Tom, Ren and Christopher stared at the large screen while Rembrandt’s finger nimbly did something on a tablet. The name ‘Eteris’ appeared on the large walled screen.

“Eteris is the application developed by Artefact Exchange to facilitate item and raw material trade. Currently, the application is only available via our branches but our company is working around the clock to bring it everywhere in the solar system in the next couple of months so you’ll be able to use it while at home.”

Ambitious and impressive but this didn’t exactly concern the group. They needed to buy good items for their travel further into the east and Artefact Exchange was the only medium available to them.

“What kind of modifiers interest you?” Rembrandt asked as he took a seat in the fourth armchair.

The three men exchanged glances, they weren’t prepared for that. What Tom had in mind was more of a shop with available items. But maybe it was better this way.

“Anything with cooldown reduction?” Ren asked first.

“Sure,” Rembrandt said and typed the words into the search engine of Eteris.

The list of items sorted by level, rarity, approximate strain on spirit, type of transaction and finally price, appeared on the screen.

“Can you sort it by price, from the cheapest to the most expensive” Ren asked, seeing eye-watering numbers, and Rembrandt did it right away.

The cheapest item with a cooldown reduction modifier was ninety-nine million credits and it barely decreased cooldown by 5%.

With a polite smile Rembrandt asked, “anything of interest?”

Tom didn’t know if the question was genuine or not but this was a farce. They didn’t have means to buy such outrageously expensive items. Even if Tom funds hadn’t been confiscated by the World Government, he would still have around a quarter of a million dollars (or solar credits as they called it now).

“Well, we hoped that there would be something within our budget,” Christopher said.

“Which is?”

“Seventy-five thousand.”

“Oh, I see.” Rembrandt nodded and to his credit, his attitude didn’t change. “In this case, I must warn you, the cheapest rift item is listed for around a million credits right now. But if you’re looking for crafted items, there is a chance to find a couple pieces within your budget.”

“What’s the difference?” Christopher asked.

“Crafted items very rarely have modifiers other than attributes. They are easier to obtain and therefore tend to be cheaper,” Rembrandt replied then quickly added. “It doesn’t mean that a crafted item cannot be expensive. We sold one just a week ago for a price equivalent to several billion credits. It was the only Level 4 item we had so far on offer.”

“Level 4?” Tom asked.

“Equivalent?” Ren added his question.

“What does it mean?” Christopher inquired for clarification.

Rembrandt put the tablet aside, put leg over leg and gave them a wary look. To Tom’s Level 5 senses, Rembrandt was like a blank page. There was no telling what Level this man was. He certainly was using items.

“While I am not at liberty to tell how this item was obtained, I can tell you that the top echelons don’t bother themselves with solar credits or scrolls. They use rift orbs to trade instead.”

“What about lesser orbs?” Tom asked, remembering an orb they had found in Jamaica.

“They are worth much less but still very expensive. We are actually auctioning a few right now.” The screen flickered and several auctions of lesser orbs appeared. The lesser orbs and bidders were anonymous. Only the highest bids were available and Tom’s eyes itched seeing them. Nothing less than sixty million credits. And to think that he’d used his lesser orb without a regard about the potential value.

Ren gave him a knowing look, realising the same thing. A single orb like this would make them rich. An idea formed inside Tom’s head. Its viability wasn’t its strong side though, but he didn’t think that easy things could make them money right now.

They said nothing about the lesser orb they’d used.

“I think we have strayed away from the topic. So, are you interested in crafted items?”

They were. For now.

They spend the next two hours searching for the right items. The cheapest crafted items were listed for around ten thousand credits, which wasn’t that bad, price-wise. Unfortunately, the items were underwhelming. Bulky armours with a single attribute modifier. Rembrandt explained to them that the smaller items tend to cost much more because more of them can be used at the same time.

For example, a ring of the same Level and with the same attribute modifier cost twice as much as the armour. They didn’t want to spend all their funds for meagre power up.

The cheapest ‘+1 to all attributes’ ring cost a hundred thousand credits but interestingly none of them was a Contender Ring as these rings couldn’t be used by anyone other than an owner. In the end, Rembrandt offered them a deal. A ring with a 1 to all attributes modifier to each of them in exchange for particular Level 3 monster parts from the desert. Anything else, he’d buy out from them at a fair price as well.

Ren was against taking the deal because it meant they’d have to return to Arshem, which would extend their journey considerably. Christopher and Tom couldn’t say no to the opportunity. Rembrandt explained to them what and why he required it to be brought back.

Like with the flying monsters, this type had a gimmick as well and that made its heart so expensive. It burrowed beneath the ground and was quite large and as long as a bus. Unsurprisingly, Eteris contained a lot of information about the monsters as well and normally, accessing it would incur cost but Rembrandt did it for free although not out of his altruistic nature.

“I’m afraid we must refuse the offer, we’re short on time,” Ren said before Tom or Christopher could accept it.

The decline didn’t seem to have an effect on Rembrandt. He stood up, then asked them to give him a moment. With that, the man left the room for a minute. When he returned, he said, “I just spoke to my manager and he agreed to give you an extraction beacon. After you find what we’re looking for, activate the beacon and we’ll come to you. You will save time this way.”

“I agree,” Tom said before Ren could refuse again.

“Me too,” Christopher added, working in tandem with Tom.

“Fine,” Ren sighed.

Rembrandt brought them rings from a vault. Because of the strategic location, Arshem branch had a stock of many crafted items. They signed an agreement and received the rings and the extraction beacon.

With that done, the three men left Artefact Exchange.

***

Finding an affordable hotel with three vacant beds was quite a challenge. No surprise that there were several massive buildings in construction. Eventually, they found a place but it cost them a small fortune of five thousand credits for a day. Even if they sold their mana they would only make 790 credits per day, nowhere near the cost of the hotel.

Food on the other hand was cheap, unless one wanted Level 1 or 2 food, which was available now too. And there was a steep price curve as well. Plants were more expensive but nothing ridiculous. Rift meat was a different story. A kilogram of treated and cooked rift meat cost up to fifteen thousand credits.

“Why is this meat so expensive if there are so many dead monsters out there?” Christopher asked at one of the rift butchers. “We can bring…”

A lean blond shook his head, silencing Christopher.

“Rift meat is cheap,” he said. “Making the meat safe for consumption is not.”

“How do you make it safe for consumption?”

The man behind the counter only shook his head in response. Obviously it was some kind of trade secret and no one sane would be giving it away to strangers.

“It’s worth figuring this out,” Tom said when they left the butcher’s shop. “There is quite a demand for the meat despite its price. It’d also be handy out there in the wild.”

“Once the process gets common, the price would fall,” Christopher noted. “Everything is outrageously expensive right now because there is very little supply. Give it a time and rings like these would cost a few hundred credits at most.”

“Oh, I agree but…” Tom lowered his voice. The streets were packed with people and chaos and clamour were making it unlikely for anyone to overhear their conversation. “By the time these things get that cheap, we’ll have Level 10 rifts out there and no one would bother themselves with meagre attribute modifiers. We must take a leap.”

“We don’t have time for leaps,” Ren joined the conversation, his voice concerned. If he was about to complain again Tom was going to knock him out.

“We’ve been over this, Ren. We’ll follow your friend once we’re ready.” Not for the first time, Tom considered using his Talent on his companions. Obviously, he couldn’t do anything about the contract he’d signed. His Talent erased memories of him but didn’t affect physical objects like pictures or video. Maybe his major upgrade at Level 10 would offer something like this. Who could tell? This world knew barely anything about what was possible and what was not.

“So, I guess you have a plan,” Christopher said.

“Indeed. We’re going to clear a few rifts in the desert.”

***

They left the city the next morning after they filled their dimensional pouch to the brim with provisions. The pouch was so valuable that they didn’t even consider selling it. Yes, it was most likely worth millions but some things were priceless.

Unless, I knock them out, take the pouch back to Artefact Exchange and sell it… nah, no. Who am I trying to fool? I am not that kind of person anymore.

Tom left it at that and didn’t return to the topic.

With several uncleared Level 3 rifts, the desert saw massive popularity. More roads were being built that led from Arshem to the desert. Helicopters and planes frequented the sky above them. There were smaller hotels and food distribution centres along the road. Thousands of ascenders moved like a river toward the desert where it was supposed to meet with ruthless tides of monsters.

Because of their Level advantage, the three men were able to outpace most of the procession, not that it mattered as it didn’t seem to have a beginning or an end. Eventually, they approached a stone wall, five metres high. The only way to the other side was beneath the wall through a specially-designed control point. Queues were as long as the procession itself.

“How much time would it take to go around the wall?” Ren asked, growing impatient. Suddenly, the food distribution centres made sense.

“Impossible,” an Asian-looking man said. He had a small moustache and was Level 2. He wore a hunting outfit. “The rumour goes that Arshem is building the wall around the entire desert. Plus, entering without a valid permit is forbidden.”

“Permit?”

“Of course…” the oriental man’s brows furrowed. “You actually know that you must register in Arshem and get a permit to pass through the wall, right?”

Blank stares were the only answer for a moment.

“What?”

The other man showed them an electronic card with his name and picture.

Tom pulled Ren and Christopher away, then said, “We’ll need your Talent, Ren.”

The oriental man joined them again, politely smiling.

“I am sorry but I overheard you whispering.” Which was not possible without a spell or a Talent but neither man said anything, waiting for the stranger to continue. “While I do not know what your Talent is, I guess it is something that will help you get on the other side of the wall.”

Tom placed a hand on Ren’s and Christopher’s shoulders. It was a sign to let him deal with the nosy brat. After they were done here, Tom would be able to use his Talent and make the other man forget everything he’d heard from Tom.

“Maybe, why?”

“If they catch you on the other side without a permit, you’ll be killed.”

“Thanks for the warning, mate,” Tom said, trying to sound nonchalantly. He turned away and dragged his two companions away again.

They had a problem.

“Who are we blaming for this?” he asked.