A few minutes after the chairman left, the atmosphere of the workshop became calm again.
The only sound that could be heard was the regular striking of the apprentices’ hammers on the anvils around them, but in a corner of the workshop, Magnus no longer paid any attention to those sounds.
All his focus was on the massive skin of the World Devourer Giant, the old man calmly knelt down and once again ran his rough palm over the black and rough surface of the skin.
Sometimes he would tap a part of its fibers with his finger, sometimes he would check the thickness of the layers with his fingernail, and sometimes he would whisper under his breath about different methods of shaping and connecting the armor plates.
As if from this very moment, in his mind, he was already building the armor that might become the greatest work of his entire life.
Lian watched him for a few moments, despite the possibility of failure, he had still agreed to use this monster’s corpse to make an armor.
After all, that was the whole reason he had taken this corpse.
And finally, he raised the question that had been on his mind from the beginning.
"How much will it cost to make?"
Magnus took his gaze off the skin, a short and faint smile settled on his lips, and he answered.
"I can’t answer that question right now."
"Why?" Lian was a little surprised, he thought that like monster corpse prices, there were fixed prices for equipment, or at least a range would be given.
He needed to be sure if he had the money or not, because it could be a billion dollars and he did not have that kind of money.
The old man wiped his hands on his leather apron and said calmly.
"Because I don’t know either, this is the first time I’m going to make an Ancient rank armor from the corpse of an Unholy World Devourer Giant."
"I don’t know how many times I’ll have to change the auxiliary materials, I don’t know how many tools will be destroyed during the work, I don’t even know exactly how long it will take."
His gaze fixed on the skin again.
"When the armor is ready... we’ll talk about the cost then."
"For now, the important thing is to start making it, the rest can be solved later."
"How long will it take now that we no longer need to get permission for the hammer?" Lian did not say more, but he still wanted the armor soon.
"I can’t give you an exact time, but probably one or two weeks."
"Then I leave everything to you." He just nodded, one or two weeks was not a long time.
Magnus smiled.
"I won’t disappoint you, don’t worry, anyway I need some information to make the armor fit you properly." And then he ordered his apprentice to take all of Lian’s measurements.
The apprentice took all his measurements within a few minutes, and then asked questions about his fighting style, the type of battles he engages in, the elements he uses in battles, and his skills.
All of this was for personalizing the armor, they wanted to make an armor in which the user would not only feel safe but also comfortable.
A few minutes later... Lian and Kain left the Blacksmiths’ Association building.
The sun was slowly tilting toward the horizon, and its orange light was shining on the cobblestone streets of the capital.
Kain stretched his arms above his head and gave his body a good stretch.
"Well... what now?"
"The National Awakened Center, we need to examine the treasures we brought from the ruin and sell them."
The massive building of the National Awakened Center was not far from them, and they arrived in ten minutes by taxi, it was still busy even at this hour.
Without wasting time, they went to the equipment trading section.
Upon entering, Lian placed his Silver VIP card on the device, a green light turned on, and the staff member behind the counter immediately stood up.
"Mr. Vorhelm, welcome, please come this way."
Instead of standing in the long line of customers, the two were directly led to a private assessment room.
A few minutes later... Lian took out the ruin’s treasures one by one from his storage space.
The senior expert, a man about fifty years old with thin glasses, frowned after seeing the first item.
"All of these... came from one ruin?"
"Yes." Lian just nodded.
The expert took a deep breath.
"Let’s begin." And the first item was placed on the table.
[ Scroll of Mana Compression ]
[ Rank: B ]
The expert almost excitedly opened the scroll.
"Incredible... it’s still completely intact." Very often, treasures remaining in ruins are damaged and need repair.
That is why most items and treasures obtained that are damaged are bought and sold at lower prices.
He carefully examined the runes on it.
"After learning it, it increases mana control and mana recovery speed, its intact version is almost impossible to find nowadays, we are willing to buy it for $500,000."
"I’ll keep this." Lian said without thinking, this one’s value was so significant that it really could not be sold.
"Are you sure? We are even willing to offer up to one million dollars."
"I’m sure, it’s not for sale."
The expert sighed and just set it aside.
The second item... a small metal cube whose surface was covered with spatial runes.
[ Ancient Spatial Cube ]
[ Rank: B ]
The expert examined it from various angles several times.
"It seems to be one of the technological pieces of the Ruined Realm’s civilizations."
"If I’m guessing correctly, maybe it can be used to upgrade storage space or even build new spatial equipment."
"This is really valuable, for awakened ones of our world, it has no value because we automatically have Storage Space, but imagine if we didn’t have that ability... then this item would be a huge treasure."
"I’ll sell this one, as you said, it’s worthless to us." Lian looked at it and said.
The third item... a golden-colored crystal with a gentle halo of light flowing around it.
[ Halo Crystal ]
[ Rank: C ]
The expert picked it up with respect, and after a few seconds of examination, he said.
"It’s almost unparalleled for making healing equipment, it’s more useful for healers."
"I’ll sell this too." Lian said briefly, he was not a healer for such a thing to be useful to him.
The fourth item...
[ Scripture of Radiance ]
[ Rank: C ]
A thick book whose pages were not made of ordinary paper, but of a white and resistant material.
The expert almost carefully turned its pages.
"Interesting, a book about runes related to light and illumination... universities and research centers will compete to obtain it."
"I’ll sell this too."
The fifth item...
[ Saint’s Prayer Bell ]
[ Rank: B ]
A small bell of white gold, the expert gently shook it, a soft resonance echoed in the room, and for a moment a sacred energy spread in the air, clearly it had healing applications.
But a large part of its function had been lost and weakened, if it was still at its peak, Lian would not have been willing to sell it at all.
But now it did not even have a hundredth of its peak power, and he decided to sell it.
The sixth item...
[ Dawnglass Shards ]
[ Rank: B ]
Transparent crystal pieces with golden light flowing inside them.
"Valuable raw materials for making equipment, but equipment more based on powers related to light and illumination, useful for mages who use light power."
"I’ll sell this too."
The seventh item...
[ Broken Light Altar Fragment ]
[ Rank: C ]
A piece of the main altar of the first temple, it had no magical use, although it was made with magic and valuable materials, but it was more of an ancient artifact.
The expert just stared at it for a few seconds.
"The National Museum would probably be willing to buy it, but it has no other value."
"Add this to the list of sold items too."
The last item...
[ Holy Sunsteel Ingots ×3 ]
[ Rank: B ]
Three golden-colored ingots that had a gentle glow even without mana infusion.
The expert said excitedly.
"The value of these is extremely high, this is the first time I’m seeing such metal, it’s as if they have been blessed by light itself, they can be used very well in making weapons."
"It can give weapons the attribute of light power."
"Sell these too." Lian smiled.
Nearly an hour later... all assessments were finished, and the expert activated the holographic screen on the table.
The numbers appeared one after another, finally.
Total Estimated Value: $3,084,000
Kain unconsciously let out a short whistle.
"I really didn’t think they would be worth this much."
The expert smiled.
"If you hold a private auction yourself, they would probably sell for even more."
After the sale procedures were completed... Lian turned to Kain.
"Half the money for you."
"No." Kain almost without hesitation shook his head.
"Why?"
"I obtained something from that ruin that is worth more than all of this combined." He continued.
"Besides, you were the one who found those treasures, if it weren’t for you... I would have died there, that’s enough for me."
Lian looked at his friend for a few seconds, then did not insist further.
"Okay."
When both left the National Awakened Center building, suddenly a message was sent to both of their phones.
[ Academy Announcement ]
[ The first Special Area discovered by the Federation has officially become available ]
[ Special Area Exploration Slots Distribution Begins Tomorrow ]
"So Seraphina was right, the distribution really starts tomorrow, how many slots do you think there are?" Kain said in surprise.
Lian stared at the screen without a word, Special areas... the same areas he had only heard the name of until today.