"Here are the materials you requested," Robert said as he handed Wallace a ring containing the materials he had asked for three days ago. He sensed them and nodded his head, satisfied. "How much is everything?" he asked.
"Approximately one million dollars," the latter replied. Wallace's expression did not change much as he handed his account card to Robert, who then withdrew the one million dollars, leaving just fifty thousand dollars. Within a minute, Wallace had gone from being a multimillion-dollar tycoon to an average person, but he didn't think much about it. Although the money was enough for a normal human to spend their whole life, for a mage, it was simply too small for their cultivation materials and the likes. Although he don't have to spend money at the beginning, he would only notice the importance of money as time went on.
Robert also handed him a light blue badge, which was a badge that the association president himself used. Wallace simply kept the badge with him, and they both walked to the fourth floor, where the auction would be taking place. The fourth floor was similar to the first floor but had seats, tables, and upper cabins where influential people sat. It had a stage and projectors in various parts of the room, and each cabin had its own projector. After Wallace settled down, the association president arrived on the stage and took the microphone.
"Welcome to this auction, everyone," he started.
"I'm delighted to tell you that there is a massive breakthrough in the field of blacksmithing, and it is a revolutionary one." The man said.
"A talented blacksmith who will lead the world of blacksmithing into a new era has appeared, and I'm glad to tell you that you will be one of the first people to witness his marvelous product."
There were over two hundred people in the hall, with almost sixteen high-ranking mages. These people were skeptical when they heard what the president was saying. They felt that he was exaggerating things.
"I know that most of you are doubting me, and seeing is believing," he said.
"This is a gun made from silvery iron," he said. The people frowned when they heard that; silvery iron was known for its brittleness. Not only was its attack power weak, but it would also be damaged after being used for some time, so it could only be used as a supplement for armor. It was the cheapest and most useless metal on the market.
Robert took the gun and shot. As expected, not only was its damage output low, but it was also reducing each time it fired, showing that it was degrading. The metal it was firing at was not even taking much damage.
"You all know that silvery iron is a useless metal, but I'm glad to tell you that no metal is useless. It's just that the ultimate forging method has not been discovered yet," the man said as he brought out another gun made from silvery iron. The normal people in the hall recognized it as a gun made from silvery iron, while the high-ranking mages in the room squinted their eyes, sensing mana fluctuations from the gun. Metals don't have mana concentration because they don't have channels for mana to pass through.
"All of you probably think that metals can't absorb mana, but it's a big lie. We've not just discovered the right forging method for it," the man said.
"This gun is created using the Life Refinement Method, a new refinement method." The first difference between it and a normal metal weapon is that it has immense attack power, he said as he pulled the trigger. Before the audience could see anything,
"Boom!" The first metal plate was torn apart, and the metal penetrated two more metals before stopping. The people in the hall, including the mages, all squinted their eyes, but their reaction when the second mode was activated would be even more intense.
"The second thing is it has a second mode of attack," Robert said, and a terrifying conjecture appeared in their minds.
"Is it..." They didn't even finish thinking before the weapon shone. The mages' eyes widened because they could feel the transfer of Robert's fire elemental mana into the gun. Most of them lost their composure and stood up from their seats.
"Boom!" A beam of red light tore through ten plates before stopping, and not only that, the metal plates turned dark.
"In the hands of a mage, this is a super weapon, and in the hands of normal people, its effectiveness is not less because it has a space where it can store mana and use it to discharge the second mode of attack, but it can only be used for a limited time before it needs to be recharged again," Robert explained and stopped.
"Is this still silvery iron?" Everyone thought, because this metal had transcended every form of metal on the market and was simply divine in everyone's eyes. A weapon that can absorb and store mana.
"The third advantage is its durability. It can be used continuously. I'm happy to tell you that even a rifle made from the rare titanium metal cannot compare to this normal gun in terms of firepower and, most importantly, durability. It can work ten times as long as a titanium rifle," Robert said. The people couldn't help but gasp; titanium was the beast of attacking metals and had the strongest durability, and a rifle was a level higher than the pistol in Robert's hand, and also bigger, but this normal gun had far higher firepower and durability than titanium - it was simply a divine metal. Imagine a force armed with this; their imagination ran wild.
"The fourth advantage is..."
"Crap, after all this cheat-like ability, it still has a fourth ability," they thought, and they were all giving a standing ovation for the metal by now.
"Because of the unique method used, it has a self-recovery ability; if left for some time, it will be able to recover, so it takes a lot of uses and time for it to permanently degrade," Robert dropped the final bombshell.
The people's eyes widened in amazement, a metal equipped with a recovery ability, surpassing even the titanium rifle. The recovery ability far outstripped the first three abilities, meaning it could be used for a long time. They all lost their composure, and they would have jumped on the blacksmith if not for the screen blocking them. They had to get their hands on this metal.
"The name of the metal is now Divine Silvery Iron," Robert said.
"There are two sides to this auction tonight." He continued,
"The first is the selling of these metals," as two carts with five silvery glittering metals each were pushed to the stage.
"I can only tell you that these metals are limited, and if they finish, you'll have to settle for the second-grade metal, which can improve firepower by twice and has durability rivaling a titanium rifle."
The tycoons and mages didn't even listen; the second-grade metal, which would have been desirable on a normal day, paled in comparison to the Divine Silvery Iron. They didn't care about the second batch, which seemed inferior compared to this.
"The starting price is a hundred thousand dollars for each," Robert said. The price was outrageous, considering silvery iron typically cost ten dollars on the market, and a normally refined one cost a hundred dollars. This price was a thousand times the normal price, but no one cared. They just wanted to get their hands on this metal, then think about others later, after they had acquired as much metal as possible. They imagined arming a force with this weapon or a mage wielding it. Mages rarely used firearms, as their destructive power was usually on par or greater, but with this weapon, far stronger than an ordinary one and able to fully utilize metal, they had to get the metal.
The moment Robert finished calling the price, the room fell silent. It wasn't because the price was too expensive, but rather because no one knew how to start bidding. Suddenly, a voice called out from one of the thirty cabins,
"One hundred and fifty thousand dollars!" Another voice quickly followed,
"Two hundred thousand!" Then, another voice chimed in,
"Three hundred thousand!"
The first bid sparked a chain reaction, and the price rapidly skyrocketed. It rose to a million dollars in under three minutes before finally slowing down. The first metal was sold for a staggering one million and fifty thousand dollars. The second metal fetched an even higher price of two million dollars. The third metal sold for one million nine hundred thousand dollars, while the fourth metal went for two million one hundred thousand dollars.
The bidding frenzy continued, with the fifth to eighth metals selling for a uniform price of one million five hundred thousand dollars each. The ninth and tenth metals also sold for five million dollars each, as the auction reached its climax.