Demonic Skies *On Hold*

Chapter 15: A Surprising Discovery

Aidan and Don were seated in their balcony as the next lot of items was brought on stage. Like the prior lot, no time was given for anyone to appraise the value of the lot. However, Aidan's discerning eye was able to make out a purified billet of Purple Iron.

Purple iron was an extremely rare material for weapons and armor. It was mainly mined from the underground Dwarven Empire of Nulgorath. They hardly exported any of the precious material. The empire itself had strict laws regarding the ore and was under strict control. It was primarily used in the arming of its core armies. Very rarely would a dwarf leave the underground empire wearing the precious resource.

The ore itself possessed no visible differences from regular iron. However, if a magician was skilled enough, they could sense the minute traces of mana inherent within the smallest unit of the material itself. This is different from the elven mythril which possessed traces of mana that shrouded each unit. However, this difference gave purple iron its benefits in heavy weapons and plated armor as opposed to mythril which was beneficial to light bladed weapons and chainmail type light armor.

However the refined billet of purple iron was different from its unrefined state. The purer the material was the more the material possessed a geometric quality to it. If one looked at the faint lines of those shapes, one could see the faint color of purple. However, the present bar was so pure it had an almost regal purple lines running across it.

However, this seemed lost upon the audience which had no experience with the material. With the exception of Don it seemed, whose hands shook on the arm rest.

"Next lot is a special treat. Our elders have appraised a billet shown here," the auctioneer pointed at the purple iron. "This, ladies and gentlemen, is a pure billet of purple iron. For this reason, the lot will start at four thousand gold coins."

"Four thousand!" Don shouted almost jumping from his seat.

"Five," spoke the magician.

"Six," Don immediately countered.

"Six-five," Narissa joined in surprising Don and the audience. No one expected her to have such money on hand.

The mage sat in his balcony with hushed breath. He was stunned. Nine thousand gold coins was by no means a small amount of coin. He was stunned to find that the woman still had money on her. Who was she, he began to wonder?

"Seven," Don countered.

"Eight," Narissa continued.

"Nine," countered the mage.

Don felt helpless. He did not expect to happen upon purple iron at the auction this time. He had no time to notify his father. He could only bow out helplessly.

"Eleven!" Narissa said firmly.

Everyone was stunned. Eleven thousand gold coins was an exuberant amount of money. Hushed whispers spread through the gallery of people. Who was she? Each person had their own theories and many individuals began quiet inquiries.

The lot concluded as Narissa's victory when the mage backed out. He understood a true dark horse appeared today and may possibly ruin their plans. They had wanted to be as low key as possible. The mage was only given thirty thousand gold coins and he began wondering if that would be enough.

The audience was noisy as the house began preparing for the final lot. The house itself was making its own investigations into Narissa on various channels.

However, Narissa wore a veil concealing her appearance. She also excused all servants and ordered not to be disturbed. The only contact with her would be when she picked up her items in person.