Selia

The Grand Auction was underway. Selia sat in one of Zenshuen private booths. Not the main one, of course, that one was exclusive only to Zenshuen Sect members, and today she had a guest. At her table sat Ryun Nacht, the Sect Head of the Twilight Melody Sect. He had agreed to accept the sponsorship of the Zenshuen Sect for the Grand Auction. It had taken her longer to convince him than she had expected. Enough that her people had felt insulted. There were few people that would refuse something like that, and fewer still who could do it without it seeming like an insult.

Her people had been suggesting a lot of things to her to make the Frontier Sect Head learn his place. She had frankly had to make sure that none of them did something on her behalf behind her back. They didn’t understand why she was pursuing him and allowing herself to be insulted. Truthfully, if she thought that the Ranker was doing things with the intent of insulting her, she would’ve reacted in much the same way as her people had. But she knew that he didn’t know yet the culture of the sects, and that insult was the last thing on his mind.

He didn’t care for Essence and resources that Selia could grant him, and even the sponsorship that he had accepted was without the strings that such a thing usually entailed. In truth, there were… implied obligations, things that everyone in the sects understood and acknowledged. Ryun Nacht on the other hand didn’t know. Selia had figured out that he was quite literal, a complete opposite of most people in the sects. It was refreshing in a way, which was why she had made sure to be clear with her words and what she wanted in return.

In the end, she hadn’t managed to secure much. If her people knew what she settled with, they most definitely would’ve tried to do something for the perceived insult. Of course, they had no idea why she was even talking with a Sect Head from a small frontier sect. Most could justify her curiosity by the fact that he is a Ranker and had qualified for the tournament, and she didn’t try to elaborate. The only thing she had secured was that he would continue talking with her, and allow Zenshuen emissaries in his Sect. It was barely anything, and most certainly not worth what she was paying for it. If one didn’t know her real reasons for doing at least.

Her grandfather had mentioned it in passing, but he trusted her enough not to look deeper into it. She had just told him that she could see potential in Ryun Nacht, and that was the end of it. But she knew that doing what Command had ordered would be harder. So far, she was still evaluating him, she needed to know more about him and see how powerful he really was—thought, the tournament would soon show her that. Recruiting into the League would not happen overnight, it was not something that you just revealed to people. First, she needed to learn who he was. It felt weird to say that she was getting to know someone, it had been such a long time since she had done anything resembling this, and even then, it was in a far different context with Erdania by her side.

This was… she had to admit at least more enjoyable. Ryun Nacht was young in years, but there were moments where she forgot that, when she looked at him and saw the people her own age or even older in his eyes. There was a maturity, even more than some who are hundreds of years his senior. He didn’t have the need to try and leverage his power and achievements, didn’t try to make sure that everyone knew. There was an aloofness to him, as if he didn’t really care what others thought of him.

His ideas about inspiration and advancement were interesting, and she found herself drawn into conversation with him often, enough so that she forgot the passage of time. She had even tried to internalize some of his ideas and experiment with them. It was strange to just talk with someone about that. Everyone in the sects is taught to keep such information close to their chest, to reveal only with those they consider their closest allies. Ryun Nacht did not grow up in the same environment, he did not have the same ideas and habits. And she felt… more comfortable talking with him about it than anyone else. He didn’t have any allegiances, and from getting to know him she understood that he wouldn’t tie himself to another no matter what.

She could see in him the qualities that the League could value. The difference between the League and the Cabal was not great, they both wanted the same thing, stability in the Infinite Realm. The only difference is the way they went about it. The Cabal liked to work from the shadows, to suppress and keep the other High Rankers in check by various means, but rarely violent. The League liked to push forward, to search for power and advantages, and they wanted to interfere directly. They hadn’t made any big moves yet, they weren’t yet so strong that they could, but in time they would be.

She shook her head and pulled her thoughts back to the present. The small chamber that they were in was occupied by only a few people. Selia and Ryun, were sitting at the table near the edge, just next to the opening that showed the center of the inner tower and the podium where the auction was being held. Behind them were their guards. Selia had two demasi immortals standing at attention somewhere behind her, while Ryun had brought his two Sect Leaders, two humans. Her information gathering had uncovered that the two women were in a relationship, and she had some info about the red headed woman’s power—since she had fought in the Mid Division of the tournament. The other woman was an immortal, and they knew nothing about her power, though it was clear that she was a new immortal as her Qi control wasn’t yet up to par with her Sect Head.

The Grand Auction was currently underway, or rather the preshow. Part of her sponsorship with Ryun was that she provided him with low grade potions and elixirs. She had been frankly shocked when she heard that he had used only a few of them. She had given him enough for him as well as some extra for his sect. The low-grade elixirs and potions that of a type that he did not drink yet wouldn’t give him much, but they would help.

The second part was that they had given him one million Celestial Essence credit, to be used on the auction. It wasn’t much, but should let him buy something at least, it would of course not let him buy better items that would be available. The last part of the sponsorship was one item of his choosing from the auction, within reason of course. They weren’t going to open their vaults for some of the high-end stuff that would appear in order to give it to an affiliated sect.

“What do you think?” Selia asked after a while. The auction had started a few dozen minutes ago and was just now moving into the interesting items.

Ryun tilted his head, his eyes looking forward but not at the large projection in front of the opening of their room. She wasn’t quite sure, but over their interactions and talks she had started to notice that there was something strange with his eyes. She almost suspected that he was blind, but he clearly could follow and see her when they talked. And he could clearly see the windows that popped up when a new item was shown, although that was Framework based so sight wasn’t really required. It was probably one of the more unique eye perks, which meant that it had to have drawbacks, she just didn’t know what they were. In any case, his qualifier fights had shown her that he had some kind of a sensory skill, as did their interactions since. She was sure that he could see what was happening on the podium below them.

“The items are interesting,” he said.

Most of what they had seen so far was unimpressive to her, but it should’ve been impressive to him. Still, she had seen that he had some pretty impressive items himself. He had wanted to sell some of his items and materials at the Grand Auction, and Selia had offered her help. In the end, she had bought most of it herself, paying a slight premium just so that she didn’t need to buy stuff through the auction. He had a mythic item that had been useless to him and any other person that was mainly a Cultivator, and not a caster, but she could use it for some of Zenshuen adopted members. Having classers in a sect was rare, but it did happen. The rest were rare materials and Aspects that he had collected on his trip beyond the frontier. She had been surprised and delighted to hear about his trip.

She had always wanted to do that, just go beyond the borders and explore, fight all on her own. She rarely had the chance to do that these days.

“But not something that you are interested?” Selia chuckled.

Ryun shrugged. “I don’t have the need for most of the things that are on the offer,” he told her. “I do not rely on items in general. The things that I am looking for now are things that can help me improve what I already have.”

Selia nodded her head. She understood that, still she wanted to see what would draw his eye.

“You are not buying anything for yourself?” He asked a few minutes and a dozen items later.

“No, my sect has the list of the things I am looking for, they will buy if something from it comes up.”

Ryun glanced at her with a raised eyebrow. “Ah, so you are here only to entertain me?”

“Something like that,” Selia answered.

“Hm… that thing you can’t talk about yet must really be important,” he commented, referring to the recruitment probably.

Selia had been trying to plan just how to bring him in. It was not as easy as it might seem. There was always a risk of him refusing, which meant that she needed to reveal enough information to entice but not enough to endanger the League should he decide to refuse. It was a balance, and she needed to be very careful.

“Our conversations are enough to make me want us to spend time alone, my bodyguards are under contracts not to reveal anything I speak about in private, and I really want to know more about how you think advancement works,” Selia said, hoping that he would reveal something new. Any snippet she could get could be the key that would unlock her inspiration and let her advance to the Ascended Realm.

“Hm… perhaps another time,” he said with a smile that made her think that he was teasing her. “After you share more of your own.”

True, their conversations were a bit of a give and take, so she had to accept what was fair. She turned her eyes back to the auction as the next item was brought out.

*  *  *

Ryun

Ryun didn’t really want to avoid talking about inspiration and advancement, he enjoyed his talks with Selia about it. But if he was being truthful, he was waiting, looking at every item brought out and trying to figure out if it would be of use. He was looking for something specific, something that could help him with his most glaring weakness, the amount of Qi in his core. The potions that he had gotten from Selia had included some core density ones, but they had been the lowest grade, he had barely gotten a 3% increase from them. But everything added up in the end, so he was grateful.

He still didn’t quite know what exactly she wanted from him, but Anrosh and the others were insisting that just establishing a basic connection could be worth it for the sect. Which was why he was even doing this, or rather it had been at first at least. He had found that Selia was… interesting, and obviously knowledgeable and experienced. It was nice to talk with someone who could grasp at the concepts that he felt instinctively. He was not the best person at explaining things, but Selia seemed to be able to understand, which he appreciated. And he was learning a lot, things that would no doubt help him in the future as well.

A friendship felt weird to Ryun, especially after he had met with Zach again and was reminded of what they once had. There was only one person in the world now that he really considered a friend, and that was Anrosh. Nayra was great, but they still needed time. Ereclaw was a companion, and a like-minded soul, but… Ryun wasn’t really sure what being friends with someone meant. He was not someone who entertained loose relationships, he was the kind of a person that either didn’t care at all or he cared deeply. There was no in-between for him.

And he was feeling awkward, he didn’t know how to do this really. How one made meaningful connections with other people. He was pretending, and probably coming off as aloof and without a care in the process. But inside, he just… didn’t know exactly how to act, so he fell back to his old ways. Others were the ones that had always approached and befriended him, on Earth and here too.

He shook his head and turned back to the matters at hand. A new item had been brought up, and Ryun glanced at the window that was projected in the air in front of him. It was a framework window so he could see it clearly, even though he couldn’t see the projection that showed the podium and the item. But that didn’t matter much, since he could sense the items.

Bleeding Whip Lasher

+70 to Dexterity Whip lasher can be extended like a whip to a distance of ten meters, any wounds made by this weapon will bleed 50% more blood or any other vital essence and will heal at a 50% slower speed. A portion of the vital essence is siphoned off and added to the wearer as stats, up to the maximum of 5% of the target’s total stats.

The weapon was a khopesh made out of dark red metal, with clear sections marked along the blade which Ryun assumed would separate into a whip. It was a good weapon, something that might even be useful to him, since he was better at range. The starting price was 100,000 Celestial Essence, a lot for a mythic item, but this one was in the upper tier of mythic items. Nothing in Infinite Realm was built equal.

Ryun placed a few bids, but quickly the price skyrocketed, and he was forced to abandon his attempts at securing it. He had almost three million Celestial Essence, if he counted in the credit that Selia had given him. His remaining items had sold for around a million on their own, some on the auction and some directly to Selia’s guild. He might’ve lost some essence by selling directly, but, he felt like it was an investment in her continued good will. He couldn’t complain really, she had granted him access as well as a significant sum to spend at the auction. Though, according to Anrosh that was nothing for a sect of their size. Still, Ryun was thankful.

“You are interested in a weapon?” Selia asked.

“Yes, I’ve used a sword for most of my time on Earth, but… it didn’t fit me anymore, so I gave it away. Now I am forced to use cheap weapons to activate powers that require them. But few things seem to fit exactly what I need.”

“Ah, I understand,” Selia said. “I’ve had the same dilemma for a long time too.”

Ryun glanced at her and tilted his head. “You can’t find a good weapon? I would think that with your sect’s resources it would be easy.”

“Oh, I have a powerful weapon, but I am searching for an awakened weapon that fits my style perfectly. I am not reliant on weapons in the first place, so I have the luxury of waiting. I’ve tested out a few, but in the end, I had to break the bond and give them to those who were better suited.”

Ryun nodded his head in understanding, he had done the same thing. Her mentioning that made him remember the spear he held in the corner of his storage space. White and gleaming, it was a reminder of what he had lost. And he couldn’t bring himself to even touch it. He didn’t know what its bond would do, what perks and abilities it would have. Melody hadn’t bonded with it, but it like Kagehime changed the more it was used. The more she fought with it, the less solid her spear became, turning into something resembling a white cloud.

Now, he knew that those weapons were shaped to be compatible with who they were when they got them, which meant that it would’ve fit Melody at the time when she received it as a reward. Her build had relied on quick and precise attacks, on quick movements. He assumed that her weapon would reflect that.

He shook his head and turned back to the auction. The next hour passed quickly as item after item was presented. They had long since moved into the relic rarity territory, and a few masterwork items had been shown as well. Ryun made bids on a few, but he was out of his depths. He didn’t have nearly as much funds as the others. Selia was giving him looks, probably wondering why he hadn’t spent her credit on the cheaper items since now he had no chance of finding something within that budget. He could’ve done that and would’ve if he had found anything that was exceptional. There were things that could’ve helped him, but nothing had really been completely earth shattering. He needed something to cover his weakness, and he was saving all of his Essence for it. Then, finally an item that fit what he wanted was presented.

True Soul Core Reformation Elixir

Consuming this elixir will reform your core based on its current state. It will merge all of your core-related perks into a new and improved perk. The result will depend on the quality of your existing perks and their compatibility with each other. Warning: Elixir’s effect can cause crippling damage if your perk compatibility is not sufficient!

That was what he had been waiting for. Well, not the exact thing. He had hoped for something to deepen his core, allow him to have a greater amount of Qi. But perhaps this could be just as good. He had confidence that his perks were compatible, he had only two after all.

“A truly incredible elixir!” The host said. “Created by the famed Grandmaster Kelik Oteem of the High Garden Kingdom. The first of its kind on sale, and a great opportunity for any Cultivators out there. We are starting the bid at 500,000 Celestial Essence!”

Ryun immediately made his own bid. The price skyrocketed quickly, with sects entering a bidding war for it. Ryun kept up, until the price reached two and a half million. He could see the trend of the auction, and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to keep up. As the price hit three million, his entire budget, he turned to look at Selia.

“You said that you will purchase one item for me,” Ryun said. “That is the one. You can have all the Essence that I currently have, even.”

Selia tilted her head, then glanced down as the bids kept rising. “My own sect is bidding on it. That elixir will be useful to us as well.”

Ryun didn’t say anything, he just looked at her.

She glanced at him, then back at the auction. The price had reached five million Celestial Essence, or rather five thousand immortal Essence. It was an insane amount, and it didn’t seem like it was slowing down.

“It is too much,” Selia whispered as she met his eyes. “I said within reason.”

Ryun didn’t look away. This was the moment when he found out just how important he was to her, and just what value she placed on her own word. The instant when he would know her.

She glanced back at the auction as it reached seven thousand Immortal Essence. Then, she placed her hand on the device on the table in front of her.

“And here we have a new bid! Coming personally from Sect Leader Selia Ha Jhan, a bid made against her own sect! Things are heating up,” the host announced.

Selia grimaced, but kept her eyes on the podium. Ryun looked at her face, it was determined and stoic, her long hair was pulled back behind her ears and her posture straight and dignified. He hadn’t really paid that much attention to her before, but now with his eyesight, she made him think of statues made by great artists back on Earth. Things of beauty and refinement.

Ryun turned his eyes to look at the auction as well. The Zenshuen sect hadn’t placed any more bids, apparently deciding to let Selia bid. He wondered if they knew why she was doing it, and if she would get in trouble for it. Most of the bidders had abandoned trying to get it, leaving only Selia and the Dragon Heart Sect bidding against each other.

The price had risen to ten thousand, and Selia’s expression turned hard. He could see, or rather sense the competitive streak in her. The way that her body tensed, the way that she leaned forward, the way she moved to sit at the edge of her chair. How her eyes never moved from the projection in front of her. It was impressive to watch. She was lost in her own little world, not caring about anything else. He had rarely seen people quite like her. Selia seemed to be a person who did things that she wanted, and who wasn’t afraid to go after those things no matter the cost. He couldn’t help but stare at her, and admire that.

Then, a loud noise filled his ears and he turned around realizing that the auction for the elixir had concluded. The elixir was sold for forty-five thousand Immortal Essence, forty five million Celestial Essence. The most expensive item at the auction by far.

“The Elixir is sold! To Selia Ha Jhan of the Zenshuen Sect for forty-five thousand Immortal Essence!”

She turned to stare at Ryun, her eyes narrowed. “You better think of something to make it up to me. That is a fortune.”

Ryun looked her in the eyes, grateful, but also satisfied that he hadn’t made a mistake. He had seen what kind of a person she was. Keeping one’s word was one of the most important things to Ryun, and she had kept hers. The only thing that Ryun had to give in return was his insights, and he would gladly share that with her.

Ryun smiled and spoke. “Of course, how about a dinner tonight? We can continue our talks, I’m sure that I can make it up to you.”

She held her expression for one long moment, and then chuckled. “You better, my grandfather will kill me once he finds out what I intend to do with the elixir.”

Ryun turned away, slightly uncomfortable, he had put her in a difficult position. But still, he couldn’t help but look forward to getting the elixir. His first match was in only a couple of days, and with this he would have a much greater chance of moving forward.