Novel Live
Chapter 383 The VIP Auction [2]
After the short break of about five minutes, Nox, along with the other VIP members, was led into a much smaller yet lavishly adorned room. However, no one seemed to care about the opulence. All eyes were focused on the stage as the auction staff prepared for the final act.
Just like before, each of them was placed in a different box. It seemed the black market auction house was hell-bent on keeping the identity of their VIPs a secret. Nox didn't know the reason they were doing this, but he appreciated it. After all, he was not here to attract unnecessary attention.
By coincidence, Nox was also placed in Box Seven again for this auction. Shortly after he stepped inside his designated box, Amos entered the room as well. If only he had been a fraction of a second earlier, he could have encountered the person he had been looking for all these years.
After everyone settled into their respective boxes, Anya stepped onto the mini stage. The stage was not extravagantly built like the first one; it was more modest, with nothing but a simple trolley covered by a piece of velvet cloth.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
However, the powerful aura emitted from the velvet cloth was too potent to be ignored, and as such, everyone's attention was riveted to the trolley. Read new chapters at empire
At that moment, Anya cleared her throat, her hand resting on the trolley. "Ladies and gentlemen," she began, her voice steady but carrying an undertone of excitement, "thank you for your patience. The VIP auction will now begin!"
"The first item is…" Anya gently pulled off the cloth covering the item, revealing a stand where a sleek, midnight-black armor rested, glowing faintly with a silvery sheen. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Eclipse Shard Armor. Forged from the fragments of a fallen celestial meteor, this armor is said to grant unparalleled protection. Its unique ability, Ethereal Fade, allows the wearer to phase out of physical reality for up to five seconds, making them immune to all physical and magical attacks during that time."
The eyes of the crowd widened, and they started to murmur in amazement.
Phase out of reality for up to five seconds? This unique ability was very powerful. In combat, even a second could determine the victor. Five seconds could change the outcome of a battle entirely, considering that the enemy would be left vulnerable.
In Eos, teleportation and invisibility-type skills were very rare; therefore, they were highly coveted by the awakened. The Eclipse Shard Armor was no different from a spatial-type skill. Unsurprisingly, the crowd's amazement quickly turned into a flurry of bids as the implications of such a treasure sank in.
Sensing the excitement in the air, Anya smiled wickedly and declared, "The starting bid for the armor is 1,000,000 gold coins!"
"1,200,000!"
"1,300,000!" another voice shouted, and the bidding war escalated as the numbers continued to climb rapidly.
"1,500,000!"
"2,000,000!"
The room was electric with tension as VIPs battled fiercely for the armor. No one wanted to give away such a powerful artifact. It could be said that the only one who was not bidding for the armor was Nox, who was just casually chilling in his designated room.
The Ethereal Fade ability was useful, yes, but it wasn't worth the expenditure of his resources when he already had something more versatile.
[Phantom Cloak Description (Ultimate Skill):
The user becomes "completely" invisible for up to 5 minutes. While in this state, they gain +10 Agility and can pass through solid objects; they also gain the ability to turn any object invisible.
MP Cost: 20 MP to activate, plus -5 MP per second activated.
Cooldown: 3 minutes.]
"Pfft. I wonder how they'd react if they found out I have a similar skill that allows me to become completely invisible," Nox chuckled, finding the entire auction amusing.
However, he was slightly surprised by the starting price of the item.
"Will all items here start from 1,000,000 gold coins?" Nox frowned. After buying treasures for his friends and sister, his wealth had dipped further down to 700,000. He was beginning to worry that, at this pace, he might not get any item from the VIP-only auction, which seemed to be the highlight of this event.
"Let's see how much the Ice Elemental Crystal fetches first," he mumbled to himself.
"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Wendy asked after hearing him mumble.
"Nothing, actually."
Meanwhile, the bidding showed no signs of slowing down.
"5,000,000!" a voice rang out from Box Three.
A few hesitant bids followed, but it was clear that the competition was thinning. Many VIPs recognized the deep pockets of Box Three and chose to save their coins for later items.
"5,500,000!
"6,000,000!" the voice from Box Three declared again, his tone final.
Anya glanced around the room, a knowing smile playing on her lips. "Six million gold coins going once… going twice…
…Sold to Box Three!"
The armor was soon wheeled to Box Three.
Inside Box Three, Lucas smiled as he accepted the armor. After examining it for a while, he placed it inside his inventory. Zarek, who was standing behind him, frowned slightly when he saw the calculative gleam in Lucas's eyes.
Lucas was not the kind to spend money uselessly.
'Is he finally planning on taking action by himself?'
After returning from the Cromwell Barony, where he was tasked with killing Nox, Zarek had reported to Lucas, the head of the Silver family, that Arthur was still alive and was still protecting his family from the shadows.
Since then, the Silver family had not made any advances on Nox, but…
'This is about to change. I need to act fast, or he will find out that I lied to him.'
After the conclusion of the first bid, Anya swiftly moved to the next item. A staff member wheeled another trolley to the stage. However, even before she could unveil it, Nox smiled because he could already sense what it was.