This middle-aged man was the auctioneer, and after delivering a brief opening speech, he announced that the auction had officially begun.
"Today's first item is an early work by Mr. Longwen," the auctioneer said as he took out a blue stone. The stone was only the size of a fist, covered with squiggly symbols resembling worms, and emitted a faint icy chill, "This rune, named Chain Freeze, can turn a single-target freeze ability into a chain effect, freezing enemies within a three-meter radius of the target. The starting bid is 10,000 Gold Coins, with each bid increasing by no less than 1,000 Gold Coins."
"15,000!"
"16,000!"
...
The crowd on-site erupted into chaos, especially those Ice Mages, to whom this rune was an item worth spending their entire fortune on.