Limitless Path

Even Sera, who was used to wealth and luxury, displayed an impressed face when they arrived at the building, though she did not gawp like some country bumpkin. Beth led the way inside, approaching one of the counters which, though it had no people waiting to be served, still required them to wait a moment. The staff working the lobby here clearly had more to do than just stand around and wait for visitors to enter and make request, as the three people present were all very clearly working on screens or writing down things while in calls. After a minute, the attendant freed up and apologized profusely for the delay, asking what she could do for them. Beth showed her shiny new golden token to the woman, which got an immediate reaction, though it was more muted than other places. When she showed a Seven Lights worker her emerald emblem, they freaked out, very rarely seeing someone of that caliber. It was clear token-holders weren't as rare, and likely the staff here was just a cut above what she normally deal with, that they had a very muted reaction.

"I'm interested in purchasing a property through the Black Ships," Beth said. "I discussed that with Illiem last time and was given access to the database. I think I'm close to making a decision, but do you have someone we can go over the properties with and even get a tour of some of them?"

"Certainly, one moment," the man said, holding up a finger as he tapped on a screen. "Ah, yes, Senior Manager Illiem is available currently; he said he would like to personally oversee the transaction. If you could just wait one moment please, ma'am and ma'am."

"Sure," Beth said, shrugging and moving to the side just slightly before leaning on the counter, Sera taking up a spot on her other side.

It wasn't all that long until Illiem entered the lobby, greeting the two of them before gesturing for them to follow him into the building. Based on how long they walked and the directions, Beth assumed they went into one of the seven towers around the perimeter of the building. That became clear when they entered a room that took up about two-thirds of a floor further up that tower with floor-to-ceiling windows, or screens, that gave a great view of the city. It was not lost on Beth that, in a city where building over four stories was very rare and even that wasn't done often, the Black Ships had a headquarters building that was ten stories with towers that stretched nearly thirty. It was a display of both power and wealth that was not all that subtle.

"So, you have returned," Illiem said with an easy smile. "And this is…?"

"My wife, Sera," Beth said, gesturing to Sera.

"Fiancee," Sera corrected lazily.

"We really should just fix that," Beth said. "Maybe after we buy a house, we just finally get married."

"Well…" said Sera, looking thoughtful.

"Come on. Your uncle, the Exalted, who really likes you, is on my home planet right now bumming around. And after I showed your parents this," Beth said, making her Ideal manifest above her hand, "they were suddenly very quiet about who their daughter was engaged to."

"Yes, fine, sure, I'll set it up," Sera said with a sigh, though she grinned at Beth as soon as the sigh was finished.

"Congratulations to you both," Illiem said, clapping slowly. "However, now that the introductions and your fully accepted proposal is out of the way, what have you come here for, exactly? Something interesting to sell, perhaps?"

"Hmm, nothing really to see right at this moment. I mean, I do have some stuff to sell, but nothing on the level of the Black Ships. I work with the Seven Lights a lot too, and I'll probably sell the more mundane stuff, like level two hundred epic weapons or whatever, through them," Beth answered. "No, we came here today because we wanted to look at houses. We already walked around and looked at some on the list, but we didn't really find anything that really struck us."

"Again, I'll ask, do you have an exact budget for this purchased?" Illiem asked while leaning back in his chair. "The more precise you can be, the better we can facilitate."

"I would say we'd be willing to go up to two adamantine and forty orichalcum on it," Beth said.

"We could do up to three adamantine," Sera added, Beth glancing at her with a raised eyebrow. "We have a little more money just between us than you're estimating right now, and we also have stuff to sell. And, on top of that, we have those old ship parts and components we salvaged that are still selling at Seven Lights."

"You're in the business of salvage?" Illiem asked with his own raised brow.

"Not really, but we know how," Beth said. "We had an Ascended friend of ours that found an old derelict ship, fairly big, and he just wanted to get a couple components off. He agreed to let us take some stuff and a cut of the profit if we were the ones to break it down and find a buyer. We did the hullbreaking and then gave the stuff to Seven Lights to piece out, though I'm not sure they'll do as well with the last bit."

"Seven Lights is well-regarded in all their dealings," Illiem said mildly.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Well, we had an inside connection on top of me being an Emerald member," Beth said, briefly showing Illiem her Seven Lights badge. "Sera and I are rather, uh, closely connected with Selene, if you know her."

"My, my, the Selene Darkdream, the Dark Terror, the Death in the Pitch Black? That Selene?" Illiem asked, both his brows climbing this time.

"Yes, that very same one," Sera affirmed.

"My, my, you do have marvelous connections. Lord Mortaine sponsors you, you are familiar with many Ascended, you are deeply tied with the Black Dragon Clan, and you are even very close with Lady Darkdream. I'm almost regretting giving you a gold token and not a platinum," he said with a sigh.

"We could always correct that," Beth said cheekily with a grin and a wink.

"I think I may just note down that you are one to keep an eye on," Illiem said with a wave of his hand. "Though, you are well connected."

"Oh, yeah, my mentor at the CRA is Baelvyr, the Adamantine Colossus, and I also know Zane Farstrider and Fallon Whiteheart, if you also want to add that to the file," Beth said, chuckling as Illiem's brows climbed into his hairline.

"My, my. Well, I don't even know what to say at this point," he said, shaking his head. "What I will say, however, is that I believe I have the perfect place that is well within your budget. Come, follow me."

"Sure," Beth said, exchanging a glance with Sera as Illiem rose. The two got up and followed the powerful Ascended out of the room and then out of the building, the man pivoting outside with great precision and striding off confidently down the street.

He led them through several blocks before taking them down into an underground system of public transport where they entered a luxurious car and rode for nearly thirty minutes, though the train they were on only made three stops in that time. They exited the car and the underground system a little while later and Illiem led them through a very pretty and well-kept residential neighborhood to a large manor. Compared to the one they had checked earlier in the day, this one was larger, though the ground around the manor weren't any bigger. Still, they were about the same size as the earlier mansion and that meant the total area of the plot was at least a little larger. Illiem opened the front gate with a touch, and likely a code passed from his communicator, and led them across the front yard and to the front door, which also opened silently at his touch.

Inside was like a whole different world, though Beth shouldn't really have been surprised. They were standing in a foyer with bright white tiles on the floor and walls painted a light green with the impressions of leaves and vines in the paint. The light was provided by a large overhead chandelier and from big, open windows, though much of the glass used in the house prevented those outside from getting a good view of the inside. Illiem gestured for them to follow and moved further into the center of the house, leading them into a large central room with a staircase at the back. To the right was a large sitting room with a massive fireplace and tons of chairs and couches, while to the left was an impressive dining room, behind which was a large and fully furnished kitchen with plenty of room to cook. Behind the sitting room was a massive library room, and behind that was a huge office with two heavy desks already inside and large windows that let in plenty of light. Behind the main room that they had entered after the foyer was a set of trainings rooms, very well-built and insulated to allow even Enlightened to go nuts without worry. There were also four rooms that weren't furnished that Illiem said could be configured however they wanted, though often they were used for offices and conference rooms. Beyond those were also two washrooms and a den that was meant for sitting late in the evening with a drink before its own large fireplace.

The upstairs was nothing but bedrooms and bedroom suites, with enough space for twenty people to stay rather comfortably, and more if people were bunking together or using the rooms to set down their own beds. The place didn't really have one suite that was better than the other rooms as some houses Beth were used to did, including her own home before her parents had fully rebuilt it. There were half a dozen suite in this manor that had a small sitting room, a large bedroom, and a large bathroom, all of which were made with the best available materials. Beth was struck by a suite at the back of the house done in darker colors, with dark wood for the sitting room floor, a dark carpet and dark blue walls in the bedroom, and large, black tiles for the floor and walls in the bathroom. She only had to share a single glance with Sera to know that they were claiming this suite as their personal bedroom and nobody could fight them on it, as, of course, they couldn't, considering nobody else was chipping in to buy the place. Illiem then showed them the backyard, which had a patio out the back door, a pool, a small garden, and an area to train or practice within. They returned to the sitting room after seeing everything where the older man pulled out a cup of tea and starting sipping it.

"Alright, you said this was within our budget, but the neighborhood's great and the house is amazing," Beth said with a sigh. "So, hit us with it. What's wrong with the place?"

"Nothing, I can assure you," Illiem said, putting his cup down with a click before waving his hands in a dismissive gesture. "This manor has been with us for a while and we have, sadly, not had anyone interested in a large but, how should I say, unspecialized residence. There is great demand for housing on Zephyr Prime, that's certainly true, but when people need to pay a high price, suddenly that demand isn't so great. This manor is too expensive and just not what many of our clients require."

"Okay, so hit us with it. What's the damage?" Beth asked.

"I am assuming you are asking for the price by saying that?" he asked with a slight smirk. "If that's so, then the price for the manor is two adamantine coins. That includes full rights to the land; this is not a rental or temporary measure, but you will own the deed to the land for that price."

Beth looked at Sera before looking back at Illiem, saying, "That's a lot cheaper than I thought it would be. You're quite sure there's nothing wrong with it?"

"I can assure you, there is nothing wrong with this place, not in terms of the property, the neighbors, or anything else," Illiem said, shaking his head. "The property is also based on the currently evaluated price, which is slightly under what we're selling it for, so you should not need to worry about paying an exorbitant tax."

"Oh, right, property tax is a thing," Beth said with a sigh. "How much is something like that going to set us back?"

"For this manor, in this location? You're looking at about three mithril a year," he said, taking a sip of his tea.

"Well, that's manageable, even if it is a lot," Beth said.

"It is what it is," Illiem said with a shrug, clearly not interested in debating tax policy with her.

"Well, it's a big investment…" Beth said, looking at Sera.

"Let's do it," Sera said with a shrug. "We have plenty of money, and we'll make even more."

"I agree," Beth said. Turning back to Illiem, she said, "We're in. Where do we sign?"

"Excellent. Return to the headquarters with me; I'll have someone prepare the paperwork while we return."

He led them back out and to the train, which he used his authorities to get them in, and into the best car, as well. They took just as long a ride back as they took to get to the location, though Beth didn't think it was going to be all that big of an inconvenience. As soon as they were back at the headquarters of the Black Ships, Illiem took them up to a conference room where he had them sign the necessary paperwork before transferring over the deed. Sera and Beth had each withdrawn one bright red, shiny adamantine coin from their stat screens to pay for the house, which left Beth with a few orichalcum and some mithril, while Sera was a bit better off still, though the coin was a noticeable dent in her finances. Still, they had amazing earning potential and the setback, if it could even be called that, was quite temporary. Beth also now had to plan what to do about the house, as she needed to find furnishings for an entire damn mansion, though there were a few pieces in the sitting room. The place also had all the appliances included, Beth suspecting that after the Black Ships bought it, or acquired it however they had, that they had been the ones to move the furniture in and to buy all new appliance, which included a washer and dryer in a laundry room on the first floor.