System's POV
chapter-123-1

Originally, Thirteen only planned to buy two items from the auction.

The first one was the Chad Skunk, which was a Monster that could help them deter stronger opponents with its stink spray.

The second one was the Five Leaf Clover, which he needed for his Thirteen Trials.

Right now, the money he had left to bid only amounted to a little over 43,000 Silver Coins.

When he asked Norris for an estimate of how much people were willing to bid for the Five Leaf Clover, the price he gave was around 30,000 Silver Coins at the minimum.

Since it was a life-saving consumable item, many Top Hunters from Gronar City would splurge to get it.

After all, their life was more important than money. Securing the Five Leaf Clover was no different from having a second chance at life.

But when Dorra announced the next item to be auctioned, Thirteen wavered.

"Everyone, our next item for auction is the Dark Wing Bow!" Dorra announced. "This is a Pseudo Low-Grade Silver Weapon imported from the Main Continent! Its shooting range could reach up to 2,000 meters as long as you have the strength to pull back its bowstring!

"Made from the Bones of the Night Wing, it's very light and easy to carry but still extremely flexible and sturdy! It also comes with five quivers of arrows, with arrowheads made from Orihalcon.

"If you are proficient in long-range hunting, then this bow is good for you! The initial bidding price is 5,000 silver coins. The minimum bid increment is 100 Silver Coins. Let the auction begin!"

"5,000!"

"5,300!'

"5,500!"

"6,000!"

Thirteen leaned forward and rested his chin on the back of his intertwined hands.

Right now, he was in dire need of a good range weapon.

After looking through the bows that were for sale in the city, he only saw Low-Grade Bronze Bows, which could still be used to hunt.

However, he wanted something better like a Mid-Grade or Peak-Grade Bronze Weapon.

But now, a Pseudo Low-Grade Silver Weapon was right in front of him.

While it was called a Pseudo Low-Grade Silver Weapon, its rank was still technically Bronze Grade, which meant that Thirteen could use it as a weapon.

However, he knew well that if he bid for this bow, his chances of winning the bid for the Five Leaf Clover would disappear completely.

Right now, Thirteen was in a dilemma.

He had to choose between what he wanted and what he needed.

While the bidding was going higher and higher, the seven-year-old sighed in his heart and raised his voice.

"15,000!"

The previous bid for the Dark Wing Bow was 10,000 Silver Coins.

He was certain that it would still go up, so he decided to raise the price instantly in order to deter the other people from bidding.

"15,000!" Dorra shouted. "Going once! Going Twice!"

"16,000!"

Netero glanced at the man sitting next to him with a faint smile on his face.

The man wearing a Bull Mask looked at the seven-year-old who was now looking in his direction.

"16,100," Thirteen stated.

"17,000," the man wearing a bull mask countered.

"17,100."

"18,000."

"18,100."

Thirteen was sure that the man bidding against him was also one of the High-Ranking Officials of Gronar City.

However, unlike Netero who really wanted the Chad Skunk earlier, the vibes that the masked man was giving him were of someone who was just purposely making things difficult for him.

He didn't know if the man was doing this as a way to get payback for what he did to Netero earlier, but he was certain of one thing.

The masked man wasn't really interested in the Dark Wing Bow.

He was more interested in seeing the seven-year-old child in a tight spot, so he was purposely raising the bidding price to mess with him!

'Looks like he found a new toy to play with,' Netero mused. 'What a sick hobby. Even going so far as to bully a child.'

Netero completely forgot that he also planned to bully the seven-year-old right after the auction ended because he didn't get the Chad Skunk that he had his eyes on earlier.

"19,000," the masked man said. "I can do this all day, boy."

"19,100," Thirteen didn't reply and simply bidded for the bow.

If the man was the person whom he thought it was, Thirteen knew that his chances of winning were zero.

How could he possibly beat the man who stood in the highest seat of power?

The boy understood that since he was wearing a mask to hide his identity and was sitting beside Netero, whom Norris said was a High-Ranking Official of the City, the chances of him being the City Lord himself were very high.

Thirteen knew this, yet he still bid for the weapon.

Looking at the masked man, he felt as if he was facing one of those Heroes who had stepped upon the dignity of his Hosts, just because they could.

No matter how much they struggled and no matter what they did, Fate and Luck weren't on their side, so in the end, they were bound to lose.

Thirteen had vowed to himself to fight against Fate, so even if he knew that it was hopeless and pointless, he planned to see this bidding war through to the end.

"23,000," the masked man said in a voice filled with amusement.

"23,100."

"24,000."

"24,100."

Knowing that it was useless to bid a higher price because he would be outbid by his competitor, Thirteen simply added 100 Silver Coins to whatever the man was going to bid.

This was his own way of telling him that even if he lost the bidding, he would still cling to the bitter end.

"Hahaha!" the masked man laughed as he looked at the seven-

year-old, who still had a calm expression on his face. "Let's raise the stakes a bit. 40,000 Silver Coins."

The City Lord of Gronar City, Arthas, was quite impressed that the boy had that much money in him.

However, since he wanted to see the calmness on the boy's face disappear, he purposely raised his bid to 40,000 Silver Coins.

The Dark Wing Bow might be expensive, but the current bid had gone way above and beyond the target that the seller had imagined.

They were making a lot of profit for the item and they would definitely be extremely happy at the end of the day after getting so much money from the auction.

But to everyone's surprise, a firm and unyielding voice echoed within the Auction House.

"40,100," Thirteen replied.

"50,000," the masked man stated in an arrogant tone.

A moment of silence descended before a ruckus erupted inside the Auction as the people watching from the sidelines made their anger toward the masked man known.