As soon as Kadgar uttered the words "Redflame Fish Oil," Leon snapped to attention. In fact, it wasn’t just Leon—the eyes of nearly every alchemist in the hall instantly locked onto that tiny glass vial on the auction platform. The vial was no bigger than a thumb and filled to the brim with a crimson liquid: the legendary Redflame Fish Oil.
Redflame Fish Oil itself doesn’t have any direct effects, but it can neutralize the conflicts between various ingredients. For any alchemist, its value is immeasurable. With a single vial, a top-tier alchemist could concoct potions that only master alchemists could normally create. And with it, a master alchemist might even touch the threshold of the grandmaster’s realm.
It’s as if you’ve just leveled up an entire rank.
Moreover, Redflame Fish Oil is exceedingly rare on the market. Even at prestigious events like the Blackhorn Auction, years can pass without a single vial making an appearance.
There’s a reason for that: Redflame Fish can only be found in the waters around Spark Island—a place no one visits lightly. King-class sea beasts roam those waters, and most mercenary groups venturing there end up swallowed whole within minutes. Without at least one or two Magus-level powerhouses to anchor the expedition, you might as well not bother. Going there is as good as signing your death warrant.
And the Redflame Fish themselves aren’t easy to deal with. They aren’t exactly fighters, but they naturally radiate terrifying heat and always travel in massive schools—sometimes thousands at a time. When they swim through a stretch of ocean, the whole area boils, and even the dreaded king-class sea beasts think twice before showing up.
Just picture it: an endless ocean, and suddenly a swarm of Redflame Fish rolls in, sending the entire sea into a boil. No matter how mighty your fleet is, surviving a disaster like that—practically a force of nature—would be a miracle.
So for this one tiny vial of Redflame Fish Oil to make it to the Blackhorn Auction tonight—who knows what kind of price was paid behind the scenes.
The moment the Redflame Fish Oil appeared, the alchemists in the hall were whipped into a near-frenzy.
Kadgar hadn’t even announced the starting bid yet, and already a middle-aged alchemist in his forties called out a sky-high price: one hundred thousand gold coins.
"Hey, Mana Alchemist, you're a bit too eager..." Kadgar pressed his forehead, his expression somewhere between amusement and exasperation.
"I can't help it. All my assets combined barely reach a hundred thousand gold coins. There's no way I can compete with the big players, so I might as well throw in a bid for the thrill of it..." The middle-aged alchemist named Mana was good-natured, turning Kadgar's words into self-deprecating humor. The crowd erupted in laughter, easing the tension brought on by the Crimson Flame Fish Oil.
"Alright then. Since Mana Alchemist has set the pace, the bidding for this bottle of Crimson Flame Fish Oil starts at a hundred thousand gold coins. Each raise must be no less than ten thousand coins."
"One hundred fifty thousand gold coins."
"One hundred seventy thousand."
"Two hundred thousand."
"Two hundred fifty thousand."
...
As soon as Kadgar finished speaking, bids erupted from every corner. Poor Mana Alchemist, as expected, never got another chance to raise his paddle.
Leon knew there was no way out of this without bleeding a little...
"Three hundred thousand gold coins." Just as Leon hesitated, wondering if he should jump in early, Monty beside him suddenly called out a new price.
Leon, who was about to open his mouth to bid, simply shut it again.
Well then, if even the Monty Family is getting involved, this bottle of Crimson Flame Fish Oil is guaranteed to fetch a sky-high price…
Leon’s hunch was spot on. The Monty Family’s three hundred thousand gold coins did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the alchemists. Soon enough, it was four hundred thousand, then five hundred thousand—the bids climbing like they’d been injected with pure adrenaline.
"Seven hundred thousand gold coins."
When Monty pushed the price to seven hundred thousand, the feverish atmosphere in the hall finally began to cool. That was a steep number—most alchemists without deep pockets were out of the running. Now, only a handful of master alchemists remained in the competition.
Ordinary alchemists simply couldn’t afford such a drain. Even if this bottle of Crimson Flame Fish Oil let them brew a potion above their usual grade, the best they could reach was the master alchemist level—and a master-grade potion would never sell for seven hundred thousand gold coins.
Only at the grandmaster level could the investment in this bottle of Crimson Flame Fish Oil possibly pay off.
Clearly, Monty was satisfied with the effect of his bid. When the crowd finally quieted, he eased back into his seat, a look of confident satisfaction spreading across his face.
But before he could fully enjoy that smug smile, the young mage beside him stood up.
"Eight hundred thousand gold coins."
Monty's smile suddenly looked a little forced...
Monty had imagined plenty of scenarios for the Crimson Flame Fish Oil bidding war—maybe the Silvermoon Mercenary Corps’ master alchemist would make a move, maybe Salomon would help Soth win it, or even Kadgar would join the fray. But what Monty never saw coming was that, after his own sky-high bid of seven hundred thousand, it would be Matthew Merlin who called out eight hundred thousand.
This was eight hundred thousand gold coins—not eighty thousand, not eight thousand!
Just a few months ago, Matthew Merlin couldn’t even pay off Fario’s few thousand gold coin debt, nearly losing his house to foreclosure. How could he suddenly throw out a jaw-dropping bid like eight hundred thousand?
What was going on here...?
Monty suddenly felt his brain short-circuit. Had he guessed wrong from the start? Was Matthew Merlin’s financial backing not from Faro of the Blackhorn Auction House?
Maybe that really was the case...
Look at that—Matthew Merlin’s seat was clearly closer to Salomon, while Faro was sitting with Solon. The relationships here weren’t hard to figure out. In this private box, Salomon and Matthew Merlin clearly outranked Solon and Faro.
Besides, Faro was just an alchemist—no matter how much Kadgar valued him, there was no way he could cough up eight hundred thousand. Matthew Merlin must have another source of funds.
But if it’s not Faro, then who is it? Salomon, maybe?
Monty glanced at Salomon, suspicion flickering in his eyes.
But Salomon just smiled, meeting Monty’s suspicious look with complete indifference.
Truth be told, Salomon was feeling pretty pleased right now—especially seeing Monty so utterly baffled. The more confused Monty looked, the happier Salomon became.
Ha! Stumped, aren’t you?
Good—because I’m stumped too...
But it’s fine if I’m clueless; you, Monty, can’t afford to be. If you keep floundering, you just might lose out on this bottle of Crimson Flame Fish Oil.
"Eight hundred fifty thousand gold coins." Monty wanted to think it over, but the auction waits for no one. After a brief hesitation, he was forced to call out a new price.
Eight hundred fifty thousand—now that was a price that made Monty wince. Even if the Twinmoon Trading Company was the richest in Seaview City, their gold didn’t just grow on trees. Paying that much for a single bottle of Crimson Flame Fish Oil was enough to make Monty’s heart ache.
And before Monty could even finish wincing, that damn Matthew Merlin spoke up again.
"Nine hundred thousand gold coins."
Monty's brows knitted tight. He stared at Leon for a long moment before asking coldly, "So, Mage Merlin, you're interested in this Crimson Flame Fish Oil too?"
"It's alright..." Leon replied with nonchalance, thinking, You two old foxes have shown off long enough—now it's my turn to put on a show.
Hearing an answer so similar to his own earlier response, Monty's forehead veins twitched even more violently...
But no matter how much his veins twitched, the bidding war for the Crimson Flame Fish Oil had to go on—the family’s master alchemist had personally requested it, after all.
"Nine hundred fifty thousand gold coins." Monty pronounced each word like it hurt, every number making him feel like coughing up blood.
"One million gold coins."
Before Monty could even finish choking on his own anger, another new bid rang out—still from the young mage beside him. Monty was starting to lose it. Weren’t the Goldspark Trading Company supposed to be on the verge of bankruptcy? Where were they getting all this money to stir up trouble at the auction? Stirring up other people was one thing, but why did they have to target the Monty Family?
"One million one hundred thousand!" Monty gritted his teeth and bumped the bid up by a full hundred thousand, secretly hoping it would finally scare off that damn Matthew Merlin.
And yet...
"One million two hundred thousand gold coins."
Monty’s face had turned a shade of iron. When he stared at Leon now, his eyes were practically murderous. This time, he dropped all pretense of courtesy—his voice was pure hostility: "Mage Merlin, making an enemy of the Monty Family is not a wise move."
"Heh. Lovely weather today, isn’t it?"
"Good. Good. Good..." Monty spat out the word three times before suddenly rising and storming out of the Sage Tower’s private box, taking Mason with him. He didn’t even bother to say goodbye to Salomon.
"President Monty’s manners are truly..." Watching Monty’s retreating back, Leon couldn’t resist a sarcastic remark.
"Heh..." Salomon just chuckled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
In fact, Salomon’s confusion right now was hardly less than Monty’s.