WebNovels

Chapter 20 - Affinity Elixir

The entire auction house was dead silent. Not a whisper, not a cough—just stunned, collective disbelief hanging in the air like someone had just auctioned off the Emperor's crown for a handful of peanuts.

And to be fair, it wasn't far from the truth.

Someone—meaning me—had just traded a Legendary Affinity Elixir for a so-called ancient jade scroll.

Now, if you've never heard of an Affinity Elixir before, let me give you a sense of scale. My Darknorth House, one of the most powerful ducal families on the continent, has two. Two! And we guard them like paranoid dragons because our bloodline thrives on rare affinities. Some other noble houses don't even have one—hell, most of them haven't even seen one.

And here I was, watching an elixir worth an entire province being traded for a questionably authentic piece of jade in a third-rate auction house.

Oh, the irony.

Down below, the auctioneer was so shocked that he forgot to breathe for a moment. The crowd was whispering furiously.

"What kind of lunatic—""—could that jade really be that valuable—""—wasn't that the elixir of legends?!"

I calmly sipped my tea, watching the chaos unfold like a patient god admiring the stupidity of mortals.

"Ahh," I murmured, "the sound of collective ignorance—soothing to the ears."

These peasants and minor merchants didn't even know what an affinity elixir does. As it has the word 'elixir' in its in name that's why they are just over-reacting like some mob or extras. To them, it was just an expensive glowing drink with a fancy name. They probably thought it gave shiny skin or eternal youth or something equally stupid and are just overreacting.

Heh. Even the protagonist himself had no idea how valuable it was.

See, our dear MC, that filthy commoner blessed by the system, had just recently awakened his "godly cheat." But like every new system user, he had no idea how to use it properly. Apparently, he'd just received the elixir as part of his newbie pack and had the brilliant idea to ask his system whether he could buy more of it.

And the system—being the sarcastic, possibly sentient sadist that it is—had replied "Affirmative."

And boom, the idiot just thought, "Well, then I can just get another one later!"

So he sold a Legendary Affinity Elixir… for a half-broken rock.

Ah, youth.

Ah, stupidity.

Ah, the joy of watching the plot unfold from the extra's or possibly villain's balcony seat.

I myself don't know what is my role now.

I actually had to bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud. My shoulders shook. Tea nearly spilled. "Haha… oh man," I wheezed, "it's so amusingly accurate! No wonder beginner-arc protagonists always get bullied, betrayed, and beaten—they're this dumb!"

And the funniest part? He didn't even use the elixir himself. Nope. Like every cliché hero before him, he was ambitious.

He already had a Space Affinity, but no, that wasn't enough for him. Now he wanted the Affinity of Time.

Because why settle for being overpowered when you can be cosmically broken, right?

Too bad that gaining new affinities isn't as simple as popping a magic pill. You also need rare elemental relics—physical conduits that resonate with the desired affinity. For fire, you need Flame Cores; for wind, Sky Feathers; for space… you need Rift Crystals found in interdimensional tears.

And for time relics?

Heh. That, my dear readers, is a classified secret.

For now.

Anyway, while our beloved MC was chasing the delusion of becoming Chrono Jesus, I'd already sealed the entire auction house for "security reasons."

Because if word got out that a Legendary Elixir had been traded here, this entire city would be razed to dust by greedy nobles, cultists, and power-hungry lunatics within hours.

But I wasn't worried.

Even if some wrinkled old duchess or battle-hardened cougar decided to show up sniffing for treasure, they wouldn't dare attack. Because the seal of the House of Darknorth was now placed on this auction house's gates.

And everyone knows—you mess with the Darknorths, you get frozen and roasted at the same time.

Literally.

Besides, the strongest person in this entire city was already standing behind me—my lovely maid and terrifyingly loyal protector, Lira. With her here, even if a dozen powerhouses barged in, they'd leave in matching coffins.

So while everyone below gawked, I calmly ordered, "Seal the premises. Nobody leaves until I'm done awakening."

Lira nodded silently and vanished in a blur. I smiled. Ah, efficiency.

As for those old cougars going after the our hero. Well, he is very slippery for them to get their hands on.

Now then, back to business.

You see, this event wasn't just about becoming more powerful—it answered one of the most important questions I had about this world.

In the novel, most of the protagonist's "opportunities" came from system missions. Sometimes they were combat-based, sometimes moral-based, sometimes… utterly ridiculous, and sometimes by helping an old granny crossing the road.

I'm not kidding. The guy helped a random old hunter who was crying that his children and wife are waiting for him at home escape a monster, like a monster give a damn about his family.

But our MC, bullied and beaten by society got his heart melted and helped the hunter to escape by using the dumbest idea of fighting the monster himself, and then he fell off a cliff in the process, and boom—accidentally discovered a forgotten ancient legacy.

Yeah, the same which is now with me.

I'm not sure if that's plot armor or divine trolling.

Anyway, I'd suspected for a while that the system's missions weren't fixed. That they could adapt to new circumstances in real time—possibly to counteract my interference as a transmigrator or just counteracting effects done by me on MC's growth.

And this auction proved it.

The fact that the system had nudged the MC to trade the elixir.

Yes, I was sure that is was the system because of which our protagonist has done this trade because even if he is dumb, he is not brain dead to trust the third rate auction house to auction a world-defying technique.

This means it was trying to restore balance, subtly steering him toward the "intended" fate of getting that jade scroll.

In other words… something—or someone—was trying to control the butterfly effect, on the plot or just for heaven's child.

Fascinating, right?

"Well," I murmured, leaning back in my chair, "at least I confirmed one thing—the world isn't static. It's reacting. Adapting. And that means I need to be even smarter."

"No worries."

I had already made my plans for all the scenarios if the system was not sentient I would just have pretended as an old man and told the MC that our fate is connected so just cooperate for a scam...

*ahem*

I mean fair trade

but now as it is sentiment it made my work easier. 

I reached out to the glowing jade tablet on the table before me. Its faint luminescence pulsed like a heartbeat—mysterious, ancient, and slightly ominous.

"Now, let's see what you've got for me, my pretty little loophole."

The room stayed silent. The crowd below still buzzed with disbelief.

I chuckled softly. "Ah, what a day. A dumb hero, a smart extra, and a priceless elixir traded for a glorified rock. Truly, fate is the greatest comedian of all."

I stood, brushing imaginary dust off my immaculate black coat.

"Well, then," I said, eyes gleaming, "time to check the reward of my loot—ahem, I mean… my fair and noble trade."

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