Sage didn’t make his excitement apparent, but it was obvious he wanted to bid when he moved to the yellow seed. Jin Shih and Cui Shufen had seen him bidding on mystery items before so they weren’t surprised. He’d previously given the excuse that he felt something unusual from the items and wanted to try his luck. Jin Shih had derided him for being a gambler, while Cui Shufen merely looked at him like she was doctor trying to diagnose an illness.

The bidding on the stone tablet was pretty tame, only a few people had bothered to name a price. On the other hand, the price had started at 200,000 and now it was already up to 280,000. Not wanting to miss his chance he pushed the price up to 350,000 and hoped the increase might discourage the others. Another bidder upped it to 360,000 and Sage responded by raising it to 400,000. The other bidders in the leaf seats had already sat down, not wanting to waste so much money on a gamble. One of the other VIP booths incremented the bid again and Sage jumped it up to the next 50,000 mark.

Sage wiped sweat from his forehead after he was declared the winner. Taking his seat once more, he was happy to have won, but also sad because he was down to 93,000 Spirit Stones. There was little chance he’d be able to afford any of the pills in the last part of the auction. On the plus side, he was no longer worried about how to spend his money the most efficiently. The rare and expensive skills were pretty terrifying, but after hearing the names and watching a demonstration of their prowess, at least he could include them in a Movie later on.

The second to last portion of the auction came to an end and during the break, an attendant came to the VIP booth to handle their purchases. It was a simple swap of Storage Rings, each party checking the contents to confirm the trade. Jin Shih and Cui Shufen made their trades. Jin Shih had purchased a Fan related combat technique, while Cui Shufen found a strange Body Tempering Technique that drew upon the stars. Sage then handed over a Storage Ring and sent his awareness into the ring that the attendant passed to him. As soon as his consciousness swept over the stone tablet to check it, something unexpected occurred.

The stone tablet flew out of the Storage Ring of its own volition and began to glow with a golden light. The light washed over the whole room, though when it touched Jin Shih and Cui Shufen a blue and purple light, respectively, appeared around their bodies. The lights coalesced into shielding auras, different magic tools that they carried automatically activating to protect them. The attendant tried to protect herself with a swirl of water Qi, but the golden light shone through it and she felt a warm sensation, but nothing harmed her.

When the light hit Sage, the normally invisible seal on his forehead not only showed itself it started to glow with a red light of its own. A ghostly mirage of Sage’s true form appeared in the air superimposed over his body and taking up much of the room with its bulk. The golden light continued to glow and the three others in the room had their eyes locked on the effect it had on Sage. The stone tablet itself had previously looked like it was covered with indecipherable scribbles and patterns, but no longer. Symbols and shapes that had been hidden among the mess suddenly took form and now, for those in the know, easily recognizable as seals.

The light continued to increase in intensity. The Human Seal on Sage’s forehead started to dim and the mirage became more and more real. Reaching out, he grabbed the stone tablet and forced it back into the Storage Ring. The golden light immediately disappeared taking along with it the mirage of Sage’s true form. The red light from his Human Seal dimmed and then the Seal itself disappeared as well.

“Forgive me for my rashness! I couldn’t wait to learn more about the mysterious stone tablet. It felt like it was trying to transform me. Have any of you heard of anything causing such a thing?”

Sage immediately tried to cover up what happened with a story, but from the looks that everyone was giving him… it was apparent they didn’t believe his explanation. The attendant knew that many people had handled that stone tablet in the past and nothing of that sort had ever happened.

“Forgive me, honored guest. I have never heard of such a thing happening before. It must be part of the mysteries hidden within that tablet. Please be careful.”

The attendant quickly made an excuse and left. Jin Shih was looking at Sage like he’d just come down with the plague, while Cui Shufen was staring at the spot on his forehead where the Human Seal had been.

“That was exhausting. I’ve already spent all my savings so I think it’s time I leave. I don’t want to see a Pill that would be perfect for me and not be able to purchase it.”

His quickly invented excuse to leave was shattered instantly by Cui Shufen, “Is that it? Well, don’t worry Junior Martial Brother. If you see a Pill you need then I’ll just loan you some money.”

Jin Shih was instantly upset to hear that Cui Shufen would not only want Sage to stay, but to also loan money. At least until he heard Sage’s response, at which point he was glad that Sage was put into an uncomfortable spot.

“That’s far too kind of you, Senior Martial Sister. I could never allow such generosity. Your Master might not like a mere Outer Disciple being indebted to you. You’ve already both humbled me far too much by allowing me to attend the auction together with you. The airship will be waiting for you both outside, so please enjoy the trip back to the Sect.”

He bowed to them both and left the room as quickly as possible to try and avoid further questioning. He tried to look embarrassed when talking about not wanting to borrow money. The hope was that being shameful would distract them from what happened earlier.

Just wishful thinking, I’ve already been compromised.

He’d never forgotten how dangerous it was to work with seals, and that danger had finally caught up with him. It felt like there was a terrible clock clicking down inside his head. His heartbeat was starting to speed up despite his best efforts to control it. Leaving the auction house he could only hope that the attendant took some time to report the incident. Once he was a couple blocks away he took off the cloak and hood he had put on before leaving the auction house. He’d already changed his skin, hair, and eye color when he entered the alley and he hoped that the stark difference might buy him at least a little bit more time.

Heading down the street, he stepped into an Inn and rented a room for a single night. Everything valuable was already inside the Universe Ring, but he double checked and made sure to just have a decoy Storage Ring on his finger. Then he changed his outfit and linked with a new insect. He thought about sneaking out inside an insect, but he’d already seen how well guarded Daggerguard City was so he hopped out a window. His instincts screamed at him to flee immediately, but he fought them and walked down the streets looking for a proper target. Noticing a merchant caravan forming up, Sage called over one of the younger guards.

“Greetings Sir. Can you do me a favor?”