Chapter 360 - To sell or not to sell, that is the question

Ah, legendary items. Everybody loved them, not a lot had them. Jake himself only used a single one actively with it smack on his face, while he knew many didn’t have one at all. For equipment, crafting legendary items was often difficult as the required materials were often not viewed as worth it, especially for those at lower ranks. Why pour a large number of resources into making a weapon for a genius that will only use it for a few years at most, especially considering that weapon may risk becoming a crutch? And if you give it to those weaker, the value of the item will be lost if they die in many cases.

This meant most legendary items were actually auxiliary ones or Soulbound. After all, a good cauldron could be used for many, many years, if not your entire life. The same was true for items for blacksmiths or whatnot to use during their crafting processes. In turn, this also meant these items were often much more expensive.

The second reason an item would be made legendary was for the pure prestige of it and to prove it truly was a valuable item. This is where we got to the first Legendary for Jake, Sultan, and Miranda to consider.

[High-tier Alchemy Token of the Malefic Order (Legendary)] – A token created by the Order of the Malefic Viper. This token represents a deal made with the Nalkar vampire line to grant a set number of the Nalkar Clan vampires membership to the Order and includes a set number of benefits. This token has never been turned in, and doing so may lead to certain rewards. Gives off an aura that encourages growth in toxic alchemical products.

“I apologize… but I do not think it wise to even attempt to sell that,” Sultan said, shaking his head. “Even if it isn’t you selling it, I doubt anyone will want it considering your status within the Order. Enemies will know you can make the reward meaningless, and allies will see no true value. The neutral would probably prefer to stay off your radar and not risk it big by spending a vast amount of Credits on the token.”

“No problem, I didn’t really plan on selling it anyway,” Jake said with a shrug. Which reminded him, he had totally forgotten to ask Villy about it. Would have to do that after the Auction event.

Anyway, back to the topic of why an item would be legendary. Before, it was about why someone would make it legendary. The thing is, natural treasures didn’t really decide what they wanted to be; they just were their rarity based on their Records. Natural treasures also included what dropped from rare or powerful creatures. Such as vampires.

[Nalkar Vampire Heart (Legendary)] – The heart of a powerful C-grade Nalkar Vampire. This type of vampire is a rare variant with extremely high innate abilities in illusion and mind magic. It often possesses a larger reserve of blood energy than most other vampires. The rarity is higher due to the high innate talent of the Nalkar Vampire that left behind this heart. Has many alchemical uses.

“I’m keeping that,” Jake just said, not leaving anything up for discussion. He did not have a shadow of doubt in his mind that he could find uses for the Heart in alchemy at some point. Also, it would feel kinda weird to sell, considering how he got it.

With nothing to discuss, they moved on.

[Safebox of Perennial Sustainability (Legendary)] – A cube containing a spatial storage within, specially made to store items of high value safely. The cube can be manipulated and a password set. Due to the construction of the cube, it is near-indestructible by anyone below S-grade, and if the item is destroyed, a space storm will be released. The time of all items will be frozen within, and mana leakage will be severely alleviated. Mana leakage is nullified entirely for lower-value goods. The difficulty of the password is determined by the user.

“Haven is keeping that,” Miranda said, getting an annoyed scowl from Sultan and a thumbs-up from Jake.

Next!

[Paint Brush of Ephemeral Power (Legendary)] – A brush made from the wood of an ancient tree with a powerful time-affinity. The concept of time has been further amplified by using the hair of a C-grade Temporal Fox variant. All paintings or illustrations made by this brush will hold significantly higher effects; however, they will also cease to be within a short amount of time. Allows the user to release a blast of Ephemeral Power, having unpredictable effects based on the last five creations made using this brush. This effect cannot cause direct harm to others.

Requirements: lvl 140+ in any humanoid race.

Sultan looked expectedly at him for a moment before Jake spoke. “Sell.”

The man happily took it to be sold as they went on with their work.

[Dewstone of Serenity (Legendary)] – A small stone created by the combined effort of a group of water nymphs to help heal a close friend. A powerful vampire eventually acquired this stone and brought it to Yalsten, where it has been ever since. Will passively transform surrounding water by infusing the power of serenity into it. Effect lessens, and transformation progresses slower the larger the pool of water. Has many alchemical uses.

“Gonna be real honest, I just got an idea what to use it for right here and now, which is a nice way of saying I’m keeping it,” Jake said shamelessly, not giving any pause as they went to the next item.

[Supreme Carbonic Focusing Catalyst (Legendary)] – This item is made of a rare type of carbon and is known to be able to bond and mix with most other materials in existence, making it incredibly potent as a catalyst in most crafting endeavors. This Carbonic Focusing Catalyst is of extremely high quality and has absorbed affinity-less mana to allow itself to grow for countless years, making it reach legendary rarity. Has a wide variety of uses in alchemical creations and will increase the power of most crafts where this item is used as a catalyst.

“Keeping it?” Sultan asked half-rhetorically, knowing it was just a damn good item for pretty much any crafter.

“Keeping it.”

Next up: something Jake did not keep.

[Forgestone of Eternal Embers (Legendary)] – A Forgestone infused with incredible quantities of fire-affinity mana. The concept of embers burns strongly within this stone, never allowing the flame ever truly to die out. Unknown alchemical uses.

Miranda looked like she wanted to keep it for Haven but did not say anything as Jake looked at Sultan. “Go ahead.”

Sultan was happy.

Now, the third-to-last legendary item was a bit… complicated.

[Orrery of the Godless One (Legendary)] – An orrery made by a man who refused to acknowledge any gods during his life but only viewed the celestial concept as worthy of being recognized as divine. This orrery will passively map out all nearby celestial objects and give insight into their basic properties. This effect is entirely passive and cannot be altered by outside means, and may take a significant amount of time. This effect bypasses all attempts to hide or mask these celestial objects done by anything below divine-level skills.

Jake was honestly unsure what to do with it, but he also felt like it could be useful. Sultan looked at him with high expectations. Thinking on it a bit further, Jake reached a conclusion.

“Sell it.”

What ultimately made him decide to sell it was the fact it was a scouting tool created to map out a territory. Jake already had something he believed more reliable for that: his eyes. Jake was going the full-perception-build; it would be shameful to embrace auxiliary tools!

Also… if it maps out celestial objects and takes a long time, Jake could always just be a sneaky little boy and break in and look at it anyway. He would probably even be allowed to visit and look at it if someone he knew bought it. Considering how he knew most of the people with a lot of dough, it likely be an aquantance.

Finally, they reached the second-to-last legendary item. These last two were not ones obtained by Jake himself, but the little green ball of feathers with him, who proudly puffed herself up as the first one was revealed.

[Supreme Escape Token (Legendary)] – A token once given to genius members of the vampiric race of Yalsten to keep them safe when venturing outside of their world. This token allows the user to escape a dangerous situation by merely infusing mana into it and activating the emergency escape feature. The emergency escape immediately teleports the user to a distant place divined to be safe. Additionally, a spatial anchor can be placed at any place and then be teleported back to if within range. All effects besides placing an anchor can only be used a total of three times. Uses remaining: 3/3

Sultan looked at Jake, but Jake just pointed to Sylphie, who had been standing on top of his head throughout the entire thing. “Ask her; she’s the owner.”

Looking even smugger than before, Sylphie looked at Sultan for a bit before she graciously allowed Jake to decide what to do with it. He quickly asked if she wanted it, and she clearly didn’t. As for Jake?

“Would it not be wise to keep this item with you in case of danger?” Miranda said with some concern. “It will allow you to explore more risky areas and still have a safe backup to escape. You know, insurance.”

Those words convinced him.

“Yeah, sell that crap.”

How boring would it be to carry a get-out-of-jail-free card around with you at all times? It was the whole “don’t resurrect me if I die, Villy” situation all over again. Less risk just made life less interesting and fun. Jake didn’t want to have a probably overpowered escape token ready at all times and walk around with that knowledge in the back of his mind. If he picked a fight, he couldn’t escape himself or win… well, good riddance, he would deserve to be screwed.

Sultan looked extremely delighted at his decision as he gladly took the small token. Next-up was the final legendary item which had also been procured by Sylphie.

[Supreme Illusiary Defense Array Disc (Legendary)] – An array disc created by a powerful B-grade Nalkar vampire in Yalsten to hide her personal residence from the outside world and defend it. While it has degraded in power with time, the magic circle itself still persists. Allows the user to make the Array Disc expand and take the form of a large illusionary defensive barrier that can cover a vast area. The barrier will block both magical and physical attacks from the outside, and any living things entering it will find themselves stuck in an illusory world. Requires a power source. WARNING: Due to degradation, the disc will break after placing down the Array.

Jake really had no comments on this one at all, and neither did Sylphie as they both turned their heads to Miranda simultaneously with questioning gazes.

“I will admit, this could be very useful for Haven,” Miranda commented. “We do not currently have any defensive barrier in neither the Fort nor at Haven itself. We mostly rely on the deterrence of beasts due to the… nature of the area. Also, while I do have some defensive means with help from the Pylon… we are lacking if any determined invader comes. We are especially in a bad spot versus humans.”

Nodding, Jake acknowledged that they really didn’t have anything against humans. Heck, Sultan even nodded in agreement as the man had just broken in no problem only noticed due to his big flying merchant ship. Jake also knew most other cities had barriers.

Skyggen – both of them – knew he was there pretty damn quickly, and he only managed to sneak into the second Skyggen due to his arcane barrier and Pride masking his presence. But, even then, he had clearly triggered something based on how quickly he was found. Oh, and for some reason, his brother refused to tell him their internal security system details.

Sultan had been silent on the matter but also added his comment: “I am not going to lie, I have a hard time determining the value of this Array. The item is clearly valuable, but the customer base may not need it. Most major factions, who will also be the primary capital holders, already have barriers or inherited methods from their divine heritages to defend their cities.

“To add to that, this barrier may be worse for them. Perhaps not in the short term, but in the long run. As an example, the Holy Church requires barriers with holy energy and sets up an intricate network of magic circles working together. As they grow, they can empower and add on new elements, with the barriers also empowering those with holy power within. Similar situations are present at other factions. The only major faction I could see needing this is the Noboru Clan, but having one major buyer is far from ideal in an auction-based setting.”

“I guess that answers it then,” Jake said.

“We must remember that items can also be put up during the intermissions, and with this time, I can also try to probe for interest related to some of the items we chose to not put up for sale. Perhaps even make us reconsider some of the things we have chosen to put up for sale,” Sultan explained, Miranda nodding along.

With the final legendary item sold, they began going over some other things. Because Sultan was not only interested in selling things for Jake but also buying them, and if he was being candid, then he was totally fine with that. Not having to sit there and bid yourself? Fuck yeah. Jake still wanted to bid himself on equipment of any kind but rare alchemy ingredients? Sultan could go all-out himself there.

Jake also considered one item that he believed probably fell into the same category as the Array in that there was perhaps only one potential buyer. The Root of Eternal Resentment.

[Root of Yalsten’s Eternal Resentment (Unique)] – A wooden root from an unknown tree that has absorbed the curse energies of the black mist that has hung over Yalsten for unnumerable years. The deep and eternal resentment towards the vampires that permeates the curse has now been absorbed and concentrated. After absorbing nearly all the mist within Yalsten, it has begun to take on properties of the hidden world, allowing it to help other curses grow in power faster. With the destruction of Yalsten, the curse is aimless yet remains more powerful than ever. Unknown alchemical uses.

Out of all the items he had yoinked from the Treasure Hunt, this was potentially the most valuable overall. However, for the average joe, what the fuck would they use some old root with an incredibly powerful curse within for?

The description had also changed a bit since the last time, with all references to vampires gone as apparently the energy of the curse was now rather aimless. That didn’t mean he knew what to use it for, and he had already planned on getting in a room with Casper to talk about it during an intermission. What he did know, however, was that he was not giving it away for free. Because oh damn, did it give off an aura.

“Do you have more?” Sultan said with some expectations.

Jake thought for a while as he went over what he had in his storage. One item suddenly popped up, as he remembered the one he had absorbed in his Palate of the Malefic Viper: the ancient rarity Suncore Fragment he had gained after killing his second Prima.

Yet the moment he remembered it, a flood of knowledge also came as the idea of selling it instantly evaporated. During the time he had it absorbed, Jake had slowly gained knowledge related to it, and one of the things he had learned was a potential use for the Core. A use many alchemists did throughout time:

Make an artificial sun.

Not a big one, just a small sun. He recalled the Challenge Dungeon and the sun in the garden there, and the knowledge clicked together as he knew that the sun back then had also just been an item with an incredibly high level of sun affinity. Sun affinity was a mix between life, fire, light, and a bunch of other stuff Jake couldn’t fully pinpoint quite yet without spending a while delving into Sagacity, but he did know a sun was more or less mandatory for many herbs.

A plan to transform the Core into a small sun and use it down in his alchemist lab was already formulated as he reminded himself to also see if he could buy any items during this Auction to make that possible.

Returning his attention to the present, Jake just shook his head. “Nope, that should be it.”

The merchant nodded as he took out a contract. “Now for the trade agreement.”

It was only a single page – primarily due to how it was written with mini-words – and it only took Jake a few seconds to see and understand it all.

“Why the hell do you take a one Credit fee per transaction?” Jake asked with confusion.

“If not, it would be charity, and I am not running a charity,” Sultan just said with a wry smile. “As for taking a higher fee, that would risk a healthy future partnership, so I keep them as low as possible for the time being. Besides, if I buy anything, it will be with your Credits, but the experience and rewards from the event will be all mine.”

“Sounds like I’m being taken advantage of,” Jake answered cheekily.

“We are taking advantage of each other,” Sultan answered before quickly realizing the words could be misinterpreted. “Professionally, of course.”

“Professionally,” Jake agreed.

They swiftly finished up the contract, did another inspection of some of the items, as Sultan put them up for sale using all of his merchant powers to hopefully make sure Jake wouldn’t get scammed and end up selling a legendary for a dozen credits.

Soon, the first hour had passed, and it was time for the first phase of the actual auctioning to begin.