NOVEL NEXT Chapter 129: Auction
The 300 low-grade Mana Crystals were surely not a small amount.
Of course, everyone was able to tell this and immediately set a limit in their minds.
"400…" Lady Ellaine said immediately.
"450…" countered Lord Celric.
"500…" The hooded merchant from the Shadow Merchant's Guild bid.
Claire's price just continued to climb up—600, 700, 800—until Magister Orlan bid for 1,000 Low-Grade Crystals, the equivalent of 20 Mid-Grade Mana Crystals or 2 High-Grade ones.
"Going once…" Magister Jace's gaze swept the crowd and no one moved.
"Going twice…"
Silence.
"Sold! To Magister Orlan of Royal Armory for 1,000 Low-Grade Crystals!"
Magister Jace was also happy about this.
Well, he didn't expect too much from the first few slaves at all. However, from Subject 21 to Subject 1, he was expecting to obtain a lot more profit.
***
As the gavel fell confirming Subject 21 was sold to Magister Orlan for 1,000 Low-Grade Mana Crystals, Magister Jace raised a hand.
"Esteemed buyers," He said as he looked at everyone… "We will now take a brief intermission before proceeding with the next lot. But fret not—your time shall not be wasted."
The crowd was only momentarily confused about this.
After all, they were just too excited to get their Sword Slaves. However, after a few moments, they immediately realized what was about to happen. Well, this wasn't their first time here.
Jace smiled, knowing well that even the wealthiest nobles appreciated a momentary reprieve—and an opportunity to spend more.
"Instead of continuing with our Sword Slave, we present a special bulk sale of Low-Grade Mana Artifacts—perfect for equipping your households, guards, or even gifting to loyal retainers."
With a wave of his hand, attendants wheeled out three large iron-bound chests. All of them were filled with enchanted items.
Well, even if all of them are magicians, it doesn't mean that they were all Magic Craftsmen. It takes more than just Spellcasting to create Mana Artifacts.
Just like that, Magister Jace introduced the items to everyone…
"The first crate contains a total of forty Mana Torchstones. As you all know, they're palm-sized crystals that emit a cold, blue flame when activated. They last 12 hours per charge. Ideal for night patrols, dungeon exploration, and of course, Fire Magician. Normally, these Torchstones only boost Fire Spells by about five percent… However, using the Tower's method, it could improve your Fire Spells by at least 10 percent! There were even tests where it reached about 20 percent improvement!"
Everyone knew that the creations of the Obsidian Tower were always slightly better than those Artifacts being sold in the market.
The starting bid is 500 Low-Grade Mana Crystals for the entire crate!
Just like that, another bidding war ensued.
"800!" A minor lord from the agricultural sector…
"1,200!" It was immediately followed by another Noble who recalled a few Fire Magicians in their House. However, 700 Low-Grade Mana Crystals
"1,500!" A guild master overseeing mining operations called out...
With this amount, the others decided that it was better to let it go.
Magister Jace felt glad hearing the amount it was sold.
Well, those 40 Mana Touchstones were just Enchanted Rubies!
At most, it cost them 80 gold coins for the 40 pieces of special rubies! As for the Magic Craftsmen who created them, they didn't really use other things aside from their mana and a little bit of time to enchant them.
After all, they could freely use the Magic Tools within the Tower!
Then, a Low-Grade Mana Crystal couldn't even be purchased with 100 gold coins since Mana Crystals were rarer than gold coins!
After that, Magister Jace proceeded with the next crate.
"Now… We have 30 pairs of Aura-Dampening Shackles… They weren't the standard-issue restraints used by Phyrexia's slavers. They were improved by more than 50% by our Tower's Craftsmen and also, it had a special Electric Shock function that could only be activated by the owners. The starting bid is only 300 Low-Grade Crystals."
Once again, these items were just created from an alloy worth about 20 gold coins. However, with Enchanted Ashes within the Tower and other Magic Tools, the Magic Craftsmen were able to create these special shackles.
"400!"
"450!"
"800!"
The bidding wasn't that fierce since at the fifth bid which was made by House Dramos, everyone stopped.
"1,100 Low-Grade Mana Crystals."
House Dramos and many other nobles knew that creating these Artifacts wouldn't really cost a lot. However, the Magic Tools or the Formation Arrays within the Obsidian Tower weren't something they could obtain. Those things are priceless as they were creations of Archmages to assist lower-level Magicians.
Without these Formation Arrays, the creation of these Mana Artifacts would be a lot harder since there would be a lower success rate. Furthermore, you might have to replace your own Formation Array with every other creation unlike the ones made by Archmages.
In any case, they also value their relationship with the Obsidian Tower, so they were willing to spend a lot of money on these transactions.
After all, getting invited to this place wasn't so easy.
Finally, Magister Jace decided to sell them the last low-grade Mana Artifact.
"I now present you these Minor Healing Charms. We have a total of 35 amulets here. These bronze amulets accelerate natural healing. It does not work on high-level magical wounds. But they were just perfect for any training accidents or disciplining servants. The starting bid is 500 Low-Grade Crystals."
The Minor Healing Charms were certainly a lot more popular than the previous items.
As a matter of fact, the first bid was made by a merchant specializing in gladiator pits. "1,000!"
With a single amulet, he believed that he could sell it for 100 low-grade Mana Crystals. The profit would definitely be good. However, if he sold it for 130 or more, it would be very difficult for him to sell them
For this item, his limit would be 3,000 low-grade Mana Crystals. Beyond that, he believed that the profit wouldn't be that rewarding for all the effort he had to make.
After a few moments, the others also made their calculations, and the bidding war continued.