"Where now?" asked Sera as they left.

  "I think we should try to get the next most difficult thing next," Beth said with a slight frown. "Let's see if we can find some way to get her an eye power. Whether we can do that or not, we can then see about grabbing her some equipment, which will be a lot easier. Then we can get some clothes and other stuff."

  "We should get her a necklace or storage power," said Sera.

  "They didn't have any in there," Beth stated, though she glanced at Sera with a raised brow.

  "Storage powers are a lot rarer. Not really surprising that even a place specializing in skill crystals might not have one on hand. Also, while they know me and are eager to curry favor with the dragons, they didn't necessarily show us their best. We're not particularly important to that company, after all," Sera explained.

  "Guess we'll try to find an item for now," Beth said with a shrug.

  "Let's do eye power, then storage item," Sera said, starting to walk down the street. "There's one place we can try for the eye power, then we'll have to ask around if they don't have anything."

  She led them down a dozen city blocks, likely using her communicator to navigate, arriving at a large building that gave Beth the impression of an old bank. It was a massive, four-story construction with a stone fa?ade and large columns out front. Sera confidently strode up the steps and into the lobby, this one much larger and busier than the first company they had stopped in at. She walked over to one of the counters and took a place in line behind two other groups that were waiting for a free attendant.

  When it was their turn, Sera again didn't have to say or show much to get the VIP treatment, just her name and status able to turn the whole place on its head. They were again escorted to somewhere to wait for a senior manager of the firm to talk with them. The person this time wasn't quite as subservient, but the woman was still very polite and rather reserved. She presented them with not one, but a total of three options for them to pick from, including one she insisted wasn't part of their normal wares and was exclusive merchandise. Beth looked over the list, but she kept her opinions to herself, as this was something for Neph, not her.

  The bee royalty was rather quick to make her decision, and once again Beth paid for everything. The executive stayed with them while the eyes were delivered, Beth still finding it a bit off-putting that all eye powers showed up as a pair of eyes the person needed to use to gain the skill. The set Neph had picked had white sclera, black irises with red runes in a circle within them, and very dark golden pupils.

  "You should be prepared," Beth warned as the bee accepted the eyes.

  "For what?" Neph asked, perking up at Beth's comment.

  "Getting an eye power hurts. A lot," Beth explained.

  "Oh, well, I think it won't be a problem," Neph said, a bit hesitant, but still ready for what was to come.

  She took the eyes out of the small case they had been delivered in and held them against her own eyes as the other four watched. The executive was impassive, as was Beth, but both Blood and Sera winced at the act and the groan of pain from Neph. The groan grew in volume and pitch, but never really became a howl as the eyes melded in with Neph's and replaced her own eyeballs. This set had been particularly valuable, at a flat fee of five mithril coins, but they were an absolutely top-grade tier three skill item that had several good ways of being promoted to tier four. They were called the Eyes of True Ruin, a rather imposing title for something that improved vision and allowed the person to view the movement of mana far more clearly. At least, that's what they did at lower levels, while at higher levels their power would likely be quite significant.

  "That leaves equipment, including a spatial item, and clothes," Beth said as they left the building.

  "Shouldn't be too hard," Sera commented.

  "Why didn't we just buy from them?" Neph asked Sera, a bit confused.

  "Different places specialize in different things, and we should also browse around a bit to see what interests you. The only thing that we might have trouble with is the spatial storage, but they didn't have anything good there anyway," Sera explained with a shrug.

  "Let's head out and try to find somewhere with equipment. Some of those places might have rings or necklaces with spatial storage," Beth said, steering the group down a certain street. She didn't know where she was going other than what she could find on her communicator, but that was enough to take them to an emporium for equipment. Beth also had in the back of her mind to still check in with her favorite greater demoness, but they could do that later, after they explored this new world. Well, new to the rest of them, though it seemed Sera was rather familiar with the place.

  It wasn't hard for them to find a couple weapons that Neph liked, with them buying two pairs of daggers that she was thrilled with. The first pair had no level requirements, so she could use them after a rebirth just to get by, while the second set was for level one hundred and up and were epic rarity. They would last Neph for a while, at least through a rebirth or two, but they would have to buy or make her some level two hundred gear eventually. The level two hundred gear, in fact, became far more important through the first handful of rebirths, as over level two hundred was where most of the fighting would happen and that against the strongest beasts. That was something to worry about in a bit, and they were already checking out the various armor the shop had available.

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  Neph also had an affinity for lighter, more flexible armor, and they were able to find a set that was a combination of leather and a light and flexible material that reminded Beth of a very thick spandex. The armor looked quite good on her, and it provided quite a bit of protection, being a level one hundred rare set. Beth insisted on getting her a second set of armor without level restrictions so she would always have it for the times right after rebirth, and they found a plain set of light leather armor with strengthening runes that she liked. They asked about a spatial item, but the shop didn't have any stock. They did have some rather powerful communicators in stock, and Beth bought Neph one that was close to the equivalent of what the others had. Neph absorbed the communicator and traded contacts with them, and Blood was storing all the other items for her for now, and that was their next goal. They stopped for food first, eating at a huge plaza that was surrounded by restaurants, Beth a little surprised at just how much the bee could pack away.

  Their next stop was a shop that dealt in high-end, enchanted jewelry and luxury items, as that was a good bet to find something with even a small spatial storage. It turned out it really wasn't their lucky day, as they didn't find anything at that shop, or the next two businesses they tried. Beth eventually made the decision to stop trying to find a spatial item or power for now and instead get Neph some outfits and shoes. That interested the others much more, particularly Blood, and they spent quite a while in various clothing stores shopping for clothes, as well as shoes and a few other accessories. Beth thought she already had more than enough for now, but she was happy to see the other three happy and so followed them from store to store.

  "What now?" asked Sera once their shopping binge had ended. They were sitting outdoors at a table at a café with trees and flowering plants around them.

  "Now we have one more stop to make," Beth replied.

  "Where's that?" Sera asked, puzzled.

  "We're going to do what I wanted to at first and stop by Seven Lights," Beth answered.

  "That's fine, we couldn’t find any good spatial powers or items here, might as well check with them before we continue hunting," Sera said with a nod.

  "What's this?" Neph asked as they finished what they were eating.

  "A place that does a lot of trading that we use," Beth explained as she paid. "They normally only trade with other businesses, but you can get a membership to trade with them individually. We have one of those."

  "Oh, that's awesome," Neph buzzed happily as they left the café.

  "You're very upbeat," Beth commented.

  "I just feel like life is exciting!" Neph replied with a grin. "I like being happy!"

  "It's a good attitude to have," Sera said with a small smile.

  Everyone followed Beth to the CRA Hall they had used to get there, moving down to the basement and starting a set of teleports to bring them to their favorite dirtball. Beth had developed a route to walk that avoided the capitol building, not wanting to get into a kerfuffle with any planetary governors without a reward on the line. The other three observed the city, Neph the most fascinated with each new place they went, observing and smelling the new places. Neph would also interact with plants, particularly new types of flowers, often being quite careful about smelling them before sampling some of their pollen.

  Beth didn't mind the walk taking some time, especially as it felt she was pushing off their return to Earth with every moment they dawdled. Without Mortaine having popped up and given them some new assignment, they didn't have anything to do other than get stronger. Eventually, she did shepherd them into the Seven Lights firm, finding the place was packed with people. She looked around at everyone gathered there, seeing quite a few workers interacting with the people in the lobby, including several senior members of the firm. Beth led the way up to the counter, where a harried attendant asked them what they needed.

  "Is Selene available?" asked Beth, showing her badge.

  "I'm sorry, but even though this is a monthly auction, the large items have us insanely busy. I'll ask, but I don't know if the branch manager has time right now," the woman said in an apologetic tone, giving them a bow.

  "That's fine, I totally forgot it was a monthly auction today," Beth said with a slight shake of her head. "Do you have any booths available on the third floor?"

  "We certainly do," a new voice interjected, Beth recognizing it as Selene's.

  "To come down to see us even after being so busy," Beth said with a grin. "I feel honored."

  "It's nothing. As soon as Mila let me know it was you asking about things at the front desk, I just had to slip away for a moment," Selene returned with a broad grin. "Come now, I'll escort you upstairs."

  Selene gestured at the four of them, Beth seeing in her peripheral vision that everyone else in the lobby was looking at them with a mixture of shock and awe on their faces. Maybe there were one or two glints of envy or jealousy there as well, but Beth ignored it all and followed Selene. As soon as they were out of sight of the lobby, Beth felt Selene's hand rest on the small of her back, guiding her forward. She might have been upset if anyone else other than Sera did such a thing, but she was perfectly at ease with Selene, for some reason she wasn't entirely sure of. She couldn't keep a huge grin from splitting her face and nearly laughing when Sera's hand overlapped Selene's, not moving it away, but instead clasping firmly over top of it. She could feel through their bond that Blood noticed, but she was busy explaining things to a chattering Neph and didn't make any sarcastic quips, for once.

  When they got to the booth, Neph bounded in right away, looking at the screens, the drink selection, the seats, and out onto the floor and stage. She was buzzing about Blood, asking her more question as the two took up two of the seats on the left side of the small room. Beth could feel Sera's hand on her back give a squeeze before slowly, slowly releasing Selene's hand, the dragon girl walking over to sit next to Blood.

  Selene leaned down to put herself on Beth's eye level, cupping her cheek and saying, "Let me know if you need anything today, anything at all. I can extend you quite a bit of credit based on your interactions with the firm."

  "Thanks for everything, Selene," Beth said quietly. "I won't abuse your trust; we'll just pick up some little things today, I think."

  "That's fine, my dear. I'll see you after the auction," Selene said, leaning forward and giving Beth a quick, warm kiss on the lips. Beth placed her right hand on Selene's hip during the kiss, returning it before the greater demoness broke it off. Selene gave her a massive grin before slipping silently out of the room, closing the door behind her without a noise.

  Beth plopped down next to Sera, taking the dragon girl's hand as she settled back into her seat. Sera turned to look at her, about to say something, but was cut off by Beth's lips firmly planted on hers. They broke off after a moment, laughing, as Neph clapped at their kiss and exclaimed, "So pretty!"

  "You're so bright, Neph," Sera said with a laugh, reaching over Blood and rubbing the bee girl's head.

  "That feels nice," Neph buzzed happily, leaning into Sera's arm.

  As Sera happily stroked Neph, Beth said to her quietly, "I take it you're not opposed to Selene's little advances?"

  "Of course not," Sera said, letting Blood replacing her in scratching Neph's head. "I think you should see where it goes, and it doesn't seem like she minds me being involved, either."

  "Thinking about that, I might have to go take a cold shower," Beth replied quietly with a small chuckle.

  "Hehe, you can't get away that easily," Sera replied quietly, leaning in and giving her another kiss. "If you don't take her up on her offer now, I'll still be stirring up some trouble with you later."

  "I can't wait," Beth said, kissing her again, only stopping when the auctioneer appeared on the stage to call the room to order.

  The first half of the auction proceeded very smoothly and, while Neph was rather interested in everything that happened, fascinated by every item that came up, they didn’t get involved in any bids. Beth watched what was happening, but she had to say that most of the stuff in the monthly auction before the finale just wasn't really worth her time. Maybe if she was an Enchanter or Alchemist, some of the ingredients might be more interesting, but she already had a stockpile of metal bigger than what she would use for the foreseeable future. After the intermission, the items became slightly more interesting, and there were quite a few people bidding on many of them, but they still didn't interest Beth all that much.