Chương 634: Limitless Path Chapter Six Hundred Fifty-Three

"Now, time for your rocks," Beth said to Sera as the auction wrapped up.

"No. Now it's time for my spear," Sera replied with a grin.

"Then my rocks."

"You can't even use it," Beth said with a slight frown.

"Even if you reduce the level requirements, our max is only five hundred right now."

"You don't know how frustrated some people would be hearing you talk about our max level, let alone saying that it's 'only' five hundred," Sera replied with a smug laugh.

"And, though I might not be able to use it for a couple more rebirths, I have some means." Intrigued, Beth followed Sera as she led the way out of the Seven Lights branch and to the CRA, where they used the teleporter network to move to a destination that Beth wasn't familiar with before hopping off the network and entering a different teleporter network.

It still amazed and confounded her that there were so many different networks, none of which connected to each other, but then again, she didn't expect the CRA to share their network with non-members. And once she thought of that, it also made sense that other organizations would want their own networks that were fully under their control and where they could, in a key point, charge however much they wanted in fees.

Beth hadn't really encountered anything usurious, outside the fees the CRA charged for Arbitus Prime, funnily enough, but she would also be able to just skip paying altogether if she wanted. Not that many more rebirths and she could bring others along across long distances without the strain being too great. Sera clearly had somewhere in mind, and led Beth through several more teleports, including a single one on a third network.

It was funny, but it was a lot different for Beth after getting and using her Ideal; she could track the teleports to an extent, and she could figure out if there were any variances or disturbances in the teleport just by the feel of it. She didn't need that set of tools she had used to fool the security to tell what was happening, and her measurements were probably just as precise, even if she would describe them in less than precise terms.

She did notice when they arrived at what she thought might be their final destination that the mana density was quite high. It was high enough to come close to rivaling the moon with the level five hundred dungeon, which was a very significant amount of mana; such places weren't unheard of, but considering it wasn't their home, Arbitus, or the City, she wasn't sure where they were.

Well, she knew roughly where within the Milky Way they were and had some idea of where within the solar system they had teleported to they were, but she didn't where that was.

"Welcome to Golden Splendor," Sera said as they walked out of the teleporter. Despite the name, the place wasn't made of gold or anything like that, though the wealth was pretty clear to see.

"Based on the architecture and name, I'm guessing this is one of those rich people's areas," Beth said, getting a laugh from Sera.

"Something like that," she replied, gesture for Beth to follow her again.

"This place has some amazing stuff, but it's meant for much higher end client, both in terms of power and wealth. You remember that shopping trip we did a long time ago? The one where we helped get Neph outfitted?"

"Yeah, we went to a world like this," Beth replied with a nod, staring around as they strode down the street. Another thing she had quickly noticed was that there were a lot of strong people around; nothing that was mind-blowing, sure, but there were a lot of Enlightened and even a few Ascended just out on the street.

"Like this in only a vague sense," Sera replied, chuckling.

"If that world was a shopping mall, this place is a high-end, luxury store that requires a certain…wealth and status to even participate."

"Participate? Like, more auctions?" Beth asked, grabbing Sera's hand and interlinking their fingers as they walked.

"No, no, not like that. I meant more in the sense of just buying and selling here. There's a lot of shops that only cater to Ascended in this place, or those of similar power, and a lot of crafters and associations that only do business with a select clientèle," Sera explained.

"We're going to one such place right now."

"And they'll work with us?" Beth asked a bit skeptically.

"They probably wouldn't have before, even though they have a connection to my clan," Sera said with a mischievous grin.

"But, now, considering our level of power, and, more importantly, our level of wealth, I think they'll be more than happy to make a deal. Or two. They might even have something you'll like."

"Hmm, I dunno, but I guess we'll see," Beth said, squeezing Sera's hand and enjoying the walk. The world was nice, though Beth wouldn't say it was as nice as Zephyr Prime; that energy that Zephyr had in the air, both the special mana they worked hard to cultivate as well as the sort of spirit of openness and potential, was very hard to replicate.

There was a certain, perhaps, wealth to the place that gave it an air of refined elegance; there had to be some kind of ordinance regulating how the buildings could look, considering none of them were overtly gaudy or had a tacky air about them. Beth wondered how exactly they regulated that, but the entire city had an elegance to its displays of wealth that gave a certain feeling when one walked the streets. This story originates from a different website.

Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Before Beth could get too lost in that feeling, Sera brought her to their destination, or what she assumed was their destination, as they entered a five-story building and proceeded to a counter with several workers along the back wall. As soon as one of the workers was free, Sera pulled something out of her spatial skill and showed it to the man, who looked like he had just seen a ghost.

It wasn't more than a few seconds after that that a very powerful woman appeared, acting quite polite, though not subservient, towards Sera and Beth. The new woman, who was an Ascended, and not an early one, escorted them to a private room. They were served by several people who were at early Enlightened, which Beth found a bit amusing, before they got down to business.

"You find the staff funny?" asked the Ascended before they started, giving Beth a pointed look.

"Only in that I find it a little funny that someone so powerful is on coffee and tea duty," Beth said, though she herself had a cup of hunting spice.

"They're not that much lower in level than we are, though I wouldn't judge their power without seeing them fight, but I'd say they're not all that much weaker than us."

"A rather high opinion of yourself, is it?" the woman asked, though her voice remained mild as she sipped her drink.

"Rather well deserved, I can assure you," Beth said, flaring her Ideal for just a second, though it was long enough one of the two servers staggered and the Ascended's eyers very clearly dilated as a look of shock appeared on her face for a fraction of a second, gone so fast that Beth might not have caught it if her stats weren't in the high tens of thousands.

"Apologies. Even with the token that was presented, I had not realized who we were dealing with. That is my error," the woman acknowledged.

"And who are we dealing with?" Beth asked calmly, giving the woman a quirked eyebrow.

"Ah, yes, sorry, my manners have fled me today," the woman replied, her speech pattern a slight bit stilted. Beth was guessing she might use a different language than Universal Standard quite often and was not well-practiced in the trade language.

"I am Isabella Romerre, but you can refer to me as Isabella or Isa, if you prefer."

"Well, it's good to meet you, Isa," Beth said casually, seeing Sera just contain a laugh out of the corner of her eye.

"And to what do we owe the pleasure of your visiting, today?" asked Isa.

"I assume you are looking for quality equipment?"

"Sorry, sorry, but not me," Beth said with a slight laugh and wave of one hand before sipping her drink.

"I didn't mean to steal the show, or whatever, just to show that we're serious. It's my wife that needs something; hell, it's her that showed me this place. I wouldn't have even known about it otherwise."

"Well, well. Apologies again," Isa said, nodding to Sera.

"And, if someone of your power and potential doesn't know of our name, perhaps we have become just a bit too selective in our clientele over the years. Maybe it's time we spread our name through the galaxy once again."

"Sounds like an organization with a long and storied tradition," Beth said. She was mildly curious, especially considering Sera still hadn't explained what the place was, other than somewhere they could buy some stuff by throwing around her family name, but it sounded like there was a lot more to the place than she had thought.

"It is, yes," Isa said with a slight smile.

"We were once the preeminent supplier of combat equipment, specifically all the secondary gear that most people do not think of all that often, you see? We supply things like pills, equipment upgrades, repair systems, reforging systems, specific elixirs, and much more. We do have a range of weapons and armor, but that's not our primary business and never has been. We once supplied a large portion of the galaxy with our goods, but that was many years ago.

Now, we have spent a lot of time focusing on the high-end market, the Ascended and those that work closely with them. I would have said it might be too early for you to shop with us, based on your rebirths, but I would have been hasty there, would not I have?"

"Yes, that's true," Beth said.

"Though, you might not be very impressed by our request, based on what you just explained."

"Oh, and what is it you need?" Isa asked.

"I recently acquired something rather nice," Sera said with a grin before pulling the spear out, causing the two attendants to release slight gasps. Even Isa looked surprised to see a level one thousand weapon held in front of her, and she quickly examined the details.

"I do not want to have the appearance of ignorance, but I must ask for more specifics," Isa said.

"What is it that you need, just so I am clear on the idea."

"I heard through the clan that you have very powerful secondary equipment here, which is what you were just talking about with my wife," Sera said with a small smile.

"My great uncle, Terrimane, said that you have some great boosters, but that's not what I need. I was hoping your organization had very powerful level limit adjusters. Is that something that you provide?"

"Ah, yes, that is what I had assumed it was," Isa said with a nod.

"We do, yes, deal with such items, though they are not cheap. Clearly, you have some means, and you have your clan connection, of course, but even the lower strength level adjusters cost quite a lot. Do you have the coin to make such a purchase?"

"If you're worried that I have to rely on credit from the clan, we should be fine," Sera replied, making adamantine coins appear between the fingers of her left hand, held splayed before her, before the coins disappeared.

"Well, by the winds, that should be more than enough," Isa said.

"What level of adjuster do you need?"

"Honestly, I'm not super familiar with the higher-end of those," Sera replied with a small shrug.

"I really want to get the level requirement as low as I possibly can. I was assuming I could drop it to level seven hundred, but if you have an adjuster even stronger…" Sera had trailed off, and Isa had been nodding along, and now she looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "We do have several adjusters that might be able to satisfy you. I had said earlier you would be fine with that much coin, but you might need to draw on that family credit line yet."

"Show me what you have and we can talk about cost and payment," Sera said, not overbearing, but quite firm in her stance.

"Abdul! Bring the two best boosters for our customer to review," she commanded to one of the two attendants.

"Of course, my lady. Honored guests," the man said as he bowed before leaving the room. He returned in but a few moments with two items on a tray, which he set on the table between them before returning to stand against the wall.

"Very good," Isa said, examining the two items.

"These are the two best adjusters we commonly have. Do not be mistaken; we can have something made custom, as it is a specialty of ours to make custom, on-off equipment that our customers might need. However, do not think that that will be cheap in any way. I would suggest you make use of one of these, unless you truly are overflowing with coin and have no desire for anything but the absolute best."

"I don't know," Sera replied with a small frown.

"Let me check these and think about it." Sera examined both of the items presented, finding that they were basically exactly as she expected. They likely brought both out as they cost would be much steeper for one than the other, but she was still sure she and Beth could handle any price they put it at, let alone a custom order.

The two adjusters were one that offered a level three hundred fifty reduction, and one that offered a level four hundred reduction, both made by a Sage, so the price was not going to be at all cheap, but they could be assured of the quality of the adjuster from that. Sera was kind of regretting they hadn't slowed down just a bit more and worked on their crafting, but they were still at or ahead of all but the best crafters their age thanks to Beth's gate, so it was hard to complain that much.

"I would like the level four hundred adjuster, unless you quote a price that's really outrageous," Sera said after examining them.

"Ten adamantine coins. And, I am sorry to say, we cannot negotiate on these. The price is set based on what the Sage charges us; I'm sure you can understand," Isa said with a slightly depressed look, clearly going for the sympathy angle.

"There's always room to negotiate," Beth said, grinning as Isa went to retort.

"Wait, let me finish, I think you'll like this offer."