Imri looked at the sky, noticing it was getting dark while the pervasive mist hadn’t abated. The second phase of the auction had been going for almost a day straight and was still going strong.
The auction had shifted to a new type of item: nexus modification. The first item increased the effectiveness of the starting arrays, which included border range, resource regeneration, and experience gained. Each was increased by ten percent, the equivalent of buying the upgrade. Buying all three of those improvements would be less than a million credits after the city ranked up. Unfortunately, with the cost almost doubling after each purchase, depending on the tier and rank of the settlement, the price quickly got out of hand. However, with the bonuses compounding, getting them as high as possible was essential. That was why he had been so disgusted with the minimal upgrades the New Chicago settlements had received. When Celestia became a proper tier-three settlement, its bonuses would easily eclipse New Chicago.
This was why the item was going for far more than a million credits, though it was still selling for around the price of the basic armor and weapons from the beginning of the auction. Imri had agreed not to fund settlement-specific items individually; that’s what taxes were for. However, this once again fell into the value category. He quickly found Laura while the bid timer was refreshed.
Imri spoke in a rush, trying to explain his proposal before the timer ran out. “This is too good to pass up. I’m willing to buy it outright, and we can discuss a split of costs afterward.”
He didn’t even wait for an answer and placed a bid. Laura audibly sighed. “I can’t just unilaterally make decisions. There are budgets to keep, which must be discussed at the next council meeting. However, I won’t object to anything you feel benefits the empire.”
“If the pattern continues, more items related to city building should be coming up. If they sell for a similar price, I intend to buy all of them,” Imri stated.
His prediction was spot on. The following three items were slight variations on the item he had just purchased. The second item increased all current and future advanced arrays, such as manufacturing and fertility. While those two alone didn’t match the starting arrays in effectiveness, it would be different when there were three or four advanced arrays. The third combined the first two, though it sold for slightly less than the two put together. The final item allowed an additional array to be purchased for the now negligible five-hundred-thousand credits.
Of course, Imri purchased all four of the items for around twenty-five million credits. That brought his credit total to just under sixty million, a little over a third of his second-phase starting wealth. He was beginning to see why the system had limited Corrolth’s reward; he could have bought everything with impunity if he had more wealth. Still, his haul was starting to get ridiculous, and he had painted a target on his back to some of the unknown factions.
The next batch of items were similar but significantly different: they were empire-wide bonuses. Even with the bonuses being five percent, not ten, they sold for several times what the settlement-specific buffs had. Imri wanted them but couldn''t justify the exorbitant prices, with Celestia still being a single settlement empire.
The last couple of items hinted at a new improvement they hadn’t unlocked: empire arrays. One item allowed for another array, while another improved the benefits of all existing ones. Judging by the price they went for, it was a significant buff. Hopefully, it was just a matter of increasing the level of the Celestine Empire.
While the empire buffs were being auctioned, Christoph approached with a wide grin. “So, Imri, what will it take to convince you to purchase the Commercial Array?” Christoph asked.
Christoph had been arguing for this array when Celestia had first reached tier two. Its main benefit was decreasing the amount of credits extracted by the system while still gaining the same settlement experience. It also allowed access to the system store anywhere within the borders. It also allowed local shops to sell items via the system interface. All in all, it was a fantastic array, and Imri fully intended to purchase it. However, he didn’t need to tell Christoph that.
“If you pay for a percentage of the item, I’d be amenable to that suggestion,” Imri said with a shrug.
“Imri, I already loaned most of my credits to your friends…”
“What do you think, Laura? I was leaning towards sanitation,” Imri joked.
“It wouldn’t do for ‘The last bastion of humanity and the city among the heavens’ to be cluttered with trash,” she said, catching on. Imri cringed as she used the same line he had used during his speech, which had unfortunately stuck as an unofficial slogan of the rapidly expanding city.
Unfortunately, they laid it on a bit thick, and Christoph caught on. “Fine, I deserved that. Even if you’re joking, I’m unwilling to take any chances. I’ll pay a small percentage of the item. Two million credits is the best I can do, and I really am broke after that,” he muttered.
“I can’t make unilateral decisions, but I’ll inform the council of your proposal. For what it’s worth, you have my vote,” Laura said. Imri added his support, making the vote almost certain to pass.
Imri returned to his seat by Emelia, just in time to see the next item. He frowned when he saw it; they were back to armor. However, as he read the description, his frown went away.
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<td style="width: 98.9589%">Infiltrators Armor (2D): A cloth armor made from iron-silk and enhanced by a peak tier two tailor. This armor naturally blends into its surroundings, acting as camouflage in rural environments while appearing as regular clothing in urban settings. A subtle mind-altering property influences others not to perceive or scrutinize the wearer. Also, contains standard fitting and repair properties.</td>
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This was far and away more impactful than any of the previous armors. The immediate flurry of bids suggested he wasn’t the only one who thought this way. As the price increased, his frown returned; one of the active bidders was the Azala. Imri’s frown deepened as the price settled near fifteen million, with the Azala winning. While he certainly didn’t want them to have this, it was too expensive to hate-bid against them, and they won the armor.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
More unique armors followed. One was similar to infiltrators, only more diplomatic, allowing the wearer to appear more trustworthy or attractive, depending on the user’s goals. The next was made from phase-silk, allowing the wearer to become incorporeal for up to ten minutes, with a twenty-four-hour recharge. While it was cool, it was redundant with Imri’s spells. The next was a bit dull but nothing to scoff at. It provided an all-around resistance to all forms of magic, similar to Imri’s Locus of Mana.
Each unique armor sold for over ten million, with some nearing twenty million. Despite their profound effects, none was efficient enough for Imri to part with some of his funds. If the trend of progressively more powerful items continued, he could only purchase one or two more items. When he voiced that complaint aloud, he got hateful glares from the other auctiongoers.
The armors continued, progressively going to heavier and heavier variants. Leather had some unique effects. One allowed the wearer to turn into the monster the armor had been made from. Another could rapidly change its shape, perfect for someone who was a shifter. It was one of the cheaper armors, going to Vallo for just under ten million credits. The final piece of leather could absorb all light for ten minutes, plunging everything into absolute darkness. The heaviest armors were the least exciting but no less effective. They primarily focused either on more defense or less weight. A couple were focused on healing, with one improving the healing the wearer received while the other contained a potent regeneration property.
The weapons were a cavalcade of ways to kill someone: a sword that made those damaged by it go insane, a scythe with a more powerful version of the soul-stealing weapons the chixel used, an axe that siphoned the HP of its victim to its user. The Azala targeted a dagger with a persistent poison effect that was difficult to cleanse. Fortunately, they couldn’t win it, and Imri liked to think it was because they had overpaid to prevent him from getting Mental Resistance. It also made it clear they were attempting an assassination, but that wasn’t surprising.
Zhaire, who had grown fond of using glaives, gained one capable of rapidly extending or retracting its length instantly. There was a sword that made those it damaged lose an equal amount of mana and gave it to the user. Imri nearly purchased it but decided against it. While the effect was powerful, it wasn’t his body''s mana and would do nothing for over-channeling. Sylvi was interested in several bows: one that fired homing arrows and another that replicated arrows, firing multiple with each shot. Unfortunately, they quickly went out of her price range.
Imri could sense the auction was drawing to a close. The system wasn’t benevolent and wouldn’t keep auctioning items when it had already extracted the majority of the credits from the participants. However, it had saved the best items for last.
The items were considered artifacts, essentially magical trinkets that provided unique effects. The first was a magical dwelling that could shrink to the size of a snow globe and vice versa. The item also allowed the user to design the house to their desired configuration. The exact dimensions depended on the material used, but it was over a thousand square meters for a mansion made from high-grade enhanced materials. It also allowed the owner to store their possessions. It was unbelievably cool, and Imri couldn’t justify buying it, though he hoped to create his own version of it eventually.
The next artifact looked like a keycard. It allowed the owner to teleport to any location they had previously visited, with the cooldown dependent on how far they had traveled, plus a base cooldown of several hours. However, it measured distance traveled in light-years, making it clear this was an item designed for interplanetary travel. In a sense, it was a powerful teleportation spell that Imri could already mimic, but with one notable exception: it could teleport the user to the galaxy''s capital, a tier-three world. It was a way to escape the conflict on this planet. Imri was reminded of his class quest, which required him to travel to other celestial bodies. He could use an item like this to begin exploring the universe when things had settled down. He could also give Emelia this item, allowing her to escape with their unborn child if things got too dire. It would have been a good fallback plan, but he was certain Emelia would kill him for suggesting something like that. Ultimately, it was a moot point, as the artifact went for a staggering thirty-five million credits.
The next item was another Imri could mimic but to a lesser degree. It looked like a pocket watch, complete with ornate Roman numerals. When the artifact was activated, time would freeze for everything and everyone but the user. The effect lasted for a minute and had a one-week cooldown. On the surface, it seemed like an unstoppable ace, but Imri could already see a few counters. For one, the effect would be reduced by any form of magic resistance. Imri’s One with Time trait also gave him resistance to others’ time-altering effects. He wasn’t interested when the price soared over the thirty-million mark and eventually sold for a similar price to the teleportation keycard.
This was followed by a miniature figurine that looked like a statue of Buddha. Unlike the other artifacts, it wasn’t activated but was triggered automatically when specific criteria were met. Upon taking damage that would be lethal, a skill called Karmic Reversal was activated, preventing the damage and healing for that amount instead. The cooldown depended on the amount of damage reversed but with some base time added. The item was powerful, but the obvious ‘death by a thousand cuts’ easily countered it. It also didn’t provide any offense or mana, which were the two things Imri wanted more of. Ultimately, it sold for around thirty million credits.
The system then informed everyone that the next item would be the last. Imri waited with bated breath, hoping he hadn’t made a mistake holding onto the last of his credits. He eagerly read through the relevant information as it popped up.
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<td style="width: 98.9589%">Chalice of Rebirth (2D): A blessed chalice imbuing holy essence into any liquid drank from it. Upon consuming the liquid, the user is restored to full resources, and all negative status effects are removed. Cooldown depends on resources restored and status effects removed, plus a base time of a day. Has a partial effect on beings and statuses that are tier three or higher.</td>
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The apparent use was restoring someone from the brink of death, making it the ultimate healing resource. Unfortunately, that had the same problem as the Karmic Reversal: Health was less of a priority for Imri as long as his mana was topped off. However, Imri didn’t think of the chalice as a healing item. To him, it was an incredibly potent mana potion. Not only did it completely restore his mana, but it also utterly eliminated any built-up over-channel. Essentially, it doubled his mana.
Imri kept mashing the bid button every time it came up. No one was going to take this from him. Ultimately, it took over forty million credits, but the chalice was his. He reverently took it from the nexus. Upon a casual inspection, it appeared unassuming, lacking ornamentation. However, the simple material that seemed to be brass was actually an unknown metal bordering on tier three, making it practically indestructible. Several cloudy gemstones that appeared unpolished were potent holy essence stones. Even the unadorned metal contained incredible intricate inscriptions only visible upon closer inspection.
He was so absorbed in his new artifact that he almost missed the system notification. As he read it, he frowned. The next event would change everything.