Limitless Path

"Gems are always popular," Val said with a very slight sigh, watching them wheel the table off after the auctioneer had closed on the final bid.

"I guess that's not a surprise, since they can be used to make useful gear," Beth said.

"More than that," Val said with a shake of her head. "Gems like that can be used by smiths to make armor and weapons, by alchemists to craft valuable tools and even single-use items, by enchanters for high-end rune inscription, and even by professions like leatherworkers to tan special hides or scales. Selling even a single lot of gems like that is always guaranteed to get some interest; it's just too bad the gems, even being deep gems, were pretty common varieties and low grades. If there had been some emerald or sapphire and a bit higher grade, this place would have exploded."

"Well, that was the opener. Maybe they'll have better stuff later," Beth commented off-handedly, noticing Blood give a slight twitch as she tried to keep her expression under control.

The auctioneer started on the next item, but Beth lost interest when they got around to showing what it was, a red dagger forged from some kind of rare metal that wasn't one of the more common blade bases. She was just slightly intrigued as a smith, but once an item was unveiled, people could see the available information on the tablets they had. Well, anyone on the higher floors had that privilege, but the people on the floor would have to go off the auctioneer's description and whatever their own skills could reveal.

The interest from the audience in the second item wasn't quite as strong, either, as it went for just under a diamond coin, despite being a piece of level two hundred equipment. The next item after that got a slightly better reception, a natural treasure that could increase ice resistance or be used by alchemists for a list of things longer than Beth was tall. Despite only being the single item, it still sold for close to the amount that the first lot of Beth's gems had gone for, with the audience having gotten a bit more in the spirit. The next item certainly ignited their passion if it wasn't already burning, though Beth was a little shocked to see something like it so early in the auction. If even an item like the fourth lot was only an early appetizer, she couldn't imagine what the finale items would be. It also made her quite curious to see what would be offered in the yearly auction, which was supposed to be far more high-class than even the monthly auction, as gold token-holders weren't even allowed in the yearly auction.

The fourth item that Beth was so agog over was a large greathammer requiring level four hundred to equip and of legendary rarity. The piece was neither useful for anyone Beth knew, nor was it anywhere close to their current levels. Finally, it wasn't anywhere close to her price range, either, as the bidding for the item already started at ten diamond coins and quickly went up from there. She was surprised to see Val bid on the item in the beginning, the very tall woman getting into the spirit of the auction with a few bids that incremented the price by a diamond coin each. She dropped out after a time, however, as she hadn't really been seriously interested in the item and the real players had appeared.

"You don't use blunt weapons, do you?" Beth asked Val with a raised brow as the heavy hitters drove the hammer price up to nearly a mithril coin.

"No, but Diram does," she replied. Seeing Beth's blank look, she further explained, "The big demon you beat the hell out of? Goes by 'D?' Ringing any bells?"

"Oh, yeah," Beth nodded. "But aren't you guys still pretty far from this level?"

"Two things," Val said, as the hammer tipped over the mithril coin point and kept climbing. "First, it never hurts to prepare for the future. Teams will use a lot of different gear over time, and even have multiple sets at the same time, so getting pieces early really helps. Secondly, there are quite a few ways to reduce or bypass level requirements, though most of them are quite expensive. People will often have a piece that they use fifty or even a hundred levels early, which is quite a significant boost in their power."

"I had no idea about the level requirements stuff," Beth said. "I'll have to look into that."

"Most common, though really expensive, are gems or accessories that lower overall level requirements, though usually it's not by very much. If you want fifty or a hundred levels reduction, you'll need multiple such things," Val explained.

"Noted," Beth said.

The next few items weren't very impressive, at least to Beth, though they were fought over by many of the members on the floor and several on the balconies. The cheapest of these four items went for more than thirty diamond coins while the most expensive went to a person on one of the balconies that bid almost two mithril coins. The most impressive thing so far was the amount of wealth on display; none of the items offered in this auction were common items easily findable or producible without great wealth or strength. An interstellar trading firm like Seven Lights wouldn't host large-scale auctions like this just to sell off some common equipment or easily obtainable materials or resources, and the prices really reflected that.

Item number nine got Beth's interest, not because she wanted it, but because it was clearly another part of her gem pile. This lot contained only a few more than the first lot, but they were all higher quality gems, and the audience had their blood up since the first lot had sold. A bidding war ensued between the person who had bought the first lot and someone on one of the balconies that was clearly moved by the slightly higher quality of the gems. The second lot went to the person on the floor that had bought the first for just under four diamonds, meaning just a small part of Beth's gems had now sold for around six diamonds. Even factoring in the auction house's five percent, that was more than five and a half diamond coins as pure profit.

Items ten, eleven, and twelve passed by as Beth and the others watched, none of them very interested in what was displayed. Sure, the items were rare and powerful and somewhat interesting to look at, but nothing presented was anything extraordinary, not to the point of fascinating them. That was different for the thirteenth item, as even Beth felt moved when it was presented, staring in rapt fascination at the object.

"You should all be well familiar with such an item," the auctioneer began. "However, let me explain for those few of you that aren't aware. This is a strength elixir crafted by a Sage Alchemist nearly a hundred years ago. The firm just recently got its hands on it, and we've decided to auction it today. As you can see from the basic description, this elixir will offer a permanent increase of one hundred strength and ten endurance to whoever consumes it. This is, of course, already quite powerful, but the true value is the permanent changes such an elixir can produce in the imbiber's body. This Overwhelming Destructive Strength Elixir will reinforce the muscles and flesh of anyone who drinks it, making the amount of power they can produce with the same amount of STR value even greater. Not only that, but the reinforcing effect will add some extra damage mitigation whenever the user is physically struck.

"Considering its value and progeny, we obviously can't part with such an item for a few coppers. Therefore, the starting bid for this elixir is fifty diamond coins, and every bid increment must be at least one diamond coin. Do I hear any initial bids?" Megahn finished, opening the floor for bids.

To say Beth was tempted by the elixir would be putting it mildly; STR was her main stat and the added benefits of slightly increasing her power at the same level of STR would be hugely helpful. Not only that, but the secondary, hidden effects of the elixir would be just as beneficial, especially combined with the effects of the elixirs she had already consumed. The only thing making her hesitate was the price, and that turned out to be even more of an obstacle as bids flew out one after the other, driving the elixir's price to sixty, seventy, then eighty coins. It didn't stop there, however, as it seemed this item had piqued the interest of many of the third-floor occupants, who threw their own hats into the ring. The price quickly blew past a mithril coin as the various truly wealthy guests started raising the bid by five and ten diamond coin increments.

Beth just sat back and sighed, watching the price climb to two mithril coins before slowing down. Several people continued with a few more bids, driving the price slightly higher, before the venue calmed. It looked like one of the other people on the third floor was going to walk away with the elixir for just under two-and-a-half mithril coins when a powerful voice rang out from the restricted area on the fourth floor, bidding three mithril coins for the item. It was quickly countered by a sweet and breathy woman's voice bidding four mithril coins, both the voices and the bids throwing the auction into a tizzy.

"They sure are rich," Beth commented with a sigh.

"Not only that, the fourth-floor links to the other branches," Val explained. "With an auction like this, only the highest ranked members will have the privilege of viewing everything the firm is selling in all branches. Of course, such esteemed guests would only really care about bidding on the absolute best of the best."

"You're quite knowledgeable," Beth said, leaving the statement hanging as an open-ended question.

"Honored Ancestor has a relationship with a firm much like this; she's one of the five Great Elders of the firm and would have a position slightly higher than a branch manager like Selene, except she doesn't work for the firm itself. She has taken me to an auction before where we received the kind of treatment that those fourth-floor guests up there today are getting," Val said with a bit of pride in her voice and a slight upturning of her nose.

"Kinda dashes my hopes of getting something good if people like that are involved," Beth said with a frown.

"It just depends on what they're interested in," Val shrugged. "You could want something that they don't really care about. For instance, if you wanted to buy a specific type of weapon and none of them used that kind of weapon or didn't like the one you were bidding on, they likely wouldn't get involved, even for a legendary or masterwork item."

"Well, we'll see," Beth replied non-committally with a grunt.

The elixir eventually sold to one of those super-VIPs on the fourth floor for more than seven mithril coins, shocking many of the people present in the venue. As if reading the room, the Seven Lights firm brought out another high-value item as the next lot, and it was one that Beth was quite familiar with. She gave a small smile on seeing what was on the small table the attendant wheeled out before the auctioneer launched into her next spiel.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a very, very rare resource here for you today," Megahn began, gesturing at the table. "As I'm sure you're aware, such rare resources hardly ever come up for sale, not to mention something as valuable and hard to find as this crystalized titanium. A core component in some of the finest armor available, or the main material in making an alloy for a starship core, this valuable mineral is not to be missed. Considering that we have an allotment of more than twenty pounds available, we can't set the price of this any less than twenty diamond coins. Who will give me an initial bid?"

Almost before Megahn could ask the audience for bids they were flying fast and thick, from twenty diamond to twenty-two to twenty-four, the price started soaring. It showed no signs of slowing even a minute later as it broke through the forty diamond mark and continued up, climbing towards fifty diamond coins at a rapid pace. That was enough to draw interest from the third floor, several other private boxes getting involved in the bidding until the price had climbed past eighty diamond coins. The bidding decidedly cooled at that point, but it only stayed that way for a moment before the woman's voice rang out again, the fourth floor now stepping into the mix. She raised the bid to ninety diamonds immediately, though she was challenged by another, yet unheard voice for that from the fourth floor. Unfortunately for Beth, the second voice didn't have as much interest in the material, as after only a couple back-and-forth exchanges, the second voice went silent and let the woman won with a bid of one mithril, fifteen diamond coins.

That single sale had generated roughly the amount that Alex had told her the firm would buy her entire lot for if they just purchased it directly. She was already looking at quite a nice profit, considering what she still had upcoming, and now she had some assurance in bidding on items. Not only did she have access to more than a mithril coin, but her confidence had also been bolstered by the fact that a fourth floor VIP had only spent a little over a mithril coin before nobody else was willing to compete. If she had one or even two mithril coins, depending on how some of her other items sold, she could even compete against the fourth-floor guests.

The next two items were rather impressive, a bow and a spear, each very high level and quite high rarity. Again, they were interesting pieces, but nobody in their booth used bows or spears, though Val did have a companion in the Young Scions that used bows. It was fascinating to see the materials and methods that were used in the construction of the items, but Beth absolutely wasn't at the point of paying multiple mithril coins just to have a fine piece of work to examine. She also didn't know any spear or bow users she could give or sell the items to, so she let them pass by.

What came next was a slew of materials, some of them being rather interesting, but nothing that Beth needed or even wanted. Many of the lots went for eye-watering amounts as well, making even her crystalized titanium look like a warm-up. An awful lot of that cash was flashed from the third floor as well, as the fourth floor didn't find much interest in the dozen or so lots that passed by. The same held true for the next handful of lots, which were more weapons, though Beth did perk up at a greatsword that gave off a faint golden glow even just sitting on the black cloth on the table it was displayed on. The level and the price quickly dissuaded her from getting involved, as it was actually a level five hundred piece of equipment, which was a massive turning point in leveling. Even though people would typically reach, or be able to reach, level five hundred before becoming Ascended, it was a transformative level for basically everything. While a person's strength wouldn't directly undergo a qualitative transformation at that level, beast and monster's strength would. However, that came with a benefit, in that the bodies of these beings, and anything the Path rewarded for killing them, would be much more powerful. Those bodies could then be used to make far more powerful weapons and armor, meaning a level five hundred sword of the same rarity could very easily be over twice as powerful as a level four-fifty sword.