Max's items kept selling for fair prices one after another and by the time all his items listed in the third round had been sold, Max raised a grand total of 12.7 billion gold coins.
It was a lump sum greater than what Max had expected initially and gave him some extra credit to bid on the Agni-Astra.
If everything turned out well, his fourth round item could end up fetching him close to 20 billion gold coins at best, meaning he may walk out of the auction a richer man than he expected.
At worst it would be 2 billion and he would still walk out a wealthy man.
" Our next item today, a sword of the legendary grade, rumoured to have been gathered from the items Thor dropped after he was slain by Shakuni The Terrifying in their deathmatch.
A rare treasure owned by a monarch. Bidding starts at 5 billion gold coins " the auctioneer announced as Max had goosebumps all over his skin hearing his brother's name.
The bidding was fervent for a sword that was previously owned by Thor and it finally sold for a whopping 10.3 billion gold coins.
A few other items passed by, and Max felt his heartbeat quicken with every passing bid as according to the list, the Agni-Astra was the 17th item for sale in round 3.
" And now, the 16 th item for the night, a rare potion that will heighten bedroom experiences to an unimaginable degree.
It is a must have item for men and women of culture.
Bidding starts at 2.5 billion gold coins ".
VIP 4 : 2.7 billion
VIP 6 : 3 billion
VIP 4 : 3.3 billion
VIP+3 : 5 billion
" 5 billion gold coins from VIP+ BOX 3, Do I hear 5.1? " The auctioneer asked, however, VIP+ BOX 3 was Avans and nobody wanted to offend the man as the bidding stopped at 5.
" Sold to VIP+ 3 at 5 billion gold coins, ladies and gentlemen ". The auctioneer said as the entire arena began clapping to show respect to the monarch.
Everyone was talking behind Avans's back for him to publicly bid on such an item, however, Avans did not care. He was far too mighty to give weight to the opinion of peasants. If he wanted something he was going to take it, no point in maintaining facades of decency.
" Boy o boy, does nobody ever bid over a monarch? " Sebastian asked as Max nervously smiled and nodded.
One of the worst things that could happen in the next item bidding would be that one of the monarchs bid for it.
Max sincerely hoped that it would not be the case as he would be truly fucked if that happened.
" Moving on, an interesting item for number 17, an unidentified object assumed to be from ancient times.
It is protected by a high degree concealment spell and even our best appraisers can't wrap a finger around its use.
It could be trash or could be a treasure.
Bidding starts at 1.5 billion gold coins " The auctioneer announced, as Max sighed deeply and prepared himself for a bidding war.
Max signalled Sebastian to call in the staff to put them on standby while he did the bidding, as if need be, Max wanted to trade Sebastian's items for instant credit, for which he needed the staff to be on standby.
VIP 3 : 1.5 billion
VIP 4 : 1.7 billion
VIP 7 : 2 billion
Max made the first bid of the night, nervously incrementing the price to just 2 billion for his first bid and trying to test the waters, but the bidding continued and the price went up to 3 rather quickly.
VIP 7 : 4 billion
Max made a big increment in price, directly raising it by 1 billion gold coins sending an indication to everyone that he was extremely interested in this item and might not relent.
The crowd was rather perceptive and they knew that Max had not bidded on any items in the night up till this moment and hence might have deep reserves for this bid, and with his identity not confirmed not many wanted to take the risk of offending him as many backed off from the bidding process after his big increase.
" 4 billion from VIP BOX 7 , do i hear 4.2? " The auctioneer said enthusiastically and Max cursed the man for showing such vigor.
For 3 seconds which felt like an eternity to Max, there was complete silence.
In Max's past life the item was sold around this price range as well, however, just when Max thought everything was going right, the most dreadful thing happened to him as a high bid got placed from a VIP+ BOX.
" 5 billion "
" 5 billion gold coins from VIP+ 2 , whoever is in there definitely has a taste for the unknown. Do I hear 5.2? " The auctioneer said, although just as formality as he considered the bidding to be completed.
VIP+ 2 box was an unknown variable for Max, as while everyone knew that Cervantez was in VIP+1 and Avans was in VIP+3, the identity of those in 2 and 4 were not confirmed.
While nobody else wanted to bud heads against a VIP+ guest, the Agni-Astra was simply not an item that Max could pass on without a fight.
Hence gathering the balls, Max spoke into the mic " 7 billion " and shocked the entire arena.
" 7 billion gold coins from VIP box 7, alright! Do I hear 7.5? " The auctioneer said with energy, clearly amused by this provocation as the rest of the arena was thrown into sheer chaos.
' Who is this idiot in VIP 7 ? '
' Does the guy in VIP7 know the true worth of the item? Is the item worth offending one of the strongest people in the universe? '
' Hahahaha, some idiot bid against a VIP+ what does he think? Even if he wins, he might not be able to hang onto the item '
' I wonder how VIP+2 will respond, it will be a slap to his/her pride if he let's its slide '
People began discussing this bid with hushed noises, as a very young gentleman sitting in VIP+2 had a frown on his face from how things had developed.