Chương 213: Winter Bloom

"Hello and welcome to Riz's magnificent dimensional conveyances. One portal to Jayapura will soon be ready for your disposal! And wow, such a handsome new passenger as well! Say, I know many good places for a drink in our destination. Perhaps I could show you one or twelve while you await your connecting portal?"

Kite and Jarvan, along with the rest of Kite's family who had come to see them off, had barely gotten the chance to say hello before the colorful elven portal user had burst into her usual spiel while honing in on the older man like a hawk spotting its prey.

"While flattering, this handsome passenger is happily - and most solidly - married," Jarvan replied with a chuckle, even if he did preen a bit at the sudden attention.

"Well, shame for me but great for your spouse. But if you do find yourself available in the future, do keep this particular spatial-skipper in mind though! I assure you-" Kite, most amused, left Jarvan to fend for himself as he went over to his friends and family to say some proper farewells.

"Take care, little Kite. I know that this is much less dangerous than when you go away with Gauntlet, but even so! Vitesse is a big, big city from what I heard. Don't accidentally offend a gold-ranker. I hear the city is filled with them to the brim!" Dove said anxiously after giving him a warm hug.

"I will endeavor to be most pleasant, auntie," Kite said while moving on to embrace Auntie Crow as well.

"We'll be looking for business and potential help, not trouble."

"We aren't worried though, are we my Lady?" Will asked Laevyeth at his side as their turn for embraces and well-wishes came up.

"I'm sure our dear Pathbreaker could make a splash in the local dueling scene too, should he wish!"

"Indeed, my Lord. And I knoweth for a fact that he can be subtle. Our discovery by the villain in Svyatograd was through no fault of his," the outworlder added.

"Our well-wishes to thee, Kite. We shall endeavor to grow in strength until the day of thy return."

"Which should not be too far off. Many contracts with Gauntlet have lasted far longer than we expect this trip to," Kite said, but was interrupted from further comment as Dragonfly - true to form - sprang upon him in a hug that caused the ground beneath his feet to shudder slightly as Unyielding siphoned off the impact.

"You've said that before, naughty Pathbreaker. The last time, you were delayed for weeks and came back with an outworlder in tow along with stories of fighting a gold-ranker. An amazing outworlder, sure, but let's not set too much of a precedent."

"I will strive for some better results in that regard, I assure you," Kite replied with a laugh, holding his lover for some time before eventually letting go. That only left Raven and Sprite last, the former sullenly hiding behind the latter. As such, Kite gave Sprite a more proper, respectful bow in farewell before crouching down.

"Brother will miss you a lot, little Raven. Do be nice to everyone now, and I'll be back soon." At first, he only got a pouting nod in reply, with Raven refusing to meet his eyes as if doing so would only truly confirm the impending departure. But as Kite started to rise, he felt the determination give way within the aura of the three year old before Raven ran in for a fierce embrace, sticking to him even as he stood up more properly.

She didn't say anything, but the hug conveyed enough, and when Kite eventually managed to deposit the girl with Auntie Crow, he did get a wave of farewell before he set off towards his waiting Riz and Jarvan.

"Off to Vitesse then, director. I will be in your care." Before his time spent training and working with Gauntlet, Kite suspected that he might have been well and properly trampled if he had emerged onto the portal plaza of the famed city of flowers.

Even today, it took a surprising amount of self control to not just immediately stop and gawk at the overwhelming impressions of one of the world's true adventuring capitals, and Kite even felt a bit of pride in that he managed to go at least two dozen paces to a spot away from one of the main thoroughfares before truly drinking in his new surroundings.

"Ah, it's been too long," Jarvan said wistfully from his side after having waved farewell to their portal courier.

"The winter gardens look particularly resplendent this year, but it might be my long absence coloring my impressions."

"This… is how they look in the winter?" Kite managed to get out.

"By the heavens, then what is spring like?" Even though the winters were very mild in southern Estercost, they were still just that; winters. Colder, drab and generally more miserable for everyone involved even though no snow fell. And yet, the manifold towers of the city were still absolutely covered in flowers of all colors, as was many other parts of the city Kite could see. In addition to that, it was a city where magic was truly on full display.

Flashing enchantments decorated every storefront, and air traffic was heavy as everything from the ubiquitous floating discs to exotic familiar mounts criss-crossed the airspace in a display that was as chaotic as it was impressive.

"There is a reason that the flower festival causes people from all over the world to flock here. And it's not just the wines, trust me," Jarvan replied.

"I might not be from the city, but as an Estercostian adventurer, one will almost inevitably find themselves here often enough." Glint had also perked up inside her new bottle, which was more akin to a small jar due to the extra wide opening, and she too seemed a bit overwhelmed as she tried taking in all the impressions.

"Where to then, director? Kite asked.

"The auction house?"

"We might as well head there directly and see when the next auction is held and turn in your contribution for appraisal," Jarvan agreed.

"While they are held regularly, there might still be a few days to wait. Not like we cannot keep ourselves entertained in a place like this though. I wonder if the Ruby Rooster is still open? Oh well, we can check that out later. Do you mind helping us along, Glint? The trip will be much faster through the air lanes." For once, the familiar seemed almost too overwhelmed to give a proper response, and as such the carp only nodded before floating out and growing to her much larger, serpentine form.

The appreciative and interested looks which were drawn by her glittering scales and crystal antlers did cause any distraction to wear off rather quickly, and Glint was soon showing off her full, graceful splendor to all who would watch as they let Jarvan guide them through the airspace of Vitesse.

"-and over there is the Remore academy. And I suppose it's hard to miss the grander temples there to the north. Oh, and there's the Adventure Society campus. Almost like a small city unto itself. Did you know-" Jarvan was in full guide-mode, guiding the others' attention to points of interest as they crossed between flowery spires.

"-and not all of them are airship ports either. Many affluent families, like the Gellers, make their home in some of them as a kind of informal seat of power. Oh, but there is the auction house we're looking for." It turned out that 'house' was a bit too modest a word for the manor-like complex which rose from part of the more mercantile districts of the city; a monolith of fine marble seeming to exude a sense of dignified wealth.

"It…" Kite began, words faltering as he tried to take it in.

"Quite something, no?" Jarvan said with a grin.

"Never visited one of the bigger auction halls during you stays with Gauntlet?"

"There has never really been time for that during contracts. And Gauntlet is rarely needed in the biggest metropolises whose higher-ranked guardians tend to be able to handle attempted darker congregations. Or perhaps those are more often assigned to Gauntlet's inner members, with their set teams?" Kite mused.

"Well, I assure you that you won't be disappointed," Jarvan said, guiding Glint to swerve into another lane and draw closer to their destination.

"There are actually several auction halls of different sizes inside. You have the grand hall of course, for the most public spectacles. But many others are held, most being invitation-only for those in the right social circles. At least that's what the rumors say, as your dear branch director - while most worldly and impressive in both means and station - have never been quite so influential as to get said invitations."

They landed at an assigned spot in the outer courtyard of the auction house, quickly getting out of the way once Glint shrunk back to carp size so that they weren't in the way of the frequent stream of traffic. Here, the auras were even thicker and more densely packed as the clientele of an establishment like this were almost exclusively essence-users. Silvers were even the norm, so neither Kite nor Jarvan stood out in any particular way.

Even Kite's metallic tattoos barely drew a glance from those passing around them.

"I have the main item with me of course, but I also hoped to perhaps trade some essences for the guild. Do you think that I can do both?" Kite asked Jarvan as they passed into a lavish entry hall and walked to an adjacent section labeled for those seeking appraisals.

"Oh, undoubtedly," Jarvan replied.

"Essence auctions are probably running regularly, as well as the trading systems we have at home. But I believe that the staff at the counter over there will probably be able to give us all the details as long as we're patient." As there was a bit of a line, the pair sat down to wait until they were called around a quarter of an hour later. Soon enough, they were seated in one of many booths dividing a long counter into several partitions, and a privacy screen sprang up around them and the celestine clerk.

She was a core-using bronze-ranker, and had hair and eyes like malachite. And everything about her, from her posture to the neat and tidy uniform she wore to her controlled aura screamed professionalism.

"Greetings, patrons. I am Sephia, junior functionary of this auction house. How may I be of service?" Even though the greeting was probably repeated many, many times each day, Kite was impressed with the level of presence she managed to infuse into it, causing him to sit a bit straighter in his seat.

"Greetings to you in turn, honored functionary," he replied, once more going by the assumption that politeness rarely led one astray.

"I have a few items which I would like to put up for appraisal and potential auction. We have traveled far to be here today, and I will admit that I know little of the details surrounding these things."

"Of course. If you'd please deposit the items with me one at a time, along with what you know about them, I will make sure to take notes and have our appraisers look at them. You are aware of the fees which the auction house asks for?"

"I am," Kite replied, having been somewhat informed by Jarvan.

"Excellent. Please produce the first item." Kite did so, putting down the tentacle essence which Laevyeth had produced. Hopefully, it would net enough to trade for some other, more common or niche ones for the guild.

"One tentacle essence," Sephia noted, having conjured a slender pencil from thin air. Kite followed with some more from the guild's vault; decently popular ones that would fetch a good prize or be able to be traded for multiple others. Given the guild's focus and recent popularity, quantity won out over popularity.

"Excellent," the functionary noted when he was done.

"Essence auctions are held regularly, and I can already assure you that they will be put up for sale. Anything else?"

"Well, yes. This one is perhaps more exotic," Kite said, producing one of the two remaining fruits from the grand tree in his astral space. It was contained in a stasis cylinder fueled by spirit coins so as to not risk it losing its potency during parts of the transit where it had to be kept outside a dimensional bag.

"It is a fruit found in an astral space."

"Understood. Any specific properties you have observed? Do note that our appraisers will do their own investigations nonetheless, so overstating any effects will do you no service." This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Quite understood. So far, we have only one instance of consumption when my bound familiar here felt that the fruit was most alluring. This caused a week of sleep, before-" Kite did his best to summarize the process, choosing to trust in the famed discretion of the auction house. At the end, he even coaxed Glint out of her bottle to show her crystal antlers.

"I… see," Sephia replied, her hesitation the first show of surprise so far.

"This would no doubt fall beneath the categories of exotic goods, which always requires more verification and study of property. Knowing the additional fees for such a process, do you still wish to turn it in?"

"Yes please," Kite replied, gently pushing it across the counter.

"Then I will have to ask you to please lay your hand on this stone and imprint your aura. If you have an Adventure Society badge, it will be helpful if you do the same with it as well." Kite did as asked and was given a small chit in turn; like a ceramic coin in which he could feel traces of his own spirit.

"Please return tomorrow for the results of the appraisal," Sephia told them politely after having stashed the objects in a separate dimensional satchel. While still professional and precise in her motions, she did handle the stasis cylinder with extra care before turning back to Kite and Jarvan, lowering the privacy screen.

"We thank you for entrusting us with your goods. May Merchant bless your sale. Next!" Leman Poroux was most fond of his job. While his two siblings, adventurers both, may still keep poking fun at their core-using brother even after one-hundred and fifty years for his choice of path, Leman felt that it was he who truly saw adventure each day; one fragment at a time.

Working as an appraiser for the grand auction house of Vitesse let him come into contact with grand items of all kinds; from ancient enchanted swords to odd artifacts created by looting powers or artwork liberated from old and lost collections around the world. Given his long service and essence-powers that lent themselves well to the task, Leman was also good at his job. Very good.

Good enough even that him reaching gold rank through cores wasn't an impossibility as the auction house paid premium to make sure that his loyalties did not stray. Given his senior station and long experience, it wasn't to anyone's surprise when Adrie Gorman announced herself by his office door through a pulse of her aura, entering as soon as Leman had pulsed his in return.

"Problems, Adrie?" Leman asked from where he was seated at his desk while using a set of varying lenses to inspect an old signet ring which carried a rather antique and mysterious enchantment.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Leman, but you are right; I've found myself quite stumped as to where to begin with an object that was turned in today," Adrie said, remaining in the doorway. The elf was a silver-ranker just like Leman, but he had a good hundred years and change on her when it came to age and professional experience both. Still, she wore the crisp blue suit of the auction house staff well these days.

"You may not be my student anymore, Adrie, but I did say that my door would always remain open to you. Let our pursuit of knowledge continue to unite us, no?" he asked with a smile and a bit of well-hidden pride. It was so easy to feel superfluous as a mentor once the young ones made full appraisers in their own right, after all.

"Oogle, would you please continue studying this piece while I go help my dear colleague?" As he spoke, Leman let the addressed familiar manifest from his own eyes; a flying collection of eyeballs which moved much like a school of fish might as they swept over to the desk and started inspecting ring from each and every direction, complete with spectrums of color unavailable to Leman even with his eye essence.

"Thank you, Leman," Adrie said as he fell into step beside her for the short walk to her own office.

"It's a fruit, and you know how I still fall short with the more obscure flora."

"A good time to learn more for us both then," Leman replied good-naturedly.

"By the way, what did that banner last week sell for? The one with Champion's heraldry?"

"Only one and a half percent above my estimate," Adrie replied with obvious pride.

"Then your hard work delving into those old records paid off. Congratulations! What will you do with the bonus?"

"I have kids to feed and essence up, Leman. They're like the most loveable spatial tear, but you can pour how much money, time and love upon them you like and there will still always be room for more." They reached Adrie's office and, true to her words, a fruit rested atop her desk. It was kept in a stasis cylinder which meant that Adrie hadn't felt the need to deactivate the thing for more samples yet.

"I see you remember my lessons well, Adrie," Leman said while leaning in for a closer look.

"If you need to risk the integrity of an object to-""-to do your job, you're already past the point where you should have called in an expert." Adrie finished.

"I wouldn't want a repeat of that story with the sparkling potion. Lesson well and truly learned," the elf finished, wincing at errors long in the past.

"Anything your powers can give me? Your essences will always carry an edge over mine."

"We shall see, we shall see," Leman muttered forlornly. He had already activated powers of his knowledge essence and started taking in the fruit. It looked like a pink peach covered in blue webbing, with a pair of leaves in a similar shade at its stem.

"What did the seller state of its effect? Unknown?"

"No, not this one," Adrie said, looking for the note to make sure she didn't get anything wrong.

"Apparently, this fruit is claimed to have made permanent additions to the seller's bound familiar, unlocking a new aspect of powers."

"Sounds quite unlikely," Leman scoffed. The claims of the sellers were almost always overstated in one way or another. But where they painted a picture of grandeur, people like Leman and Adrie made sure to dig out the truth.

"It did. But so far I am stumped in both confirming or denying such a claim."

"Well, let me see what I can…" Leman muttered as his analysis spell from his knowledge essence had finally compiled its results. It had taken him quite some time to truly master the nuances of the identification procedures, especially given the interference which rank and other odd effects could have on the information.

But Leman was an old hand at this, and as the first results started coming in as instinctual knowledge in his mind he kept casting different spells while compartmentalizing the results for later summary rather than let his judgment be clouded by the initial findings. Some of the spells had a longer cooldown which made him reserve them for cases just like this. Adrie was a friend, after all.

"There… Done. Let us see here then," he muttered, eyes flickering as he took in the torrent of knowledge which started to paint a metaphorical picture before his eyes. Eyes which soon widened.

"What? What is it?" Adrie asked, sensing the startle in her former mentor's aura.

"It… It seems to be true," Leman said, amazed as he once more reviewed the results.

"At least from what I can gather. An oddity in its structure, probably from an astral space. But my power doesn't contradict anything from the statement, even if some pieces are still missing. Remarkable."

"But if that's the case, then this would be worthy of the grand auction, no? This surely has to be a unique oddity, which means an equally unique opportunity," Adrie asked, excitement clear in her voice.

"That… might indeed be the case," Leman agreed.

"And that would also mean yet another feather in your cap, my friend!"

"Or rather yours, Leman. I believe I did use the word 'stumped' before, no?"

"A shared endeavour then? There is enough glory for both of us for such a find."

"... Fine. But I'll remember this, Leman. It's not like I don't owe you enough already," Adrie finally relented with a smile.

"What are favors between friends, no? And still, if we consider putting this up for the grand auction, I'd say we'd best still call in an outside expert to verify. It'll eat a bit into our bonuses, but it will be worth it to not risk the embarrassment of being found wrong."

"Of course, but who? Some of the botanists from the Magic Society?"

"A decent choice, Adrie, but in this case I do believe that I have a certain contact who should eclipse them," Leman replied with a knowing smile.

"One of Gaia's seedlings is still in the city after all. One that I know well enough to have them at least entertain a request from me. And they will probably be quite interested in this curiosity we've found ourselves with."

"- and then you swirl it like this to really release the aroma. Breathe it in- yes, just like that - and let the taste that comes with it linger in your mouth; a herald of-""Director?"

"Yes, Kite?"

"Is all of this… truly necessary?" Kite asked where he sat and dutifully swirled a glass of flower wine. A truly huge glass, at least compared to what he was used to from back home. Did one really need to imbibe so much at once? Jarvan, seeming very much to be as into the experience as his enthusiastic instruction indicated, froze mid-smell at his words and managed to look quite aghast.

"Kite! The proper imbibing of flower wine is a tradition older than many kingdoms! How else could one truly enjoy this magnificence?" he asked indignantly, giving the pale blue liquid in his glass another swirl.

"Given what it cost, I do suppose that one should make it last," Kite hesitated, hiding the smile threatening to break out as he kept teasing Jarvan. And it looked to have worked, as Jarvan's eyes widened before he seemed to catch on, turning the expression to a suffering shake of his head.

"Jarvan, you're slipping. You have way too many adult children to let yourself be goaded like that," he sighed.

"But at least admit that the ambience is quite something?" The last question was accompanied by a small sweep of his arm out to the vista beyond the terrace where the pair sat. It showed a splendid view of Vitesse at dusk, with several of the blooming spires in sight above the ever bustling cityscape where you could always find one magical wonder or another as long as you looked long enough.

As it turned out, several of the flower species apparently kept glowing even as the darkness gradually kept upon them, which only heightened the experience.

"I would be a liar and a fool to deny that," Kite agreed, smiling as his expanded field of vision let him take in even more of the sight at once. The pair lapsed into a companionable silence for a while before Kite eventually asked;"Do you think that you and Fantina will return here? Once your tenure in Hua-Xi is over?"

"To visit? Definitely. But to live? No, that is unlikely. Perhaps if we are to truly settle down at gold rank it might be worth it. You've seen the streets, Kite. Sure, Estercost is an amazing place and its magical density will ensure that the manifestations - and therefore adventuring work - always keeps coming.

But there are already adventurers aplenty here, which means that unless we want to involve ourselves in some guild here and the politicking that no doubt follows, we might see our long-delayed progress take quite some time as we elbow our way to what contracts we can." He smiled wistfully, looking out over the cityscape.

"Places like Hua-Xi sure have their downsides, but there is a good reason why I chose to accept the position in Gilded, as it would let my children start out and find their initial way in the world on their own. Choose their own path and all that. Sure, many leave to join one of the family teams but some, like Noel, find other endeavors which suit them. The lower magic zones of the world do give that freedom even if the contracts themselves are less lucrative.

So as to your question, both Fantina and I are in agreement that we will pick up adventuring again. But we'll start out somewhere a bit more modest than grand Vitesse." Jarvan's words left Kite in a thoughtful mood, with images of possible futures for himself playing before his mind's eye before he eventually raised his glass in an attempt at a more classic Estercostian toast.

"To humble beginnings with great potential then?"

"Angle the glass slightly. Aaand remember the pinky- there we go," Jarvan directed before clinking his glass against Kite's with a smile. Despina the Bloom-Shepherd felt a bit of the exhilaration of spring in her step when she entered the rooftop garden that was her home, even though the season itself was still a month or so away. While not in one of Vitesse's famous spires, her dwelling still had quite the view over the blooming city in all its winter splendor; an open gazebo of verdant growth.

Walls would only serve to separate Despina from the elements of nature, and being a gold-ranker as well as a dryad meant that such a divide would only weaken her instead of shelter. But for one of her kind, Despina was also most metropolitan as she had lived in Vitesse for a long, long time, as was evident by the fine furniture, enchanted bathtub and extensive wardrobe which decorated the garden.

None of these creature comforts were even close to the forefront of her mind though as she strode up to the tree at its center. Some would call it 'her' tree, and Despina still found that a most amusing misconception, but one that she had no qualms in letting them keep proliferating. She was it and it was her in equal measure, after all. But that tree also served as a link to something greater; the once-seed now an impressive hazel tree.

Even grown, it - and therefore Despina too - served as a bridge to their progenitor in more ways than one. And as Despina laid her hand against the oh so familiar bark, that connection quickly grew from a whisper to a stream as her mana flowed into it.

"I can feel you, little seedling. You are excited. What counsel do you seek from your progenitor?" The words resonated from within the bough, not really sound but still registering like a whisper to Despina's spirit; old, very old. But also patient and kind.

"Great Gaia," Despina said in return, knowing that her words would carry back through the connection.

"I was called to the grand auction hall today as Leman Poroux once more asked for my assistance in verifying the traits of a peculiar fruit."

"Ah… I see… And since you come calling to me, I assume that it is something you believe could be of interest to the Grove?"

"I do. This is probably the most interesting specimen I have seen in the last three decades."" Then please explain more." Despina did, and as she eventually fell silent after finishing her explanation she could feel her progenitor's approval, as well as curiosity, through their connection." It would seem that your life in that city continues to be to our advantage, even contrary to my earlier misgivings. It was recent… right?"

"Two centuries now, great Gaia."" Recent then, as I said. But back to the matter at hand. I will, of course, grant you leave to use what resources from the Grove you find necessary. Procure that fruit, little seedling. And see if you can't find out more about how and where some little adventurer found such a treat."