Hearing the 2M GC price didn't break Isaiah's spirits, as he had intentionally conserved his money to buy a single great item, and this tempering ring would be that item.
He shouted, "3.5M GC". He had decided to start the bid with a bang. Hearing his bid caused murmurs to occur around the auction house. Most nobles were surprised that an independent Rank 1 had so much money to spend, while others thought he was being reckless with his finances.
A booming voice echoed around the auction place, "4M GC". The voice most likely belonged to a Rank 2, as it came from a VIP room.
A woman inside turned to look at the origin of the voice, who was none other than Scholar Jacob. She asked him, "Scholar, are you going to be buying this item?" While it might seem redundant, he could also just have been testing the waters.
Scholar nodded; he was a rich man due to his connections to the Royal Palace and Rank 2 Existence. "Indeed, I plan to gift it to my son. He had been making great progress on his mana training lately." His words were cut short, however, by the voice of Isaiah.
"7M GC". Hearing this coming from Isaiah's room made Scholar give an awkward cough. "You know what? Isaiah could be considered a friend," he nodded to himself. "I will let him get this one." His words made the woman next to him chuckle as she hugged his arm. Maybe he didn't win the bid, but he was still considered a winner.
After hearing Isaiah's bid for 7M, Richard, who wanted to muddy the waters, decided to back out. Honestly, he was getting increasingly frustrated. He kept trying to make things hard for Isaiah but couldn't really find a good opportunity. He had to give Isaiah his praise, as he truly had a great mind for money in general. While Richard might have animosity for Isaiah, he was still a man of honor who valued his pride greatly, or else he wouldn't even have been the leading candidate for the title of Duke.
7M GC was just slightly above the market price for such an item. If someone increased the bid now, they would be getting an awful deal. As long as no one really needed this item like Isaiah, they wouldn't easily increase the bid.
Along with the voice of Suna reverberating through the place, Isaiah was proven right. "Tempering Ring will be belonging to Mr. Isaiah for the price of 7M GC."
Some gasps were heard around the room. This was the entire wealth of a small barony being spent by a Rank 1. The same shock was felt by Terry, who turned to look at him as Lily picked up the item and delivered it to Isaiah, who took it with a shine in his eyes.
Terry only now had realized how lucrative the mana communication business was, as 7M GC was close to the annual income of The Second Emperor District.
Seeing his baffled face, Isaiah chuckled and shook his head, "Don't be sad, some of us are just born better, more talented." He then laughed out loud. His mood was quite good, having gotten the medal and the ring he wished for. "Nothing much you can do to change that at this point."
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Terry didn't respond to his intending to provoke anger in him. Instead, in his head, he was glad to have partnered up with Isaiah, as time passed Isaiah seemed like a better backer than it initially seemed.
The girls, Grace and Lily, couldn't help but chuckle at Isaiah's words, creating a rather harmonious environment which, all of a sudden, turned oppressive with the act of Isaiah wearing the ring to his ring finger.
Since he was already close to a breakthrough, a huge aura spread from him, edging him closer to breaking through. This immense aura made Lily weak on her knees and even managed to affect Grace to some extent, despite her Rank 1 Middle existence.
A huge vortex appeared within Isaiah's core as formations filled his internal organs. Huge amounts of mana rushed towards him, causing a disturbance within the mana flow of the auction house.
As the vortex ground his mana flow, refining it further, at the same time, a pressure was applied to his mana flow through the tempering ring he had just bought. Both, coupled together, granted the perfect opportunity for a breakthrough.
He forced this reaction until his mana flow was about to break, as its flow widened it threatened to leak out of his body's border, but he didn't stop. He was at this point had already entered Rank 1 Middle, but he didn't stop there. He forced it further.
Just as his mana flow was about to spiral out of his control, HUFF! A huge puff of breath was released from his mouth. He felt his mana flow calm down, coupled with his body's renewed strength.
The room was colored in streaks of light resulting from the slight leakage from his mana. He, however, didn't bother with that and instead raised his gaze at Lily, a smile forming after noticing she was fine.
Terry's aura had created a protective shield around the two ladies, who were now casually laying on the sofa, watching Isaiah. Grace's heart was beating super fast.
She had never seen a Middle Rank 1 mage with an Aura like Isaiah's, which made sense, as Aura wasn't just linked to your existence rank but also your mental prowess. It would make sense that she wouldn't have met anyone close to having a mental prowess like Isaiah's.
Terry was also surprised. Obviously, he didn't even struggle to defend against the Aura of Isaiah. No matter how much mental prowess Isaiah had, he was still a Middle Rank 1 mage. He couldn't pressure a Rank 2 Initial mage like Terry.
That, however, didn't mean that Terry couldn't assess Isaiah's Aura, which he found surprisingly strong for a Middle Rank 1 as well.
Isaiah chuckled, seeing their reactions, and raised his hand as a blade made fully of condensed light mana materialized. It was kept extra stable thanks to the help of formations.
SWISH, he slid a table clean and with a nod, he immediately, without even an ounce of hesitation, rushed and slashed at Terry. SLASH!
Just as the sword of light was to cut his head clean, Terry put armor made of flames on his neck. CLASH! The flame armor and the light sword met as immense mana surged towards the surroundings, destroying the couch they were seated on.
After 6 exact seconds, the swords slowly dispersed, having been exposed to the heat of Rank 2 flames for so long. This might seem weak, but Isaiah was just in Rank 1 still. One could see the prowess of the sword from Terry's reaction. "That's an oddly strong Rank 1 spell," holding 6 seconds against his Rank 2 flames was a great feat.
He didn't mind Isaiah's sudden attack, as he was already familiar with his eccentric personality. Also, he was never really in any danger, even if he hadn't put forth the armor, the sword would struggle to get through his Rank 2 skin.
Just as he was about to make more comments about it to the Isaiah who now had a smug smile on his face, BOOOM! BOOM! BOOOM! Numerous explosions rang as half of the entire auction house disappeared and numerous Rank 2 auras emerged!