Darius naturally was not done. He pointed to the eighth item that Oliver had taken out, which was the unremarkable copper key.
"That key opens a chest that contains the map to an unclaimed dungeon somewhere on the Fallon Continent. The previous owner hid the map because he did not have the strength to claim a dungeon for himself, so he had planned to sell it. As for what happened to him, I do not know."
Darius naturally did, as his upgraded Analyze skill could pull out a lot of information that pertained to an item's history, not just its use. The actual owner was a peasant in one of the 300 homesteads of Andrato.
The dungeon itself should be near the north, closer to the Plains of Death. However, without the chest, this key was technically useless. Darius did not know where the chest was, but he was not bothered.
Now that he knew the name of the map through the key, he could just transmute it. After all, as long as it existed in Faust, Darius could make it. The only concern was the cost, but when he became a Journeyman, that should hopefully not be a problem.
As for the crowd, their greed was sparked by the mention of a dungeon, but hearing that this was a mere key to a chest that led to it, their greed died down. Many frowned at the key while Oliver was praising the gods for its presence.
He could deal with any local Adept, but should Kubrick decide to toss his morals aside, he would bleed today. With this key acting as a buffer, he got some breathing space from the slowly mounting pressure.
Darius though, acted like he saw none of this. He pointed to the ninth item, which was the bust of the masked woman. "This item is a carving of the pious nun, Servietta. She made great contributions to her God, Yaldabaoth."
"As such, this was made to immortalize her faith, and through it, any truly pious person who genuinely worships him can make one wish after kneeling down in prayer and fasting for 1 week non-stop."
Oliver and the crowd frowned. This was technically a good item, but the condition to use it made it worthless. While many citizens knew that the Gods existed, far less worshiped them than one would expect.
Well, it did make sense. Earth had been generally religious due to the fear of the unknown that religion propounded. Who knew of the various deities from whichever religion were real or not?
Sure, it sounded far-fetched, but what if it were true? What then? That uncertainty was what had thrown the majority of the world into the hands of religion during the medieval ages.
Of course, by Darius' era, religion had mostly become a niche thing as science had taken over. Far fewer people feared the unknown and had believed in science, so they had been less pressured to believe in a deity to secure their future.
In Faust, where people knew Gods existed, but there was no 'supreme' god, their inclination towards belief was far less. Of course, many still worshiped deities for their power and providence in many aspects of life, but it was not prevalent all over Faust.
As for Darius, after knowing that Vena basically created this entire world on her own, including these so-called deities, he was far less impressed. Gunner and his clan worshiped Gaia only, so his feelings towards the other Gods were neutral.
Seeing as the crowd was unmoved by the bust, Darius pointed to the final item, which was the fancy circlet with a menacing aura. "That is the Rose Circlet. It grants any female wearer the ability of Minor Clairvoyance. However, its thorns come in the form of a growing psychotic urge on the wearer, turning even the kindest maiden into a cruel psychopath over time."
Once done, Darius lowered his finger and nodded to Oliver. "There you have it Mr. Frenq. If you want more appraisals done, it comes at a steep price, so I'd advise you on bringing out the most remarkable of your hidden stash next time you seek me out."
Oliver smiled weakly. "Thank you for the reminder, Master Darius. I will certainly keep that in mind and I'm thankful that you've bestowed upon me this kind favor."
Darius waved his hand magnanimously as if he had no idea what he had done. "Of course, of course. You are a friend of Darius Stone, so I will not short change you. I would like to conclude my purchase before returning to my daily duties."
Oliver turned to the guard who called him and the fellow whispered what Darius hoped to buy. Surprised by his extravagance, Oliver nodded. "How about this. Since you are a friend of mine, I can give you the gauntlet and boots for free, but the spear has to be paid for."
Darius nodded gratefully. "That would do. Here is the payment, Mr. Frenq. I hope the items can be packaged for me while I chat with our fellow friends here?"
Oliver bowed subserviently before withdrawing stately. "Right away."
Darius then turned to the other Adepts who had been patiently waiting for him to finish his matters before they burst out in a furor. They asked Darius various questions like how long he had been appraising, how much he charged, and what kind of rarities he had seen so far.
Darius answered their questions, not always truthfully, but in a thought-provoking manner. He did not hesitate to share with his new 'friends' that he would be opening a shop across the street, in this same square.
There, they could come to him for appraisals or to purchase items at a good price. Unlike the members of the Equality Faction who brushed him off previously, these fellows took his words seriously and couldn't help but look forward to what he promised.
As for Darius, he took his packaged items and paid for them with the remainder of the money he had left from Foldo. He wanted to limit the possible inflation he could cause within Listo, so he had not transmuted too many gold coins.
