An Injured Mistress
The problem with buying the artifact did not just come with the price, but rather the manufacturing itself. Most artificers would not just keep epic ranked artifacts lying around. They would only make one when they were commissioned to do so.
Of course, there were many materials that were needed in the manufacture of an artifact and the most basic requirement was nothing but Rune beast Crystals. Getting one was a dangerous task and one would need to hunt down a C rank beast.
These beasts were not only hard to find but were a death sentence to anyone that met them. It was a widely accepted fact that if a person with an Epic ranked gift were to compete against a C rank they would not necessarily come out on top.
Most beasts had better bodies than humans and had better defenses. They were hard and could bear attacks much better than humans. Even the beasts that did not have defense gifts were way more durable than some humans with actual defensive gifts.