Chapter 124 Chapter 42 Fire Spirit Essence (2/74)
The “auction” that Iggeot mentioned wasn’t an uncommon mode of transaction. The general process was to bid for a listed item, and the highest bidder wins.
After thinking about it and finding no other way, Verafia nodded in agreement.
Since it wasn’t a particularly high-level auction, the entry threshold was not high, requiring only about ten gold coins in assets to participate. Thus, Verafia easily brought Iggeot into the venue.
The young girl hadn’t been sitting on the stool for long before the host arrived, and this simple auction officially began.
As with most conventions, the items at the auction were mostly treasures, artifacts, and artworks, as well as magic scrolls and alchemical tools. Of course, there were also battle swords, longbows, daggers, and staves needed by adventurers, and materials dropped by magical beasts.
Occasionally, cultivation methods for Dou Qi and transcriptions of magic scrolls were also auctioned.
Naturally, these items were almost useless to Verafia. The host’s lengthy tone and the dull atmosphere made the girl drowsy, almost causing her to rest her little head on Iggeot’s shoulder and fall asleep.
This put Iggeot in an awkward position, unable to move or not move.
“…Congratulations to this Mage Your Excellency for bidding for the Gale Staff at 16 gold and 50 silver. The next item is the Flame Crystal Jasper.”
Verafia suddenly perked up, and a glint appeared in her wide, golden eyes.
“Young Lady?” Iggeot quickly asked. He saw the excited smile on the girl’s small face as she shook her head at him.
The maidservant who walked to the front of the display lifted the silk cloth. On the silver plate, a thumb-sized, crimson crystal, appearing like jade but not stone, appeared in everyone’s sight.
Even from a distance, Verafia could feel the crystal’s pure and gentle flame power. In her eyes, the crimson beneath the crystal layers, like fine agate, seemed to flow like flames.
“Heh, Fire Spirit Essence… I even ran into it. I have to say, this guy’s luck is quite good.”
Glancing sideways at Iggeot beside her, Verafia’s lips curved slightly.
As the name suggests, the Fire Spirit Essence is a spirit formed from flames, the most core origin that sustains its own formation, and can be considered the purest flame in the world.
Such crystals have many wondrous uses. However, for Verafia, the best use was its “purity,” which was enough to contain the flames left on her “End” by her origin blood.
In this regard, it was even better than some Saint-level materials.
Under everyone’s gaze, the host’s voice echoed in the air.
“Everyone present knows how difficult it is to obtain the crystal cores of elemental magical beasts intact, with a probability of almost one in a hundred. However, as you can see, this Flame Crystal Jasper was indeed dropped intact after a Lord-level Blazing Dragon Lizard was killed in the Tiannan domain. The Balosais Trade Union can guarantee its quality.”
Listening to the host’s introduction, many showed interested expressions, and Verafia’s gaze was even more fervent, almost as if she wanted to grab the plate holding the Flame Crystal Jasper.
“Young Lady, is this Flame Crystal Jasper very important?” Iggeot, rarely seeing the girl with such an expression, couldn’t help but ask.
“En, of course! Your ‘End’ depends entirely on it! We must get it!”
Verafia said fiercely, clenching her fists.
Seeing the girl’s expression, Iggeot nodded, but he thought that with only over twenty gold coins in cash on them, the little phoenix’s words might not be very realistic.
After a pause, the host’s voice sounded again.
“I believe I don’t need to say more about its effects. The starting price for this Flame Crystal Jasper is twenty Kingdom Gold Coins.”
“Twenty gold!”
Verafia raised her slender hand for the first time, shouting fiercely.
Iggeot wondered if this little phoenix had mistaken the auctioneer’s starting price for the crystal’s actual price.
In his opinion, this Flame Crystal Jasper should sell for at least fifty gold coins.
“Twenty-five gold!”
“Thirty!”
…
As expected, Verafia’s slender, delicate voice was instantly drowned out by many seasoned adventurers who recognized its value.
The bidders’ voices rose and fell, with fierce competition, as many clearly held considerable interest in this rare Fire Spirit Essence.
However, as the price gradually increased, and it seemed that the value of the goods exceeded their initial expectations, the number of bidders gradually thinned. Soon, only the old voice of a mage and a clear young girl’s voice continued to bid.
“Seventy gold.”
The girl’s voice was as clear and cold as a snow lotus, steady yet powerful.
The old-sounding mage hesitated, as this price had already exceeded his expectations. Just before the final hammer fell, he reluctantly uttered the number.
“…Seventy-one gold.”
“Seventy-five.”
The girl bidding against him seemed determined to win and added her wager without any hesitation.
Only the girl’s voice echoed in the space, and it seemed that no one else was willing to compete with her.
Iggeot turned his head, intending to comfort Verafia, when he suddenly saw the girl raise her delicate face. A sense of foreboding arose in his heart.
But before Iggeot could stop her, the girl’s crisp voice echoed throughout the hall.
“Finally done dawdling, are you the only one left? This young lady bids one hundred gold!”
The girl, who thought she had victory within her grasp, frowned, showing dissatisfaction with the sudden disruptor, but still spoke to raise the bid.
“One hundred and ten gold.”
“That’s it?”
Verafia tilted her snow-white chin disdainfully and waved her slender hand with extraordinary flair, “One hundred and fifty gold!”
Compared to the spirited Verafia, Iggeot’s expression was worse than crying, yet he didn’t dare to stop the young lady who had suddenly gone mad.
Young Lady! Do you know that if you bid so casually and can’t pay, you’ll be wanted by Balosais!
The girl opposite fell into a deep silence, seemingly greatly perplexed by Verafia’s bidding.
As far as she knew, the price of this Fire Spirit Essence would be at most around seventy gold. If she hadn’t been in urgent need, she wouldn’t have bid so high.
The noble youth behind the girl said solicitously to her.
“Miss Dofi, do you really want this Flame Crystal Jasper? I have some gold coins with me, how about…”
“Rols, there’s no need.”
Before the young man could finish speaking, the girl refused. She bit her silver teeth lightly and finally decided to add all her money.
“Miss opposite, one hundred and fifty-five gold. If there’s more…”
“Just this? Two hundred gold!”
Verafia’s arrogant voice made the girl shake her head. She noted Verafia’s position in her mind and gently closed her beautiful eyes.
Beside the triumphant Verafia, Iggeot, who had decided to completely give up, cast a weak glance at her, unwilling to say another word.
Two hundred Kingdom Gold Coins… even if he sold himself, he couldn’t afford it. He might as well let this little phoenix have her way.
—
It seems a bit watery…
