176 Clues

Tracy and Ross wore a serious expression after the 49th item was introduced. Wallace didn't find any abnormalities on the item.

Cores of the Mana Beast were not some rare commodities. They were mostly used as materials for mana artifacts, potion ingredients, and others.

'Is there something I missed?'

He glanced sideways at Tracy who was about to join the bidding war any moment from now. Ross was also looking interested but he kept himself from raising his bid and only watched the event.

He recalled Sylvia's introduction.

The 49th item to be auctioned was a sack containing 30 pieces of cores from three different Mana Beasts. Ten from Fire Ravens, ten from Blaze Wolves, and another ten cores from a Flame Warhorse. The base price was a staggering 150 million and no buyout price as expected.

It seems that the bidding war would take a while due to the slow raise of the price so Wallace decided to understand what's happening.

"Why is this so expensive? Mana Beast Cores shouldn't be this expensive right? Based on the previous market price of these cores, it should only amount to 160,000 to 200,000 credits each piece." Wallace couldn't help but ask some clarification to Ross.

"Ahh... Right, you're not aware of the recent incident here in the capital."

"Incident?"

"Yes. It should be for the top Clans only but I'll make it short for you. Cores from mana beasts that has fire affinity was discovered to be a main ingredient to create a new power source called Molten Core. Unfortunately, mana beasts that has fire affinity were too rare in our country. Most of fire mana beasts can only be found in Utara but we don't have a reliable channel in that country. These cores might even be all the remaining cores available in the market. If others wanted to hunt, it would also be tough even for a group of Adepts." Ross kindly explained while observing the auction.

[ No public or private information found on the internet about the new term. ]  Avalon dutifully checked any online information about this but found nothing. It seems that this information was tightly guarded for some reason.

"Molten Core? I haven't heard of it and why for top Clans only?"

"That's fine... I can tell you now since you're an apprentice of Sir Slaine, you'll surely hear of this soon."

Ross didnt bother to hide anything from Wallace since his identity and status would rise up after the government or society acknowledge his apprenticeship. This information would soon spread to the whole nation. He'll definitely be a small time celebrity soon and access to these kinds of information will be easily come to him.

"In short, the Molten Core is like the Mana Battery made of Mana Stone but in this case, it is made of cores from those fire beast's cores."

"What are they use for?"

"To make Steel Knights..."

Wallace knitted his brows at the familiar term. "They're few grades lower than the Iron Knights found in the northern continent... Oh, if you're not aware of Iron Knights, they are large humanoid machines made of magic and science. I'm not too sure of it's specificities but I've seen one." Ross smiled feeling proud about his knowledge.

Of course, he was aware that he can only brag for now because Wallace has not yet fully taken advantage of his status to get some internal information like these.

'I see... It's a good thing I've learned of this. I'll have to make some adjustments in the settings then.' Wallace thought about something else after understanding Ross' words.

"I got it. So its normal that these people were all trying to get hold of these cores. Well, if I have the blueprint of the Molten Core and Steel Knight, even I will be tempted to bid. Haha."

"That's right. I heard that two fire beast's cores can be used to create one Molten Core for Steel Knights. Sigh~ This shop didn't even separated the cores. They could've sold per pair and might even earn a lot more but they still decided to do this."

"Mhm..." Wallace nodded in agreement.

"322.2 million!" The bid already reached a very high price. Even Wallace was feeling that it was too absurd at this moment. Well, most of it was due to the continuous bid of room 28 to increase the price.

Anyway, the 49th item was successfully won by someone in the VIP room 11 for a final price of 472 million credits. It also means that whoever won this item would have a chance to create 15 Steel Knights for their own use.

The amount of money being spent here was also an eye-opener for Wallace who deemed that his security contract with the Golden Trident Group was too expensive already.

At last, after more than an hour of this event in the New Era's Magic Shop, the final item was revealed.

"I know that most of you came here for this item so I'll say no more! This is the last item for our event, a Celestial Fragment. I believe that I don't have to explain what this item could do. The item could not be purchased through money as our client requested. He wanted to have an equivalent exchange."

Sylvia said making some of the participants eyeing this item disappointed. They prepared a lot of cash and even liquidated their funds but this happened now.

Some didn't even competed with the 49th item to use it for this final item. They can only sigh and regret their decision.

Sylvia continued as she mentioned what their client wanted in exchange for the Celestial Fragment.

"Our client wanted 5-10 cubic meter Spatial Bag."

"What?!"

"Tsk... They're targeting the prestigious Clans."

"Indeed. Who doesn't know that only those large Clans have access to these Natural Mana Artifacts?"

"Fool! That's not a Natural Mana Artifact. Spatial Storage is a remnant of Lost Technology."

"Hmph! Who would believe that? And don't call them Lost Technology, that was still on Aeolia's Era. It's already classified as Arcane Technology." Some even started to argue about the origin of the storage bag but in the end, no one could truly claim the source of the item since no one could make them and can only modify an existing Storage Bag found in the northern continent and in some ruins on the southern continent.

As no one was making a trade, Sylvia immediately made some secret communication with their client. As she was about to add some details about the exchange, a voice was heard from room number 7. It was a cold but feminine voice from Lacus Minerva.

"I can give 1.5 cubic meter Storage Bag. I'll also add an Assault Airship."

Most of the participants at the lower floor was floored upon hearing this. None of them was too surprised about the Storage Bag but it about the Assault Airship... it is a weapon of war. They were awed at the extravagant offer of the lady at room 7.

***

Wallace on the other hand was annoyed at this auctioneer who didn't explain this Celestial Fragment. No online information about this item can be found. Even Avalon who integrated himself to the internet wasn't able to find even a single rumor or article related to the item.

Sigh~

He felt too ignorant after coming to this Capital City. At the very least, he thanked the Pathfinder for giving the apprenticeship mission to him. This way, he had an encounter with a lot of oddities and brought a light in some of the mysteriousness shrouding this world.

He really can't underestimate a magical world. He can only humbly ask Ross who looked knowledgeable.

"Celestial Fragment... I'm not too sure as well. I only know something because I read some notes from my ancestor, Aeolia."

"Really? Can you tell me?" Wallace asked and even Tracy and her bodyguard listened. An information that came from Aeolia seems to be a bit more reliable than from what they've heard somewhere else.

"Of course. Most of people here must have heard of it through some other means but what they know is that this fragment only helps to reach the apex of being a magician. What I'm about to tell you is an information only Schien Clan and it's tight allies were aware of... Based on what I read, Aeolia mentioned on how a Celestial Fragment can be used to either form a core or to transcend."

Question marks were written on the three's faces after he was done speaking.

Ross chuckled before further explaining.

"The core formation was noted as something achievable after integrating with a celestial fragment. This core would allow the magician to generate their own source of energy instead of relying in this world's mana."

He paused for a moment and explained the other use of the item.

"It was also said that using this celestial fragment would give an opportunity to be free from the contraints of this material world. It seems that it was something to do with changing the physiology of the magician like how an Arcane Baptism changes the magician's body."

Wallace was stunned hearing this explanation from Ross. It was exactly the same with Astral Core Formulation and Chasm Trample that the Cube of Paradox given to him as an option. Its just that he selected Void Phase during that time.

As soon as he realized this, a familiar ring was heard. It is the sound of a mission notification from the Pathfinder.