"Brother, do you have any use for these very expensive knives," Andrei asked, making everyone, including his guardians, look forward to the answer, as they knew him well enough to know he wouldn't be wasting such vast funds on something useless.
Alex's certainty about the knives being real only grew after Hadraniel explained how the set of knives came from the dwarven king, and what made them special was their ability to stay undamaged even in extremist situations.
The dwarven king had put all his efforts into refining the two daggers into materials, yet he failed to even put a permanent scratch on the knives, confirming that they were of mythical quality and not only were made of the finest of material but also had the very powerful blessing of the Law.
Alex was also certain that the two sets of knives would react to each other and unlock some of their true potential, as the earliest appearance of the player named Doom, who wielded them in his previous life, was seen wielding the knives of life and destruction much before he acquired the space phantoms.
While he could be wrong, and even the space phantoms that he had could not be true knives, that didn't deter him from going all out to acquire the set of knives.
So when the bidding began from 20 million and swiftly rose to fifty, and finally started to slow down, Alex made a bet of 60 million to make his interest clear, and even though a giant race elder kept betting, he finally dropped when the price reached 81 million coins.
"Let's find out if they live up to my expectations, or I'll end up with another pricey set of knives just gathering dust in my inventory," Alex replied, a smile spreading across his face as excitement surged within him.
Alex manipulated his mana, using it to keep the two knives afloat before he took out a set of plain pitch, dark knives, tossed them into the air, making them stay inches apart from the other set, and waited in silence with batted breath for good news.
As mere moments had just passed, Alex felt his mana surrounding the knives get devoured, but they kept floating in the air, with their very aura changing as the knives began to devour the surrounding mana like hungry beasts.
In a mere moment, two streams of crimson red mana cloaked the four knives, creating a cocoon around them, feeding them all they could devourer and preventing them from creating a big phenomenon in a place filled with various powerful figures and attracting unwanted trouble.
'Domain Ruler, it appears to me you have found yourself a great treasure,' Lady Margaret's serene voice sounded in his head.
'I sure do,' Alex thought, a wide smile stretching across his face, as his mind got filled with thoughts of how he could use them in battle and how he could locate the last set of knives.
After the fourth Rank promotion, Alex had the option to wield dual weapons, yet he refrained from doing so for the time being because he was getting comfortable with his improved strength.
Alex had dropped the idea of wielding a magic staff with his sword long before even his Rank promotion, simply because close combat was the best option with his strength, and as he had two elemental manipulations, not using a magic staff affected him a little.
But now, as he had acquired the set of throwing knives, Alex made up his mind to wield them with his legacy weapon, and he knew he would not regret this decision knowing the history of the knives.
The group kept watching the cocoon of dense mana in anticipation, which finally dissipated after three minutes, leaving behind two sets of knives, one pair being plain and straight in shape, pitch black like the darkest of the void.
The other group had curved blades with the handle curved in the other direction on the very edge like an elven larp, and the knives were Ebony Crimson in color with a similar shade of wood-like material covering their handles.
The blades were enveloped in a web of cracks pulsating with faint energy, giving the impression that even the slightest impact could cause both knives to crumble.'Let's see how much different one missing set makes to these beauties,' Alex thought as he utilized appraisal on the knives.
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Name: Six Knives of Doom (2/3)
Weapon Type: Throwing knives
Quality: Legendary (???)
Grade: Unranked [Growth Type]
Bound: None
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•①-Effect: Increase Agility by 30% and Strength by 10%
⦿- Increase Space and Destruction Element Affinity by 10%.
•②-Effect: Increase critical hit chance by 20%
⦿- Increase critical hit damage by 30%lights
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[Skills]
•➊-Teleport: Instantly teleports the user to the location of the second knife within fifty meters with the mana cost (???) per teleport with a three-second cooldown.
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•➋-Space Slash: Allows the user to execute a potent slash with enhanced range and precision, cutting through space itself. (Mana Cost: ???) (Cooldown: None)
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•➌-Decay Surge: The user shrouds each throwing knife in a destructive aura fueled by their mana. Upon hitting a target, the knives leave behind a residue that accelerates decay, rapidly breaking down the molecular structure of the affected target. (Mana Cost: ???) (Cooldown: None)
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•➍- Impact Reservoir: Allows the user to create a brief, three-meter field around each knife for seven seconds. Damage dealt to the knives during this time is stored up to a limit of (100K) points. The stored energy can be released all at once for a powerful burst of concentrated destructive force. (Mana Cost: ???) (Cooldown: None)
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Description: The three sets of throwing knives created by the ??? Doom ???, a mythical figure in the history of the Ancient world.
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'I can tell that few skills are missing, but that is to be expected,' Alex believed as he examined the skills in detail, thrilled with what the knives had to offer.
"Brother, these are some good knives even though you are missing a pair," Andrei said; after, like everyone else, he used appraisal on the knives.
"Good, they are broken knives if I have ever seen one, as besides being so practical and strong, the skills have zero cooldowns,"
"I do not doubt that they are one of the finest items that I have ever seen, and that is when a third of them are missing, making them incomplete," Venedikt said, his shock visible in his voice.
Saahira could only nod her head in approval as she gazed at Alex in amazement, astonished by his ability to acquire things that seemed so impossible and challenge the boundaries of common sense.
Alex noticed Saahira looking at him, seemingly lost in thoughts, so he just smiled at her, making her swiftly drop her head, a slight blush surfacing her face.
Alex didn't notice the shift as he quickly faced the two sets of daggers, joy satisfying his heart, and without much delay, he bound the two daggers to himself, wanting to leave this place and test them in battle.
The group engaged in small talk as the auction advanced, and after half an hour, Hadraniel announced that only the last oddity remained. Not having seen the dragon girl yet, Alex focused his attention, suspecting it was likely her.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, This is the last oddity of this year's continental auction, so don't be shy and let us see a great bidding war," Hadraniel stated as a small girl appeared by his side.
The girl was young, maybe 10 or 11 in age and 3.7 ft tall, with a spotless face with beauty riveled only by the best of faces Alex had laid his eyes on, with her hair and eyes being aqua blue with a crimson sheen to them.
The little girl had draconic wings covered in oceanic blue scales folded behind her back, with small horns protruding from her head.
Though her clothes were plain, and she appeared no older than a child, an air of nobility enveloped her, and clear wisdom emanated from her eyes, surpassing her youthful years.
"As all of you could have checked, she is no ordinary girl, as even with my best attempt, I can't see her secrets, but that alone will not make her so special to be placed as the last oddity in this grand auction," Hadraniel said, as a white saber appeared in his hand.
The saber in his hand started to pulse with power, the deep blue aura of master grade saber intent coiling the saber like a blanket, making the surrounding space hazy, and an instant later, he swung it aimed at the neck of the girl.
Alex's shoulder tensed as he saw the scene, and the same was the reaction of many others watching, yet to the astonishment of everyone, the saber stopped millimeters away from the little girl's neck, which was followed by a resonating sound that echoed through the stadium.
It was an attack far surpassing the realm of an Elementalist, yet it was stopped inches away from the neck like an invisible barrier was protecting the girl, who, undisturbed by the attack, curiously scanned every Nimbus chamber like her blue eyes can see through the privacy barrier.