Meanwhile, while everything in the past few chapters was happening in the first place...

In a certain room of the [Library of Nowhere], Logos and Pathos were recording and analyzing everything that they could get through the eyes of Zhen Liu and the kaijin.

For the most part, everything that they had seen was more or less what they anticipated seeing in Rainbowden.

There were a whole fuckton of craftsmen out and about, there were several tons of unusual and rare materials being used to make all sorts of random crafts, and there were a whole mess of foreign nobles, tourists, and merchants who came to the city to acquire such goods for their own uses.

However, there were precisely two moments in all of this recording that caused the curators to hyperfocus.

First was the encounter with Alain at the Carved Dream Auction house.

Due to recent events, Zhen Liu's connection to the [Library of Nowhere] was much stronger than before, and the quality of data he could send back for the curators to process was much greater than before.

And it was through this influx of strong data that the duo could now see that Alain's parameters had changed dramatically since they had last encountered him in Undertow.

During that initial encounter, previous data showed that while he had remarkable compatibility with a pair of wings that once belonged to a Kaijin loyal to the Devout Heretic, there was still some resistance between the two.

Whether that was due to the fact that man didn't have aether channels up until that point or it was a case of simple donation rejection, either way, they could tell that Alain wasn't able to bring out the full power of his grafted Kaijin parts.

However, that was no longer the case.

Whether it was due to time and effort, or some wonder medicine, or because Buzza managed to perfect his fucked-up procedure was unknown to Logos and Pathos.

What was known to them, though, was that not only had the grafted wings had fully become one with Alain body and soul, but they had also shown signs of growing and evolving.

A phenomenon that only happened when zakos or proto-kaijin became fully fledged Kaijin.

In other words, there was a very high chance that the Alain and grafted wings that they were seeing today were going to become so much more than they ever anticipated.

And such a realization...scared the everliving shit out of the curators.

=Initial analysis suggests that Alain is at the Aether Lord or King stage, but [Chaos] and aether readings suggest the man is equivalent in strength to what happens if our lord decides to combine with one of his kaijin in battle.=

Hate to be the stick in the mud/analyzer of bad news here, but which Kaijin do you mean? Last I checked, they were still at different power levels...more or less, Pathos brought up while referencing the stat sheet of the kaijin.

=Frosttusk,= Logos immediately answered. =However, I don't think Alain is as strong as when our lord or the Ragnarockers did that extreme fusion trick of theirs.=

So does that mean Alain is still in acceptable opponent range?

=Perhaps, but if they find something that could enhance their abilities while at this auction, or heaven forbid, they manage to acquire the Rainbowsmith's inheritance...our lord might be cooked.=

Medium rare?

=Well done and toasted.=

Fuck, that's...that's not good.

As for the second bit of footage that caused them to hyperfocus, well...this is something that is better shown than explained.

=Alright, on the plus side, none of our lord's other enemies show any signs of becoming a major threat. Which means we can—what the fuck is that?=

What's what?

=That.=

OH!

...Scene change time; we're going back to the Cyan Stone Auction House…

^...and sold to the bladesmith from the Sky Hammer Hall! You know the rules; you can claim your prize in the backrooms once the event is over!^

^Of course!^

"Huh...I think that was the last item we were selling for this auction," Harriet stated as she continued to keep track of all of the auctions that had just been sold.

"Already?" Zhen Xing noted with surprise. "Damn. And we haven't even bought anything yet."

"Master always told me to be as picky as possible when picking out the right materials for a commission," Axer commented on Zhen Xing's observation. "Just because something is potent doesn't mean it's appropriate for someone."

"That tracks," Zhen Tai agreed while remembering the time he tried to use a Bronze-tier Aquarii-aligned aether treasure. The results were…less than ideal that day.

While they were all conversing amongst themselves, Alicia was busy calculating the amount of money they had made with all of the goods they had auctioned off during this event.

Even without an abacus or any other tools needed to make math significantly easier to visualize, Alicia knew more than most on how to calculate things such as profit and earnings.

So far, she was more satisfied with what she had calculated.

"So far we have made a grand total of nine hundred and fifty-six thousand pieces of gold," Alicia calculated. "Depending on the upcoming items, I believe we can use half of the money to acquire materials for Axer's projects. Barring any of these artisans suddenly deciding to pay exorbitant prices for materials."

"I've seen it happen before," Axer commented.

"...y'all artisans are more than willing to sacrifice your limbs for your craft, huh?" Zhen Xing asked.

"Yes."

Shortly after this observation was made, a new item was once again rolled onto the auction house's stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this next item is…a little strange," the auctioneer proclaimed in a mysterious voice. "Because not even our best appraisers can determine its attributes."

"Huh?"

"Impossible."

"Huh…is it just me, or do you guys sense something…familiar?" Zhen Tai asked as he focused on the stage for the first time this entire auction.

…Meanwhile, above the stage…

Razorstella, Screamira, and Springerdermain continued to watch the ongoing auction with a look of abject boredom on their faces.

None of the materials present were of any interest to the kaijin, especially since none of them save their creator was a crafter of any skill worth a damn. Sure, they could speculate what kind of kaijin would pop out from the materials used, but half of that was based on the [Core] installed too.

As such, they couldn't help but get to the point where they began to question their purpose in being here.

[The producer's cousins are strong enough to defend themselves, and if push come to shove, Alicia there can probably trounce any normal threat, right?] Screamira asked her fellow kaijin.

[Pretty sure.]

[Yeah.]

[Then I think we can…hold up, what the fuck?]

However, before the Mysticlassic kaijin could commit to the idea of leaving this boring auction house to do something more entertaining, something was rolled out onto the stage that caused them to pause and stare.

And for the first time in their existences…they began to drool.

[What…what is that energy?]

[I don't know…but I really want it!]

…

With a statement as strange as the item being unappraisable suddenly pouring out of the auctioneer's mouth, many artisans in the crowd found it weird that they would only cover it with a plain linen cloth.

No protections or wards meant that anyone could just run their senses all over it and determine whether or not it was legitimate or fake in an instant.

Hell, several of the audience members did exactly that once they saw the cloth-covered item.

As soon as they tried to do, they found that something was…off.

"What the hell?"

"What's going on with my aether? It's not…working right."

Some of the audience members worked with weird materials of a similar nature. There were some that would devour aether as soon as it was directed in their direction, others that repel specific types of aether, and some that convert the aether outright to other types.

However, this time was…different.

It didn't feel like the aether was being devoured by the material, converted to another type, or outright repelled.

If anything, it felt as if the aether probes they used were all…scrambled and distorted.

As if they were being…[Undone].

Eventually, once everyone who wanted to try and take a look had their fill, the auctioneer removed the cloth and exposed the material for everyone to see.

The reaction to its reveal though were rather…mixed.

"Huh?"

"It's so…ordinary looking."

"Then why the hell can't I analyze it…"

Resting on a plain wooden pedestal was a strange, lumpy rock, one that even the greatest of metalworkers in the crowd couldn't help but dismiss as being "ordinary."

However, the story behind this rock and its weird name changed that "ordinary" into "extraordinary."

"The seller of this strange specimen claims that he found it after chasing a shooting star across a valley. Instead of finding it in the middle of a smoldering crater, though, he claimed that this stone simply floated down until lightly touching the grass. He didn't know what this specimen was to be called, but the moment he touched it, a single word came into his mind, one that we used for its name. Ladies, and gentlemen ,we present to you the [Entropy] Ore."