"Woah…" As Sirius unveiled the item to the audience, Valyr had focused his attention on the item, only to feel an incredibly intimidating aura emanating from the item itself.
Fortunately, with how often he had come into contact with auras from those with higher class ranks than him, it did not take long for him to get over the oppressive aura the item radiated as he looked at the item in greater detail.
"Huh." Once he was able to properly lay his eyes upon the item the auction house had brought out, Valyr's curiosity was slightly piqued as to how the item had achieved its properties. In his mind, such an item capable of increasing all stats by 50 points each would have an appearance that matched that kind of feeling.
However, the item that was placed on the pedestal beside Sirius… was a plain golden orb.
Being roughly around the size of a golf ball, the golden orb radiated an immensely oppressive aura on the entire audience for a brief moment, disappearing around a minute later as it was replaced with an aura that seemed more fitting for an item with its capabilities.
From what Valyr could sense, the golden orb gave off the feeling that it was one with its surroundings, making him feel as if the entire world was within his grasp the longer he looked at it.
"According to the Imperial Alchemist herself, this item you see right here is the Nascent Rebirth Pill." Eventually, the young man had to force himself to snap out of it as Sirius began to explain the item to the audience in greater detail, allowing Valyr to find out the name of the golden orb.
Of course, since Julian had mentioned it earlier, Valyr was not surprised to hear that the pill could increase one's stats by 50 points each. However, he did not expect the pill to be able to compress mana and enhance one's vitality as well, something he had only seen in the two hearts showcased earlier.
After Sirius was done talking about the properties of the Nascent Rebirth Pill, it was no surprise that the entire audience wanted to get their hands on it, similar to how everyone was in a frenzy to bid for the World Resonance Fruit that came before it.
However, their reasons for obtaining the Nascent Rebirth Pill was different from the World Resonance Fruit. To most of the audience, an increase of 50 points in every stat was a negligible increase at most, especially to those at the peak of Rank 5. Even the addition of compressed mana and enhanced vitality was not enough to attract their attention to bid on it.
Instead, the reason why people wanted to obtain the Nascent Rebirth Pill for themselves…
…was to use it as a bargaining chip.
With the Nascent Rebirth Pill in hand, the people in the audience could recruit potential talents among the younger generation with great ease, giving an item to them as a gift. Aside from that, they could also flaunt the fact that the pill was made by the Imperial Alchemist of the Meltierre Empire, an existence none in the greater audience could easily get close to.
"What's the limit this time around?" Seeing as everyone was waiting for Sirius to announce the opening of the bid, Valyr looked at Julian and asked the important question.
"1,500 platinum cards." Staring at the item on stage with a solemn expression, Julian eventually gave the young man a number that was double the limit he had given Valyr for the previous item. "As long as you obtain the Nascent Rebirth Pill at or less than 1,500 platinum cards, the Blacksmith Guild will have no problem paying for it."
"Nothing a few masterwork weapons personally crafted by me can't solve." At these words, the man gave Valyr an assuring grin, though deep inside he felt a tinge of pain at the value he had blurted out.
Nevertheless, with the monstrous talent Valyr had shown so far, Julian was certain that if the young man could get his hands on the final item, he was certain that the money he had spent on this auction today would definitely come back to him in the future a hundred times over.
'Let's just hope it doesn't exceed that price.' Letting out a low sigh, Julian crossed his fingers as he assured Valyr of his limit in bidding.
Eventually, after waiting for a bit more, the bidding for the Nascent Rebirth Pill was opened.
"The initial bidding price for the pill is 100 platinum cards," said Sirius with a confident smile. "Any bid that comes after the previous must be higher by at least 10 platinum cards."
"I bid 500 platinum cards!" To no one's surprise, the price of the pill had skyrocketed in one fell swoop, causing those who were hoping to get lucky to shake their heads and sigh. As for those who still had the funds to bid on the item, they continued to increase the price even further, with Valyr eventually joining in on the action.
"850 platinum cards!" shouted the young man, hoping in his mind that the final price wouldn't exceed the limit given him to by Julian. However, as the pill had other uses than being consumed as an item, it did not take long for bids higher than 850 platinum cards to appear, with the price of the pill approaching 1,000 platinum cards by the time five minutes or so had passed.
"1,100 platinum cards!" Deciding to employ a bidding technique he had used in the previous item, Valyr swiftly tacked on a hundred platinum cards to the pill's final price, hoping to discourage others from bidding on what he wanted once more.
Unfortunately, just like with the item before, it only ignited the people's desire to get their hands on the item for themselves, slowly inching it closer and closer towards the limit Valyr had been given.
"I bid 1,500 platinum cards!" With only one more chance to bid on the item below the limit he had been given, Valyr decided to drastically increase the price once again, tacking on an additional 200 platinum cards on what was originally a bid of 1,300 platinum cards.
For a moment, silence enveloped the entirety of the auction house, giving the young man faint hope that he might obtain his hands on the item. After all, 50 points on each stat was no small increase to him.
However, when he heard a voice from the audience echo throughout the auction house not long after, that was when he knew…
He had lost.
"I bid…"
"1,510 platinum cards."
