Mixed Blessing System

After hearing the sweet voice of the woman at his side, Lothur noticed the thoughtful expression on her face and was surprised by her high opening bid for the Soul Bone.

"Isn't that an enormous increase, Anna? The bidding has just started, and you've already raised your bid by nine times the minimum increase amount."

She looked at him and smiled before explaining her reasons. "That's necessary. To scare off others interested in that Soul Bone, I need to show right at the start that I'm willing to spend a lot for it."

Auctions were events full of possibilities, where a product could reach prices even tens of times higher than its original value. Precisely because of this reality, people who participated in events like these had their strategies for getting items of interest without going bankrupt.

One of these strategies was to make considerable price increases right at the beginning of the offers and thereby scare off other interested parties.

Suppose everyone followed the rule of bidding only the minimum amount. In that case, each person bidding could get the impression that the price increase would not be so impressive. That is, they could make a 10,000 product go to 20,000 without finding it too strange, but if a single bid increased the value of the product by the same amount, it would scare them away.

That was strange, but it was how the human mentality worked.

Annaliese could join the other interested parties in helping the price of that Soul Bone reach 20,000. But while that would not scare anyone away, a single 4.5 thousand increase was enough to make the other interested parties think twice about what they were doing.

And as expected, after her bid, silence permeated that place for a few moments, with several of the interested parties rethinking what they were doing.

"20.500!"

"21.000!"

Annaliese did not fret and said. "25.000!"

With that bid, several people in the other VIP rooms on the second floor looked in her and Lothur's direction, realizing that such a beauty would not give up this Soul Bone.

"Looks like Annaliese truly wants it, huh?" Caroline said to Nora as she looked at those two from a distance.

"What are you going to do, Nora? Are you still going to try to buy that Soul Bone? I don't think she's willing to give it up..."

Hearing that, the redhead clenched her fists, feeling bad that Annaliese stood in her way.

"Tsk!"

"Well, that Soul Bone has the potential to help me get stronger, but I can't spend all my savings on something coming only from a 2nd stage Servant demon."

"Hmm, my own family wanted to directly buy this Soul Bone from the demon hunter selling it since it is never bad to have more Soul Bones. But that senior insisted on putting it up for auction, and we don't think it's worth that many coins." Caroline commented to her friend, indicating that she agreed with Nora's decision.

"In any case, House Frost is still one of the richest in the Province, so let's allow Annaliese to spend more of their resources on this low-level item." She smiled with a mysterious look in her eyes, thinking that it was not so bad that such a person would get the Soul Bone.

'At the end of the day, my Waldauer family will gain the most...'

"Hmm, you are right."

"The Frosts are our rivals. So, I will wait for another Soul Bone." Nora commented when the bidding for that item had reached 30,000 silver coins.

"Soon, we will have the competition for the Secret Realm vacancies. I heard that there a Soul Bone will be..."

...

While those two were talking, Mabel looked toward her daughter and Lothur, feeling surprised to see those two there.

"That girl... What is she doing with him? Viktoria, did you know about this?"

"I found out a few minutes ago... But I didn't know about their plans to come to this auction."

"Tsk!"

"Later today, I want you to deal with your little husband. I find this relationship between him and your sister weird!"

Sensing her mother's tone, Viktoria sighed, but she agreed that, indeed, those two were closer than they should be. "In any case, will we let Anna get on with it? The price is already at 30,000 coins..."

"Sigh!"

"That girl..." Mabel closed her eyes but did not think it was a terrible idea that her daughter was running after that item using her own resources and not directly that of the family.

Obviously, Viktoria and Annaliese had their allowance in the Frost family, something equivalent to their accomplishments and talents, similar to the earnings of the members of that organization. As such, strictly speaking, those coins were not necessarily from the family's reserves.

So, seeing that her daughter had not asked her for such an item and was willing to bid for it herself, Mabel was pleased with Annaliese's determination.

"Well, let's allow her to buy that Soul Bone. That will be a good learning experience for her."

...

"30 thousand for the lady in room number 4. Anyone gives more?"

After silence permeated that place, finally, the auctioneer tapped a small hammer on a piece of wood and said. "Sold for 30,000 to the lady in room number 4!"

"Yes!" Annaliese said in delight, almost jumping into Lothur's arms to hug him.

"Congratulations on your accomplishment, Anna. I hope this Soul Bone makes you more powerful." Lothur smiled at her.

"Hehe, thank you!"

After that, Martin quickly sold three more items at the auction, a Bronze-grade formation, a Bronze-grade soul cultivation technique, and a map.

Each of them had achieved higher values than the previous items. Still, none of them had been disputed by Annaliese or her family.

And with that, the auction quickly passed the first thirty minutes of the event, when the sixth item of the evening appeared on stage.

"Our next item is a Bronze-grade pill, with 70% purity!" The auctioneer opened his hands, showing the pill that had two golden stripes parallel to each other in the middle of that item. "Dear guests, this pill was produced by alchemist Trautmann a few months ago, before he became a 3-star rank."

"So, I guess everyone here understands the quality of this resource, right?" He asked, looking from one side of that place to the other.

"According to alchemist Trautmann, this pill can stimulate the five bodily senses and the spiritual sense of the one who consumes it. Obviously, the effects will be best on people below the 3rd stage, with better results on someone at the end of the 1st stage."

He then smiled, knowing what many there must have had in mind. "But don't worry, this pill is totally harmless to weaker cultivators!"

"Even mortals could take it without danger of suffering from the pill's power!"

"What?"

"Is that true?"

"So there are pills capable of even that?"

Several voices rose in the surrounding area, with many curious about that fact.

Pills were items made from spiritual medicines, ingredients with energy, and potentially aggressive particles. As such, most pills in this world have side effects if not consumed by qualified people.

Because of this, after Martin's speech, many of the less well-informed in that place exclaimed their surprise.

"I understand your doubts, but what I said is completely true. This pill will stimulate the body of the one who ingests it to its limit. After that, it will naturally decay and lose all its effects without harming the body or the cultivation of such a person."

"That is the main point of this pill!"

"With that, the starting price of the Six Senses Pill is 30,000 silver coins, with a minimum increase of 2,000 coins!"

"35.000!"

"37.000!"

As several bids sounded in the surrounding area, most of them coming from the VIP rooms on the third floor, Lothur curiously observed the situation.

"Anna, a single pill costs all that?"

She looked at her brother-in-law and said. "Actually, a pill like that costs a little more if you want to get it in alternative ways."

"But since this is an auction that can quickly raise the price of it, naturally, there is a small discount for the initial offer."

"In any case, although it is a considerable amount for a single pill, if what the auctioneer said is true, then it is indeed worth that. After all, even someone at the 1st stage can ingest it."

"Imagine the effects of a Bronze-grade pill on someone like us? The effects of it would easily bring their senses to the level of someone at the 2nd stage even if their cultivation were still at the 1st stage!"

"Oh?"

"Pills are that mysterious?" His eyes flashed in interest while a wish surged in his heart. "For that matter, what is the difference between pills and potions? Can you tell me a little about alchemy?"

...