novelraw Chapter 44: The Mutated Golems
Chapter 44: The Mutated Golems
The auction began with a rapid fire listing of attribute crystals.
Unlike the summons, people did not bid on them manually. Instead their buyout prices flashed on the massive screens and buyers simply tapped their phones to buy exactly what they needed.
It was like a high speed digital marketplace for the city’s elite to increase their stats if they found the attribute crystal that they were looking for.
Then, the lights shifted and the atmosphere in the room turned heavy as the live bidding portion of the night began.
"We will be moving on to the summons now!" the auctioneer shouted, his voice amplified by mana so that everyone could hear him.
One by one, images of beasts flickered onto the screen as the auctioneer started talking about their stats and abilities with great excitement which showcased his marketing ability.
"The Umbra Panther! A master of stealth and shadow step! Sold for 150,000 credits!"
"The Ember Snail! For those who prefer to slowly burn down their enemies! Sold for 160,000 credits!"
"The Wind Mantis! One of the most lethal Mutant beast on the market! Sold for 200,000 credits!"
Verso watched the numbers climb as he tightened his hands on the armrests of the chair.
Each of those beasts was a Mutant just like his Goliath and yet they were selling for astronomical prices.
But as the list went on, the summons he had given for listing were nowhere to be seen.
’Why is my bundle not being sold? Did I do something wrong?’
"Brother Verso." Han’s voice drifted over as he tried to get his attention.
"What manner of summoned beasts did you give for listing?"
Verso turned slightly, his face completely neutral.
"Hmm... it was just some stone golems."
Han hummed as he placed a hand on his chin, which made him look thoughtful and scholarly.
"They must be quite formidable to appear so late in the auction, Brother."
"From what I know, the auctioneers always save the strongest treasures for the final stretch."
Verso shrugged, but his gut was churning. For all he knew, the auction house had rejected his poor golems and thrown them in the trash.
Just as the doubt reached its peak, the auctioneer’s voice changed.
He was not just loud this time, he sounded way more excited.
"Everyone! We have a very unique bundle for you tonight!"
The screen behind him flickered as suddenly, a high resolution image of Verso’s summons appeared.
On the left stood the twelve foot Goliath, its golden runes glowing with a concentrated blue light. On the right were the four smaller golems who were standing in a defensive formation.
"These are no normal golems!" The auctioneer shouted, leaning over the podium.
"Look at the amount of the stone covering them! Look at the insane amount of mana flow in the runes! These... these are a Bundle of Mutated Stone Golems!"
The room went dead silent for a heartbeat before erupting into a chatter as people began whispering and shouting.
"Is this from another person with a mutation talent?"
"No way! Those are incredibly rare!"
Verso sat frozen in his seat, his eyes wide as he watched the elite buyers leaning forward in their chairs getting ready to bid on his summons.
’What are they rambling about?’ He thought, completely lost.
’What the hell do they mean by mutated?’
"Brother..." Han whispered, his eyes shining with a frightening intensity.
"Are those truly your summoned beasts?!"
"Yeah..." Verso replied awkwardly, his voice small.
"That’s some of them."
"Brother, where did you get them?" Han’s face was inches from Verso’s now.
"Did you find a some hidden realm of the heavens?"
’This guy...’ Verso barely understood what Han was trying to say.
"I mean... I just killed them?"
Just as he finished his sentence Verso went quiet as the realization finally hit him.
His summons were not normal, he had synthesized those golems to their absolute limits.
He had fed Mutant souls into the Goliath and Primitive souls into his Minor Golems until the system told him they were at a hundred percent.
In the real world, nobody had the Endless talent or had access to the Synthesis menu.
To everyone else, a Stone Golem was suppose to be a weak and disposable mob.
Which meant that seeing one that stood twelve feet tall with massive runes that moved like rivers was not something normal.
For them, this was a miracle, a literal mutation.
"Not only are these golems larger than their original forms, they are also stronger!" The auctioneer yelled, pointing a gloved hand at the screen.
"This Mutant Golem stands at the Pinnacle of Mutant Rank with completely maxed out stats! And these four Minor Golems? They stand at the Pinnacle of the Primitive Rank!"
Hearing his words the crowd went completely insane.
"A mutation that directly increases the beast’s stats? That’s impossible!"
"We must get our hands on this! Think of the potential they have!"
Seeing this Verso understood that although mutations were not abnormal for the market, mutations that completely changed the stats of the creature was unheard of.
Sitting on his chair silently, Verso watched the first bid flash on the screen.
It started at 250,000 credits which was already a higher amount than what the Wind Mantis which was one of the most popular Mutant beasts sold for.
And then right before his eyes he watched as the number jumped from 250,000 to 400,000.
’It has not even been 5 seconds!’ Verso could not hold in the surprise, he had come here expecting to get paid fifty thousand at best.
He stared at the screen and instead of feeling a sense of happiness, his heart started sinking into his stomach.
He had put his loyal, maxed out golems up for the auction because he thought they were just spare parts.
"..."
"Maybe I don’t want to sell the golems after all." Verso muttered as his face paled.
He could not help but wonder what type of potential trouble he was going to get in because of this new attention.