Across the seas, across the waves.

For example, at the beginning, the Staff of the Underworld, and all similar artifacts in general – at first, you receive a message saying you got an artifact, then there's a battle, and the same goes for the Wood – later, it simply wasn't that important; there was enough strength, and experience was more valuable than the artifact. At the beginning, you take it, run away, and buy it out. Oh, and there are millions of artifacts, record inflation, and later, you even sell them in sets.