Chapter 893

Kat couldn’t decide exactly how much she hated the smell in the city. See, with the fresh water so close by there was an undercurrent of a fresh spring breeze that occasionally tickled your nose. The problem was the rest of the time it smelt like something had died, and then used its stench to go on a killing spree and at to the numbers. It wasn’t quite as bad as the swamp, but sometimes there was just a sparkle of hope your next breath wouldn’t be so bad. The oscillation from hope to disappointment definitely made things worse then it otherwise would be... but the swamp was just that bad.

As for how it was walking down the streets... well it wasn’t too bad. The main street at least was exceptionally large, enough space for three carriages pushed up against each other, and then more room for the footpaths. The few carriages they did pass meant Kat had to tilt the snake head a bit to avoid knocking them over... but it was manageable with a bit of care. It wouldn’t do to have her fall over sideways from the weight.

Still, it wasn’t too much of an issue, and they got to the Auction House with minimal issues. It was set in what Kat was pretty sure had to be the centre of the city. The area nearby opened up into this large town square with a fountain of pure water that must have been enchanted to help drive away the stench. There were a few trees growing in the grass patch that surrounded the water with little flowers popping up from the ground as well. It was a wonderful example of the city and if even half of the damned place was like this, Kat would considering it a wonderful vacation spot.

The Auction House itself was of course directly opposite the main road, blocking it and forcing the road to branch off in two other directions. It really spoke of the money and powered required not to build roads, but to divert them. It was an imposing building that seemed to feel large. It looked as though it was looming, and even though it was only three stories, above ground at least, it felt easily doubly that if not more. The outside was a black wood lines with white stone. The doors were large, though not quite large enough for the head to get in, and the fittings were clearly gold.

“So... how are we going to do this?” asked Kat, “The doors aren’t quite large enough so... what’s the plan?”

Xiang answered easily, “I’ll head in first, get them to acknowledge me, and then we’ll probably be led to some place to evaluate the snake. Then hopefully they’ll take it off our hands,”

Kat nodded and stepped backwards onto the grass. She wasn’t quite off the road but it was good enough for now. Kat felt like putting the thing down for a bit, but decided it’d be too much of a hassle and likely quite damaging to do such a thing. With a nod from everyone Xiang moved away from the rest of the group and went inside. It wasn’t overly busy in there. The Auction House had three people manning counters, and they were authorised to deal with most lower end items.

.....

Still, when Xiang started to describe what he had... it became a much bigger deal. It didn’t take long for the receptionist to send out a call and head outside herself to take a look. Her head snapped back, as her eyes climbed all the way up to the top of the snake, “Yup. That’s going to need a proper appraiser,”

With that established she didn’t even wait around, simply heading back inside and returning to her post. Kat and the gang shared a look of ‘so we just wait?’ and with nothing else to do, they followed that thought. It took about ten minutes for the person they were waiting for to arrive. It was a tall woman, that despite her appearance screamed danger.

She had long ragged hair that resisted all kinds of taming. It was tangled together but tied back with a loose ribbon that mostly just kept it steady at her back. She was missing a leg from the knee down and was using what was clearly a club as a walking stick. Her clothing though, was off exceptional make. They’d found leather so supple it nearly looked like cloth, and had they gone to the effort of dying or painting it a bit, nobody would’ve been able to tell. The woman’s pants were made with a similar leather except they had a metal plate bolted around her good ankle.

Her face was a mess of scars. The most noticeable one dragged from her temple, across one eye, and down to her chin. The eye itself looked... somewhat ok. With Kat’s vision she could see it was also lightly scarred, but only lightly. It still held the gift of sight even though it was slightly slower then the eye that was completely hole. Another was that a large chunk had been removed from her nose and then patched over poorly.

The woman barely spared them all a glance. She looked over the snake for a few moments before nodding and making a gesture for them to follow. She took them down the left side street for a few steps before pulling up the sidewalk, which actually happened to be a trapdoor, extending out into the road. It was a steep incline, but clearly meant for carriages and had good clearance. The group followed carefully, Kat exceptionally so. Her feet were steady but the weight was making it hard to keep them.

It didn’t take long for them to end up in a basement easily twice the size of the square above with a ceiling that would allow for the snake to be stood on its neck and still have room. They shuffled there way through a number of boxes that were on the edges until they reached another door, this one much larger, like those on an aircraft hangar. The woman didn’t hesitate at all, she wrenched it open with her free hand and gestured them inside. As they took steps in the lights flicked on and in the centre was a large glass podium.

As the woman touched it, the podium shifted and churned until the glass set again. It was raised up a bit higher then Kat herself now with a dent in the middle that could perfectly fit the snake. It was easy to guess what needed to happen. Kat however, glanced worriedly at the fact it was glass.

Seeing Kat’s worry, the woman spoke up, “That glass right there could take an attack from a Rank 3 cultivator going full out. Dropping a little thing like that snake you have on there won’t even scratch it.”

Sturdiness now assured Kat did just that, letting it slid from her arms onto the glass, wincing slightly at the slight screeching as the scales and glass rubbed against each other. “Hmm... good weight at least. Probably quite healthy when alive... who killed this beast?” asked the woman.

Xiang pointed to Kat, and Lily hopped onto the spare space on the glass to also point with a paw. The woman’s eyes zeroed in on Lily in an instant. “That’s not a cat... what is that?” The woman instantly noticed the shift in Kat’s posture and watched as purple seeped into Kat’s eyes. “Ah I see... she then?”

Lily hopped off the platform and transformed, “I’m Lily!”

“I see! Introductions finally. My name is Gertrude and I will be your appraiser today. I do not know if this would sound offensive, but you looked like a most curious creature, before you transformed of course. Quite a lot of power in that little frame... but the connection between you and your...” Gertrude looked at Kat and smirked, showing a good helping of teeth, even if two were missing. It was a sharp, pleased look, “owner.”

Kat wanted to be angry but Lily burst out laughing even as she tried to hide the blush on her face and stepped behind Kat. “I have no regrets,” insisted Lily from over Kat’s shoulder,”

“Oh I’m sure she takes good care of you Lily,” Gertrude practically purred out before straightening and looking over the others, “Now. The rest of you. Introduce yourselves!”

“My name is Kat,”

“Xiang”

“Yang”

Gertrude nodded and turned away back to her work. “Do any of you know the name of this beast?”

She didn’t even glance back but nodded again once everyone had shaken there heads, “That does not surprise me, I do not recognise it either and it is in fact my job to recognise such. I suspect it is either a mutant of another similar snake species or perhaps a crossbreed? I’ll have to investigate further. What plans do you have for this?”

“We were hoping to sell it,” said Xiang.

“Yes and I’m hoping to retire without needing the Merchants guarding my gilded cage and going on about just how large my debt is. That’s just a HOPE though. How do you plan to sell it? As is? Ingredients? Separately? Together? What about the location?” rattled of Gertrude.