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"Hi." Ern waved his hand.

Axalt did not react and prepared for the contest by placing his hand on the table. Ern shrugged, and they squeezed each other\'s palms tightly.

"Here we go!" The aide said.

Axalt moved abruptly, and Ern\'s hand headed toward the table. Axalt gradually drew closer, but the progress stopped when Ern\'s hand almost touched the table. Axalt looked at Ern in surprise and tensed, the veins bulging on his arm, but it was as if he was trying to move the rock.

"Surprised? You, Axalts, often overestimate yourself. Your physical strength is great and deserves respect, but you are too courteous to the martial arts. It takes might to win!" Ern uttered and, in one motion, pressed Axalt\'s palm into the table.

"Winner - Ern Lernch!"

"How did you do that?" Axalt didn\'t understand why he lost so easily. Ern was playing him like a child.

"Fight more, train less. That\'s the only advice I can give you. Good luck."

Ern\'s fight was one of the last, and the first round of arm wrestling was over.

"You like to mess with your opponents, right?" Wain said.

"Don\'t be so hard on me, I\'m just having fun. Honestly, it\'s a pretty boring challenge, so I\'m just trying to make it a little more interesting."

"By the way, will Artur and people of his status be attending the auction?"

"Yeah, I\'ve got you a little fooled, there will be more than three hundred people at the auction."

"Hmm? Why? Don\'t bidders have to prove themselves worthy to get into the auction?"

"That\'s because they\'re invited guests, but you\'re right, the rules work for them too. The thing is, among the guests, anyone can compete with Artur. They don\'t need to prove anything, that they are strong is a fact."

"I see. The strong always have many privileges."

"Ern, I think I understand now why you decided to participate in this challenge, even though it\'s unnecessary. You want to have fun with the newbies." Artur said as he approached them.

Ern was puzzled by Artur\'s words, he didn\'t expect Artur to say that.

"What? What are you talking about?" Wain asked.

"Hmm? You two are communicating so well. I thought Ern had already had time to tell you everything. There\'s no point in him taking the tests, since he has a pass to the auction as it is."

"Hmm?" Wain looked at Ern.

"Damn, Artur, who asked you to say that? I wanted to keep the intrigue to the very end so it would be a surprise." Ern sighed regretfully, "The thing is, the auction will be selling something I created, so I don\'t need a pass."

"I see, that was unexpected..." Wain muttered and thought, \'Looks like Ern is not only strong, but he is also an extremely skilled blacksmith. He has created an object worthy of being auctioned as a lot.\'

Wain became even more confident that he would gain much from his and Ern\'s collaboration, and he wanted to see what Ern had forged as soon as possible.

Soon the second stage passed, and the arm wrestling challenge was over. Wain and Ern easily defeated their opponents and entered the castle.

Thirty minutes before the auction began, preparations had already begun, and the invited guests were gradually taking their seats.

Artur and his men were busy organizing, and the castle was quite crowded.

The auction was held in the underground hall of the castle. It was huge, like an amphitheater. The number of seats was up to a thousand, and they were divided into two levels. At the top sat the guests, and at the bottom were those who had passed the test.

"Wain, where are you going?" Ern asked, watching Wain go downstairs.

"Hmm? I\'m not an invited guest. Isn\'t that where I belong?"

"Huh, yes, but...we\'ll break the rules. Come with me, since one of the lots is an item I created, I have a few privileges." Ern headed upstairs and gestured for Wain to follow him.

Wain shrugged his shoulders.

...

Ern\'s place was a small room with several seats, so Wain didn\'t have to stand. It was a balcony, and they looked out over the hall from above.

"Isn\'t it better up here than downstairs?" Ern muttered and opened a bottle of wine. He filled two glasses and handed one to Wain.

"You know, this is pretty weird."

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"I mean this." Wain pointed to the large chunks of meat on the table, "Usually in places like this, you serve fruit or cheese or nuts with wine, but not a few pounds of meat..."

"Ahahahaha, you\'re just still not used to Demon culture. Fighting, meat, and blacksmithing, those are our three steeds in which we are not going to yield to anyone." Ern shook his glass slightly and took a sip.

"Fine." Ern put the glass aside and ate a piece of meat that barely fit in his mouth. He chewed on it with a blissful face and enjoyed it.

"Well... it\'s a long time before I get used to it, but I definitely like it. You Demons prefer desire over aesthetics, right?"

"Something like that."

Ern watched the floor below, the attendees and various guests taking their seats, and slowly the auction was nearing its start.

"Hmm, you said that besides the contestants, only those equal to Artur could get into the auction, but I don\'t sense any powerful auras from them."

There were nine hundred seats on the first floor, and only a third of them were occupied by those who passed the tests.

"I\'m sorry, I tricked you again. You can get into the auction just by paying ten thousand Void Souls, which is what one seat costs. I just wanted you to join me in the trials, don\'t hold it against me." Ern smiled.

Wain was silent. He wasn\'t mad at Ern, as he would have chosen trials over fees anyway, but Wain was once again convinced that Ern was crafty and curious. He didn\'t know if that was a bad thing or a good thing.