The crafters all leaned forward. They didn’t need much in the way of accommodation. They spent most of their days working in the workshops, anyway. Something that was permanent that they could store their items in and was positioned well was perfect for them.
People wearing uniforms for the auction hall walked into the different halls and booths.
“My associates have floor plans with them that they will pass around. Please take a look. In five minutes, we will start the bidding! You will need to give your bid to them and then the formation above me will change,” Elise said.
Ten blueprints appeared above her, showing it broken up into different sections with numbers on each for the different apartments.
The people from the auction hall distributed the reading materials and people looked through the apartment plans quickly.
The atmosphere was tense as people talked excitedly to one another as they found different plans that suited their needs.
Elise tapped her hammer lightly. “I hope you have enjoyed browsing the apartment plans. We will start the bidding now!”
In the superior and the advanced booths, there were more attendants, with one to each of the patrons in the superior booth and one for every three in the advanced. On the regular floor, there was one for every ten.
People called out bids to their attendants and numbers appeared underneath the apartment numbers, denoting the number of Earth stones people were willing to part with.
She did not give them a base number to start from—from the beginning, they are competing with one another. Not knowing who their opponents are, they can’t be pressured externally to stop bidding due to the power behind them.
Hiao Xen studied it all. The lower floor apartments were smaller but had the basic necessities. As one went up floors, they gained more room. The tenth floor was broken into just four apartments, with the largest rooms and views that looked over the capital.
The bids climbed at an alarming rate in just a few minutes. Many people were knocked out of the competition as it went higher.
“Look at those prices! Two hundred and forty regular Earth stones for the lowest apartment!”
“That’s nothing—those highest levels are selling for four and a half Sky stones!”
The numbers started to slow down and Elise brought her hammer down if the bids didn’t move in ten seconds.
It built up the pressure as people kept up their bids, increasing their price instead of hesitating for fear of her selling it off.
Hiao Xen’s eyes shone, feeling the energy that filled the room.
“Hah, it is a good thing that I sold that new Journeyman bow I just finished or else I wouldn’t have had enough mana stones!”
The hammer continued to drop, quicker now. People were running out of funds as the numbers climbed.
The hammer started to slow down as the last bids were placed.
Hiao Xen scanned the information. With just one building, we made nearly one hundred and thirty Sky mana stones.
“Thank you for your patronage!” Elise said with a wide smile.
Crafters have most of their money tied up in their ingredients and equipment. There are still a number of plots that we can build more apartments on in the future.
“Up next, we have an apartment building located in the outer city between the Battle Arena and roads that lead out to the dungeon valley and to the eastern and northern gates, with easy access to the marketplace and Associations’ Circle! A perfect location for any fighter or adventurer teams. The plans are the same as those listed in the first apartment building. We will start the bidding in five minutes!”
Adventurers had a lot more funds with them and Elise quickly collected more than one hundred and sixty Sky stones from the bidders.
Then she moved to land agreements. There were three properties that were up to be bid on. These properties didn’t have anything on them and it was up to the buyer to build upon them. The first was located between Associations’ Circle and the workshops; the other was located between the workshops and the auction hall. The third was positioned between the Associations’ Circle and the Battle Arena.
The first went for 345 Sky mana stones; the second 521; the third 289.
Then there were the stores. These were not purchases but instead rental agreements. There were store locations around the Battle Arena, around the associations, around the workshops, the totem and auction hall and between these locations. There were only fifteen up for rent. People didn’t dare to complain. Many gripped their seats in excitement, seeing the auction house explode as the merchants went to war with their assets.
For a three-year rental, the stores would pay 120 Sky mana stones on average. As a secondary benefit, they would receive a lower taxation rate on their sales, which alone made their eyes shine in excitement.
Hiao Xen was stunned by the numbers that he had seen displayed here.
“Elise is her own force.” Hiao Xen chuckled to himself and stood as the auction came to an end and Elise bowed to those who had competed within the auction. People felt pleased with their purchases; others vowed to bring more money next time. Others simply enjoyed the display that had been put on.
With the extra funds, we can hire on some more people, speed up the rate that we expand the capital, and start building the secondary workshops in the outer city. We can offer higher loans and commission outside crafters to manufacture the supplies we need for the capital.
***
The metal in front of Tan Xue sang to her. Instead of her hand being numb with the vibrations, her body was in tune with the metal. It felt like an extension of herself. She injected mana into it, and drew out a pink fruit and put it on the blade. It sizzled and started to deform as she beat it into the metal.
Her hammer fell into a rhythm, shaping into a bracer. She quenched it and put it to the side. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and put the bracer down next to another.
The two shook slightly. A pink energy transferred between them both as they resonated with each other.
Tan Xue touched them both, comparing her analysis.
“They’re about eighty-five percent similar, enough to create a resonance. With them both equipped, the effects will be stronger,” Tan Xue assessed, opening her eyes and looking at them both.
She gathered them up and wiped her face with a rag as she exited the Expert workshop. She passed people, not caring about her appearance as she made it to the formation workshop.
Qin was there. Tan Xue slowed so as to not interrupt her.
There were two identical swords in front of her. Tan Xue had been the one to craft them.
Qin didn’t even notice her. The carving tool in her hand flowed. It was more natural now. It looked as if she were a practiced calligrapher: each movement powerful, concise, and thought out; one flowed into the next without pause.
Qin worked on the left sword. To her right, there was a wispy image of her hand and the tool. One could see through it, watching the enchantment carved into the metal. The tool contained the enhancer and reactant required for the formation, leaving behind a fiery orange through the enchantments.
Tan Xue watched, entranced by what she was seeing.
Qin finished off the beautiful enchantments on each and then closed her eyes. Power from the Ten Realms was stirred up. A golden glow appeared around her body. Qin’s eyes were closed in deep thought, as if she had realized something.
Did she make a breakthrough?
Tan Xue stood there as Qin’s body glowed with the Experience that flooded her before it started to settle down. She opened her eyes, looking at the weapons in front of her.
“It is not just about the process but its purpose, like rivers that flow through the land, enriching one another. Like paper that is perfected by the calligraphy, bringing the blank page to life. Enchanting is combining the purpose, with function and the materials. Gaining greater strength across all. Enchantments change so much as they need to adapt to differen
t materials in order to draw out different effects.” Qin pulled out paper and quickly started to write on it.
She didn’t notice it but there were three hands on the page, each of them writing at the same time. They weren’t repeating the first line, but each of them wrote a part of a whole that came together perfectly.
Qin turned to Tan Xue and saw the bracers in her hand.
She waved her hand. Using her mana she picked up the bracers and put them on her table. She stared at them, studying them.
She moved off to the side and pulled out a piece of paper and a brush. Several hands crowded around her hand as they worked together, each of them taking on a different section that formed together in a perfect and satisfactory way.
Even with the brush, her lines were clean, her circles perfect.
She pulled out another piece of paper, working faster than the first time. She repeated it three different times and made five different enchantments.
She looked at the final enchantment and then moved to the preparation station. She took out a clean carving tool and different reactants, combined them together to create an ink for the carving tool, and filled it up. Several other carving tools appeared in her hand and she poured ink into them all.
She moved back to the bracers. Four hands appeared around her own hand and several appeared over the other bracer.
Her carving tools worked on the metal, leaving behind black lines in the silver metal.
Tan Xue knew that state; she had been in it many times. Inside the academy and the workshops, it was easy for one to fall into a state of enlightenment.
Tan Xue moved to the twin swords, studying them. They were nearly identical. One was shorter than the other and was made to be mounted on a spear instead of being turned into a true sword.
Tan Xue studied them both. The enchantments were similar when looking at them, made in the same style, but their effects were different.
==========
Flaming Silaz Spearhead
==========
Attack: 130
Weight: 2.5 kg
Health: 100/100
Charge: 100/100
Innate Effect: Increase damage by 8%
Increase blunt by 9%
Enchantment:
Ember Edge—inflict burning damage for 5/s on target
Flame Giant’s Strength—for two minutes, increase strength by 150%. Cooldown—three hours
Requirements:
Agility 65
Strength 72
==========
==========
Flaming Silaz Sword
==========
Attack: 147
Weight: 5.7 kg
Health: 100/100
Charge: 100/100
Innate Effect: Increase damage by 8%
Increase speed by 9%
Enchantment:
Ember Edge—inflict burning damage for 5/s on target
Flaming Strike—Inflict 150% flame damage on targets within a 20m area in front of you. Cooldown—two hours
Requirements:
Agility 70
Strength 53
==========
“They looked so similar and they are, but then the innate effects I was able to draw out with the enhancers and my skill have only been compounded on with the Ember Edge and the Flaming Strike and Flame Giant’s Strength that draw on the power of the weapon to create a possible life-saving skill.” Tan Xue looked at the blades. Each of them was a true Expert masterpiece, from the weapon to the enchantments.
Tan Xue looked over as Qin finished with the bracers.
She closed her eyes. A look of fatigue appeared on her face, but there was also another of searching as she threw out brushes and her several hands worked together, creating new notes.
Silence fell over the room as she worked.
Tan Xue stood there as Qin finished writing. Her other hands disappeared as she took a breath and opened her eyes.
“Unless I missed the mark, welcome to the Expert level,” Tan Xue said.
Qin noticed her for the first time and she opened and closed her mouth, looking at the bracers and then Tan Xue before she hurriedly pulled up her notifications.
“I did it!” She seemed stunned and lost before her excitement met up with her understanding. “I did it! I’m an Expert formation master!” Qin laughed and hugged Tan Xue, who patted her on the back and laughed. “Julilah is going to be so jealous!”
“What is that technique you were using?” Tan Xue asked.
“It’s the Many Hands technique. In the formation academy, I looked at combat and how people make formations. I had the idea of overlapping formations. So I added in a spell, Manipulate Object. I have been using it to copy out the same formation on different items—it works. Though when I was working on my brothers’ weapons, I wanted the enchantments to align with the innate effects and with their fighting styles. I kind of sunk into thought and started to enchant them both at the same time, but with different enchantments. The information I had and then the spells, even my calligraphy lessons, all seemed to slam into one and I just followed what my instincts were telling me. Then, with the bracers, I wanted to check on what I had learned.
“I wasn’t drawing out the best of the item, just looking to increase the enchantments before. I could use the hands to create one formation fluidly without breaks—that’s what I was checking with the blueprints. Then I worked with the bracers. There are differences between them. Instead of that being a weakness, I created different formations in both that, when they work together, raise the effectiveness of them. They will increase a person’s defense and create a mana barrier when they need it. Use them together and it will cover them all; apart and then it will only create a shield-sized barrier.
“Each of the hands is working on one section, but together they create a formation, tying the materials and purpose of the item through formations.” Qin now looked around the room with hungry eyes.
“I’ll work on making some more Expert-level weapons. I’ve got rather quick at it,” Tan Xue said.
“Sweet! I’ll see if I can get more items that are complete from the other crafters and enchant it. I could also work on the defensive enchantments on the walls. I need to increase my Mana Gathering Cultivation and my mental abilities to be able to create more hands and control them at the same time. What will this mean for my combat capabilities!”
Qin stumbled a bit, holding her head and groaning.
“First, take some time to rest. Write notes on what you feel and what you think for others who want to be Experts.” Tan Xue pulled out a Stamina potion and pushed Qin to a seat.
She took the potion and drank it, still holding her head.
Chapter: Revelation
Bai Ping checked his gear for the third time and moved in his armor.
“So where are we going, Sergeant?” he asked Sergeant Li.
Sergeant Li smiled mysteriously. “You’ll see.”
“Come on, Sarge. You’re acting all mysterious. We haven’t been able to get anything from anyone else,” Private Mossa complained.
“Patience is its own reward.”
Dragon Platoon left with just fifty people, but then they came back with a full combat company. Their corporals and sergeants haven’t trained in as many areas as our leadership has, but their individual strength is much higher than ours.
“Why did we have to sign a new contract yesterday, Sarge?” Bai Ping asked.
“You’ll see soon enough. And you must never forget your oaths.” Sergeant Li’s tone turned hard as he looked into Bai Ping’s eyes.
“Yes, Sarge.”
Sergeant Li looked to the others, who all came to attention and agreed.
“Trust me, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” Li shook his head and the corners of his mouth turned upward.
“Move into formation!” one of the officers yelled out.
The different squads moved into position, creating rifle platoons, artillery and support pla
toons. They stretched across the parade square.
Captain Yui marched out and stood in front of them.
“All right, we’ve got a path right to the totem cleared. We will march down through Associations’ Circle, down the main road and take a left to the totem. We will go by platoon, First Rifle Platoon followed by Second Rifle Platoon, Third Artillery Platoon, and Fourth Support Platoon. Does this fuck anyone up?” Yui looked through the company, eyeing a few of the troublemakers.
“Nope? Good.” Yui let out a slight grin and then it disappeared as soon as it appeared. “You are representing Tiger Company and the Vuzgal regiment! Do not forget that. Company!”
They snapped together, alert.
“To the right, right turn!”
The entire company snapped around to the right. There was something deeply satisfying about working as one complete body.
Yui marched out to the head of the formation. “Forward, march!”
They moved as one and headed toward the gates of the training ground.
Dragon Platoon watched them as they were leaving, opening the gates to the training area and pushing ahead with their mounts to clear a path for Tiger Company.
People stood in the streets and watched as the unit passed.
Bai Ping looked at the people out of the corner of his eye. He didn’t know what to expect when he had joined the Vuzgal regiment. Training had changed the way he looked at the world and taught him how to be a soldier.
They marched through the roads. The gates to the totem were opened as Bai Ping’s First Platoon moved around the totem.
Captain Yui accessed the command interface and they all disappeared in a flash of light.
They appeared around another totem.
“Forward, march! Clear the formation!” Yui ordered as they all double time marched off the totem and headed down a curving road.
There were people cheering and clapping as they headed off.
They cleared the formation and a few seconds later, the second platoon followed in a flash of light.
What is this place? The mana concentration is so high! There is a ceiling? There are glowing rocks on the ceiling.
The Fifth Realm Page 62