by Zhuang Bifan
"30,000 gold coins going thrice!" The gavel in Kevin's hand landed heavily on the table as he announced the first done deal of the day. "Deal! Congratulations, Mr Aaron Matsis!"
"This… this… It's 30,000 gold coins just like that?" Lin Li's mouth was agape; the money had come too easily.
"This is just the beginning." Gerian was dismissive of his reaction. "Although the six underground forces are running various lucrative businesses, they are still far from boasting the wealth acc.u.mulated by the 11 magic families over the past thousand years. Look on carefully; when the time comes for them to show their hands, it will be the real highlight of the auction!"
"How come these fellows have so much money?"
"We won't talk about the six underground forces. Almost all the lucrative businesses in Jarrosus are in their hands. But compared to the 11 mage families, they are merely a group of nouveau riche. You've seen Old Merlin; do you know how much the staff he was holding cost?" At the mention of Old Merlin's staff, Gerian's eyes were full of envy. "A million gold coins!"
"F*ck!" Lin Li almost bit his tongue off. A million gold coins for a staff? No wonder he had a son like Cromwell…
"Don't feel that it's too expensive yet. If not for Old Merlin's reputation, he might have not even got it for double the price." Gerian took advantage of the opportunity to educate Lin Li lest the kid always made a fuss about small things. He stretched out his chubby hand and pointed at the few mages beside. "And look at these useless bums, the gear they wear is worth at least 80,000, or even 100,000. A mage is such a profession, it all depends on spending money. Of course except for a monster like you. Damn it, I have never seen you buy a piece of equipment before!"
"Why do I need to buy equipment…" Lin Li mumbled softly. In his heart, he thought, I am a guru well-versed in all five series and I'm still buying equipment from others? If this goes out, where should I put my face?
At this point, Lin Li couldn't help but sigh. "No wonder the Guild of Magic is so poor…"
"Wrong again!" Unexpectedly, Gerian shook his head. "The guild is not poor. Just the three rare mineral veins in the Demon Fall Valley alone bring in a steady income of three million gold coins every year."
"Then why does it seem to me that all of them are emaciated and sallow? Do you abuse them usually? Wait, why do I feel like the name 'Demon Fall Valley' sounds familiar?"
Chapter 40 - Contend
"Whoever has the damn time to abuse these useless bums…" Gerian shot them a glare. The mages shrank back immediately, afraid that they might draw fire to themselves. Gerian then continued, "The first time you arrived at the Guild of Magic, wasn't I talking to someone from Shadow City? We were talking about the control of the Demon Fall Valley at that time, I guess you remembered it from there…"
"Oh! Yes, yes… I remember! That place belongs to our Guild of Magic?"
An "our Guild of Magic" had lifted Gerian's mood tremendously. This meant that Lin Li was gradually seeing himself as part of the Guild of Magic. This was definitely a good sign to Gerian. He believed that as long as he put in a little more effort, he'd be able to fit the Guild of Magic President's hat onto the fellow's head.
"That's right!" Gerian answered with greater patience in light of his good mood. "The reason why the Guild of Magic is still the number one force in Jarrosus today is that we have the control of the Demon Fall Valley. There are three rare mineral veins and a great variety of herbs in that valley. Most importantly, it also abounds in all kinds of high-level magical crystals. When the auction for the Arcane Magic Potion is over, I'll bring you there so that you can see for yourself."
As they spoke, three more bottles of Arcane Magic Potion were off the shelf. Among them, the lowest price was above 30,000, and the highest price even reached 60,000 gold coins.
"From this auction onwards, the number of Arcane Magic Potion will be increased to three bottles." The gavel in Kevin's hand landed heavily on the table. "The starting bid will be 50,000, and the minimum increment 5,000. Let the bidding begin!"
"50,000 gold coins!"
"70,000 gold coins!"
"80,000 gold coins!"
"100,000 gold coins!"
Kevin's gavel had just come down when the bidding calls rang out continuously, each higher than the other. In a moment's time, the price for the three bottles of Arcane Magic Potion was raised to a high of 100,000.
"See, the Rolin Family has shown their hand. The previous ones were all on the small scale. From now on, it is the highlight. Just watch; if the final bid for these three bottles of potion is less than 200,000, I'll screw my own head off!" Gerian laughed pompously at a side.
"120,000!"
"140,000!"
The leader of the Rolin Family had gone completely amok. Competing with him was a good-looking young woman around 30 years of age. She was beautiful and charming, her voice soft and sweet, and her every action was exceedingly fascinating and amorous. Perhaps only a wily old fox like Gerian would recognize her. The attractive young woman was Daphne, the leader of the Dark Moon, one of Jarrosus' six underground forces. She controlled all the thieves in Jarrosus.
Gerian told Lin Li, "Memorized the woman's face? If someday you lost your wallet on the streets, you must look for her. But don't get it wrong, she's the leader of the thieves, not a brothel madam."
"…"
Anthony Rolin was about to bleed from his nose out of anger. He had not expected that rather than the big families he was most worried about, he would have roused this mad woman instead. What was more surprising to him was that this mad woman could be so merciless; she raised the price to 140,000 and was refusing to let up. If this continued, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to hold out for long.
140,000 gold coins had already exceeded the Rolin Family's budget, but Anthony Rolin had no choice but to hang tough.
These three bottles of Arcane Magic Potion were his best chance. Giants like the Merlin Family, the Mannes Family, and the Saruman Family had yet to make a move. Once he had waited for them to strike, the Rolin Family would have no chance at all.
Moreover, Anthony Rolin really needed these three bottles of Arcane Magic Potion. Out of his three sons, the youngest was already 16 year old, but was still a level-four mage apprentice. There was only one step away from level-five, just one step, but it couldn't be overcome no matter what.
Which parent in the world would not want their children to be successful?
So when he heard that the Guild of Magic was going to auction the Arcane Magic Potion, he was utterly thrilled and immediately started to raise money. He had even disposed of several profitable industries at a low price in order to make his three sons into mages successfully. But the Rolin Family was not the Merlin Family. The total amount of money he could gather was only about 200,000. If this mad woman continued to push on, Anthony Rolin dared not imagine what would happen next…
But this was often the case in the world. The more you didn't want it to happen, the more it would happen.
As he turned the idea in his mind, Daphne called out another bid once more. "200,000 gold coins!"
Anthony Rolin almost blacked out when he heard the figure.
At this moment, Anthony Rolin even thought of jumping on this woman to strangle her to death.
But this was merely a thought. Not to mention this mad woman was no less strong than him and he probably wouldn't be able to strangle her to death even if he did jump on her, just disrupting the auction alone would be enough to put him on the spot. This was not the Emerald Tower of the past. The Guild of Magic today was at the height of their influence; even the Merlin Family dared not compete with or challenge the Guild of Magic head-on. That would be no different than seeking their own death. With Gerian's character, he would probably be blown down by his fireball before he could get to jump on the mad woman.
Anthony Rolin hesitated for long before he finally put a hand into his pocket.
"200,000 going once!
"200,000 going twice!<
br />
"200,000 going…"
Just as Kevin was about to hit the gavel for the third time, Anthony Rolin suddenly emerged from the crowd. "Hold on, Mage Kevin!"
"What's the matter, Mr Anthony?" Kevin was inwardly delighted, but managed to put on a troubled expression on his face. "Do you have any doubts regarding the auctioning process?"
"No, no, no, I definitely don't mean that…" Anthony Rolin waved his hands. This was not a joking matter—having doubts about the auction would mean having doubts about Gerian's character, and it'd be equal to challenging the Guild of Magic. He would not dare to challenge the Guild of Magic which was at the peak of its influence even if he was given ten more guts.
"I remembered Mr Gerian had said that if cash is not enough, we would be allowed to replace it with items of equivalent value. Now, I would like Mr Gerian to evaluate how many gold coins this item is actually worth."
Chapter 41 - Deep Silver
There was a thin silver necklace hanging obliquely on Anthony Rolin's thumb, shimmering with silver light. But what really stood out was the blue gem mounted on the necklace. The oval gemstone was about the size of a thumb and wrapped in silver wires like a petal, giving off an air of mystery and elegance under a sheet of silvery light…
As soon as the silver necklace was taken out, the mages' eyes turned wide open, and even Gerian drew in a hissing cold breath. "What a big piece of Enigma Sapphire!"
The hall was exceptionally quiet. All eyes fell onto the Enigma Sapphire; even the attractive young woman who was contending with him couldn't stop amazement from showing in her beautiful eyes.
This was definitely a treasure a mage would wish for. Storing mana was too important for a mage. Even an archmage would not be able to fill such a big Enigma Sapphire.
A group of mages were whispering among themselves.
"It's worth at least 100,000 gold coins…"
"Such a big piece, I reckon it's more than 100,000…"
"The Rolin Family has always been low profile, but they can actually bring out such good stuff like this. Looks like the water is not regular deep for the 11 mage families…"
"But it's a little bit of a pity for such a big Enigma Sapphire to be set into the silver necklace. He should get a mithril necklace at the very least. It doesn't do any justice to the gem the way it is now…"
"How much do you guys have? Why don't we gather our money and acquire the necklace for ourselves, then everyone can take turns using it…"
As soon as the guy finished speaking, he realized there was no sound around him.
He looked around in puzzlement, only to see his colleagues who had been chatting amicably with him just a moment ago all far away from him. The expressions of fear on their faces were as if they were afraid of getting infected by the plague…
"What's with the expressions?"
The group of mages really wanted to jump on him and strangle him to death. You actually dared to come up with such a thought in front of Gerian… how was it different from putting your hand into the President's pocket and taking money from it? Moreover, you had even mentioned everyone taking turns to use it… You'd be lucky if Gerian didn't find someone to tread you over…
"Come, come, everyone, gather our money. I think I have 30,000 here, how much do you all have?" The group of mages tried desperately signal him with their winks, but the guy was utterly oblivious to it and still gathering money without knowing what death was like.
Everyone seemed to see Gerian's frown.
Under His Excellency's influence, the group of jerks couldn't care less about friendship and simply sold the clueless guy off.
"President, we swear we really don't know him!"
"P-President?" That slow-witted mage finally remembered whom he was sitting nearby. He felt cold sweat breaking out all over his body all at once, and tried to pull his face into a smile that was uglier than crying. "Heh… Heh heh, why are all of you so nervous? It was just… just a joke…"
Luckily for him, Gerian was too busy talking to Lin Li to notice his rebellious thoughts.
"What do you think of giving him 50,000 gold coins?"
"80,000." Lin Li did some calculations in his heart and decided to raise the price. "I reckon that fellow only has 200,000 gold coins in his hands. If we give too little, I'm afraid he won't have a chance against the thief leader. I have to get this necklace!"
"You're also interested in the Enigma Sapphire?" Gerian was slightly taken aback. He knew the kid too well. He had always thought that even if all the mages in the world would need the Enigma Sapphire, this kid wouldn't have any use for it. The scene at the level certification hall had left too deep an impression on him. A magic output 28 minutes long was absolutely beyond the scope of a monster, and could only be described as a demon's!
"I'll let you have the stone, I only want the necklace." Lin Li's eyes were glued to the thin silver necklace. He was too familiar with the aura emitted from the necklace. He had once felt the same aura from the enchantment guru back in the Endless World.
If his guess was correct, the metal used for the necklace was definitely the deep silver!
In the Endless World, the deep silver could only be found by luck, but not by searching.
In order to jolt his magical enchantment profession, Lin Li had used all his connections just to coat the gold rod with one layer of deep silver. But this stuff was just too rare, almost no one had seen it in the Endless World. For that period of time, Lin Li spent his days squatting at the auction house. The Mercenary Guild's private commission was hung all year round, and the reward was increased by a small amount every day and then saw a huge increase every three days, but no one had ever brought the stuff out.
Thinking it over, Lin Li felt that he was really pretty lucky…
With his wealth and status in the Endless World, he could do anything he wanted. But it was the black lotus and deep silver that he couldn't get even after trying everything possible.
To think he had encountered them a month after having transmigrated.
Lin Li was grinning from ear to ear just thinking about the gold rod coated with deep silver.
That was a genuine worldly weapon. In addition to strengthening the attributes of magical enchantment, it could also raise the enchantment success rate to a terrifying level. A 100 percent would be an exaggeration, but it could guarantee at least 90 percent. Just think about an enchantment guru with a 90 percent success rate, what a demonic thing it would be?
"We'll do as you wish…" Gerian only nodded after hearing what Lin Li said and did not ask what was so extraordinary about the necklace.
Then, the people in the hall saw Gerian, who was supposed to be the star of the auction, rising from a shabby spot in the audience. "From what I see, this Enigma Sapphire is worth around 80,000 gold coins."
"Thank you, President Gerian." When Anthony Rolin heard the figure, his suspended heart finally descended into place. He had a total of 200,000 on hand; adding the 80,000 gold coins, it would be enough to acquire the three bottles of Arcane Magic Potion.
"Then, let the auction continue." Kevin's gavel landed on the table again. "Madam Daphne had offered 200,000 gold coins. Anyone else with a higher bid than Madam Daphne?"
"250,000!" With Gerian's promise in hand, Anthony Rolin raised the price to 250,000 without any hesitation. This astonishing figure immediately drew murmurs from the guild hall.
250,000 for three bottles of Arcane Magic Potion; the average price had far exceeded the previous few bottles that were sold. To many, this was no longer an auction, but a fit of pique.
Chapter 42 - To kill three warriors with two peaches
250,000 was indeed a ruthless bid. Even a wealthy thief leader like Daphne did not dare to follow through.
After receiving the Arcane Magic Potion from the guild's mage's hands, Anthony Rolin was so agitated that he held the three bottles tightly in his arms for a long time, reluctant to let go.
With Kevin's gavel hammering down
once again, the auction resumed.
Just then, Gerian suddenly noticed his convenient nephew coming his way.
"I'm so sorry, Uncle Gerian. I have some urgent matters on hand to deal with, and I'm afraid they can't wait until the auction is over." Castellan Isaac's face was regretful.
Lin Li was waiting for someone to deliver the deep silver necklace to him when he heard "Uncle Gerian" all of a sudden and almost bit his tongue off out of shock.
How could he not have seen before that Gerian had the talent of a social butterfly? Earlier on, he had said that he had no relations with the castellan, but after turning a circle back, he had been upgraded to "Uncle Gerian!"
"Important things come first, go and do what you need to do. Uncle will not make you stay any longer. But if there's time in the future, you must come to the Guild of Magic to visit Uncle." Gerian's smile was gentle and amiable, just like an affable senior's.
"Sure, sure…" Castellan Isaac felt his temples throbbing again. He answered vaguely in a hurry and fled the Emerald Tower. After stepping out of the gates, Isaac took a deep breath of the fresh air outside and swore to himself that he'd never come to this darned place again if he didn't have to!
"Master Castellan…" The three men walked out of the Emerald Tower, and the mage in black robe asked with some hesitation in a low voice, "We didn't find the person this time, will it be difficult to answer to Mr Grimm?"
"Mr Grimm is magnanimous and won't haggle over such trifles with us. Besides, with Mr Grimm's ability, how can he not find someone if he sets his mind to it? Looks like we were too meddlesome this time…" Since leaving the Emerald Tower, Isaac's expression was unusually relaxed. To him, no matter how bad things were, they couldn't be worse than facing Gerian, that old jerk.
After finishing the previous sentence, the castellan's brows were knitted again. He spoke to the mage in black robe in a low voice, "Andrew, if you have nothing much to do lately, you might want to pay more attention to the Guild of Magic. I'm actually also interested in the man Mr Grimm is looking for."
