He approached the massive door, half-buried in sand and dust, and began chipping away at the edges until he created a gap just wide enough for him to slip through.
But the moment he stepped inside, he froze, it was totally different from the outside. The interior was surprisingly well-preserved—almost unnervingly so. The walls, though ancient, were clean, and the faint traces of enchantment runes glimmered softly in the corners.
Mike's eyes narrowed as he looked around. "Most likely it's self-cleaning and preservation runic enchantment… that means this building was once important. Very important."
He stepped deeper inside, boots echoing softly against the polished floor. The massive hall opened up before him, its architecture breathtaking—tall pillars carved from white stone streaked with veins of crimson crystal, walls inlaid with golden sigils, and fragments of murals that hinted at long-lost grandeur.
"This… definitely looks like a royal residence," he murmured, awe flickering in his voice as his gaze swept across the towering chamber.
"This whole place is as good as new… unlike the outside," he muttered, running his hand along a wall that looked as if it had been cleaned just yesterday.
Even the carvings and patterns appeared freshly engraved, not eroded like the ruins outside.
"Hmmm… I wonder if this place have any treasures. If the decorations outside are epic quality… then inside here might be even better ."
Thinking that, Mike eyes lit up as he scanned left and right.
He noticed two hallways branching off from the main chamber—one to the left and one to the right.
He chose the right side first.
The moment he stepped through the doorway, he found himself in a larger hall, similar in structure to the previous one but noticeably more organized and polished. The pillars were intact, the walls cleaner, and the floor was covered in red beautiful carpet.
There were also lot of furniture inside.
"This feels more like a… reception room," he noted as he walked further inside.
Then his eyes locked onto something.
A row of knight statues stood along the walls—each fully armored, each in a ready stance, each holding a weapon.
He used Appraisal on one of them and his eyes widened slightly.
It was another Epic-grade knight set.
"Seriously? Even the guest or reception room has Epic-grade sets?" Mike muttered in disbelief.
He wasted no time and quickly stored the set into his inventory.
Soon, the whole room was stripped clean of anything valuable.
But the fact that even this secondary hall contained Epic-quality gear only confirmed one thing:
This palace belonged to someone extremely powerful.
"My inventory is full… Let's sell everything and then return," he mumbled before logging out.
The next moment, his eyes opened back in his real room.
Without wasting even a second, he headed downstairs, told his mom he was going out, and rushed straight toward the Awakeners Market.
This time, he went to one of the largest auction houses in the city.
The moment he entered, a neatly dressed lady approached him with a polite smile.
"Sir, what would you like to buy?" she asked.
"I'm here to sell something. Or rather… auction it," Mike replied.
Her brows rose slightly, but she nodded and immediately guided him deeper into the building.
After a few minutes, she brought him into a Appraisal room. Being the biggest Auction house, of course thet can't just put any item in their Auction, So the appraisal room to make sure of the value of the items.
Inside, a young man was dozing off in a chair—clearly bored out of his mind.
The moment Mike and the woman entered, the young man jerked awake.
"Oh! A customer? You're here for appraisal?" he asked, straightening his posture instantly.
Mike nodded. "Yes. Take a look at this—I have some great things I found."
He waved his hand once.
Twenty sets of Black Mithril Knight armor appeared around him in a neat pile.
Both the woman and the young appraiser stared—wide-eyed, their faces turning pale.
Even at a glance, without touching a single piece, they could feel the overwhelming quality.
The young man swallowed hard.
"S-Sir… even without appraisal, I can already tell these are… extremely high-grade. Please—sit. I'll begin the appraisal right away," he said, his voice trembling slightly.
Mike still had five Black Mithril sets as well as one Silver Mithril set that he had held back from auctioning.
Soon, the guy finished the appraisal and handed the report to Mike.
"Sir, my name is Jordan," he said.
Mike nodded. "Mike. Nice to meet you."
Jordan cleared his throat.
"Sir Michael, out of these twenty sets, all are Epic-grade items. Additionally, they all have set effects, putting them at the upper tier of Epic items."
"This quality can only be sold at the monthly auction, where everyone gathers. That's where you'll earn the maximum profit. The next one is just 20 days later. So, sir, what do you think?" he asked.
Mike thought for a moment. "Hmm. Sell one at tonight's auction. At the monthly one, we'll release the rest."
Both the lady and Jordan straightened up instantly.
"That strategy will attract more customers," Jordan said. "Normally, we take 20%, but since Sir came with such generous lot the very first time of your visit, we'll only take 10%."
"That works. Handle the rest with care," Mike said.
Both Jordan and the young lady hurriedly nodded.
"Also, do you guys have any wyvern or dragon-related eggs? Even dead ones will work," Mike asked.
Both of them exchanged a glance before Jordan replied,
"Sir, we will prepare the list by tonight's auction."
"When you come to watch the auction tonight, we'll show you the full list of all available dragon-bloodline eggs," Jordan added.
Mike nodded, took his auction ticket, and left.
Once he was no longer visible, the young lady asked,
"Sir, why did you drop the commission to only 10% for an Epic-quality full knight set? It will easily go past ten million. Won't we lose a lot by lowering it from 20% to 10%?"
Jordan sighed lightly.
"You know my class is Glorious Merchant, and I have the Merchant's Sixth Sense skill. It lets me feel whether someone can bring me far more profit in the future. When he walked in, my sixth sense rang like crazy. That's why I lowered it to just 10%—to keep him."
He leaned back, confident.
"Now that we've treated him well, he'll come to us again… and again."
The young lady nodded in realization.
"No wonder you're already so great at this, Sir."
Jordan simply smiled. He might look like just a normal guy, but in truth, he was the owner of the Glorious Merchant Auction House—and the reason why, in just three years, this auction house had risen to one of the top establishments in the entire city.