Book 5, chapter 15
Zee walked through the Busy streets of Lorocos wanting to clear her head. After her talk with Grandpa, she had a lot on her mind. Everything from the peak factions like the Ashary, to lost concepts. She has to admit she was worried about the Ashary. If they discovered she was bonded to Dern, what would they do?
Dern was an outcast, a criminal banished to death in the Null realm. His aura was also stained with the stigma taboo, which if discovered would make Ashary kill her in sight.
In the eyes of the Ashary, using soul arts was an irredeemable sin. And yet, they had stripped Dern of his power and forced him to become the very thing they hated. Now, they would kill him and her on sight. It was kind of infuriating. What kind of assholes would do something like that?
"Stop worrying, we will be fine," Dern said, his mental voice invading her thoughts.
He sounded confident, but Zee knew him well enough to be concerned.
"Pray tell Dern, how are we going to be fine? Grandpa noticed you the moment he saw me, as did Tarnival and Glendale. They can see right through my aura. What if we run into an Ashary in the Celestial grade or higher?" Zee asked, frustrated.
"I'm not sure if it will work, but I have an idea. What if I enter your inner world, and we seal the cage behind me?" Dern asked.
"Will that work?" Zee asked curiously.
"I have no idea, but it might be enough to disguise my presence. Perhaps we should test it out next time we meet up with Julian," Dern suggested.
"That's a good plan, but we should also consider using a ritual to solve the issue. If your consciousness is locked away inside my inner world, then I can't summon you to help in combat at a moment's notice," Zee said thoughtfully.
"I hadn't considered that... Let's look into both options. If we can find a ritual, great. If not, we may have to risk me not joining you in combat," Dern said.
"Alright, let's go sell our spoils from the latest contract. I also want to see if we can source a natural treasure or two," Zee said. With purpose returning to her gate, she waved down a rickshaw.
"Where to?" The spindly porter asked.
"The imperial academy please," Zee said.
After their latest contract, Zee needed to sell her gathered spoils. There were legitimate businesses that had shops throughout the academy, but none could offer the same deals as the drunken lizard corporation. Taylor had mentioned it as the place to go. It was the name of a black market organization that were experts at acquiring and selling things.
With the right amount of money, they could get you pretty much anything. Zee was hoping to sell her stock of supplies from their latest contract and acquire a few natural treasures.
If she wanted to strengthen her inner world, first she needed to evolve her insights. The problem was that the treasures she needed were beyond rare and, therefore, expensive.
With her stockpiled monster parts from years in the death chasms, and money from the last three months of contracts, Zee hoped she would have enough.
Given how hard it was to cultivate her concepts, it wasn't just a matter of money. A natural treasure for her spark of ebb and flow shouldn't be too hard to get. Finding one to evolve her spark of compression was another thing entirely.
It was a branch that would evolve toward the peak concept of gravity. From what she knew, it could take hundreds, or thousands of years in a hellish environment for a treasure to gather enough insights into gravity to be useful.
It was at times like this that she wished she was going for a concept like fire, or sand. Even Greg, who had a concept like shadow, or Taylor who was pursuing the concept of blood, were far better off.
Just like Zee, Yukna and Bastion were in a bit of a pickle. Everyone else on the team had evolved their sparks to embers already, except them.
In fact, both Allison and Malden had taken that step years ago. The increase in power made Malden's sand incredibly potent. Allison's flames were terrifying and Taylor's barriers were extremely durable. Zee was more than a little excited to see how much evolving her insights would affect her own skills.
It took nearly an hour to arrive at her destination.
At first glance, the building that the drunken lizard corporation was using tonight didn't look like much. The auction was in district twelve, held in an unused theater, usually used for plays or musical performances.
After waiting in line for a good twenty minutes, she flashed the card Taylor gave her to get entry. One guard, an early D grade cultivator, gave her a stern glare while he looked over her card.
The man's condensed aura was surprising, his presence enough to keep everyone on their best behavior. This drunken lizard corporation was a lot richer than she first thought if they could afford to pay someone like this to watch the door.
"You can go in, but don't cause any trouble or I will toss you out," He said in a gruff tone.
"I won't," Zee said.
She nodded, taking back her card and entered.
There was a bustling hall, with rows of seats, and several elevated balconies with richly dressed students. Surprisingly, most of the people in attendance were clearly from the higher districts, given their rich clothing.
Zee was impressed and more than a little excited. With so many people of high status here, the auction was bound to have extremely valuable things for sale. She heard from Taylor that this auction would have the rarest stuff, but hadn't really believed him until now.
The elevated seats were packed, and filled with excited chatter, with people still up and moving.
Noting her looking around, a well dressed attendant walked over.
"Is there anything I can help with?" He asked with a slight bow and a friendly smile.
"Is it still too late to put some things up for auction?" Zee asked.
"Of course not, come with me," He said.
She followed him to a back room, with a surly cultivator by the front door, and several arrays to shield the interior.
"What do you have?" The attendant asked with a pleasant smile.
Without preamble, she took five things from her spatial storage, placing them on the table. The man's eyes shot open wide, as the energy in the room was turned into a chaotic storm by the pressure the treasures gave off. She couldn't blame his reaction. All of them were high-quality peak E grade natural treasures.
"Would you like to trade them, or auction them?" He asked.
"Auction please." She placed her black token on the table." I would appreciate it if you keep my identity a secret," Zee said.
The man's eyes shot open wide and bowed so low he almost fell on his face. "Of course, milady. No need to worry, we will keep any mention of you out of the sale." The treasures disappeared, with a slight fluctuation of spatial energy that originated from a pendant around his neck. "Please follow me, I will show you to your private booth," He said with another deep bow.
She had been assigned to one of the lower seats, but clearly was being upgraded.
Zee wasn't going to complain about the treatment. Now, she had her own private booth on the top floor, with an attendant serving fresh food and cold drinks. There was even a privacy array, so none of the other attendees could see her in the booth.
Sitting in a plush chair, she enjoyed some fresh fruit as the auction started. In the early stages, nothing too impressive showed up. It was mostly peak F grade and early E grade items that didn't pique her interest.
It was kind of dull at first. Thankfully, it didn't take too long for the high quality treasures to start appearing. That was when the people in the private booths like hers started bidding. From what she could tell, the people in the booths were all rich scions, and one stood out above the others.
He was peak E grade, wore a well fitting gray uniform, and carried a vicious-looking spear.
A black token was blatantly displayed on his chest, and it wasn't hard to guess who he was. It was one of the imperial descendants.
His aura was extremely dense, radiating a sharpness that made her feel like she would be pierced if she got too close.
It felt like he was the spear, like his weapon was a part of him. It was a chilling sensation, made all the more discomforting when he turned in his seat, and looked over at her booth.
Zee knew she was hidden by an array, and yet, it seemed like he was looking right at her. The uncomfortable moment passed, and the man looked away, laughing at something one of his retinue said.
Speaking of friends. Zee had been intending on coming with her friends, but they were all busy tonight. Allison and Yukna were having a date night, while the others had their own things planned.
Even Bastion couldn't make it. She wasn't sure why he always returned home late, but Zee wasn't worried. She wasn't worried about him being unfaithful or anything. No, Bastion was probably off trying to pull one of his dubious business ventures to make some money.
Her attention was drawn back to the auction as a familiar item was rolled out onto the stage. It was the large crystal with the crackling lightning attunement she found in the spire hawk cave.
Waves of vibrant, crackling energy filled the room as the crystal released a palpable pressure..
The reaction was immediate.
The attention hadn't even said what the treasure was called before the first bid started. The bid shot up through the roof, with someone in the bottom row starting the bid at five hundred Ether crystals.
The bid was almost immediately doubled and then shot up to one thousand five hundred.
In the booth nearby, the tall, regal looking spearman stood.
"Five thousand Ether crystals," He said, his calm tone daring anyone else to bid against him.
The bidding died just as quickly as it started, but Zee could see several people in the other booths unhappily shifting in their seats. Others clearly wanted it, but no one dared to bid against the imperial descendant.
Zee swore internally. Well, she couldn't be too upset. Five thousand was around what she thought it would sell for. Next up, was the lantern she acquired by killing the Aintar priest back in the plains of suffering.
She had thought Allison would want it, but was wrong. It was a high quality E grade weapon, but the corrupting flame spirit inside didn't mesh well with Allison. She was a sword woman with the concept of pure flame, and in the end it wasn't a good fit. Using the lantern could have some unwanted side effects. That meant Zee could see it.
The lantern with the flame spirit ended up selling for three thousand Ether crystals. Zee had already made a sizable sum of money, but was getting concerned.
The stuff she was selling was rare, but not nearly as hard to find as the natural treasures she was looking for. The last three items she put of for sell each sold for a good price. It was a Veck root that had an extremely potent poison inside that went to an alchemist.
Three spire hawk eggs that went a beast tamer, and a weird bone from the death chasms that contained a huge amount of life force.
She felt rather good about her earnings, smiling as an attendant brought a sealed box into her booth. After everything had sold, she had a total of seventeen thousand Ether crystals, which was the most she had ever held.
It should be enough to afford the two treasures she wanted. The next few treasures on display were interesting, but none were all that useful.
The long wait finally paid off as a fist sized gem was wheeled out. The gem glitter on a pedestal, making the air in the room suffocating. Its mere presence seemed to compress the world around it, increasing pressure.
The attendant smiled at the reaction of the room and spoke, her voice audible even over the excited chatter.
"This is a unique treasure that is called a sky diamond. It was found in a commit at the edges of a star system with a neutron star. It carries immense pressure from being so close to the star for millions of years." The attendant said.
Zee sat forward on the edge of her seat as the bid started off. She was reaching forward to place a bid, but the price was already skyrocketing. It started off at one thousand, but was already at four and climbing.
Once it reached six thousand, most of the people in the lower seats stopped bidding at that point, leaving only the people in the booths. The imperial descendant even looked interested. He was talking with one of his retinue, a cultivator who gave off a sense of heaviness around them.
Zee was waiting patiently, deciding to bide her time and see how high the bid would go.
Nodding to his comrade, the spearman stood, "Eight thousand!" He said, his voice cutting over the clamor.
Like before, when he got involved, everyone else stopped despite clearly wanting it. Zee scowled, her hand hovering over the button to place a bid.
She really wanted that thing. But did she want it bad enough to piss off an imperial descendant?
The answer was yes.
Vibrating with excitement, Zee hit the bid button.
"Nine thousand!" Zee said, her voice distorted as it filled the room.
The spearmen didn't look phased.
"Ten thousand," He replied.
"Eleven thousand," Zee said, immediately.
By now, the entire room was deathly quiet, with everyone staring at her booth. Thank the gods for the arrays blocking her from their sight.
The spearman's smile faltered for a moment, and he glanced back at the woman sitting beside him. She looked determined to get the sky diamond, whispering some words to the princling.
"Twelve thousand. Would the young lady mind? This is for a friend. I would be indebted to you if you let this one go," the spearman said, with a forced smile, his tone a warning.
Zee was already too invested and wasn't about to back out now. So what if he was an imperial descendant, so was she. And besides, he clearly wasn't willing to spend much more.
"Thirteen thousand," Zee said in answer.
With a sour expression, the spearman took a seat, his brows furrowed as he talked in a hushed whisper to another of his retinue.
Down on the stage, the attendant looked a bit nervous.
"Thirteen thousand, going once, going twice, sold,"
Zee was elated, but she was now the center of attention. It was a good thing that her booth was private. She would have to sneak out afterward to avoid people finding out who slighted the princeling.
An attendant brought the natural treasure to her booth in a sealed box, and she paid the exorbitant price. She could leave now, but still wanted to find one more.. Zee still needed a spiritual treasure, but so far, none had appeared.
Several more treasures were wheeled out onto the stage, but none were what she needed.
Her disappointment grew as the attendant on the stage spoke.
"This will be the last item of the evening,"
It was a set of armor with dense etchings, a truly impressive piece of war regalia.
Zee reclined back in her chair, watching on as the bidding for the war regalia shot up. After bidding against the imperial descendant once, a-lot of people in the auction glanced towards her booth, as if expecting her to do so again.
She had no intention of doing so, as the armor didn't suit her. The set of armor looked extremely powerful but it was not her style. It was a full body suit of heavy plate, with flared shoulder pads, a gleaming breastplate, and a boar helm.
Unlike normal metal, she could sense the energy pathways coursing through the alloy, allowing for easy use of skills. The armor was a proper set of war regalia, and when energy was coursed through it, it would be incredibly hard to pierce.
The problem was that it would restrict her mobility, and hamper her speed. That was unacceptable, especially considering her elusive combat style.
Getting proper equipment was definitely something she wanted to get, but judging by the growing price of twenty thousand Ether crystals, she wasn't rich enough. Zee watched on with morbid fascination as the price grew, and eventually stopped at forty nine thousand.
The princeling was in a fierce bidding war with a man in a nearby booth. Given the other man's brazen display, he had to be of a high station to dare going against the imperial descendant.
Or judging by the angry scowls they threw each other's way, they were rivals.
As it turns out, her supposed wealth was just a pale shadow of these scions of noble houses.
Especially after buying the sky diamond. With only ten thousand to her name, she would be flat broke after getting a spiritual, natural treasure.
She supposed she could ask her parents, or grandpa for some money, but she wasn't comfortable doing that.
Gifts were one thing, begging for handouts was another. With the last item on display having been sold to the imperial descendant, Zee stood and stretched. She popped a grape in her mouth and headed for the door. Now it was time to leave.
"Is there a way I can leave with no one seeing me?" Zee asked.
Her attendant, who mysteriously appeared as if from thin air, smiled.
"Of course my lady, follow me," He said with a deep bow.
All this bowing and scraping was getting on her nerves, but she didn't show it. She had to keep up appearances. Hopefully, the auction house would keep quiet about her identity.
If not, things in the academy were about to get a lot more hectic.