I don't know how much time had passed.
Hum—
The auction stage not far away gradually lit up.
Under the soft white light, a middle-aged man with neatly trimmed black beard stepped up.
He wore an exquisite white Wizard Robe with gold patterns, a rare head of black hair.
The auctioneer in the white robe smiled and walked without stopping to the high desk engraved with Golden Anchor, picked up the golden gavel placed on it, and struck the base.
Dang!
The quiet murmur that had been present in the hall slowly faded away.
Colin also opened his eyes and sat up straight.
It looked like the auction was about to begin.
"Honored Wizards, welcome to Golden Anchor Auction House, I will be your auctioneer today—Ali."
The auctioneer in the white robe began his opening remarks and gave a brief introduction.
"This auction is Golden Anchor Auction House's large-scale monthly auction, with a total of 57 items to be auctioned today, and the estimated time needed is 6 hours..."
After the introduction, the auctioneer started to explain the key points.
"Next, I will introduce to everyone the rules of this auction and points of attention."
"This auction will be an ascending bid auction, where I will start by announcing the estimated reserve price set by the auction house. Subsequently, you can compete by raising your bids.
Furthermore, at the armrest of your seat, there is a Bidding Crystal provided. You can use it by inputting your Magic Power."
At this point, he paused for emphasis and said:
"At the same time, I would like to specially remind all esteemed Wizards to use the Bidding Crystal for bidding to protect your privacy and safety as much as possible, in order to avoid unnecessary troubles..."
Colin, who was caressing the crystal on the right armrest that he had lit up, nodded slightly.
Such an anonymous method of bidding obviously had higher safety.
After all, in this world, if one had no power, there were many times when one could buy with life but couldn't use without life.
… Presumably, such anonymous bidding methods must be quite common in the auction houses of this world.
After all, if one couldn't ensure their safety, then who would participate in auctions?
Auction houses could only build up a good reputation and have a steady stream of customers by ensuring the safety of the auctioneers as much as possible.
While thinking this, the auctioneer on the stage was also nearing the end of his opening speech.
"… The handover of small auction items will be delivered immediately to the corresponding bidder's seat through a special device provided by Golden Anchor Auction House at the same time as the successful bid."
"Please collect them promptly."
"Lastly, from the moment you participate in the auction, it implies that you agree to all the regulations of Golden Anchor Auction House and that you trust the professional appraisal results of Golden Anchor Auction House.
After the auction ends, no returns shall be supported for any reason."
After saying this, the auctioneer in the white robe paused and then continued:
"The rules of this auction and points of attention have now all been announced."
"Let us now begin the official auction."
Upon hearing this, Colin adjusted his posture slightly, placed his hand on the Bidding Crystal, and felt an inexplicable anticipation.
Before he could fully prepare,
a fiery red Magic Crystal appeared out of nowhere on the table on the stage.
"A First Rank Advanced Fireball Witchcraft Sun Fireball Magic Crystal, good quality, starting bid 500 Magic Stones,"
said the auctioneer in the white robe.
After a moment, someone began to bid.
"Five hundred and ten Magic Stones."
Under the effect of the Bidding Crystal, the speaker device at the top of the auction hall transmitted a mechanical voice.
"Five hundred and fifteen Magic Stones."
Another voice of the same tone immediately followed in the next moment.
After hesitating for a moment, Colin too felt tempted and with a thought, called out his own bid.
"Five hundred and twenty-five Magic Stones."
He still vividly remembered the First Rank Advanced Sun Fireball.
The might displayed by Wizard Lap when casting it had left a deep impression on him.
Although using a Magic Crystal that is higher than one's actual Rank, it is not like the Foolishness Scepter, which won't add any consumption.
Instead, it will increase the consumption of Spirit.
As a result, the number of times a Magic Crystal can be used is greatly reduced due to the limitation of Spirit, and it also slightly diminishes its potency.
But the First Rank Advanced witchcraft Sun Fireball, even if slightly reduced, was still at least at the level of First Rank Intermediate witchcraft.
And now, with the bonus of the Foolishness Scepter, if he were to cast a golden Arrow Shooting Skill.
And after the knowledge paid was offset by the knowledge gained from casting witchcraft, to control it at a rate where about five casts would reduce one point of progress.
Then the power of his cast would just barely reach the level of Basic Level First Rank witchcraft.
The Sun Fireball Magic Crystal, of good quality, could be recharged at least ten times.
Fully charged, it was expected to allow five casts... For him, perhaps only one cast was possible.
But items like these, which could serve as a temporary trump card, were naturally better the more you had.
"Five hundred and forty Magic Stones!" someone called out a bid again.
"Five hundred and forty-five Magic Stones." Colin paused, then bid again.
However, perhaps there were many with the same thoughts as him.
The price of the Sun Fireball Magic Crystal did not stop at five hundred and forty-five Magic Stones.
Instead, it climbed all the way, soon surpassing six hundred Magic Stones.
Colin also stopped bidding rationally.
After all, he wasn't exactly what you'd call wealthy; he had just come into an unexpected fortune.
Moreover, he now had two other more pressing needs—
Buying a ship and a Meditation Method.
Neither was cheap... this unexpected fortune might not be enough...
It was better to save.
In the time that followed, with this mindset, he mostly just watched in silence.
Only occasionally did he call out a bid, but none were successful.
However, soon a new auction item made him put away his indifferent attitude.
"The Ancient Banu Meditation Method, an incomplete ancient meditation method, contains the complete content from Apprentice to First Rank Wizard, and some incomplete content of a Second Rank Wizard."
"The starting bid is five thousand Magic Stones."
Sitting up slightly, Colin watched the white-robed auctioneer in front of the Crystal Ball, feeling somewhat excited.
He hadn't expected a meditation method would actually be auctioned!
And the starting bid was only five thousand Magic Stones!
'Let's add five hundred for starters!'
He placed his right hand on the Bidding Crystal without hesitation and called out.
"Six thousand Magic Stones!"
But someone was faster than him.
His expression changed slightly, and he raised the bid on the Bidding Crystal to seven thousand Magic Stones!
"Eight thousand Magic Stones!" A mechanical voice came again.
His right hand stiffened slightly, and he involuntarily stopped his bidding.
To prevent random bidding, Golden Anchor Auction House would assign each bidder a fixed bidding limit before the auction.
This limit differed for each Wizard and was judged based on the assets each Wizard displayed.
For Colin, most of his limit came from the Golden Four-leaf Clover.
Only nine thousand...
He sighed, and in that brief moment of contemplation,
The bid for the Ancient Banu Meditation Method had already reached ten thousand.
Such a price had already exceeded his maximum bidding limit.
And it seemed, it was not the final selling price.
"Eleven thousand Magic Stones!"
"Eleven thousand five hundred Magic Stones!"
"Eleven thousand five hundred and fifty Magic Stones!"
"Twelve thousand Magic Stones!"
The bidding voices in the hall rose and fell in succession.
Suddenly, a voice came from a single-person private box upstairs.
"Gentlemen, please give me, Ruth, some face. This is nothing but an ancient meditation method that is both incomplete and flawed, and outdated..."
But before he could finish, the mechanical bidding voice continued to ring out.
"Thirteen thousand Magic Stones!"