Chapter 141- AUCTION ENDS.

Chapter 141: Chapter 141- AUCTION ENDS.

[Starting bid: 250G]

Aria repeated it for the crowd. "The starting bid for this Epic rank sword is two hundred and fifty gold coins. Now, Let’s get this Auction started."

The highest-bid number on the big screen flickered wildly, climbing so fast it was practically a blur of counting digits.

It never held long enough for anyone to actually read it. The numbers kept skipping ahead, too quick to track.

Then, all at once, it locked in place at 500 gold coins.

Everyone in the room went quiet for a beat.

Aria waited along with them. The number stayed frozen at 500.

"Okay, we’ve finally got something on the board, people."

"Anyone else want in?"

The number ticked up to 570G.

"There we go," Aria said, cheering the crowd on.

"This is an Epic rank item, and yes, you can exchange it for actual USD. A chance like this doesn’t come around twice. Are you all really going to let it slip through your fingers that easily?"

She was baiting them on purpose, working the crowd the way any good auctioneer would.

She could already picture the eventual winner cursing her out under their breath for dragging things along so slowly.

"Alright, I’ll start the countdown."

"575, going once—"

"Do I hear 600? If you miss out on this sword, you’re going to regret it later, trust me."

"Ohh, there’s 600! We’ve got 600 gold!"

"Can we push it even higher?"

Aria kept working the bidders, relentless, and it paid off.

"Ohh, 700 gold now! Anyone else willing to go further?"

"750 gold!"

...

"850 gold — we’ve got 850 gold!"

She let the room sit with that number for a moment.

"Alright, anyone else? I’m counting now."

"850, going once."

...

"850, going twice."

"850, going three times."

"SOLD!"

Congratulations poured out across the chat to whoever had won the epic rank sword.

The wider world had no idea who’d actually claimed it, but Aria and a handful of guild members knew exactly who’d placed the winning bid.

The buyer turned out to be someone from the ancient Voss family.

Aria moved the auction forward without missing a beat. "Okay, that was the Epic rank sword — but don’t think that’s the only epic-rank piece up for grabs today. Nobody needs to be disappointed just yet. There’s still more to come."

The big screen flickered back to life.

Just like the reveal before it, this one was covering something shaped roughly like a mannequin or display puppet.

The assistant pulled the cloth away, and underneath sat a full piece of armor mounted on the display — a chest piece, to be exact.

It was broad, almost imposing, looking like it had been forged straight out of ash and living fire. Looking closer, a fine mesh of netting ran across the surface of the armor, with soft embers glowing faintly beneath it. Golden-orange lines spread across the metal like veins of molten rock, radiating outward from the center of the chest toward each shoulder, giving the whole piece the unmistakable impression of a phoenix spreading its wings.

Then, just as before, the system panel unfolded to display the item’s full details.

[Phoenix Mantle]

Rank: Epic

Quality: Flawless

Type: Flame-Woven Chest Armor

[Attributes:]

VIT +50 |DEF +1348 |Magical DEF +300

Flame Affinity +65

Flame Resistance +85

DEX +20

Durability: 150/150

(Hidden From the Bidders)

[Active skill: Phoenix Flame] Body of fire bursts from the mantle in a spreading ring — Flame damage around the wearer + burn for 5s Cooldown: 28s — Mana: 45

[Active skill: Flame Wings] Wings of ashen fire unfold at the back — grants 8s of flight / falling immunity Cooldown: 60s — Mana: 80

[Passive skill: Ashen Phoenix Blood] Below 30% HP, recover 3% of max HP every second for 6s. Cannot trigger again for 90s.

[Passive skill: Ember Renewal] Ever-burning embers woven into the mesh slowly repair the armor in combat — restores Durability ~2/sec while the wearer moves

[Effect: Immortal Ember] Once per rest, a killing blow leaves the wearer at 1 HP instead — the mantle turns to ash-glow, then rekindles.

[Effect: Rebirth] One use. On death, the wearer is reconstructed whole by the Ashen Flame’s rebirth property — consumed in full.

"This," Aria said, "is an Epic rank piece of armor, people. An Epic rank armor. One that you can buy with real-world dollars."

She caught herself getting a little too hyped and cleared her throat. "Ahem — anyway. As you can see, this armor is one of a kind, sitting at Flawless quality. And... can anyone guess who forged it?"

The moment she said that, the live comment section exploded, and the forums went into a full frenzy all over again.

Some viewers were adamant it had to be Leo, no question about it. Others were sure it must’ve been Hugh, or the dwarf. A few insisted it couldn’t have been either the dwarf or Hugh specifically, arguing that three separate smiths capable of forging Epic rank items inside a single guild sounded like something out of a fantasy story, not reality.

Aria let out a small chuckle and smiled, clearly enjoying keeping them all on edge.

Then she finally gave them the answer. "Let me clear it up for you — this one’s the work of none other than Ironhaven’s own renowned Master Hugh."

"And yes, before anyone asks — all three blacksmiths whose items are going up for auction today are capable of forging Epic rank equipment. All three of them."

"Now, shall we start the bidding? Oh, wait — before that, let me just mention this armor comes packed with some genuinely ridiculous skills. Two passives, two actives, and two unique effects on top of that."

Aria announced the number. "The starting price for this armor is..."

[Starting bid: 200G]

"Alright, people — fire away."

The bidding turned intense almost immediately, every bit as fierce as it had been for the sword before it.

Major guilds, ancient bloodline families, political factions, entire corporations — all of them were pushing the price up aggressively, desperate to claim the armor for themselves.

To people like them, real-world currency was practically limitless compared to in-game gold, and by now everyone watching had already sensed this whole Myth online was far more significant than it first appeared.

The bidding climbed and climbed before finally settling at 800G.

One bidder managed to lock it in.

Aria stepped back up to the stage. "Congratulations to our winning bidder on claiming the Epic rank Phoenix Mantle."

She flashed a smile toward the camera.

"I’d like to thank everyone watching and everyone who took part in today’s auction. See you all next time."

...

The room went completely still. Leo especially, along with Elona and the rest of the guild — all of them frozen in place, stunned.

But then—

"Ha, gotcha! Just kidding! We’ve actually got one more Epic rank item up for auction today. This is the very last epic-rank piece going up, so everybody better be ready."

With that, the screen flickered back to motion once more.

The item was already on full display. It was small, roughly disc-shaped, about the size of a palm. It looked like a piece of dark metal, nearly flat, compact enough to cup entirely in one hand. The metal itself was dense and dark, almost like a slice of night sky, forged from a fusion of the Umbra’s Shard and the Starfall Shard. But beneath that dark outer surface, thin hairline veins ran through the metal like threads of trapped moonlight, catching the light and shimmering faintly whenever the piece turned. The disc ran thick through the center and thinned out toward the edges, giving it the delicate look of something more decorative than functional — almost like fine porcelain.

Plenty of people in the audience looked confused staring at it. It was too small to function as a shield, but too large to wear as a simple necklace.

"I’m guessing a lot of you are wondering what exactly this is," Aria said. "Let me walk you through it. First off — it’s not a weapon. It’s too small to work as a shield, and it’s definitely not jewelry."

She continued. "It’s an accessory, but not in the way you’re picturing. You don’t hold it up to block an attack, and you don’t technically wear it either. You bind it to yourself, and after that, you can keep it in your inventory, or attach it directly to your armor — either way, it functions exactly the same."

She paused for a moment before going on. "Whatever strikes your body, the Disc takes the hit in your place. It’s like having an invisible barrier standing guard over you at all times."

"Now — shall we look at the details?"

...

[Scale Ward]

Rank: Epic

Quality: MASTER

Type: Defensive Accessory

[Attributes:]

DEF +840 | Magical DEF +235 | VIT +60

Impact Distribution +30%

Durability: 160/160

(Hidden to the bidders)

[Active skill: Scale Veil] An overlapping barrier of cooling scales folds up around the wearer — negates the next single instance of damage taken, no matter the size Cooldown: 40s — Mana: 60

[Active skill: Fortress Anchor] The wearer plants in place for 6s — damage taken during it reduced by 60%, knockback immunity. Cannot move while the stance holds. Cooldown: 55s — Mana: 75

[Passive skill: Redistribution] A single hit above 20% of max HP is cut in half, the remainder spread flat across the next 3 seconds

[Passive skill: Starfall Recovery] If unhit for 4s, recover 2% of max HP per second and slowly restore the Ward’s Durability

[Effect: Ward Latch] Starfall-Umbra trades the hit back — 30% of physical damage the wearer suffers is returned as Mana

"Just so everyone’s clear before we start bidding — this one wasn’t forged by our guild leader, and it wasn’t forged by Master Hugh either."

...

"That’s right. This one was forged by the Dwarven Master Smith, Sigil."

"Now then, let’s get this final bid underway. The starting price will be..."

[Starting Bid: 220G]

Aria announced the opening of the auction’s last piece.

The pace of the bidding shot up almost instantly. Everyone knew this was the final item, the very last epic-rank piece on offer today, and it showed — the crowd went all out from the very first call.

The bidding kicked off.

[550G]

[700G]

[900G]

[1000G]

[1200G]

...

..

..

[1700]

[2100]

[2900]

..

[3500]

This was genuinely shocking.

And this time, no matter how composed Aria usually managed to stay, she couldn’t hide her astonishment. Her jaw actually dropped, mouth hanging open for a second too long.

The gold-coin counter had frozen at 3500. She was supposed to start the countdown, but she’d completely forgotten herself, too busy staring at the number in disbelief.

"Holy shit," was all that managed to escape her mouth.

Everyone, Leo and Elona included, sat there equally stunned. But Elona quickly snapped her back to attention from behind the cameras, and Aria pulled herself together.

"Wow — okay, that was genuinely shocking. People really do love their accessories."

"Hahaha — alright then, if nobody else wants to jump in..."

"3500 gold, going once..."

"This is the final piece of epic rank equipment today, people. There’s no second chance after this — take it or leave it. Do I hear 3600 gold?"

"...Going twice..."

And then, suddenly—

[4000G]

"Oh my goodness. We’ve got four thousand gold coins on this accessory."

"4000 gold, going once..."

"Going twice..."

"Going three times..."

And—

"SOLD!"

...