Chapter 114: Act 47 – The Final High Note (Today’s Third Update)
Charles smiled slightly when he saw the card and replied, “Lord, this is a rare Wind-type card, the least common among the six Fate cards. Wind-type spells are flexible and adept at defense and counterattack, making them difficult to master, but they hold great power.”
“You might as well just tell me how to use it,” Brendel rolled his eyes.
Charles chuckled, “This card means that, Lord, when you display it—besides paying 1 Wind Element from the elemental pool, you also need to pay additional mana from your mana pool—each point of mana can summon a Wind Spider.”
Brendel was taken aback; he had 2.9 energy levels of will and 15 mana points. Did that mean he could summon fifteen level five Wind Spiders in one go?
But Charles wasn’t finished yet; he continued, “And every Wind Spider that dies will create a mana vortex, each absorbing a bit of mana from your enemies’ mana pools.”
Brendel gasped; this was no ordinary summoning spell—it was a group of living mana bombs! He thought if he had several hundred mana points in the future, wouldn’t he be able to summon an army of spiders at once?
And if he was lucky enough to obtain the legendary Gem of Magical Source, wouldn’t he then have a terrifying army of mana burning warriors at his beck and call?
He smacked his lips, initially thinking this card was useless, but it now seemed not just useful but a formidable weapon.
However, before he could fully indulge in his excitement, Balthom couldn’t help but clap his hands and exclaimed, “Alright, the show is finally starting—!”
Only then did Brendel raise his head and see that a radiant Dwarven sword had already been placed on the stage below. The faint green glow on the sword’s surface almost indicated its properties, but the auction committee evidently considered it one of the highlight items.
The auctioneer picked up the sword and said, “This is a sword forged by dwarves; it is itself a work of art and worth a considerable sum, which I won’t elaborate on. However, on top of its perfection, an outstanding alchemist has turned it into an excellent magical sword—”
“A magical sword,” he repeated.
The auction house fell silent for a moment.
Those minor magical items and pseudo-magical items in public are generally referred to as alchemical items, but only truly powerful swords can be labeled as magical swords. The auctioneer’s statement clearly indicated that he held one such sword.
No adventurer, mercenary, or knight could remain unmoved by a fine weapon, making this statement draw a collective breath.
But just to validate his words, the auctioneer suddenly swung the sword. The blade struck the iron mat behind him, sending sparks flying, and nearly everyone in the auction house heard a sharp sound—as the sword passed, a deep gash appeared in the metallic surface, leaving traces of corrosion that were quite striking.
Everyone gasped, and even the private boxes above fell silent.
The auctioneer set the sword down and clapped his hands, “This sword is called Heart of the Tree, with a starting price of twenty-five thousand Tor. Each subsequent bid must be at least five percent higher than the starting price.”
“Now, the auction begins—”
Aantinna furrowed her brow upon hearing this opening bid, “Isn’t that a bit high?” After all, she was a noble young lady and didn’t understand what a good weapon meant for those who lived life on the edge.
“Not at all,” Balthom decisively shook his head. “If I didn’t know that it was Lord’s work, I might also take a shot at it. Most adventurers and peers present have a bit of savings, and I believe they won’t miss this opportunity for a magical sword. Unless they don’t use swords.”
As if to echo his words, no sooner had he finished speaking than the first bidder raised his paddle.
Then one after another, people followed suit, and without needing the auctioneer to hype the atmosphere, the competition for this sword escalated to a fever pitch.
The price quickly shot up to sixty thousand Tor, leaving only four or five voices responding in the room.
Lohn recognized one of them and informed Brendel that it was the surrogate of the deputy leader of the Silverwing Cavalry.
Brendel thought it would be best if the commander of the Silverwing Cavalry also participated; after all, he would have to eliminate that dog of the Everything Returns Society sooner or later, and then the original would be returned.
As he thought that, the price had already risen to seventy thousand Tor, at which point two others withdrew, leaving only the deputy leader of the Silverwing Cavalry and two nobles from the first-tier box.
The deputy leader raised the price to seventy-five thousand Tor, forcing one of his opponents to back down. But the last remaining foe didn’t seem ready to give up; after a brief silence, the auctioneer’s assistant repeated that person’s bid.
Ninety thousand Tor.
The ‘audience’ was suddenly as ice-cold as a frozen lake. People couldn’t help but turn to see who that noble was in the box; even Lohn couldn’t resist guessing whether it was Count Nakin’s agent.
“If it’s that old guy Nakin, this would turn into a battle of pride between the White Maned Legion and the local nobles. Lord, this is good news,” Lohn winked and smiled slightly.
But at that moment, another voice came from the crowd below.
One hundred thousand.
Brendel and his group couldn’t help but turn their heads. Balthom’s face changed when he saw who it was; before Lohn could speak, he said, “Knight, that’s Viscount Test’s man.”
“What’s he doing down there?” Brendel asked.
“God knows,” the mercenary with the fiery red beard shook his head.
However, Brendel didn’t mind this weapon falling into the hands of a potential enemy; while Balthom and the others viewed it as a rare fine sword, he thought it was just another item. In Ampere Seale, such transactions happened almost every day; it was just Bruglas’s location that was too remote.
The deputy leader of the Silverwing Cavalry thought for a moment and raised the bid again, but ultimately he was driven back by Viscount Test with an offer of one hundred ten thousand Tor.
Following that, the nobles in the first-tier box responded once more, raising the price to one hundred thirty thousand Tor.
“It seems it’s not Count Nakin’s agent,” Aantinna said.
Brendel nodded, feeling slightly relieved. His psychological price range was between one hundred thousand and one hundred fifty thousand Tor; he could now say he had achieved a result that was quite satisfactory to him. Even after paying the fees, he could get close to one hundred sixty thousand Tor, which was more than sufficient for his future plans.
However, it seemed that heaven was deliberately planning to surprise him that day. Just as Viscount Test showed signs of retracting, a new bidder entered the fray.
The other side’s opening bid was one hundred fifty-five thousand Tor; this time the auctioneer couldn’t help but lower his hammer and looked up in astonishment towards the third-tier noble box, wondering who on earth that could be.
Brendel turned back to ask Lohn, but Lohn thought for a long time and couldn’t come up with an answer.
The nobleman in the first-tier box finally hesitated; after much contemplation, they offered one hundred sixty thousand. But the mysterious person in the third-tier box immediately countered, raising the price to one hundred seventy thousand—
One hundred seventy thousand.
Brendel, Aantinna, Balthom, Charles, and Lohn exchanged glances; even for a magical sword, it shouldn’t be worth this price.
For a long time, no one spoke.
Not only the bidders but also the ‘audience’ below fell into complete silence.
The auctioneer took a breath before he nearly reacted. He trembled and raised his hammer; with three knocks, this gripping performance finally came to an end amidst everyone’s confusion.
What exactly had happened earlier?
“One hundred seventy thousand?” Balthom patted Lohn’s cheek, “Lohn, have you ever seen so much money?”
Even the streetwise Lohn felt a bit unreal at this moment. Although he had seen high transactions of several hundred thousand Tor in this auction house before, they had nothing to do with him. But this time, this money was somewhat related to him.
That little connection was enough to leave this shady businessman of Black Pepper Alley somewhat speechless. After all, he had been in the usury business for over twenty to thirty years, and all his savings amounted to only a few tens of thousands of Tor.
Aantinna clenched her clothing, deliberately trying not to show her shocked expression, but her awkward demeanor was quite amusing, leading Charles to stifle a laugh.
Brendel looked toward Little Romain, who seemed very happy; the Merchant Miss was happily taking notes, saying, “Brendel, we have the capital now.”
Brendel smiled slightly.
On the other side, it seemed that the auction committee intended to end this auction with an exciting contest. Just as Brendel’s Heart of the Tree was taken down, the next item brought to the stage made everyone almost stop breathing for a moment.
“Fire Seed!”
“Oh my, Fire Seed!”
“Someone is auctioning Fire Seed!” The astonished voices echoed throughout the not-so-spacious auction house.
Brendel turned back and said to Charles, “This is the highlight of the auction; it’s a pity that otherwise, our Heart of the Tree could have been the grand finale.”
Charles nodded.
But Brendel’s implication wasn’t missing out on such trivial matters; he continued, “Every Fire Seed from Erluin is produced by the Temple of Fire. The Javier sect is so bold to openly sell it, it looks like they are raising funds. Yet, it is well known that the Javier sect leans towards the royal family; I wonder what kind of movement the royal family is plotting this time that requires such a method to gather funds—”
Charles thought for a moment and answered, “Could it be related to this war?”
Brendel pondered this momentarily but couldn’t recall any relevant records. He nodded noncommittally and then looked up, sensing that the atmosphere around them had already changed dramatically.
A sense of tension had spread all around, and sensing this change made him think—some people must have received news earlier and were well prepared.
“Are we going to participate?” Aantinna asked from behind.
Brendel thought for a moment and decided against joining this game of the big fish eating the small; at least, from the current situation, his recently acquired over two hundred thousand Tor wouldn’t provide him an advantage in this competition.
He shook his head, just about to say something when he suddenly felt the light around them darken again.
“What are these people up to?” Balthom couldn’t help but curse.
But Brendel and Lohn had already noticed that the auctioneer’s expression had changed.
There’s a problem!
The young man and the shrewd black-hearted merchant simultaneously reached for the nearest weapon they could grasp—
And then without any warning, the torches along the walls suddenly went out, plunging the area into darkness.
…(To be continued, to know what happens next, please log in, for more chapters, support the author, support legitimate reading!)
