After she made arrangements for Carnivore, Ye Ci decided to go clean up her warehouse. She took out all of the items she stole from the Steel Blooded Battle Spear that she felt like would be best utilised for the guild's purposes.
When she was clearing out the warehouse, Ye Ci noticed a Mysterious Map. Upon closer examination, she remembered that this was one of the loot drops from the Sandstorm Scorpion. She had reported the Sandstorm Scorpion BUG right after and had forgotten to appraise the map. It was left in her warehouse, and now that she thought of it, it was a waste to leave it there.
She took the map out and decided to go get it appraised. She took some materials out of her warehouse before leaving and handed them to Remote Depths in the guild encampment. She then headed to the Red Lake City Appraisal Hall.
Appraisal Halls were always lively in every game. In Fate, most of the equipment had visible stats, but there were some special equipment and items with hidden attributes that would only show up after they were appraised. There were a lot of big guilds, but there were more smaller guilds than there were big guilds, and the number of solo players greatly outnumbered the small guilds. Guilds tended to favor dungeon clearing. while it was more common for solo players to grind their experience in the wild. Almost anything dropped in the wild needed to be appraised. Thus, the Appraisal Hall was always crowded no matter what happened.
Ye Ci entered the Appraisal Hall, looked around and made a beeline towards the youngest looking Appraiser who was sitting in the corner.
Of the 20-odd Appraisers in the Red Lake City Appraisal Hall, this Appraiser's booth was the most unfrequented one. Although technically they were in a game, people would still tend to apply their values in the real world to the gaming world. In real life, people would prefer to look for an older individual, as an older person might have more experience.
For example, old Chinese traditional medicine practitioners, older masters, etc.
Youths, in comparison, gave people the impression that they would be inept at their job. That was why all the older Appraisers' booths were swarmed with players who clamored for their services, whereas this younger Appraiser had no more than 3 customers.
However, Ye Ci knew something that the others do not.
In the future, Red Lake City would be able to attract a large population of players. This would not be solely due to its good geographical location, but also for another reason: The city was home to Dalayar Continent's one and only Grandmaster Appraiser. The aforementioned Appraiser was none other than this very youth who appeared to be unreliable: Tick.
Of course, all of this would only happen in the next two to three years. At the current stage of the game, Tick was nothing more than just a Medium Tier Appraiser.
Just like players, the various NPCs in Fate are also able to level up by honing their skills. Appraisers could level up by appraising a huge quantity of items. There was, of course, another way: appraising a rare item. This would greatly raise the proficiency of an Appraiser.
Appraisers started their career at Medium Tier mastery. Compared to the other Appraisers, Tick's proficiency lagged behind by a large margin, as many of the players refused to let him appraise their items due to his young appearance... Even if he was approached to appraise something, they were usually low value items. As a result, his proficiency progression was stagnant. Quite a few Appraisers had already increased their mastery to High Tier.
An NPC would be penalized by the system if they were unable to raise their proficiency level. This was something all NPCs wanted to avoid.
Besides, Tick had a good personality compared to the other Appraisers who were all bad tempered. Although it was really hard to level up, he did not let the frustration show. Instead, he was cheerful and made sure he was on his best behaviour when he was serving his customers.
"Hello, Miss Elf. May I ask if you have anything for me to appraise?" Tick showed a warm expression and asked in a very pleasant manner the moment Ye Ci sat in front of his booth.
Ye Ci studied the face of this polite Human. To be honest, she would never allow the Appraiser, who was at the young age of about 16 years old, to appraise her item if she didn't have prior knowledge that he would be a Grandmaster Appraiser one day. It seemed that the journey to be a Grandmaster Appraisal was not an easy one.
"It's this item I have here." Ye Ci took out the Mysterious Map, placed it on top of the table, and pushed it in front of Tick. "Can you please take a look?"
Tick smiled, and then took the map from Ye Ci. Tick's expression unexpectedly changed after studying the map. He then pushed the map back towards Ye Ci. "Miss Elf, are you sure you don't want somebody else to appraise this?"
What the? Ye Ci did not understand. "What do you mean?"
"With an item like this, are you sure you don't want somebody more experienced to…?"
Tick was interrupted by Ye Ci before he could finish his words. She raised her eyebrows. "So, do you mean that you are unable to appraise this?"
Her words were a direct mockery of Tick's capabilities. A hint of sorrow appeared on Tick's youthful face, "I didn't mean it like that."
"Then, why?"
"I just feel that Miss Elf would definitely give this item to an Appraiser with more experience to appraise it."
"Are you me? How would you know what I'm thinking?" Ye Ci narrowed her eyes. This Grandmaster NPC was definitely very different from the other NPCs. He even had a higher mental function that allowed him to contemplate about the ways of the world.
"Appraise it. I can afford the fees." She silently pushed the map back at him.
Tick was momentarily stunned before he fumbled with the map and began studying it intently. His hands trembled slightly and a golden light emanated from his palms. The map was bathed in this golden light. The time taken to appraise the map was apparently way longer than the time it normally would take to appraise a normal item. It was a good thing that there were very few visitors to Tick's booth, or people would begin grumbling.
Ye Ci began to grow impatient after a full minute had passed. However, she did not wish to disturb Tick who was appraising the map intently, and opted to continue waiting. Sweat beaded on Tick's forehead.
Suddenly, dazzling rays of golden light shone from Tick. He rested his hands on the table and opened his eyes, beaming at Ye Ci. "Miss Elf, the appraisal is done." With that, he pushed the map towards Ye Ci.
"How much doest it cost?"
"I-It's free." Tick shook his head, his cheeks were flushing red. "Because of your trust, I've managed to level up. This is my biggest gain. How can I still ask for your money?"
It seems that the golden light was an indication that Tick had leveled up. Ye Ci nodded as she stood, and prepared to leave, "Alright then."
"The next time you need some good stuff appraised, do not hesitate to seek me out, I will give you the best price for the best value." As Ye Ci left, Tick stood up and bowed towards her. A system notification followed, "You've reached an intimacy level of 'Respected' with the High Tier Appraiser Tick."
She had struck it big this time. To be able to gain the friendship of the future Grandmaster Appraiser through that one Mysterious Map was worth it. Just what sort of map was it? Upon leaving the Appraisal Hall, Ye Ci then took out the map out of her pocket.
Only now did the name of the item was revealed. The Mysterious Map was actually a map called Hidden Treasure Gulf.
The Hidden Treasure Gulf.
It was a good place.
In Fate, there were hidden mysterious maps available to players other than the one listed on the maps of each continent. To enter these hidden maps, players had to obtain the map pieces. Only players who had the map in their possession were able to enter these places. Players had 72 hours to explore the map. Once the time was up, even if the player was unable to completely explore the map, everything in the map would be made available to the rest of the players, including the spoils within.
Hidden Treasure Gulf was one of the four Hidden Unexplored Maps in the Eastern Continent. Its difficulty was mediocre. As for the loot…Ye Ci had no knowledge of the loot as she had never been there in her last life.
Ye Ci would be lying if she claimed to not be happy to obtain the map.
Ye Ci almost passed out from the excitement. She immediately began to set off in the direction of her warehouse. She headed straight to the Hidden Treasure Gulf after making the necessary preparations. As she made her way to the Hidden Treasure Gulf, Ye Ci contacted Remote Depths, informing him that she would not be around to help with any guild-related stuff for a few days. As they were having their conversation, a private message from Zero Arsenic arrived.
"Gongzi You, are you there?"
"I'm here." The private message from Zero Arsenic spoiled Ye Ci's good mood, but she was able to recover her spirits after a short moment.
"Gleaming Sunshine and Leftie have agreed to meet with you. When are you available?"
"Now." Ye Ci gritted her teeth. Weren't they childhood friends? Why was a stranger arranging their meeting for them?
Zero Arsenic then sent her the location, and Ye Ci replied curtly. "Give me a few moments, I'll be there shortly."