Free Web NovelChapter 39: Chapter 39: Appraisal
The debrief with Thessaly ran longer than either previous evening session.
The consultant listened through the full operational account without interruption. When Kai finished she sat quietly for a moment. The kind of quiet that indicated she was reorganizing something rather than processing something simple.
Then she looked at the preserved Storm Crystals.
Kai had placed all seven on the table between them.
White base. Gold tips. The persistent pulse that hadn’t faded since extraction. Still connected to something despite being removed from the plateau environment.
Thessaly reached toward the nearest one.
Stopped just before touching.
Looked at Kai.
He nodded.
She picked it up carefully.
Examined it for a long moment.
Set it down with considerably more deliberateness than she had picked it up.
"I’ve been consulting for twenty years."
A pause.
"I have never personally seen a Grade 1 provisional crystal."
"Have you heard of them?"
"In academic literature. Historical expedition records." She looked at the row of crystals. "They appear in accounts of ancient subspace exploration from periods when fragment worlds were newly forming and the resource density was considerably higher than current standard grades reflect."
She looked at Kai directly.
"Grade F fragments don’t produce Grade 1 provisionals. The energy environment isn’t sufficient."
"This one does."
"Apparently." She picked up the crystal again. "The northwest Root Heart you mentioned. The one that has been partially active for centuries."
Kai hadn’t connected those two things explicitly.
Yet the moment Thessaly said it the logic was obvious.
The northwest Root Heart feeding spiritual energy toward the settlement for centuries. That same energy flow passing through the realm’s northeastern region before concentrating south.
SF-291’s location northeast of the settlement.
A fragment world existing adjacent to a realm with an active centuries-long spiritual energy output from a naturally active convergence point.
The fragment had been absorbing that proximity for centuries.
The same way the Spirit Stone deposit had absorbed realm energy to become Spirit Stone rather than ordinary rock.
SF-291 had been enriched by proximity to the realm’s spiritual output long before Kai had awakened.
The plateau crystals weren’t simply a high-quality resource.
They were a product of his own realm’s ancient foundations.
"The appraisal," Kai said. ƒrēewebnovel.com
Thessaly set the crystal down.
"Aurelis Divine City has three specialist appraisers capable of accurately valuing above-grade materials. Two of them are affiliated with major merchant houses. Their appraisal would be accurate but not confidential. Whatever they assessed would be in their house records."
"And the third?" fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
"An independent. Former Explorer Association senior coordinator. She retired from field work and established a private practice fifteen years ago." Thessaly paused. "Her assessments are completely confidential. No records shared with third parties."
"More expensive."
"Significantly."
"Worth it."
Thessaly nodded.
"Her name is Marek. She operates from the northern district near the Pantheon Plaza. I know her personally. I can arrange an introduction."
"Tomorrow."
The consultant looked at the seven crystals on the table.
"Tomorrow."
Luna had been sitting to Kai’s left throughout the discussion. Taking notes with the systematic attention she applied to everything significant.
She looked up now.
"The network preservation recommendation. Selective extraction with return visits."
"Yes."
"If the plateau regenerates as Veil projected, we have multiple extraction windows within the thirty-day exclusive period."
Thessaly followed the line of reasoning.
"How many return visits are viable within the window?"
Kai thought through the extraction data.
Day two had extracted the seven low-energy peripheral sections. Four days for network adjustment before the high-energy peripheral sections could be harvested without excessive disruption.
Day six for high-energy peripheral harvest.
Then the core network would need longer. Perhaps seven days for a partial regeneration of the outer ring after two consecutive extraction events.
Day thirteen for another peripheral extraction round.
Then the cycle could continue.
"Three extraction rounds minimum within thirty days. Possibly four if the regeneration rate accelerates as the outer ring re-establishes."
Thessaly was quiet for a moment.
"Three rounds at Grade 1 provisional valuations."
She didn’t complete the calculation aloud.
The number it implied wasn’t subtle.
Luna completed it quietly in her notes.
Then looked at Kai.
Her expression was carefully composed.
Yet her tail had stopped moving.
The specific tell that meant she was processing something significant.
The morning departure for Aurelis was straightforward.
Kai. Luna. Thessaly.
The same team as the research visit.
The settlement’s operations were running smoothly enough under established systems that a single day away required minimal specific arrangements.
Sylvia had the training schedule. Mira had the construction priorities. The agricultural operation continued under Meadow and Calla’s shared direction.
The settlement functioned.
That was what they had built.
The city portal delivered them to Aurelis with the familiar displacement sensation.
Thessaly navigated through the streets without hesitation. The northern district near the Pantheon Plaza was further from the Merchant District than the areas Kai had previously visited. The architecture shifted in character as they moved. Less commercial. More institutional. The buildings here suggested organizations with permanence rather than businesses pursuing profit.
The Pantheon Plaza itself was visible at the northern end of the district. An enormous open space with buildings representing various divine pantheons and alliances arranged around its perimeter. Yet Thessaly steered toward a side street before they reached the plaza proper.
A narrow building. Three stories. A small professional sign beside the entrance.
**Marek - Specialist Material Assessment**
**By Appointment**
Thessaly knocked.
The door was answered by a compact woman in her late fifties with close-cropped silver hair and eyes that moved across Kai, Luna, and the preservation case with the speed of someone accustomed to rapid professional assessment.
"Thessaly."
"Marek. Thank you for seeing us today."
The appraiser looked at the preservation case.
"Something interesting?"
"Potentially."
Marek stepped back and gestured them inside.
The interior was organized with the particular precision of a professional workspace where specific items occupied specific locations for specific reasons.
Cases of reference materials along the walls. Assessment tools on a central worktable. A separate sealed area with controlled atmospheric conditions visible through a glass partition.
Marek led them to the worktable.
"Show me."
Kai opened the preservation case.
The seven Storm Crystals sat in their individual containment sections. White to gold. Still pulsing.
Marek looked at them without touching for a full thirty seconds.
Then looked at Kai.
"Where."
Not a question.
"A Grade F fragment. Exclusive rights registered through the Explorer Association."
"Grade F."
"The survey classified it as F. The survey team didn’t reach the plateau formation."
Marek looked back at the crystals.
"These didn’t form in a standard Grade F environment."
"No."
The appraiser picked up her assessment tools. A specialized device different from the standard analysis crystal Rowan at Greenleaf Alchemy used. More complex. Multiple components.
She began with the smallest of the seven crystals.
The assessment took eleven minutes.
She moved to the second. Eight minutes.
The third through seventh took progressively less time as she calibrated her equipment to the specific material properties.
When she finished she set her tools down and looked at the results.
A long silence.
Thessaly waited with the patience of someone who had seen appraisers work before and understood that interrupting the process was counterproductive.
Luna had her documentation materials ready but wasn’t writing yet.
Marek looked up.
"The standard Grade 1 provisional classification is technically accurate for these specimens. It’s the correct designation for above-scale materials with no established market reference."
She looked at Kai directly.
"What I can tell you from fifteen years of specialist assessment is that the last confirmed Grade 1 provisional crystals to appear in Aurelis Divine City were auctioned eleven years ago."
A pause.
"They sold for four hundred Divine Coins per intact specimen."
Luna’s pen touched the page and stopped.
"That was eleven years ago," Kai said carefully.
"Prices for rare materials increase over time as existing supplies deplete." Marek picked up the smallest crystal again. "The current market for above-grade electrical materials has no active supply. Demand from high-level cultivation practitioners and magical engineers exists continuously."
She set it down.
"Conservative current valuation. Three hundred and fifty to four hundred and fifty Divine Coins per specimen for intact Grade 1 provisionals of this quality."
She indicated the three largest.
"These three are above average size for the grade. Four hundred and fifty to five hundred and eighty per specimen for those specifically."
Luna was writing steadily.
Kai looked at the seven crystals.
Conservative valuation across all seven.
He calculated.
The three smaller specimens at the lower range. The four larger at the middle of the upper range.
Somewhere between three thousand and three thousand eight hundred Divine Coins.
From seven crystals.
From the first extraction round of a renewable plateau formation within a thirty-day exclusive window.
Three extraction rounds minimum within that window.
He kept his expression neutral.
This required practice.
Marek was watching him.
"The Grade 3 intact crystals you mentioned from the lower concentrations."
"Twenty from the second and third concentration points. Six Grade 2 from the first."
The appraiser made a brief calculation.
"Established market references for those. Grade 3 intact at current market is running ninety to one hundred and ten Divine Coins. Grade 2 at forty to fifty."
Luna’s calculations ran faster than Kai’s.
She looked up from her notes.
"Combined estimated value of current expedition yield including plateau crystals."
She named a number.
Thessaly looked at the ceiling briefly.
Then back at the table.
"You need to very carefully consider how you bring Grade 1 provisionals to market," she said. Her voice had shifted slightly. The professional advisory tone more deliberate than usual. "Eleven years since the last confirmed appearance. Significant quantity from what sounds like a renewable source. The buyers for material at this level are not the merchants in the standard Merchant District."
"Who are they?"
"Cultivation masters. Senior magical engineers. Occasionally representatives of established pantheons acquiring materials for specific projects." She paused. "People who will want to know the source."
"Which we don’t disclose."
"Which you cannot fully prevent them from investigating if they’re motivated enough."
Marek had been listening.
"I can manage the sale through my practice," she said. "I maintain relationships with buyers at this level. Confidential intermediary arrangement. Standard fee is twelve percent of final sale value."
Kai looked at Thessaly.
The consultant gave a small nod.
Marek was trustworthy.
"Agreed. The Grade 3 and Grade 2 crystals we’ll handle through standard channels. The Grade 1 provisionals through your intermediary arrangement."
Marek nodded.
"How soon can you provide additional specimens?"
"Four days."
The appraiser looked at the seven crystals.
"I’ll have buyers identified before you return."
Outside afterward Luna walked beside Kai through the northern district streets.
She had been quiet since the valuation.
Processing.
Working through implications in the systematic way she approached significant information.
Eventually she spoke.
"The settlement’s financial picture just changed fundamentally."
"Yes."
"The herb contract. The Spirit Infusion goods. The trade arrangements." She paused. "All of it combined doesn’t approach what three extraction rounds from the plateau produces."
"No."
Another pause.
"This changes what we can build."
Kai looked across the divine city around them.
The floating islands. The crystalline towers. The movement of gods and races through streets built for civilizations centuries old.
"It changes how fast we can build it."
Luna looked at him.
"The Root Heart convergence requires strength before we activate it. Strength requires development. Development requires resources."
She didn’t complete the thought.
She didn’t need to.
The plateau had just significantly shortened the timeline between where the settlement was and where it needed to be.
They returned to the portal district as afternoon light crossed the city.
The settlement waited on the other side.
Fifty citizens. Spirit Stone buildings. A Sacred World Tree growing stronger every week.
And a storm fragment four days away from its next extraction window.
The Nine-Tailed Divine Empire had just found something that changed its financial foundation.
Not through conquest.
Not through warfare.
Through understanding an environment well enough to see what others had missed.
That was the kind of strength Kai had always intended to build.
