CHAPTER 106 — ESCALATION
One spirit stone.
The bid didn't echo. It didn't need to.
It settled into the hall, and the effect was immediate. A hand that had already been raised lowered halfway and stayed there. Someone near the front leaned toward his neighbor, then stopped before speaking. The low hum that had carried the earlier bids thinned out until it disappeared entirely.
Leylin's gaze moved, not to the stage, but across the crowd.
They weren't watching the shard anymore.
They were looking for the one who spoke.
He found him quickly.
A young man, seated three rows from the front, posture relaxed but deliberate. He hadn't leaned forward like the others. Hadn't rushed his bid. Now that every eye was on him, he didn't shrink from it. If anything, he adjusted slightly in his seat, letting the attention settle.
..a spirit stone?
The whisper came from somewhere to the left, low enough to be private, but not controlled enough to stay that way.
Which house is backing him?
That's not something you give to someone his age…
The murmurs didn't rise. They spread.
Leylin watched the change carefully.
Nothing on the stage had shifted. The shard still rested where it had been placed, unchanged, unimpressive to the eye.
But the room had moved around it.
He spoke without looking away.
What is a spirit stone?
Beside him, she reached for another grape, turning it once between her fingers before answering.
It's what people use when they're done pretending gold matters.
Leylin glanced at her, then back to the hall.
Below, the young man who had placed the bid sat still now. The earlier ease in his posture had sharpened into focus. He wasn't enjoying the attention anymore. He was holding it.
No one answered him.
The silence stretched just long enough to confirm something had changed.
Five spirit stones!
The second voice came from the opposite side of the hall.
This time, the reaction was faster.
Heads turned immediately. A few people straightened in their seats without realizing they had moved. The first bidder's fingers curled once against the armrest before relaxing again.
The host stepped forward, smile returning as he lifted his hand toward the stage.
"Five spirit stones," he repeated, letting the number sit where everyone could feel it.
The hall was quieter now. Too quiet.
Leylin leaned back slightly, his attention drifting away from the stage again.
The earlier bids replayed in his mind—two hundred, a thousand gold coins, the speed at which it had climbed, the urgency behind it. All of it felt distant now. Like it belonged to a different room.
He thought about what he had.
The coins.
The amount he had taken.
What he had assumed would be enough.
His fingers twitched once against his leg, subtle enough that no one would notice.
He didn't look at the shard again.
He didn't need to.
A chilling thought settled in his mind:
Gold meant nothing here. If that was true, then I've been counting the wrong thing from the start.
Note:this chapter is short because it acts as a transition chapter, future arcs will contain more lengthy words 🔥