He really shouldn''t be surprised, Krow thought ruefully as he helped Sein take the Box out of its wheeled protective crate and lift it to the low table.


    Of course a Trade n would have one. An Appraisal Box was useful in determining a workable value of items whose quality could not be immediately assured.


    Like unpolished slug pearls.


    Appraisal Boxes weren''t rare in Rends. Every middling-wealthy shop had one.


    His surprise was because, somehow, in Zuhskenar, it became incredibly difficult to find one at affordable prices. One of the sources of ingredients needed to craft the item went extinct, ording to rumor.


    That had been a surprise for the transmigrated yers. There was no extinction in the game; resources respawned.


    That they didn''t in Zushkenar had been a worry.


    The revenue of crafter-yers and hunter-yers declined as conservation efforts started gaining traction among the transmigrators.


    Greenhouses, husbandry, and hunting limits were instituted in areas that yers controlled.


    They were children of Earth, after all. A world where everyone knew that without concerted efforts and education in environmentalism, the beneath their feet would die.


    That was years after the Quake though.


    All that, didn''t matter at the moment.


    Sein''s Box was one of the medium-sized ones, with a base area of a half-meter squared, and walls of sixty or so centimeters high.


    It looked like a fancy crystal-ss terrarium, with a carved stone and metal mechanical base.


    Six levers and three knobs on the base had Krow arching his brows. A Mafmet-created version then.


    Einel, helping Sein adjust the levers to the setting for slug pearls, saw his surprise. She shrugged. "They were using it as a very pretty end-table."


    Sein said a farmer had it?


    Yeah, it would''ve been a crime to leave it there.


    Mafmet-created Appraisal Boxes were more urate, especially sought after by crafters.


    "Just set it to determine basic material rarity," murmured Einel to Sein, pointing out the levers and knobs needed. "We can do a deeper analysister."


    Sein nodded. Finally, they stepped back.


    "It''s ready."


    Krow stepped up to the Box and poured the slug pearls into the Box''s bed. Even the river stones that the Inventory had separated out.


    You never knew, after all.


    Sein, vibrating with excitement, turned the knob that activated the device.


    The pearls started to levitate.


    "Oh, good," murmured one of the people watching.


    Determining material rarity divided the pearls into three levels. Everyone in the room peered at the indicators on the crystal-ss outer surface. Three bands of color showed on the ss.


    Common, Umon, Rare.


    There wererger and fancier Appraisal Boxes that could analyze the next levels, which were Unique, Epic, Legendary.


    Krow still remembered the outcry when the designations were unveiled. The rarity designations were not really used in games these days, as most immersion games preferred to rely on the actual knowledge of the yer to determine the value of an object – a more organic way of designating rarity.


    RSI disagreed.


    Apparently the old RPG standby rarity designations were ''ssic''.


    Krow thought they were put in so thepany and the game team could control the economy easier – for all the hype, defining the drax as a realworld virtual currency was a gamble, after all.


    That aside, at each level of rarity, a further analysis of value could be made using the enchanter quality grades, generally A-grade at the top to F-grade at the lowest.


    Since the Box was only set to determine only material rarity, there were only three levels that the pearls rose to.


    When the analysis finished, and the bands of color turned translucent, the room let out a cheer.


    Most of the pearls were in the Umon category, over a dozen in the Common, and amazingly there were two in the Rare tier.


    Sein grinned smugly at the room, as he was alternatively hugged and patted on the shoulder.


    Einel and one of the other girls started taking out the pearls and stones to ce onbeled trays, separated by rarity.


    "Aren''t you regretting not taking my offer of half for your information now?" Sein nudged Krow yfully.


    Krow nudged back. "Definitely not."


    This early in the game, expanded storage items were priceless. Krow had three possible locations that hadn''t been plundered yet; wasn''t letting go of those quests for anything.


    Sein nodded, with a theatrical sigh of understanding. "I wouldn''t, either. I guess I''ll have to find my own treasure maps."


    Krow tried not to wince. Like monster hunter, the profession ''treasure hunter'' didn''t exist as a subss. But with the indecent amount of ruins and hidden ruins in Zushkenar, there were many yers who made a living by looting them.


    But it was his duty as an elder to discourage such plunder into historical sites, destroying evidence of old civilizations.


    Even if by bing a monster hunter, he would likely be a party to the near extinction of multiple species of monster flora and fauna if he continued it and Enchanting as his professions after December next year.


    Heh.


    "Not a treasure map," Krow refuted.


    Technically one of the quests ended in a pirate cave, but sadly, no treasure. Just an entric enchanter and his search for perfection.


    "Also," he continued, "To be a respected treasure hunter, you have to study to be an Archaeologist first."


    Sein wrinkled his nose. "Archae-?"


    "You did say you wanted to travel. Archaeologists are dedicated to exploration. You''ll see a lot of ruins up close."


    Archaeologist was a subss dedicated to exploration of history and historical sites, and most of its higher level skills were focused on preservation and analysis. Being an Archaeologist definitely made it easier to loot ruins, but it also taught people how to safeguard sites and artifacts.


    A lot of ancient and ''lost'' knowledge turning up in the game came from Archaeologists.


    "I already see a lot of ruins," Sein huffed.


    Right. Trade ns traveled nearly non-stop.


    Krow shrugged. "Just saying."


    He removed [Bundle of Feathers] from the Inventory and swished the fluffy ones yfully toward Sein, whoughed.


    "Oh, I want to do those too!"


    "You got feathers?" the younger ones lit up, more interested in the curling gold and red feathers than the rough stones that were just a mass of grey and brown blobs.


    "Come see how to calibrate the Box to analyze feathers," called one of the older girls, and the children clustered around her immediately, Sein included.


    "You''ve dealt with the Kevaldau before," murmured Einel,ing to stand beside him.


    "No, not really," Krow shrugged. He just had friends who had contacts in the Trading ns.


    All he knew about them was that they had a stubborn streak of individualism that meant the number of ns ebbed and flowed as names disappeared and returned through the generations, they were a very private people, they were fierce fighters and vicious merchants if they didn''t like you (even if they did like you, really), and their single greatest loyalty was to their ns.


    He knew he had to be invited before going anywhere, not to talk to people who hadn''t introduced themselves (the uncle only introduced himself by saying ''I lead this caravan, the kid is my nephew'' and nothing else), and don''t interact with the children without permission from an adult.


    Huh, that was probably more than most people knew.


    The Kevaldau were really keen about keeping their secrets. Pointedly keen, even.


    He only knew that much because he didn''t have a personal workshop even as a craftmaster in Zushkenar. He was still saving up, leasing space from Craftmaster Ortholian.


    That was how he got to know the guy.


    Ortholian liked to dump the frustrating naggy meetings with his trade contacts on him, thezy cigarette-swilling sloth.


    He had only put up with it for the lowered lease payments.


    It was definitely not worth it. All the people seemed to want in the meetings was again and again the same things:


    ''Is it done yet?''


    ''How long until these orders from such and such ce are done?''


    ''Have you gotten to these items yet? I assure you, we can pay.''


    ''Commoner, you irritate me with yourck of progress. If so and so whose title is higher than mine hadn''t rmended you, I would not be here in your dingy shop.''


    And so on.


    It was Ortholian who told him that ''Kevaldau'' meant ''of the valdau, the traveler''s wagon''. It was simr in pronunciation to the dwarviran word ''kobaldos'' which was the term for an imaginary mischievous spirit in dwarviran folktales.


    The dwarvir race was less vicious about keeping their culture to themselves, which is why people understood that ''kobaldos'' meant ''goblin'' in human tongue.


    This was the reason the Trade ns were known as ''goblin caravans'' or ''goblin ns''.


    It wasn''t a polite designation.


    There weren''t many n caravans west of the U Mountain Range, where most of the trade was regted by the Dunmervin Trading Council headquartered in Duryndon Gate-city. The free nature of the ns meant that few would work under the binding contracts needed to be able to work in any kingdom that was a member of the Trading Council.


    The mechanics of trade east of the U Mountains was less centralized.


    For them to be west of the mountains, the Garvan n was one of those who kept to the traditional n trade route that circled around the continent, taking two years to navigate, or they were one of the ns who signed the Dunmervin Trade Covenants.


    "No? I invite you to experience some of our customs then."


    Suspicious. That was suspicious wasn''t it?


    He''d just spent a full minute thinking that most of what he knew about the ns was that they were secretive and protective about it. Of course it was suspicious!


    Still, Krow was getting a little ustrophobic. With the three older kids leaving their bunks and gathering around the table, the space got too crowded.


    He followed Einel.


    He regretted it.


    The horse huffed at his hair.


    Oh no.


    She''d been talking about horse-riding?!