Chapter 30
[Appraisal] occupied a special place in Aurelia.
It wasn't a combat skill, but it was one of the most knowledge-intensive general skills an Awakened could learn.
Learning [Appraisal] demanded a strong foundation.
To identify potion materials, you needed [Potioncraft].
To appraise alchemical materials, you had to study [Alchemy].
And since transcendent materials of every kind carried rune traits, caster-type Awakened needed a deeper grounding in [Runecraft] as well.
Only with all of that in place could one identify a target through a specialized application of spirit energy and mana.
Yulia didn't doubt Elise's talent.
Going from illiterate commoner to High Cleric in three months made her a genius among geniuses.
But that was precisely why Yulia knew Elise couldn't possibly have found time for so many "side subjects."
In Yulia's eyes, this request for guidance was a waste of both their time.
If not for the high research value of the staff Elise had received, Yulia would have...
Most likely agreed anyway, if only to do Elise a favor.
There was no helping it.
Elise was simply too talented. Yulia was fifty-eight and still only a Senior Grand Mage. She couldn't afford to snub someone like that.
...
Back at Elise's residence—
[Meditation Skill Experience +50.]
After lunch, Elise finished her first meditation session of the day, settled her condition, and set out for the Mage Guild.
She crossed the Academy grounds in her High Cleric robes, a new bracelet at her wrist giving off strong magical fluctuations.
Every priest, sister, knight cleric, and cleric of the Megalith Academy of Light who saw her stopped and saluted first.
Elise no longer needed to return each greeting as carefully as before.
For a High Cleric, a simple nod sufficed.
The treatment lifted her mood even higher, and her steps grew lighter.
She left the Academy, circled around the Church, and the Mage Guild's building came into view ahead.
Elise walked in, her High Cleric robes serving as the best pass imaginable.
By now, every transcendent in Megalith City knew that Elise had become a High Cleric.
The apprentice handling visitors on the Guild's first floor recognized her at a glance—face and robes both. No registration required.
"Honored High Cleric," the apprentice said, hurrying forward.
"I am Elise. I have an appointment with Grand Mage Yulia."
The apprentice bowed and led her toward the stairs.
"Grand Mage Yulia works on the second floor. Please allow me to show you the way."
"Thank you. May the God of Light bless you."
Elise swept a glance across the first floor and found every eye on her.
She smiled faintly and followed the apprentice upstairs. Soon they stood outside Grand Mage Yulia's room.
Elise fed mana into the alchemical device by the door and stated her purpose.
The device relayed her voice and her request, and the door opened at once.
Yulia was an evocation Grand Mage, but she also had a working knowledge of [Potioncraft], [Alchemy], and related fields, and she specialized in identifying transcendent items of every kind.
Her workspace in the Mage Guild looked more like a study because of it.
Aside from the wall holding the door, tall bookcases lined the other three. Opposite the entrance sat an appraisal area with a long table. A sitting area for guests occupied the left side, and to the right stood worktables for brewing potions and crafting alchemical items.
Seeing Elise arrive right on time, fifty-eight-year-old Yulia stepped forward and saluted.
"High Cleric Elise, it is an honor. I am Yulia Renard."
"May the God of Light bless you, honored Grand Mage Yulia."
Elise returned the salute, then stirred her mana. A small food box appeared in her hand.
Yulia's gaze flicked to Elise's bracelet without lingering.
"I baked this bread myself," Elise said. "I hope it's to your taste."
She had come to visit and to ask for instruction in a transcendent skill; proper courtesy was only natural.
As for where the food box had been stored?
Inside the bracelet, of course.
It was an ordinary Third-tier spatial item worth over a thousand gold coins—a gift from Teacher Nolan and Teacher Helena to celebrate her advancement to High Cleric.
The reason it caught Yulia's eye was simple.
Spatial items were rare not just because they were expensive, but because they were consumable.
A bracelet like Elise's would break after a little more than a thousand uses, and it carried strict limits on what it could hold.
Even as a Senior Grand Mage, Yulia couldn't bring herself to buy a spatial item—let alone use one to carry a food box.
So she felt a pang of envy at Elise's extravagance.
Then she considered that Elise needed to carry a perfect-grade Second-tier staff on her person, and decided the purchase made perfect sense after all.
She accepted the food box with thanks and led Elise to the sitting area.
The two sampled potion drinks, fruit, and pastries while discussing Second-tier transcendent knowledge.
Having advanced only days ago, Elise spent most of the time listening to Grand Mage Yulia and asking questions.
[Runecraft Skill Experience +3.]
[Potioncraft Skill Experience +2.]
As the conversation deepened, Elise noticed the system prompts trickling in.
Thinking back over the topics Grand Mage Yulia kept steering toward, she realized at once: the woman was testing her foundation.
Yulia had been ranging across potioncraft, alchemy, and runes, and several times she had asked Elise about particular items.
Elise had a basic grasp of most of them—but a few she'd never even heard named, and when it came to alchemy, she knew next to nothing.
Which was why Grand Mage Yulia's expression grew more and more strained.
"Grand Mage Yulia, I'm very grateful you agreed to meet with me," Elise said quickly, realizing the woman had misread her purpose. "As for [Appraisal], I only wish to learn the spell's construction method first."
Yulia gave a small shake of her head.
"Elise, [Appraisal] has many spell structures. In truth... it is a spell of the Wisdom pantheon."
She had chosen, in the end, the framing that made the unusual spell easiest to understand.
A spell of the Wisdom pantheon. The moment Elise heard it, [Appraisal] snapped into focus.
Because Wisdom spells were a category apart.
Among the eight auxiliary deities, the God of Wisdom was the only one without a dedicated mana attribute.
The God of Life had life magic and life-attribute mana.
The God of Fate, the God of Guardianship, the God of Justice, and the God of Order were all the same.
The God of Wisdom was different.
When believers reached for Him through the spiritual plane, they found Him "transparent."
And yet the God of Wisdom commanded an enormous number of casual believers. Nearly every caster-type Awakened offered Him at least a measure of faith.
The reason was simple.
He was universal.
[Appraisal]?
A Wisdom spell.
The various forms of [Meditation]?
Strictly speaking, those too could be counted as training methods under the Wisdom pantheon.
Anything touching thought, understanding, or cognition fell within the God of Wisdom's authority.
And spells belonging specifically to the Wisdom pantheon shared one defining trait.
Their spell structures were extraordinarily diverse.
Mew.
As the thoughts surfaced in Elise's mind, Tymis suddenly called out, sensing the fragments of information drifting through her spirit.
Elise caught on immediately.
Right.
Tymis was said to be beloved by the God of Wisdom.
Would the little creature strengthen Wisdom spells?
And she had awakened a system.
If she learned even one spell-construction method for [Appraisal], could she make [Appraisal] appear in her skill list?
With the system and Tymis both, Elise had a feeling her [Appraisal] might hold a pleasant surprise.