System Change

Alanah sent another message through her communication crystal to Stella after Derek selected Tyron Blacksteel. Something about the man just made Derek want to choose him. He seemed formidable, respected, and very reasonable. Barsic Gregory did not… at least not to Derek. Sure, he would probably make an acceptable glaive, but with Tyron, Derek could sense he would be getting something of incredible quality.

Stella held her crystal and nodded multiple times before making the announcement. “Mr. Blacksteel, your offer has been accepted, and you have won the bid. Congratulations!”

The giant man’s eyes widened slightly. “Really?” he asked. “Even with the delay in forging?”

Mr. Gregory huffed from his position, but chose not to speak.

“Yes, sir. It seems your abilities have left you with a great reputation,” Stella said. “You may return to your seat. We will settle everything after the auction.” She handed the halberd back to the man.

“Thank you.” Tyron bowed slightly, then excused himself back to his seat.

Next, they wheeled the auctioned item off the stage and another up.

“Now, we have a special treat for all of you. In all the years and Void Beast meals we have auctioned, the next set is the highest quality item we have ever had.” Stella walked forward and revealed the three meals on the tray. “Each of these three meals will provide a whopping 42 Strength, 30 Endurance, and 24 Intelligence for a total of 96 stat points.”

She waited for the crowd to quiet down before continuing. “Now, I know you all know the worth of such an item. So I hope to hear no complaints when I start the bidding at 250,000 gold coins or items and materials of equivalent value. Each bid must be at least a 10,000 gold coin increase.”

A combined hiss came from the crowd as multiple people drew in their breaths at the same time. The starting bid was basically unheard of, but such a never before seen item deserved a never before seen price, and everyone knew it.

Derek let out a whistle from inside his booth. “How much you think it will go for?” he asked.

“That is something not even I have an answer to,” Alanah answered. “We don’t have any data for something as good as this, but we have sold multiple at 200,000+ gold coins, so there isn’t any chance it won’t be sold.”

Derek looked over at the booth the King was in. The man was probably more nervous than any other person in the room. He was also probably one of the few people who could bid on the items.

“Let’s start the bidding!” Stella announced.

Instantly, the King’s voice sounded out of his booth for the 250,000 gold coins.

“275,000.” Natalie’s voice rang out from her own booth.

Derek could almost feel the King’s heart drop to the bottom of his stomach when Natalie bid against him. By far, she was the person with the money to work with. If she really got into it, there would be nothing the man could do. Plus, he was still in debt to her… which would be rather embarrassing.

“285,000.” A strained voice came from the King’s booth.

Natalie instantly replied with a bid of 300,000.

The two went back and forth in a bidding war for the first meal for some time. Finally, the King had to give up. Derek, of course, hoped the bidding war would continue indefinitely. After all, he would be receiving a cut of all proceeds from the auction.

“Our winner for the first item is City Lord Natalie Savannah, for a total of 725,000 gold coins. Congratulations!” Stella announced. “Now for the next meal. We will begin the bid again at 250,000. Begin!”

The King started the bidding once again at 250,000, and once again, Natalie didn’t give anyone else a chance.

“500,000.” She instantly doubled the beginning offer.

“550,000.” The King’s muffled voice rang from his booth. He was obviously holding in his anger. There was nothing he could do about it.

“600,000.”

“625,000.” The King answered back. “Miss Savannah, do you have it in your heart to show this old king some mercy?”

“No… 700,000.” Natalie answered immediately. “I don’t attend many of these auctions, so it would be a waste if I don’t do everything I can to get what I want.”

“Fine… 725,000.” The King bid, matching the price of the previous item.

Unfortunately, 725,000 was too rich for his blood previously, but it wasn’t even close to what Natalie was willing to bid, which was obvious when her voice sounded from her booth once again. “750,000.”

“Natalie!” The King’s tense voice sounded again.

“What? If you have the money, I will be more than happy to concede. But items such as these don’t come often. I would know better than most.”

“Fine! You can have this one, but don’t even think about taking the next!”

“Uh-oh.” Alanah said next to Derek.

Derek was enjoying the show. He didn’t see a problem. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I think Edwin just assured that he won’t win anything else.”

“Why’s that?”

“Natalie may not look it, but she is very competitive. You don’t earn the amount of money and resources that she has without being ruthless to the competition. Now, Edwin has publicly stated that she won’t win the next one. He’s probably kicking himself for that outburst at this moment.” She explained.

“I see…” Derek replied and waited.

“Now for the final meal of the night.” Stella announced. “Let the bidding begin at 250…” she began.

“One million.” Natalie bid.

“We have one million gold coins from Natalie Savannah. Is there anyone else? Remember, a chance like this may not happen again.”

Derek heard a loud bang sound out from the King’s booth. Edwin wasn’t currently using the privacy rune for sound, so everyone heard it. Derek did his best not to chuckle, but couldn’t help himself.

“You weren’t wrong,” Derek said.

“I rarely am.” Alanah chuckled. “Don’t worry about the King, though. Natalie knows everything we are auctioning, so she planned on winning all three of those meals before the auction even started. Usually, we would limit the amount one person could win, but this is a special occasion. She also knows what is coming next, and will let Edwin take it after some bidding war… unless he decides to put his foot in his mouth once again.”

Luckily for the King, he did not decide to put his foot in his mouth. He kept it shut and waited.

“Now for our final auction of the night.” Stella waited for the worker to roll out the last item.

“It’s the blood, right?” Derek asked.

“Yes.” Alanah nodded. “I was able to concentrate the blood into a liquid that provides a very beneficial boost to Vitality.”

“Oh? How much?” Derek asked. He had eight vials of the blood on him right now.

“Well, the ones that you have each provide a total of 20 points to Vitality.”

“Damn.”

“Damn indeed,” Alanah agreed. “What we are auctioning off, though, is different. The blood works more like potions than the meals, so you don’t have to limit your intake. Of course, that is only after it is concentrated. We are selling one… giant portion tonight.”

“Giant portion?”

“Yes, one portion that gives 80 points to Vitality.”

Back on stage, Stella finally revealed the container filled with red liquid. “For the final item of the night, we have a new product. An extremely rare product. We have given this product the name: Vitality Elixir. As for what this product does, well… it increases Vitality. Inside this container is enough Vitality Elixir to provide 80 points of Vitality… permanently.”

The contract hung on the wall behind Stella showed no signs of disruption, which meant that every word out of Stella’s mouth about the product was the truth. A product that permanently increased Vitality by 80 points was unheard of. Before this auction, actually, there weren’t any products they could buy that even increased Vitality.

Now, everyone had been introduced to the Potions of Physical Permanence. On top of that, they were all now looking at a super elixir than only increased Vitality. This was an auction night for the history books.

Once everyone settled down, Stella continued. “We will begin the bidding at 500,000 gold coins or items of equivalent value. Let’s begin!”

Immediately, the bidding war started. This time, more than just the King and Natalie made their bids. The Allister family and Greenland family both came in with bids of their own. Everyone wanted more Vitality. As popular blacksmiths, Barsic Gregory and Tyron Blacksteel were both flush with gold, as well.

In mere minutes, the price of the Vitality Elixir was raised to 1,250,000 gold coins and showed no signs of slowing. The previous meals were rare, but it was hard to justify spending so much on them, as they, or meals like them, showed up for auction from time to time. But nothing like the Vitality Elixir had ever been seen, and there was only one available for auction.

Once the bidding hit 1,500,000 gold coins, however, most of the other participants backed down. While the product may be worth every coin, theses noble houses and blacksmiths weren’t willing to bankrupt their family or businesses for individual gain.

“1,750,000 gold coins.” Natalie’s voice sounded from her booth.

“I thought you said Natalie was going to let the King win this one,” Derek said to Alanah.

Alanah shrugged. “She will… probably. As long as the elixir reaches an appropriate value. She certainly isn’t going to let it go for any less than it’s worth.”

I’m going to have to remember to thank Natalie for that, then. Derek thought.

“1,500,000 gold coins and… three skill scrolls of your choosing from the royal collection.” The King finally choked out.

“What is that worth?” Derek asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t know what skill scrolls they have. However, with the hesitation Edwin showed, there must be some of fair value. Resistance skills and passive skills are the most expensive, as they don’t appear often.”

Stella put the auction on hold to confirm the value of the King’s offer. “King Edwin, what price would you place on these three scrolls?”

“Depending on the skills chosen… 500,000 at the minimum,” he replied.

“Very well. The Crown will take you at your word and increase your bid to two million gold coins.” Stella confirmed.

They all waited for a counter offer that never came. It looked like the bid had finally reached a price that Natalie was comfortable with. An audible sigh escaped Edwin’s private booth once he realized she would no longer be bidding against him.

“Congratulations to the winner of the final auction of the night, King Edwin.” Stella announced. “Thank you all for coming out. If you were a winner tonight, please stay behind to make your transactions. Anyone else may leave if you choose so. Again, the Crown thanks you for your patronage.”

With the final announcement, the tension that permeated the air through the entire auction finally released. Many of the guests made their way out of the hotel while discussing the day’s events, while others hung back to receive their wares or watch. Those in private booths began exiting one by one.

Derek watched on as Natalie exited her booth. She had the same impassive face she always had on. She certainly didn’t look like she had spent over two million gold coins.

When the King exited, he couldn’t help but show a look of giddy excitement. He was like a kid in a candy store. Derek didn’t know if he would consider the King the big winner of the day, but the King obviously did. Derek was more interested in the skill scrolls. Based on his contract, he would be getting at least one of the three scrolls.

It had been an eventful day. Much more entertaining that Derek had expected. Entertaining and profitable.

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