Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Chapter 1612. I really like it

The sharp, resonant crack of a brass gavel echoed off the polished basalt walls, and a hush fell over the Grand Celestial Opera House like a blanket dropping over a roaring fire. The auctioneer stood behind his white-jade podium, the gold-embroidered silk of his sleeves catching the warm, pulsing orange glow of the hundreds of candles.

"Honored guests, esteemed masters, lords and ladies," his voice boomed, amplified to a smooth, thunderous resonance by arrays built into the stage. "Doushi welcomes you to the Grand Auction. The world is changing beyond our walls, but the flow of true wealth never falters. Let the auction begin."

With an elegant wave of his hand, two attendants in crimson robes glided onto the stage. Between them, resting on a pedestal of carved obsidian, sat a heavy flask of dark glass. Even behind the translucent, shimmering safety barrier separating the audience from the stage, the air around the pedestal distorted from intense heat.

"We open our auction with a rare element of the deep earth," the auctioneer proclaimed, gesturing to the flask. "A full quart of Primordial Fire-Salamander Blood. Harvested from the lowest magma veins beneath our own mountain ridge, it is a peerless catalyst for any artificer and alchemist. We open the bidding at three thousand medium-grade spirit stones." he announced.

Instantly, the massive display array hanging high above the stage flickered to life, painting the dark theater in a sudden wash of vibrant, neon-green characters.

Seat 142: 3,200 stones.

Seat 089: 3,500 stones.

Seth heard the price with a slight surprise. They were starting hot. 3000 medium grade stone were 30 high-grade stones. That was almost the price of the pill they had purchased from the alchemy guild store.

The clerk had said that most expensive stuff was held back for the auction, and it seemed like he was honest about it, seeing the first items starting at 3k medium-grade stones. Looking at the flask of blood, Seth had to admit that the quality justified the price.

<Lesser Salamander Heart Blood (Crafting Material, Epic)

The blood of a Lesser Salamander, a distant relative of the true Fire Salamander. Lesser Salamanders live in magma pools deep below the earth. Due to their heritage, they have a high fire affinity, but they struggle living outside of a hot environment.

Direct Consumption can raise <Fire Resistance> by up to 30%, lower <Cold Resistance> by up to 20%, and has a 25% chance to cause loss of eyesight.>

Although it could be used otherwise, it was obviously an alchemy ingredient. The drawbacks necessitated proper refinement or balancing with other materials. Still, it was an epic material that could, at some risk, raise <Fire Resistance> by 30%.

Maybe a proper potion or pill made from it could even raise <Fire Affinity>? Looking at the amount, there was probably enough to make several pills or potions from it. It was definitely worth its price.

He wasn't the only one who thought the price was justified. In the velvety seats of the mid-tier rows around them, the other guests were already frantically tapping their thumbs against their glowing jade tablets, their faces tense with greed as they drove the price higher and higher.

~They're getting quite worked up over a bottle of lizard blood,- Mina whispered, using <marriage Bond>, as she watched the price of the quart of Primordial Fire-Salamander Blood quickly rise above 4k medium-grade stones.

~Well, it's almost a liter of epic-rated blood that raises fire resistance. If Alison was here, she would also drool over this,- the blacksmith explained.

The gavel struck again. Crack. Sold to a wealthy buyer in the VIP lodges above for five thousand two hundred stones. And this item was exemplary for the quality of the auction, and the pace was relentless.

This page presents text taken from the author's official page without permission. Reading there supports the creator.

Nine-Trigrams Solar Marrow, Meteorite Iron, Yang Violet-Lotus Root, Ash-Wolf Fang, Stellar-Fire Condensation Dew, Obsidian Jade, Void Centipede Carapace... Tit for tat, epic and rare materials came on the stage, ingredients judged as earth-grade in this world's rating system.

Items with grand names, but of little interest to Seth. The <Meteoric Iron> was good, but he had gotten more than enough of it through Master Mountain and their allies. This was just the beginning of the auction, and he would rather wait for the latter items.

While the trio's interest was rather lukewarm, the rest of the audience was in a frenzy. The man on the stage drove the room's energy higher with every item. The auctioneer’s voice suddenly broke through the ambient chatter of the crowd, shifting the event into its next high-profile phase.

"We move now from the raw elements of creation to the refined luxuries of the upper provinces. Unveiling the crown jewel of the textile guilds!"A collective gasp rippled through the crowd as a tall display rack was brought forward. Draped across it were flowing, mist-white silk robes.

The auctioneer stepped out from behind his white-jade podium, gesturing toward the shimmering display rack with a wide, dramatic sweep of his gold-embroidered sleeve.

"Behold, distinguished guests," the man’s voice boomed, carrying a rhythmic, melodic cadence that commanded the entire theater. "What you see before you is not mere thread, but a captured piece of the heavens. This is the Cloud-Mist Silk Robe, a masterwork that required three years of painstaking cultivation and refinement."

He stepped closer to the barrier, his eyes sweeping across the wealthy merchants in the pit and the darkened VIP boxes above.

"The silk was harvested from rare Frost-Fog Worms found only on the sheer cliffs of the northern peaks. For twelve months, these creatures were fed exclusively on the morning dew of spiritual snow-lotuses. The thread was then spun by three generations of textile grandmasters, who infused every single stitch with an unbroken flow of light-refracting arrays."

The auctioneer raised his hands, and as if on cue, the floating candles above the stage drifted slightly closer, their amber light washing over the garment.

"Look closely," he urged. "The robe has no fixed coloration. In the dark, it mimics the depth of a starless sky. In the light, it flows like liquid silver. But do not let its ethereal beauty deceive you. This garment possesses immense defensive utility. The spiritual weave naturally repels all earthly impurities—blood, dirt, and dust will slide from its surface like water off a lotus leaf. Furthermore, the underlying arrays hold the Mist Escape Array, allowing the wearer’s physical body to dissolve into a cloud of formless, ethereal mist for a single moment, letting a mortal strike pass harmlessly through empty air before reforming you yards away."

He walked back to his podium, gripping his brass gavel with a sharp, businesslike grin."An item of pure elegance, pristine defense, and unmatched prestige, entirely untainted by the lower rings of our world. We open the bidding for the Cloud-Mist Silk Robe at four thousand spirit stones!"

Seth didn't care for all the glazing the auctioneer kept spewing. His attention was drawn somewhere else. Fin's posture shifted. She sat up slightly, her big eyes locking onto the shimmering fabric on the stage.

Seth caught that subtle shift in her attention. The bard looked from the robes to his wife's face, a slow, roguish grin spreading across his features. He reached down and picked up the polished jade bidding tablet that had been resting idly on his knee all this time.

<Mist-Weaver’s Silver Raiment

Epic

Phys. Def.: 900

Mag. Def.: 1150

Durability: 780

1. Item is immune to physical damage

2. Item has no weight, cannot get dirty

3. 20% Camouflage when worn

4. +30% Power to all Water- and Illusion-based effects

5. Active Skill: Mist Step

A high-quality cloth armor made by the experienced hands of an unknown Master Artisan.

Excellent weaving and shifting fog-worm silk fibers imbued this item with overwhelming performance and effects.>

It was a good item; it even had the same effect as his Cloak of Hekate, giving a permanent camouflage effect. However, there was only one real selling point, the active skill it came with. However, that one was good enough.

<Active Skill: Mist Step, 250 Mana, Cooldown: 5 Minutes,

User can dissolve into silver mist to escape restraints and ignore physical damage.

Effects end after 5 Seconds or 5 meters of movement.>

A movement skill that allowed the user to free themselves and ignore damage was rare, even when it was restricted to physical damage. Most importantly, the mana cost was practically nothing to a caster like Fin, and a 5-minute cooldown wasn't too bad either. Mina already had similar means, but Fin was mostly defense-focused. Another way to escape was always good.

"Look who wants to buy something girly," he teased the fairy brute, his thumb hovering over the smooth jade surface. Fin looked up in surprise, blushing a little. “Do you want me to buy it for you?” he asked with a wide grin.

For a moment she looked as if she was going to deny it out of embarrassment. She struggled a little with herself, but ultimately she mumbled in a small voice:

“Yes, I really like it...”

“That's all you needed to say.”