In a huge circular hall of the auction house, a massive Crystal Magic Stone Lamp illuminated the entire space brightly.
On one side of the hall was the auctioneer's platform, while the other half was filled with elegantly decorated chairs.
Richard entered the hall but did not take a seat in the chairs. Aimon led the way in front of him and soon brought him to a private room.
From the window of the room, the entire auction hall was visible.
"Master, you are a VIP of Nine Stars Commerce, so you naturally do not need to compete with others down below.
This is your private room. If you are satisfied with this room, it will be reserved for you for future auctions held by Nine Stars Commerce."
After saying this, Aimon smiled apologetically at Richard and then left the room.
He had come merely to express his intentions; security was, of course, a top priority for Nine Stars Commerce during the auction.
He had to inspect many areas to prevent any mishaps.
In the private room, Richard and Bob sat down. Compared to Richard's calm demeanor, Bob appeared somewhat restless.
"Bob, what are you so anxious about?"
Richard asked, looking down at the auction catalog.
Bob took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Brother, you haven't been in my position. The past couple of days have been unusually calm for me, and that's just not normal.
Those old geezers who are qualified to compete for the president's position must be plotting something.
Right now, it feels like there's a knife hanging over my head."
Richard closed the auction catalog and said calmly, "There's nothing to be afraid of, Bob. This battle ultimately comes down to the combat power among you.
Trust me, unless they bring in a Great Wizard or the Guardians of the Wizarding World to back them up, they will never be able to compete with you.
You should actually be a bit more arrogant; you have the confidence, so why fear a group of people destined to fail?"
Hearing Richard's somewhat arrogant remarks, Bob let out a bitter laugh and did not argue.
After all, he was fundamentally a businessman, lacking the ruthless edge that Richard, as a Black Wizard, had honed on the battlefield.
"What do you think of these auction items, brother?"
Bob changed the subject.
"To be honest, looking at your auction catalog, I feel like I need to go back and brush up on my natural history courses."
Richard held the auction manual, his tone humorous.
Most of the items in this manual were things Richard had never even heard of, various strange and exotic items from other realms that left him dazzled.
"Hahaha, don't say that, brother. Even those old Alchemist Wizards who have lived for thousands of years will encounter things they don't recognize at auctions of this caliber."
Bob laughed as he took out a new auction manual from his pocket and handed it to Richard.
Richard took it and found that this auction manual contained detailed appraisal reports of many auction items.
These appraisal reports were infinitely better than the rudimentary descriptions in the auction manual.
"This is our internal information; you can take a look."
After flipping through it for a while, Richard suddenly saw an auction item he had never encountered before.
"Why isn't this auction item in the one you distributed to the public?"
Richard pointed to the auction manual; the page featured an irregular polyhedron covered in peculiar patterns.
The appraisal result noted it as an unknown power source, capable of outputting the energy of one standard Magic Stone per minute, with an unknown duration.
"Oh, you're talking about this." Bob explained when he saw the page Richard had opened, "This is a last-minute addition. A Third Circle Wizard acquired this item at a high price during a trade with an Astral World creature.
In the end, he couldn't figure it out himself, and recently he has accumulated a mountain of debt, so he had no choice but to auction it off."
Richard nodded, "I see."
But just as he was about to turn the page, Ulysses' voice suddenly rang in his ear.
"Wait, don't turn the page yet. Why does this thing look so familiar to me?"
Familiar?
Richard was slightly taken aback; the civilization Ulysses belonged to was light-years away from Wizard Language.
Aside from some high-level materials, he had never seen anything from the Wizard World that Ulysses recognized.
"Why does this look so much like the Starr Wraith Power Furnace produced in the Distorted World?"
Hearing Ulysses mention something similar, a hint of disbelief flashed through Richard's mind.
"The Wizard World is so far from your divine civilization; even if you exchanged with an Astral World creature, it shouldn't be possible for something from your side to appear here."
Ulysses stared at the image in the manual for a long time and finally said uncertainly, "I can't be sure either. The distance between the two civilizations is indeed too vast.
Let's see what the actual item looks like later.
If it really is a Starr Wraith Power Furnace, it would be very useful for you.
This power furnace is well-known for its efficiency in our realm; many tools similar to your Magic Equipment rely on it for energy.
However, the smallest Starr Wraith Power Furnace I've seen is not this small.
The smallest I've seen is about your size, capable of holding three hundred sixty Power Wraiths, and can power a standard Flying Ship."
Suddenly, a pleasant bell rang.
Richard closed the auction manual and turned his gaze to the auction platform below.
An old man with a white beard, dressed in a white Wizard Robe, walked out from backstage and slowly ascended the auction platform.
"This is our chief auctioneer, Master Brown. He is a Wizard of both the Soul and Alchemy schools, particularly skilled in natural history.
He can identify all sorts of strange and exotic items.
In terms of soul studies, his major is..."
"Charm," Richard interrupted.
"I felt a sense of friendliness from this Wizard at first glance, making one want to befriend him.
To be honest, Wizards like this are quite annoying; they can affect our perception."
As he spoke, Richard frowned and looked at Bob:
"How can such a Wizard become your chief auctioneer? Hasn't any Wizard complained about his spells?"
Bob chuckled awkwardly at this: "Well... there have been complaints. However, Master Brown's auction prices are always the highest, so we just let those complaints go.
Moreover, Master Brown is very discreet; he only releases subtle mental suggestions, far from the level of mind control."
On the auction platform, Brown first exchanged pleasantries with a few old customers who had come to auction items, warming up the atmosphere.
Then he straightforwardly introduced the first auction item—a beautifully crafted silver staff.
"This is today's number one treasure, an Elemental Amplification Staff produced by Master Ekroll. The staff's body is made of low-purity Mithril Alloy, and the top is inlaid with a pure Elemental Crystal Ball with a diameter of ten centimeters.
This staff amplifies the power of four elemental spells by one thousand energy levels, making it a rare quality staff.
Starting bid of five thousand Magic Essence; does any master wish to bid... Five thousand five hundred Magic Essence, Master number thirty-five bids five thousand five hundred Magic Essence."
This auction was indeed a top-tier event organized by Nine Stars Commerce, with even the opening item being worthy of a closing treasure at smaller auctions.
After Brown introduced the specific details of the staff, Wizards in the hall immediately began to bid.
Before long, the price of this staff, which amplified all attributes by one thousand energy levels, soared to ten thousand Magic Essence.
In the room, Richard was also very interested in this item.
Without a doubt, this was a quality staff.
If he could win the bid, he would gain not just the staff itself but also the craftsmanship behind it.
Moreover, even without the technique, a staff that amplified four elemental spells by one thousand energy levels was essential for Richard, who was about to participate in the Academy War.
...
Once the price reached ten thousand Magic Essence, the bidding speed among the Wizards in the hall slowed down.
Before long, the price of the staff settled at eleven thousand five hundred Magic Essence.
"Eleven thousand five hundred Magic Essence; does any master wish to bid? This staff can amplify the power of four elemental spells by one thousand energy levels, making it a superior staff... Twelve thousand Magic Essence! VIP number twelve bids twelve thousand Magic Essence!"
Brown slightly bowed to the VIP room on the second floor, and the Wizards in the hall turned their gazes in the same direction.
By the window of the VIP room, a masked black-robed Wizard held up a sign.
"Twelve thousand Magic Essence, twelve thousand Magic Essence; does any master wish to bid? If not, this exquisite staff by Master Ekroll will belong to VIP number twelve."
The hall fell silent.
Brown brought down the auction hammer and smiled at Richard, saying, "Congratulations to VIP number twelve for winning this exquisite staff by Master Ekroll."
Bob, sitting next to Richard, asked in confusion, "Brother, aren't you an Alchemist Wizard? Don't Alchemist Wizards dislike using staffs made by other Wizards?"
For an Alchemist Wizard, making a staff is a fundamental skill. An Alchemist Wizard who can't make a staff would be laughed at.
"Alchemy requires cross-disciplinary knowledge. My research on Magic Equipment production isn't deep, and looking at a master's work will help me improve my Alchemy."
Richard casually found a reason to brush it off and then returned to his seat.
According to the order in the auction manual, the following items were of little use to him.
One by one, the auction items came up, but compared to the excitement of the first staff, these items seemed rather lackluster.
Even so, none of these items sold for less than seven thousand Magic Essence.
As the auction items were sold one after another, it soon came to the thirty-ninth auction item that interested Richard.
"Item number thirty-nine, an Oddity made by an otherworldly creature.
This treasure was temporarily inserted by a VIP of our commerce and was not mentioned in the previous auction manual.
I must apologize for that."
Brown slightly bowed to the many customers and then began to introduce this last-minute treasure.
"The owner of this treasure is a Third Circle Wizard, and its origin is somewhat mysterious.
Our VIP accidentally communicated with a distant otherworldly creature while researching an ancient ritual. In this communication, he spent no less than five thousand Magic Essence to exchange for this treasure from that creature.
If he weren't drowning in debt right now, I believe he would never auction off this treasure."
While introducing the thirty-ninth auction item, Brown did not directly explain its performance but focused on the story behind it.
For those in the know, this was a very obvious signal.
This item had no selling point without the story behind it.
An otherworldly creation that outputs one Magic Stone's energy per minute might attract some attention at a regular auction, but this was a top-tier auction hosted by Nine Stars Commerce, filled with countless good items; no one would waste their funds on something of unknown utility.
As Brown had predicted, after he finished introducing the performance and price of this auction item, not a single Wizard raised a sign.
Wizards had limited funds, and in an auction where the starting price was already five thousand Magic Essence, no one wanted to be a fool.
After a brief silence, Brown turned his gaze to the VIP boxes above.
At this moment, only these VIPs might place a bid.
"Is there any VIP willing to bid on this treasure, a creation that even a Third Circle Wizard cannot fully understand? It must hide great secrets within."
But as his gaze swept across the various VIP rooms, he still received silence.
Although the VIPs had ample funds, they were not fools.
Who would spend five thousand Magic Essence on such an item?
After all, even Nine Stars Commerce's appraisers could only provide such a rudimentary appraisal result, with no extra selling points.
Most likely, they could only use it as a decorative piece.
A decorative piece worth five thousand Magic Essence was a luxury that only a Great Wizard could afford.
The hall fell silent once more.
"Well, it seems that you masters do not appreciate this treasure. Then I can only regretfully announce..."
But just as Brown was about to declare the item unsold, a sign suddenly caught his eye.
Brown's expression brightened, and his voice was slightly louder than usual.
"VIP number twelve bids five thousand five hundred Magic Essence!"
(End of Chapter)