Chapter 32
The smooth staff was engraved with mysterious runes of aurumite and mithril.
At its head, a mana crystal barely two inches across formed the core, wrapped in rare materials and radiating Second-tier mana.
The moment Elise drew out the staff, her spirit energy linked to it as if by instinct. At once, the world in her senses seemed sharper.
It was no illusion.
It was the staff's amplification.
"The filthiest life produced the purest mana crystal. Truly, the gods save their finest gifts for the faithful."
Yulia's gaze turned almost entranced as she studied the staff. Without quite meaning to, she began explaining what she knew of [Pure Mana Crystals].
"When monsters are slain, there is a chance they leave behind magic cores. Mana crystals, however, form only in nonliving bodies..."
That was the common understanding across Aurelia's transcendent world.
Monsters had a chance of forming magic cores.
Mana crystals were minerals.
But Pure Mana Crystals were different.
They formed inside monsters, and under only one condition: the monster had once been possessed by a hellspawn.
Hellspawn could produce such things because they were not native to Aurelia.
Rejected by the spirituality of countless planes, they had no choice but to shield their energy cores if they wanted to survive in foreign worlds.
Hence the saying: the filthiest life could produce the purest mana crystal.
"It's called [Light of Megalith]," Elise said, offering the staff's name.
"A fitting name," Yulia said. "It carries all the hopes Megalith Parish has placed in you."
She felt a deep stab of envy at the treatment Elise enjoyed within the Church of Light.
This was a perfect-grade Second-tier [Pure Mana Crystal].
The crystal alone would fetch three or four thousand gold coins with ease—and even then, money alone might not buy one.
The materials forged into the staff were every bit as rare.
The shaft had been cut from the branch of a Third-tier world tree, its material grade infinitely close to Third-tier—perfect-grade Second-tier.
The aurumite and mithril were perfect-grade Second-tier as well, all drawn from Megalith Parish's treasured reserves.
And then there was the staff's maker.
Rofhak, a Prime Third-tier dwarf.
A dwarf standing a single step away from becoming a Fourth-tier master alchemist.
"I'd like to try appraising this staff," Elise said.
"You may," Yulia replied, envy creeping back into her voice.
The staff had been custom-made for Elise. From its magic arrays to the polishing of the mana crystal, every element had been tuned to the frequency of her spirit energy.
If anyone else used it to practice [Appraisal], certain transcendent properties might suffer for it.
Elise was different.
The staff had, for all practical purposes, accepted her as its owner. She had nothing to worry about.
With Yulia's blessing, Elise set aside her last reservation and released [Appraisal].
[Appraisal Skill Experience +9.]
The prompt appeared.
Elise looked at the staff.
[Light of Megalith: Perfect-grade Second-tier item. Staff. Amplifies spirit energy.]
That was it?
Elise froze for a beat.
Then it clicked.
She cast [Appraisal] again.
This time, she poured in more mana.
[Appraisal Skill Experience +61.]
[Light of Megalith: Perfect-grade Second-tier item. Staff. When the caster's spirit energy is at or below 1,000 units, amplifies spirit-energy strength by up to 29%.]
Precise data!
Elise was delighted.
She had sensed the possibility even before casting.
But when the system actually delivered an exact figure, excitement surged through her all the same.
This was data judged by the system itself. It could make her understanding of transcendent items far deeper and far more precise.
Take this very staff.
According to Rofhak, Bishop Almus, and the others, it amplified spirit-energy strength by "twenty to thirty percent."
But how much, exactly?
That was something a user was expected to feel out slowly, through trial and experience.
Even the amounts of spirit energy and mana spent in casting—and the specific spell being cast—could sway the final result.
Now the system had handed her the peak value outright.
Twenty-nine percent.
And what it amplified was spirit-energy strength—the core ability of every caster-type Awakened.
"What did the God of Wisdom reveal to you?" Yulia asked, deeply curious about the result.
"It can amplify spirit-energy strength by up to twenty-nine percent," Elise answered without thinking.
She hadn't yet noticed anything amiss.
Beside her, Yulia's mouth fell open, shock spreading across her face.
What did she mean, twenty-nine percent?
Why was the number so exact?
Wasn't [Appraisal] a spell that judged matter and spirit, received spiritual feedback from the Wisdom pantheon, and returned an answer scaled to the caster's level?
Yulia was a Senior Second-tier Grand Mage.
When she appraised a perfect-grade Second-tier transcendent item, she could generally determine what it was and what it did.
But identifying the precise percentage by which a staff amplified spirit-energy strength?
That was asking the impossible.
And Elise?
She had simply stated twenty-nine percent as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Could it be...
"Mew..."
Feeling Yulia's stare, Tymis gave a soft, innocent cry, as if to say, Yes, that was me.
In truth, the effect came from the system, Tymis, and Elise working together.
Remove any one of the three, and Elise would have needed several more levels of [Appraisal] before she could read exact data.
"Grand Mage Yulia?" Elise finally noticed the strange look on the woman's face.
"Elise—your [Appraisal] produces precise numbers?" Yulia asked quickly.
Elise considered for a moment, then answered carefully, "I'd need to run more tests."
"I would very much like to know the answer," Yulia said solemnly. "Please, satisfy my curiosity."
Elise nodded, then turned [Appraisal] on the transcendent equipment she wore.
[Appraisal Skill Experience +73.]
[Appraisal Skill Experience +84.]
The prompts came one after another.
She examined the results.
[Lightshield Amulet: Rough-grade Second-tier item. Can trigger the spell Lightshield. Spell strength: 10 points (Second-tier). Stored mana: 19 points (Second-tier).]
Teacher Helena's gift.
At Elise's current level, it no longer offered much.
The appraisal confirmed it.
Its spell strength was a mere 10 Second-tier points, its reserve only 19 points of mana—and as a trigger-type transcendent item, it had no flexibility at all.
If Elise cast [Lightshield] herself now, both the strength and the adaptability of the spell would far outstrip the pendant.
But she had no intention of discarding or selling it.
It was a gift from her teacher, and it had once saved her life.
She moved to the next item.
[Holy Light Vestment: Common-grade Second-tier item. Can trigger the spell Holy Light. Spell strength: 16 points (Second-tier). Stored mana: 48.5 points (Second-tier).]
The small vest from Teacher Nolan.
Beyond the functions [Appraisal] displayed, it also carried a minor cooling effect.
The energy it stored differed from the pendant's external mana.
It held refined mana.
As for why the value read 48.5—Elise had used it several times, and subsequent repairs had introduced ordinary wear.
After reviewing both pieces, Elise ran her eyes over the four First-tier transcendent items she'd purchased for training in the Pyreflame Woods.
Then she turned back to Yulia.
"Yes. I can appraise exact data."
Yulia said nothing.
She wanted to put one question to the God of Wisdom.
Is this fair?
Could an ordinary Second-tier caster-type Awakened truly pull precise numerical data out of [Appraisal]?
Were Clerics really that much stronger than mages?
No.
That made no sense.
To borrow divine power at Second-tier, Clerics had to offer faith, willingly shoulder the restrictions of doctrine, and often struggled to study spiritual energies that clashed with their creed.
Was her [Appraisal] drawing spiritual feedback straight from the God of Wisdom?
For a long moment, Grand Mage Yulia found herself questioning everything she knew.