Chapter 504

Chapter 504: Only the Best Items

The three carts were replaced with two others, each holding an early-perennial item.

While the team started looking over the menu in search of their next order, Oli did his best to guess at what prices he should expect. He thought to himself, ‘Will I be able to afford only techniques? And how much will a peak-perennial item cost?! To think, I wanted to buy one from the auction...’

‘That’s why Rykard’s fealty is an unexpected blessing,’ Eeole remarked. ‘Oli, only make another radical bid after checking with me.’

‘You still can’t tell?’ asked Oli.

Oli could hear Eeole’s unusually long sigh in his mind. ‘... I somewhat can, but not fully. They’ve likely appraised it as something between high and peak-perennial grade since it wasn’t one of the first few high-perennial items. Too bad... I was hoping they’d mistake it for something of lesser value and sell it cheap.’

‘Yet you still want me to save one hundred and fifty thousand for it?’ Oli sarcastically chuckled. ‘It sounds like you were anticipating that from the get-go.’

‘Either way, you’ve got less than twenty thousand left until you breach what we’re saving for later. So only bid if I give the okay.’

.....

‘... Fine. But I’ll be asking, so you’d better answer and not just ignore me,’ insisted Oli.

The auction continued with more momentum than ever. Once the last of the elder items were sold, it was only uphill from there. And the final early-perennial items were next to fly off the carts. As the next hour passed, they were also selling the last of the low-perennial goods, some of which had Oli’s teammates feeling anxious to own.

But Oli didn’t bother bidding, or even asking to bid. Oli was focusing solely on mid-perennial goods and higher. Those would be the best help for Iron Territory to grow, and would best guarantee the patrician clans to raise more, stronger perennials.

A little while later and all low-perennial goods were gone. This had everyone on edge as the final bidding wars were certain to be the most aggressive and over-the-top.

The first wave of mid-perennial items were weapons and most of which came from Rykard’s “final collection”. Again, Freele, Trantor, and Trenk were in awe of the craftsmanship and the price of such goods. But seeing that only made Fulkar and Oli more excited since they knew where Rykard’s true “final collection” would be.

Eventually, a new round of items was brought out and Oli’s attention was once again pulled toward the stage.

“Next, we have a mid-perennial battle art, water-based! It’s called Rising Torrent and creates exactly what the name implies! The starting bid is thirteen thousand gold!”

“Nineteen thousand!” Oli shouted, somewhat catching people off guard as a moment passed.

“Twenty thousand!”

As Oli’s traditional budget was passed he sighed and kept quiet.

‘So long as it’s under twenty-five, you can get it.’

Hearing that, Oli nodded and interrupted the auctioneer, “Twenty-two thousand!”

“... Twenty-two thousand gold, going once! ... Going twice! ... SOLD!”

Dong, dong!

Sighing proudly, Oli was glad to finally get a perfect battle art for Iron Town’s Small-mouth Frog Tribe, which had become a clan with two perennials during the past year. Now, Iron Territory had most all essence types covered for battle arts and cultivation techniques, rendering them capable of raising more perennials than ever and equipping those perennials with equally powerful arts.

Of course, Iron Territory wasn’t going to stop gathering more arts and techniques. They were on the cusp of competing with regions in terms of techniques and arts gathered. Any more, especially those of high-perennial grade or greater, and Iron would have a great chance of becoming a legitimate region in the not too distant future.

While the next scroll was another mid-perennial technique, it was earth-based, the one essence type that Oli had absolutely no need to acquire. Instead, Oli focused on something else. ‘So, do I have the okay?’

‘... Wait a little longer. I need to see the peak-perennial goods.’

‘Then I’ll miss the high-‘

‘Oli, you have just under one hundred and fifty thousand left. That’s enough to buy two peak-perennial goods at best. And how many peak-perennial scrolls are up for sale today?’

‘Two.’

Oli could tell Eeole was secretly smiling from his tone alone. ‘Precisely. So just wait and see. Whether it’s buying what we need most or getting those two scrolls, the last of that gold will go to great use.’

Sighing, Oli nodded silently and watched as another mid-perennial technique was sold off. He kept quiet as all mid-perennial goods were auctioned away. Then, the final stretch of the auction was truly underway.

“Ladies! Gentlemen! It’s hard to believe, but we’re almost done!” the auctioneer cheered and pouted at the same time. “There are only eleven items left, and nothing lesser than high-perennial grade remains! Are you ready to get the real battle of the bids to get started?!”

The crowd ate up the hype as three carts were wheeled out. “The first high-perennial item is this cultivation technique, an ice-based technique aptly named Frozen Aura! It allows the user to radiate frost and chills strong enough to freeze things from contact alone. And should the user pump out essence to increase the aura’s intensity, it can increase both offensive and defensive battle arts! Again, we’re starting at twenty-five thousand gold!”

“Twenty-five-”

“Thirty thousand!”

In their booth, everyone glanced at Fulkar. To their surprise, Fulkar seemed unfazed by the arrival of such a technique.

Fulkar quickly noticed the many gazes landing on him, commenting, “What? I’ve already got a mid-perennial technique waiting for me. If I were to argue for an upgrade of a single level, it would be like a whining child asking for seconds at dinner time. If it were a peak-perennial grade, then perhaps... But the cost would be way too high!”

Oli nodded in silence as he eyed the still-covered carts. From what he could tell, none of them were hiding the item that Eeole wanted. ‘It seems they graded it properly.’

‘That’s still to be determined...’ stated Eeole. ‘Just keep an eye out for the peak-perennial items. With so few items left, it’s bound to show up soon. Including your incoming winnings, you’ve got at least one hundred and sixty thousand gold left to spend. Don’t lose track of that amount.’