Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 68
Chapter 68: Episode 18. The Second Auction of Devildom (5)
After a few minutes, Groggy looked at me again.
He looked at me with mixed feelings. One of the feelings was rage, for sure.
He realized that he had been tricked. I had pretended as if I really needed the Sword of Darkhan, and he figured that out.
I was a fisherman, and Groggy was a fish. In fact, he was a dumb fish, which did not notice that its tongue was pierced by the fisherman’s hook. Yet it kept on showing off.
Grr!
Groggy shook his body. I could hear him grinding his teeth.
It was humiliation after humiliation. However, we were at the Auction of Devildom. One mistake could affect his or her entire faction. All that Groggy could do was merely tremble with anger.
“500,000! We have 500,000 points. Count Randalph has made his bid!”
Devorong shouted, breaking the silence.
Devorong was surprised for a reason. While he was watching me during the auction, Devorong found out that I looked very relaxed, even when I was bidding a high price, which was 500,000 points. Looking at my gestures, he started to believe that the points that I had spent so far, which was 1.75 million points, was only a part of my budget. Then he tried to guess how much I had in total, and such a thought surprised him.
Devorong could think critically only because he was a spirit. Devorong, as a spirit, had a wider view of the world than the others did, and he was sure that I had a tremendous amount of points in my hands.
On the other hand, demons were different from spirits.
Demons only looked at what they wanted to see. They were strongly biased. Every time I bid a high price, they made hasty conclusions that I had exhausted my budget. The demons did not have many points, and they assumed that I was the same.
However, their naïve biases were breaking apart little by little.
I was shaking them, breaking the thin layers of mental shields.
Devorong clapped his hands.
“Amazing! Even the body of the Earth Dragon! Count Randalph has already taken four items!”
About half a minute had passed, but no one bid a higher price.
I nodded as though everything was working out as I had planned.
In terms of points, no one could be my match.
There was no way that the demons could beat me.
After a while, Devorong opened his mouth while coughing.
“Well, there are still a lot of items left! The next item I am going to present to you is…”
Devorong’s face changed quickly while he was speaking.
He did not look playful anymore, and he looked very serious.
He was so serious that he seemed to have forgotten about the auction.
It looked like Devorong was listening to someone who was invisible.
‘I could sense the interference of mana.’
I could sense a small amount of mana, which was coming from another being. Through the mana, I found out that someone was trying to interfere with the auction.
Similar to how Lyhee and I were telepathically connected, someone who was connected to Devorong was communicating with him.
However, Devorong was one of the highest spirits. He could finish most tasks with the tip of a finger. Only a limited number of beings were connected to him. On top of that, Devorong rarely received orders from anyone in such a serious manner.
‘It is the Fairy King.’
I thought about the Fairy King of Darkness.
Yes, if there was someone who could make Devorong listen that seriously, it had to be the Fairy King.
Now I understood why Devorong was so nervous.
After several seconds, Devorong let out a quiet sigh and raised his head.
“I am sorry. Let us take a break. If you need anything, please consult the workers nearby. We will help you as much as we can.”
Devorong, keeping his head down, disappeared behind the stage.
Soon, Spirits of Dark of lower ranks appeared and approached the demons.
‘The Fairy King’s call…’
One of the spirits approached me. Smiling, it started to gently massage my shoulders. However, I was lost in thoughts about Devorong.
The Fairy King had rarely interfered with the Auction of Devildom, even in the previous life. Only during very important occasions did the king speak through Devorong.
I wondered what the issue was.
Lost in thoughts, I waited until Devorong came out again.
About half an hour later, Devorong reappeared on the stage.
Tilting his head down a little bit, he began to speak.
“Thank you for your patience. Do not worry, we will resume the auction soon. Furthermore, we want to congratulate Count Randalph again, who took the eighteenth item of the auction, ‘the body of the Earth Dragon.'”
Devorong shifted his gaze and looked at me with a strange smile.
I frowned slightly.
I could not understand the reason that he repeated his congratulating remarks. In addition, his strange smile felt different from his smile a few hours ago.
I thought that the strange smile implied something.
I thought so because… it was Devorong.
Devorong was a cunning swindler, and his every single gesture implied something.
It would have been naive to assume it was a simple smile.
“Well, we have a long road ahead. We have many items to show you. And I am sure that you will be satisfied with the nineteenth item up for auction, which I will present on the stage soon. This item will quench your aesthetics thirst. It is the ‘Tears of the Moon!'”
A worker spirit brought out a beautifully decorated box.
When Devorong received the box and opened it, I could see a small drop of water floating in it.
I was shocked when I saw the item.
“It is different.”
I thought about the list of items that Devorong had given me before the auction.
There was no “Tears of the Moon” in the list. I was quite confident about my memory, because I had read the list multiple times and even memorized it.
Something, which should not have appeared, came out.
I could not have thought about such a change.
It was clear that the list changed after Devorong received a call from the Fairy King.
I wondered why the list changed.
Even if Devorong changed the list, no spirit would benefit from the changed list of items.
In any case, the points that the demons had were limited. The spirits could exhaust all their points with just the items on the original list.
Then I remembered Devorong’s strange smile a while ago.
‘Or… is the changed list a message from the Fairy King of Darkness to me?’
I was not sure.
For now, I would have to keep an eye on how the auction continued.
“The ‘Tears of the Moon’ is a concentration of a large amount of mana. It has accumulated and concentrated the mana of the Moon for a very long time. This concentrated mana will increase your statistics dramatically! Just take a look at this glowing light. Are you not fascinated by this light?”
Devorong kept on talking, and he seemed to be very excited.
Just like what he said, the drop of water was gently glowing.
The drop of water looked as though it was a ray of the Moon.
After catching my breath, I opened the Mind’s Eyes.
Name – The Tears of the Moon
Description: It is a concentration of mana of the Moon that had been collected naturally. When it is consumed, the user’s mana would increase by three if their pure mana was below eighty, by two if below eighty-five, and by one if below ninety.
** There is a very small chance that the user may come under the “Curse of the Moon.”
There was a hidden option. However, the chance of getting the curse was very small, and I decided to ignore it. Now the question was whether I should get that item.
Of course, any item that increased statistics were valuable. My pure mana was exactly eighty-five. Had I consumed the item, my mana would have increased by two.
I was gravitated towards purchasing the item, but I felt uncomfortable about the intentions of Devorong and the Fairy King.
“First of all…”
I looked at Devorong.
I did not know what his true intention was, but I needed the Tears of the Moon. Just because Devorong had some other motives, it did not mean that I should not get the item.
“I will do as you wish.”
I decided to buy the item. I could slowly find out about Devorong’s intention throughout the auction.
“The starting bid is 250,000 points. If you have low mana, please hurry. If you miss this chance, you will never see this item again!”
“250,000.”
“… Count Randalph!”
The other demons looked surprised.
Then they looked at me as though they were fed up.
However, I ignored them and stared at Devorong.
“270,000.”
“Long time no see. Marquis Delate! We have 270,000 points. This item is a choice that you will never regret! Hurry up and bid!”
“280,000.”
“Oh, good to see you. Duke Sugoof!”
“300,000.”
“You are going strong. Count Randalph is leading by 300,000 points.”
Fewer and fewer demons bid as the price went up.
The demons, who had more than 300,000 points, were mostly of higher ranks. As a result, they had better statistics than others.
The fact that this item could increase the user’s mana by two would surely attract the demons. However, there were more items to come. I would not be surprised if one of the upcoming items could easily increase mana by more than two.
For example, the Sword of Darkhan could increase the strength of a user by as much as five, depending on the amount of blood absorbed.
“Congratulations! The ‘Tears of the Moon’ has been sold!”
300,000 points was a good deal.
Although I took the Tears of the Moon, I could not let my guard down. There were more to come. Out of all the demons in the auction, only I knew that the list of items had changed. Looking at the next item, I may be able to tell the intention behind the changes.
“Then let me introduce you to the twentieth item of the auction. This item contrasts with the previous item. It is the ‘Smile of the Sun!'”
My prediction was correct…
This one was also not on the original list.
I thought about the “Tears of the Moon” and the “Smile of the Sun.”
The names of the two items made a good pair.
The complementary names of the two items made me feel as though I really needed to buy them both.
I immediately activated the Mind’s Eyes.
Name – The Smile of the Sun
Description: It is a concentration of mana from the Sun, which was accumulated naturally. The user of the item would enjoy the increased intelligence of three if the user’s pure intelligence was below eighty, two if below eighty-five, and one if below ninety.
** The user might suffer the “Curse of the Sun” by a small chance.
This item was very similar to the previous item. The only differences were that the names changed from the Moon to the Sun and that this one increased intelligence while the other increased mana.
Were there any additional options, had I consumed both items simultaneously?
I did see the “Tears of the Moon” and the “Smile of the Sun” once in my previous life, but it was a long time after the previous life started. In addition, two different consumers had bought these two items, respectively, and no demon had used both items at once before. I could not predict what would happen if I used them at the same time.
“What am I going to do?”
I rested my chin on my hand.
I had to decipher the message that the Fairy King of Darkness was sending me.
Was he on my side or an enemy?
Are these two items a gain or a loss?
There were no permanent allies in this world.
Although the spirits were my secret allies, they could betray me at any time. Therefore, I needed to be more cautious.
“Similar to the last time, the starting bid is 250,000 again! Unlike the ‘Tears of the Moon,’ the ‘Smile of the Sun’ is a powerful potion that increases your intelligence. Do not miss this tremendous opportunity.”
After Devorong finished his words, no one bid for a long time. Then one demon spoke up.
“250,000.”
“Marquis Anastasia! We have 250,000 points. Anyone else?”
Looking around, Devorong spoke again.
However, intelligence was an ability that was not considered important by most demons.
Unlike other abilities, one could not immediately feel the change in their intelligence, even if it increased.
No one was trying to make a higher bid.
I was also thinking the same with the others.
At the same time, I wanted to finish this game, since I started it.
After reaching such a conclusion, I opened my mouth.
“260,000.”
Now the total was 2.31 million.
It was the total amount of points that I had spent throughout the auction.
The statues of a boy and a girl still did not smile. The absence of a smile implied that I had what I called for. Now the demons were getting curious.
They wanted to find out how on Earth I could save so many points.
The number of awakened heroes who were entering dungeons had been decreasing. Because of the decreasing number, the number of points earned in the second year was smaller than that from the first year for most demons. However, that was not my story. I made more during the second year than I did during the first year.
The demons must have suspected that I had some secret ways to earn points.
Looking at the other demons, I could tell that some of them were greedy and interested at the same time.
Archduke Oculus, who did not care much about trivial affairs, could not take his eyes off me.
However… I did not have the time to care about them.
“The ‘Smile of the Sun’ is sold at 260,000 points. Congratulations, Count Randalph!”
Devorong took a deep breath.
Then he immediately moved on to the next round of auction.
“Now, it is the long-awaited twenty-first item of auction. I am sure that you remember that sealed armors came out during the last year’s auction. If you were lucky, you could have gotten epic-grade items. This year is the same. I present to you, the ‘Sealed Cape!'”
Spirits brought out the item immediately after Devorong finished his words. Then I took a look at the item.
It was a dark scarlet cape.
The cape was very shabby, and parts of it seemed burnt.
It was the first armor that was presented in this year’s auction.
Unlike other demons, I could check the options of this armor.
When I opened the Mind’s Eyes, a long message window popped up the air.
Name – Indolence (Epic, Collection Item)
Description: This item is the legendary Blacksmith Oswen’s last work. It was said that even the gods fell in love with the blacksmith and his works. Oswen was inspired by the “Seven Sins” when he was working on this item. However, the thought of the sins captivated Oswen, and he lost his mind after finishing his last work.
“A king’s sole virtue is indolence!”
<ul>
This item increases the user’s agility by seven. The wearer of this armor can also use the epic-grade skill ‘indolence’ every seven days.
</ul>
[You have found one of the ‘Seven Sins’ collection. Having multiple items from the same collection would give you synergetic effects.]
[The armor is tightly sealed, and the user receives an additional penalty.]
[The user’s strength will be reduced by ten for the next seventy-two hours.]
I stared at the messages, which were still floating in the air.
Just like the prior year’s auction, one of the “Seven Sins” collection came out for an auction item.
Had it been normal times, I would have been delighted and clenched my fist, but this year’s auction was a bit different.
The order in which the last few items were presented felt strange. The “Tears of the Moon” came out first, and it was followed by the ‘Smile of the Sun.’ Then out came this gem.
I could sense that there was a hidden meaning behind the order.
“They are testing me.”
I clicked my tongue silently.
I finally deciphered the Fairy King’s intention.