"155,000 going thrice. Sold to the girl with number 21!" Finally, Michael heaved a sigh of relief. If it wasn't for the mask, what Gaya did would have brought a calamity upon them. Thanks to the system, she only had to get the rock from the auction house, change her face somewhere private, and simply walk out of the auction house with him.
"Good, we will take the Primordial stone from her dead body after our men took turns with her"
"Not before I fuck all your women to death" without even standing up, she just showed them the middle finger looking at the rock on the stage.
"Who is this girl?"
"Noah, I think you found your match in provoking nobles" the golden babaroo, Norvin laughed.
"For a change, it's not going to be us running for our lives," Alicia said coldly.
"I've never seen a stupid girl like her before," Norvin said, munching on an apple.
"Unless she has a way to escape" Noah didn't think of the foul-mouthed girl as being stupid. On the contrary, he could sense she definitely has a way to escape.
"The next item we are going to reveal will be something that you can buy nowhere else. This is a must-buy for Alchemists but it doesn't mean warriors have no use for them. On the contrary, any alchemist regardless of their star rank could create miraculous pills and potions with these"
The old man slowly pulled the red cloth of another stand to reveal a basket with silk apples and various rare herbs in it.
"This basket contains five four thousand years old Silk apples, two thousand years old Lake Petal, two three thousand years old Void Chervil, and five four thousand years old Queen Grass. Every single herb is extremely fresh and retains all its medicinal qualities"
Numerous outcries sounded within the auction ground when they heard the names of the herbs. Even those who weren't familiar with the herbs' uses, knew that anything so old must be extremely rare and valuable. Those who were Alchemists or familiar with Alchemy felt a chill running through the spines as their bodies shivered. Every single herb the host named was a Legendary herb that could be used to make powerful potions and pills. They also knew that these herbs only grew in places that many didn't dare to go.
"Are you interested?" Alicia saw Noah suddenly sit up straight. She guessed that since Noah himself is a 3-star Alchemist, he must be thinking to get the herbs for himself.
"Juicy '' Norvin drooled, staring at the Silk apples. His eyes sparkled as he involuntarily reached his hands out at the apples.
Noah's eyes stared intently at the basket. A wide grin appeared on his face, "finally something interesting"
"Host Goron, you must tell us where these herbs came from. Considering each herb's medicinal quality is influenced by the place they grew, an alchemist has to know about the birthplace of the herb" Michael saw a youngster in forest green winter robes. Behind the youngster was a group of youngsters of his same age wearing the same forest green robes.
The old man knew the question came from one of the disciples of Alchemy king Gabriel himself. The appraisers had already given him a couple of places these might have come from but before he could give the names, another calm voice appeared from another VIP room.
"They are from the Treacherous Ocean" the mere mention of the name Treacherous Ocean made everyone gasp in shock. Many turned their heads in the direction of the voice. They couldnt see through the glass to identify the person who just answered.
"How do you know?" the disciples asked from his VIP room
"Because I picked them from there" As he said, he retrieved the laser he used in the process of making spiders. He then used the laser to cut a small round in the glass.
Everyone was speechlessly staring at the round forming up in the mirror. Because the second floor was built in an open square shape, except for a few VIPs, the rest of them could see the hole along with everyone downstairs.
Soon, a little dragon came through the hole carrying a silk apple in its claws. It flew straight to the stage where it hovered above the old man's head.
"A Dragon!"
"Oh my god!"
"Look at its claws, it's carrying a silk apple!"
"Who is this person?"
Many mumbled among themselves. The entire auction was paused by the sudden change of events. At the moment, every pair of eyes gawking between the dragon and the VIP room it came from.
"Ghost"
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 3000 badass points]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 2600 badass points]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 4500 badass points]
...
"He certainly knows how to make an entrance without showing himself," Norvin said as Maisy, the little girl stared at the dragon without batting an eye. Her eyes slightly welled up. Alicia gently patted the little girl on the head.
"Human, what are you doing?" Gaya asked, "promoting ourselves and if we are lucky, we might end up making friends with some of the noble houses here"
"Or enemies" she replied
"They are the same" Nightmare said and dropped the apple as the old man quickly caught the apple. They saw the little dragon flying back to the VIP room with opened mouths.
"Our appraisers did find out that these herbs could have come from the Treacherous OCean and now we have confirmation from a 5-star Alchemist, the Ghost of River town himself. It's an honor to have you as our guest, Young Master Ghost" the old man bowed in the direction of Michael's VIP room. He was old enough to understand why he revealed himself.
"He said he picked it from the Treacherous OCean"
"Did he venture into the Treacherous OCean?!"
"Oh my god, he must have"
"Holy shit"
Including the elders sitting in the VIP room became restless realizing the meaning of Michael's previous words.
"Totally worth it" the badass points kept increasing without slowing down. It put a wide grin on Michael's face. He was grateful for the disciples who asked a question that provided him with an opportunity to make an entrance.
"So he's here" Noah stared at Michael's VIP room. Ever since he was born, he never felt in debt to someone else other than his father and mother, However, for the first time, he felt indebted to Ghost after he heard how Ghost saved not only his sister but also his mother. When he heard everything that happened while he was away, he was shaken to the core. Noah couldn't even imagine what could have happened to his family if it wasn't for Ghost. Despite his slight disapproval of Ghost for being selfish and using his talents to make money instead of helping others, he wanted to thank him. Noah heard from Peyton how he used the Netherel attack in River town to his own advantage. If it was Noah, he would have given all the healing potion for free to those who were hurt instead of using their misery to make money.
Moreover, although Noah knew he didn't steal the dragon-like Maisy was complaining, his fondness for the little girl made him take a dim view of Ghost furthermore.
Regardless of what he thinks of Ghost, Noah knew one thing for certain, if it wasn't for Ghost, his family would have been torn apart. For saving his family, he wanted to thank him regardless of Peyton's strong disagreement.
"The starting price of the treasure basket is 400,000 gold coins. Any increase in the bid must not be less than 20,000" The old man smiled and spoke. He glanced at the auction grounds where private conversations had erupted. "So… everyone, please place your bid"
The expression of the old man did not change when faced with this completely silent situation. A warm smile remained on his face as he knew the VIPs would throw their gold coins to acquire these precious herbs, especially the disciples of Gabriel.
"450,000" The silence continued for around half a minute before it was broken by a bid that was transmitted from one of the VIP rooms.
This bidding price had just sounded when it appeared to have triggered a chain reaction. Bids were cried out one after another. Within less than a couple of seconds, the price was raised to 700,000.
"Gaya, increase the price"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'll monitor the VIP rooms and let you know when to stop"
"800,000"
"Shit, It's that girl again. Alright, alright, I won't curse" she added before some nobles might back off, afraid of her bad-mouthing their family. After all, even if they did kill her, the rival families must use this to ridicule them for years. However, after hearing that she won't curse, the VIPs somewhat felt relieved while many in the downstairs felt disappointed.
"850,000" Noah placed the bid.
The sudden leap in price immediately caused an uproar to resound across the entire auction. Michael was happy and shocked at the same time. He knew Noah's family was not a superpower but still, Noah seemed loaded.
Compared to Michael, Noah did have way too many enemies but he also killed many and their pay cubes ended up inside Noah's space ring. Plus, he had the financial backing of the Guardian guild, Xanali, and Alicia.
"I need those herbs no matter the price," Noah's words put a smile on Michael's face as he gave the signal to Gaya to increase the bid.
"880,000"
"900,000 gold coins"
"House Fisher, 950,000 gold coins" The noble houses began to start using the House names to intimidate but Michael knew Noah would back off and it worked in his favor.