The Rise of the Winter Wolf - Book 2 - Chapter 25 - Failed Auction and The Race (Patreon)

Wolf
A few hours later

I enter my bid before the auction host announces, “Box 14 has just raised the bid to 4800 SP! Do we have any more bids?”

At the same time, the price listed on the item’s description changes to accommodate my bid.

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Item | Amorphous Gauntlets of the Eternals | Tier 8 | 4800 SP

This item was crafted by the player: Eiri Thraim.

These gauntlets increase the wearer’s physical strength by 50% while also allowing the wearer to infuse an elemental energy into the gauntlets to grant bonus effects to your attacks.

They also give the wearer a low physical and magical resistance throughout their entire body.

The gauntlets morph to the form of your hands to allow the use of natural weapons such as claws.

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Considering the number of people in the System that actually have a Tier 8 item or skill, it isn’t all that surprising that there aren’t all that many of them in the Player Auction at any single moment in time. Which was why I practically jumped at this item when I saw it on the auction. Not only will it still allow me to use my claws, but it will even give me a bonus effect through my element, while also giving me the stat boosts!

Unfortunately, the starting price was already at 4500 SP…

The auction host’s voice rings through my box again, “Box 10 has just raised the bid to 5000 SP! Do we have any more bids?”

Damn it! Stop raising the stupid bid!

I enter in another bid, raising the current bid to 5100 SP, only to be out bid again by box 10 as they raise it to 5200.

This process repeats itself all the way to my last bid of 5900, where another box suddenly comes in and raises the price past what I can afford.

“And there goes the gauntlets…” I mutter in disappointment before leaving the auction.

Maybe I should wait till the next floor before the event boss to buy something on the Player Auction again. I should have enough SP to afford a good skill or item then without someone just outbidding me past what I can afford…

By the time the green flash of light from my teleportation fades, I find myself once again in the small shack that makes up the Expanded System Store on this theme.

When I first found this shack, I had originally thought that it was another one of those dark witches creating an illusion since it looked almost exactly like the shack that they keep conjuring, but when I saw the symbol on the door, I realized that this was the store. Not to mention the lack of mist around the shack itself.

I approach the totem before buying a meal to eat for the evening.

It’s unfortunate, but the Tier 7 items and skills are still locked on the totem, so I can only rely on the buy and auction sub-menus. That said, the buy sub-menu doesn’t have as good of items as the auction sub-menu does, and the good stuff that are sold through it tend to be bought up relatively quickly. Which is a surprise when I consider how much SP most of the people in existence are making. Aside from the Competitors and viewing room owners that is.

Anyways, I take my food over to the table before sitting down and placing the extra food I got for Sapphire on the floor behind me, to which Sapphire quickly leaps out of my shadow and begins eating.

I glance at her three-and-a-half-foot long form once more before focusing on my own meal.

Arcadian Live
A few hours later

“And the fifth highest ranked Competitor has now joined the others in the top five on the twenty-first floor!” Mikaela shouts with excitement as Norbert touches the exit after managing to avoid the boss.

He then turns to Niklai and asks, “Who do you think will be the first Competitor to reach the twenty-second floor?”

Niklai furrows his thick brows while scratching his beard before he says, “I’m not sure. It could be any of them, really, but considering the dark sprites on the floor… I would say that Vulcan is out in the selection, since he is the only one out of the five who doesn’t have much of any combat skill outside of his magical abilities.”

Vulcan’s fans begin shouting in anger at him before he just waves them off without much thought and continues, “As for who will be the first to make it? I would put my bet on either The Winter Wolf or Silver Siren.”

“Oh?” Mikaela utters before asking, “And why do you think it will be one of those two?”

“Well,” Niklai begins while watching Norbert begin walking through the forest on the twenty-first floor, “Nosferatu is out of the running in my opinion due to how late he is in getting there, along with how cautious he usually is, while Deadshot isn’t as likely to be first because of her fighting style. Seeing as she uses a bow, which isn’t the best matchup against the dark sprites.”

He turns to look at Mikaela again whilst still ignoring the audiences’ negative responses to his comments as he continues, “Which leaves The Winter Wolf, who is proficient in combat without magic as well, and Silver Siren, who is probably the most skilled Competitor when it comes to swords in the entire dungeon.”

Understanding emerges on Mikaela’s face before he finishes Niklai’s statement for him, “And since The Winter Wolf made it to the floor first, along with the fact that he can still use his ice against the other monsters on the floor, it might make up for his lower talent in physical combat when compared to her!”

Niklai nods his head in agreement as the audience goes quiet at the sound reasoning before he says, “That’s exactly what I am thinking!”

“That said,” Mikaela adds as he turns to look at the main screen again, “anything could happen from here to the end of the floor, so it’s difficult to judge who will be the first to make it to the twenty-second floor.”

Wolf
Two days later

“I think that should be a good enough lead on the mini boss’s starting level to take it on,” I mutter before telling Sapphire, “Let’s head back to the store.”

Sapphire bobs her head up and down before returning to my shadow as I begin walking towards the closest store on my map.

Seeing as Sapphire hasn’t been gaining as many levels as I have recently, I put some research into companions and learned that they apparently gain a size manipulation skill at level 100 that lets them shrink themselves back down to the size they hatched at.

It was bothering me; worrying about whether Sapphire would just continue growing to the point that she would be bigger than a house, but with this information, I don’t have to worry about that.

Although it does make me wonder if she will go back to how she acted in the beginning. When she would always ride on my shoulder.

It takes me about half an hour to get back to the store before I compose a message to Crystal.

I reread through the message once before confirming it and starting on my meal.

Surprisingly, I get a response within just five minutes of sending the message.

“Oh?” I mutter in surprise after reading her message. That is a pretty nice coincidence. Although I do wonder how she was able to go through this floor so quickly.

That said, I should hurry up and finish my meal so that I can head out.

Since she is also taking on a mini boss, it is possible that someone else might be as well.