"Then again, their names aren't that long, but you know how the auction house has to keep track of multiple items at once." Saying these words, Sirius let out a soft chuckle. "Anyways, the one that boosts mana is actually called the Core of the Arcane Beast, while the one that boosts health is called the Heart of the Tenacious Titan."
"With that, let us open the bidding for these items, shall we?" With the curiosity of the audience piqued, Sirius shifted their attention towards the item that compressed and boosted one's capability towards mana. "For this blue heart right there, the bidding price starts at 10 platinum cards. Any bid after that must be higher than the previous by at least one platinum card."
"15 platinum cards!" Unsurprisingly, with Sirius giving everyone the go signal to start bidding on the item, a few among the audience instantly placed their bids, all of them emanating an aura that gave off the feeling that they were one with mana.
With that, quite a considerable portion of the audience decided not to bid on it, either due to the fact that they did not have enough liquidated funds to bid on the item, or the fact that they did not want to antagonize these people.
After all, aside from the mana-filled aura they emanated, their aura also reminded everyone that the ones were bidding were at the peak of Rank 4 at the very least, seemingly having grasped a greater understanding of the world on top of that.
"How high do you think these final bids would reach?" Knowing that joining in on the bid would be a losing game for him, Valyr decided to watch the entire situation unfold from the point of a bystander, even though obtaining one of the items would undoubtedly boost his strength indirectly.
"It wouldn't be surprising for the hearts to reach 50 platinum cards at the very least." Seeing that Valyr had no inclination to bid on the items, Julian inwardly let out a faint sigh as he responded to the young man's question. "Look at the ones bidding. The weakest among them is already at the peak of Rank 4. He even comprehended his own Intent."
"Do you think the final price might reach 100 platinum cards?" asked Valyr in response as he nodded at the man's words. Even without utilizing any of his identification skills, Valyr could feel the slightly intimidating aura coming from the bidders, a great portion of which already had the strength of those at Rank 5.
"Possibly." As Julian said these words, one of the bidders had offered to pay 60 platinum cards on the blue heart, surpassing the man's initial prediction. Fortunately, after that bidder had placed his offer, a considerable portion of those initially bidding on the item had stopped, with only the few that still have a lot of funds within them continuing to increase the price even higher.
In the end, a woman at the early stages of Rank 5 was the eventual winner of the blue heart, obtaining it for a total of 99 platinum cards, only being one card shy away from the triple digit number.
"With the blue heart being sold, let us move onto the beating heart that still remains." As everyone gave a small round of applause for the woman that had acquired the item, Sirius prompted everyone to focus their attention on the red-orange heart to his left.
At first, the audience thought that the red-orange heart might possibly obtain a significantly high price like the blue heart from earlier. Perhaps, the final price might even be lower since HP could be increased through multiple methods.
However, before opening the bid, Sirius had dropped a statement on everyone that exploded in their minds like a massive bomb.
"Before I open the bid for this item, I must also mention that the appraisers have figured out that the heart also increases one's lifespan when consumed. If I remember correctly, around 20 years or so?"
With that, it was no surprise that a great number of people placed their offers on the item once the bidding process had begun, with the price swiftly rocketing to a hundred platinum cards within a few minutes. Then, after reaching the triple digits, the momentum gradually decreased, with the item eventually being sold to an old man seemingly on the brink of death for 350 platinum cards.
"Huh. Who knew that the effect of increasing one's lifespan was enough to entice everyone to bid on it." Though the fact that the heart could also increase one's lifespan surprised Valyr, he did not really have a great need for the item aside from its property to increase his HP. After all, even if he were to do nothing for the rest of his life, he could still live comfortably for close to 200 years, much more if he were to ascend to higher ranks.
"Wait… now that I think about it, why are people going crazy for such an item? Doesn't one's lifespan increase whenever one ascends?" As the thought popped up in his mind, Valyr decided to ask Julian for more insight.
"That is indeed the case." Julian nodded. "However, there are times where people lack the strength to keep up with monsters of the same level, basically reducing their rate of gaining XP to next to nothing."
"There are also people who wholeheartedly focus themselves towards production classes, making it difficult for them to fight with monsters due to their stats and skills being more in line for production rather than combat," continued Julian. "Because of that, items that increase one's lifespan are a highly sought after item, even though such a thing should be quite simple to resolve."
"Well, there's also the fact that human greed knows no bounds." At these words, Julian shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps that person has sufficient strength to ascend through the ranks, yet still wants to live longer. Thus, they would seek out such items."
"I see… that makes sense." Nodding in understanding as he organized his thoughts towards the matter, Valyr eventually returned his attention towards the stage, seeing that two more items had been placed beside Sirius.
