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Hearing that, an awkward pause took over the rest of the auction hall. It was obvious to everyone that the auctioneer now only cared about the people hidden away on the top floor. But they couldn’t blame him or Icicle Palace. The moment the fossil was regarded as a king grade item, nearly everyone present was automatically excluded from the bidding.

Oli and the others inside private booths used this time to carefully examine everything they could see about the fossil.

Not only was it massive, but there were only a few major details revealed on the visible surface of the fossil. They could see a portion of what seemed to be the jaw, showing that the beast could’ve swallowed the auctioneer in a single bite. There was also a glimpse of some kind of claw-like appendage. The encompassing stone was large enough to potentially have wings, but there were no signs of wings to be seen. The fossil then started spinning on its massive turntable, showing the tip of a tail at the back of the stone. Indeed, it looked draconic but its species was still a complete mystery.

But Oli felt like an obvious question had to be asked. ‘Why doesn’t Icicle Palace at least clear some of the stone? Even if they don’t fully expose the skeleton, just removing some would help identify the species and make it easier to sell.’

‘It’s not that simple, Oli. These aren’t like the dinosaur bones of your old world,’ Eeole chuckled with a hint of sarcasm.

‘Then what’s different?’

.....

Eeole explained, ‘First, by keeping the fossil as is they’re able to leave things a mystery. Even if that gives them an incomplete grading, it adds to the suspense of the auction. There’s a chance that the fossil ends up being early-king grade upon harvesting the remains, which could potentially lose Icicle Palace a lot of money.

‘But that’s just a minor factor. The most difficult part is that stone. It’s not ordinary by any means. Can you guess why?”

Blinking, Oli focused on the black stone’s strangely course luster instead of the fossil within. It felt strangely familiar but Oli couldn’t quite guess why without another few moments to think. ‘... Is that... roxite!’

‘Now you understand. That fossil is embedded in one of this world’s most valuable, durable materials. So you take a major bet on what to do. Do you harvest the roxite as best you can, or do you harvest the fossil at the expense of the roxite? And is one willing to eat the heavy investment of extraction while knowing that the process has far more ways to fail than to succeed?’ reasoned Eeole. ‘Either way, there will be great losses no matter what the winning bidder chooses to do with it.’

‘If it’s doomed to fail, why would-‘

‘Because there’s a chance to strike it big. If that ends up being a high or peak-king fossil, it will be worth more than you can imagine. Such a rare find could be just as tempting for a quadrant as the magicite mine that your territory had.’

Oli was entirely taken aback by that statement. Staring down at the fossil, he felt it a little harder to breathe as he imagined how much such a thing could cost.

Continuing, Eeole added, ‘That’s why we must win it. There are no other options.’

‘... Eeole, how certain are you-‘

‘I’ll answer that question after we get that fossil to a secure location and I can properly evaluate it.’

While Oli listened closely to Eeole’s reasoning, the first bid appeared for everyone to see. One of the private windows lit up and projected the image of a few items. That illusion appeared on both the window and in the air above the crowd.

The auctioneer lifted his mic and described the bid with a pleasantly relaxed smile, “Finally, the first bid to kick us off... There’s a five-piece set of peak-perennial armor along with seventy-five thousand gold. It’s a beautiful set but that’s much too low a bid for Icicle Palace to take into consideration.”

The entire auction hall felt the crushing weight of reality topple over them. Anyone outside those of the private booths that dared believe they could somehow scrounge together a bid instantly lost all threads of hope.

That bid disappeared without a word from the bidder. But a new bid was quickly put up by the same private booth. Someone inside asked, “How about this?”

“Hmm...” The auctioneer eyed the new offer while tapping the base of the microphone. “This is better. One hundred thousand gold with the same set of armor, and an additional peak-perennial weapon of the same element. However... we still won’t fully consider this until we see the other bids. For now, we’ll withhold our judgment.”

“Very well.” That’s all that came from the booth as the bid’s illusion remained in the air.

Seeing the bid, Oli took a massive deep breath. He couldn’t help but think how he’d taken items from such wealthy people. Oli realized that he likely won at those early prices solely because the other big-time buyers were budgeting for the true prize of the auction.

Another bid popped up, garnering everyone’s attention.

The auctioneer slowly nodded but didn’t change his facial expression. “One hundred thousand gold, a peak-perennial shield and spear set, and an early-king core... Icicle Palace recognizes this as the highest bid!”

The old offer vanished from the space overhead as the new bidder stated, “Thank you, Master Garviel.”

“You’re welcome,” the auctioneer replied with a bow.

More silence filled the space as those in the booths began to think about how they would outdo the current bid.

Half-joking, Oli laughed in his head, ‘Too bad you gave that halberd to Treeda. It would’ve come in handy here.’

‘True! That would’ve made things much simpler.’