Any attempt to hurt the opponent through killing their companions would be fruitless.
When that happened, revenge was no longer a matter of concern. There was a high possibility he might even die here.
The expressionless adept shivered when he thought of that fearsome Third Grade thunder dragon from last time. The chilling killing intent in his heart finally started to subside.
The adept silently exited the Magma Hall and disappeared into the winding tunnels of Fire Cave.
Chapter 597 The Auction
The Crimson Clan then featured their First Grade adepts.
Apart from Meryl, who had to watch over things in the Goblin Plane, and Billis, who needed to stay at the metal fortress, all the other clan adepts had hurried back to Fire Throne to participate in this grand establishment banquet.
Gargamel, Eva, Deserra, Endor, Dana, Charon, the three blood knights, Old Fox Vanlier, Goblin Mechanic Tigule, Goblin Snorlax.
Their numbers were plenty, but nearly half of them were magical creatures that had joined the Crimson Clan. Consequently, it wasn't too striking of a scene and wouldn't invite the fear of the surrounding adept clans.
The auction that came after the introduction of the Crimson adepts was, naturally, handed over to Snorlax for him to host.
Snorlax had managed to break free of the glamor of authority and status after enjoying those several months of emperor-like treatment and rejoined the ranks of the clan adepts. In all honesty, this was beyond Greem's expectations.
It was important to note how good a life that Snorlax was leading in the Goblin Plane. As the 'sage' and 'saint' of the goblins, Snorlax had practically uncontested authority. He could do whatever he wished. Over the past few months, he had always lived under the adoration of his many believers. He was welcomed wherever he went and greeted by masses that swarmed the streets. Tens of thousands of people followed him like shadows. He had immense influence, and countless goblins would have responded to his call.
Anyone else who had never tasted such power would probably have been lost in the glamor of the poisoned wine that was authority. Yet, strangely enough, Snorlax was able to break free of this bewitchment within a matter of weeks. He had cast away all his followers and believers without another word after hearing about the Crimson Clan's establishment today. He had eagerly hurried back to Fire Throne.
It was because of Snorlax's shocking performance that Greem decided to hand him the reins of the auction today. Snorlax didn't disappoint either. He showed no signs of fear or intimidation before such a crowd of powerful individuals.
The goblin moved a tall stool in place and stood upon it. Snorlax waved the gavel in his hand and shouted with all his strength at the adepts below.
"Noble lord and lady adepts, welcome to Fire Throne of the Crimson Clan. I am Lord Greem's loyal slave, Snorlax. I will be the one hosting this grand auction today."
Snorlax was a little fellow that knew how to read between the lines and observe people's expressions. He quickly picked up on the impatience on some of the adepts' faces after his series of introductory remarks and promotion of the Crimson Clan. He immediately changed topics to address the central issue today.
"Today, the first auction item that we of the Crimson Clan have prepared for you people is... Wind Dragonborn!"
As Snorlax's inciting shouts spread throughout the cave, ten muscular dragonborn were brought up the stage under the escort of snakefiend warriors. They were bound by runic chains and shuffled up the side.
It was apparent that these dragonborn had not been tamed in any manner. They might be suffering from the fearsome planar suppression of the World of Adepts, but they were still glaring at everything around them with four large and furious eyes.
Their tall and muscular bodies, the humanoid torsos, and the powerful dragonlike lower bodies caused them to radiate a sense of overwhelming strength. Experienced adepts could easily tell that they possessed elementium affinity through their light green scales.
They were truly wind-attribute dragonborn warriors!
The adepts, many of whom thought that the Crimson Clan couldn't present any decent products, were immediately excited. They swarmed toward the stage and used their Spirits to ascertain the quality of these dragonborn silently.
First Grade dragonborn warriors. In fact, they were first-generation dragonborn guards that possessed dragon bloodline.
They were personal bodyguards that the dragons had personally cultivated, not mixed-blood dragonborn that had been born from several generations of interbreeding between dragonborn.
Dragonborn might not be actual dragons, but their value increased significantly given their size and identity as first generation slaves. Their blood could achieve seventy to eighty percent of the effect of actual dragon blood if they were wholly extracted, properly refined, and purified.
If these dragonborn were bred on a large-scale, then they could become an endless source of 'faux-dragon blood.' It was an extremely cost-effective solution for adepts that were in desperate need of large quantities of high-quality magical creature blood!
Moreover, young dragonborn were all qualified First Grade warriors. If they could be made to submit, then the adepts would instantly gain a group of loyal subordinates.
The adepts couldn't help but start offering their bids after some quick assessments.
The price of ten wind dragonborn warriors rose all the way, quickly rising from the original bid of three thousand magical crystals to seventy thousand magical crystals. At this point, most wandering adepts no longer had any ability to keep up with the bids. The focus of the auction shifted to the clan representatives.
Ten dragonborn were still insufficient to attract the interest of those Second Grade adepts. The ones that participated in the current auction were mostly the representatives of those small-sized clans. They might be more interested in the Second Grade dragon, but they knew that was not an auction their clan could hope to compete in. It wasn't a bad choice to obtain some of the leftovers before the real star of the show was put on stage.
In the end, the Faten representative obtained these ten dragonborn with a bid of eighty-three thousand magical crystals.
Once the dragonborn had been escorted off stage, Snorlax excitedly rubbed his hands together. He had completed his first deal. The goblin shouted for the tower guards to haul the second batch of auction items onto the stage.
Three magic energy robots stamped with a visible goblin logo lifted a large metal box onto the stage. Neatly arranged metal armor and magical longswords were revealed within the box when they opened up its cover on the side.
A dense aura of wind elementium pressed against the faces of the adepts when the dull crimson light of the Magma Hall shone upon this equipment.
Snorlax, who had been yelling on the podium, suddenly turned into a weapon master. He took out a longsword and a set of armor from the metal box and started showing them to the adepts.
These magic weapons and armor were all made of wind indurium. They were unique alchemical creations and could not be found anywhere else.
A quick wind blade shot out of the light green blade when Snorlax waved the magic longsword like a clown. The sword was half a head taller than he was. The wind blade cut through the air, crossed a distance of seventy meters, and left a deep mark upon a rock pillar.
Wind blade– its power could only reach forty-five points.
This was not a powerful magical equipment for most adepts. However, if they were used to equip a private noble's army, it would make it easy for the army to decimate and conquer all nearby territories.
Goblin Snorlax shifted his attention to the wind indurium armor after showing off the longsword.
When he raised the wind indurium longsword and stabbed at the armor, a familiar aura of wind surged out of the armor and formed into a small Tornado Vortex. Thus, the longsword in Snorlax's hand was blown to a side by the rapidly spinning Tornado Vortex.
If this were a battle of l
ife and death where every second counted, the redirection of an attack like this would have been enough to decide a victor between two equally matched soldiers.
Tornado Vortex– sixty points.
A spell of this power was enough to defend against ten arrow shots or five powerful strikes from a human warrior.
Goods like these were not suited for adepts, but they were a decent choice for equipping the guards of adepts!
Thus, some of the interested adepts started to offer bids, and Auctioneer Snorlax once again started shouting and yelling excitedly.
Seven minutes later, this box of wind indurium weapons and armor (a total of seventy sets), were sold for a price of seventeen thousand magical crystals.
The auction continued with enthusiasm. One by one, the auction items were hauled on-stage before being taken off and put into the hands of the adepts below. The magical crystals obtained by the Crimson Clan were also rising without stop. All the Crimson adepts present at the banquet couldn't stop smiling.
The prosperity of the clan meant that their welfare would also improve in turn.
Lord Greem had never been a stingy man when it came to such matters.
Wind dragonborn warriors, wind indurium armor and longswords, magic energy construction robots, dragontooth amulets, arcanite rifles, plenty of magical gemstones, and many rare materials from other worlds were auctioned.
These auction items were part of the resources that Greem had scoured from the Goblin Plane and Lance. They were ordinary items that had all their secrets and knowledge scrubbed from them. Even so, these items had brought a profit of 1.4 million magical crystals to the Crimson Clan.
Once this opening act had concluded, Snorlax finally shouted out the finale of the performance under the eager gaze of all the adepts– the Second Grade Wind Dragon.
Fire Throne rumbled, and the rattling sounds rang out from the fire prison in the corner of the Magma Hall. The magnificent body of the wind dragon that had been seen before the auction was revealed before everyone once again. Dragonborn Zacha held a flashing electric spear in his hand, watchfully guarding over the fire prison.
"This is a Second Grade wind dragon our clan captured in a certain other plane. It is a dragon lord that possesses a pure bloodline and is immensely powerful. If any lord or lady adept here can tame it and turn it into their mount, then their power would instantly skyrocket by thirty to forty percent. Its starting bid is one million two hundred thousand magical crystals. Highest bid wins. Any offers..." Seeing that it was the climax of the auction, Snorlax rose his voice one octave higher to a surprising level of excitement. His voice could be clearly heard throughout every corner of Magma Hall, even without the use of any voice amplification spells.
The adepts immediately flew into a riot.
Even the Second Grade adepts opened their eyes wide and cast their Spirits toward where the wind dragon was.
It seemed the goblin's loud yelling had provoked Second Grade Wind Dragon Cherkes. He started to struggle against all the dense layers of runic bindings that he was placed under once more. The invisible sacrificial flames immediately spread to his body through the runic chains. These scary flames that could directly contact the soul burned and scorched the Second Grade wind dragon terribly. He let out a pitiful and drawn-out cry, and a fearsome dragon's aura of might erupted from his body.
The low-grade adepts in the front were caught unprepared. They frantically retreated backward. Even the spirit appendages they had extended toward the wind dragon were torn to pieces. Some of the adepts with weaker Spirits even grunted as black streaks of blood flowed down their nose.
The violence of the wind dragon didn't invite any complaints from the Second Grade adepts. In fact, it caused their eyes to shine even brighter. They wanted this enraged dragon even more now.
Chapter 598 Power of Fate
As the finale, the auctioning of the wind dragon was exceptionally lively.
Adepts from various clans started bidding, causing the price of the wind dragon to rise exponentially. It very quickly rose from one million two hundred thousand magical crystals to one million nine hundred thousand magical crystals. A terrifying number like this not only kept the wandering adepts out of the ranks of competitors, it even dissuaded the adepts of the small-sized clans. Those adepts had no choice but to shake their heads, sigh, and watch on silently from the side as the Second Grade adepts competed over the dragon.
In terms of pure combat ability, a Second Grade wind dragon could easily defeat three to four magical creatures of the same Grade. Consequently, its price was also several times that of an ordinary Second Grade magical creature.
However, a price like that was still not enough to deter these prepared clan adepts. Their faces flushed red as they shouted out one heart-stopping number after another. The spectators around them felt their hearts ache just hearing them throw out such incredible sums of money.
The price of the wind dragon was increasing rapidly by the tens of thousands during these bids.
The Crimson Clan adepts had already left before the auction concluded. Some of them hurried back to their posts in the Goblin Plane while others went to Lance for further training. In the blink of an eye, only Greem, Mary, Alice, and Dragon Devourer Oliven remained in the tower.
The black-robed Oliven couldn't possibly be in a good mood, seeing that the wind dragon she'd had her eye on had turned into prey that other people were fighting over. However, this wind dragon was the spoils of the Crimson Clan. She had contributed absolutely nothing to its capture and thus had no grounds to request anything of Greem.
Moreover, Oliven had recently rejected Greem's invitation to join the Crimson Clan. She had even less reason to make such unreasonable requests.
After the past half a month of time together, Oliven had no choice but to admit that this young and handsome Second Grade male adept was indeed a fairly charming person. Not only did he possess vast power, but even his subordinates had plenty of tricks up their sleeves.
Disregarding everything else, just the Second Grade female vampire and the Second Grade dragonborn were exceptional talents and geniuses. Still, despite their overwhelming power, Oliven didn't think much of them. Instead, it was another First Grade 'small fry' that frightened her.
What the heck was a Witch of Fate?
Could they be the legendary Great Prophets?
Oliven felt her heart tremble every time her eyes crossed paths with Alice, even though the witch was only First Grade. She felt a strange feeling as if she had been completely seen through.
It was a very odd feeling that Oliven had never felt in the face of other powerful creatures.
Alice's bright blue eyes seemed to be able to see into a person's heart and directly look upon the most secret memories hidden in the depths of Oliven's soul. The idea sounded ridiculous, but it unsettled the dragon devourer.
The anxiety that the mysterious witch had brought upon her successfully drove out the dissatisfaction of having lost the wind dragon. Oliven might appear to be hiding in the corner of an arcane hall and looking at the scene of the auction projected on the light screen, but most of her attention was spent wondering about the oddity of the witch.
She had gotten closer with a few of the Crimson adepts over these past few days. She might be able to find a chance to discover more about the witch through them.
While Oliven was trying to sort out her uneasiness, Greem and Alice were discussing even more classified secrets.
"…you mean the Third Grade vampire, Haines, has come here before."
"Mm. I sensed his aura the moment I arrived. However, I had to project a sense of danger into his soul and scare him away to prevent him from interrupting tonight's banquet."
"Why are you using your powers of Fate so frequently? Are you no longer worried about the backlash of Fate?"
"…" Alice sighed pensively upon hearing these words, "All who attempt to control the powers of Fate will ultimately fall before the backlash of Fate. I
t is a sort of destiny and certainty! Why should I struggle against it if there's no escaping it?"
"Isn't the first Witch of Fate still alive? She must possess some means to escape Fate's backlash if she's managed to live for such a long time. We…" Greem was still frowning in contemplation.
"It's no use!" Alice sighed once again, "I have some idea of what means she used to escape Fate's backlash. That, too, is a perilous path. The risk she will face when danger descends won't be much lower than Fate's backlash itself. So…"
"Don't waste too much of your powers of Fate on inconsequential matters anymore. Don't forget, the powers of Fate are now deeply intertwined with your life. Wasting your powers of Fate is akin to wasting your life! That reminds me. You mentioned last time that participating in major events that decided the future of a plane could allow you to collect large amounts of powers of Fate. How did that experiment go? Did you get anything out of the planar war in the Goblin Plane last time?"
Alice revealed a sweet smile when she heard this.
"I didn't think you'd still care about me! Hmph! Mary turned me into your subordinate tonight. What about it? Do you feel anything special about that?"
"What can I feel about it? Aren't you my slave from the very start? Don't you forget, we signed a soul contract between the two of us." Greem smiled wickedly, his eyes filled with intimacy and nostalgia.
"You…" Alice couldn't help but get angry.
She had been ignorant when she was a young apprentice and was tricked into signing the soul contract. The soul contract had already turned vague and useless now that she had advanced to become the Witch of Fate. In fact, Alice could have cut off her soul connection with this bad, bad person at any time with her current power. She had only preserved it to make communication more convenient.
Now, this shameless person was using it to make fun of her. Alice's face had unknowingly turned red when she remembered her capriciousness and mischief as an apprentice. She was embarrassed.
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