Chapter 169 Protector of Amaharpe!
The first thing Izroth did when he entered into the auction house was access the Auction Cube linked to his character. When he viewed the total amount of coins he earned from selling the Five Cycles Pill, he was pleasantly surprised.
'The average price per pill is higher than I thought it would be.'
The average price listed per pill was 26 gold coins and 55 silver coins. Back when he first purchased the ingredients to craft the Five Cycles Pill, Izroth only spent 22 silver and 50 bronze coins. From a single pill alone Izroth had made more than ten times that of what he spent to craft 150 pills!
If the top guilds knew that Izroth was not using common ingredients and was left with such a massive profit margin, they would all be dumbfounded. One of the most important things for top guilds was a steady flow of income.
While it was true that nearly all the top guilds had sponsors and companies that paid for their needs, such funds were ultimately limited. If they truly wanted to pull ahead of the other top guilds, then one needed a stable source of a massive amount of income so that their overall guild strength could increase.
This was even more so in a game like RML that required a large capital for many of the professions. If players wanted to reach the higher levels of their respective professions, then they either had to spend countless hours searching for the material themselves, or purchase what they needed with coins.
'It seems I will have to make a few more pills to put up for auction after I take care of things.'
Izroth collected his earnings from the Auction Cube and immediately converted it all into RMB. The reason he did this was that he wanted to get the most of the conversion while it was still quite high. At the moment, the conversion rate had dropped down a 1:842 gold to RMB ratio.
However, as players began to earn more and spend more the exchange rate would start to plummet. In the beginning, it was at a 1:1000 ratio and it had already fallen to 1:842. Also, even if he lacked gold coins, the system would just directly pull it from his linked bank account.
Though, of course, this was something that could only be done while one was at an auction house. Eventually, Izroth would need to carry around actual gold coins for expenses outside of the auction house itself.
The '29 gold coins I currently have in my inventory should be fine for now. I have to make the most of the exchange rate while it's still high. After all, I will need a large amount of capital to take care of the things I have planned.'
〈System Alert: Your item(s) x135 «Five Cycles Pill» has successfully been sold for 3,884 gold coins and 25 silver coins〉
〈System Alert: Silver coins cannot be converted. You have received 25 silver coins. No fee required.〉
〈System Alert: Converting 1:842 gold to RMB ratio... Conversion successful!〉
〈System Alert: 327,033 RMB(10%) has been removed for the auction house fee from the total of 3,270,328 RMB〉
〈System Alert: 294,330 RMB(10%) has been removed for the conversion fee from the total of 2,943,295 RMB〉
〈System Alert: 2,648,965 RMB has been successfully added directly to your bank account〉
Although Izroth was more than satisfied with his earnings, it was still hard to see such a large chunk of his profits get snatched away by the system. Thankfully, he had the Official Combat Master Badge which reduced the amount he had to pay to the auction house by 10%. Otherwise, he would be charged a 20% transaction fee!
After successfully collecting his earnings, Izroth put a few more items up for auction that he came across inside of the Chaotic Dogma Realm, as well as, some items from the Sea Palace Graveyard that he never got the chance to up for auction.
Once he finished setting the items up for auction, Izroth walked up to one of the auction screens and began to search through for any interesting or useful items.
Izroth managed to find a few good items that were useful for crafting some pills he had in mind, but overall, there was nothing worth his attention. Although, he did decide to clear out the auction house of the ingredients he used to craft the Five Cycles Pill.
'This should allow me to create enough pills to last for quite some time.'
Izroth purchased enough ingredients to create 750 Five Cycle Pills. Unfortunately, there was still no Isolated Water Droplets that were up for sale. However, Izroth believed that it should be showing up soon thanks to the recent event, Protectors of Amaharpe.
Cross Haven would no longer have a reason to limit the access to the Sea Palace Graveyard as the average level of their guild should force them to move on to a higher level dungeon. Since that was the case, it should not be too long until Isolated Water Droplets started to show up in the auction house thanks to more casual players.
'I have to visit the Apothecary building to restock on some Basic Binding Agents.'
After finishing up things at the auction house, Izroth stopped by the Apothecary guild to obtain some Basic Binding Agent.
The person behind the receptionist desk was none other than Rigius, the first Apothecary Izroth had met before taking his test to become an Apothecary himself.
When Rigius noticed that Izroth had entered into the building, he immediately closed the book he was reading and went out to greet him. After all, Izroth was not just any Apothecary, but he was a grade three Apothecary with unnatural talent!
"Sir Izroth, it is an honor to receive you today. Have you come to craft some pills today? If so, I shall immediately find a room for you! Of course, there will be no charge or fees." Rigius said in a voice filled with enthusiasm.
Izroth nodded, "I've come to craft a few pills. However, I need to also purchase some Basic Binding Agents."
"Not a problem at all. I will make sure to take care of things at once." Rigius moved quickly and after speaking to Izroth for a bit, he did as requested.
Soon enough, Izroth paid 1 silver coin to acquire a total of 1,000 Basic Binding Agents. If he purchased any more than that, then it would have taken up another slot in his inventory. Luckily, the stacking number for common ingredients inside of a player's inventory was quite high.
Izroth was then personally escorted to the third floor by Rigius and given one of the free rooms there.
...
Around two hours later, Izroth had finally finished crafting all 750 Five Cycles Pills. Not only did he craft the Five Cycles Pills, but during that time he also experimented with some of the new ingredients had to create a new pill.
'It's not ideal, but it should come in handy during an emergency.'
Izroth had no plans on selling the new pill he crafted at the moment. After all, not only were the ingredients not available in large quantities, but he decided to keep it as a trump card.
A new pill was not the only thing Izroth received during the two hours spent in the crafting room, but his Dark Abyssal Cauldron had also shown signs of improvement. It went from a D+ ranking all the way to a C ranking!
This allowed Izroth to craft pills that were grade four and lower while also allowing his Dark Abyssal Cauldron to be compatible with higher grade fire cores.
'I will have to find a stronger fire core if I wish to start creating higher grade pills.'
Izroth left the Apothecary building and made his way back towards the auction house. He put up 150 of the Five Cycles Pills for sale and decided to not put all 750 pills up for auction at the same time. Even considering the gold to RMB ratio decay, Izroth felt that he would still profit more from this controlled method.
'At some point, I will need someone else to manage task such as these.'
Izroth was not a fan of running back and forth to put things up for sale and collect them in the auction house. It was time he could spend crafting more pills or doing something more productive. He started to think that maybe someone like Zi Yi would be interested in doing so.
It was difficult to find someone trustworthy, especially when it came to handling such a large amount of money or valuable items. However, Izroth had come to trust Zi Yi and the others. He knew that if he could trust anyone with this task, it would be one of them.
Well, Guan Yu and Halls were another story. It was not that he did not trust them personally, it's just that he knew that this task would not be within their line of expertise.
After his trip to the auction house was over, Izroth headed towards the event center. During the event Protectors of Amaharpe, he had received first place for the solo ranking, as well as, the party ranking. The rewards granted by the system for such an accomplishment was sure to be plentiful.
It did not take Izroth long to reach the event center. There were many players constantly entering and leaving the building. Although, it was to be expected since a major event had taken place today.
The building itself was more than five stories tall and there were no windows or any other way to get inside except through the front entrance. There were actually two Crimson Corps Guards standing guard outside for security.
'It's more heavily fortified than the auction house.'
Izroth stepped through the front entrance of the event center and was immediately greeted by one of the NPCs.
NPC Name: Falk
NPC Level: 12
"Greetings adventurer! If you are here to claim your rewards, please check in at the window so that your identity can be verified and you can be given the proper compensation for your efforts." Falk said as he politely greeted Izroth and pointed him in the right direction.
Izroth followed Falk's instructions and walked over to one of the windows that did not have a player in front of them. When he reached the front of the window, Izroth found that there was a mirror with his reflection on it.
'Hm?'
A few seconds later, Izroth's reflection vanished and what appeared in its place was a strange red orb with the image of a handprint located at its center.
"Unrecognized player, please verify your identity." A voice sounded inside of Izroth's head. The red orb blinked a few times as if it directing Izroth.
'More voices without a face.'
Izroth was reminded of the voice from the Endless Pandemonium Tower. However, this voice was more robotic and lacked any kind of emotional structure to it.
Izroth reached his hand out and placed it the handprint as he felt a wave of energy spread throughout his body for a brief moment.
"Player recognized as Izroth. Event recognized as Protectors of Amaharpe. Solo ranking, 1st place. Party ranking, 1st place. Generating rewards, one moment please... Complete! Thank you for your participation, Player Izroth. Enjoy!" The red orb disappeared as a white light flashed around Izroth.
〈System Alert: You have successfully claimed your rewards from the event «Protectors of Amaharpe».〉
〈System Alert: You have gained +2 level!〉
〈System Alert: You have been awarded +6 stat points for leveling up!〉
〈System Alert: You have received +400 World Fame!〉
〈System Alert: You have been awarded +2 skill points!〉
〈System Alert: You have received 50 gold coins!〉
〈System Alert: You have received x2 «Rare Item Treasure Chest»!〉
〈System Alert: You have received the title «Protector of Amaharpe»!〉
The rewards Izroth from taking first place in the solo and party portions of the event were more than he expected. However, the most pleasant surprise that Izroth received was one that he had not come across yet, a title!
'Protector of Amaharpe?'