Volume 3, Chapter 24 – Beginner’s Appraisal

Fia had already read ‘An Introduction to Alchemy That Even Slimes Say Is Good’ beforehand, so she didn’t need to refer back and forth and quickly laid out the materials she would be using on the workbench.

Since she could use [beginner water healing] if she got injured, Fia chose to skip the Life Recovery Potion and focus on the Mana Recovery Potion, Antidote, and Special-use Potions. Among them, she chose to make the lowest-grade Mana Recovery Potion and the lowest-grade nerve poison. This was because the book explained that these two potions were the easiest to make, and almost ninety percent of novices started by concocting them.

First, she poured a packet of white powder called a stabilizer into a container of water. Then, Fia took out a thin booklet from her spatial backpack.

This was a magic book Fia had bought from the Mage Association. The spells recorded in it were [Beginner’s Appraisal] and [Slow Catalysis], both of which were commonly used in alchemy.

[Beginner’s Appraisal] could display the name and grade of a potion. In addition, it could be used to appraise the rank of a weapon. Just as magic potions were divided into low-grade, mid-grade, and high-grade, weapons were also divided into Common, Mithril-rank, Orichalcum-rank, Crimson Gold-rank, Crystal Gold-rank, and even the top-tier Miracle-rank. It was worth mentioning that a Mithril-rank weapon was not necessarily forged from mithril; it could also be made of common metal. “Mithril-rank” was just a designation of its tier, not an indication that the weapon used mithril.

Like magic potions, once the word “magic” was attached to a weapon, its price would rise by several orders of magnitude. The ornate long staff that Liti used, for example, was an Orichalcum-rank weapon that was about to touch the Crimson Gold-rank, and it sold for three Gem Coins, which was three hundred gold coins.

As for [Slow Catalysis], unlike [Beginner’s Appraisal], it could basically only be used in alchemy. It was a spell that could accelerate the reaction and formation of a potion. Strictly speaking, it should be classified as time magic, but it could only be used on non-living things. At the same time, if the object being cast upon had no mana, [Slow Catalysis] would not take effect. Therefore, apart from magic potions, it had no other use.

In addition, Fia had read from the introduction in the magic catalog before buying that the efficiency of [Slow Catalysis] was very low; it could only slightly speed up the reaction. Although it couldn’t be considered to be on the level of a psychological placebo, it really couldn’t be called very fast.

The two spells together had cost Fia a total of three gold coins; both were very common and cheap spells.

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Spreading open the booklet and glancing at it, Fia committed the spells to memory. Then, using an ordinary short sword she had bought from the Mage Association as a sample, she fixed her gaze on it and silently chanted the incantation.

“—[Beginner’s Appraisal].”

A faint glow, almost invisible to the naked eye, flashed from the bottom of Fia’s eyes. Just like every time she used magic and [Hyper-computation] would inject a stream of information into her brain, Fia felt a pitifully small amount of information enter her mind.

Item Name : Iron Short Sword

Quality : Common

There was no other information.

Fia’s expression turned strange, and she couldn’t help but mutter.

“Although it says ‘Beginner’s,’ so I was somewhat prepared, this is just too simple.”

She would have felt it was expensive even if this spell had been sold for one silver coin, yet the Mage Association had sold it for one gold coin. It was an outrageous price, specifically designed to deceive novices like herself.

I hope [Hyper-computation] can make it more useful.

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Soon, the information from [Hyper-computation] also flowed into Fia’s head. Compared to [Beginner’s Appraisal], the amount of information brought by [Hyper-computation] was luxurious. Fia immediately appraised the short sword again with the enhanced version of the spell.

Instantly, Fia’s ruby-like eyes were rendered a ghostly blue by the magic. Immediately after, the short sword’s details appeared in her mind.

Item Name : Iron Short Sword

Quality : Common

Durability : New (Refurbished)

Owner : Dofilia Alexia Yushir

Description : A refurbished iron sword. Can only be used to cut fruit.

“Eh?”

Fia was at a loss for where to begin her complaints.

First, the dagger the Mage Association had sold her was actually a refurbished item. Second, after being enhanced by [Hyper-computation], the appraisal spell could even provide a weapon description, just like playing some kind of role-playing game.

Fia’s interest was piqued. She softly chanted an incantation, controlling Laevateinn to fly in front of her. Then, she used [Beginner’s Appraisal] on it. The result made her pause.

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Item Name : Demon Sword Laevateinn

Quality : Miracle

Durability : Always New

Owner : Dofilia Alexia Yushir

Description : Once the weapon of the Witch of Hope, it was buried in the wind and sand for a long time. It is very happy to have found a new master.

This description felt very strange. This world did not have an omnipresent overseer like “Heaven’s Will.” The blood pact that Estelle had used, for example, could only be supervised by one’s own subjective thoughts due to the lack of such an overseer. In that case, this description was probably not an original property, but something added later.

An idea formed in her mind. Fia took out the Cloud Moon of the Illusory Sea and the handkerchief Claire had given her, appraising them one by one.

The description of the former was: A weapon gifted by my dear Claire. It is both beautiful and practical, a one-of-a-kind treasure in the world.. The latter was: A handkerchief gifted by my dear Claire. Although it was used by Estelle, after being washed, it is still full of love..

“Ahem.” ¹ (¬ᴗ ´¬ )

Seeing these two lines of text, Fia couldn’t help but look embarrassed and coughed twice.

She roughly knew where the so-called description came from. It was definitely a thought that came from her heart, bypassing her conscious mind. The description was just putting her inner evaluation of an item on paper.

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As for the “refurbished” description of the iron sword, Fia guessed it was a thought that had arisen in her mind after seeing the “New (Refurbished)” line. That is, the description was a reflection of her deep consciousness, while the other parts were just the facts.

I’ll definitely have to settle the score with the Mage Association later in my capacity as Thanatos.

After that, Fia appraised many other things in succession, such as the test tube mixed with Crimson Gold, the finished magic potions she had bought from the Mage Association, and even her own blood. The displays for the first two were still relatively normal, but when it came to her blood, no matter how many times she used the appraisal spell, no information would appear in her mind. Fia guessed that either the spell couldn’t appraise blood, or it could only appraise things from this world, and items from another world would not be displayed.

As for the [Slow Catalysis] spell, since Fia did not have any magic potions currently reacting, she did not know what the effect would be after being enhanced by [Hyper-computation].

Having learned the basic spells, the next step was practical application.

Fia was eager to try.

‘An Introduction to Alchemy That Even Slimes Say Is Good’ was truly worthy of its name. Compared to text, pictures made up the majority of the book. It used illustrations to explain the entire process of refining the lowest-grade Mana Recovery Potion in detail, and even the precautions were marked next to the pictures.

Considering that printing had not yet appeared in this world and books were all hand-copied, in Fia’s opinion, ‘An Introduction to Alchemy That Even Slimes Say Is Good’ should have been sold for at least five or six gold coins to be worthy of the author’s effort.