It only took six to seven minutes to reach the town, even if he ran at a normal speed. He quickly speed-walked toward the Auction Hall, which was located at the center of Medden Street, a place famous for shops that sold potions, weapons, and other goods.
When Jasper reached the auction house, it was already bustling with people who had come to place items for auction or for bargain trading. This was the first time Jasper had ever entered the auction hall. He had visited Medden Street a few times before but had never entered any of the shops.
The auction house stood at the center of the street and was taller than any other shop there. He quickly walked through the main door. Surprisingly, no one stopped or questioned him. He had half expected to be thrown out at the entrance.
Once he entered the spacious hall, his eyes landed on a counter where young ladies sat behind it while people stood in line, approaching one by one in an orderly manner. Seeing that, Jasper quickly joined a counter that had fewer people. As the line slowly moved forward, he looked around the hall to observe what else was happening.
He noticed stairs that led to the second floor, and many people were walking up and down. Most of them carried weapons and wore armor. He guessed they were from the Adventurer Guild and entered dungeons regularly. He also spotted many wealthy-looking individuals, whom he assumed were merchants. Common-looking people were present as well. Overall, the atmosphere was not as serious or intimidating as he had imagined before entering.
The line gradually shortened, and soon he stood in front of the counter. The young lady finished assisting the previous person, then looked up and greeted Jasper.
"Welcome to the Omma Auction House. How can I help you?" she asked in a polite voice with a small smile.
"Hello, Madam. I have some white crystals that I want to sell." Jasper placed the pouch he carried on the counter and revealed the crystals inside.
"I am sorry, sir. The minimum required grade to place an item on auction in our Auction House is Rare. These appear to be Common-grade White Crystals," the young lady said in a regretful tone.
Hearing that the minimum requirement to list an item was Rare grade, Jasper felt disappointed. That was a high requirement for him. He had yet to acquire even Uncommon-grade crystals. Though disappointed about not being able to list them here, he had somewhat expected that the auction house would not accept common-grade materials.
"Would you like to sell the crystals directly?" the lady suddenly asked, which left Jasper stunned. Didn't she just say the minimum requirement was Rare?
Noticing the confusion on his face, the lady quickly clarified her previous statement.
"The Auction House minimum requirement applies only to items placed on auction. But if you wish to sell the item directly to our Auction House, you may sell it to us."
Realizing he had misunderstood, Jasper's face lit up when he heard they could buy the white crystals. He quickly nodded, agreeing to sell them directly. With his confirmation, the lady wrote something on a small slip of paper and pointed toward a room on the left side of the hall. Jasper took the token and stepped away from the counter.
He walked through a narrow passage and entered a large hall. Many boxes and sacks were piled up like a warehouse. Scanning the room, he quickly found a large desk on the left side, where a big, fat man sat behind it.
Jasper approached and handed over the token the lady had given him, then placed the pouch in front of the fat man. The fat man gave Jasper a brief glance before grabbing the pouch and inspecting its contents.
"Common-grade White Crystals," the fat man muttered after checking and weighing them.
"Where did you get these White Crystals?" the fat man suddenly asked.
Jasper was dumbfounded by the unexpected question. Everyone knew these crystals were found in the Obsidian Rock Mountains. Did this guy never leave the hall? Though, judging by the size of his body, that might actually be possible.
"I mined them from the Obsidian Rock Mountains, sir," Jasper replied without showing any emotion.
"Oh? You found this much in that shit?" the fat man's tone changed abruptly.
Jasper was shocked by the sudden shift in his voice. What did that even mean? Though the pouch usually contained weeks' worth of crystals, if he had worked non-stop even before finding the blue stone, he could have mined that amount in two or three days. What was this fat man talking about — "this much"?
Noticing that Jasper wasn't responding, the fat man looked up.
"Did you find this much in that shit hole, or did you steal it from somewhere?" the fat man asked in a dominating voice.
"Steal?"
Jasper was completely confused.
"No, sir. I didn't steal it from anywhere. I mined it myself for a week in the Obsidian Rock Mountains. Why would you assume I stole it?" Jasper questioned the fat man's accusation.
However, the fat man didn't respond. He simply threw three gold coins and several silver coins onto the desk.
"Now get lost," he ordered with a stern expression.
Jasper quickly gathered the scattered coins and gave the fat man a blank look before turning around and walking away.
As he exited the auction hall and walked along the street, Jasper felt a strange sense of unease from the fat man's questioning.
"Why would he think I stole it? The common-grade White Crystals are free to mine in the mountains," Jasper muttered to himself.
He felt that if he sold all the white crystals he had mined here, it would definitely create problems for him.
"I should sell small amounts to different forging houses and avoid creating trouble," Jasper thought.
If he spent the entire day selling to various forging houses, he would eventually finish selling all the crystals.
With that determination, Jasper quickly walked toward the Obsidian Rock Mountains.