Chapter 526 Beat-up and Auction

"…." What Alex saw through the window were numerous wooden houses, all piled together between paved roads. Each house looked similar with each other, and they were the only structures that existed here, along with the nearby trees.

The sight of this houses made Alex narrow his eyes, as their arrangement was something that felt familiar to him.

"Am I… in a small village made up of wooden houses?" Alex muttered as his eyes took in the sheer amount of wooden houses in front of him. "If these were the houses that has the Rookie Travelers, shouldn't they look better?"

"Oi hooman, if you are curious why the houses here are like this, don't bother asking it. It's the Endless Monarch who constructed everything here, and he did not explain why he did this." As if she had sensed Alex's curiosity, Asteria began to explain to him about the existence of the wooden houses. "However, the Monarch said that this place is called the Starting Village, since this is where Rookie Travelers start. They should be using this place to acclimate to this world, but just like what I said earlier…"

"Everyone who leaves their house immediately gets hounded by the recruiters. Yeah, I can see that now." Alex muttered, with his eyes stuck on staring at the people that are slowly making a commotion just outside his house.

"…."

There are 13 people standing right in front of Alex's house right now, with 9 of these people standing in a such a way that a human circle was created with them. This circle has a diameter of around 10 meters, which created a large, empty s.p.a.ce inside it.

These 9 did not do anything else after making the circle, as they stayed right where they were. Their eyes also did not wander around, as all of them only stared intently at the center of the circle.

"…."

As for the remaining 4 people, they were huddled together in one group, which interestingly was located right at the middle of the circle. This is also the spot where the other 9 people were intently staring in, which places the group of 4 under their scorching gazes.

The 9 in the circle looked like they were not interested on making the group of 4 run away, and the greedy look on their eyes made that more obvious.

"…"

Just by looking at this situation at a glance, Alex can tell what was happening.

The huddled group of 4 must have been cornered by the other 9 people, with the circle formation implemented to seal the group's path of escapes. This circle formation was bolstered more by the intimidating aura released by the 9 people, which made the cornered group look extremely uncomfortable.

Tension and wariness can be seen from the eyes of these 4, as if they were facing a dangerous opponent at this point. They were even holding their hands together as they tightened their huddle, an act that made them look much more vigilant.

But that's not the only thing that this group did. After staying in their huddle for a few more seconds, the only male member in the group began to make his move.

"Schw.a.n.g!" With a sound similar to that of a commoner's power, this young male deftly summoned a wooden staff on his hands, which he quickly brandished like a sword. This act, along with the tense expression on his face, clearly shows his intent to battle now.

As for the other 3 members of this group, who were all mature, well-endowed women, they began to summon their weapons too. They then pointed these weapons directly at the 9 people cornering them, an act that smeed to have amused the 9.

Some of them laughed from the defiant act by the group, while the others only shook their heads out of pity. These reactions made it appear as if these 9 were not worried about getting hurt at all. Instead, they seemed to even enjoy the reaction of the cornered group.

The same case can be also said to Alex, who only felt amus.e.m.e.nt upon seeing the weapons brandished by the group. It was as if Alex thinks that this group had no chance to win, a fact that he did not deny in his mind.

"This group of 4 is most likely a group that has a Rookie Traveler in it. As for who the Rookie Traveler is, it's most definitely that man." Alex thought as he stared at the staff-wielding male. He shook his head as he saw this young male's handsome face and blond hair, which seemed to be out of place with his weapon. "Yeah, the Rookie Traveler is most likely this guy. And he's a decent one… But it's still not enough to let him win here."

With his power sense, Alex could definitely say that the staff-wielding male has a power of around Third Stage. As for the 3 well-endowed women with him, they were all at Third Stage too.

Such kind of powerset is impressive for a Rookie Traveler, but this Third Stage of power is something that is not enough to save this group now.

After all, the power levels of the 9 people cornering them were around the Peak Third Stage!

The weakest of this 9 was exuding this level of power too, while the strongest of them showed signs of almost breaking through the Fourth Stage!

Such kind of power levels made the contrast between the 9 and the 4 more obvious, a sight that Alex can clearly see.

"Hm… if Asteria's words earlier were right, then these 9 people on the circle were most likely the recruiters sent by the Half-Step Transcendents. As for the group huddled inside, they must have been the Rookie Traveler and his companions that just left the house." Alex muttered as he quickly summarized the scene in front of his eyes.

"Right now, this Rookie Traveler and his companions are being cornered by the 9 recruiters. Heck, their path to escape was even sealed! Hmph, these recruiters must have been really desperate to recruit Travelers for them to act like this…" Alex added as the tension outside his house continued to increase. "Well, desperate or not, with the powers that the recruiters have, there is no way for the Rookie Traveler to escape from them. Sooner or later, he will be forcefully recruited, and there's nothing that he can do about that…"

"Yeah, that blond hooman is weaker than the recruiters so he will be forcefully recruited right here. The question is, who gets to recruit him?" Asteria suddenly said behind Alex as she also watched the unfolding situation with interest. "Only one recruiter can get the Rookie Traveler, so having 9 of them there will make things a little… chaotic."

"Chaotic? Heh, I may be new to this world, but even I knew that recruitment events can get messy. Especially if these events had Travelers in it…" Alex said with a smirk. "Hehehe, now this makes me want to see what happens here more. Will they beat up the Rookie Traveler? Or will they offer him with many incentives? What will be- Oh, so they are beating him up."

Just as when Alex began wondering what could happen, the 9 recruiters uddenly began making their move, unleas.h.i.+ng their attacks on the outnumber and outpowered group.

"Swash swash swas.h.!.+"

One of these recruiters was surprisingly an Immortal Cultivator, with his Dao Core releasing numerous flying talismans that rained down explosion on the Rookie Traveler. These explosions rocked even the pavements on the street, with some actually blown away by some distance.

Standing beside this cultivator was another recruiter who was also attacking the helpless Rookie Traveler. This recruiter appeared to be a woman around 30's, who seemed to have the power to cast curses and hexes.

She could be seen spitting out venomous words out from her mouth, which made the Rookie Traveler shriek in pain, while the women with him began clutching their faces as sores appeared on their skin.

"Ugh… that two recruiters are strong as f**k. No wonder they can be used as recruiters. With their prowess, they must have the talent to be unrivalled in the Third Stage…" Alex thought as he looked at the Immortal Cultivator and the Cursemancer with interest. "Well, the other recruiters are not that bad too…"

The remaining recruiters all had their own unique power and abilities too, which allowed them to also unleash more pain and suffering on the already defeated Rookie Traveler.

One of these remaining recruiters was a man whose body was made up of lightning. Every now and often he will release lightning attacks that tend to shock the companions of the Rookie Traveler. This move had turned these woman blackened from superficial burning, a sight that made even Alex wince.

There was also this woman who had numerous books floating around her. These books were usually closed, but these books will occasionally open, with creatures and supernatural objects leaping out of the book's pages. These creatures and objects will then attack the Rookie Traveler's group, with the book woman giving them shouts of encouragement.

"An Elemental Druid and a Divine Librarian. These kind of people can be Travelers too? Man this world surely is weird…" Alex said as he turned his eyes away from the fight.

There was no more need for Alex to watch, as the defeat of the Rookie Traveler was already set in stone. Instead of watching this man's defeat, Alex was more interested on seeing who among the 9 will get to recruit this Rookie.

"You want to know how these recruiters will decide on who gets the Rookie? Heh, there's no need for you to wait. I can just explain it to you." Asteria suddenly said, as if Alex's look of interest right now had forced her to talk.

"No, there's no need for you to explain. I can just wat-"

"Once the recruiters thoroughly beat up the Rookie Traveler, they will then hold an auction on the spot, with the Rookie Traveler and his Companions as the item." Asteria continued to say as she interrupted Alex. "The one who pays the highest price will get to be the recruiter of this Rookie Traveler. Pretty simple, right?"

"…"

"So, once that transaction was done, everyone will disperse. The recruiters who failed to get the Rookie will go back empty, while the recruiter who succeeded shall be bringing the Rookie on their headquarters. What happens to that Rookie will then depend on the group that he was brought in." Asteria crossed her arms after saying this, an act that made her look a little professional. "That's basically the gist of it, hooman. So, do you have any questions?"

"I don't have any questions. I just have a comment." Alex replied indifferently as he stared back at the fight, which seemed to have just ended. "I think that the reason the recruiters beat up the Rookie Traveler is for them to know the fighting capabilities of the Rookie. That way, when they start to auction him, they can set the right price…"

"Yeah, you are right. And you are just in time too, hooman. They seem to be starting the auction. Do you want to watch it?"

"Well, just a little. After all, I might need to be dabbling in this in the future too…"

"???"