Chapter 54: Auction P3

"Hnhnhnhn…" Nan Tian chuckled slightly when he saw Shiro's sword get sold for 500,000 USD.

With what he's read from her records, she scammed the Auction house for 450,000 USD and some spare materials.

With this, the auction house made a small profit of 50,000 USD.

'For a mute snow girl to be able to scam the Auction house. Amusing. I wonder if she's going to fight in the tug of war after the auction.' Nan Tian thought as he looked over in her direction.

Currently, Shiro had her lower face mask on while her eyes would dart around occasionally.

'She's on guard constantly. How vigilant.' Nan Tian thought with a smile.

Huan er was confused as to why Nan Tian started to chuckle and smile.

"Is there anything funny my- Nan Tian?" Huan er asked correcting herself.

"Nothing. Just finding it laughable how the auction house didn't manage to make as much as they expected." Nan Tian replied with a wave of his hand.

"Actually, do you think we can put something up for auction?" He asked, turning towards Huan er.

"I believe that is within the last segment of the auction. We should be able to if we give them the notice. Do you perhaps want to auction something?" Huan er asked.

"Mn. Give the people more incentive to try to fight for the rewards. Think of this as a taster for tomorrows event." Nan Tian said, pulling out an item from his inventory.

"But that's! My Lord! You cannot!" Huan er said hastily as she kneeled and cupped her hands.

What Nan Tian had just pulled out was a Potential Awakening Relic. The relic has three charges and each charge will awaken the potential of a single person.

Even though Nan Tian was one of the most important people in the sect, he was still only given 1 Potential Awakening Relic for his subordinates.

Each charge of the Potential Awakening Relic takes years to charge up so each one was priceless. Yet Nan Tian wanted to use the Relic in a tiny auction held in a tiny city? The decision baffled Huan er.

"I know it's important. But do you think I cannot recover the relic? This is just bait." Nan Tian chuckled as he gave her the relic. He wasn't worried that the relic would be used since it takes a full 12 hour period to use the relic.

Holding the relic, Huan er had a perplexed face as she still didn't understand. If he wanted a bait, wouldn't a low level weapon do the trick? Her lord had more than enough purple grade weapons in his inventory to the point that he could make a small hut with them.

Yet of all things, he chose to auction this relic?! What was his goal?

"Just auction it Huan er. If anything happens I'll take responsibility." Nan Tian waved his hand whilst looking towards Shiro.

'Show me what you can do, Snow Girl…' He thought with slight anticipation for what is about to happen.

He wanted to see how much she could do in a situation where it's the playing field for level 50's.

"…Understood." Huan er replied as she left the room.

…

Meanwhile, Shiro felt like she was about to fall asleep from the mediocre items that were on auction.

'When will the awakening stone be put on auction…' She thought, massaging her eyes a little.

"Are you tired Shiro?" Lyrica asked.

[No, just bored. These items aren't very helpful for me.]

Shiro replied.

"Then do you want to sleep for a bit? I'll wake you up when it's time." Lyrica offered, hoping Shiro would sleep on her shoulder.

[No it's fine.]

Shiro shook her head.

Lyrica could only sigh in slight regret.

It took over an hour before the main host of tonight's auction was brought to the front of the hall.

Shiro refocused her attention as she wanted to know who won the awakening stone.

"The next item is the Awakening Stone! An amazing item that will help awaken or enhance your attunements to a certain element! While it can only upgrade to a maximum of Tier 2 in attunement, you must remember that is within the ranges of a top tier D ranked adventurer!!" The Auctioneer shouted out.

"Bidding starts at 1 million credits!"

"1 million!"

"1.5 million!"

"1.55 million!"

…

[They're paying millions for something they won't even get at the end of the night.]

Shiro typed out.

"Eh? How are you so sure that they won't be able to get it?" Lyrica asked surprised at how sure Shiro seemed.

[Just a hunch of mine.]

Shiro smiled.

The bids were continuously being shouted out as Shiro made sure to memorise who shouted out the bids.

It was only when the bid hit the value of 6 million USD did they stop.

The winner of the auction was who Shiro realised to be one of the top 10 in the priority ranking.

"Rank 4, Lewis Sanders." Shiro muttered as she was about to stand up.

"Before all of you leave, I must inform you about a slight change in the auction tonight. Within the final batch of items, which are sold by adventurer's yourselves, we have a very special item! The item is called a Potential Awakening Relic! The Potential Awakening Relic is a rare artefact that is used by the factions fighting in the front lines! With a single use of this relic, you can awaken your inner potential! Your strength will outshine your peers with ease!"

"With such a rare item, I'd suggest you not to leave your seats just yet! We will be handing out the items for the winners when the auction ends after all. Whether you leave now or later wouldn't make a difference." The auctioneer said as Shiro sat back down.

She never expected a Potential Awakening Relic to be auctioned here as well. For a high-level item, it was such a waste for it to be auctioned in this low-level city.

'Who's so dumb to auction this?' Shiro thought as she looked around.

Looking up at the higher stands, Shiro narrowed her eyes as she made eye contact with a male on the third floor.

'The third floor is strictly for VIP's. Why is someone like him looking over here.' Shiro thought with a frown.

Nan Tian only smiled seeing Shiro look in his direction.

He chuckled before waving his hand slightly.

Shiro furrowed her brows and looked away.

[Lyrica. I suggest you go back to the dorm now.]

Shiro typed with a frown.

"Is it because of the Potential Awakening Relic?"

[Yes. If there was going to be a fight before, now it will be a blood bath. Those level 50's will kill without a second thought for the relic.]

"Alright. You should come with me as well." Lyrica said but Shiro shook her head.

[This is better for me since they'll be preoccupied with the Potential Awakening Stone.]

Shiro replied.

Since they'll be focused on the main item, there'll be less focus being placed on the Awakening Stone.

But this is a double-edged blade.

Since there are fewer people focusing on the stone, that also means less chaos. With less chaos, it will be harder to steal the item/

Not to mention, she'll have to try to take advantage of the moment the item is taken out of the inventory. There is only a small window of opportunity and if she misses it, there may not be another chance.

"Alright. But you must promise me to not try anything outside of your power ok?" Lyrica said as Shiro nodded.

Lyrica looked at Shiro for a moment before turning away and walked out of the auction house.

'So she told her friend to escape the moment she saw the relic huh? Nice choice.' Nan Tian thought with a smile.

"Huan er. What are the chances for a level 33 to steal an item in this type of situation?" Nan Tian asked.

"I do believe they have no chance." Huan er replied. Trying to steal anything under the eyes of over 30 level 50's was a suicidal move for any level 33 no matter how powerful they may be.

"Indeed. But, I'm quite curious as to how we may be proven wrong tonight." Nan Tian said as Huan er looked at him with shock.

"You don't mean the Ice Mage right?" She asked.

"She seems to want the Awakening Stone more than the Potential Awakening Relic. Good choice considering the tug of war for the relic. But a dangerous choice since she might have to go against 1 or 2 level 50's for the Awakening Stone." Nan Tian smiled.

"How come you're placing so much emphasis on her?" Huan er asked.

"She maybe 13 years old and level 33. But can't we also do the same to some of the younger sect members?"

'Yeah but have you seen a few week old level 33?' Nan Tian thought as he was sure the "Shino" that left the Dungeon was her.

Level 33 for a few weeks old was an insane feat that he couldn't believe happened. This showed her potential as a fighter and more so as a potential ally.

Even more so due to the fact that she was level 20 when she left the Dungeon and soloed the boss of her Dungeon.

"Indeed a 13-year-old reaching level 33 is an easy task in our sect. But do you think they can be the same in New York City? The Dungeons here are low levelled, the items don't go above blue grade and most of all, everything here is below level 50. Can you really tell me we can get someone to level 33 at the age of 13 with these conditions?" Nan Tian asked. Huan er, as a teammate, was someone you could trust. However, her ideology about the world outside of the sect was a little narrow. She believed the sect was number 1 and no one else could defeat them.

A dangerous train of thought.

"…No I cannot." Huan er replied as she looked down.

"Then you should be giving praise instead. Don't be so petty with praise." Nan Tian said. Huan er nodded in response.

However, she still didn't see why Nan Tian had placed so much interest in a small adventurer from a small city. It simply didn't make sense.

Eventually, the bid for the relic reached an astounding 24 million USD before it was won by a level 50 warrior.

Narrowing her eyes, Shiro pulled her hood forward to cover her face along with her facemask.

Yin Style Phantom Arts: 1st Phantom – Illusionary Phantom.

Her figure flickered as she disappeared from the auction hall.

Nan Tian widened his eyes slightly in surprise. In the slight moment she flickered; he had lost sight of her.

'Interesting. There wasn't any spike in mana so it must be a type of martial arts. A little bit similar to the martial arts of the Shadow Temple. Perhaps this was why the young master of the Shadow Temple wanted to keep his eyes on her.' Nan Tian thought as he too stood up.

"Huan er, come. We're going to watch this tug of war and see if there are any good seedlings for us to pick." Nan Tian said walking out of the booth.

Huan er followed quietly.

Standing unnoticed at the collection hall, Shiro waited for the winner of the Awakening Stone to arrive.

'There he is.' She thought as she kept her presence small. Lewis Sanders was a tall man with long brown hair. His face was average but his aura was powerful.

[Lewis LVL 46 – Earth Mage]

Grabbing the stone quickly, he left the building.

Shiro followed him and noticed 2 other people doing the same thing as her.

'So it's going to be a 4 way battle.' Shiro thought.

Shadow Cloak.

Black mist wrapped around her as it merged with her body.

Jumping up onto the roofs, her body was barely visible even under the moonlight.

Activating Disguise, she hid her status under question marks.

[??? LVL ??? - ???]

This combined with the fact that her appearance and outfit couldn't be seen properly made for a decent disguise.

Crouching down, she narrowed her eyes at the three who started to fight.

All three of them were mages with Lewis beings the second-highest level.

One of the assailants is a level 50 mage and the other was a level 44 mage. With them being a whole 10 levels or more above her, Shiro needed to make sure she did this carefully.