Chapter 390:Spatial Equipment
Sein had to admit that the pink-tailed mermaid before him was perhaps the most exquisite female creature he had ever encountered.
He refused to describe her as “most beautiful” because, in his memory, Leena was the most beautiful.
Besides, “beautiful” was an extremely subjective adjective.
Aside from Leena, he also considered Selina, Eileen, Faye, and his mentor, Lorianne, beauties.
Setting aside these subjective factors and judging solely from an objective standpoint, Sein had truly never encountered a more exquisite female than the mermaid before him.
She seemed like a beauty out of a painting, with her pink tail and long wavy hair complemented by her lovely, striking eyes.
A five-meter-long and three-meter-wide transparent water tank served as the mermaid’s temporary home.
Likely unaccustomed to being watched by so many people, the mermaid expressed her panic and anxiety by swinging her pink tail around in the water, causing splashing noises that filled the hall.
The mermaid wore only a pair of white shells that covered her chest and green kelp in her hair.
Sein had to admit that these aquatic creatures were really quite liberal in their attire.
The six-armed female Naga that Sein had seen previously wore nothing on her chest, yet bared her breasts proudly in public.
By contrast, this mermaid appeared more conservative and covered herself with shells.
Judging from the reactions in the hall, it might have been better for her not to cover herself at all. The shells, intended to conceal, barely hid what they were supposed to and instead made her features even more enticing.
Meanwhile, the yellow-robed mage continued introducing the mermaid inside the water tank to the audience.
The mage on stage was so eloquent that he effectively laid bare the mermaid’s allure before the crowd.
“By using charm spells or other soul magic to make the mermaid willingly give herself up, her dorsal fins would retract, and her fish tail would morph into legs for the purpose of mating with a human. Upon consummation, she will gain the ability to walk on land and remain forever loyal to her partner,” the mage explained without a change in expression, despite his scholarly appearance.
Such explicit and intimate details did not awkwardly silence the auction house; instead, they piqued the interest of many, particularly the knights seated in the hall.
Their sexual desires were higher than those of the mages, but they often lacked the financial resources to compete.
While Sein was also observing the mermaid, his initial amazement soon shifted focus to the azure-colored crystal necklace around her neck.
The unique hydro elemental energy and subtle spatial fluctuations it emitted piqued his curiosity. The alchemist in him immediately recognized something unusual about the necklace.
Toward the end of the presentation, the auctioneer finally introduced the necklace around the mermaid’s neck.
“This necklace is a magic artifact included as a free gift with the purchase. It not only enhances hydro elemental energy, but its greater function lies in...” the auctioneer explained, his voice trailing off to build suspense. "
After a dramatic pause, he activated the magic within the necklace and the mermaid in the water tank instantly vanished.
In her place, the necklace was suspended in mid-air, and within its center, a beautiful silhouette of the mermaid appeared.
This spectacle elicited gasps of astonishment from the crowd.
As an alchemist, Sein could not help but rise from his seat upon recognizing that the necklace was actually a piece of advanced spatial equipment that could store living beings.
Up to this point, the spatial equipment Sein was capable of crafting was essentially limited to storing items.
While crafting space rings was no longer a big challenge for him, the more advanced spatial equipment that could store living beings remained beyond his current abilities.
In contrast, Sein’s former mentor, Morsidor, possessed the necessary skills to create such devices.
The space piccolo that Sev lived in was one of his creations, crafted while he was severely wounded.
His ability was the result of over eight hundred years dedicated to practicing alchemy.
Compared to his late mentor, Sein was just a novice alchemist and truth seeker. Despite inheriting Morsidor’s legacy and several magical tomes, certain aspects of growth in the field simply could not be rushed.
Moreover, Sein did not devote all his energies to alchemy alone; he also spent considerable time and effort exploring other areas like pyro and lumen magic, as well as the Verdant Flame Body Tempering technique.
The sight of the crystal necklace at the auction rekindled Sein’s interest in researching advanced spatial equipment.
More than the allure of the beautiful mermaid, it was the potential and value of the crystal necklace that captivated him.
His instinct told him that the necklace might hold more profound principles of spatial magic than Morsidor’s space piccolo, given that it could accommodate humanoid creatures, not just magic beasts.
The exact capacity and any potential limitations of the necklace, however, remained unclear.
As Sein’s thoughts lingered on the intricacies of alchemy, another round of bidding commenced in the auction hall below.
Despite the high starting bid, the enthusiasm among the knights and mages remained undiminished.
Those seated below the third floor were primarily spectators; the real participants were hidden in the more secluded boxes above the fourth floor where Sein was located.
The privacy offered by these boxes, coupled with the discretion provided by the auction organizers, created an environment where conventional morals and rules seemed to vanish, leaving only raw interest and desire.
The pink-tailed mermaid was eventually sold for 4,734 magicoins, a figure surprisingly below Sein’s expectations.
The reason for this lower-than-anticipated price was unclear to him.
As the mermaid was carried away from the viewing tank, Sein’s thoughts returned to the mysteries of spatial equipment that could store a humanoid creature.
“Zorro has inherited most of Master Morsidor’s legacy in alchemy. I wonder if he has unraveled the secrets of such spatial equipment. Should I ever meet him in the Western Archipelago, I must discuss this with him,” Sein thought.
With the departure of the pink-tailed mermaid, Sein’s immediate interest in the auction waned.
The starting bid for the subsequent items never dipped below a thousand magicoins, targeting mages of Rank Two and above.
Nevertheless, Sein stayed until the end of the auction to enrich his knowledge and broaden his horizons.
The main highlight of the auction, the heart core of a peak Rank Three creature, fetched an astonishing final price of 33,700 magicoins.
This hefty sum made Sein reflect on the Fire-Breathing Dragon King held in Master Lorianne’s laboratory—it was truly a pile of money!