Miriam and Timothy entered the store, not really expecting an answer to their questions.

Severin was a bit embarrassed being caught in a position that must’ve looked like he was staring at the counter, like an idiot.

But the two didn’t think too much about it. They just wanted their loot.

“Hey, you two. Congrats Tim. Heard about your level-up.” He decided to ignore the matter and act like he didn’t hear them. Instead, he changed the topic while making his way around to the other side of the counter.

“Thank you, Severin!” Tim beamed while he turned to look at Miriam in a deliberate manner. She had to try very hard to keep a deadpan face, acting like she didn’t care.

He was naturally at a higher level than Miriam, even before the most recent level-up, given that he had started his adventuring career a few years earlier than her. And since then, they pretty much went through the same things, making it virtually impossible for Miriam to overtake him. They were close enough to each other that it didn’t really matter, but it still made for a great tease whenever it came up.

“Sam told us you can inspect our loot for us?”

Severin wondered if Samuel had said anything else after his strange behavior, but knew better than to ask. Still, he obviously put a certain amount of trust in Severin. Enough to send his two mentees to see him.

Getting one's gear inspected or identified wasn’t as straightforward as buying a potion.

First of all, there was the whole pricing issue. Pay a fixed amount? Or one based on the item’s value?

Both approaches could be found, and while the latter one was more widespread and also the one adopted by the System, it came with its own set of problems.

Who decided the actual worth of the item? And what if the newly identified item turned out to be a rare treasure so that suddenly the fee became unexpectedly high. Maybe even unaffordable to the person who found it.

Of course, in most cases, those things wouldn’t really be a problem. Those things could usually be resolved easily if everyone involved was somewhat sensible. In the worst case, the Society would get involved and either mediate or, if need be, punish any fraudulent party that tried to ‘seize’ an item.

The second, and for most people, more concerning issue, was the confidentiality aspect.

The information of who owned some rare or valuable item could be very attractive to certain groups of people.

‘Well, it’s unlikely they brought anything too rare anyway.’

“Sure. Just put them here.”

Both of them came closer to the counter, opposite Severin.

Out of nowhere, two small heaps of gear appeared on top of it, startling Severin even though he knew it was coming. From then on, four eyes followed his every move with bated breath.

Severin stretched out his hand to grab an item, laying in front of Timothy, that piqued his curiosity.

‘What is that supposed to be?’ It looked like a relatively short but thick and overall very plain-looking cord or rope.

The moment he touched the item, he instinctively activated the (Identify) skill. He was a bit reserved at first, but it turned out to work exactly like his crafting skills and recipes. There was no chance to mess anything up. Even if he couldn’t explain or describe the way it worked, he instantly knew how to use it. Just like one wouldn’t be able to explain how they moved their limbs. They just did. And just like his limbs, he felt like he could similarly stretch out his senses over a small distance. Allowing him to activate the skill in a radius around him, even without physically touching the object, if he wanted to.

‘Yeah, better not do that for now.’ He remembered Samuel’s strange reaction and decided to refrain from using it like that.

A slightly more transparent than usual tooltip appeared the next moment.

Severin only paid attention to the name and item type.

[Sturdy Girdle (Belt)]

He couldn’t help but snort at this.

‘Someone is supposed to wear that thing as a belt? Like a Monk?’

He glanced at Timothy in his black robes, seeing he already wore a similar ‘belt’.

The two piles of items had obviously been presorted.

‘So, they already knew the item type at least. Not too strange, I guess.

Now, I don’t know much about stats, but that doesn’t look like caster gear to me at all.’

Severin was about to continue his work and focus on the next item when he got interrupted.

“So? What is it?” Timothy could hardly keep the impatience out of his voice.

“Can you do it or not?”

Severin was stumped for a moment. He looked up from the item with a questioning look. First, facing the young mage before turning to Miriam, who looked just as irritated. After a moment of awkward silence, it dawned on him, and he turned back to the item.

‘Oh, man. I totally forgot about that part.’ He focused on the Girdle, and the tooltip took on its usual light-blue color.

‘So that’s what it was.’

“Sorry. Here you go.” He hadn’t paid much attention to the ‘choose to reveal’ part of the skills description before.

“Haha. Look at those stats, Tim! Maybe I should wear that thing.”

“…”

After that, the two couldn’t keep their calm.

Severin proceeded to identify the remaining items one after another, pausing just long enough in between to give them a chance to take in the revealed information and briefly discuss them.

Or rather shout; In either disappointment or joy.

“Look at those boots! Let’s see how you’re gonna escape me now.”

“Pah! Have you already forgotten the additional stamina on that hat? So what if you get another hit in.”

“With the damage on those rings here? Why don’t you find out.”

“Like I won't get a boost to my damage!”

While the two bickered, a strange thought popped into Severin’s head.

‘Am I…opening loot boxes for them?’

…

Sadly the fun was only short-lived. Their total of 7 items was already quite the amount, considering they had to split the loot earned in 4 dungeons with the rest of their temporary group.

Thinking about it, Severin was astounded by the extent of their spoils.

“How much loot…”

‘If I assume a group size of 5 people with the loot getting somewhat evenly split…and if the two of them got 7 items…anywhere between 16 and 20 items or so in total?’

As if understanding his exact line of thought, Miriam answered the unspoken question.

“Around here, it’s not too uncommon to directly buy loot off of other people. Especially if it hasn’t been inspected yet.” She grabbed the rope and dangled it over the counter.

“Like this thing here. Right, Tim?” The slight mockery in her voice couldn’t be missed. “How much did you pay? 100?”

‘Yeah…loot boxes.’

“At least I have the level to equip it if I wanted to.”

“Ohoho. Severin, I’ll take a complete refill of potions. Tim, you better get ready too.”

“Sure thing. What about the Weapon oil? I have a new product.”

“Samuel told us about that. Sure, give me two. Might as well try it. But not against him.” She pointed with her head towards the mage.

“Got too much magic defense. His only defense, really.”

tzz

“I’ll take the same. Minus the oil. Please. Ah, no. I still have some health potions left. So I only need…”

“What do you mean you still have health potions left? I have given you all of the resource replenishing ones, and you kept the health ones to yourself?”

“You can’t use them anyway! But I too need health…” He wanted to cry.

While squabbling, they still quickly figured out how much they owed Severin.

Including the two dosages of oil and the identifying fee, the whole thing amounted to 182 gold coins.

Seeing that only a measly share of 18gold and 20 silver coins made it into his personal balance, Severin felt wronged by the System. Once again. Reminding him of the Quest he had just gotten. Or, more specifically, of the attached reward.

‘7 out of 10. Now I’m stuck again! What kind of shitty quest-design is that?!’

The moment the two had paid up, they all but fled the store, heading towards their usual battlefield.