16 Summoning and Jade Bottle

"Hey, what is that you looking at?" Robert asked noticing Sydra deeply entranced by the pamphlet.

"I'm not entirely sure, I just have a feeling I should buy this," Sydra responded pointing at the picture of the stone. Looking up, he noticed that aquariums had blinds being dropped over them that dimmed the light in the auction house. All the chairs on the bottom floor had been filled, as well as most of the VIP boxes. Since everyone had found their seats, the auction was about to start. While the room quieted down an older elf walked out onto the platform and looked out at the crowd.

"Welcome to the Rising Phoenix, we are happy to be hosting all of you today, and we will now start the auction. Today we will be auctioning off a total of a hundred and three items, over half of which will be items found in the recently discovered Plasma Temple. Our first item today will be a hairbrush from that temple." The auctioneer said as a cart was pulled out with the hairbrush on top of it.

The hairbrush was a light brown color and the back was decorated with a galaxy on it, the bristles themselves seemed to be glowing with a sense of beauty. Having been made with Starlight Pine needles the brush's bristles were glowing white. "This brush was found deep in the temple and has the stupendous ability to make any hair brushed with it silky and smooth. The bristles and the wood the brush was made from are both from Starlight Pine and have been expertly enchanted to not wear out. The bristles have also been enhanced with plasma, which allows the brush to clean the hair as well. Any woman gifted with this will be grateful to the man who gave it to her." The auctioneer said, enticing the men in the crowd, as well as some of the women.

"The starting bid for this brush is ten gold, and we will be going up in segments of five." The auctioneer called out before being buried in bids. After five minutes of intense bidding, the auctioneer began slowing down before stopping at the price of two-hundred and thirty-five gold coins. It was bought by a male dwarf with long flowing locks and humongous muscles. When the brush was handed to him he began using it and was very satisfied with the results.

The auction carried on down the line of items before reaching the one Sydra wanted. Since he was the only one bidding on that item he got it for only thirteen gold. When it was brought up to him Sydra completely forgot about the auction going on to focus on it. The grey stone was the size of Sydra's palm and was cool to the touch. The blue inscription on the front lit up when reflecting off the light of the Seastorm eels and caught Robert's attention.

"Can you read that?" Robert asked, peering over at the stone.

"Yeah, it was written by the world tree, and it is actually a message to me. It seems that the person who gave this to the auction hall has knowledge of the whereabouts of the world tree's spirit form, and found out I was here. The world tree sent this message using a normal rock and the language of mythical rank trees, which is probably why no one thought much of it. It seems I have been summoned to a meeting of the Arbre Council to discuss an upcoming change to this world. The meeting will take place in five years, and I have to get up to S-rank by then to participate in the meeting." Sydra said explaining the inscription to Robert.

"Will that be enough time for you? You are only D-rank at the moment." Robert said, glancing at Sydra's insignia. "Also, why did the messenger give it to the auction house, instead of giving it directly to you?"

"He probably wanted to make some money, and seeing that I was entering the auction house, decided to sell it to me. Crafty bastard, this way I don't even know who to look for if I want to find them." Sydra said flipping over the stone and looking at the map on the back. "Hold on for a second, I need to check something," he said to Robert. Entering his Arbor Sanctum, Sydra floated over to the edge and looked at the world beneath his island. Scouring the world for a few hours, Sydra found the place he was supposed to meet up with the other nature spirits of the mythical rank trees.

"That is an interesting place for trees to gather," Sydra said looking at the volcanic mountains that were situated on the other continent. "Five years, huh... I think I can reach S-rank in five years. Probably be the fastest person to ever do so, but hey that's life for someone who transmigrated. Let us see, for the next year, I will spend it in the Emerald Sea forest, searching for more pieces of the map and ranking up. The following four years after that, I will go out to explore other places in this world, and once all five years are up I will attend the meeting." Sydra said, making a plan for his next five years. Done inside the Arbor Sanctum, Sydra returned to his body.

Since he had been searching the world for a few hours, the auction was close to coming to an end. It seemed Robert had bought a new war hammer. Although it wasn't one from the Plasma Temple, instead one of the dwarves had crafted it and decided to auction it off here. Surprisingly, this one was only at the advanced rank and was a lot smaller than the one Robert normally carried around on his back. Seeing Sydra looking confused at it, Robert laughed.

"Haha, this one is for my son. He is turning sixteen this year and is starting his career as an adventurer. Like his old man, my son fancies the formidable war hammer. It's the weapon of real men after all." Robert said, vigorously shaking the war hammer.

"Of course it is, no doubt about that," Sydra said, standing up and taking a step back. He was slightly worried that if he disagreed with Robert, he just might die by a war hammer. "Anyway, since the auction only has two more items left, do you want to head out now? I need to stop down there and pick up my money anyway," he said walking towards the stairs. Just as he was about to take a step down the stairs, Sydra felt a pull from the stage. It was strange because the pull he felt was from the tree on his island. Turning around, Sydra saw a jade bottle on the stage. Inside was a liquid sloshing around, but the bottle was sealed tightly so no one knew what it was. The jade bottle had also been found at the Plasma Temple, but it was found by someone else.

'I wonder what is inside there, to make the tree react in such a way.' Sydra thought to himself as he walked to the edge of the VIP box and began bidding on the jade bottle.

"Do I hear a bid for five-hundred and thirty-seven? Going once, twice... Sold! To the man in VIP box three." The auctioneer called out as Sydra won the jade bottle. Leaving the VIP box, Sydra walked down the stairs and met up with the young female attendant carrying his jade bottle.

"Here you go, sir." Said the attendant handing Sydra the bottle, "Also, your gold can be collected at the entrance of the auction house. The gold for the items today will be subtracted from that amount." she said, before walking away. 'Holy crap, that man was hot' she thought to herself, slightly blushing.

"Come on, let's go to the front counter," Sydra said to Robert while putting the jade bottle into his Arbor Sanctum.

Walking up to the front counter, Sydra handed his insignia to the person on the other side to collect his payment. The insignia was the way he had placed the items in the auction and was also the way to prove to be the one who sold those items and in turn get the money from the auction.

"Ah, Sydra Glass... You were the person who sold the fifty-seven Plasma Era items for a total of eleven-thousand five-hundred and ten gold coins. Congratulations, here is your money." Said the attendant, lifting the glasses on his nose and handing Sydra a heavy pouch full of gold coins.

Noticing people staring at him with greed in their eyes, Sydra tossed the gold pouch into the Arbor Sanctum as well, before quickly walking out of the Auction Hall. Robert had stepped outside while Sydra was collecting his gold, and was waiting for him.

"All done?" Robert asked, confused about Sydra's empty hands.

"Yeah, I tossed all the money into my inter-dimensional storage to keep the greedy people's eyes off it. Anyway, what are you going to do now?" Sydra asked, walking down the street with Robert.

"I was probably going to head home to the wife and kid, by the way, she said yes, so I am all good to go on the quest with you and Cidre. Once you find out if Erich wants to come along we should all meet up for lunch at the Wild Cinder Tusk tomorrow to discuss it." Robert said.

"Yeah that makes sense, alright then I will head back to the Inn and find out. See you tomorrow." Sydra said before heading off to the Inn. 'Lunch, huh, I will have to make sure I don't eat too much this time.' Sydra thought to himself as he arrived at the Inn.