Work doesn't stink

"One is for 30 crystals."

"Two for 50, and I'll add a water bottle."

"Two bottles." The opponent was silent for a moment, thinking.

"I agree," he finally said, briefly joining hands to confirm the deal.

Dai handed him a bundle of bell pear seedlings, and he gave her payment in the form of clear crystals the size of a small finger and two old-fashioned world plastic bottles of clean water. He carefully wrapped the seedlings, hid them, and went. When that was done, the customer hurried to leave.

Dai leaned against the gray wall of the old building and surveyed their wares. Various items lay on an old but clean blanket. Seeds, bundles of herbs, some fresh, some dried. There were also a few other seedlings and more minor ores. Dai sighed. She didn't have much to sell, but this was all she had been able to gather in the wilderness over the past two days. Although the harvest was poor, she was getting by quite well, although it was perilous outside the safe walls of Shelter 22.

She looked around, but only some people were left in the market. Dai picks up the water bottle and looks at the old, almost invisible logo from the old world. It had been nearly two hundred years since the last Fifth World War ended and another hundred years before things stabilized to some extent. She raised her head and looked instead at the pale blue sky, crisscrossed with purple lines as if someone had made brushstrokes.

It was called the 'Purple Rift.' Whether it was day or night, it was always there. At least since the last great war. How did the previous war come about? Nobody knows. At least not little people like her. And in truth, she didn't even care; she had enough work to survive and enough to earn to afford a decent meal twice a day. If Dai had a bad day, at least one meal a day. To her, the Purple Rift was mystical and mysterious. She suspected it was created by nuclear energy from the war or something. Tore through the sky and opened a rift through which a mysterious force began to radiate onto the devastated earth. That sounded pretty nice if the consequences weren't so terrible.

Whatever the energy was, not everyone could handle it. People died, animals died, plants died. What didn't die directly mutated. The already decimated population was further decimated.

But if there's one thing humans and the earth are masters at, survival and adaptation.

The next generation didn't have a problem anymore; in fact, they were much stronger than the top athletes of the old world. But not only humans evolved. Animals and plants also evolved, so the age-old struggle between man and nature began anew.

Nowadays, nature wins and has banished humanity to fortified cities built on the ruins of the old world. It was risky to move outside the city, as you could be swallowed by a mutated plant or torn apart by beasts. But as usual, it's still very profitable. Plants, beasts, minerals, everything is valuable or rare, and a human would not be a human if he didn't take risks for wealth or at least a better life.

"Dai. Hello." a familiar voice snapped her out of her dreaming. Dai looked up and caught sight of her friend and partner in crime, Filn. Filn was of average height and rather stocky with his ashen hair, but his brown, soft puppy eyes were the most striking thing about him.

"Hey, Filn. Are you shopping, or do you have something for me?"

"I've something to appraise." He replies, and Dai's eyes light up. But when he pulls out a small gold stone, the glow in her eyes disappears again.

"Ah. Sure." She replies, not trying to hide her disappointment. Filn smiles knowingly and hands her the stone. Dai holds it in both hands and begins to concentrate. After a while, her hands glow a little, and information pops into her head.

"It's 76℅ pure gold and the rest impurity. Sorry, no spiritual power." Answered Dai and handed the stone back to him.

Filn sighed. "Really? Not even a drop?" he complained.

Dai shrugged her shoulders. "You know my ability is weak. If there is anything, it's either very little or well hidden. But consider the first possibility, as if something could be hidden in a piece of rock." She rolled her eyes.

Filn nodded. After all, he knew she didn't make false appraise. With such a weak power, she couldn't even think of such a thing. Should she be beaten up for a scam? No, thank you, sir. Dai grew up because she learned not to do stupid things. Some also acquired strange abilities as humans evolved into more powerful and resilient beings. In most cases, they were small things like removing dust, seeing in the dark, hardening nails, or, like Dai, appraising. It wasn't very powerful, but a helpful way to find information about an object.

Nothing complicated, no deep hidden truths. Dai could tell, for example, how much nutrients are in the soil, how a living plant is and how long it lasts, or how pure a mineral is. Give something really valuable? She won't tell you anything at all. Dai can't tell if something looks poor is a hidden treasure. Forget about walking through bazaars looking for hidden goodies. Dai's ability is weak, she can detect a small amount of spiritual energy, but when she gets her hands on something really rare, even though she knows the item contains strong spiritual energy, her ability doesn't work. It's like it doesn't exist. But she can tell you how much iron it contains!

People can sense strong spiritual energy. Even ordinary people. It was like thousands of bugs crawling over your skin. It's unpleasant but a good way to warn of danger. And if the spiritual energy is too strong and comes into contact with ordinary people, the consequences aren't pretty. Spiritual energy originally came from the Purple Rift, which caused the death and mutation of millions of living beings. Immediate death is what one would want most in such a situation. If it's a hidden power, only an expert or a strong cultivator can discover it. And no ordinary person wants to attract the attention of the cultivator. Do you want to die young?

Most people have weak abilities. But of course, some have strong ones. They were flying, fire-throwing, enormous strength, and stuff like that. But such people live at the top. Great warriors who live in the city's inner circle and wouldn't even wipe their shoes on little people like her. It's normal for the strong to bully the weak, especially in this world. No one complains; how could they? The strong protect the city when a monster shows up, and they can live in relative safety.

"Do you want me to pay you something?" asked Filn, but Dai just waved it off. "That's all right. You know my rules. I do appraisals for free; how else can I improve my ability? If I charged crystals for it, no one would come to me," she said, shrugging.

That's how it was. Skills could be improved; the only problem was that everyone had to figure out how to do it themselves. And some of the methods were illogical, like her ability. To improve the appraisal, she had to use it. And she had to use it for things she hadn't used before. Dai used the ability on one hat, but if she used it on another, even if the stats were different from the previous one, it just didn't count!

Dai was puzzled over why it didn't work for a long time, and the only explanation she could think of was that they were just too similar. By this time, when she was already 26 years old, she had probably touched everything from the outer circle. Not to mention Dai tried it on people too. Still, Dai gave up after a few disgusted looks or inappropriate suggestions. So she did appraise for free and could only hope to get her hands on something she didn't have yet in her hands. If her ability had strengthened, she would have had a chance to pass the 'Utility' test, get into the city's inner circle, and find a good job in a store.

Filn nodded. He squatted down and then looked at her wares. "So give me one of those bell pear seedlings. I'll try to plant them in the backyard. I wouldn't mind having some fresh fruit now and then." He smiled.

Dai looked at him and knew he was trying to help; after all, he was in a better situation than she was, and they had known each other for a long time.

Dai snorted. "Fine, but hold off on the planting. I'll come to you and find the most nutritious soil." She agreed.

Dai didn't want to look down on Filn's kindness out of pride. Filn didn't need to go out of town. A few years ago, he had gotten a good job in a scrap metal factory. His ability could soften the metal and be used to separate metal from non-metallic parts. So working with scrap was an ideal place for him, and the possibility of getting into the inner circle was great.

Dai wrapped up the seedling for him and said goodbye. It was time to get back to work. Dai stood up and began to announce her offer to attract another customer.

Soon, someone approached her.

Dai made a sour face at the person in front of her.

Horn was a bully and a self-appointed market ruler, such as one finds everywhere. He had gained some power and thought he could simply oppress, bully, and take the crystals for 'protection." Horn was easily excitable, threatening with his clenched fist, breaking things, and speaking cruelly. He could afford to do it because he only had a slightly stronger physical ability. Bone needles could grow from his body, not only on his hands but also on his body. When he gets angry, they pop up, and he looks like he has thumbtacks under his skin; the sharp bones pierce the skin on his hands, and if you get hit in the face with them, you can only say you had bad acne when you were young to explain all the scars.

And this walking problem now stood in front of her and smiled.

Dai returned it with a sour face. "Dai, are you having a good day, aren't you?" Asked Horn; she knew he wasn't asking about the nice weather.

He was interested in her earnings today. Horn had a good nose for this, showing up every time she earned a little more and was about to go home.

"It could have been better," Dai replied, and it really could. It would be really great if he didn't show up.

Horn smiled even more. His thick lips and protruding gums made him look like a neighing horse. He wasn't really that ugly, but his unpleasant nature didn't flatter him. He was big, like a construction worker, so tanned too, with eyes that were a little too small for his big face.

"Don't be so modest. My boys saw you had quite a few customers today." He looked down at her blanket, which had only a few minerals and dried herbs left on it.

Dai stared at him for a few seconds, hoping to burn a hole in him, which didn't happen. Someone should have taught this bastard a lesson long ago and knocked some sense into him. Horn really needs to break his teeth ... but that's not going to happen. After all, we all belong to the outer circle; shouldn't we help each other and prove our worth to the inner circle instead?

She'd be crazy to throw herself at him! Dai got rid of acne a long time ago, almost without consequences!

Dai reached into her pocket and threw him two crystals. Her heart was bleeding, but it was better if she just gave them to him and did not spoil the 'established system.'

"Keep this crap to yourself. Why do we have to go through this every time? Just come next time, put out your hand, and leave again. We'd get along a lot better that way."

Horn wrapped his thick fingers around the crystals, and his smile grew even wider, his upper lip almost covering his nose. "That's not enough," he announced.

Dai stood up angrily and waved her arms. "What do you mean, not enough!? That's your usual share!"

"You could have earned more today. So you'll give me the share of the crystals you could have had." He replied.

She fell silent and looked at him incomprehensibly. What?

"You used your ability. Appraise a total of eight times. If you had charged for this job, you'd have gotten more. But you didn't. Your fault. Still, I want my share." Explained Horn when he saw she didn't understand what he was talking about.

"Wait a minute. Do you want crystals for something I do for free? I don't earn anything, so logically, your share is nothing too!" Argued Dai back.

"But that's not my problem, is it? You're supposed to get paid for it. And you're trading in my territory. You can't say you're not getting anything out of it. Your ability can get stronger." Dai was silent. Do you know what the worst thing about Horn is? He's not an idiot. She wishes he was!

Her blood boiled with rage. Where did that bastard come up with such a thing? And it was bad enough that he was actually correct. So will she have to give up her part-time job? But she can't train her ability like that! She also can't afford to pay Horn at the same time!

Dai has to figure something out!

"Okay. You got that right." Dai hissed through her teeth. Horn beamed with delight, probably satisfied that he had won her over.

"But!" She spoke emphatically, and his smile faded.

"If you're talking about intangible gains. If I use my ability here for free, it attracts people. More people means more business. Do you think they'll bother coming here if I stop appraising things for free? There were only eight people today, but you know, sometimes there are a lot more. If they stop coming, their crystals go into other people's pockets, but not yours." Horn was silent now. His smile disappeared, and they stared at each other.

"Tch." He clicked his tongue, and her soul danced until he stomped his heavy shoe on the rest of the dried plants she had displayed.

"Oh!" Dai let out a hurt cry.

"Sometimes you're too smart for your own good," Horn grunted.