiny abilities are what carry someone to the top. They're part of it, sure. But what truly separates you from everyone else is knowledge.

"The ability to keep a rifle shoved down your enemy's throat at all times—and knowing you can pull the trigger whenever you please by turning their own secrets against them is what true power means." Gray folded his arms, unimpressed.

"And the blackmail you're holding over me is the fact that I possess Shroud's power?" Kasia shook her head.

"No, kid. That barely scratches the surface." Her smile widened.

"Think bigger." Gray searched his thoughts, trying to piece together what she meant, but the auctioneer's booming voice dragged his attention back toward the stage.

"We'll start the bidding at Fifty Quants!" Jarvis called, sweeping an arm across the auditorium.

"With a minimum increase of ten!" Almost immediately, a morbidly obese man draped in a fine black silk robe raised his paddle. A glass of wine rested in his other hand, as he lifted the placard marked 7.

"One hundred Quants!" he shouted.

"One hundred Quants to Number Seven!" Jarvis swept a hand toward the bidder.

"Can I get one-ten? One hundred and ten Quants, anybody?" A man in a tailored yellow suit raised his paddle, his dark hair slicked neatly back.

"Five hundred Quants!"

"Five hundred to Number Thirteen!" Jarvis called.

"Do I hear—""Ten Quants." The voice came from one of the elevated viewing booths. Heads turned to the voice from above. Standing at the VIP booth was Kim Yoong, his associates positioned behind him on either side.

"Ten Quants for the young man currently listed on Lot One," Yoong said.

"And ten Quants each for every other participant on this stage, along with those waiting backstage in the queue." Confused murmurs rippled through the audience, quickly swelling into louder protests. Jarvis coughed into his fist, attempting to regain everyone's attention.

"Ah, yes! The owner of the auction house himself—Kim Yoong!" He forced an enthusiastic smile.

"Always a pleasure to have you participate in the bidding each year." His voice softened into something far more deferential. His shoulders dipped slightly as he clasped his hands in front of himself.

"Then… shall we restart the bidding at ten Quants?" The obese noble in the black silk robe shot to his feet, nearly spilling the wine in his glass. He thrust a thick finger toward the upper booth.

"What is this?" he barked.

"Who do you think you are? You think you can simply do whatever you please because you own this auction house?" Yoong stared down at him.

"Actually, I do." White particles gathered in front of his booth. The flecks swirled through the air like windblown snow, eventually condensing into the spectral form of a white tiger. Black stripes crawled across its fur, and its eyes burned a yellow gleam. The tiger plunged from the air toward the noble, jaws spreading wide as a guttural roar tore through the auditorium. The sound rattled the walls and vibrated through the seats, sending a chill through everyone who heard it.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The noble barely had time to scream. The spectral beast engulfed him in a single bite, and its jaws snapped shut with a wet, bone-crushing crunch. For all the man's considerable size, his entire body vanished inside the tiger's maw. When the creature lifted its head, only the noble's ankles remained, his shoes still planted upright beside the fallen wine glass.

The tiger dissolved moments later, its enormous frame breaking apart into mist motes until nothing remained—the nobles body included. Up in the viewing room, Gray sucked in a sharp breath at the sight. Beside him, Kasia leaned into her thumb and middle finger and shook her head, releasing a long, exhausted sigh.

"Why does he insist on making my life harder than it already is…?" Panic erupted across the auditorium. Guests sprang from their plush velvet seats, shouting and shoving as they flooded the aisles. Within seconds, the crowd surged toward the rear of the chamber, hundreds of bodies scrambling for the massive double doors leading outside.

"Give me a moment, dear," Kasia said, rising from the couch. The marble floor beneath the viewing room began to vibrate. A second later, several tiles collapsed into a widening cavity, opening a gaping hole in front of the sofa. Without hesitation, Kasia stepped forward and dropped into the darkness. Gray's brows shot up. He leaned over the edge of the couch and peered into the opening, trying to gauge its depth, but there was nothing below except blackness. He couldn't see the bottom.

Back in the auditorium, the panicked crowd was only a few feet from the massive double doors when a deep rumble rolled through the floor. The tremor rapidly intensified, shaking the chamber hard enough for several guests to stumble as vibrations traveled up through the soles of their shoes. Cracks suddenly split across the marble just before the exit, and the floor burst apart. A massive green flower bud punched through the opening, sending fragments of stone skittering across the ground.

Calling it a flower hardly did it justice. The plant was enormous, wide enough to block both double doors completely with room to spare. The bud twitched. Then its thick petals slowly unfurled, spreading outward in layers. Golden specks of pollen drifted through the air as the flower bloomed, revealing Kasia standing at its center atop the broad lotus.

"That… that's the Guild Master of the Jade Lotus!" one guest exclaimed, pointing toward her.

"She's beautiful," another murmured in awe. His expression tightened a moment later.

"But somehow terrifying at the same time."

"Hush," his companion warned, pressing a finger to his lips.

"Unless you want to become a part of her garden." Kasia smiled pleasantly at the stunned crowd.

"Hello, esteemed guests. I am Kasia Petrov, Guild Master of the Jade Lotus and owner of the Jade Bazaar." She didn't raise her voice, yet her gentle tone carried flawlessy throughout the now-silent auditorium.

"I sincerely apologize for my associate's temperament. I hope you can forgive his… lack of restraint." She placed an apologetic hand over her chest.

"The auction has only just begun, and I assure you there will be no further disturbances from this point onward." Her smile remained warm as her eyes slid toward Yoong's booth.

"I'll make certain of that." Yoong caught the look, rolled his eyes, and dropped back into his high-back velvet chair.

"Now," Kasia continued, extending both arms out, "could I ask everyone to return to their seats? We have plenty of rare and promising wares still to come, and I'm certain there will be something of interest for all of you." The guests exchanged uneasy glances. No one moved at first.

"It doesn't look like we have much of a choice," one man whispered to his companion, shielding the side of his mouth with his hand. His eyes flicked toward the enormous lotus still sealing off the exit.

"Not while she's blocking the doors with that thing."

"Do you think she'd let us leave if we asked nicely?" his friend whispered. The two men at the front of the frightened crowd looked up at Kasia. She met their stares with a disarming smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Somehow, it felt less reassuring than a threat.

"You know what? I'll take my chances with that white tiger."

"Yep." The pair immediately turned around and hurried back to their seats. Their retreat set off a ripple through the rest of the crowd, and within moments, the guests were reluctantly filing back into their rows. Once everyone had settled, the enormous lotus trembled. Its petals folded inward, sealing Kasia inside before the entire flower plunged back through the shattered floor in a blur. A few guests seated nearest the exit immediately tried to make a break for it. They stopped dead in their tracks.

In Kasia's wake stood two towering guards nearly seven feet tall, their bodies formed entirely from thick, twisted wood. Branches intertwined across their broad frames like muscle, while their hollow eyes glowed white. They stood motionless before the double doors, blocking the exit. The would-be escapees quietly returned to their seats. Up in the viewing room, Gray watched the entire display with reluctant awe. Seeing power on that scale made him understand, if only slightly, what it meant to be a Kaiser.

It wasn't merely strength or prestige. People moved when Kasia wanted them to move. Entire crowds bent to her will. She possessed something Gray had spent far too much of his life without. Agency. A tremor traveled through the viewing room floor. Gray tensed as the same massive flower bud rose through the gaping hole in front of him. He recoiled into the corner of the couch, yanking his feet off the marble and tucking his knees close to his chest as the bud towered over him.

The petals unfurled once again, revealing Kasia standing calmly at the center. She stepped onto one of the broad petals. It bent beneath her weight and slowly lowered until its edge touched the marble floor, allowing her to step off. Behind her, the lotus folded shut and vanished back into the darkness, leaving the giant crater wide open. Kasia casually circled the crater and returned to her seat.

"You must've been frightened. My apologies." She gave Gray the same pleasant, utterly unconvincing smile she had offered the guests downstairs. The tension gradually drained from his shoulders. Gray lowered his feet and settled back against the couch.

"Unfortunately, I can only manipulate organic matter. I'll have to call in some Earth Users to repair the marble properly." She raised one finger.

"In the meantime…" She held out a loose hand, and a twig no larger than a finger coalesced from the end of her fingertip and dropped onto the floor. It wriggled toward the edge of the opening like a tiny worm. Once it reached the rim, it stopped. Then it shot across the gap. The twig elongated in an instant, stretching from one side of the crater to the other before anchoring itself into the opposite edge. Its tip bent sharply and launched again at another angle. Then again.

Gray watched as the branch repeatedly crossed the opening, weaving itself into a rough star-shaped lattice. Each pass added another layer until the gaps disappeared beneath a dense web of interlocking wood, forming a makeshift floor over the abyss. The display should've been fascinating, but his mind was entirely focused on somewhere else.

"Wood Shaping." Kasia pointed proudly at her handiwork.

"One of the Jade Lotus's specialties. Those big, burly tree guards downstairs were created with the same technique." She leaned back into the sofa.

"Difficult as hell to master, but incredibly fun once you get the hang of it." Gray let out a low hum of acknowledgment, the sound more dismissive than anything. Kasia studied him for a moment.

"What's the matter? Are you—""Why'd you kill my parents?"