Their next stop was to a place that sold consumables, as Beth was starting to appreciate how a good potion or pill could be worth more than its weight in gold in the right situation. It turned out to be a profitable stop, though that was because the girls unloaded some of their unneeded inventory on the happy alchemist. They didn't drive a hard bargain, but still walked away with a diamond coin or so for a pile of potions and pills that they didn't need. Beth had also snagged a half-dozen very nice healing potions that they each kept two of as part of the deal.

Next, they made their way to the Seven Lights firm, a place that was rather easy to find. It was located on that main square that housed the massive market, taking up nearly half a city block all on its own and rising eight stories straight up. The Seven Lights Trading Firm did go for a bit of an ostentatious presentation at times, and this place very much matched several of the other trading houses they had been in. It was set back from the street just a bit and had large, intricately carved columns all along the front. The whole thing was dark stone and gilt trim, something they expected of the trading firm at this point, and Beth led the way into a lobby with a polished marble floor, finely carved wooden furniture, and expensive mana chandeliers lighting the whole thing.

Beth walked up to the counter at the rear of the large lobby, getting seen by one of the many attendants immediately. Before the attendant could say more than a formal greeting, Beth produced her emerald token, showing the attendant the token in her palm, much to their decided shock. The attendant quickly and breathlessly stuttered out an assurance they would get someone with the authority to see to them right away and then, by Beth's best guess, made a hasty and panicked call on their communicator. It wasn't but a moment later and someone quite powerful and authoritative appeared in the lobby, earning bows from the attendants and a raised eyebrow from Beth.

"Ma'am, you are the emerald token holder?" the man asked. He was old, or was appearing so, with pure white hair that trailed down his back, intermixing with a pure white beard that covered his entire chest. His deep-set eyes had plentiful wrinkles around the corners and Beth imagined his mouth would too, if she could see the corners of it past his beard. He wore a very fancy robe with silver and gold embroidery on a dark blue cloth with the Seven Lights' emblem all in gold on his chest. Beth guessed, and then confirmed, that he was an Ascended based on his sheer presence alone, and that was with a little 'p.'

Anton de Bailley, Level 800 Human Mana Lord

Well, if nothing else, Mana Lord certainly sounded like an impressive class.

"Yes, I'm the token holder," Beth replied, showing him the token, which he scanned briefly.

"Ah, yes, you're Selene's little investment," he said with a broad smile. "You've always brought in great business for her. Come, let's talk shop."

He led them back behind the counters and further into the building, taking them upstairs to a very luxuriously appointed appraisal room, Beth and Sera practically sinking into the couch they occupied while Blood sprawled across an armchair. Anton took a seat opposite them, stroking his thick beard as he observed them for a moment. Another attendant entered the room, pouring cups of tea for all four of them before leaving the teapot in the center of the table and bowing with the serving tray pressed against their chest, walking backward out of the room.

"Now then, let us have some tea and talk," Anton said.

"Sure," Beth said, taking a sip. She got a strong smell and taste of mint, followed by a taste of some kind of spice, the general slight bitterness of the tea itself, finished at the end with a mellow aftertaste. "Good tea."

"I should hope so; it's Golden Lily Tea," he said. Seeing their questioning looks, he laughed and explained, "For a pot like this, you'd pay at least a platinum."

"Blood Stars," Sera muttered quietly.

"Only the finest for our higher-level members," Anton said with another warm laugh.

"Well, I feel like we have to reciprocate," Beth said, taking another sip before waving her arm over the table. The low table was immediately filled with objects of immense value, glittering ores, gems, jewels, herbs, elixirs, and random pieces of equipment none of the girls were interested in. Despite his apparent age and experience, even Anton's eyes widened slightly at the bounty the young lady so casually tossed out.

"My goodness! This is all for sale?" he asked, starting to examine the pieces closely.

"Everything on the table is stuff we don't have a use for," Beth said with a shrug. "Whatever you see here we can sell direct or put up in one of the auctions."

"High-grade mithril; low-grade orichalcum; Golden Ant Jelly; my, oh my, you have quite a selection here," Anton muttered as he went through the goods at a rapid pace. If Beth had to compare, he was even faster than Selene and Alex, though no less precise. "I would think you'd want to auction most of this."

"When is the next auction?" Beth asked, having not kept track.

"A week from today," Anton replied, frowning a little when he saw the girls exchanging glances. "I do apologize, but we can't move the date of the monthly auction at a whim."

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"Hmm, we'll have to see," Beth replied. "We're with Mortaine, uh, the Lord of Traversal, and he's got a time sensitive job for us. He told us we had forty-eight hours to do everything unless we had something else come up."

"We could consign it anyway," Sera said with a shrug. "I'm sure they'd do a good job selling it, and it's not like we're short of funds right now."

"This is true and a strategy many use," Anton interjected. "We'd be happy to place the items in the next auction, or several auctions, if time is not a constraint. We can assure you get the absolute best value for each and every item."

"And you can get quite a sizeable cut," Beth replied with a small smirk.

"What can I say? Business takes resources," Anton said, spreading his hands, which Beth noticed were smooth other than the typical scars someone like a swordsman would acquire, wide in front of him.

"Everything on the table is for sale," Beth said definitively. "Sell it as you can, whether that's one auction or several."

"Understood," Anton replied. "Would you like us to keep the funds in your account here, or is there somewhere you want us to forward it?"

"Just keep it in our account here," Beth said with a dismissive wave. "I'll square up with you eventually."

"The next time you pay Selene a visit," Sera murmured, though it was clearly loud enough that Anton heard.

"Oh, something there after all?" the old man chortled, stroking his beard again.

"More than something," Beth muttered while blushing a bit.

"Ho ho, interesting that Alex accepted you as well," Anton said. It seemed he knew Beth's occasional lovers quite well.

"They were very accepting," Beth replied smoothly, understanding the old man was probing for information and not wanting to give him any possible ammo.

"Well, well, is there anything else we can do for you? Anything you have an eye out for that we could try to secure?" the man asked.

"I don't need anything. I don't know about these two," Beth said, gesturing at Sera and Blood.

"I'm fine," Blood grunted, sipping her tea.

"I have everything I need," Sera replied before giving Beth a big grin, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Well, if there's anything you're interested in general, let us know and we can put priority on it for you," Anton said with a clever smile.

"The only thing we have is getting our hands on a starship, but we definitely don't have the funds for that," Beth said. "We'll have to hold off on that for a while."

"You know, there are cheap ones…" Anton began, but Sera interrupted him.

"Sorry, but we don't do cheap stuff. It's worth paying for quality," the dragon girl said with a shake of her head.

"Well then, is there anything else?" Anton asked, placing his hands on his knees in preparation to rise.

"No, we'll get out of your hair," Beth said, nodding pointedly at his sprawling beard and locks.

"Oh ho, it's no bother," he replied, laughing as he escorted them out of the room and out of the building.

"Where to now?" Sera asked once they were outside.

"Back to Mortaine. Unless you two still need stuff?" Beth asked.

"No, I'm good," Sera said with a shake of her head, mirrored by a negative from Blood a moment later.

The three slowly walked back across the city center, taking their time to relax a bit and enjoy the fresh air and buzz of city life. It was late afternoon and the sun was moving low in the sky, giving a warm golden and red cast to the air as it started to set for the day. Beth slid her hand into Sera's, intertwining their fingers as they slowly walked down the sidewalk, enjoying the feel of the other girl's skin on hers and her warmth. Blood trailed along behind them, observing everything around them without commenting on any of it. They slowly returned to the hotel, which is what the building Mortaine had dumped them in was, taking the elevator back up to the penthouse floor to find Mortaine sitting quietly in the central room and working on some papers.

"Ah, you've returned," he said, glancing up at them before continuing to write. "Have you managed to take care of everything?"

"We got everything we need. At least, for now. We're ready whenever," Beth said, sitting next to Sera on the couch opposite Mortaine.

"Very good," he said, finishing what he was writing and making the paperwork vanish. "I suppose I ought to explain to you what we're about, yes?"

"That would be nice," Beth said with a snort.

"Right, let me fill you in," he said, leaning back and making a drink appear in his hand. Beth was never sure whether he was pulling things from a storage space or teleporting them around; she had already witnessed him floating and teleporting drinks around a room at least once before. "Now, where to start? Ah, let me just cover this simply. I've caught wind of a prize to get, I believe I mentioned that?"

"Some box or something?" Beth returned with a nod.

"Indeed, that's right. Though it's not just 'some box,' I must say," he replied. "There is a particular artifact that I'm hoping to get my hands on, though I don't exactly have all the details of it. What I do know is that it will be at a specific place at a specific time. That place has restrictions on who can go there and those restrictions are quite powerful."

"Thus needing us," Sera cut in. "We're weak enough that we can get there."

"Yes, yes, exactly," he said. "I'll pop you over to our starting point, you can then venture into the area where the box is likely to be and try to retrieve it. A few other people have sniffed it out, so you'll face some competition, but I'm sure the restrictions will work more to your advantage than disadvantage."

"Is teleportation restricted?" Beth asked.

"No, not as such, but I can't simply plop you down on top of the box; my power won't work," Mortaine said, shaking his head.

"What about this?" Beth asked, withdrawing a cube out of her necklace and showing it to him. He inspected before his eyes widened quite a bit.

Fragment of the Spatial Antithesis

{This cube is but a decayed fragment of the great Spatial Antithesis, an item from a lost age of immense power. In the hands of a capable sovereign, the original could alter the flow of time and space with near-limitless potential. Sadly, this fragment retains only a small portion of the power of the original, now only capable of teleporting the user and any around them anywhere they desire.

Remaining uses: 4/5}

"This is quite a fine item," Mortaine said as he inspected the silver cube. "I would offer you a very high price to buy it, but I suppose you'll want to keep it."

"Well, it does seem useful," Beth replied, staring at the cube. "But, are you overvaluing it just a bit?"

"No, no, no," Mortaine replied with a shake of his head. "You see, items of this kind of nature are very specific in their descriptions. When it tells you it has the power to transport you anywhere, it truly means anywhere. As a master of dimensional magics, I have found that people often become a little stultified in their thinking, particular once they become accustomed to the teleportation networks. But this is different. It could literally take you to any place you might want to go…say, a secret pocket dimension, or…I don't know, the interior of a spatial vault of an Ancient Lost Empire, though such a place would have its own internal security."

"Ah, I see," Beth said, gawping at the cube. "You're telling me I could teleport basically anywhere in our universe or the attached dimensions without restrictions."

"Yes, yes, now you're getting it," he said, wagging a finger at her. "Such an item, even though only a small scrap of what it once was, still houses enormous power. There aren't really any limits to what it can do. I would still be careful for, as I've said before, just being able to go somewhere doesn't mean you will be safe once you're there."

"Like where this box is?" Beth questioned.

"Exactly. But, if you have that…" he said, trailing off. "Well, I actually feel a bit bad. That's a very, very valuable item. You could use it to jump to the box, then use it to jump right back to me, but that would use half the charges…"

"It would save time and hassle," Beth said with a shrug.

"Hmm," Mortaine scratched his chin. "I was going to reward you for this anyway, but I think I'll have to increase it if you use that."

"That sounds like music to my ears," Beth said with a grin.

"I would hope so, but don't expect too much. No starship for you," he said with a small grin.

"Well, obviously," Beth said, though she did let out a disappointed sigh.

"I'm sure you'll be very generous," Sera said with an amused tone, giving Beth's hand a squeeze.

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