“So, why did you decide to bid on the item all of a sudden?” As Sirius inwardly let out a long sigh of relief as he moved the audience to the next item, Julian looked at the young man beside him, whose faces was currently all smiles.

“Just a hunch,” replied the young man, prompting Julian to raise his eyebrow in curiosity as he wanted to know what Valyr meant by that. Though, as the latter refused to say anything else about the book, he was left with no choice but to bury the curiosity deep within as he shifted his thoughts towards the remaining items of the auction.

“There’s only a few items left before the auction is over,” said Julian, piquing Valyr’s interest as the latter looked back at him with curiosity. “Though all of them are incredibly useful in their right, there’s probably one item among them that would be the most useful to you.”

“How do you know that?” asked Valyr in response, slightly tilting his head in curiosity as he waited for the man to respond.

“Well, I did organize the entire auction, after all.” Responding to Valyr’s question, Julian let out a bit of loud laughter, only for a satisfied smile to appear on his face soon after. “With how I had to use a considerable portion of my favors and connections, I pretty much know everything that would be sold in the auction’s second half.”

“The only exception to that would be the book you won the bid on,” added the man. “It’s probably something the auction house recently got their hands on and decided to sell as soon as possible after realizing it won’t be profitable.”

‘I’m sure glad they thought of it that way.’ Listening to Julian’s words, a proud smile briefly appeared on Valyr’s face before continuing to listen to the man beside him.

“In any case, the last item Sirius will showcase is something you definitely have to get your hands on,” said Julian, leaving Valyr no choice but to nod as he wondered what kind of item it was for the man beside him to be so adamant in him getting it.

Then again, once he found out what kind of item it was, even he was left at a loss for words.

“I’m not certain whether that item is a fruit or a pill exactly, but what I am certain about is the fact that it looks like a golden orb,” Julian told Valyr with a solemn expression, indirectly telling the latter to keep what Julian was saying to himself. “However, what’s truly amazing about it is its effects.”

“What are its effects?”

“A 50 point boost to all stats.” Hearing these words, Valyr took in a deep breath of cold air, his eyes wide open as he was not expecting to hear something like that from Julian at all. After all, how much was 50 points in each stat?

To a Rank 5 class holder, a 50 point increase in every stat did not seem like much, but for someone like him, who was at the peak of Rank 2, a 50 point boost was still substantial. Of course, such an increase in stats was even more prominent for those at Rank 1, allowing them to become sovereigns of the class rank even with a Common grade class.

“Do you perhaps know who gave such an item to the auction house?” After getting over the initial shock of what the item was capable of, Valyr went ahead and asked Julian for more information regarding the item, causing a slightly wry smile to appear on the latter’s face as he nodded.

“To be honest, I wasn’t expecting her to offer such an item up for auction, especially with how our interaction back during the forging duel was not that long,” said Julian in response. At those words, the young man went silent, the gears in his mind turning as he eventually deduced which person the man was talking about.

Plus, as if he was waiting for the young man to deduce the identity of the other person he was talking about, Julian looked at him and nodded once more as he opened his mouth. “That person is none other than the Imperial Alchemist of the Meltierre Empire, Mystia Aschel.”

‘Her, huh…’ Though he was quite thankful for the woman for giving him aid in the incident regarding the Basic Reinforcement Elixirs, he didn’t really have any other opinion about the woman, aside from the feeling that she was probably keeping an eye on him.

Of course, Valyr wasn’t sure if this feeling of his was true or not, relying on his gut instinct for the most part. Then again, with how the two had encountered each other after the forging duel was over, and how the woman had given an item away in an auction that included his item, the young man felt like she had intentionally given up an item for him to use, even though the reason behind it was still something unknown to him.

Deciding not to think about it any further, the young man shifted his attention onto the stage, only to see Sirius standing in the middle of what seemed to be two giant hearts.

“Unlike the item I’ve showcased before, these next two items will definitely pique your interest.” Taking a deep breath, Sirius introduced the items on both of his sides with great fervor, hoping that the audience would be influenced by his energy.

“To your left is a heart that, when consumed, allows one’s mana to be compressed.” Gesturing towards the large blue heart to his left that was crystal-like in appearance, the man did not hesitate to go all out in sharing information regarding the item, which successfully piqued the interest of quite a few people in the audience. “With compressed mana, the amount of mana you would need to cast a skill reduces, while the effects of that skill increases in duration as well.”

“Aside from that, this heart also greatly increases the maximum amount of mana you could store in your body at one time,” he added, the amount of which greatly piquing everyone’s interest. “From what the appraisers have deduced, your maximum MP would increase by 20% after consuming it.”

“On the other hand, the heart to your right greatly increases one’s HP stat when consumed.” After he was done introducing everyone to the blue heart, he then shifted everyone’s attention to the large red-orange heart that still looked to be beating. “Though it does not improve the quality of your vitality in any way, consuming the heart does give you the passive skill Greater Innate Regeneration, making it a perfect choice for tank and defender-type classes to obtain.”

“What are these hearts called?” With his explanation on the items now over, one of the people in the audience decided to ask a question that everyone seemed to want to know, eliciting a chuckle to escape Sirius’ mouth as he nodded.

“I’m glad you asked,” replied Sirius with a smile. “Well, their original names are incredibly long, so the Leio Auction House instead calls it…”

“The Hearts of Magic and Might.”𝒩𝗈𝑣𝐥xt.𝒞𝑂𝔪