76. The Sword Breaker (below)

This bronze shield is so broken that it is not even worth repairing, but the magic crystal in the centre of the shield is still intact. If a craftsman is hired to remove the crystal in its entirety, it will still be very profitable after the cost of the work, but if the crystal breaks during the process of removing it, there is a chance that the money will be lost and the remaining pieces of the crystal will be worth the craftsman's wages at best.

The shield was of little interest to me after Koro's introduction. It was at best a magic crystal, and at present such a valuable magic energy stone was of little use to me. The merchants from the human race were not interested in such a risky investment, as it was clearly not wise to buy a magic stone with uncertainty when whatever they bought would make a fortune back in the Green Empire. There were, however, many orcs dressed more like merchants who were interested in the shield and bid for it, which was eventually bought back by a fat werewolf for four gold coins and 54 silver.

The deal was done.

He carefully picked up the tray and walked to the edge of the platform so that the people in the stands could see the broken sword more clearly, and then said in a low voice: "This broken sword should have been at least a blue quality rune magic sword, but after the blade was severed during the battle, the upper half of the sword was completely destroyed because the blade itself was severely damaged. The sword has lost all of its gaining properties, and even if it is recast, it will only become an ordinary longsword. However, the broken sword still has the original runic sword sharpness value, and although the magic pattern is broken and incomplete, when the broken sword is in use, the magic pattern on the broken sword can still be triggered occasionally to bring out the magic effect on the broken sword. The starting bid for this broken sword of an irreparable runic magic sword is three gold."

I felt that Koro's voice was hoarse, probably because he should have taken a sip of water; anyone who talks for hours on end would have a dry mouth. As Koro stood on the stage introducing the broken sword, there was already a lot of chatter on the stage.

"I say brother, what kind of weapon do you think can cut through a magic rune sword?"

"I think my big axe should be able to, right?"

"Get lost as far as your family is concerned, you still want to cut through a rune sword with this broken open mountain? People use more secret silver in their swords than you use in a hundred axes combined."

"So you're saying that if you melt this broken sword down, the secret silver refined out of it could fatten up our brothers for a while?"

"I said you're brainless, but you're still going to promote it, aren't you? I guess the other broken sword was melted down long ago, and the rest of it was thrown away at the auction house."

"Where are you two from? Is this rune sword that easy to melt? The real value of this sword lies in the broken magic runes on it, understand?"

"Fuck off!"

I felt that the orc warriors sitting in front of me all seemed to have a point, but it should not be the most valuable thing about the broken sword. At that moment, Kiger next to me gave me a gentle nudge on the arm and said softly beside me, "It's a Broken Swordsman!"

This was the first time I had heard such a strange name and I was a little confused, looking at her with a million question marks drawn on my head, only to see her eyes slightly narrowed like two curved crescent moons as she said to me with a smile, "Actually, technically speaking, it's not really a broken sword anymore. When this magical rune sword breaks, it can be called a dagger, and it has a new name, the Broken Swordsman. The Broken Swordsman collectively refers to the remaining usable parts of these irreparable and very valuable broken swords, and a Broken Swordsman like this is of good material itself, and the remaining parts are even more carefully repaired to look like a dagger, and retains the sharpness and some of the magical effects on the original blade, which is considered to be of good quality among Broken Swordsmen."

Without realising it, I saw Katrina peeking at the dagger on the table, her red eyes blinking in fascination at the dagger on the tray, and I asked her, "Katrina, do you want this dagger?"

Katrina was taken aback by my sudden question, but when her red eyes looked into mine, she looked affirmative and nodded shyly, which I would have ignored if I hadn't known her character so well. By this time Kiger had put her hand up and said loudly, "Three gold and twenty silver coins!"

I curiously went around behind Katrina, put my arm around her neck and whispered to her ear, "Why do you like this dagger, it looks out of place, and the hilt and stump don't look good either!"

Katrina blushed and whispered to me with some embarrassment, "I wanted to buy a normal dagger for protection, but at the beginning of the free auction there were no daggers for sale, perhaps the orcs usually use them as cutlery for cutting meat. It's too expensive."

Even if Kiger had paid for it, Katarina didn't want to waste her money, the beautiful girl's had a kind heart that thought of others in every way.

But that wasn't my concern, because once I had sold those magic scrolls I had made for sixteen gold coins, I didn't think it was a problem anymore. I continued to say to Katrina: "Hey! I'm not talking about that, I mean you could maybe pick a longer weapon, like a scimitar or a long sword or something, didn't you just auction off a water shadow sword or something? It's dangerous to fight with a dagger! Or I could buy you a longbow or something, it doesn't matter if you can shoot it or not, just hide behind Aziz and shoot a couple of arrows, no one would blame you if you missed anyway!"

Katrina smiled sweetly at my comment and said shyly, "I'm not as weak as you think! Besides, I'm more flexible with a dagger and can carry more things."

While Katrina and I were chatting, Kiger had already auctioned off the Swordbreaker for three gold and seventy silver coins and began urging me to run up and deal with the auctioneer, Korro. I realised that neither the orcs nor the human traders were interested in such a broken dagger; most of the daggers worn by orcs were flesh-cutting knives or skinning knives, both for cutlery and for simple disposal of precious beasts in the wild, but few orcs would use a dagger in combat. Human merchants were probably reluctant to buy such a battered dagger, the exact value of which was hard to say.

So in this case, Kiger was well on his way to auctioning off the Shattered Swordsman before he had even had a chance to get through the bidding.

I ran up to the stage with my money bag upside down and dutifully handed the auctioneer Koro as many gold coins as I could, only for him to take the opportunity to pat me on the head and praise me for being such a clever little kid, which nearly drove me mad on the spot, I just couldn't stand Koro's odd outfit, it always reminded me of some painful memories, and in this day and age, anything about the past I wanted to keep carefully hidden in the deepest recesses of my heart Otherwise, if anyone found out, I could be nailed to a wooden frame and burned in a fire as a heretic or something.

After paying, I unceremoniously grabbed the Swordbreaker and ran back, giving the middle-aged orc, Koro, a stern look as I turned around.

But as I took the Shattered Swordsman, I was surprised that I could clearly feel the magical element contained in the dagger as I ran. I found that the broken magic pattern on the broken blade had been completely destroyed, but there seemed to be a complete magic pattern preserved on the hilt of the sword. It was worth every penny.

Inadvertently, as I ran, my hand slashed across a wooden bench in my path, and the tip of the Shatterer's blade sank into the tofu as if it were a large section of the bench, causing the orc sitting on it to look carefully at his leg and glance at me warily until I had run away.

For the shattered sword to be so sharp was also a cause for a low gasp from the orcs around me who saw the scene, and I had not thought that the broken sword was so powerful, and hastened to hold it carefully back in my hand. When Kig saw it running back, she sarcasticly said, "I'm really good at swordsmanship, it's a pity I'm not a warrior, and without saying a word, she snatched the dagger out of my hand and praised the broken sword, boasting how discerning she was to buy such a sharp dagger, and then said to Katrina, "Go back and tell your sister Singh to have her man make a leather scabbard, don't you Shining people like to strap daggers to your thighs?"

Katrina was so ashamed that she almost stuck her head between her legs, but dared not answer Kiger's slightly teasing question and whispered "yes", refusing to even take the Swordbreaker. I had a strong nosy mind for such things and hurried over to ask Kiger, "Isn't this girl a hybrid of the Icarus beasts and rabbits of the Eastern Continent? What does she have to do with the Shining Spirits?"

Kiger pushed me away and said, "Don't you know that the Icarus rabbits are also known as the Shining Ones?"

I said, "If you don't tell me, how am I supposed to know this?

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