"If you're looking for the creator, he is right here!" Andihar announced in such a crystal clear voice that you could have been deaf and still heard it.

For a moment, all Andihar got in response was a row of blank stares. Eik used this moment to clear his throat quietly and nudge the large man in the side. "Excuse me. I don't mean to be rude in the middle of whatever this is, but what the hell is this?" he whispered.

"This," Andihar muttered back under his breath. "is how you get ahead of things."

"Andihar Dayarunar?" An older man said with narrowed eyes. Every inch of exposed skin, both on his arms, legs, and face, was covered in tattoos practically weaved into his skin in intricate, beautiful patterns. He also bore numerous heavy, glinting pieces of jewellery. His orange eyes seemed to bore directly into Eik's very soul. "You're responsible for this debacle then, I take it?"

"'Debacle' is a bit of a vulgar way to put it, don't you think, Clan Leader Gul?" Andihar said with a cool smile. "And I must say, your harsh judgment is a little premature."

"Premature?" the older man huffed, the thick metal rings hanging long from his earlobes clinking melodically against each other with the movement. "What you're claiming is an impossibility. You're tanking your own reputation like an idiot, and for what?"

"Wow, cruel. But while I understand your skepticism, I can tell you that I have witnessed the long term effects of this particular pill myself. I am confident that it works."

Clan Leader Gul scoffed and glared down at the spectacle below with eyes full of disdain. "Well, we'll soon see about that, won't we?"

"We will indeed."

As they spoke, the host was busy explaining that Eik's Legendary Mystery Medicine wasn't as potent as the regular version of the product. Since this was the first time the pill had been revealed to the public, the four samples up for grabs—one class 2, one class 3, and two class 4—would be sold individually one at a time.

This was something Andihar had requested to prevent all four from going to the same wealthy buyer who might choose to keep secret the effects. The crowd was essentially fighting to offer their bids and the bid increments increased so rapidly that the host could barely follow along with her own show.

Soon, almost nobody on the main floor could match the bids being thrown out from the obscured viewing booths above.

"Mr. Dayarunar," a woman dressed in a full suit of heavy armor began. A radiant, overly decorated sword hung by a simple strap at her waist. "Besides the four presented here today, how many of these magical pills might you have in stock? I would be extremely interested in buying directly from you," she said, ignoring a couple of displeased clicks of the tongue from Clan Leader Gul two seat away.

"Oh, I don't have a single one i— Actually, excuse me for a second," he said and spun back toward the auction floor, throwing his arm up to indicate a bid. As the price kept increasing, so did he keep throwing up his arm. "I simply must have another one of them for my daughter," he said with a mischievous smile.

"You should have just asked," Eik said. "I'll give you a fe—"

"No," the muscular elf said, stopping him before he could finish the sentence. "You've gone public now. Don't just give these away. At least not while the world is looking. Let people pay what they're worth—and they're worth a lot."

"Right."

"As I said," Andihar carried on, continuing to glance down at the host and occasionally lifting his arm to bid. "I'm simply a benefactor. A supporter. I am neither the creator nor the owner of these pills. My friend here is."

"And who is your friend?" Clan Leader Gul asked.

"He would prefer to keep that to himself for now."

"You speak as if you don't know that I can find out every little detail myself." This reminder put some sweat on Eik's forehead, although Andihar seemed less than impressed.

"And when you do, you would do well to keep your findings to yourself as well," Andihar told him, his tone growing more icy.

"Hoh?" the old man questioned, arching an eyebrow.

Andihar's eyes never wavered as he sat back, the seat of his chair swiveling around to face the others. "We both know that you won't talk before you've confirmed the validity of the pill, and when you realize that this is no simple exaggeration, we also both know that you will be wise enough to keep your mouth shut lest you piss off the next Elixir King. You will want to be in his good graces, and you'll do more than keep his identity secret to achieve that."

Elixir King? What the hell was an Elixir King?

"What was the point of the mask in the first place, then?" Eik muttered, feeling all eyes on him as if he was being watched by predators.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Raising his hand for a bid again, not even listening for the current price point, Andihar glanced back at Eik. "It's so that not just anyone on the street can find out about your identity. You don't want that to happen."

"But what about…" he trailed off, nodding at Clan Leader Gul and the armored woman.

"With the kind of resources they have, they will find out anyway. But you can use the fact that you have this fantastic pill to leverage your worth and keep them off your tail. It's better to let them know right away that you have a powerful backer like me who is interested in keeping you as independent as possible," Andihar said, completely ignoring the gazes boring into them.

"Sold!" the host shouted from the scene. "To an individual in booth number five!"

Andihar flashed Eik a satisfied grin.

"You didn't have to pay that much for it. All you had to do was ask."

"As I said, don't give anything away for free in public. Besides, I'm more than capable of paying. In fact, I'd feel troubled taking it for free."

"Right. I appreciate you pumping up the price then," Eik said with a chuckle. "What did you buy it for anyway?"

"Uuh, I bought it for…" Andihar drawled, glancing back down to the main floor. "I bought it for twenty six million credits." With a snap of his hand, the same sound shield he had erected back in his garden sprung into existence between them and the other occupants of the booth.

Eik suddenly felt light-headed. "One… One pill for… for twenty six million? Are you actually insane, Andihar? That's way too much!"

"It's worth what people are willing to pay. If it helps you, this is good for me too."

"But you already gave me seven million a few months ago," Eik tried to argue, but Andihar would have none of it.

"That was different. That was a reward. To get you started and to give you some breathing room. I wanted to give you so much more, but with the kind of people I sometimes mingle with, I've seen what too much money at once can do to a person's mind. What it can do to a person's ambitions. And I know that you are full of ambitions."

Eik didn't know what to say to that.

"Call it an old man's drivel, but I didn't want you to lose the flame that I see growing within you," Andihar said, thumping Eik in the chest.

"And now," the host called. "The first of two pills suited for B-ranked Awakened! Don't sleep on this one either! It could be the difference between life and death out there!"

Eik watched with bated breath and on the edge of his seat as the price continued to climb and climb and climb, again and again seemingly without end. Were these four little pills really going to turn it all around for Earth?

Truth be told, he still didn't feel like he had a particularly good grasp on the actual value of credits and the Alliance economy. What was a lot and what was little seemed to fluctuate based on factors that were still difficult to grasp. Hopefully it would come.

But one thing was for sure. The amount of money he was making here tonight alone was literally many times more than what most normal people could hope to make in an entire lifetime.

With this, he could invest in weapons and protection for all Awakened in Forest. He could import food, building materials, medicine, literature, workers and specialists, teachers, and anything else they needed.

And he had many more pills than just those four stockpiled. He had expected it to take years to build up his business, but these pills alone might well be what ended up providing Earth with a fighting chance.

Every time the final bid seemed to have been put forward to seal the price, someone would one-up it. Again and again.

In the end she got to the last second of her count when Eik heard a quiet grunt of displeasure from the back of the booth and realized that the sound barrier had evaporated again. He looked back to see Clan Leader Gul, who had been expressing a lack of trust in the claims of Eik's Legendary Mystery Medicine only minutes earlier, with his hand raised.

"Yes, a person in booth number five has put forth a counter bid. Do we have anyone else to contest that?" the host shouted, her amplified voice traveling easily.

None did, and a single pill of B-ranked Eik's Legendary Mystery Medicine was sold to Clan Leader Gul for thirty three and a half million credits, sending shivers down Eik's spine at the thought of the wealth he now possessed. He should have brought these damn pills to market months ago.

The second class 4 pill sold for thirty one point five million credits, drawing the auction to a close.

As the crowd below filed out of the auction hall, dozens of people gathered by the stage where they all seemed to be trying to get more information about the origin of the miraculous booster pill.

"If this doesn't work," Clan Leader Gul said to Andihar as he made to leave. "I'll be at your doorstep tomorrow, Andihar. And you'll be held responsible for deceiving me as well." The last remark was aimed directly at Eik, a powerful and chaotic sense of dread slamming into him from the clan leader's gaze alone.

Suddenly Eik was really hoping that he hadn't made a mistake with the batch going to the clan leader…

Eik and Andihar were led to a reception where Eik's earnings were transferred to his credit slab. Deducting the cut to the auction house, Eik walked away with almost a hundred million credits and a head spinning like a top.

"I think I'm going to throw up," he mumbled as they made it back to the lobby.

Andihar laughed. "Well, in that case, let's get outside for some fresh air and find something to eat to finish off a profitable evening. You're buying."

Both the lobby and the street outside was in an uproar. The rumor that a pill that could permanently increase the consumer's stats was now a reality had spread like wildfire. People that behaved like journalists were accosting everybody coming out of the auction house with questions, hoping to get the scoop before anybody else.

It was chaos.

And nobody knew that the man responsible was walking among them.

A handful of paces away at the side of the road, utterly uninterested in the excitement everywhere around him, Clan Leader Gul was climbing into a stupidly ornate palanquin. As he approached the vibrantly colored conveyance, the bright red silk curtains were pulled aside to reveal the face of a young woman, her silvery hair and orange eyes setting her apart from everybody else. She was beautiful.

"How was your evening, grandpa?"

"I'm ready to go home," the old man grumbled.

"That fun, huh? That's good to hear."

Eik stared at the familial scene. His voice trembled slightly as he spoke to Andihar. "Hey, uuh, about Clan Leader Gul… What clan did you say he is the clan leader of again?"

"I don't think I did. It's the Ougi clan," Andihar said absentmindedly.

"Right, right. The Ougi clan…" Eik muttered under his breath, his eyes never leaving the face of the young woman. Crap…

It was Ihasu Ougi, the fracture specialist working under Mikla whom Eik had spoken to a few times. Of course she had to be the granddaughter of the scariest old fart Eik had ever met.

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