The Archangel of Death - Chapter 58
58: Auction “Again?” 58: Auction “Again?” Welcome Bumfuzzel96, Jasper_Collins, and K_Y_6769 to my novel.
I hope you guys enjoyed it enough to support me.
As for the grammatical errors, I am waiting for my spring break so I can have enough time to fix this issue.
===== Chapter 58 Today was a joyous occasion.
It was the day I would get the wealth of a lifetime.
“The first elder of the Cortum empire himself has come to attend this auction.
I hope you have something satisfactory for him.” Talisa spoke nervously.
I had never seen her nervous before this but even she was shaken at the mention of the first elder.
It had to be kept in mind that even the granddaughter of the president of the central government had to play by the rules.
But a mere mention of the first elder and she is scared out of her wits.
“Don’t worry.
What I have today will make people forget the fear of the first elder and compete like crazy.” Besides, he isn’t the only important person here today.
Of course, he is the only one of divine rank but that doesn’t mean that the others would just simply give up.
“I can only hope so,” Talisa replied with a sigh and left.
===== “Ladies and gentlemen, today is a special day for we have some special guests.
We have already wasted too much of your time with earlier items so without further ado, allow me to represent you a potion that is the only one to ever exist.
Even our client says that he hasn’t been able to find another one like this ever.” Talisa hyped up the auction and then a pedestal was dragged to the stage.
This one was covered since it was a special surprise.
And unlike all other times, I wasn’t in a VIP room but behind the stage.
Of course, that also left me vulnerable to detection like Rachel did but this time, I was prepared.
Talisa had applied charms around here that would allow me to be hidden from almost everyone.
I might not be able to hide myself if the first elder tried seriously, but I doubt anyone would be able to after the potion’s effect is released.
Tonight is the night of mayhem.
Whoever obtains this potion, will be feared for quite a long time.
A rank-SS potion by the standards of this world.
Of course, like every other potion, Allison still gave it a very low rank.
According to Allison, and I agree with her completely, this potion was inefficient.
Some skills had the same effect as this potion in the shop.
Of course, they came with some limitations, but the biggest limitation of this potion was that it could only be used once.
Skills could be used many times regardless of the limitations.
“Ladies and gentlemen, although you have bought these potions before and you have experienced their effects yourselves, however, I still doubt that you will believe me even after I reveal the effect of this potion.” Talisa was good at hyping up the audience.
Of course, what she was going to introduce was going to be a potion that everyone would want.
And what Talisa was worried about earlier might happen as well.
[What?] ‘Bloodshed.’ [It won’t be that severe] [It’s just a D-rank item] ‘According to your standards.’ Even mine.
This potion wasn’t anything important.
It only halves mana expenditure.
But if I used the emperor to explain the strength potion, then the first elder would be perfect to explain this potion.
If the first elder, the greatest magician blessed to be in creation or a guardian of races were to take the mana concentration potion, then it would be the same as saying that their mana pools have doubled for a limited amount of time.
And unlike the earlier potion, this one doesn’t last for just an hour but a whole day.
The first elder is already a monster, give him this potion and he might even be enough to contend against the guardians of other races.
So even if most of the people here are afraid of the first elder, they won’t allow him to have it so easily as the empire was already a menace for them.
What would happen if it was to also take possession of such a potion?
“What I have here ladies and gentlemen,” Talisa spoke while slowly revealing the pedestal, “Is the most optimal treasure for mage blessed.
Of course, others can take it as well but its true potential only comes to form if a mage takes it.” Finally, the potion was completely revealed.
A transparent liquid inside a transparent vial and from a single glance seemed empty.
“This magical potion ladies and gentlemen, halves your mana expenditure.
That’s right!
You would only need half your usual mana to cast a spell!” Talisa loudly announced.
There was an unrest in the auction house.
It was filled to the brim and the people here were in thousands.
The unrest was for one simple reason.
The reason I stated earlier.
This potion basically means that your mana pool has been doubled.
I could imagine the shock and the terror on everyone’s faces in the VIP rooms.
“But what makes it even more special is its other quality.” She again spoke after a while once the shock had lessened a bit and once everyone’s attention was on her, she continued, “Unlike the rest of the potions, this one doesn’t last for an hour.” To create even more suspense, she stopped there and let the audience process the words for a while.
Normal people would think that it meant the potion lasted for much less time but those who understood her words knew it meant the opposite.
After all, she wouldn’t have said that it was more special than other potions in time limit.
“That is correct.
You guessed right.
This potion doesn’t last for an hour unlike the earlier potions but lasts FOR AN ENTIRE DAY!!!” Talisa loudly exclaimed which caused the earlier unrest to become a lot bigger than she had expected.
“Start the auction.” A clear and calm voice, filled with authority came from one of the VIP rooms.
It didn’t belong to the first elder so I didn’t know who it was.
Talisa nodded with a smile and said, “The price begins at 100,000 gold with an increment of 30,000 every bid.” Almost immediately, the same voice announced, “700,000.” A twenty times increase of the increment at once caused most of the competitors to give up abruptly.
This was the only person who had directly announced the price instead of using the mana crystals like others.
“730.” Still, some weren’t so willing to give up.
“760.” “790.” “820.” Talisa wasn’t even speaking.
The bid was increasing on her own.
This was the highest price something was sold at ever in the history of the auction and there seemed to be no stopping of the rise.
“910.” The same voice once again said.
By now, even though it was a treasure of a lifetime, many had given up on it.
Of course, not all of them.
“1000.” A new amount showed up on the scale.
Since this person was using the crystal, I didn’t know who it was.
“1030.” The voice from earlier announced to which the new competitor again raised the price, “1060.” Now only these were two competitors left.
I’m just going to call the one with the voice ‘A’ and the one without the voice, ‘B’.
‘A’ again increased the price to 1090 in response to which the price was again raised to 1120 by ‘B’.
‘A’ and ‘B’ kept on competing with each other until they reached the point of 1430.
Now I was all about money but from the looks of it, a fight was about to erupt.
It seems I have no choice. I didn’t know who ‘A’ was but I knew who ‘B’ was.
The first elder so I left the backstage and hurriedly made my way to the room of the first elder.
The guard outside moved to stop me but when he saw who I was, he hesitated.
I entered without even speaking to him and saw the first elder worriedly looking at the stage.
“What are you doing here?” He asked me when he saw me as the other officials couldn’t be disrespectful to me.
“Give up on this bid.” I simply spoke.
He pressed the crystal again which raised the price up to 1490.
“Are you in your senses?
I am here to purchase that on behalf of the emperor.” He replied curtly and waved his hand, asking me to leave.
“I am the supplier of that potion.” I simply said that froze him mid-movement.
I could have gone into technicalities but that would have taken too much time.
Getting straight to the point would help.
He turned to me and seriously asked, “Explain yourself.” “Give up the bid first,” I demanded.
The bid was at 1520 and Talisa was going on the second.
The first elder didn’t have long to contemplate.
“First elder?” An official from the side spoke, intending to remind him of the bid.
The first elder stared at me straight in the eye and after a second said, “Fine.” “Sold!!!
To the gentleman in the fifth booth!!!” her voice was overflowing with happiness.
Why wouldn’t it?
1.5 million gold.
That was how much the potion was sold for.
Even just fifteen percent of that would be enormous.
Well, I shouldn’t pour cold water on that happiness by telling her that our business relationship might come to an end tonight.
Of course, I will wait until she gets me the things that I need.
“Explain,” the first elder again spoke.
I turned to glance at the other officials and he understood my signal so he replied, “Very well.
See you at dinner.” He stood up and left and the officials followed after him.
Once they were gone, I left as well.
[Why did you stop it?] ‘The empire is my backing.’ Although not in the near future, right now I need their name.
I can’t let them take a hit on the financial side.
The money they were offering wasn’t very little.
But then again, the empire is divided on many fronts.
There would also be a battle for the possession of the potion that was bought using such enormous funds of the empire, which would end up causing internal strife.
So when I said that a fight would erupt, I didn’t mean here in the auction house, but in the empire.
So since I was taking the name of the empire, I should also give something back as well, right?
===== 1292000 gold.
Almost 1.3 million gold was handed to me by Talisa with trembling hands.
Her happiness was overflowing.
The auction house earned a quarter million thanks to me and just through this potion business, they ended up earning millions.
Of course, she would be happy.
“Are the things I wanted ready?” I asked.
Containing her happiness, she replied, “Yes.
Everything you requested has been procured but the price…” She was hesitant while mentioning the price, afraid that I would feel offended which would end up affecting our business relationship.
“Go ahead, say it.” I urged her to speak so she replied after a deep inhaling, “1.2 million gold.” I nodded and simply took 92000 gold from the pile of gold she had presented me with and leaned back in my seat.
She understood my meaning and replied, “I will get someone to bring them here.” She left and after a while, a servant came with many crystals and herbs that were giving off strong fragrances.
I examined all the herbs and nodded.
Just as I had finished checking on the stuff, Talisa entered and said, “Are you satisfied?” I nodded and asked, “Who was the one who purchased the potion?” Swiftly, without caring about confidentiality, she replied, “The president of the central government.” Immediately something came to mind.
Something the first elder had said about Sophien having managed to create potions.
[That would be impossible] Not impossible but even though Sophien is a genius when it comes to research, I doubt she would have been able to make it so quickly.
[So that means…] Yep.
I’m her lifeline in this case.
She is relying on me as her last resort if she can’t figure it out herself.
I have a strong feeling that I will be getting a visit from her soon.
But first, let’s deal with the first elder and get this awkward matter over with.
CREATORS’ THOUGHTS Bad_Wolf_7811 Your gift is the motivation for my creation.
Give me more motivation!