Chapter 145

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Episode 33 - Clana Ordeal [1]

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"Now, ladies and gentlemen, the first item is none other than an alchemical material, a material originating from the Mythic Era, so..."

He paused briefly before continuing.

"Its value is extraordinarily high, a perfect material for creating a Supreme-Grade Elixir."

"A material that we obtained a long time ago, but have only now decided to auction."

"Now, the first item of the final part of the auction: the Heart of a King-Class Great Ancient One."

"Pfft..."

I spat out all the whiskey I had ordered earlier from the butler.

After hearing the auctioneer’s words, I think I wasn’t the only one who spat out their drink.

’What the hell, it really is the heart of a Great Ancient One, and a King-Class one at that.’

How the hell did they get something like that?

No, more importantly, how the hell does something like that even exist?

The Heart of a Great Ancient One.

One of the most supreme alchemical materials ever obtained.

It is said that an elixir has only been created once using the Heart of a Great Ancient One, and its effects were so extraordinary on a global scale that everyone wanted to steal it.

’Damn, they’re really going to sell something like this.’

We were talking about a material that had only been used a single time.

Of course, no one today can use it to create an elixir.

Only one person has ever succeeded in creating an elixir with it; that person even died because of it.

Its value might decrease simply because nobody can do anything with that heart.

Even so, it remains an invaluable alchemical material.

’How would Director Bernice react if someone handed her that heart?’

Although I’m not sure what use the heart would be to Director Bernice.

Even though she is a descendant of a Great Ancient One, I don’t know whether she is descended from a commoner-class, noble-class, king-class, or even an Emperor-class Great Ancient One.

In any case, the auctioneer, as if he had expected that reaction, continued.

"Come on, all of you alchemists, calm down. Even though it’s an alchemical material, no one can actually use it, right?"

No one shouted or said anything. Even the most arrogant people were aware of how delicate it was to use that heart in alchemy.

"But even if it has no practical use, it’s still a supreme material, isn’t it?"

"So let’s start with an opening bid of nine hundred billion gold coins."

Clap!

The auctioneer snapped his fingers, and a display case appeared in front of him. Inside rested a crystal shaped like an oval sphere, bearing the appearance of a human heart.

"Ladies and gentlemen, here is the Heart of a Great Ancient One."

Almost instantly, dozens of Private Rooms began raising the price.

The auctioneer shouted out the bids each time they increased; he seemed to be enjoying the moment.

At the same time, I focused on my thoughts after learning about the first item.

’What should I do?’

Come to think of it, while the heart of a Great Ancient One is indeed an alchemical material, it is actually completely useless.

No one can find a clear use for it, perhaps except for Director Bernice, since she is the last descendant of a Great Ancient One.

But in general, no one can give it a clear or specific use; however, its value is extraordinarily high.

’Even if it isn’t very useful right now, what about the future?’

I weighed the pros and cons.

There was a lot to think about, but I still wasn’t sure whether I should acquire it.

’What use can I make of it?’

Honestly, I need to look for the answer with Director Bernice or with an alchemist from the past...

"...?"

’The past...?’

An idea blossomed in my mind.

The answer had been there all along.

’Of course, I need to go to the past; well, more specifically, I need to meet someone from the past.’

I was talking about none other than the very alchemist who used the heart of a Great Old One as an ingredient for an elixir.

And as it happens, I know where that alchemist’s Memory Gate is.

His story was recorded, so naturally I can meet him and find out how to use the Heart of a Great Old One.

The problem will be finding that Memory Gate.

’If I remember correctly, when the time for Chapter Four arrives, I should be able to obtain that Memory Gate.’

I finally emerged from my thoughts after reflecting for a moment.

I realized that the price of the heart had already risen by more than three times, so without hesitation, I raised the bid.

"Room V91 offers three trillion two hundred billion gold coins!"

For a brief moment, no one else raised the price, but...

"Three trillion three hundred billion from Room V37!"

"Three trillion five hundred billion from Room V18!"

"Room V72 offers three trillion six hundred billion!"

The numbers kept rising without stopping.

Honestly, I didn’t know exactly how much money I had. I was aware that I possessed all the wealth of a military city from the past.

I had thought that I might only have around ten to twenty trillion gold coins, or perhaps less.

’Well, the items are delivered after purchase, and payment will be made at the end of the Auction.’

I laughed inwardly.

I wasn’t even going to be able to pay, so I didn’t care about raising the price of the heart higher than anyone else.

"Three trillion nine hundred billion from Room V84!"

"Four trillion gold coins from Room V26!"

But the price of this thing was certainly absurdly high.

’I wonder how much that would be in dollars.’

The currency of my world. Now that I thought about it, the amount of money I had would probably make me one of the richest people in the entire world.

In any case, even after the price had risen so much, the competition continued.

"Room V91 offers four trillion five hundred billion gold coins!"

For the first time since the bidding had begun, the pace slowed.

Four trillion five hundred billion.

Even for the major organizations, it was an absurd amount.

It was equivalent to a large military city like Zeron City.

"We have four trillion five hundred billion gold coins from Room V91."

"Does anyone wish to exceed that bid?"

A brief silence dominated the room.

Then...

"Five trillion gold coins from Room V63!"

"..."

’These people are insane.’

If I didn’t know this Auction was about to go to hell, I wouldn’t even be bidding on the Heart of a Great Ancient One.

At this price, it wasn’t even worth it anymore.

"Five trillion five hundred million gold coins from Room V91!"

The auctioneer’s excitement intensified.

"Magnificent! Room V91 takes the lead once again!"

Room V63 did not raise the price immediately.

The auctioneer looked around the private rooms, then fixed his gaze on the one I was in and finally shouted:

"Sold to Room V91!"

The auctioneer snapped his fingers, and suddenly the space before me cracked open, revealing the display case that had previously been on the stage.

Shortly afterward, the auctioneer continued.

"Very well, ladies and gentlemen, we will now move on to the next item."

Meanwhile, I opened the display case’s small glass door and carefully picked up the heart.

It was extremely hard. It felt like crystal or some kind of mineral, roughly the size of a child’s head.

’Mhm, honestly, I don’t feel anything.’

There was nothing remarkable about it; it didn’t even contain any Mana.

’Is this really not fake?’

There was no way to know. After all, this was the first time I had ever had something like this in front of me.

Besides, only a few months ago, I was living in a place where things like this didn’t even exist.

I sighed and shortly afterward stored the heart in my Inventory while making it look as though I had placed it inside my storage ring.

"Hey, darling, exactly how much money do you have? Even I could tell that heart was pretty expensive."

I turned toward the damn Witch, who was looking at me with obvious confusion.

"Well, I have more money than it seems. Making that potion wasn’t cheap at all."

In reality, Mia didn’t have that much money; she was probably close to being broke, at best.

Even if someone suspected whether I could actually pay for this or not.

I honestly didn’t care.

Anyway, according to the game, some of these items were stolen or simply disappeared.

Though it was unexpected for a Heart of a Great Ancient One to appear.

What was going to happen soon would be the same.

’In the end, the Auction lost everything.’

They would basically end up bankrupt.

"What... it really takes a huge amount of money for a single potion."

I shrugged and said:

"If it weren’t for the fact that some materials can only be obtained from the Abyss."

The damn Witch’s eyes widened.

"So that’s it. Now I understand."

In any case, I focused my attention on the auctioneer again, who was about to reveal the next item.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the second item in the final part of the Auction is..."

He paused dramatically and finally said:

"...the blood of an Astral Soul Bird."

"..."

I didn’t know whether this was a joke or what exactly it was.

’Where did they get that from?’

But more importantly, that blood was one of the ingredients required for the Elixir that contained the blood of a Phoenix King.