Another World’s Versatile Crafting Master c1-1074

by Zhuang Bifan

  Sienna's bid had indeed had some effect on the audience. His words were like a stone that caused a thousand ripples on the surface of the water.

  Everyone snapped out of their trance, and decided to stop worrying about how the effects of the potion could be made possible, and whether or not the d.e.s.i.r.ed results could be achieved, because the pharmacists were the only ones who knew the answers. They would just be making things hard for themselves by trying to speculate and dwell on the theory behind the potions. All they needed to know was that the potion would work and they ought to be careful.

  Actually, the theory behind the potions did not matter to others at all. What was important was that the potions had already been put up for auction in the Time Consignment Store by William. The Time Consignment Store and William were both very reputable, and William obviously wouldn't put at risk the reputation that he had painstakingly built. The thought of the effects that the auctioneer had mentioned made them break their silence.

  "1,000,000 gold coins!" Tedya exclaimed, placing a bid which made everyone fall silent again.

  Learning and comprehending the five magical powers at an advanced pace was undoubtedly a tempting and irresistible offer to mages. Magic and spiritual power were the foundational elements of a mage, but the strength of a mage was not all determined by the foundation. Only by mastering more advanced magic spells could they better use their magic and spiritual power to increase their strength and abilities.

  If the only effects of the Origin potion were to help the mages master the five magical powers, it would not really be worth its price. Although magic spells were important, there were still plenty of other things to learn. The key lay in advancement, and advancing to greater levels in magic was not as simple as just reading some books about magical spells.

  In reality, it was possible to learn magic at an advanced pace, but there would be huge risks involved. By biting more than they could chew, the mages would risk falling into an abyss. A limited understanding of the Rule Power would make it impossible for one to accommodate the requirements of being at a higher level. It would then inevitably result in dire consequences.

  Chapter 542 - Starting Bid Of 1,000,000 Gold Coins

  However, everything would take place in a mystical and bizarre dream through the use of the Origin Potion. Everything would remain a hallucination, though it could happen in real life too. It aligned with the Rule Power.

  "1,200,000!"

  The person who vied with Tedya was once again Hilary, the prince of the Ledin Kingdom, who was out to provoke Tedya.

  However, another guest from one of the VIP rooms immediately placed a bid of 1,500,000 gold coins before Tedya could even place a new bid.

  The guests below the stage were all dumbfounded. In the blink of an eye, the current bid had surged from the minimum of 500,000 to 1,500,000 gold coins. Even though they came from formidable forces in the Breezy Plains, 1,500,000 gold coins was still not a small sum. Besides, 1,500,000 gold coins was not the final price. There was still a higher bid that was offered.

  "2,000,000!"

  To everyone's surprise, the person who had placed the bid was not one of the VIP guests. Everyone turned to see that the last two rows of seats were empty, and the bidder was the only one who was seated alone in the middle of the last row. He was wearing a hood which hid all of his features.

  William was seated in the VIP room together with Lin Li, which was right above the last row. Hence, he, too, had no idea who the bidder was.

  The bidding price of 2,000,000 gold coins was unlikely to shock everyone. What was surprising and peculiar was where the bidder was seated. The seating arrangements were made according to the strength and status of each of the guests. Those who were allowed to sit in the VIP rooms were all extraordinary representatives of the various forces. For example, the Dark Blade was known to be the top bandit organization of the Breezy Plains which had three Legendary figures and the support of the Darkness Shrine. Another was the prince of the Ledin Kingdom, Hilary, followed by the representative of the Glittergold Trade Union and the castellan of Roland City, Arathor.

  Due to the fact that it was an auction, those like Sienna who enjoyed high status in Roland City and the Wolf Brothers who were influential in the Breezy Plains sat in the front rows, and were relatively higher in power and status compared to the rest. The further behind they were seated, the weaker they were. Hence, the bearded leader of Angla Mercenary Regiment was worlds apart from the Wolf Brothers' Association, whom he could not vie with.

  In that case, how could the person seated in the last row be powerful or formidable?

  "2,100,000!" Tedya hollered while gritting his teeth angrily and staring at the man below.

  Tedya was a necromancer who had a stronger thirst for advancing in magic compared to the average mage. Although the Dark Blade had the support of the Darkness Shrine, which provided a place for him to learn necromagic, it was 10 to 100 times more dangerous to advance in necromagic compared to other magic. Undead spells were damaging to the soul, which was much more agonizing than the side effects of normal magic.

  "2,400,000!" the mysterious man yelled again calmly without emotion.

  Thud.

  Tedya slammed his hand against the barrier and stood up in exasperation. "Mr. William, you're the host of the auction. Shouldn't you be verifying if this bidder has the means to purchase the item?"

  Tedya's request was not overboard. If any random person was allowed to place their bids nonsensically, the auction wouldn't be fair at all. It was common for a penniless person to raise the bids to a ridiculously high price and make the last bidder pay an absurd price for no reason.

  William chuckled wryly and stood up in resignation, after which he apologized to Lin Li. "President Felic, I'm really sorry, but I have to excuse myself." Not everyone had the ability to pay millions for an item to be auctioned. Hence, he felt the need to personally verify if the bidder could afford it.

  William did not cause any delay. Not long after he left, he proceeded to make his way onto the stage before announcing to everyone that the auction would proceed because he had already verified the purchasing power of the mysterious bidder.

  Tedya had a sullen expression on his face. Since William said that the bidder definitely had the ability to purchase the item, it had to be the truth. Although Tedya was the most likely to be the new successor of the Dark Blade, he was well aware of his own financial abilities. 2,000,000 gold coins was actually already beyond his limits. Not to mention, he had already spent 850,000 gold coins on the Sparks Blue Stone ring earlier on.

  The auctioneer had already called twice, and was about to knock the gravel anytime soon.

  "2,600,000!" Tedya yelled in exasperation while being filled with a mix of complicated emotions. He could not bring himself to be happy at all, regardless of whether the bid was successful or not. If the bid was successful, he would have to pay an exorbitant amount of 2,600,000 gold coins. However, if it wasn't, he would lose the opportunity to advance rapidly.

  "3,000,000!" the mysterious bidder exclaimed once again.

  Everyone fell silent, while Tedya moved back to his seat. 3,000,000 was far beyond what he could afford.

  The auctioneer slammed the gravel down heavily, and Wilkinson's Origin Potion was finally sold at a sky-high price of 3,000,000 gold coins. The absurd reality shocked everyone. To their knowledge, there had never been such an expensive potion before. The price was truly record-breaking.

  Wilkinson's name was all that was on their mind, and from now on, it would definitely spread around the entire Breezy Plains too. 3,000,000 gold coins for a single bottle of potion was an unprecedented price in the Breezy Plains.

  After a long silence, everyone seemed to have burst into boisterous chatter again. They clapped and gave a standing ovation to William, the Time Consignment Store's owner, and to the senior pharmacist, Wilkinson, after witnessing such a noble record-breaking transaction.

  However, William rem
ained extremely calm on the stage, for he didn't seem too happy about breaking the record. After a long round of applause from the audience, William extended his hands and pressed them down to gesture for them to quiet down. "Thank you for your support, thank you! But the auction is still going on, and the item that we will be showcasing next is definitely going to be more exciting."

  After hearing this, everyone had no choice but to stop and return to their seats, after which they casually glanced at William who was on the stage. They tried to guess what he was referring to, and what the next item that was up for auction would be. What would be more exciting than the 3,000,000-gold-coin Origin Potion? Everyone knew that there would be a mysterious auction item from the Elven Kingdom. However, they doubted that the item would break the record price of 3,000,000 gold coins even if it were the crown of the Elven Queen.

  William raised his head and glanced at the VIP room on the second floor. Before his subordinate even made his way onto the stage with the item, William whipped out a blue-colored potion and carefully placed it on the display.

  Upon catching sight of William's actions, all of the guests, including the VIPs on the second floor, began to get confused. It seemed to be another bottle of potion, but what potion could be so formidable that it would garner William's attention like that? Everyone's curiosity was piqued, and they waited quietly for William to introduce the item.

  "This potion was concocted by President Felic. Bidding starts at a minimum of 1,000,000 gold coins!"

  They were all surprised that William did not make any further introduction of the name and effects of the potion apart from mentioning that it was made by Mage Felic of the Tower of Dusk.

  All the guests below the stage looked at each other in shock and dismay. They could not believe it at all. Could it be that William had forgotten how to be an auctioneer after not being one for a long time!?

  "Well… is Mr. William cracking a joke with us?" someone asked impatiently.

  As everyone began gossiping amongst themselves, the sounds of chattering filled the entire hall.

  "Hey, did you hear that? Mr. William said that it's a potion that was concocted by a mage, yet the potion doesn't have a name at all. What a joke."

  "Who's this Mage Felic? I've never heard of him before!"

  There were plenty of pharmacists who were also mages because the preparation of potions itself required the acquirement of the magic elements in the herbs. Sensitivity to magical elements would aid one in preparing potions. The social status of a pharmacist was higher than that of a mage, a fact that was recognized by almost everyone. Hence, when a mage was good at preparing potions, they would definitely be more willing to be known as a pharmacist. All humans were vain creatures who liked showing their most glorious side.

  However, William had made it very clear during his introduction that the potion had been made by Mage Felic. Putting the source of the potion aside, everyone was shocked to hear that it was made by a mage, and not a pharmacist! Mages were not all pharmacists. Hence, it was very likely that this Mage Felic person had nothing to do with pharmaceutics.

  Chapter 543 - Origin Potion

  Of course, there was another possibility, and that was that Mage Felic had already attained an impeccable achievement in magic. Perhaps he was a Legendary-mage? Legendary-mages were often known as Masters. Although it was not wrong to call him a mage, it was not as respectful.

  "The problem is, whether or not he's Legendary-mage has nothing to do with the auction of the potion. A Legendary-mage is not a Master of pharmacy."

  "Yeah, why does his nameless potion have a higher minimum bid than Master Wilkinson's Origin Potion? That potion concocted by Master Wilkinson will enable mages to master five magical powers!"

  The simple difference in the way William addressed him was enough to make them all confused. The minimum bid of 1,000,000 gold coins made them feel like they were being fooled.

  Damn it. Everyone's money was hard-earned, and they all had to pay a huge price to earn a whole 1,000,000 gold coins. They thought, How dare you place a random potion on the display and put it up for auction at a minimum bid of 1,000,000? William doesn't seem to be poor and out of his mind, does he? Everyone stared at William like he was a lunatic. No one except a lunatic would be able to do something like that.

  The potion which would allow one to learn the five magical powers and advance during a trance was sold at 3,000,000 gold coins, an absolute sky-high price. After calming down, the people began to compare the effects of that potion with those of the ones that they knew about.

  Those who understood pharmaceutics had come to a shocking conclusion—the senior pharmacist Wilkinson was probably already a Master, or about to become a Master. However, the minimum bid for the Origin Potion was only 500,000 gold coins.

  Yet, the minimum bid for the nameless potion was twice the price of Origin Potion. The effects of Origin Potion were already unbelievably magical. Could the effects of this nameless potion rival those of Origin Potion!?

  "Hey, do you really think the effects of this potion are better than Origin Potion's?"

  Some of the guests could not figure it out at all. The Time Consignment Store had been around for hundreds of years, and a smart person like William wouldn't have made such a stupid mistake that would inevitably ruin the business that he had painstakingly built.

  However, those words made everyone else feel rather amused as they mocked him, "Are you silly? Could it possibly let someone learn 10 magical powers? Even if that's the case, it's probably a potion concocted by a Master. But even then, why would a Master-level potion be put up for auction?"

  It was no longer considered a doubt. Although no one knew the reason and answer, or what had gotten into William, they were certain that William was definitely going crazy.

  "Damn it, I wouldn't dare to drink it even if it was given to me for free. The potion was concocted by a mage. Maybe he doesn't even know what he had put into the potion," said one of the Warriors.

  They were disgusted with the 1,000,000-gold-coin potion because their money was hard-earned, unlike that of businessmen. Every gold coin they had was earned through blood, sweat, and tears.

  "Mr. William doesn't seem like a silly person, either. Maybe he just did this for the sake of giving someone a favor. Maybe the starting bid is so high because he's afraid that someone might die after drinking the potion. That's why he's making it unlikely for anyone to purchase it. At most, the item will just not be auctioned off, and he'll be able to answer to that person." There were also those who had made some rational analysis.

  When Wilkinson's Origin Potion was put up for auction just now, Sienna was the first to place his bid and had disrupted the peace of the auction. Although he was well aware that Mage Felic, whom William mentioned, was the terrifyingly daunting young mage, he did not have the courage to disrupt the peace again.

  Upon hearing the discussions around him, Sienna was certain that everyone would treat him like a fool if he were to stand up and place his bid now. However, that was not the most important factor. Actually, there was nothing wrong with being a fool for once if it meant that he would be able to get into the good books of Mage Felic. The problem was, what would happen after he called his bid?

  1,000,000 gold coins was not a small sum. Sienna knew that he would definitely be in hot soup if he were to intervene now. When he was auctioning for the Origin Potion, everyone else around him was in doubt, and the balance would be disrupted as long as someone spoke up.

  However, he realized that no one would vie with him for the item after hearing all of their controversial comments and their disbelief in the reputable William. Sienna dared not take the risk at all. Even though they had been developing well in the past year, it was still 1,000,000 gold coins, after all.

  The guests in the hall could no longer keep their cool in the face of such an absurd auction. They talked, mocked, and prepared to see how William was going to clean up the mess. Although they dared not offend
William, they were aware that there were still distinguished VIPs upstairs who were the actual big shots. How would they react after knowing that they were being tricked? Even William probably wouldn't be able to keep their anger down.

  Reality was just that cruel. Those who were respectful on the surface might just be cussing at you beneath their courteous facade. While they were congratulating you on your achievements, deep down, they might just be looking forward to seeing you face defeat.

  "Damn it, what nonsense is William up to? Is he too old and all muddled?" Tedya jeered, feeling exasperated because he did not manage to buy anything substantial during the auction today. Although he had managed to purchase the Sparks Blue Stone, he had bought it at a sky-high price because of Hilary, who had deliberately raised the price beyond the actual value of Sparks Blue Stone. Next was the bidding for the Origin Potion. To his anger, some scoundrel who sat in a corner downstairs actually placed a bid of 3,000,000 gold coins.

  Just as Tedya was throwing a tantrum about the auction, his follower leaned closer towards him and whispered into his ear.

  Tedya's eyes widened in shock, and he turned his head towards the side. "Really? You should know the consequences of lying to me."

  His follower shivered, and nodded firmly before saying, "Absolutely. Ever since Master Sendros returned to the shrine, he told lots of people about this Mage Felic whose pharmaceutical skills Master Sendros really admires."

  Tedya was well aware of what kind of person Master Sendros was. He was the high priest of the Darkness Shrine, the necromancer who had entered the Legendary-realm many years ago. His accomplishments in pharmacy were said to be no worse than those of professional pharmacists. Since an esteemed and reputable person like Master Sendros regards Mage Felic so highly, the latter's pharmaceutical skills are definitely trustworthy, he thought.

  Although Tedya could choose not to trust William's reputation, he definitely wouldn't doubt Sendros' judgment. Hence, he was certain that the nameless potion was definitely worth 1,000,000 gold coins. However, he was still contemplating if he should bid for it; he still didn't know what benefits the potion offered. William did not mention a word about the medical properties of the potion, and no one knew if the potion was meant to be used by Mages or Warriors. Even if no one placed a higher bid, he would seem like a fool for purchasing a potion that he could not use for 1,000,000 gold coins.