He had them wrapped around his finger. Thurinn frowned, his gaze locked on the horn. "But something's off. Why would The Destroyer's horn end up with those freakish creatures? Even if it broke off naturally, it shouldn't be anywhere near this continent." He rubbed his jaw. "Unless those things actually reached the old divine's lands before." Thor shook his head slowly. "That sounds impossible." "Then there's only one answer." Thurinn's tone grew heavy. "The Destroyer must have fought those creatures. That's when he lost this horn." Thor didn't respond. Neither of them had ever seen an old divine in person, but the ancient texts made one thing clear—they were unstoppable. If even a divine's horn had ended up in those monsters' hands, that meant something far worse. If that was true, then maybe even the old divine couldn't stop them. They couldn't stop the invasion. Aiden stayed quiet, but a cold feeling crawled down his spine. He hadn't expected that one small artifact's appraisal would open a door to something so massive—and so terrifying. If those creatures could overpower the old divine, then humanity had never stood a chance. His memories flickered. In his past life, every invasion had been worse than the last. The world fell apart piece by piece. Within five years, seventy percent of the population was gone. The Destroyer must have failed to stop them. "Doomsday." It wasn't just the title of a game. It was prophecy. "Forget it," Aiden muttered, shaking his head hard. "No point overthinking it." He turned back to Thor. "So, can you appraise it?" "Of course we can." Thor's voice was rich with pride. "For us, that's child's play."Then his eyes narrowed slightly. "But tell me, what will you offer in return?" Payment was the rule. The Dwarves' ancestors had written it in stone. Even saving their lives didn't exempt him. Business was business. Aiden paused, his tone firm. "I'll pay in marks." "Marks?" Thor blinked in confusion. "Wait. Give me a second." He yanked Thurinn by the arm and pulled him off to the side, muttering, "What the hell is a mark supposed to be?" Thurinn leaned close, whispering fast. "It's human money. You can trade it for pretty much anything. I saw it mentioned in one of those dusty old records. But I've got no idea how much it's worth. You better ask first, or he's gonna take advantage of us." "Relax. I know what I'm doing." Thor thumped his chest like a man who believed his own lies. Then he turned back to Aiden, putting on a grave, worldly expression. "Nighthale, I'll tell you straight. Appraising an artifact isn't cheap. It's a luxury service."He leaned in a little, his tone heavy. "Even knowing that, you still want to proceed?" Aiden brushed a hand over his nose, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "Just tell me the price. I can afford it." "Good. Then I won't hold back." Thor nodded solemnly, pretending to think hard. His face twisted as if he were doing complicated math in his head. Aiden stood quietly, waiting. After a long silence, Thor finally raised his eyes. "Before I decide," he said slowly, "I need to ask you something important." Aiden nodded once. "Ask away." Thor cleared his throat. "How much rice can one mark buy?" Aiden froze, caught off guard. That was the strangest question he'd heard all day. Was he trying to figure out the economy? Did Dwarves even eat rice? He thought for a moment, then answered evenly, "At current market prices, ten marks will get you one bag of rice." "What? Ten marks for one bag? That's a lot!" Thor's eyes went wide before he coughed and straightened his beard. "Alright. Got it. Give me a moment." He spun around and marched straight back to Thurinn. "Thurinn, did you hear that?" Thor hissed under his breath. "Ten marks can buy a full bag of rice. That's a hell of a lot more valuable than we thought. We can make some serious money off this guy." Thurinn nodded eagerly. "Exactly. Look at him—he's loaded. And he said no other human could appraise that artifact. This is that thing from the books, right? Supply and… uh… supply and what?" "Supply and demand, you idiot!" Thor snapped. "How many times have I told you to read more and swing your hammer less?" "Right! That's it. So we bump the price up," Thurinn said quickly. "We can't waste this opportunity." Thor frowned. "That feels a little shady. We're Dwarves, not Greedy gnomes."Thurinn slapped his forehead. "Are you serious, Thor? We're still migrating! We're running low on supplies! You can't fill barrels with good intentions!" Thor took a deep breath, his expression hardening. "You're right. This is for the clan. I need to be firm."