Chapter 543 - Origin Potion
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Of course, there was another possibility, and that was that Mage Felic had already attained an impeccable achievement in magic. Perhaps he was a Legendary-mage? Legendary-mages were often known as Masters. Although it was not wrong to call him a mage, it was not as respectful.
“The problem is, whether or not he’s Legendary-mage has nothing to do with the auction of the potion. A Legendary-mage is not a Master of pharmacy.”
“Yeah, why does his nameless potion have a higher minimum bid than Master Wilkinson’s Origin Potion? That potion concocted by Master Wilkinson will enable mages to master five magical powers!”
The simple difference in the way William addressed him was enough to make them all confused. The minimum bid of 1,000,000 gold coins made them feel like they were being fooled.
Damn it. Everyone’s money was hard-earned, and they all had to pay a huge price to earn a whole 1,000,000 gold coins. They thought, How dare you place a random potion on the display and put it up for auction at a minimum bid of 1,000,000? William doesn’t seem to be poor and out of his mind, does he? Everyone stared at William like he was a lunatic. No one except a lunatic would be able to do something like that.
The potion which would allow one to learn the five magical powers and advance during a trance was sold at 3,000,000 gold coins, an absolute sky-high price. After calming down, the people began to compare the effects of that potion with those of the ones that they knew about.
Those who understood pharmaceutics had come to a shocking conclusion—the senior pharmacist Wilkinson was probably already a Master, or about to become a Master. However, the minimum bid for the Origin Potion was only 500,000 gold coins.
Yet, the minimum bid for the nameless potion was twice the price of Origin Potion. The effects of Origin Potion were already unbelievably magical. Could the effects of this nameless potion rival those of Origin Potion!?
“Hey, do you really think the effects of this potion are better than Origin Potion’s?”
Some of the guests could not figure it out at all. The Time Consignment Store had been around for hundreds of years, and a smart person like William wouldn’t have made such a stupid mistake that would inevitably ruin the business that he had painstakingly built.
However, those words made everyone else feel rather amused as they mocked him, “Are you silly? Could it possibly let someone learn 10 magical powers? Even if that’s the case, it’s probably a potion concocted by a Master. But even then, why would a Master-level potion be put up for auction?”
It was no longer considered a doubt. Although no one knew the reason and answer, or what had gotten into William, they were certain that William was definitely going crazy.
“Damn it, I wouldn’t dare to drink it even if it was given to me for free. The potion was concocted by a mage. Maybe he doesn’t even know what he had put into the potion,” said one of the Warriors.
They were disgusted with the 1,000,000-gold-coin potion because their money was hard-earned, unlike that of businessmen. Every gold coin they had was earned through blood, sweat, and tears.
“Mr. William doesn’t seem like a silly person, either. Maybe he just did this for the sake of giving someone a favor. Maybe the starting bid is so high because he’s afraid that someone might die after drinking the potion. That’s why he’s making it unlikely for anyone to purchase it. At most, the item will just not be auctioned off, and he’ll be able to answer to that person.” There were also those who had made some rational analysis.
When Wilkinson’s Origin Potion was put up for auction just now, Sienna was the first to place his bid and had disrupted the peace of the auction. Although he was well aware that Mage Felic, whom William mentioned, was the terrifyingly daunting young mage, he did not have the courage to disrupt the peace again.
Upon hearing the discussions around him, Sienna was certain that everyone would treat him like a fool if he were to stand up and place his bid now. However, that was not the most important factor. Actually, there was nothing wrong with being a fool for once if it meant that he would be able to get into the good books of Mage Felic. The problem was, what would happen after he called his bid?
1,000,000 gold coins was not a small sum. Sienna knew that he would definitely be in hot soup if he were to intervene now. When he was auctioning for the Origin Potion, everyone else around him was in doubt, and the balance would be disrupted as long as someone spoke up.
However, he realized that no one would vie with him for the item after hearing all of their controversial comments and their disbelief in the reputable William. Sienna dared not take the risk at all. Even though they had been developing well in the past year, it was still 1,000,000 gold coins, after all.
The guests in the hall could no longer keep their cool in the face of such an absurd auction. They talked, mocked, and prepared to see how William was going to clean up the mess. Although they dared not offend William, they were aware that there were still distinguished VIPs upstairs who were the actual big shots. How would they react after knowing that they were being tricked? Even William probably wouldn’t be able to keep their anger down.
Reality was just that cruel. Those who were respectful on the surface might just be cussing at you beneath their courteous facade. While they were congratulating you on your achievements, deep down, they might just be looking forward to seeing you face defeat.
“Damn it, what nonsense is William up to? Is he too old and all muddled?” Tedya jeered, feeling exasperated because he did not manage to buy anything substantial during the auction today. Although he had managed to purchase the Sparks Blue Stone, he had bought it at a sky-high price because of Hilary, who had deliberately raised the price beyond the actual value of Sparks Blue Stone. Next was the bidding for the Origin Potion. To his anger, some scoundrel who sat in a corner downstairs actually placed a bid of 3,000,000 gold coins.
Just as Tedya was throwing a tantrum about the auction, his follower leaned closer towards him and whispered into his ear.
Tedya’s eyes widened in shock, and he turned his head towards the side. “Really? You should know the consequences of lying to me.”
His follower shivered, and nodded firmly before saying, “Absolutely. Ever since Master Sendros returned to the shrine, he told lots of people about this Mage Felic whose pharmaceutical skills Master Sendros really admires.”
Tedya was well aware of what kind of person Master Sendros was. He was the high priest of the Darkness Shrine, the necromancer who had entered the Legendary-realm many years ago. His accomplishments in pharmacy were said to be no worse than those of professional pharmacists. Since an esteemed and reputable person like Master Sendros regards Mage Felic so highly, the latter’s pharmaceutical skills are definitely trustworthy, he thought.
Although Tedya could choose not to trust William’s reputation, he definitely wouldn’t doubt Sendros’ judgment. Hence, he was certain that the nameless potion was definitely worth 1,000,000 gold coins. However, he was still contemplating if he should bid for it; he still didn’t know what benefits the potion offered. William did not mention a word about the medical properties of the potion, and no one knew if the potion was meant to be used by Mages or Warriors. Even if no one placed a higher bid, he would seem like a fool for purchasing a potion that he could not use for 1,000,000 gold coins.
“Sir, I’m sure Master Sendros would be pleased to receive it as a gift since he’s so passionate about pharmaceutics,” the follower said softly and courteously.
Tedya raised his brows, and smilingly exclaimed, “1,100,000!”
“1,200,000!”
Those who were gossiping incessantly fell bizarrely silent after hearing the bids all of a sudden.
Tedya, who had just placed a bid of 1,100,000, pulled a long and sullen face. He thought that he would be able to gain the upper hand and beat everyone else to the potion for once during this auction, yet someone went against him!
Unlike Tedya, Hilary from the Ledin Kingdom was smiling delightfully while being seated in the VIP room opposite him. He had heard about Mage Felic from his close friend, Englos. He found out that Mage Felic was an impressive pharmacist, and he reckoned that the rascal from the Dark Blade had to have heard about Mage Felic from Sendros.
As the prince of the Ledin Kingdom, Hilary believed in the doctrine of light since a young age, and had even practiced in the Brilliance Shrine for a period of time. It was at that time that he became close friends with the bizarre and eccentric follower of Light, Englos, who was also the head of necromancers1.
Ever since Englos had visited the Pharmacist Guild of Alanna to attend a pharmaceutical exchange, he often talked about an extraordinary young chap who had an insane flair for pharmaceutics and had made various extraordinary achievements. Hilary had gotten so sick of hearing about him. This time, he attended the auction with another intention: to visit Doland and find out what the young chap Englos sang praises about was like.
However, Hilary didn’t expect to encounter a potion made by Mage Felic during the auction. If he didn’t purchase it, Englos would definitely blame him if he were to find out.
1,200,000 gold coins was nothing to the prince of the Ledin Kingdom, and it would be a surprising gain if he were to be able to teach Tedya a lesson this time. Prince Hilary was in a good mood. He casually sipped on some wine while waiting for someone else to make another bid.