Before any miner was allowed to leave for the day, they had to stop and turn in their tools at the entrance, which was essentially a large cave sectioned into parts. The tools and wheelbarrows were kept in one area, while another had been set up with a few square tables and chairs in a makeshift breakroom. A final section was completely barred off, save for a small opening in the center, behind which sat a surly accountant. Rows of chests were stacked against the wall inside the locked enclosure, each filled with gems. Several guards lounged against the bars.

There, Max turned in his wheelbarrow and pickaxe, and paid his daily fees; 60% of his gems went to the mine proprietor, while the guards took a 10% cut. As the accountant counted, Max's thoughts jumped to the black stone sitting in his inventory... should he declare it? The stone wasn't exactly a gem, but he had a strong intuition the item would be confiscated the second he mentioned it.

He glanced at the guards stationed just inside the mine's steel gates. It was possible he could sneak it through... but if he were caught trying to smuggle gems out, he'd earn himself a good beating. Oh yes, they'd make him run the gauntlet for sure. Still, he could survive that; though the pain was just as intense as in the real world, it was only temporary. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like the risk was worth it. The stone might be completely useless—Max didn't know, but it sure felt like treasure.

"Ahem!"

The accountant was holding a lootbag out through the bars, which held Max's take of the day's gems. He shook it impatiently.

"Thanks," Max mumbled. He took it and, gathering his breath and courage, approached the guards at the gate.

One guard came towards him lazily. "Inventory check," he said, while the other passed a smooth wooden wand up, down, and across Max’s entire body. It was standard procedure. If there were any undeclared gems hidden upon his person—inventory included—the wand would sense them and emit red sparks out the end. A magic talisman courtesy of Proprietor Skole’s hired wizard, Aldor.

Max tried to keep his cool as the wand passed over. First his head, then arms, torso and waist... his breath almost caught as the wand moved across his inventory satchel, but nothing happened. No red sparks. The wand stayed still the entire time, confirming that there were no gems stashed away anywhere in his belt or boots. The guards stepped aside and beckoned him to exit.

Only after he passed through the gate and heard it shut behind him, did Max finally relax. Just like he suspected, the stone was no gem. If it was, Aldor's talisman surely would've sensed it. He'd seen it happen before. Max took a deep breath. He almost laughed at how hard his chest was pounding!

Outside the mines, the sun had already fallen behind the high peaks towering at Max's back. Even so, for someone who had just spent 16 hours in a dim mining tunnel, the natural light still stung. Max was forced to shield his eyes with a forearm. He waited and allowed himself to enjoy the crisp mountain air. After a whole day of tasting little else but dust and metal, it was like drinking a cool glass of water after spending hours in a desert.

Soon, his vision adjusted, and Max started down the slope to the Exchanger's shack. The way he saw it, there were probably two people in the whole mining camp who might be able to identify the stone. One was the wizard Aldor. For obvious reasons, namely the man's strong allegiance to Proprietor Skole, he wasn't an option. The other was the Exchanger.

Max hardly felt the Fatigue slowing his movement. Like any good mystery, the possibilities of what the strange black stone could be filled his mind and pulled him forward relentlessly.

As a whole, Brix was a decently-sized mining settlement. A variety of dark timber buildings arrayed themselves across the grounds, all enclosed within a half-circle palisade wall set against the mountains. The guardhouse and the inn were the two biggest buildings, followed by Proprietor Skole’s two-story home. There were smaller cabins too, for the few guards and miners who could afford their own private lodgings.

Max also passed by the Blacksmith's and the general store on the way to the Exchanger's shack. He was pleased to see no line running out the door. Everyone else had already exchanged their gems, and were either enjoying themselves in Rilliard’s tavern or already logged out.

He stepped into the shack. Over the counter stood a small, wiry man, with eyebrows so bushy they nearly obscured the warm eyes hiding underneath. The counter had several different scales of varying sizes. The man looked up from his ledger, squinting behind his spectacles as Max approached.

“A straggler, eh? Come in, come in.”

Max tossed his sack of gems up on the counter while the old man slid over his weights and balance. “Having a good day, Jarret?” Max asked, as the man began pouring his copper gems out onto the small scale.

“A day out here in Brix is as good or bad as any other, no? However—” Jarret paused, carefully placing a counterweight, “I am quite looking forward to my pipe and rocking chair. The air is calm tonight.”

Had nobody mentioned it, Max never would have guessed that the kindly Exchanger was an NPC. Though Max asked some variation of the same question every day, Jarret never responded the same way twice. The AI was one of the things that impressed Max most about Starsword Online. The few NPCs he met were indistinguishable from real people.

“Ah! There we are. All set.”

The old man moved over to his ledger and scribbled in it with a freshly dipped quill. Almost immediately, a window shimmered into place, informing Max of the Alethia Coins deposited into his account. It wasn’t his most successful day, but it wasn’t the worst, either. He swiped the window away.

“Anything else?”

“Yes, actually—” Max began to say, but stopped himself. Was he taking a risk here, revealing the item in his possession? Jarret might not know anything about the odd stone... but it was worth a shot. What did he have to lose? He didn't think the Exchanger had any obligation to tell Skole. His mind made up, Max took the jet black stone out of his inventory and placed it on the counter. “Any idea what this is?”

Jarrett picked up the stone, his eyebrows raising with surprise. Clearly, he did not expect it to weigh so much. He held it up close to his face, angling his head to get a better look over his spectacles. “Curious… very curious indeed. It’s not a gem. At least, no gem I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen them all,” he chuckled. He placed the stone back on the counter. “I haven’t the slightest idea, but then again, I’m no Evaluator. I’m sure you could find one in Tiann City.”

“Ah, okay.” Disappointing, but not unexpected. Max dropped the stone back into his inventory. “Thanks anyway.”

“Anytime, my young friend. Say, bring me a more valuable gem one of these days, will you?”

“Sure Jarret. Any day now. See you.”