The Path of Ascension Chapter 484

Chapter 484

Rather than turning to the projections they’d been watching for the previous month, the group looked the other way as the room rearranged itself. The bar sank into the floor before reappearing in a smaller configuration by the door, while the wall bubbled and turned transparent as a balcony formed, giving them a commanding view of the central auction.

Some of their neighbors had retracted the privacy bubble, allowing everyone to know their exalted identities as they lounged, but they were far from alone in keeping their identities concealed. No one able to buy one of the highest level rooms was simple, and at the highest Tiers, the web of interests were as complex as they were numerous, leading to those who preferred to stay anonymous. Additionally, the bottom floor of the auction hall was packed with onlookers acting as more of a live audience than real contenders at the auction, giving the auctioneer people to play off of.

However, as the lights dimmed to signal the start, said auctioneer was nowhere to be seen. Matt and everyone else were left confused until the room nearly reached true darkness. At the decisive moment before all light had vanished from the room, a single mote of light blossomed to life, but it was far from alone as the room lit up in a grand spectacle with particles of light appearing like converging fireflies.

Particle by particle, the auctioneer formed from the feet up.

More interesting than the visual spectacle was the fact Matt couldn’t feel the reformation with any of his other senses. Running through several more obscure senses, the only one that noticed a disturbance of any kind was his Domain. Through its connection with gravity, he was able to identify the increase of mass, but trying to sense that small fluctuation was like trying to peer through a swamp.

Smiling, the auctioneer bent into a bow, using the movement to expertly transfer the Tier 32 half mask to a pedestal, revealing her identity as Meadow Case, one of the more famous Tier 35 auctioneers.

Rising, she wasted no time. “I hope everyone will forgive my dramatics, but sometimes seeing is more useful than any amount of descriptions. Especially ones that are hard to believe. I don’t want to tease anyone further, so let us get started. A strange realm reward, the mask’s first and most obvious function allows the wearer to move through light as a carrier with unparalleled stealth. The second is to dissipate one’s body into the surrounding light, with the third reforming the body. That takes a moment, as everyone saw. But even in a room full of darkness, it’s not so easy to find someone who is so dispersed, let alone somewhere light is abundant and the wearer can move more freely. Stocks in night lights are going to plummet.”

Both Zack and Allie reacted in near unison, though their methods were far different. The former leaned forward slightly to get a better view, while the latter shoved her face to the privacy bubble, trying to get that little bit closer, but they were far from alone in their excitement. The crowd below the stage needed no prompting to gasp in awe at Meadow’s words causing her to smile.

Grasping the rising excitement, Meadow poured accelerant on the fire with a wink, “Did I forget to mention it’s not any old item, this mask has close to the equivalent of a floor seven Mundane Life effect, which allows it to Tier up with only essence, all while not being a true growth item? Sorry about that.”

As the crowd’s murmurs burst into chatter, Meadow finished with a shout, “As the first item of the evening, the opening bid starts at a measly one Tier 40 mana stone!”

The moment the bidding opened the price immediately updated to five hundred Tier 45 mana stones, where things finally slowed to a speed they could all comprehend. Not that the price stopped rising, far from it. It only took a few seconds for the price to tip over into the Tier 46 mana stone zone, where things truly slowed down.

With Tier 46 rifts already being delved so infrequently as to be notable events, and higher Tier rifts being strategic resources, the physical stones were in short supply. That meant everyone was all but guaranteed to need to eat the brutal exchange rates at those Tiers to make up the difference.

While Matt and Liz were watching the show, Zack sighed, seeing Allie refuse to sit back down, and gave into the inevitable, moving next to her to discuss their strategy.

Feeling playful, Matt stood up with Aster as she nosed in on the ‘private conversation’ while Liz continued to chat with Annie about the mask itself.

As happy as Allie was to have Aster there, she took one look at Matt and tried to shove him away. Though, her efforts were poorly placed thanks to her still having her face to the privacy bubble.

“Can we talk about how much we are willing to spend?”

Allie sighed and poked harder at Matt, still refusing to pull her face away. “Not until he sits back down. If we have to battle his bank account, we’ll never win.”

Rolling his eyes, Matt snooted right back, “Give me a little credit. I only want to look at it. Study it a tiny bit. Like how the tiny amount of cookies you took that I was baking was all but one of them.”

Turning up their theatrics, Allie gave everyone else a show Matt was happy to co-star in. Their play ended when the countdown reached the single digits and she and Zack stepped in for the first time at seventeen Tier 46 mana stones.

“Since you won’t weigh in, I set our limit at thirty mana stones. I don’t think it’s worth more than that.”

Rather than responding to her partner, Allie shared a look with both Aster and Matt, trying to temp them into a bet. Neither bit, and silently pretended not to see, to her annoyance.

Almost immediately their bid was replaced with a higher one, though for the first time it was someone from a top level room who called out verbally.

“Nineteen.”

A renowned Tier 46 armor crafting specialist, Brenshi Alaba had more than enough money to battle it out with most independent high Tiers in the Empire.

Allie didn’t flinch at the provocation, never taking her eyes off the half mask, nor did she bid again. Instead she waited until a non hereditary duke from Rusty’s kingdom took the bait and replied with his own bid, willing to enter the battle for publicity.

Whether or not they truly wanted the item would only be revealed as the price rose.

“Twenty Tier 46 mana stones.”

No sooner had the words had left the man’s mouth that Allie raised the bid, not once but five times.

Seeing his bid replaced before the countdown even had a chance to start its downward trend, the duke’s teeth clicked as he tried to raise the bid to reclaim his spot.

Instead all he’d done was increment the price by one, then two more Tier 46 mana stones.

“Bah. It’s not worth that much.” Pausing, the Duke waited a moment only relaxing upon seeing the timer start ticking down.

His words either intentionally or unintentionally caused no one else to bid but upon seeing the timer reach five seconds, Meadow didn’t urge previous bidders or try to get anyone extra to bid recklessly. It wasn’t needed for items of such value, not that she tried to contain her smile considering her cut of every item sold.

With four seconds left, the bid once more incremented to twenty eight Tier 46 mana stones, causing Allie to groan audibly.

“Fuck me sideways, I’m not giving up, but if it gets any higher, I’m going to have to start doing interviews. I don’t want to do interviews. Fuck!”

Seeing the price jump all the way to twenty eight, she reached out and grabbed Aster and Matt, who happened to be the two closest people starting to pant.

Sadly, everyone bidding at this juncture wanted their identities hidden, and as such were bidding digitally. With no outlets, they could only wait with bated breath as a frowning Zack pushed the bid to thirty one mana stones, retaking the top position.

Matt couldn’t help clutching back at both Allie and Zack as his second hand excitement became too great to contain as the bid clock crept downward.

At three seconds they all held their breath.

At two seconds they collectively stilled.

At one second —

The countdown reset back to five seconds as the bid jumped up to thirty two Tier 46 mana stones.

“Ahhh! One more! One more, Zack.”

“Allie, we agree—”

“And you jumped over that first. Just one more. I refuse to believe they will bid again. One more.”

Contrary to Matt’s expectations, Zack didn’t argue, instead sending in one final bid, pushing the price to thirty three Tier 46 mana stones.

“No more after this.”

Clutching her heart, Allie stumbled away from the balcony and flopped onto the couch, ignoring everyone who happened to already be using it.

Conor looked mildly panicked to have an Ascender suddenly in his lap, but Cameron, having interacted with the teleporter far more thanks to Aster, didn’t hesitate to shove Allie onto the floor.

“Oh, good idea, it’s harder to see from down here. Huh, hey Aster I found a fur ball down here. Do you want me to gra— brrr!”

Matt hardly had the bandwidth to watch her antics as the counter finally reached three.

At two, he felt the world sharpen as he involuntarily let his perception slip.

Unwilling to let it take even longer, he forced it back down as the clock ticked down to one.

In a triangle of support with Aster and Zack, they watched as the timer finally reached zero.

Not quite believing it, Matt checked the price and bidder ID, confirming Zack really had won, before joining in the outpouring of sound as the room collectively celebrated the win. Drinks were liberally poured among the non-bidders as small complementary snacks were delivered as the tension that had filled the room dissipated.

A moment later Allie popped out from between everyone’s feet, returning to the bubble where she cackled in glee seeing the mask being brought backstage. Upon confirmation they had won, she started flipping around the room in a display of acrobatics and bodily control.

“We got it! Woooo. I was so worried, I can’t lie. I know I hid it well, but oh man. At the end there you should have seen me! I— Hey!”

Ignoring the teleporter as she was tackled by Aster in revenge for her earlier comment about furballs, Matt watched Zack, who was so excited he started to fidget.

While the duo would need to divert some of their essence to keep the mask Tiered up, it shouldn’t impact their advancement. Depending on their needs, Zack could use it defensively to reposition without Allie’s help, or she could use it to bypass traditional anti-teleportation methods, which were unlikely to have an anti-light function in addition to everything else.

Thirty three Tier 46 mana stones was no small price, even for established ducal families, so the first item breaking that threshold, and by such an amount, had caused a small uproar in the crowd. Seeing that Meadow didn’t rush the next big item, instead letting the crowd calm down by bringing out a selection of items made by some of the best Tier 46 crafters the Empire had.

Normally the pinnacle of any auction, on the final day of Capital’s auction they were a well timed palate cleanser. The highest only sold for two hundred and eighty Tier 45 mana stones, which would have caused its own commotion at a normal auction, thanks to the thirty percent mark up. For those without the connections to contact the highest Tier craftsman, auctions were one of the few times to get their hands on such goods.

As Ascenders who rarely struggled to find commissions, and collectively too low of a Tier to need such items, they ignored the auction in favor of their side conversation.

A dozen items later, a much smaller item signaled something different.

“Friends, do note this next item is very sensitive to outside energies, so while spiritual scans are welcome, please don’t forcefully probe deeper.”

A small pillow covered in a spiritual dampening cloth, the newest item was delivered to Meadow carefully. She showed the same amount of attention as she exposed a clear pill vial before covering it again. “This is a bottle of eight Tier 41 Infinite Life Pellets. Crushing one and sprinkling it around the roots of any plant that hasn’t fully died can reinvigorate it into a peak state. And when I say ‘any plant’, I do mean it. These pellets can work on both pseudo-Natural Treasures and Natural Treasures alike, allowing single use or withering treasures a second chance at life. How many priceless but half dead seeds and plants does everyone have tucked away in their vaults waiting for a second life? That is why we are starting the bidding for the first pill at fifty Tier 45 mana stones.”

Seeing Aster’s interest, Matt expected they would have a battle on their hands, but he was pleasantly surprised when everyone else dropped out of the bidding at only five hundred and fifty Tier 45 mana stones, letting them pick up a bit of a bargain. Infinite Life Pellets weren’t the rarest of such treasures, but their Tier was exceptional, which would allow them to stretch the single pill much further.

Listening to Liz explain, they’d probably be turning it into a fertilizing liquid, but they were in no rush to use the pill, not having an immediate need.

A few items later, they got a small surprise as their viewing bubble went opaque at the edges. At the same time they were informed their room was blocked from bidding on the following items.

Seeing three ornate boxes be carried out one by one in dramatic fashion, their room quieted down.

“What orbs are getting sold today?”

Before any of them could answer Kyle, Meadow did it for them, “I hope everyone is ready for a battle. As advertised, the second batch of elemental upgrade orbs are up for sale. I’m sure everyone has already seen the videos of Tulon’s [Fire Bolt] post-upgrade. Actually, why don’t we show it to everyone just in case someone hasn’t seen it.”

While Matt hadn’t seen the new recording, he had a good idea of what to expect, having seen the initial tests.

A projection behind Meadow came to life. Not wasting any time, it showed Tulon Fase as he cast [Fire Bolt], unleashing a small arrow of flame as a baseline. The Tier 14 skill hadn’t been important enough to earn an upgrade orb, but as the skill of a Tier 44, it was still decently modified through infrequent use, as seen in the before footage.

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From that single initial impression, Matt assumed it was a backup spell or something of the like. Many high Tiers had dozens of spells like it, used when they were advancing at lower Tiers, but too useful to discard once they were outclassed.

Watching further, he reckoned Tulon had mainly used the [Fire Bolt] as something of a surprise attack, but he changed that opinion when Matt saw it impact a shield. Most energy based spells struggled against shielding, and while that was nothing new, Tulon’s [Fire Bolt] had been honed into a sharper, more penetrating point, letting it break through an already stressed shield.

It wasn’t a conventional choice, but Matt was pretty sure that was why Tulon, a fire Mage, had bought the Metal elemental skill upgrade orb in the first place. Seeing the effect post-upgrade orb, his suspicion was confirmed.

The new projectile was no longer the typical red and orange fist sized dart of flame. Post-upgrade, it was much darker, more reminiscent of cooling metal, with thin fissures of red peaking through its slag.

Where the normal [Fire Bolt] was a purely energy-based projectile with all the advantages and limitations associated with its incorporeality, post-upgrade with the Metal elemental orb it had become material, almost weighty. And most importantly for everyone watching, powerful.

The only downside Matt could identify was that the speed of the spell hadn’t increased as much as was expected with a normal upgraded [Fire Bolt], nor had it gained one of the other variant upgrades. That put it in line with their tests. Any thoughts of disappointment the crowd might have had were swept away when the projectile struck the training dummy.