"Ah, this..." The Lady in the Cow Mask clearly hadn't expected the extraordinary item she'd picked up so cheaply to be so sinister; its side effects were almost enough to make anyone hesitate.
The Lady in the Cow Mask held up the box, looking around and asking, "Uh... does anyone want it? 299 currency."
Although this price was practically a bargain compared to the several thousand currency that Tier 3 items usually sold for,
this kind of short dagger, which inflicted the same or even several times the negative effects on its owner as it did on the opponent, wasn't of much use to anyone present.
Maybe it could fetch over a thousand at another extraordinary gathering, but at a mage gathering, it wasn't worth that price.
Syl finished counting; she had at least seven or eight 50-currency bills in her wallet, so she didn't have to worry about not having enough money.
The most important thing now was to observe in secret and see if anyone would bid, or how much she could lower the price herself.
"250 currency, does really no one want it... If no one wants it, I'll take it somewhere else to see..."
Anyone could hear Niu Niu's helplessness; her cow head was lowered and no longer held high.
Although she might get a higher price at another gathering, nowhere else was safer than here; at least no murder or robbery had ever happened here.
"240 currency, I'll take it." The Scrawny Man who had just appraised the pendant raised his right hand.
"240... Then al—..." Anyway, this was just something the Lady in the Cow Mask had picked up by chance, and she wasn't greedy for a big profit; her life was more important.
"250," seeing that things weren't quite right, Syl spoke up directly, "250 currency, I'll take it."
"Eh!" Syl's sudden intervention surprised the Lady in the Cow Mask. She handed the box directly to Syl. "Great, it's yours, Birdie~"
Syl: "?"
This nickname made Syl feel unexpectedly annoyed, but she still pulled five 50-currency bills from her pocket, rolled them up, and handed them to the Lady in the Cow Mask.
"260 currency." The Scrawny Man still wanted to continue raising the price, perhaps thinking of taking it and risking a resale at another gathering to make a profit.
"No, I've already sold it to Birdie," the Lady in the Cow Mask shook her head, "you can buy it from her."
"Fine, then congratulations to this newcomer." The Scrawny Man shrugged and simply gave up.
Syl took the box. The black-red box felt ice-cold in her hand; she could feel the chilling aura of the item inside even through the box. Someone with a weak will might start trembling just by holding it.
Sure enough, Mr. Tucker was right; this weapon was bad news.
Perhaps before driving the opponent crazy, one would collapse from the dagger's side effects first.
But Syl wasn't worried about this at all; she even felt that the clown card would only get more excited the more fear there was. After all, the clown card was a master at playing with fear.
After seeing Syl buy the dagger, the rest of the people stopped looking at her and began to focus on the next item that needed appraisal.
After putting the box in her pocket, Syl turned to the Lady in the Cow Mask beside her: "Thank you."
Syl gave a simple word of thanks.
If the Lady in the Cow Mask had gone back on her word just now and let Syl and that Scrawny Man get into a bidding war, who knows how much it would have cost to get this item; it was very likely Syl would have missed out on it.
"You're welcome~" The Lady in the Cow Mask tilted her head, her voice sounding very cheerful. Without even lifting the mask, Syl could imagine her smile.
She was truly an interesting person; if they were both ordinary people, Syl wouldn't mind having such an interesting friend.
But this wasn't a simple world; Syl could only choose to keep her distance and remain wary of everything.
"Cough, cough..." After several items had passed and everyone felt the time was right, Arno coughed and walked up to Tucker, handing him a small box. "Mr. Tucker, help me take a look at this."
"Hmm... let me see... My god!" After looking, Tucker scratched his head helplessly. "I say, Arno, just how many Possessor Pathway potions have you collected..."
"A bottle of Scribe potion, oh, and a set of Apprentice's Magic Notes. Let's see, 300 currency for the lot."
A new potion?
Syl, who had her head lowered, slowly looked up at the small box in Tucker's hand.
Arno had collected a lot of these potions... Could this be the Stage 1 potion for a Mage? Do Mages have to drink potions too?
"Alright, thank you." Arno smiled as he took back the small box, then said jokingly, "None of you should need to drink this anymore... Looks like I won't be able to sell it. 200 currency, does anyone want it? To feed a Tier 1 familiar or something."
As he spoke, Arno reached out and stroked the black cat on his head. The black cat stretched, the purple light in its eyes flickering.
While saying these words, Arno also intentionally or unintentionally glanced at Syl.
Obviously, he was determined to do Syl a favor.
Syl took a deep breath, reached into her pocket, and began to count her money.
One bill... two bills... luckily, with some 10-currency bills, she could just barely scrape together 200 currency.
An opportunity to give her clown card or physician card an extraordinary profession was not to be missed.
Thinking this, Syl slowly raised her right hand: "200 currency."
No one else raised the price. Even if they paid another 200 currency for a finished potion, it wouldn't be a loss.
But everyone present knew that Arno would give newcomers a little benefit every time, so they all gave Arno face; it was already an unwritten rule.
"It seems no one else is bidding." Arno smiled as he walked over to Syl and placed the box in her hand. "It's yours."
Syl pulled 200 currency in change from her pocket and handed it to Arno, who accepted it with a smile.
"If I owe a favor, I owe a favor... anyway, whether to return it or not is still in my hands. At worst, I'll just pay him back later," Syl thought, temporarily putting the matter aside.
"Alright, there shouldn't be anything else to look at, right?" Tucker yawned. "Then fellow mages, see you next week."
"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Tucker." Arno also walked to Tucker's side, then looked at the mages around him and said, "So... is anyone issuing a bounty mission this week?"
As soon as Arno finished speaking, a girl wearing some kind of monster mask raised her right hand.
"Please speak, Miss Monster."
Miss Monster looked around and spoke calmly: "Mission: investigate the travel patterns, habits, and various data of the Saintess of Hope. No direct contact required; the more comprehensive the report, the higher the reward."
"Starting reward is 3,000 currency."
Everyone's pupils constricted slightly upon hearing this price.
Even Mr. Tucker had a look of surprise on his face.
A 3,000 currency starting price just to investigate habits and movements—this was already showing sufficient respect to the Church of the Goddess of Hope.
But everyone remained silent.
Their strength wasn't very high, and no one dared to earn this money, not even the strongest person here, Mr. Tucker.
Amidst the silence, a hand wearing a black glove was raised.
"I can do it."