[Self-Defined Order is a Draconic Core which is classified as extremely rare, even among Dragons themselves. Self-Defined Order is a Special Type Core, unlike the Common type, which is Fighting or Defense, Uncommon being Spatial, Musical, and Literature, and Rarely is it ever Elemental or Law, which you don't need to worry about.]
[Self-Defined Order - A Core type which allows the influx of Mana and flexibility of Abilities, people with other Cores or other paths are only able to use techniques from their own Path, such as for you, is Arcane. But you can use Techniques from Literature, and also the Undead Path, though the Undead will be harder to do undercover. Self-Defined Order is a Two-Stage Core, with this being the First Stage, and the Second Stage being Unnamed.]
"...Interesting, wait, I can use a Human Disguise, can I not?"
[Indeed you can, perfect timing, good job on me >:D]
"...More like bad timing because you took that long to understand something small like that?" Caelus thought, replying to Aphro
[Heyyy, it's a larger description I got, I just summarized it for you after looping around on certain parts correlating >:d]
"Alright, Alright, sorry about that," Caelus replied, chuckling, moving away from the entrance into a small, hidden alley, changing his body as his tail disappeared; alongside that, his horns and scales shifted into human skin, and his body became shorter, resembling... His old body.
"...Wow, you really have a sense of humor, don't you, Aphro?" Caelus chuckled, leaving the alley as he went back to the entrancing, then went in and saw that no beings considered Demonic or Demonic Adjacent are allowed in.
Finally inside, Caelus sat near the back, looking quite bored as people sat next to each other, some of high rank clearly in their clothing, while others were cultivators. Meanwhile, he looked between the two, as if to say that Tellus was both a Viscount's child and a Cultivator.
"I've heard of the rumors that a Dragon has actually come to the country; we should worry that it might cause some destruction." One man spoke, calm in tone but clearly worried, speaking to his wife.
"Indeed, I do wonder what the Church is going to do for this. Most likely they'll watch... If they could find it, I've heard they can change form into humans, so they're probably disguised most of the time." His wife replied that more people were there, hearing them speak as they conversed while waiting for the announcer to begin.
From the Corner of his eye, he noticed someone he had seen way earlier, the girl who had left the room that helped him escape, having to fight someone a lot stronger than him, that lady at the stall. "...I still do want to know why she instantly went to do that type of attack, if she could see how strong I was right now."
"Welcome!!! There is a chance a Dragon is in the Empire, so why not begin the entire auction off with something that will help you reach a higher realm! It's a plant commonly found at the top of mountains; despite there being no other plants, it still grows even in the rock."
As the announcer spoke, people returned to their seats as quickly as possible, their expressions changing to delight, because they needed it to advance further in their cultivation.
Next to him sat a lady who looked extremely excited, or at least, dreamy even. Which he found weird, since he didn't expect a world like this to have people he didn't want, especially in high society.
The voice of the announcer became a blur for only half a second, only for him to snap back into focus as he continued listening.
"The starting bid is at 10 Gold, especially since this will help make a pill which will allow you to reach the Virtuoso stage, along with it, the plant is over one hundred years old, even without something taking care of it, so it has a higher chance of making a more powerful pill!"
As people began bidding, going up by one, gold, Caelus found it, so that it might've been useful, at least for him if he didn't have the Vase, but he wouldn't bid on it, though the lady next to him did. won, spending 38 gold.
Staying quiet, he let them continue getting more items, listening to the announcer list them off, going from herbs for cultivation to manuals for certain moves, which weren't that rare. Still, now, since it was getting rarer, Caelus looked up. About forty minutes had passed.
"It seems you haven't bid on anything. Are you sure you have enough for these?" The lady asked. "Oh, I must've forgotten to introduce myself. I'm Anastasia Aurelia." Her voice was soft but crisp, waiting for his reply.
"It's because nothing here is something I've needed; the name is simply Caelus." He replied in a feminine tone, something that was a stark contrast to his draconic form, especially since his body was back to its original self, mainly as a disguise.
"I see, well, then I hope you have enough to get what you need, now the items will begin costing close to hundreds of gold coins," Anastasia replied, with a soft smile as her face was covered by a fan.
"Alright, now time for a higher level. We'll be starting off with a pill that'll cause you to reach the peak of your Realm and a few stages of the next Realm! starting at fifty gold!"
The announcer spoke, his voice getting louder. Caelus was definitely interested now, but he wanted to see if there was a catch, as they stopped as people began adding only one coin per bid.
Caelus finally spoke up. Only for Anastasia, right before bidding: "70 Gold."
A jump from it reaching 62 gold, only to go up by eight, which, while now it felt small, was enough of a difference that Caelus would be able to buy his own food without the extra bones and all.
Caelus finally took his chance. "90 Gold." Loudly, just so the announcer could hear it.
"Oh wow, larger jumps now it seems, well, then going once?"
A second passed, and no one said anything. "Going twice, Sold."
Caelus saw this as the only worthwhile perchance, as he didn't think there would be anything that topped that. Only for him to hear.
"Now, for our following item, it is a staff of an old mage, one that comes from the Eastern Continent. He has recently sold his wand as he made a new, stronger one. If you do not know, they hold the Mana of the old Mage, enough to launch an attack beyond its own capability! But only once, the starting price will be 200 gold."
"210 Gold!" One man spoke from the cultivators' side, with a calm expression, as he seemed confident he'd be able to get it, especially since his aura was keeping the others nearby down.
"Weird... Why are they selling something that powerful here? It should be for something like for those at Virtuoso at least..." Caelus thought it was suspicious, so he wouldn't bid on it. There was no reason someone would sell it to weak people, even if they got a new staff.
After it passed and the cultivator got it, he looked smug about it, and that's about where the auction ended, except for the Wyvern and Drake Egg, which were sold, both to nobles on the side Caelus was sitting on.
Getting up, he walked in the direction Anastasia was going. Since he was new to this entire world and to this Auction thing, he reached a point where people paid and got their items. Entering right after Anastasia, he found a lady holding what he'd bought.
Walking to the lady, he handed her 90 gold, pulling it from his pocket and dropping it into her hand. He then took the pill, holding it in his hand. He saw some slight imperfections, especially with his thermal vision, but found nothing else wrong.
Turning away, he was about to leave, with an hour having passed, only to notice the cultivator who was keeping others from getting that wand walk up to him. "...Keep calm."
Caelus blinked, staring at him walk over, to which Caelus simply continued forward, going to leave the auction room, putting the pill in his pocket.
"Hey! You there, you don't look like a noble or a cultivator... So why are you here?" He spoke in a rough and grave voice. Clearly talking to Caelus. "Why did you even buy that pill? It's not like you'd know someone who cultivates with how you look."
Caelus listened, only to keep walking away. He didn't want to deal with arguing with someone; even if it was seen as rude, he wouldn't care much. His Mana flooded out to see if the person would attack.
Finally, outside, he walked to the left, going into an alley and transforming back into his Draconic form, while making sure no one was nearby to see him go in, leaving once more, his tail swung to the side, hitting the man's leg, causing him to fall to the ground, not painful but still causing him to lose balance.
His body returned to its large size, and his clothing changed to match it. It was convenient. Finally reaching Tellus's home, he looked over there. Blinking, he mightn't do it there and instead go to the Mountain where the Corrupted Wyvern was.
Turning to leave, Mana flooded his leg, a lot more than he did for jumping to the Auction area, and in a flash, he disappeared, at least to the commoners and people who were there, other than some Virtuoso Cultivators who could see him.
In just a minute, he turned to the turning section, realizing he traveled a lot faster without his body getting hurt. Stopping himself, he readied himself and continued forward, reaching where the Mountain would be in about Six Minutes, maybe with a bit of extra time. Jumping up because his Mana was still at his legs, he reached near the peak.
As soon as he touched the ground, he noticed it felt much cleaner. Oddly, the corruption from whatever parasite from before had been gone, going in from the hole the parasite left from, he saw the body still there, to which the blood still painted the walls and floor, he found it annoying and thus let his Mana spread out and absorb all the blood into it, which went back to his body.
It didn't hurt him so much because he was immune to the Wyvern's poison, since his blood was a lot more dangerous for others than a Wyvern's is, and it could mix well.
"Well, looks like it's time to reach Virtuoso... And train my Burning Temptation."
Caelus spoke to himself, taking out the pill and then taking out the Vase, dropping the pill inside. The Vase began shaking, fell from his hand, and landed on the ground. It spat out the pill.
Caelus quickly grabbed it and then took the Vase, putting it back into his inventory as quick as possible. Holding the pill, he noticed a golden aura. Along with that, the pill itself no longer had any sort of imperfections, being a perfect sphere, which should've been impossible.
"So how good is it now, Aphro?" Caelus asked, wanting to know before he took it.
[Just from seeing it right now, it's able to make you jump past this Realm and half way into Virtuoso but you'd still need to get used to that Realm so it'll take a few months before you can continue growing, but by that time Tellus might just be one stage beyond the start of Soul Formation, so no need to worry!]
Caelus listened, swallowing the pill as he sat down, the ground beneath him shifting slightly, as if to make him more comfortable, and his Mana spreading more evenly through his body.