Meanwhile, Tabitha wore a thoughtful look and nodded.
"It's no problem, Mage Abium. I will appraise your two materials right now and give you half of their market value. But I can guarantee that the final price will exceed my estimation."
"That should be alright." Abium nodded and finally took out the two crystals from his pocket.
Tabitha glanced at them for a moment and showed a look of amazement. She took the greyish crystal first and started analyzing it.
Eventually, she removed the eyeglass, placed it on the table, and looked deeply into his amber eyes.
"Is it a Nether crystal?"
Abium curled his lips upward as he saw her serious face and nodded.
"Indeed. Nether crystal."
Abium's calm answer made Tabitha hold her breath.
"My god…"
'It's indeed a nether crystal!'
Tabitha felt shocked inside.
But what shocked her most was how a random apprentice mage brought out such precious materials here!
'There is a rumor about this Nether crystal saying that it could increase a necromancer's spirit when building their spell model.' Suddenly, she looked at the young elf's eyes and tried to guess his motive.
'His unknown origin is making things more complicated. Who is he?'
After a slight pause, Tabitha returned to her calm state and shifted her attention toward the other crystal.
But unlike before, she didn't even need to use her unique eyeglass to check it.
"It's an Ice-elemental crystal!"
Tabitha let out a long sigh as she said those words. Although a water mage like her would only use these ice-elemental crystals to build ice spell models, it was still another rare crystal very difficult to find.
"Another surprise. Do you have any idea about the value of these crystals?"
'From the clothes this half-elf kid is wearing, I can tell he is a commoner and has little to no knowledge about mages. He seemed to have no idea how to suppress his spirit power either. But his calm attitude towards a mage like me shows something else.' She wondered how this half-elf managed to build four models and increase his spirit power to a peak level!
Abium noticed her suspicious stare and made a cover story out of it.
"No, My Lady. These two crystals were the last treasure my teacher gave me before he died."
'His teacher gave him this crystal? Is he a disciple of a roaming mage? His half-elf look... No wonder he knows nothing much about the mages.'
Tabitha quietly shifted her gaze towards the two elemental crystals and spoke.
"Mage Abium, this Nether crystal might earn you quite a fortune. Our Orchid auction house will use this nether crystal as the last of the auction and give you much benefit. But now I can give you 2000 white gold for your bidding."
Saying so, she took out a small wooden chest from her spatial ring and gave it to him.
Meanwhile, Abium nodded his head in understanding, touched the wooden chest, and stored it in his space ring.
"Thank you for your help, My Lady." He gave her another bow.
"You are too polite." Initially, she wanted to know if that unique crystal was some rare material used for potioneering. But she hadn't expected that this young mage would bring out two rare elemental crystals!
Although the Nether crystal was just the size of her thumb, she knew its value was much greater than normal elemental crystals.
She heard that a few apprentice necromancers had arrived to attend this auction this morning and felt a storm was brewing in the auction house.
The appearance of this nether crystal at the auction house will alert those sneaky guys. It's better to invite Zivior and others for the safety of nobles and merchants.'
A Nether crystal completely threw the original plan for the auction into chaos. She had to hurry and amend the original arrangement before the auction began.
She then wore the eyeglass and tapped the wooden table twice. After that, she took the two-elemental crystals, stored them inside her spatial ring, and stood up from her seat.
"Mage Abium, I'll finish my work first and meet you at the auction."
After saying a few words, she hurriedly bid farewell to Abium and left the appraisal room. But before going out, she called the young appraiser and ordered him.
"Tobin, please stay with Mr. Abium and provide him with all the assistance he needs."
"Yes, chief." Tobin nodded in agreement.
In the meantime, Abium also stood up from his seat, turned his gaze towards the young appraiser, and asked.
"Mister, do you know anyone registered in Baron Auguivare's name?"
Tobin furrowed his eyebrows and responded with a nod.
"Yes, Mage Abium. They are staying in the 23rd room."
'Oh? I should go and meet them now.' As he pondered, he asked.
"Can you please guide me there?"
"Yes, Mr. Abium. Please follow me."
Tobin spoke as he turned around and led Abium to the far side of the hallway. While walking, Abium saw many rooms with unique numbers and guessed that these must be for the nobles and mages.
Two minutes later, both reached their destination and looked at the wooden door with numbers written in gold paint.
"This is the room, Mage Abium," Tobin said solemnly.
On the other hand, Abium raised his hand and knocked on the door twice.
A few seconds later, a young man in his twenties opened the door from inside and gave them a puzzled look. He had azure blue eyes, straight brown hair, olive skin, and an oval face. At that moment, he wore a regular linen shirt and pants and held a short sword in his left hand.
Abium recognized him in an instant and smiled.
"I'm here to see Lord Baron Auguinare, Mr. Richard."
Yes, he was Baron Auguinare's first disciple!
Meanwhile, the young man named Richard also recognized his identity and greeted him with excitement.
"Mr. Abium! Come inside. Lord Baron and Miss Helena are waiting for your arrival."
Then, he took a step backward, opened the wooden door wider, and asked him to get in.
Once Abium entered the room, he noticed that three people were seated at the center of the room and seemed to be in the middle of discussing something serious.
The one who sat on the Lawson sofa was the middle-aged man with short black hair. He looked more like a knight than a warrior, had a long sword on his waist, and wore old silver armor over his linen clothes.
He had an average height, midnight blue eyes, elongated, thick eyebrows, fair skin, and a square face.
He was none other than Baron Auguinare Foreling, the governor of Dust Gate Town!
To his right was a blonde-haired young woman. She had gem-like oceanic eyes, fair skin, a low nose bridge, a round face, and thin curved eyebrows. She wore a bluish empire waist dress with a low neckline and short sleeves and looked more like a noblewoman than a mere commoner!
'I never knew Helena had such a pretty face.' Abium was stunned by her beauty and soon shifted his gaze towards the third person.
Unlike the other two, this person appeared smaller, had a masculine body, and smelled alcohol.
He looked around 80 to 90 cm tall and had a long brown beard, uncombed hair, brown eyes, and a rough-looking square face. He wore a leather jacket around his linen dress and even held a strange hammer in his hand.
'Kuran!' A smile appeared on his face.
Abium also saw the other Baron's disciple standing behind them and stepped inside.
The first one to notice his arrival was Helena.
Upon seeing him entering the room, she hurriedly stood up from her seat and waved her hand at him with a bright smile.
"I thought you left the kingdom to hide away from the Light Church." She said as she took a step forward and started walking in his direction.
Abium looked surprised and asked.
"Oh? How did you know about the Bare Keep incident?"
"The whole kingdom heard about it, lad. Many things happened during these past few months." Baron Auguinare spoke as he also stood up from his seat, walked towards him with heavy footsteps, and added.
"You made everyone worried. Claude and his group will be delighted to hear your return."
'Ugh, from when did we become so close?' Abium was at a loss for a moment and soon bowed his head.
"I apologize for my late arrival, My Lord."
On the other hand, Baron waved his hand and spoke.
"It's alright. But before that, we are more curious about what's in 'that treasure chest.'"
At that moment, Helena forced a smile and spoke.
"We managed to eliminate the Fallen Baron's spirit with the help of Sir. Claude and others and even retrieved the treasure chest." Saying so, she touched the silver ring on her left hand and retrieved a silver treasure chest.
"Spatial ring?" A flash of surprise appeared on Abium's face.
"Yes. I found it within this treasure chest. Even though it only has five cubic meters, it's more than enough for my personal use." Helena looked at the young appraiser and asked.
"Can you please wait outside the room for a while, Mr.? We need to discuss something personal."
At that moment, Abium shook his head and spoke.
"Don't worry. Mr. Tobin won't tell anyone."
Meanwhile, Tobin also understood the situation and nodded.
"I have seen much more precious than gold coins and gems, young miss. You don't have to be wary of any Orchid Auction House members. Your safety is our responsibility."
Although Helena still felt insecure, she decided to trust Abium's words and nodded.
Baron turned his gaze towards his first disciple at that moment and spoke.
"Richard, go and lock the door."
"Yes, Teacher!"
Richard nodded as he moved towards the entrance, locked it from inside, and stood there like a guard.
Meanwhile, Helena shifted her gaze towards the silver treasure chest and opened it slowly.