In the year 1006, on the last day of the Month of Vitality.

The Shining Auction will be held in the Shining Tavern as scheduled.

The proprietress of the Tavern was presiding over the auction. With her revealing attire, she became the centre of attention for the hungry eyes of men.

The auction began soon after.

Levi wore his white wolf mask and kept his head down, sitting in the last row of the auction.

With his remaining 100 gold coins, he should be able to buy at most one item at the auction. After all, those who come to the Shining Tavern are all rich Northerners.

There will be ten lots drawn in the monthly auction, which is run by the members of the Tavern.

According to Levi’s knowledge, one can become a Shining Tavern member by paying 100 gold coins, and the membership is valid for 5 years.

During this period of validity, members can enjoy free admission and free auction tickets.

Levi knew many of the members were rich beyond his imagination. For example, his own father, Baron Snyder, was a member himself. It’s a pity that membership could not be inherited.

The first lot drawn was a Knight’s sword. With Levi’s knowledge of forging, the workmanship of the sword is sophisticated and intricate, far surpassing his own. It’s simple and traditional, yet elegant in its own right.

“This is the sword of a Great Knight of Vegekid a hundred years ago! It is a magical weapon crafted by the blacksmith Hagrid Amon. The starting bid is 10 gold coins, and each increasing bid must not be less than 5 gold coins!”

Accompanied by the dazzling voice of the proprietress, the atmosphere of the audience was ignited.

“The royal blacksmith, Hagrid? Wasn’t he known as the Hammer of Flame?” A knowledgeable blacksmith in the crowd exclaimed.

Levi was shocked. In the past year, he has also learnt about the history of forging within the Emerald Kingdom thanks to Milan’s collection of books. The fabled Hammer of Flame is most definitely a legendary blacksmith in his own right.

Essentially, blacksmiths aren’t divided into ranks like Knights, but people still divide them based on their fame and forging quality.

Levi can be considered a blacksmith apprentice, but with his prowess, he is now an advanced apprentice. To become a formal blacksmith, he has to build a complete set of armour.

A formal blacksmith, like Toby, Milan’s father, is skilled in crafting armour and weapons alike. Unfortunately, Toby was snatched away by the Wild Boar Gang, but Levi swears that he’ll snatch him back sooner or later.

Those who have reached the peak of forging are then recognised as Forging Masters by the nobles or Craftsmen by the Knights.

Forging Masters receive countless commissions daily, and there will be countless nobles begging them to build them a magic weapon. The status of a Forging Master is evidently very powerful.

In the end, this sword that was supposedly crafted by Hagrid, the Hammer of Flame, was bought by a rich nobleman for 100 gold coins.

No matter how good this sword was, it was not worth 100 gold coins.

Levi bit his lip. Once he becomes a Forging Master, wealth should no longer be an issue for him.

The second lot drawn was a set of armour made of the best iron found in the Rocky Mountains. It is said that a full thumb’s worth of mithril has been infused into the armour. Hence, it is much more powerful but difficult to forge.

Mithril is a legendary material; it can only be produced where meteorites fall. According to Witch Gullveig, mithril is a material treasured by wizards and witches alike.

The armour was sold for 480 gold coins.

‘Really? That piece of garbage was sold for 480 gold coins?’ Levi murmured to himself. ‘My set of armour is completely made of mithril. Its value can no longer be measured in gold coins.’

Finally, the next lot drawn was a breathing technique.

“The next item to be auctioned is sold in a bundle: the Frost Wolf’s Breathing Method and the Giant Bear’s Breathing Method, also known as the Stone Bear’s Breathing Method. Although these two breathing methods are of superficial quality, they still hold some collection value.”

The proprietress’ tone was strangely dull as if she didn’t want to spare any effort to sell these breathing methods.

Levi’s breath hitched. He didn’t expect that his neighbours’ breathing methods would be auctioned off.

‘Perhaps their descendants have been reduced to selling their ancestral breathing method to make a living after the death of my father. However, these two breathing methods are superficial and blood-only..’

Other nobles and knights began to whisper in the crowd.

After half a ring, there were only scattered bids.

Finally, when Levi raised the price to 120 gold coins, nobody tried to outbid him.

And he successfully bought the two breathing methods with 120 gold coins.

He thought it was a reasonable price and hurriedly left the auction site once he got what he wanted. He changed into a new set of clothes and went to the Chamber of Commerce to buy all the other Black Snake medicine’s ingredients. As for the snake blood needed, he bought a basket of White Crystal Snakes, which is a unique snake found only in the chilly climates of the Northern Lands.

Levi also took his time visiting the libraries and bookstores of the City of Icy Winds. He bought everything that might be related to wizardry with a lot of money.

Night fell, and Levi disappeared from town at night. This time, he took a relatively remote mountain route. Apart from encountering some wolves, he didn’t run into any bandits.

On the second day of the Month of Green Grass..

The travel-worn Levi rushed back to Blackwater Valley, and Knight Fred, who was waiting in the castle, calmed down upon seeing his returning figure.