Episode 33.16

"Well look at that, so you can do it after all. Next up is mana. Your mana only brushed over the object of appraisal. That ain't gonna cut it if you want to appraise Grace Gear. All the more so with Dungeon Depths' Grace Gear."

"Hold on. Having a Grace makes it harder to appraise?"

"'Course it does. The more Graces there are the harder your mana get through. Some inexperienced appraisers even miss Graces with their <Appraisal>."

"Hou."

"There's no need to push in loads of mana like you do. Using only the absolute minimum is the key to obtaining the accurate result in your mind. However, you must put your mana through the furthest depths of the appraised objects. Cast your <Appraisal> like your mana is piercing through the object."

"I don't get it. Sorry, but could you show me a demonstration."

"Just this once."

The elderly appraiser put up another demonstration of <Appraisal>.

Lecan activated <Mana Detection> at highest alertness, carving down the elderly appraiser's magic into his mind.

It was an exquisite magic. The mana Elder Termin emitted was like a honed famous sword, brazenly piercing through <Comet Cutter> straight in the middle. One long straight mana with nary hesitation nor doubt.

(This old man may seem warped outwardly.)

(Yet his spirit must be that of a steadfastly straightforward one.)

"Keep your wand up even after you have emitted your mana. Once you have been made known of the complete result of the appraisal, gently put it down."

"Got it. I'll give it a try."

Lecan lightly closed his eye, pointed his wand at the sword, and carefully kneaded his mana. As he probed for the minimum amount of mana required for this appraisal in his mind, his wand gave the answer on its own. Once he was done preparing to emit the asked amount of mana, he opened his eye and started the casting.

"O Gafra Dafra, mirror that reflects all truth, o wisdom of terminus."

The convergence of mana is unlike anything Lecan has experienced before. Though it's not like mana has hardness or the like, it almost feels like something that's always been spongy is taking a concrete shape.

"Clear away the arcane light of bewildering mist pointed by my wand, passed through by my mana,"

Mana was pushing out the tip of his wand. Pointy transparent mana. Mana whose course of action Lecan is fully aware of. It'd likely fly straight off toward the appraisal object had he let go of the bridle.

"cast light upon its true actuality."

The minuscule mana is rapidly swelling up into a powerful existence. Now is time to set it free!

"<Appraisal>!"

<Appraisal> magic bearing a concrete shape pierced into the sword, pushing its way through deep inside its existence. It's a mirror of mana control showed by Elder Termin.

The mana does not pierce through from front to back of the sword. Lecan did not order it to go on a such a shallow journey. Once inside the sword, the <Appraisal> magic will penetrate deeper and deeper inside, going headlong toward where its nature lurks at. A journey to the edges of deep space.

And then once the mana had arrived at their destination and made clear of things that needed to be made clear, it vanished. Lecan is still holding up his wand even now.

The appraisal result came up in Lecan's mind like unraveling a jumbled thread.

<Name: Comet Cutter>

<Type: Magic Sword>

<Offense: Medium>

<Hardness: Medium>

<Firmness: Medium>

<Sharpness: Large>

<Wear Rate: None>

<Endurance: Perfect>

<Spawn Spot: Dungeon Tsubolt Floor 121>

<Maker:>

<Depth: 121>

<Graces: Magic Blade (Offense Large, Sharpness Maximum, Length Big-Maximum), Damage Restoration>

※ Magic Blade: Generate a blade of magic by supplying mana. The length depends on the amount of mana supplied. Mana supply must be constant to maintain the generated magic blade.

※ Damage Restoration: Naturally restores damaged portions of the blade.

<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka.com >

"Ooooh!"

"You managed to read it?"

"I did! I read it! I read this sword! And that's not all. I even got <Depth> read!"

"What? Your skill level shouldn't be advanced enough to read <Depth>."

"But I did."

"Fumu. There are varying ways in how information is presented even in an <Appraisal> of a sword, if you can form a distinct sense of purpose with those entries in your appraisal, you're an Intermediate level. And going further, if you can understand the meaning of all superfluous information, deeply grasp how they are used in battle, have a vista of the sword's past and future, and manage to gain a comprehension on the depth of its existence, you're an Advanced level. Ordinarily, you cannot read <Depth> until you reached Advanced level."

"But I did."

"There's no way yer' lying. So I'm sure you did read it. Weirdly enough. Still, your mana control is truly remarkable. Fine control even to the tiniest creases."

"Fumu. I wonder."

"Hold it. Did you obtain this sword yourself?"

"Of course."

The elderly appraiser got lost in thought for a bit.

"Have you gone in many dungeons up until this point?"

"Yea."

"That might be the reason."

"Reason as is?"

"Your body has memorized dungeon floors. 'This is how this floor's like, and this is how that floor's like', your body knows."

Lecan hasn't been to many floors of dungeons in this world. Moreover, such deep floors like 121 is his first experience in this world, and he's only ever gotten to a floor that deep twice in his previous world. There were even times where he would lose track of which floor he was on during his exploration of Dungeon Tsubolt. It's really hard to say he's got those floors memorized. But considering this elderly appraiser said so, that might be the truth after all.

"Humans do not have <Depth>. However, they might have something akin to <Depth> that fluctuates. Your <Depth> must be comparable to this sword's."

Things fell into place with that explanation. In other word, Lecan's existence is on the same rank as this <Comet Cutter>.

If you think about it, your average appraisers are highly unlikely to delve in dungeon depths. Hence, only those who had honed their <Appraisal> ability to the limit could read <Depth>.

"I had never seen anyone who managed to get <Appraisal> right this quickly. You have talent as an appraiser. How 'bout retiring as an adventure and work under me."

"I'm honored to hear you say that. But I'm an adventurer. I plan to die as an adventurer. So I'm gonna have to decline your offer. You have my heartfelt gratitude for teaching me the way of <Appraisal>."

Lecan stood up, put his hand on his chest and lowered his head down.

"Come seek me anytime you wish to learn anything about <Appraisal>. My disciple, Lecan."

[Episode 33 Hidden Stairway] End/ Next [Episode 34 Dungeon General Chief Administrator Eliza]