Enigma of Sin

Kayn glanced at the hood to Analyze it before leaving the backroom. Charlotte had told him to put it on as she didn't want anyone that was attending to know who he was aside from Yelena as she had worked together with her for ages.

[Hood of Infinite Emptiness (Epic): Mysteries surround this hood. It was created with unknown materials and unknown methods were used to enchant the item. Item has positional passive options:

-Positional Passive (Faceless Void): When the hood is pulled up, a veil appears in front of the wearer's face. Those looking into the hood will see a blanket of darkness and nothing else, no matter how hard they try. Anything that crosses the threshold of the veil will forever be lost in the void. All attacks directed at the open portion of the hood will enter the void to never be seen again. Attacks directed against hood portion will occur as normal as the material does not provide any defense.

-Positional Passive: Once the veil is active, no one other than the wearer will be able to remove or pull down the hood.

Caution: Wearer is also subjected to losing items or body parts to the void.]

Kayn's eyes widened in shock. This hood utilized the void element. He had been searching for something other than the Tethers to get more information on the void for a long time. This also meant that the hood was created by his clan or someone related to it. He definitely needed to ask Charlotte about it, and also ensure he didn't try to scratch his nose or something.

While he really wanted to test it out by throwing stuff at his face he relented and got back to business. He quickly approached Charlotte after leaving the room he changed in, but as if knowing what he was going to say, she spoke "I'll tell you about it later. For now, it's almost time for you to go to the auction."

There were about 10 people all sitting around a table, most of them were different races as well. Yelena was the only human even if Charlotte looked human, the other men and women were combinations of elf, beast, or demon.

They all nodded to Kayn, not asking him anything as they knew Charlotte was trying her best to keep him as her secret weapon of sorts. As curious as they were to ask about him, they knew antagonizing Charlotte was the wrong move.

The plans were confirmed and once everyone's roles were established, they all quickly left the room to get to their positions. Kayn carried two distress beacons in the dimensional ring, one that he was supposed to use if he thought he was being suspected or about to be detained.

The other was meant to be used once Kayn was done with the auction and had cleared the area with the prisoners, this would be their signal to begin the second half of the mission.

It took them about an hour to reach the location and get everyone where they needed to go. Yelena had already scouted the place, so she knew that the information was definitely good. When everyone was set, Charlotte gave Kayn the signal.

He calmly walked into the alleyway next to the general store and knocked on a large metallic door. A small metal slit at eye level opened up and a gruff voiced echoed from behind the door, "What?"

This wasn't what he was told they would say, but he remained calm and answered how he was told. "I'm here to buy some luck."

Kayn then flashed a platinum coin in front of the eyes that were watching him, just to make sure they knew he meant business. Not long after, the door opened and a bald man wearing a butler uniform that was much too small for him with a large sword on his back greeted Kayn.

"Welcome esteemed guest, are you here to buy or sell?" The door guard butler asked.

"Buy, I would like a private booth. I don't like associating myself with those of meager means."

The guard knew that most of the people who were going to participate in today's auction would be eccentric in one way or another, and this man was one of those. The auction house hosted several like him though and was happy to provide accommodations for them, for the right price of course.

"The auction itself is 5 gold coins to participate, those who want a VIP experience must pay 100 gold coins per day, the auction lasts 3 days total. VIPs must also prove that they have the means to participate in the higher quality merchandise bids by either showing money or items of equal worth."

Kayn was a little surprised, but several low-level thugs would probably try to come to the auction and spend on the more useless stuff, so having a 5 gold buy-in made sense. What surprised Kayn was that he had to pay a total of 305 gold coins just to have a VIP booth!

'Wait did he say VIP experience?' Kayn thought to himself, but to not appear suspicious, he pulled out 310 gold coins and swiftly handed them over to the man. "Entry fee, room for 3 days, and an extra 5 for the explanations."

"Thank you Sir!" The large man said as he called over someone else. "This person here will be your personal butler for the duration of the auction, if you need anything please ask him. Also, he will explain more about your room, the auction, and the VIP experience when you reach your room.

"Welcome to DeMarco Auctions, we hope you enjoy your stay." The large butler spoke before returning to his post at the door.

Kayn followed behind the much smaller and far thinner man, who Kayn couldn't help think was actually a child as he became lost in thought, 'DeMarco huh? I wonder if the owner is or is related to my target?'

Kayn wanted to inquire about it, but now was not the right time. Maybe if he spent enough at the auction and was able to meet the person who was running this particular auction, he would gain more information.

Kayn and the young butler soon arrived at a door and entered inside. There was a full bar on one side of the room, a large fancy bed, a table, and a set of nice plush chairs and couches set up to look through a large window pane. Kayn approached the window and looked out of it only to see several people in an auditorium style set-up with a large stage at the front.

The front seats were all occupied with people in nicer clothing and fancy masks on their faces while the further back one looked, they would notice the clothing becoming worse and disguises becoming non-existent.

There also seemed to be several other large windows spread about in a semi-circle around the stage, indicating that there were at least 20 VIP rooms. Kayn couldn't see through the glass into their rooms, so he assumed that his room was the same.

The small butler then cleared his throat to get Kayn's attention. "Sir, the auction will be starting in approximately 2 hours. Until then, would you like me to explain what is included in the VIP experience and complete any requests you have for me?"

The young man was quite sheepish when he spoke, clearly afraid of Kayn. However, he did nothing to ease the young man's worries as he had a part to play, and being nice to what Kayn knew was a slave wouldn't exactly paint him as the big spending slave owner type.

Kayn waved his hand as if he didn't care, "Go ahead."

"Yes, esteemed guest. The VIP experience includes specialty foods cooked daily by our top-of-the-line chefs during regular meal hours, including while the auction is in progress. A choice of meats cuts and sides will be provided to you an hour before the meal is set to arrive. There is also a bath equipped with the most modern of appliances through the door near the bed.

"Anything in the room is free to have and use, including the bar. Shortly, one of our associates will bring by a selection of both men and women for your choosing to entertain yourself with during the three days the auction is active.

"Please be aware that race and purity status can cost additional gold coins. The associate will inform you of prices if you show interest in someone other than a standard entertainer. You may have up to three of the standard entertainers of your choice, more than the allotted number cost extra.

"During the auction, to place a bid, press the metal button next to the window after inputting a numerical value in the silver, gold, and platinum entry areas. This will display your bid for the auctioneer and which VIP room has bid.

"Please keep in mind that you are not allowed to leave before the end of the auction and that bothering other VIP rooms or participants in the lower bowl is strictly prohibited.

"If you win the bid for any merchandise, it will be brought to you at the end of the auction by one of our officials. Half of the payment is collected at the end of the bidding by your personal butler, me, and the other half is collected when you receive the merchandise.

"Do you have any questions Sir?" The young butler asked as he relaxed a little since he was able to finish his speech without any mistakes or stuttering.

"No, you can leave, I don't need anything until the auction begins." Kayn spoke in a monotone voice. He was wearing his voice changing collar currently, so he sounded quite different than his usual tone of voice.

It was a bit awkward having two chokers wrapped around his neck, but fortunately the hood and suit covered everything up.

"Of course, Sir. A DeMarco Official will be by shortly to welcome you to the auction and ask for your proof of ability to participate. Once that is completed an associate will bring several entertainers to choose from.

"Thank you for choosing DeMarco Auctions!" The young servant said before he exited the room with elegance that clearly showed he had been trained intensively for this role.

Just like the young man said, an older gentleman in a business suit showed up not long after asking for proof that Kayn belonged as a VIP. Kayn didn't ask what the minimum wealth was as that would send warning bells that he might have a limit when he wanted to be seen as an infinitely rich person. He also didn't want to show his entire hand, so he settled for what he assumed was safe.

Kayn waved his hand and 250 platinum coins, equaling 25,000 gold coins was placed on the table between himself and the official. "I assume that's enough to prove my intentions?" Kayn spoke monotonously once again.

"Very good Sir. I will have your butler prepare the remainder of the preparations for your VIP experience. A list with what is being auctioned off on what day with the exception of the specialty goods will be given to you by your butler. Good luck, and I hope you have a fruitful auction." The old man gave a short bow before exiting the room, leaving Kayn by himself once more.

He was excited to get his hands on the auction list as he wanted to see what would be up for sale. He knew that the specialty items were probably referring to slaves and other unique items, but he was still hopeful that there was something interesting on the list.