Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

Chapter 137

[Translator – Peptobismol]

Chapter 137

The White Bear Caravan opened the fortress gates wide, welcoming guests inside.

“It’s more spacious than it looks from outside.”

“Wow! A fortress made out of stacked supply wagons. It looks pretty sturdy.”

Visitors from outside marveled at the interior of the fortress.

“This is something worth studying in Neo Seoul.”

“It would be useful to build shelters like this for long-distance expeditions.”

Neo Seoul was constantly attempting to expand its territory, seeking habitable areas to establish satellite cities. However, all their efforts ended in failure.

Specially designed vehicles broke down in the desert sands or were incapacitated by sandworms. Even when they managed to build a shelter, it was often destroyed by monster attacks.

Given these circumstances, the plan to establish satellite cities had been practically abandoned.

“Building a fortress with reinforced vehicles? That’s worth a try.”

The White Bear Caravan’s fortress inspired many Awakeneds.

Zeon understood their reactions.

Anyone stepping inside for the first time would be overwhelmed by the unexpectedly vast and impressive interior.

The atmosphere inside the fortress was indeed remarkable.

At that moment, a woman approached Zeon.

“So you’re here too.”

The woman who spoke to Zeon was Borin, the captain of the Blue Leaf Task Force.

“Long time no see.”

“Didn’t expect to see you here again.”

“Indeed.”

Zeon treated Borin nonchalantly, but Levin and Brielle were different. Levin clenched his fists, ready to attack, and Brielle displayed strong wariness.

Borin smiled bitterly, knowing why they reacted this way.

“Calm down, boy! And you too, little elf. You’re not my target today.”

“Expecting us to trust you after what you did? That’s quite a thief’s nerve.”

Borin couldn’t find a retort to Brielle’s sharp remark. No matter the circumstances, what she had done was inexcusable.

She looked at Zeon.

“Just trust that we’re not enemies today.”

“We’ll see.”

“Hmm…”

Borin stepped back.

At that moment, Alexandro, the leader of the White Bear Caravan, appeared.

“Thank you all for coming here. Now, we’ll reveal the real items our caravan has brought.”

His expression radiated confidence.

Meanwhile, the Awakeneds looked at him with a mix of greed and suspicion.

So far, the items released by the White Bear Caravan had thrown Neo Seoul into chaos. While these items were not extraordinary, they were rare and hard to find in Neo Seoul.

Observing their reactions, Alexandro continued.

“The items up for auction this time are all from dungeons. There are thirty items in total, and they are rare finds that have never been discovered elsewhere.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the Awakeneds buzzed with excitement.

“Dungeon items?”

“Are there really that many here?”

“They came prepared.”

Their reactions were understandable.

Dungeon items were hard to come by since not all dungeons contained items.

Even if a dungeon was successfully cleared, there was no guarantee of finding any items.

Therefore, dungeon items were extremely rare.

The items obtained from clearing a dungeon were typically kept by the clearing team or their affiliated district, making them rarely available on the market.

Ordinary Awakeneds seldom even got a glimpse of these rare items. Having thirty of them here was hard to believe.

Everyone knew that dungeon items were far superior to workshop-made items, but their rarity meant that most Awakeneds never had the chance to see them.

Given this, it was only natural for greed to appear on the faces of the Awakeneds.

The atmosphere in the hall heated up rapidly.

Sensing the shift, Brielle whispered to Zeon.

“Are dungeon items really that good?”

“There are plenty who’d risk their lives for one.”

“Really? It’s just an item.”

“That little item can mean the difference between life and death, or gaining power.”

“Human greed really knows no bounds.”

“It’s that greed that allowed humans to build a grand city in this desert. Without such desires, they wouldn’t have survived in this ruined world.”

“In that sense, it’s impressive. It’s something elves could never match.”

Brielle shook her head slightly.

The High Elf village she lived in was on a cliff. They had carved out caves to live in. Though Kurayan lived in trees, finding trees in the desertified Earth was harder than finding a well.

Thus, elves had also resorted to carving out cliffs to survive.

If elves had the same intense desires as humans, they might have built a city rivaling Neo Seoul. They had the skills and knowledge to do so.

But elves were stagnant and had ceased to progress long ago. Brielle felt a deep sense of regret about this.

Alexandro then spoke.

“Now, we will take those with invitations to the fourth floor where the items are. Only those with invitations may go up, and their companions must wait here.”

Only those with invitations, like Zeon, were allowed to go to the fourth floor.

Others had to stay behind.

From the West District, a man named Cha Jin-cheol came. From the South District, Pan Cheong-cheon arrived.

From the North District, Borin attended, and from the East District, Raven was present.

Raven’s eyes, hidden behind sunglasses, wavered. He had spotted Zeon.

‘Of all people, that monster had to come.’

Having already clashed with Zeon, he knew how powerful he was.

Only by fighting him did one realize how fierce and destructive he could be.

Alone, Raven knew he couldn’t defeat Zeon.

But he wasn’t alone.

He had other Awakeneds from the East District with him.

With them, he could take on Zeon.

Meanwhile, Pan Cheong-cheon was also keeping an eye on Zeon.

‘So that’s Zeon.’

The man was suspected to be in some way connected to Tajik’s death.

Though there was no clear evidence.

‘This should be interesting.’

A sly smile spread across Pan Cheong-cheon’s face.

Representatives from all districts had come to attend the auction, showing great interest in the items the White Bear Caravan was putting up for sale.

‘Let’s see what kind of items they’ve brought to make such a fuss.’

Alexandro led the group to the fourth floor.

“This is it.”

He confidently opened the door to the fourth-floor storage room.

A powerful aura emanated from the room the moment the door opened.

The faces of the Awakeneds, including Borin, stiffened.

“Whoa!”

“This?”

They were all high-ranking Awakeneds, accustomed to many items and sensitive to the aura and mana they emitted.

Their skin tingled, and their hearts raced, a testament to the high purity of mana emanating from these items.

[Translator – Peptobismol]

Items with this level of mana were rare.

Zeon stood with his arms crossed, observing the inside of the storage room.

Like the others, he felt the powerful aura of the items.

‘Interesting.’

Zeon had conquered numerous dungeons while traversing the desert, encountering many dungeon items along the way.

Therefore, he could tell.

The items in this storage room were incredibly rare.

Zeon’s gaze drifted to Damien, standing in a corner of the room.

‘That must be his work.’

None of the other attendees paid any attention to Damien, who had thoroughly concealed his presence.

But Zeon knew Damien’s true nature better than anyone.

‘Damien is a Navigator, specialized in finding paths. He would be excellent at locating dungeons. The items the White Bear Caravan obtained must have all come from dungeons Damien found.’

While not quite matching Zeon’s ability to manipulate desert sand at will, Damien had his own formidable skills.

Alexandro introduced the first item.

“This item was obtained after a challenging conquest of the Blue Forest Dungeon. It is none other than Nyalia’s Bow.”

“That’s…?”

Borin was the first to react when the first item was introduced.

She felt the refreshing mana aura emanating from Nyalia’s Bow.

‘It’s an elf item.’

As an elf, she was certain.

The items used by elves in Kurayan had a distinctive aura.

‘Nyalia is one of the elf heroes. A bow named after her must be acquired at all costs.’

Borin didn’t know why Nyalia’s Bow had become the dungeon core, but she had to obtain it as it was a weapon of an elf hero.

“Nyalia’s Bow?”

“It looks extraordinary.”

“Starting with an exceptional item.”

The murmuring of the other participants made Borin’s expression urgent.

If a bidding war started, securing Nyalia’s Bow might become difficult.

If that bow ended up in the hands of another faction, retrieving it would become impossible.

‘Shit! I need to secure it before competition arises.’

As Borin steeled herself, Alexandro announced the starting bid.

“As the first item, we’ll start at a modest price. The bidding starts at one ton of Mana Stones, 1,000 kg.”

Alexandro smiled as he announced the starting price.

The currency of Neo Seoul was Sol, but it was only used within Neo Seoul.

In other colonies, Neo Seoul’s currency held little value. Unless inter-colony trade became more frequent, there was no reason to use Neo Seoul’s currency when they only met once in several decades.

Hence, Mana Stones were used as a substitute currency.

In Neo Seoul and other colonies, Mana Stones were crucial.

One ton of Mana Stones could sustain most colonies for several months.

In Neo Seoul’s currency, that was a million Sol—a huge sum.

But Borin called out the enormous sum without hesitation.

“1,000 kg of Mana Stones.”

“Oh! We have a bid. Any other takers?”

“1,500 kg.”

Cha Jin-cheol from the West District entered the bidding.

And so it began.

“1,700 kg.”

“I’ll go with 1,800 kg.”

Bidders from the East and South Districts joined in, heating up the atmosphere.

It was a troubling situation for Borin but understandable for the others.

Though they couldn’t gauge the power of Nyalia’s Bow without touching it, its aura alone suggested it was extraordinary.

If such an item fell into another district’s hands, their power would increase significantly, potentially disrupting the balance of power.

“2,200 kg.”

“2,400 kg.”

The bids kept rising with no end in sight.

It was time to make a decisive move.

Borin shouted.

“4,000 kg!”

A price almost double the previous bid made the other bidders hesitate.

“Tsk! We can’t spend so much from the start when we don’t know what other good items might come up.”

“Just draining the North District’s funds is enough. We’ll aim for other items.”

Obviously, each district had limited resources of Mana Stones. Spending too much on an unverified item early on meant they might not have enough for truly essential items later.

No other bids came in, and Nyalia’s Bow went to Borin.

But the real auction had just begun.

“The next item is…”

[Translator – Peptobismol]