Chapter 49 The True Curtained World

Daniel took a moment to appreciate the opulent room, his eyes scanning over the many sculptures and paintings that adorned the walls. His interest was piqued by the exquisite craftsmanship and attention to detail that went into each piece.

As he waited for the auction to begin, Daniel continued to take in the beauty of the room, the crystal chandeliers casting a warm glow over everything. Eventually, his curiosity was sated and he took a seat in one of the plush velvet armchairs beside Ragnar, settling in for the upcoming event.

"By the way Lord Stenmark, When you said that this invitation card is a key. I still don't get it. What key was it used for?" Daniel asks as he picks up the invitation card from Maria and flipping thro and fro, trying to see how it works.

Ragnar let out a small laugh. "Ah ha ha, I see that this is your first time visiting one of the Curtained World Auction houses," Ragnar said as he took the invitation card from Daniel.

"This is the pleasure of the referrer, observe," he continued as he walked to a marble sculpture at the side of the wall that had a silver tray in its hands.

Ragnar placed the invitation on the tray, and suddenly a blue shield appeared, locking the invitation within it.

pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ At that moment, the view outside of the VIP room changed from a spacious and opulent hall into an extravagant hall that was even more spacious. Daniel stood up from his seat and walked to the VIP room balcony to see what had happened.

What he saw was a hall built like a Roman coliseum that he had seen when he traveled to Rome with Koyuki.

Many guests had strange characteristics; some of them had bull-like horns, some had wings, but not angelic wings, more like harpy wings. There were even some people who had elven-like features and others who were short and muscular. Daniel even saw a centaur!

"Was that... an elf? And a dwarf?" Daniel uttered in disbelief.

"Ga ha ha ha! Your face is priceless!" Ragnar let out a loud laugh once he saw Daniel's usual poker face break into one of shock and disbelief. Michaela shot him a menacing glare, but Ragnar didn't seem to mind.

"Welcome to the Curtained World, kid," Ragnar said, patting Daniel's shoulder before returning to his seat.

As for Daniel, he continued taking in the view of the true auction hall that was revealed by the invitation. He now knew that the Curtained World was much deeper than he had expected, and that this glimpse was just the tip of the iceberg.

"Lord Stenmark, is this scene considered normal in the Curtained World? Do races like elves, dwarves, and centaurs live among us all this time?" asked Daniel with curiosity.

Ragnar nodded in response. "Yes, they do. When they need to go anywhere, they usually use transformation spells to walk amongst normal humans. But most of these non-human races, especially those who hold a higher position within their race, prefer to live in pocket spaces or secret realms that have been inherited since the Golden Age of magic," explained Ragnar.

"Golden age of magic?" Daniel repeated, his curiosity piqued.

Seeing the look of fascination in Daniel's eyes, Ragnar looked at him as if trying to peer into his soul.

"Kid... seriously, you don't know about this? Really?" he asked, probing Daniel.

Feeling slightly uneasy, Daniel realized he had let his curiosity get the better of him. He wondered if Ragnar would try to take advantage of his lack of knowledge about the Curtained World.

Daniel accessed his mindscape, realizing he had no spells available to read Ragnar's mind. He also realized that he needed an Archmage profession card to avoid such inconveniences in the future.

As Ragnar observed the apprehension and uncertainty in Daniel's eyes, and the constant look of doubt and guardedness on his face, he couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

He thought back to what he knew about Daniel from their short interaction, from what he gathered, Daniel's past experiences had made him prone to distrust and a need for control before he could trust others.

Furthermore, his difficult childhood, being raised by a foster family that saw him only as a money-making machine, had made him even more independent and naturally suspicious of others. Despite this, he tried to hide his skepticism under the facade of being a polite and humble young man.

"Well, kid, I don't ask you to let down your guard in front of me, but you don't need to be that highly on guard. If you keep doing this, sooner or later, you'll be bald like that old fox Montgomery," Ragnar said, his tone relaxed.

Daniel didn't say anything in response to Ragnar's comment, but instead turned to look at Michaela, who nodded in agreement. He knew that as an angel, Michaela had the ability to discern the truth and the goodness of a person by peering into their soul, according to the lore he had written.

Despite his initial hesitation, Daniel began to feel a small sense of relief at Michaela's presence. He trusted her judgment.

"Well, it seems like that silver-haired lass can tell if someone is telling the truth or not. Is she the holy maiden from the Vatican? But this shouldn't be possible, the Vatican wouldn't let one of their holy maidens out there," Ragnar asked, his curiosity piqued.

From what Ragnar knew, the only beings that could tell the truth from lies without reading people's minds were the holy maidens, who were usually confined to the Vatican Grand Cathedral and only came out if something big happened.

"The Vatican? What are you talking about, Lord Stenmark?" Daniel asked, deciding to put more trust in Ragnar.

"Huh?" Ragnar was confused, looking at Daniel and seeing that the young man didn't even have a clue about what he was talking about.

Of course, this was because what Daniel knew was only the tip of the iceberg, having only read the mind of the novice mage that came to attack the Veneziale estate. His knowledge of the Curtained World wasn't deep enough to know something like this.

What Ragnar had said was considered basic knowledge for mages who studied in the Hightower Institute, were tutored by renowned teachers, or came from large clans.

From Ragnar's perspective, he sees Daniel as a mage who was tutored by a renowned teacher or some hermit who is hiding from the world. This is the only explanation he can come up with to explain Daniel's expertise in creating artifacts using Atlantean techniques.

"Wait... you don't even have a clue, do you?" Ragnar asked, and after seeing Daniel's confused look, he was sure that Daniel didn't even have a clue about what he was talking about.

"My apologies, Lord Stenmark, but my teacher only taught me about magic and artifact creation. He didn't teach me about anything else and said that I needed to experience it myself," Daniel explained, using the explanation that Wrath had come up with to account for his lack of knowledge about the Curtained World.

After Daniel confirmed that he had no knowledge about the Curtained World, Ragnar clutched his glabella, feeling a headache coming on at the thought of Daniel's eccentric teacher.

"Ugh... those eccentric hermits are the worst. Would it kill them to teach you the basics of the Curtained World? Was it that foolish old man Theodore? No, he's eccentric, but he doesn't know how to create Atlantean artifacts," Ragnar grumbled, lost in thought as he tried to think of someone who could have taught Daniel.

"Atlantean artifacts?" Daniel perked up at the mention of the phrase.

"What makes them different from normal artifacts? I thought that was the only way to create them," he asked, hoping to learn more about what Ragnar was saying.

In his mind, all the knowledge he had obtained from the Grand Artificer profession card was everything he needed to know, from basic to advanced, about creating artifacts. Daniel had assumed that this knowledge was all there was to it, but Ragnar's words suggested otherwise.

Upon hearing Daniel's question, Ragnar decides to educate him on the basic knowledge of the Curtained World that one needs to know when studying at the Hightower Institute.

However, before Ragnar can begin his lecture, he hears the voice of the girl who works as the auctioneer announcing the start of the auction event.

On the stage below the coliseum-like seat, a blond elf in an elegant red one-piece dress stood confidently with the stage mic in hand. In the air, there was a holographic-like screen showing the scene on the stage in case any guests were too far from the stage and didn't see the announcer or the goods that were about to be auctioned.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to our Prosperities Auction Hall!" The elven lady announced the opening with vigor, her voice carrying through the hall.