End of the Magic Era

Chapter 40: Sky-High Price

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

Regardless of how talented an Apprentice Alchemist was, they needed time to mature. The abstruse and unfathomable alchemy theories and the boundless sea of alchemy formulas both needed a lot of time to digest and understand. Many Apprentice Alchemists failed to ever become full-fledged Alchemists.

It could be said that a 30-year-old Alchemist was a rare talent.

As for someone like Cadgar that had become a Great Alchemist at the age of forty, he was unique in Thousand Sails City.

But now, Cadgar himself had described this Great Alchemist that had compounded a Ghost Potion and a Volcano Potion as “younger than they could imagine”...

Although Cadgar didn’t say how young the person was, everyone here could more or less guess that the age was younger than 35, or else Cadgar wouldn’t have exaggerated so much.

The Black Horn Auction House had already taken root in Thousand Sails City for twenty years, so everyone present knew of the character of the Chief Auctioneer. This Chief Auctioneer had always been rigorous, and even during an auction, Cadgar had never excessively exaggerated the introduction of an item being auctioned.

When Cadgar said that there was only one of some item, even if you searched all of Noscent, you definitely wouldn’t find a second identical item.

It was the same now.

Cadgar had said that this was a Great Alchemist younger than they’d imagine, so this Great Alchemist was definitely no older than 35.

Thinking about it, a Great Alchemist that was younger than 35 and could enter the realm of a Master anytime, such a crazy possibility made everyone in the audience feel feverish. They all made guesses and discussed the possibilities. The interest that these forces held toward this future Master Alchemist even surpassed the value of the two potions themselves.

In just a few minutes, there were at least seven or eight major figures that had called for their most trusted and capable subordinates, whispering them some orders.

In short, before bidding even started on the final lot, it had already caused a huge commotion across the entire venue.

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“The following two potions will start at the low price of three hundred thousand gold, and the minimum bid increment is thirty thousand gold.”

Seeing that he had reached the effect he wanted to achieve, Cadgar officially called for bids on the final lot with a pleased smile.

“1 000 000 gold.” Cadgar’s words had just finished when a voice came out from a box on the second floor. “These two potions will belong to our Ash Tower.”

The voice that announced the bid was the one who had bid against Solomon for the Hell Destroyer incantation.

The hatred and hostility between the Sage Tower and Ash Tower could be traced back to the distant 3rd Dynasty. These two forces residing in the eastern part of the kingdom were constantly fighting each other. They fought over everything, natural resources, talents, knowledge, equipment, they were completely unscrupulous in their attempts to suppress each other.

As early as several hundred years ago, there was a large-scale war which resulted in many mages losing their lives. It also planted the seeds of hatred in the hearts of the survivors. Although there had been no open conflicts for the next hundred-plus years, the battles in the dark were even more intense than they had been before the great war.

Since the Ash Tower had placed a bid, the Sage Tower would naturally follow, unwilling to fall behind.

Although the Hell Destroyer incantation had cost 1 400 000 gold, half of it had been covered by Lin Yun, so Solomon still had enough funds to put up a fight for something of this caliber.

“You said these potions would belong to the Ash Tower?” Cadgar had yet to say anything when Solomon’s coughing voice came out of the Sage Tower box. “1 100 000 gold.”

This clear provocation was a challenge to the Ash Tower’s reputation, so how could the Ash Tower allow that? A cold snort came out before another bid followed.

“1 300 000 gold.”

“1 400 000 gold.”

“1 500 000 gold.”

“1 600 000 gold.”

“1 700 000 gold.”

...

The two men kept outbidding each other, and in no time at all, the price had reached 1 700 000 gold without anyone else getting involved. This was such a big venue with so many forces, yet no one else had placed a bid.

Who didn’t know that these two eastern forces were irreconcilable adversaries? It seemed that they were fighting over two potions right now, but they were mainly suppressing each other.

This auction was akin to a battle between two major magic forces.

But it wasn’t as if everyone was scared of these two forces. All those sitting here today were great and influential figures. If they found something that they felt was worth it and was highly beneficial to them, they would go for it even if they risked offending another power.

The problem was that they hadn’t reached that stage yet.

The ownership of the two potions had yet to be decided, so offending two forces at once wasn’t such a good idea.

It was better to wait.

Wait until the outcome of their battle was decided, and it wouldn’t be too late to bid afterwards. No matter how overbearing the two forces were, it wouldn’t stop others from participating, right? Even if they could threaten them, could they threaten the Black Horn Auction House too?

Thus, everyone waited for one of the sides to drop out of the bidding war.

Fortunately, it didn’t last long.

Once the price reached 1 700 000 gold, Solomon couldn’t keep bidding. There was nothing he could do about it, as even if Lin Yun shared half of the expenses of the Hell Destroyer, he still had to pay 700 000 gold for it. This wasn’t a small amount. Spending another 2 000 000 gold on two potions wasn’t something that the Sage Tower could handle.

Of course, even if they couldn’t handle it, Solomon definitely wouldn’t just directly admit defeat.

“Forget it, the Sage Tower doesn’t lack those two potions, I shall take pity on your Ash Tower and let you have them...”

And the High Mage from the Ash Tower only sneered back.

This bidding war between the two forces definitely ended up as a win for the Ash Tower.

But the win of the Ash Tower didn’t mean that the auction for the two potions had ended. On the contrary, the true auction could finally begin.

Just as expected, Solomon’s withdrawal was followed by a new bid.

“1 800 000 gold.”

Lin Yun glanced toward the source of the voice and saw that the bid had come from a middle-aged man that seemed to be about 40 years old with a tall stature and a stern gaze. He was carrying a dark greatsword on his back. A thick, bloody smell came from the greatsword. He was definitely a powerful person that had been through an abundance of slaughter, as only such a person could handle the murderous weapon on his back.

“That is Sasu, Silver Moon Mercenary Group’s Leader.” The blow of losing the auction to the Ash Tower didn’t seem as great as many would imagine. Solomon was smiling. When he saw a bit of puzzlement in Lin Yun’s face, he patiently explained, “During your father’s time, he cooperated a lot with them. The Silver Moon Mercenary Group’s wealth isn’t ordinary. Watch, the Ash Tower will quickly end up crying...”

“2 000 000 gold.”

The middle-aged High Mage felt like weeping. When he placed the bid, his voice was hoarse. Although he had defeated Solomon, the Ash Tower couldn’t keep going. 2 000 000 gold wasn’t a small amount at all. Even a major force like the Ash Tower would take a large hit if they had to pay out so much money.

“2 500 000 gold.”

“...”

When the price reached 2 500 000 gold, there was a long pause, during which the Ash Tower seemed to be struggling, before they placed a bid of 2 600 000 gold.

But right as they bid...

“3 000 000 gold.”

This time, the Ash Tower box was completely silent.

It wasn’t just the Ash Tower...

The entire venue was silent. Everyone was looking at Sasu with shock and disbelief. Before the bidding had begun no one would have expected such a shocking number. This was 3 000 000 gold, if invested in any industry of Thousand Sails City, it would be enough to cause an earthquake.

That’s right, the two potions on the pedestal could be described as valuable, it could even be said that they were some of the finest items ever auctioned at the Black Horn Auction House, but no matter how valuable or how great they were, were they worth such a huge amount?

3 000 000 gold was enough to invite a real Master Alchemist...

If someone else did this, many of those in the venue might think that person was a lunatic, but this was Sasu. Sasu’s insight had been famous in Thousand Sails City. In over a dozen years, none of his decisions had turned out to be mistakes, including investing in the Flashing Gold chamber of commerce and having a good relationship with the Sage Tower. In one matter after another, people felt like he had made a crazy choice, but afterwards, they saw that the vision of the leader of the Silver Moon Mercenaries was far-reaching.

Could it be that it was the same for these two potions?

Thinking of this, a few people who still had the means to compete couldn’t help but be swayed...

But even if they were swayed, this was 3 000 000 gold, after all. Their spirit of competitiveness just rose up for a bit before falling again.

3 000 000 gold was a bid that scared everyone.

“Leader Sasu of the Silver Moon Mercenaries has placed a bid for 3 000 000 gold, is there anyone willing to bid higher?” At this time, Cadgar had a slightly flushed face on stage, and his voice was a bit louder than usual.

Although the Black Horn Auction House had made quite a few huge sales in these past few years, to have an auction that would have bid increments of hundreds of thousands before finally reaching 3 000 000 gold, it was the first time even for Cadgar himself.