Chapter 113: Act 45 – The Rock Legion Necklace
The sheepskin scroll referred to as the ‘Revelation Scroll’ by the auction house caused a ripple through the crowd upon its appearance, low murmurs of astonishment spreading like waves, soon reaching Brendel and his companions’ ears, signifying the auctioneer had at least managed to capture the majority’s attention from the start.
However, despite the whispered conversations, most people remained still. The nobles willing to compete for this scroll generally had some wealth, and they leisurely sat in their boxes, waiting for the first bidder.
“Elemental Revelation Scrolls are mostly created by the fairies of the Crystal Bog, with a limited number produced each year, originally meant to supplement the lower Elementalists within their community—but pieces like this that leak out privately happen fairly often,” Lohn explained from the side.
“Then why don’t they produce more?” Romaine asked.
“Creating Elemental Revelation Scrolls consumes magical power from the elemental pool; it’s not a trivial matter for high-level Elementalists,” Charles replied.
“Moreover, although ordinary people can succeed with the elemental scrolls to forcibly establish elemental contracts, their achievements are ultimately limited. They won’t be significantly stronger than an average person, so having more of these scrolls doesn’t necessarily mean better outcomes,” he continued.
Balthom, Antinna, and Romaine were entranced, not expecting such a scroll to have such a background. Charles and Brendel had heard of it before, but Brendel still remarked, “I just didn’t expect to see this in Bruglas.”
Lohn had a nose for potential as keen as a sneaky rat, sensing from Brendel’s words that his youthful understanding extended far beyond a small place like Bruglas—though, for Romaine and Antinna, it was nearly the largest city they had ever seen. He pondered for a moment and asked, “My lord, are you interested in that scroll?”
“A bit,” Brendel answered.
“Then how about I have my people place a bid?” Lohn suggested.
Brendel contemplated briefly before nodding. The initial price for the Revelation Scroll was five thousand Tor, with each subsequent bid being five percent over the base price, and under Lohn’s indication, his subordinate quickly raised the sign on the other side.
Five thousand.
However, with the first offer made, the price quickly started to rise, and fresh offers began coming from the second and third tiers of boxes in rapid succession. Before the auctioneer could raise his hammer, the price had already reached eight thousand Tor.
Bids seemed to go around this ‘small theater’ before returning to Brendel. Lohn turned around, looking at him with a questioning gaze. After considering it, Brendel nodded an affirmative sign.
The person over there raised the board—
Eight thousand five hundred.
Antinna’s expression shifted slightly.
Romaine remained indifferent.
Balthom looked on with anticipation.
However, fresh voices soon emerged from the second tier, the auctioneer’s assistant reading a new offer: nine thousand Tor. The nobles in the boxes had begun to show some impatience.
The second round of bidding lost all semblance of caution, nearly turning violent; the voices reading out offers grew increasingly cold, and the numbers climbed steadily; starting from nine thousand Tor, each bid was nearly ten percent up from the last: ten thousand, eleven thousand, twelve thousand…
The auctioneer and assistant maintained a calm demeanor, as there was no need for introductions at this point; the bidding was entering a fever pitch. Yet the price clearly hadn’t reached the level the participants desired.
Finally, from the leftmost fourth box, a faint voice emerged, “fifteen thousand.”
Like the last drumbeat before a storm, when the final rain subsided, the sound of wind and rain came to an end. The crowd below sat in a dense cluster, stunned, like an audience in a theater, thinking this was the decisive hammer.
Lohn smacked his lips and turned back.
Brendel furrowed his brows, pondering whether spending sixteen thousand Tor for two thousand experience points was worth it. But after hesitating briefly, he gently tapped his knuckles.
Lohn’s people once again raised their sign:
Sixteen thousand Tor.
The crowd momentarily halted, realizing it had reached a critical juncture.
The auctioneer’s assistant, seeing the sign raised from the ‘audience,’ couldn’t help but murmur, “Is Lohn insane? We never intended to go that high; those nobles might not be pleased—”
The auctioneer subtly gestured to his young assistant, “He has someone backing him.”
As Brendel made a gesture, Antinna and Balthom turned to look at him. They didn’t understand why this young knight was so fixated on the scroll; did he aspire to become an Elementalist?
But didn’t the wizard apprentice say that even a lower Elementalist established through a Revelation Scroll would ultimately have limited achievements? Such things were designed for those with talent—to save talented individuals from wasting time during the elemental accumulation phase.
Yet Brendel didn’t explain.
Charles didn’t need to; he understood all too well why the young man was so drawn to that scroll.
Lohn’s bid caused a slight pause in the chatter from the boxes above; the nobles seemed to be assessing who this sudden competitor was, but in a moment, a new bid dropped back down to the people below.
Eighteen thousand Tor.
Still from the leftmost fourth box. Lohn leaned closer to Brendel and whispered, “Baron Donal, his family owns several estates near Bruglas, he has some properties in Bruglas, and he is also a member of the local council. His father and grandfather have both held this role—”
Brendel nodded. Such local gentry could be found anywhere in Erluin, but a mere baron shouldn’t go as far as to fight over a scroll in such a bloody manner; whoever was bidding might be an agent for some big shot.
Just as he was slightly startled, the bid had already risen to twenty-one thousand. A gentleman from the third tier and the baron were evidently clashing.
In the crossfire of their word battle, the bids soared to twenty-six thousand Tor; however, the heavyweights in the first tier finally took over, and at that moment, the bids felt like knives, slicing above the heads of the audience; in the blink of an eye, it reached the astronomical figure of forty thousand Tor.
During the bidding, when it hovered around twenty thousand, Brendel participated again, but was immediately outbid by the noble’s agent. Ultimately, the scroll was sold for an exorbitant forty-two thousand Tor, leaving the young man with a slight disappointment.
After all, two thousand experience points—with two to three thousand Tor, it could have been a good buy. But over forty thousand seemed somewhat excessive, even threatening his planning. Thus, after grinding his teeth, Brendel had no choice but to forgo the deal.
Yet he remained impassive on the surface, and neither Antinna nor Lohn noticed anything amiss, thinking this young man came from a wealthy family and didn’t regard this amount of money at all.
After the first wave of climax at the auction drew to a close, it transitioned into the steady phase Brendel had anticipated, followed by several items being sold, each priced between a few thousand to ten thousand Tor.
The trading proceeded with little excitement, and the people present appeared somewhat bored. However, Lohn was able to find something to do, as he introduced the origins of each item to Brendel and the others—though he might not be able to specify which workshop produced a magical ring that emitted light like a candle, he could at least tell them what items were stolen from where, or which nobles’ goods had leaked out privately.
Antinna, Romaine, and Balthom listened with great interest, while Brendel and Charles discussed more about the origins of those items.
At one point they mentioned Tam, lamenting that this alchemist master hadn’t been able to come due to being absorbed in his work; otherwise, there were likely some magical items sold earlier that he would have liked.
Soon, the second climax of the auction arrived, this time featuring a necklace. To be precise, it was a string of rough stones threaded together—those unfamiliar with it might overlook this valuable item, but Brendel nearly shouted when he saw the necklace—
The Rock Legion Necklace.
This item was paired with the ‘Nest of Stone’ crafted at level seventeen alchemy; it allowed the stone golems produced by the ‘Nest of Stone’ to reduce material consumption by fifty percent, effectively increasing their output.
As he explained the necklace’s function to the others, Romaine and Charles were fine, but the eyes of Balthom and Antinna quickly lit up. One was a mercenary accustomed to war, and the other a noble lady educated among elites; they clearly understood the significance of this necklace for a territory.
In Vaunte, wars relied on three resources.
First were people, second was amber ore, third was all other strategic materials, and fourth was the ‘Nest.’
People need no explanation; on the nearly limitless sprawling land of Ender, the productivity brought by magical power cultivates a population far exceeding the limits of this era. They form the foundation for the potential of war between nations and territories.
Amber ore is separated from the Somir mine; it is a by-product of a series of metals like silver, gold, and copper. This crystalline substance, transparent and resembling amber, has the ability to store magical power. Antinna’s ‘Magical Power Conduit Device’ was designed to convert the power of this ore—
It is the basis for the thriving magical systems of all intelligent beings on the earth and the lifeblood of this ‘industrial system.’
Other resources, such as food, metals, wood, and stone, are still the most common strategic resources even in Brendel’s original Earth, always reserved for war.
However, the last element, the ‘Nest,’ is a concept complex and markedly different from what we know about war—something Brendel, as a player, is quite familiar with—
In fact, any mention of a nest necessitates starting from the origins of this world, Vaunte.
How does chaos exist, and how does order emerge?
In what ways does magical power act upon the earth? Where do magical creatures originate, and how are their ‘nests’ utilized by humanity?
…
(PS. This is just the first update, but the order of release is incorrect, the tragedy is that the title cannot be modified.) (To be continued! To know what happens next, please log in for more chapters; support the author, support genuine reading!)
