101 Internal Energy Orb

"Please bring out the 8th item!"

Under the command of the host, the eighth item was carefully carried out by several men.

It was a transparent orb-like object that had a yellowish-orange hue where one could mistaken it to be the physical representation of internal energy.

Although internal energy and mana was naked to the eyes of weak beings, the both of them had unique representations that one would be able to find out what kind of an energy was that.

The appearances of internal energy and mana were both like threads of light, but their colors differ. The former could be identified as having a golden hue; while the mana would be bluish, of which, the darker the color, the more potent the mana was.

The sphere was placed over the table that was used to take out the Flicker Encyclopedia. It had a diameter of a few inches, but no matter how small it was one could feel the power emanating from it.

"This is an internal energy orb. It is enriched of internal energy that it's guaranteed that once the orb is fully assimilated, it could make somebody a practitioner of that energy as powerful as an adept to advance a sub-level." The host clarified the effect of the item.

It was another rare treasure. Almost everybody in the room got their interests piqued by the function of the item.

Host: "The offer for the item shall start now!"

"10,000 mana stones!", a voice from one of the private rooms declared.

As soon as the initial bidding price was proclaimed, a third of the people on the ground instantly wavered by the immense amount of mana stones being offered.

10,000 mana stones was equivalent to 1,000,000 gold coins, even aristocrats would be a little hesitant to spend such large amount of the mentioned currency.

"20,000 mana stones!" Somebody from the audience below bidded. It was an old man who seemed to be in his last years.

"30,000 mana stones!" A yell came from one of the private rooms again.

"40,000 mana stones!" The same old man crazily shouted, it seemed that it was all of what's left of his savings; however, his bid was immediately overthrown by another person from one of the private rooms.

Only a few seconds passed and the price for the orb skyrocketed to 100,000 mana stones which shook the countenance of numerous people sitting below.

"These people are going crazy for such an item. An expert alchemist could probably even concoct an elixir or pill to help one advance through that level." Gavin commented as he enjoyed the spectacle. The level that he was referring to was Adept.

"That orb was guaranteed that one will advance in a sub-level. It's maybe useless for you because you're talented sir, but it is very precious to people who are stuck at a bottleneck for a very long time. It's more valuable to the ones near the end of their lifespan.", Mr. Howard replied.

"You are right. It's also hard finding an alchemist that could create an elixir or pill guaranteed to make you advance a sub-level in strength, in fact, I think there's no such person who could do it.", Gavin sighed.

'But I'll try to accomplish that!' Gavin ardently thought.

Down below, Alice eagerly watched the chaotic and extravagant atmosphere of multiple guests bidding for an item.

A thought suddenly came through her mind and asked herself, "A mana stone costs 100 gold coins, with this many stones being used as a bidding chip in this place, won't the economy collapsed by the ratio of exchange between mana stone and gold coins?"

Her thoughts were indeed logical; with 100,000 mana stones that was worth 1,000,000 gold coins, it's possible that there's somebody who owned 1,000,000 mana stones and it would cost 100,000,000 gold coins!

The economy of all territories would be in a mess as gold wasn't unlimited, yet there is a large chance of a mana stone forming in special places because of mana being abundant on the air.

As a shop owner, she had to be knowledgeable about the economy.

"Sir Alchemist Morgan, what do you think?" Alice asked.

"The government doesn't control most of the mana springs. Also, millions of mana users utilize mana stones for their power to be further augmented. Now if those millions extracted all the mana in their mana stones, they won't be different from ordinary stones anymore." Allen briefly replied. "A wizard alone could drain a million mana stones and its strength won't even move."

"You have a point, Sir Alchemist Morgan.", Alice agreed on Allen's statement.

Alice then looked over at Edwin, and was surprised to see tears flowing down from his eyes while looking at the other bidders.

"Is there anything wrong?", Alice asked.

"No, I feel like I'm just really lucky to even enter such as place filled with money.", Edwin wiped off the tears of his face.

"You're not used on seeing a lot of money being spent?", Alice questioned again.

"I guess." The boy chuckled.

The price of the internal energy orb already reached 140,000 mana stones after their little conversation. Now, the hot bidding between two factions of separate private rooms was the focus of everyone.

"141,000 mana stones!", one of the factions declared. The tone of the voice seemed that it came from a woman.

"That voice, it seems familiar." Alice deeply pondered.

"142,000 mana stones!", the other faction stated. One could notice the awkward accent of the voice.

"The other one probably came from the Midea Republic." Alice speculated..

"143,000 mana stones!", the first faction declared once again.

"I know it now! The owner of that voice came from one of the astrologists of Reverent Observatory!", Alice realized.

"175,000 mana stones.", Allen called out which made everybody stunned, specially Alice and Edwin.

"Edwin, pretend that you don't know him!", Alice urged with a low-shouting voice.

"Huh?", Edwin was baffled by Alice's exhortation, but he easily comprehended why and followed it.

"Who's that?!", the people from the Reverent Observatory and the Midea Republic looked down the audience and spotted Allen.

"Hmph! 178,000 mana stones!" The representative of Reverent Observatory said in an agitated manner.

"180,000 mana stones!" The person from the Mendia Republic gritted his teeth and rose his bid.

"200,000 mana stones." Allen said.

"This..." Everyone in the room was speechless by Allen's bravery and audacity, he didn't even put the other sides' statuses on his eyes at all.

'Allen's going to get himself in big trouble.' Edwin had an urge to stop him from continuing his bid, but he would be implicated if he obtained the orb in the end and knew it's better for Allen to act alone this time.

"..."

An utter silence befell on the hall as the price of the item reached 200,000 mana stones. Equivalent of 2,000,000 gold coins. The minds of some people were already blank, some were gaping with their mouths open, while Alice and Edwin pretended to be extremely surprised and didn't know Allen.

The host repeatedly blinked at the sight and when he regained his composure he loudly stated, "The item is hereby sold in three... two... one. It's officially bought!"

"It's not worth it to raise it any further." The woman representing the Reverent Observatory shook her head in dismay.

The person from the Midea Republic narrowed his eyes and spotted Allen. Meanwhile, the earlier man who was outbid by Allen on the Flicker Encyclopedia was caught off guard that it was the same person who beat him to the book.

Gavin tried to look whoever was the bidder, but again wasn't able to spot Allen due to the balcony blocking his sight.

"It's the same person." Gavin said. 'His voice is familiar.'

"That man has some guts to take that item away from these big shots.", Mr. Howard added.

Another empty silence pervaded the atmosphere of the auction after the orb was sold out to Allen. The silence now was as deep as the depths underwater in the middle of an ocean.

"Ehem, now folks, it's time for the 9th item. Please bring it out at once!" The host tried to ease the suffocating mood through the ninth item.

After which, a small jar containing a single pill replaced the orb. The host rose the jar for everybody to see the pill inside it.

"It's my pill!" Gavin's smile rose to his ears when he recognized the pill inside the jar.

'Finally, now everybody will know that I successfully created a layered pill like Allen's, hahaha!' He inwardly snickered.