The Age of Titans (4)
People who deliberately held private auctions instead of using the in-game auction house system all shared the same psychology. They hated losing even a single penny to fees, wanted to sell at a stable fair price, or hoped for a lucky windfall!
The in-game exchange also had auctions. But while it was convenient, once you listed an item for auction, if even one person bid, you couldn't cancel the sale midway—a fatal flaw.
Because of this, if word didn't spread about the listing or its value got undervalued, in the worst case, it could sell for less than half—or even a quarter—of its true worth.
That was why most Legendary items were sold to merchants or traded directly through them, unless you were a special user like me.
Plus, running a real-time auction like this sometimes sparked competition that drove the price even higher than market value—a stroke of luck.
Merlin, that money-grubbing bastard, would obviously opt for a private auction. But even I hadn't anticipated this level of disinterest.
Just recently, rumors had swirled about a cooldown-reducing item hitting the market, drawing massive interest.
But the instant Merlin committed to selling and uploaded the listing to Allta sites for promotion, the hype crashed and burned.
The rumors were true. It wasn't a zero-cooldown item, but Merlin did have a Legendary piece that drastically cut cooldowns.
Just with a massive drawback—no, a deal-breaking flaw.
'Unfair Contract of Demon Dantelio'.
A bracelet with mediocre stats for a Legendary item, but its effect was anything but ordinary.
Touch it to activate: Once per hour, all skill cooldowns ticked 10x faster for a full 60 seconds.
If that was it, it'd outclass even Divine gear as the ultimate cheat item...
But unfortunately, during that time, mana consumption also spiked 10x—a hellish penalty.
And worse: Once activated, you couldn't stop it.
Mess up the timing, and your MP would bottom out in seconds, locking you out of skills for effectively the full minute.
Current mage users topped out at around 20,000 MP. A few decent skills, and you'd be dry in moments.
It was an item for wild-card surprises or desperate all-in bursts against someone.
No wonder normal players wrote it off instantly.
The result? Fewer than ten sorry souls gathered by the fountain for the auction.
I couldn't help noticing: The moment I showed up, Merlin had been glaring daggers solely at me.
First time meeting since I blocked whispers post-ID change, so no instant tirade like I'd feared—but the vibe was still off.
From his perspective, I was probably his lifelong nemesis. I'd stolen his golden ticket to glory right out from under him.
"Alright, it's been ten minutes past the announced time, so I think everyone's here who’s coming. Assume you've all checked the specs. Small auction, just one item—no dragging it out. Let's move fast!"
"Yeah, get on with it!"
One of Merlin's merchant pals, apparently the auctioneer, kicked things off.
Starting bid: A million gold—or 100 million cash—for a Legendary item.
"……."
"……."
But then... nothing. No bids at all. Not very Legendary auction vibes.
"We're merchants too, y'know? We came to buy, but who drops 100 mil on that trash Legendary?"
"Right? We held at starting bid hoping for a sucker, but looks like we gotta restart under half."
No bids, so bold opinions started flying.
Even Merlin, who'd been fixated on me, looked shocked. He scanned reactions, then jumped into haggling.
"What're you saying? As merchants, you're being too harsh! This is a great item—super rare, took insane luck to get. Only two in all of Tayen!"
"Rare is rare, but does it have the value? Let the price decide."
Poor Merlin... Guy's got the worst luck with cash.
They said money runs farthest when you chase it hardest?
For someone so cocky calling this auction, the turnout was pathetic.
After huddling with his auctioneer, Merlin restarted—at exactly half: 500k.
"515k!"
"518k!"
"518.5k!"
But even that fizzled. No real heat.
Lucky for me.
Not for anyone else—but for me, this turns into a monster that rivals Divine gear!
Thinking ahead to my planned raids and Titan fights, its potential was terrifying.
Maligned as trash now due to the tooltip, but I might rebrand it the ultimate cheat item later.
So, to end the slog, I finally jumped in.
"600k!"
A bit high, but for Merlin? Worth the tip.
Plus, spiking the price like that often scared off rivals.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
My call did it—the auctioneer's hammer slammed thrice, ending the short farce.
As the crowd dispersed, I approached Merlin.
"Hey, Merlin. Long time. How've you been?"
"You fucking prick! You think I'm selling my bracelet to you? Like hell!"
"Huh? You watched the whole auction and still can't read the room? Only a whale like me drops 600k on this! Sell elsewhere, and you're losing 10 mil easy. You really gonna?"
"Shut up! That holy sword you stole—what was that worth? Don't gimme 10 mil bullshit! You got no shame? And why's your name so damn short?"
"Worry about your own conscience first—you betrayed Darius. Anyway, not selling? Fine, I'm out—got no time."
I wasn't really leaving, just bluffing per Pink Rabbit's advice.
Show any weakness, and he'd ditch auction rules to jack the price.
"Argh... Fuck, I hate selling to you... One mil more... No, two mil extra..."
"Huh? What? Can't hear ya."
"Two mil more, asshole! Then it's yours!"
"Haha! Deal, deal. For you, I can swing that. Yeah!"
His attitude reminded me of my old self. I bumped to 620k and hit accept on the trade window.
Legendary
Acquired!
Another ace for going toe-to-toe with Titans barehanded.
* * *
The commissioned siege day arrived fast—now just two minutes to start.
I'd planned solo, but guildies begged in after hearing. Everyone joined except level-grinding Ra Chan.
Saint Guild was raid-focused small-timer—no sieges ever, to avoid grudges.
But now? No limits. And sieges were Tayen's hottest content—the flower of it all.
Capture the obelisk, siege ends instantly. Best to smash new castles quick and rotate support.
But others might siege too, so hide and watch 10 min.
Bwaaam! Bwaa bwaaam!
Horns blared from target Jiwel Castle, signaling start.
New castle—no war declaration needed like vs. Taesung.
Unconquered for nearly 3.5 years since open. Supposed to stay quiet today too.
But apparently, not.
Taesung marks appeared—then over a hundred swarmed the moat, pounding the inner gate.
Same day, same target—Phoenix and Taesung strategies overlapped.
Just like Hellfire said. Even with a month's levels, sieging this beast with 100? Absurd.
Taesung got a Titan too, using it here. Pieces fit.
And sure enough—as castle knight archers unleashed volley, a holy/shield tank held briefly, then bellowed.
A massive, familiar magic circle etched around him.
In seconds, the knight transformed into a Soldier-grade Titan dyed Ties Kingdom's signature blue.