Once he had secured the Underworld Forge, the coldness and calculative light in Zatiel eyes disappeared and he returned to normal.
Only then the Neo-Demon noticed the way the others were looking at him. It was a combination of confusion and concern.
"Sorry about that, it is an old habit I have. When things truly important happens around me I turn to my most primal behavior." Zatiel was smiling and his expression was serene.
"Can you tell us what is so special about the forge?" Zitra eyes were burning with curiosity.
When Heinz, Totto, and Sophia hear the Magus question they all focus on Zatiel, and their expressions were the same that the woman.
Unfortunately for them, Zatiel shakes his head immediately.
"Sometimes only knowing something could bring you danger. I would not speak about the functions or history of the forge even to my Will." Zatiel expression was firm and it was clear he will not change his mind.
When they heard this, they feel disappointed about not be able to satisfy their curiosity but that was it. They have an idea about the level of trust that Zatiel has on Ezequiel and the fact he would not tell him made clear that the secrecy was to ensure safety.
"When I can activate it, I will invite you to see its wonders." Zatiel eyes shined with excitement as he thought about the Underworld Forge.
"You are not able to use it yet?" Totto was surprised. By how urgently Zatiel wanted the forge he though he will be using it soon.
"Hahahaha, of course not. To activate the forge, even the energy of a Rank 6 life form will not be enough." Zatiel gives a meaningful look at the others and then he proceeds to remain silent. This was the most they will get about the forge from him.
But just this fact was more than enough to shock everyone. A Rank 6 life form has about the same amount of energy as the sun of a Low World and yet they could not power up the forge.
The auction continues regardless of the state of the group and dozen of articles were displayed.
The items that the trio put in the auction were also revealed and most of them were sold at relatively high prices increasing their wealth and allowing them to buy some items.
The things they bought next were not very impressive and cost them just a couple of hundreds of million magic crystal.
Heinz bought a sword sheath that could repair any damage done to his sword and also some pills that could help to improve his speed of training.
Zitra and Totto were able to find some items that could help them heal injuries on their bodies and consciousness.
It was when the first day of the auction was reaching its end that a book with a blue cover appeared on the platform.
The book looks not different than the ones you could find in an old library and the only thing that calls the attention was the material which was used to make the pages.
"This is the 'Book of rune crafting'. It was written with an ancient type of runes and altered with an energy capable of affecting the mind. To have access to the knowledge contained in it, you will need to have physical contact with the book at all times, and once broken you will forget it. Any attempt to copy the information in the book will result in the self-destruction of this one."
Minser description draws the attention of a lot of people. It was clear now that the book was special and someone went to great lengths to safeguard the information in it.
"This book contains all the information you will need to know to embark on the path of a runemaster from the most basic procedures to the most complicated ones. There is a guide that can allow anyone regardless of their talent to reach Rank 3 Runemaster as long as their energy pools are high enough." Minser stops there and he focuses on the reaction of the crowd.
Desire could be seen in every Rank 3 Magi in the auditorium and also in some Rank 4.
A Rank 3 Runemaster is useful for any organization but the runes they could make are useless to the high ranking individuals that control them so the book only draws a little of their attention.
But everything changed when Minser says his next words.
"There are several paths described in the book that can provide help for a talented person to advance from Rank 3 Runemaster to Origin Runemaster with a chance of success of 20%."
It was like a bomb landed in some people and they could not believe that a mere book could be so amazing.
Origin Runemasters have a very high status in any organization and they could compare to Rank 5 life forms. To become one of it you need to be a Rank 4 life form but that did not diminish the desire in the eyes of the Rank 3 and Rank 2 Magi.
This feeling was especially powerful in all those powerhouses that have trained as runemasters yet were not able to give the final step despite the increase in their battle power.
"Minser can you tell us how accurate the information about the paths to Origin Runemaster is?. Also is the person who wrote the book famous or someone with great achievements." The voice was deep and carried a great sense of dignity. There was also respect in it that was targeting the old man.
Minser was waiting for that question and he smiles as he gave the most shocking piece of information yet.
"We have examined the book for several days and its information is flawless, but I cannot reveal anything about its creator. What I can tell is that one of our Soul Forging existences was able to use one path of the book to finally become an Origin Runemaster after being stuck at the Peak Rank 3 Runemaster for more than twenty years. I must clarify that the person was a genius runemaster and his achievements in the profession were not small as he grew up."
Facts speak louder than words and with empirical evidence that the paths in the book were indeed beneficial its value grew immensely. No one thought that Minser was lying since the reputation of the auction house is impeccable.
As for the fact that the person who used the book was talented. All of them thought they were special and that their talent could not be inferior to that individual.
"The initial price for the 'Book of rune crafting' is 50 million magic crystal."
The price started in a number that eve some Rank 3 Magi could pay, but in an instant it raises ten times, reaching 500 million.
When Zatiel saw this, he just relaxes on his chair and enjoys the show. The more the number grows the happier his smile became.
It did not take to long for the price to reach over a billion but it did not stop there and it continues to raise.
In the end, the book was sold for 5.3 billion magic crystal, a very high number and Zatiel was very please with it.
The first day of the auction continues for an hour or so and once it ended, the group went back to the residence to rest and prepare for the next day.
.....
In the Beta Heavenly World, the battle between the Magi invader force and the Havenly race had reached a standstill since neither side was powerful enough to launch a decisive assault against the other.
The Heavenly race has a higher number of Soul Forging existences and an individual power greater than most Magi due to their bloodline, while the Magi had the Ten Tower Formation and the force field that made any incursion suicidal unless their opponent had a number twenty times greater than their own
Fights still occurred but they were mostly among individuals and not between the two armies of both sides.
An interesting event started to happen a couple of years after the force field of the Ten Tower Formation was established.
The natives of this world, the ones who had yet to go through the Archon transformation, started to escape into the domain of the Magi.
Although they did not know how this new force that had reached their world will behave with them, it could not be worse than the race who tortures them for fun and kill their loved ones in front of their eyes when they make the most insignificant mistake.
Close to the periphery of the force field was a young woman running with a baby in her arms. She was malnourished and all sorts of old and new scars were present in her body.
The most striking thing was the fact that one of her eyes was crushed to a pulp and constantly bleeding. Despite the immense pain that this should be provoking the woman did not utter a single scream and just hugged the baby as she runs with all the strength she could summon.
Not too far away from her were three individuals of the Heavenly race and they have just butchered a middle-aged couple who had a great resemblance to the woman.
There was a mocking smile in the faces of the people of the Heavenly race as they saw the futile attempt of the woman to reach the force field before they could catcher her.
What no one of them notices was the arcs of red lightning that were moving in the sky and was approaching their location.
