The auction house sat apart from the surrounding buildings, with lush gardens, and paved pathways that lead around the building to three separate entrances.

Crowds of people flowed into the building in thick crowds, and I was relieved when we walked past the main entrance with its dense population of people.

As Darius led me down the garden path, where a group of people stood outside a set of closed doors, he explained the main entrance led to the public auction rooms where people could place their items up for sale. Those items would be sold through an auction which was held every day at noon.

“Aside from the daily auctions, there is an auction held at the end of each week. Those wishing a faster sale will use the daily auction, but it comes at the risk of a lower sale price.” Darius explained, leaning down so his mouth was close to my ear, which twitched in his direction as he spoke, hitting him in the cheek.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, feeling my cheeks grow warm with embarrassment at the lack of control I had over my new body parts.

“Darius, come to join the fun I see.” A sultry voice purred from behind us, interrupting our conversation.

“Noctus,” Darius said, with a brief incline of his head.

The man who’d approached us was pale in a way that gave him an almost sickly appearance. His skin looked like it had never seen the light of day, and his hair was such a light shade of blond that I’d be inclined to say it was white.

Yet, despite his pallid appearance, the man was handsome, no- not handsome, pretty, yes, this man was more pretty than handsome.

“Who’s this little morsel you have accompanying you?” The man asked as he stalked closer with a sashaying walk that even professional models would be jealous of.

“Markion’s sister, so unless you want to find yourself split in two by his ax- again, I suggest you keep your fangs off.” Darius warned, crossing his arms over his chest.

Keep his fangs off? What did he- ah, those fangs. Smirking at Darius, the man he’d called Noctus ran his tongue over a set of sharp looking incisors.

Paired with his complexion, and the guild leader’s comment, I was guessing this man was a vampire.

“Markion’s sister? The little Faerie? I thought she up and left us for dull reality.” Noctus purred, eyeing me a predatory smile. “My, my, the little Faerie has given up her wings for ears and a tail.”

“Who are you?” I asked, staring at the man who seemed to know me. Had he been a part of the guild in Avalon? Only someone I knew there would know I used to play as a Faerie.

“Kadia, this is Noctus, previously known as Striker.” Darius said, waving his hand towards the other man.

Narrowing my eyes, I stared at the vampire, memories of a hooded man flooding to the forefront of my mind at the mention of his former name.

“Striker? The same Striker who kept stealing my potions?” I asked, scowling at the vampire, who grinned unashamedly at me in response.

“Are you planning on taking up your previous profession?” he queried, ignoring my question as he asked one of his own.

“Are you planning to pay for my potions if I do?” I snapped back at him in annoyance.

The rogue had once stolen almost a hundred health potions which had been brewed with the intent to sell at auction for gold. He’d cleared out my entire supply.

Sure, he’d left behind all the raw ingredients I needed to brew the potions again as “payment”, but I’d wanted gold not plants.

I spent three nights remaking those potions, only for the rogue to break in once more, and take the completed potions in exchange for the unprocessed ingredients.

This had gone on for another two times, until I’d poisoned an entire batch of potions, which resulted in several deaths within the guild.

“Yes, he will.” Darius interjected, giving Noctus a stern glare. “Theft between guild members is unacceptable, even if the thief is leaving compensation. Later, we can discuss pricing for the different potions you brew.”

“I figured it would be the same as before. Any potions brewed for the guild are sold at material cost or free if brewed with ingredients the guild supplies,” I said, and Darius shook his head while Noctus leapt forwards with his hand outstretched.

“Deal,” the vampire exclaimed, only for Darius to knock his hand away with a glare.

“No,” he snapped at Noctus before turning to me. “Things are different here, potions are harder to brew, and materials more expensive. We will assess cost, and payment, at a later time. When you’re ready to start selling, we will have a meeting to discuss a contract and reimbursement for your services.”

“Contract? Darius, she’s a player. Just give her a standard guild agreement like before.” Noctus said, frowning at Darius as he shook his head.

“Noctus, Kadia is a digital citizen now, and a member of our guild. I’m also certain she will produce results that are well worth having an individual employment contract. According to Markion, she was top of her class in science and chemistry. Besides that, she was preparing to study pharmaceutical science. With her knowledge of chemistry, I’m certain she will handle learning alchemy better than anyone else in the guild who’s attempted it.” Darius explained.

I fought the urge to pull my wagasa forward over my shoulder so it covered my face as Noctus turned to look at me in surprise.

“You decided to became a lifer? I thought Markion said you were going to some fancy university.”

“I decided nothing,” I hissed, my previous embarrassment from Darius’s compliments turning to anger.

“Kadia was given a digitalization order, but intends to appeal it.” Darius said, glowering at the pale vampire. “As a guild commander, and Markion’s friend, I would expect you to show some consideration to her feelings as a digitized citizen who is still adjusting.”

“Ah, my mistake. I should not have made assumptions and just as Darius said, I am a guild commander, it is my duty to look after our guild members, so if you need help with anything please ask.” The vampire said, his expression appearing contrite, but I didn’t believe it for a second. “Anything.”

I sighed. Yup, not in the slightest bit contrite.

“Noctus can appear like an annoying prick, but he cares about the guild, and it’s members.” Darius added, shaking his head with sigh.

I stared at the vampire in silence, contemplating what I should do, before relaxing my tight hold on the handle of my wagasa and offering the vampire a small nod.

“Steal any of my stuff, and I’ll sic Marcus on you,” I told Noctus.

The increasing volume of voices around us and the crowd pushing past our group of three pulled my attention away from the vampire, and looking around, I saw that the large doors at the far end of the atrium, which had been closed now stood wide open, allowing the waiting crowd to enter the room beyond.

“Kadia, you will need to close the canopy of your wagasa before we enter. They will not allow you in with it opened because of the enchantments.” Darius explained, as we flowed with the crowd towards the doors where two guards stood staring out at the crowd with fierce expressions.

Nodding, I did as directed, giving a twist of the handle just like Markion had shown me, and the delicate paper thin canopy of the wagasa folded down to sit flush against the handle.

With the canopy folded down, the wagasa looked more like a short version of the jousting poles I’d seen depicted in the historical texts that spoke of knights from the medieval age.

If I’m going to carry around a jousting pole, then I should buy a horse. I’m sure there must be mounts here, though, I didn’t see anyone riding any. Lips twitching in amusement, I conjured up the image of myself cantering a horse towards Markion and running him through with my wagasa.

Ever since I was little, I’d loved horses and spent months begging my parents for riding lessons before they started sending me to a local riding club an hour away from our house.

Those lessons ended when my mother died, with Danica claiming the riding club was too far away. Being able to ride in Avalon was one of the few reasons I continued to spend time in the virtual world.

“Are there horses here? Or other kinds of mounts?” I asked as we walked past the guards, who glanced at the wagasa I held before allowing us to pass through the doors.

“Yes, it's the most common way to travel, that or by carriage.” Darius answered, glancing over at Noctus. “Toss up a sound barrier.”

“As you command, oh, grand leader,” he mocked, circling the air with his right index finger.

I watched confused as nothing appeared to happen, but after a moment Darius nodded, seemingly pleased by whatever it was the vampire had done.

“What’s a sound barrier? And what about magical transport?” I asked, as we moved through the crescent room with its rows of chairs that resembled a large amphitheater.

“The sound barrier is an intent-based enchantment. When it’s cast, only those you are directly speaking to can hear you. As for magical transport, there is a type of portal for instantaneous travel. However, the cost of building and opening the portal is so high that only the four major cities have one. Once a week a portal will open to one of the four major cities, with the destination alternating each week.” Darius said, as we searched for a row with three vacant chairs.

“The portals use Mana crystals as a power source.” Noctus added as we found three seats in a row at the far side of the large circular room. “It’s estimated they run through a high-grade stone for every two minutes the portal is open. That’s why the portal only stays open for a half an hour every week.”

“A mana crystal?”

“A mana crystal is a type of crystal called Arcanium which can store mana. This happens by the crystal absorbing mana slowly over time and forming a natural Mana crystal. The process can be sped up by placing Arcanium crystals in a mana-dense area or within a mana-gathering formation. This is a low-grade mana crystal, which can be used for low tier enchantments.” Noctus said, pulling a glowing blue crystal from a pouch and handing it to me.

The crystal was an inch long, and half that wide, with rough edges forming a misshapen rectangle. A faint sense of power radiated from the crystal, resonating with something deep inside me.

It felt similar to the power the crystal gave off, but also different. It was like comparing a sip of fresh water to hot sauce. Both were a form of sustenance, yet so very different.

“This mana crystal is formed from natural mana, and thus lacks any alignment or “flavor,” while your own mana is aligned with fire. For those whose race doesn’t have an inborn attainment to an element, their mana will become flavored by the spells they use. All Kitsune have a fire-aligned mana source and can manipulate fire, with the strength of their flames increasing as they grow stronger.”

Listening to Noctus speak in low tones, I paid little attention to the auction starting, as the vampire told me about his own race’s natural ability to manipulate shadows. Noctus also explained that as vampires were a variant of humans, their strength was determined through an aura similar to the races he called human variants.

As the bidding began for the first item, which was a dagger with a gem-encrusted handle, I kept my eyes trained on a tiny flicker of flame hovering over my palm.

The flame was no larger than what a candle or match would produce. But, Noctus claimed that with time, and practice, I could conjure larger flames.

“Think of the flame as an extension of yourself. Just as your mind wills your limbs to move, you can move the flame. Start by having it move up and down in your palm, like this.” Noctus instructed, a black marble of condensed shadow hovering over his palm.

Following his intrusions, I made the flame rise, stopping two inches above my palm before lowering it. It was a strange feeling. I knew the flame was hot, I could feel the heat radiating from it; yet, I knew that this fire would never burn me.

Focused on my hand, I raised, and lowered the flame three more times, before it flickered out of existence.

“You should practice as much as possible, like with any skill it won’t improve unless you practice.” The vampire explained.

I nodded, watching as he demonstrated a series of exercises, floating the black marble around in increasingly complex motions.

As the vampire continued his demonstration by conjuring two more of the shadow marbles, moving each in a different direction, he spoke at length about different methods I could use with my fire to protect myself.

At this level, Noctus advised using the fire to coat my fingers to form fiery claws if I found myself in close combat without a weapon, as I wouldn’t be able to conjure a flame large enough for a fireball capable of damage until I grew stronger. That was a little disappointing, as I’d been imagining all the fun I could have by flinging fireballs at a certain Minotaur.

“Our second item for the evening is a book from goblinoid origins. This book was discovered in the possession of a goblin chieftain, who was defeated in the Almer mountains. The book is written in a runic script which has been identified as Latinus. We will start the bidding at ten gold.”

Turning my attention to the stage as the auctioneer announced the second item, I saw three large images appear in the air above the man.

Each image showed the front and rear covers along with an image of the first page.

“They always auction off the crappy stuff first,” Noctus commented, having noticed I was no longer hanging onto his words with rapt attention.

“She said the language was Latinus, but that's an archaic form of Latin script on the cover.” I said, furrowing my brows as I stared up at the images. “I think it says "The great,” er, the last word is tricky. The last and first letter could be c, g or k, because in archaic Latin the sound of each is similar.”

Noctus looked at me in surprise along with Darius who’d been listening to our conversation.

“It says Grog the great.” Noctus said. "Grog is the name of a dark, aligned god who the goblinoid races worship. It’s a common enough book, normally found with Hobgoblin shamans or chiefs, as they are smarter than common Goblins. As for Latinus, it is derived from genuine Latin with some added letters and words, thus creating Latinus. I’m surprised you can read it, it has taken me months to even memorize the basic letters.”

I nodded, mulling over the newfound information for a moment before responding.

“My mother taught me Latin.” I murmured, chewing on my lip as I eyed the book. I wanted to buy it purely based on the desire to see what difference’s Latinus had to Latin. “She studied paleo pharmacology, as she felt that modern pharmacology was stilted. Mom was very passionate about the pharmaceutical industry and believed that knowledge of the past would lead to greater knowledge in the future.”

“What is palo pharmacology?” Darius asked, exchanging a look with Noctus who just shrugged in response.

“Paleo pharmacology is the study of historical documents and data relating to the pharmaceutical industry, such as how ancient societies used medicinal herbs, and plants, and how they treated certain illnesses that were present in those times. Paleo pharmacological studies have shown that even prehistoric man used pharmaceutical techniques using water, leaves, dirt, or mud on wounds and then progressing to mixing plants together to create medicines.” I was about to tell them about how Mesopotamians were the first recorded people to begin the practice of running a medicinal apothecary, when I noticed their eyes glazing much in the same way Marcus’s did when I talked about paleo pharmacology.

“Sorry, I got a little carried away.” I mumbled, looking back towards the stage as the auctioneer tried to rally interest in the goblin book, which had a handful of bidders who’d unenthusiastically raised the book's price up to ten gold and eight silver.

“No need to be sorry, I’m sure knowing about paleo pharma, uh, historical medicines will help you with learning alchemy.” Darius said, drawing my attention back to him as the auctioneer closed the bidding for the goblin book.

“Forget alchemy, Darius. She knows Latin, almost every damn book we have about magic is in Latinus. It took me an entire month to translate ten pages of just the normal Latin parts. If we train her as a scribe, it would be much more beneficial.” Noctus said, staring at me with a glint in his eyes that had me shuffling away from him, and closer to Darius.

“She can do both, but only if she agrees to it.” Darius interjected, glancing down at me.

Faced with the feverish gaze of the vampire I reluctantly nodded.

“Brilliant, start with these,” the vampire exclaimed, dropping five thick books onto my lap with a thump.

“Uh, err,” I stared down at the topmost book, which was thicker than my wrist, and opened it to the first page.

“Have you got any reference books or notes?” I asked, as I saw the unfamiliar runes that appeared to be jumbled into the Latin script.

Noctus nodded, reaching for his pouch, but stopped as Darius cleared his throat.

“Don’t forget where we are,” he warned.

Looking around I noticed several people staring greedily at the pile of books in my lap.

“Noctus, put the books away for now. Kadia’s pouch is too small, and she will need supplies if she is going to help with translating. Supplies which you will provide, you will also work out a fair compensation for her help.” Darius continued, reaching over to flip the book I held closed.

“Of course, of course! Kadia, if you have time after the auction I’ll take you to the scriveners store, we can get writing supplies there.” Noctus said as he shoved the books into a pouch that was only just wide enough for the books to be placed inside.

“I was taking Kadia to the market after the auction, she needs clothing, armor and other basic supplies, you can come with or go on ahead to purchase what you need from the scrivener store.” Darius said.

“I will accompany you both, I didn’t have any plans for tonight aside from the auction. You’ll get better pricing with me around,” Noctus said, his demeanor shifting back into that of an alluring predator, and I had to smother a laugh at his exaggerated attempts to be seductive.

“Then I’ll leave the bartering to you,” I told him, then turned my attention towards the stage where the next item was being introduced.

Ignoring the choked laughter sounding from the Ōkami beside me, and the now-pouting vampire, I stared at the images of a red mushroom with white spots.

Red amanita mushrooms are the plant used to create the pain relief tincture. Chewing on my bottom lip, I thought back to the book I’d been reading before Darius showed up. I wonder if the healing effect of the mushroom is present because of a reaction with the alcohol it is infused with, or if eating the mushroom has the same effect. The book said it was used to treat minor aches and pains, does it numb the area locally or block the pain on a neurological level? The book did not say whether the tincture was consumed or applied to the skin, but then again, tincture implied it would be consumed.

“Do I have twenty gold? Yes, over there twenty gold one silver,” the auctioneer called out, shaking me from my thoughts.

Twenty gold for mushrooms? If people spend so much money on the Amanita mushrooms then they mustn’t be easily found.

“Twenty and five silver,” I yelled, rising my hand in the air, and jumping to my feet, hoping the auctioneer would hear me.

The choked wheezing noise of the men, caused me to lower my hand as I realized too late that I might have made a mistake with my bidding.

“Twenty gold and five silver. I have twenty gold and five silver for the two thousand Red amanita mushrooms, going once, going twice, sold to the red-haired lady on the left.”

“Ahem, ah, Kadia. I’m not sure if you are aware, but those mushrooms only have a short life span before they rot, and well, they grow pretty much everywhere.” Darius said over the murmuring of the crowd who was looking in my direction, no doubt wanting to get a look at the fool who’d just wasted their gold.

“Oh, I know that,” I lied, trying to fight back the rising surge of embarrassment I felt. “I wanted to experiment a little with the mushrooms and didn’t feel like going out to pick any myself.”

Feigning confidence I retook my seat as people returned their attention to the stage.

Holy shit! What am I going to do with two thousand mushrooms? Should I make a big batch of the pain relief tincture, and sell it to recoup some lost gold? That could work, but I need the pure alcohol to infuse it with, and vials.

“You got a decent deal at least. A single cap from an Amanita mushroom is three copper, if you are planning to brew tinctures you can make about four thousand doses, which can be sold for one silver each.” Noctus said.

I nodded, trying to calculate how much alcohol I would need.

One mushroom cap infused with two hundred milliliters would brew two doses of tincture, so that would mean I’d need four hundred liters of alcohol and four thousand vials.

Hmm, there was a retort in the alchemy kit Markion gave me, what if I distilled the mushrooms? Darius said they would soon rot, but if I distilled the mushrooms, then I could store the concentrated essence to be used later. Could I use the concentrated essence to create the tincture or would the effect of using a distilled essence be different to infusing the mushroom in the alcohol. Does it have to be alcohol? What if I didn’t distill them? Can I dry them? The book didn’t specify that the mushrooms had to be fresh.

“I’m guessing I won’t find a dehydrator around here, so maybe an oven or even a kiln would work if the temperature is right.” I mumbled, as I mulled over the different ways I could try to use the mushrooms.

“What do you need an oven or kiln for?” Darius asked, looking away from the stage where a set of gleaming silver armor was being shown.

“Drying mushrooms,” I said with a sigh, thinking of the things I needed to buy to process the mushrooms.

I didn’t have any tools for harvesting plants or herbs, or anything to store them in, as the alchemy kit only contained tools used for distillation.

“Drying the mushrooms won’t work, it will lose its effectiveness. Sara tried it when she was attempting to learn alchemy, though she increased the potency of the mushrooms by mashing them up with a mortar and pestle. After that she squeezed the mushrooms through a cloth to sieve the liquid.” Noctus informed me.

I frowned as I took in this newfound information. “Did she try distilling them?”

“Yes, but the alcohol evaporated, leaving the mushrooms to burn. The smell from the burnt mushrooms took days to dissipate.” the vampire said with an amused grin.

“The flame must've been too hot,” I muttered, wishing I had a pen and paper to make notes on.

“We should find you somewhere to work, I don’t think your room is going to be big enough or have the needed ventilation.” Darius commented.

Noctus gave a low hum of agreement. “There aren’t any workspaces open in the workshop, the space set aside for alchemy got taken over by the smiths who were whining they needed more room because of Markion taking over the main forge. Though, in saying that, there is a workroom in the forge that isn’t being used because the roof is too low for the bull to get inside. Markion doesn’t like people in his forge, but if it’s Kadia, I’m sure it won’t be a problem.” The vampire said.

Darius nodded, looking thoughtful.

“That should work, the reason the smiths took over the alchemy lab was because it was the easiest place to convert to suit their needs, the same should be said for the workroom in the forge.” Darius said. “Plus, even if Kadia doesn’t stay long term we should have an Alchemy lab set up.”

“I will need to look at the space, but any large room with decent ventilation should be fine,” I told them, mentally creating a list of all the items I would need.

Being near the forge would also benefit me, as it would mean I could get Marcus to make most of the things I needed for my alchemy lab.

As the auction carried on with a variety of different items being auctioned off, Noctus ended up buying two books written in Latinus which were claimed to be about enchantments and another which I was sure had alchemic symbols embossed on the front cover but was sold as a book about druidic magic.

The total cost of all three books had been just over thirty thousand gold coins, and I’d been shocked to see they were among the cheapest books to be sold at the auction.

The most expensive book was about elemental wind magic, which sold for a jaw-dropping hundred and eighty thousand gold.

Though the reason for the high price became clearer as Noctus informed me the book was newly discovered and had not been sold on the open market before.

Darius had entered the bidding for a pair of swords, which shined with an almost ethereal light, but ended up withdrawing as the price soared past one hundred thousand and beyond two hundred thousand.

I watched wide eyed, as a beautiful dark-haired woman whose lower body narrowed into the red scaled form of a serpent entered a bidding war against a hooded man. Once the bidding ended, Noctus leaned back in his chair, smugly informing me the swords were crafted by my brother which meant the guild just earned a decent amount of gold thanks to Darius pushing up the bids.

The next item Darius bid on was a pair of enchanted bracers; which had Noctus hissing and growling at him as the two bid against each other, with Darius triumphing at fifty-six thousand gold as the vampire reluctantly conceded after having already spent a good deal of his coin on the books.

Once the auction drew to a close, it was time to pay and collect my two thousand mushrooms.

Standing before four large wooden crates piled high with white spotted red mushrooms, I found myself facing the dilemma of working out how to transport my purchased goods back to the guild hall.

“These won't fit in my pouch, will they?” I asked, looking at the pair of men who were watching me with barely concealed amusement.

“Nope,” Darius agreed, lips twitching into a smile, while Noctus gave me one of his predatory grins.

“As an enchanter, I could assist you with acquiring a larger bag of holding,” Noctus crooned, causing me to narrow my eyes at him.

“At what cost,” I asked, not believing for a second the former rogue would simply give me a bag.

“I want you to try making something for me, a salve. As a vampire, I am restricted by the sun and can only walk around during the day when wearing a salve which is applied to my skin to prevent me from burning. This salve is horribly expensive and made by the Dreadmere guild's pet alchemist who is, well, not a friend, shall we say.”

“Do you have a sample of the salve, or any information about what is used in it? Can you get the recipe?” I queried, watching with interest as the vampire pulled out a round bronze container from a pouch attached to his belt.

Catching the palm-sized container that Noctus tossed towards me, I twisted the lid off and inspected the thick, waxy-looking substance inside.

Interesting, does the wax form a protective coating to protect the skin or does it absorb into the skin? There is a faint smoky scent to it, and the color is an ashy white, almost gray. The texture is reminiscent of tallow, but it doesn’t smell like animal fat, and there isn’t a masking agent to cover up the unique smell of the animal fat used to create the tallow, so perhaps a plant-based tallow mixed with ash?

“Alchemists are very possessive of their recipes, you won’t find many willing to share or sell them. They get more gold selling the products they create,” Noctus explained.

I rolled my eyes in annoyance at his expectation of me creating something with no knowledge of the ingredients. “I can’t make the salve without more information, I have some ideas on how it was made, but I lack the knowledge of what plants may have been used.”

“I have some idea of what plants were used, as the ash from Muroosa wood can be infused into oil and rubbed onto the skin to provide limited protection, allowing for my kind to move about in shaded areas. With the salve we can stand up to an hour of direct sunlight before our skin blisters and burns. The infused oil is used by all vampires, it’s common knowledge. The salve is similar enough in scent that I know the Muroosa wood has been used, but I don’t know if any other plants were used or how the salve itself was made.”

“Do you have the Muroosa wood already? What kind of plant is it? A bush? Tree? Does it produce fruit? Is only the wood burnt or do you burn the leaves as well? What ratio of ash to oil do you use? What type of oil is it? Plant or animal based and what animal or plant is used?” I asked, tail swishing wildly as I shot question after question at the vampire.

“No set ratio, just a handful of ash into a jug of oil. I have some wood I haven’t burnt yet, and I think it’s a bush? I don’t know about fruit, the wood is purchased without leaves. The oil… I’m not sure, it’s just sold as oil.” Noctus replied.

I scowled at him in annoyance at the lack of information his answers provided.

“Give me the wood, and the oil you use. I’ll also need any information you can find about the Muroosa plant and, if possible, an entire Muroosa plant or if it’s a tree, see if you can get me a sample of the wood, leaves and any fruits.” I told the vampire, wriggling my fingers toward his pouch as I waited for him to produce the Muroosa wood.

“I don’t have the wood on me, but I will get it for you once we return to the guild hall. I’ll also look into getting more information on the Muroosa plant,” Noctus said, placing a hand over his pouch.

“Fine, but I’m keeping this,” I said, waving the container in the air and shoving it into my pouch before the vampire could protest.

“I have another tin, so that’s fine,” he said, shaking his head with a small grin.

“So, about that bag?” I inquired, gesturing to the crates of mushrooms.

“Right, I will give you a satchel which will hold up to a hundred kilos as payment for you working on the salve. I will also provide the Muroosa for the initial attempts at recreating it. Once you have a workable recipe, we can discuss the viability of mass production and the costs.”

“Mmm, no, not enough. I want the bag, and the book on druid magic you bought tonight. In exchange, I will work on the salve,” I countered, remembering the book the vampire purchased earlier.

“The druid book? Why?” Noctus asked, his eyes narrowed with suspicion.

I shrugged, seeing no reason to lie. “The symbol on the cover is called the alchemic key, comprising twenty-two symbols representing different elements. I wasn’t sure when I first saw it displayed on the stage, but when you collected it, I got a closer look. I don’t know why they thought it was a book on druidic magic, maybe because the cover is engraved to look like a tree?”

“Give her the book, Noctus,” Darius said. “If it is related to alchemy then it is of better use with her. I will compensate you for the cost from the guild funds. Kadia, I will allow you to borrow the book from the guild. But, if another member of the guild also chooses to follow this profession they will also be allowed to learn from the book.”

“That is fine, but only after I’m finished with it,” I said, fighting the urge to snatch the book from Noctus as he withdrew it from his pouch.

The thick book was similar to the vampire’s other tomes but was bound with polished wood rather than leather. The front cover was carved with the image of a tree, with the twenty-two symbols of the alchemy key encircling it.

There was no title, but the words on the first page confirmed my belief that alchemy was the book’s subject.

Come forth my student of this Discipline,

'Tis natural Philosophy you shall learn within.

To ease your hardships in study, I am prepared,

But remember well, not all secrets should be shared.

Tracing my fingers over the scripture, I read the words out loud, and as I finished speaking the page began to give off a soft golden glow.

“A grimoire!” Noctus cried out. “Darius, you prick! Do you know how much money I could have gotten for that thing?”

I paid him little heed as I stared down at the book with its glowing letters.

“You didn’t even know it was a grimoire until she activated it, and even if you knew it was a grimoire, we both know you wouldn’t have sold it. Chances are we would have given it to Kadia anyway as our guild's only alchemist.” Darius countered.

Turning the pages of the book, I discovered that only the first five pages contained any writing, the remaining pages all appearing blank.

I shook my head, looking up at the pale skinned man. “I doubt you would have gotten much money for this book Noctus, it’s just talking about the instruments used in alchemy. I already know what a retort is, though, the part about different materials used to create the retort affecting the properties of the prima mater being distilled is interesting. Beyond that, it’s useless- ouch!”

Yelping in pain, I stared in shock at the book which had just leapt out of my hands and smacked me over the head before falling to the floor with a thump.

What the heck just happened? Did I just get smacked by a book?

“Yeah, don’t insult the grimoire, Kadia.” Noctus said with a chuckle as I poked the book with my wagasa. “I did that to mine once, the damned thing set itself on fire.”

“Isn’t grimoire just another name for a book on magic?” I asked, staring down at the motionless book with trepidation.

“A grimoire is a semi-sentient book which has absorbed a portion of its creator's life force, these books are passed down from master to student. Noctus and I both have one which we gained through a special encounter, and Markion has one as well. Whoever sold this book must not have known what they had; it happens occasionally.” Darius informed me and gestured to the book on the floor. “You’d better pick it up, it won’t hit you again so long as you don’t insult it.”

I stared at him in silence for several seconds, searching his face for any signs he was joking before reaching down to pick up the book.

“If it is a grimoire, then why are there only five pages filled out? Something that’s been passed down through the ages should be full of information.” I muttered, and almost dropped the book when it gave a little jolt in my hand.

“A grimoire will only show what it feels you are worthy of knowing.” Noctus explained. “When you progress through your craft it will reveal more. Grimoires can also choose to leave if they feel that you are not worthy of their knowledge. Many people have found, or bought one, only for it to disappear from their possession soon after. It’s a good way to make a nice bit of gold, there is even a guild dedicated to finding and selling grimoires.”

Tucking my wagasa under my right arm, I used both hands to hold the grimoire as I flipped it open once more to the page about retorts. I then proceeded to lecture the book about everything I knew about the tool.

For almost ten minutes I talked to the pages about the use of a retort and its failings when it came to distillation, such as the lack of proper heat distribution, and subpar condensing method.

As I started talking about the more modern methods of distillation, the pages of the book turned until they reached the sixth page where lines of text appeared.

“There now, that’s much better.” I told the book as I looked at the newly displayed information, only to scowl in annoyance as I saw the book had only added the information I’d told it about modernized distillation processes.

Slamming the book closed, I took a deep, steadying breath before tucking it under my arm and shifting my wagasa to rest over my shoulder.

A soft scraping noise reminded me of others' presence, and I turned to see them emptying the crates of mushrooms into a leather satchel.

“Sorry, I got a little carried away,” I said, walking over to where the men were emptying the last crate.

“It’s fine, Noctus argues with his grimoire all the time,” Darius said, inclining his chin in the vampire's direction who was holding open the satchel.

“You’re just jealous that yours doesn’t talk back,” Noctus teased, then glanced at me with a smirk as he added. “Darius’s grimoire only lets him see three pages, even after four months in his possession it refuses to show him more no matter what he does.”

“What kind of grimoire is it? I thought you were a fighter class again,” I said, glancing at the two swords sheathed at the guild leaders back.

“It’s a grimoire for Conjuration, my race is gifted in that school of magic. But, I’ve never been the sort to rely on magic in battle. I’m more of a hack and slash guy. Surprised it’s still hanging around, I thought for sure it would have disappeared by now.” Darius admitted, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck.

I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Luckily I didn’t need to as Noctus approached, holding out the satchel containing the mushrooms.

“Here, this is yours,” he said, offering the bag to me.

The satchel was a light brown color, with a single strap and two smaller straps with copper buckles used to close the flap. It was a plain leather satchel, not a single thing about it looked magical, but the vampire assured me it was enchanted to hold a hundred kilos.

“How do I know if I’ve added more than a hundred kilos?” I asked, sliding the satchel over one shoulder before putting the grimoire and my wagasa inside.

“It will get heavier as you get close to its weight limit. Once you reach the limit, the weightless enchantment will fail, and you will be left trying to carry a hundred kilo bag. Ah, don’t put that in there.” Noctus said, stopping me just before I put my silk pouch into the bag.

“You can’t carry a bag of holding inside a bag of holding,” he explained.

I frowned, looking at the larger pouch he had strapped to his belt. “But, didn’t you take this bag out of your pouch?”

“It was inactive. I always carry a few bags around just in case I need an extra, never know when you’re going to stumble on some good loot and need more bags. First time I’ve used one for mushrooms though,” Noctus said.

I nodded, tucking my pouch back into my sash.

“Market next?” I prompted, looking over at Darius who nodded with a smile.

“Market,” he agreed, then pointed at my satchel. “Shift that to the same side your pouch is on, so it sits over the hidden pouch. You can leave your wagasa in the bag now that Noctus is with us, he will notice any thieves well before any of us do.”

“Makes sense, like recognizes like,” I muttered, moving the satchel to my other shoulder and ignoring the pained whimper the vampire gave as he dramatically clutched at his chest.

“Exactly.” The guild leader agreed as we left the storage room, leaving a sulking vampire to trail behind us as we headed out of the auction house.