It was as if Alex was supported by the gods themselves.
He had met Remia before reaching the forest fairies' home, and he even had items that he could use to become closer with her. But since even Alex thought of it as too coincidental, he didn't dare to bring them out yet.
But on the auction stage, Alex's fortune ended.
"Two gold coins," A melodious voice laced with maturity rang out.
A few players jumped from surprise as they were familiar with that tone. They immediately stood up and looked around to find the woman behind the bid.
Even some wealthy NPCs had their interest piqued; their eyes were going around the stage to find the lady.
As their eyes landed on them, they exclaimed in amazement, "It's a player with blue blood."
Momma Blue, the celebrity from Earth, became the center of attention.
While everyone had their eyes on her, she sat indifferently in her seat. She rested her head on her right hand while keeping her left hand high to continue the bidding.
Her right leg rested on her left knee, making her seem like a lofty person. In her eyes, nothing other than the sword remained.
And as she was one of the famous actresses on Earth, no one could doubt her beauty. Even now, her indifference and ripe beauty compelled the audience to stare at her.
Alex was no different.
It was rare to see celebrities in person. And since the game was so real-life, Alex indeed met one of those celebrities in person. However, it was not a pleasant or exciting meeting.
Since the beginning, he had been fighting with her over the ice sword.
[The sword made out of the unknown's existence's breath.]
[If equipped, your INT will increase by 5%.]
That sword wasn't anything special. In fact, there were better swords for twenty-level players. Those swords increased stats that all swordsmen preferred.
No one would wear a sword with [INT] as primary focus unless the sword had excessive attack damage.
But that sword… had just a bit more attack than common swords. Therefore, it was not worth it for a common player to get it.
Alex was different.
His sword skill had received a new effect, [Soul Freeze], a crucial crowd control skill in his arsenal. His [Chilling Slash] gradually slowed people, making them feel fear.
But that peculiar crowd control froze Alex's enemies' souls, rendering them useless.
Alex believed that the ice sword would help him with his skills. He also wanted to use magic through his left hand. Ice Magic didn't sound bad at all.
The more Alex thought about cold magic, the more he liked it.
He dropped his lightning image and left that element to Olivia.
But Alex's dreams shattered when the celebrity appeared out of nowhere! She was striking, both with her money and beauty!
'Did she just glance at me? I see… Two gold coins are your limit,' Alex felt Momma Blue's eyes.
As he turned to the side, he saw her blue eyes staring down at him. She still remained indifferent, but Alex saw that she was not as challenging as before.
'No... The fact that she looked toward me says enough. She can't bid further… I will just end this now,' Alex inferred.
He raised his bid, "Three gold coins."
"Three gold coins! Did you hear it, everyone?!" The lady on the stage vividly shouted; her voice echoed for a good while.
Everyone surely heard her.
Of course, no one said anything.
No one would pay three gold coins for the unique sword that was just for level twenty. And even if mystery hid behind that sword, no one risked that.
[You have won the Ice Breath Sword for three gold coins.]
Alex sighed after receiving the system message.
He sank in his chair and closed his eyes. He also massaged his temple.
It was not worth spending this much money on the unique sword. Of course, Alex comforted himself that he hadn't used the Strongus' skills to get a sword for himself.
There were expensive swords, but he wasn't so desperate to go for them. In fact, Alex no longer thought about them after spotting the Ice Breath on the list.
'Next time, I will speak with Sara and sell some bone swords here. They must have accumulated a lot of skeleton swords and other items… We can use it to rebuild the castle,' Alex thought.
He promptly left after getting the sword.
Since Remia was also done with her bidding, they left with something in their inventories. Overall, it was quite a good day.
'I had a bidding battle with Momma Blue. Some peeps will be jealous,' Alex chuckled.
After thinking of the auction house's event, Alex no longer felt terrible.
Even if he had spent three gold coins for the unique item, he saw some emotion on the celebrity's face. And that emotion was genuine, not the one she would show for the movie character.
Alex grinned, "I know, right? She drew so much attention, then shared some spotlight with me. I am victorious here, regardless of the bidding."
Remia carefully looked over Alex's face, "Three gold coins is still too much, though."
Alex coughed.
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"It's time to part," Remia whispered, then bowed before Alex.
But as Alex didn't want to lose this golden chance, he replied, "Are you perhaps the forest fairy, Remia?"
Remia lifted her head carefully, "Yes… Why do you ask?"
Although she wore clothes that hid most of her body, Alex could've peeked at her little round ears. It wasn't surprising for him to exactly know her race.
But Remia naturally remained cautious.
Alex nodded, "I am on my way toward your forest. If you are returning home, then it would be my pleasure to accompany you."
"Um… Well, we can go here together. But if my people refuse your entry, you can not ask me for help," Remia said.
She received Alex's kitty grin for a response, "I wander the world with good intent. You don't have to worry about it, Remia."
"I hope so, Mr. Gentleman. Haha~~" Remia pulled down her hoodie and grinned to herself.
And knowing to what she had alluded to, Alex's body grew hotter. He awkwardly followed her, then their journey toward the forest fairies began.
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After spending nearly all day in the city with humans, Remia wanted to spend the rest of her time within the forest's embrace.
Forest Fairies found human culture quite uncomfortable too.
That was mostly because humans didn't go along with nature. For example, they formed cities, which polluted air with their factories. And then, simply putting down a brick house sullied the nature, to say nothing of the whole city.
Therefore, Remia and Alex slowly walked through the forest.
It was… not a wise choice.
"Here you are… The guy who spends three gold coins on a fucking unique sword. You have this much money, and you dared to leave the city without any bodyguards," An unknown NPC said.
His eyes were on Alex.
[Alex Lv. 22]
While it was pretty complicated for NPCs to hide their names, players had no problems. They could blend into the communities well.
Alex pushed it further, and by leveraging his side-effect from Charm Skill, he managed to create a fake nickname for himself.
Of course, if someone killed him, they would see his true name.
Alex took out his sword and faced the group of hoodlums, "Bandits? You don't look like bandits, actually."
His eyes pierced through them… And that was when Alex had received a new system message.
[You have spotted the hungry demon.]
'Where?' Alex narrowed his eyes.
From his legendary class and first encounter with those species, Alex had learned a few things about them.
'I thought they were mainly attacking the Deathwill Castle…' Alex and Elias Deathwill thought the same.
Of course, Alex's knowledge came from his father-in-law's diary. In that diary, Elias had encountered those demons in 'dark' lands.
He had never heard about them in the outer world. Perhaps, as he had left everything for Alex, Elias Deathwill had met more of those demons.
Well, no one knew what this old man was up to nowadays.
But his legendary class helped Alex immensely.
Not only did he spot the hungry demon somewhere, but he had also received another quest!
[Elias Deathwill's Successor Quest #2]
[Protect Remia.]
[Reward: Battle Spirit(S)]
'That's something you should be doing, hypocrite… If it weren't for your empty lies,' Alex sighed.
He lifted his sword and said, "Stand on my left, Remia."