BXBX NOVEL Chapter 181 - Underworld Forge
The old man shared the physical characteristic of the people of the kingdom but just like with Gabriel his aura was different, it was deep and mysterious.
"Ladies and gentlemen my name is Minser and I welcome all of you to this one hundred year auction presided by the \'Wisdom Auction House\'. All of you should know the rules but I will give a friendly reminder. The orb by your side can be used to place your bids and once you have won, it will directly subtract the magic crystals from your space rings or personal space with complete secrecy. Anyone who tries to use any type of intimidation tactic will be expelled from the kingdom immediately."
The old man\'s eyes display the seriousness of his warning and no one thought he will not follow through with his threat.
"Let\'s proceed then with the auction. May fortune and luck smile to all of you."
As soon the Minser finished speaking, a gate opens on the floor of the platform, and from it a huge container holding a fifteen-meter tall heart rose.
The most impressive thing about the heart was not its size but the fact that it was still beating, and it was going it with such a strength that some thought it will break the container.
The Rank 2 and Rank 3 Magus immediately started to discuss among themselves and show great interest in the heart since they could feel the immense vitality in it and they were sure it belonged to a very powerful creature.
After giving enough time for everyone to see the heart and feel it characteristics, Minser speaks.
"This is the heart of a Rank 4 Brown Dragon, a dragon with a King bloodline belonging to the Chromatic Dragon lineage. They are known for their ferocity and control over the Law of Sand. The heart was preserved with special magic right after it was extracted therefore it is in excellent condition."
When this information was given the Rank 4 Magi in the crowd started to show interest.
"The heart has many uses, varying from an ingredient for alchemy or rune crafting, to the use of it to follow the Bloodline path or for techniques meant to increase physical aptitudes.
The initial price for this item is thirty-five million magic crystal, and any bids must be three million higher than the last."
The moment Minser finished speaking, the price of the heart appears above the container with golden numbers.
Several Rank 2 and 3 Magi sighed when they saw the number and give up immediately. Just the initial price was too much for them.
The number above the heart grew in less than a second to forty million and it continues to increase.
Zatiel was seeing this from his seat, and although he could extract the bloodline of the heart, he was not interested in it. A Brown Dragon has indeed a King bloodline, but it was at the lowest level and most of them never truly reach Rank 5 so it was not of much use for the kobolds nor the Sunlight Champions.
The price continues ascending and in the end, it was sold for one hundred and ninety-three million magic crystals.
The container was retired from the platform and another item rose for the audience to see.
This time it was just a pill useful for Rank 3 life forms who sought help to solidify their consciousness.
The pill draw less attention than the dragon heart and its price was inferior, but everyone understood that the first item was to display some of the greater goods that will be appearing later, and now there will be mostly things accessible for Rank 3 life forms.
Heinz, Zitra, and Totto were not interested in this part since everything they saw had little use for them.
Zatiel was also not paying to much attention, his talent was sublime and his methods to increase his speed of training were better than the ones displayed. Regarding low-level equipment, he has Ezequiel whose abilities were that of a genius and he was already a Rank 3 Magic Creator.
It was only after a couple of hours that the group once again started to focus on the auction when new high ranking articles appeared.
Under the guidance of Zatiel, the Soul Forging existences started to buy some things.
Totto bought two artifacts known as the Hand of Sorrow and the Eye of Despair. They were Rank 5 artifacts made using the body of a very powerful Abomination and they formed a set.
With those two artifacts, the power of the spells created by the Lich will grow 70%, and more importantly, he could use them to potency his laws and the way he attacks with them.
Normally a single Rank 5 artifact will cost around one billion magic crystals but Totto only had to pay nine hundred and forty-eight million for both.
The reason was that the Hand of Sorrow and Eye of Despair are cursed and they will affect the mind of the wearer so prolonged use was not possible. But the Lich did not have to worry about that since Zatiel gave him a method to handle the curse.
Heinz also bought an article. The cultivator had acquired a twenty-centimeter long centipede.
The creature was a Rank 5 Blood Ruby Centipede. It was a special type of magic creature that inhabits the body of their prey and sucked their blood before creating rubies out of it, hence its name.
It did not have great battle abilities but the rubies it created were an immense source of vitality and life force. There were a lot of people who wanted the creature but under Zatiel\'s guide, Heinz did not hold back and finally pay 2.7 billion magic crystal for it.
The reason why Zatiel told Heinz to get the creature was not for the rubies, but because a Blood Ruby Centipede could be raised as a living organism inside your body.
There were several steps needed to take before this relationship between the cultivator and the magic creature could be established and there are risks but Zatiel was certain he could handle them.
If Heinz manages to establish a symbiotic relationship with the Blood Ruby Centipede his body will grow stronger and he may even be able to reach true Rank 5 battle power and not just a temporary boost given by his Law Avatar.
Zitra did not found anything that called his attention and as the day was ending, it seems she will have to wait until tomorrow to see if something useful for her appears.
The auction continued and as it was ending a forge appeared on the platform.
It was nothing special and whether you looked with your eyes or inspected with your consciousness it was no different than a forge you could found in the mortal world, but when Zatiel saw it his eyes widened.
The rest noticed his reaction but no matter how they saw it, there was nothing special about that forge.
After giving enough time for people to inspect the forge, Minser spoke.
"This may seem like a normal forge but I assure the truth is different."
The old man opens his palm and from it, a small arc of black lightning was shot and clashed against the forge.
The attack was truly small but anyone could feel the immense power in it. It was more than enough to disintegrate the body of a Rank 4 life form yet when it landed in the forge, absolutely nothing happens to it.
This shocked everyone. That attack will at least left a mark in a Rank 5 artifact, but it did nothing to the forge.
"We don\'t know much about this forge but we have tested it and even the full power attack of a Rank 5 life form did nothing to it. About its origins, I can only say it was found it a barren world devoid of any life.
The initial price will be seven hundred million magic crystal and every bid must be at least fifty million higher than the last."
Zatiel waited and saw how the price started to rise but did not bid.
The price soon reached over two billion magic crystal. No one was dumb enough to think that the forge was normal since just its materials must be incredibly precious for them to have that type of durability.
But still, there was a limit people were willing to pay for something they did not know their use.
It was only when the price reached 2.4 billion and remained there that Zatiel places his bid of 2.5 billion.
"2.5 billion is the price to beat, someone offers more." Minser was surprised that the forge had reached this price already so he was not expecting much.
As soon as his voice was heard, the price above the forge raises all the way to 2.8 billion magic crystal.
When Zatiel saw these his eyes narrowed and without hesitation, he raises the bid to 3 billion.
\'No matter what, the Underworld Forge must be mine.\' There was resoluteness on Zatiel eyes as he focuses on the forge.
Zatiel knew the reason why the forge had that type of durability is because was created by a Being of Laws