'Hey, [Olden Knowledge], my mother's dead, right?'

'...'

'Hey, [Olden Knowledge], Cass is dead, right?'

'...'

I lay in the cold dirt, unmoving, unfeeling, uncaring for the multiple wounds in my abdomen, waist, arm, and the grisly gash in my back that were constantly leaking mana.

'Hey, [Olden Knowledge], is there some way to check whether they're dead or not?'

There exists a single use item called Amulet of Soul Resonation, which can detect whether a soul is still alive if they're close enough. The range depends on the strength of the soul you search for and the power of the spiritualist who created it. Unfortunately, as the number of people strong enough to create one is extremely small, the item is extremely expensive, and several countries including Fairland have banned its circulation.

'Ha... where the heck am I supposed to find something like that?'

I sighed and let my head sink back into the ground.

But then, a bunny jumped onto my chest and started smelling my face.

It reminded me of something, and I opened up my [Map]

Unsurprisingly, there was no yellow dot anywhere on the map to indicate me I was near my bag.

'Of course, I couldn't have flown 50 kilometres, even if I did try to go in the general direction my bag was at. I wouldn't have nearly enough mana. Not with these leaks, at least.'

I sighed as I felt mana constantly leave my body through my several openings, at over half the speed I regenerated it.

'It's not as if gaining a class gave an immediate boost. That comes with levels.'

Then I recalled something.

'Ah, yes, my class. I don't even know what I ended up picking.'

I thought lazily.

'[Status]'

Damuel Adams (2182)

Level 10

Class: Grandmaster Appraiser

Achievements: System Explorer, Soul Pioneer, Soul Spearhead, It’s over 9000!, Soul Master, Slayer of the Powerful, First Dragonslayer, Millenium, Million Mile Journey

Strength

197 [Locked]

Agility

112 [Locked]

Endurance

331 [Locked]

Vitality

0 [Locked]

Intelligence

88 (73 x 1.2)

Capacity

125 (104 x 1.2)

Soul Strength

9999 (6293 x 1.7)

Perception

85 [Locked]

Stat points:

0

Skills:

Passive [OFF] - Ice Dragon’s Bloodline (MAX)

Olden Knowledge (MAX)

Map (Level 5)

Grand Appraisal (Level 1)

'An appraiser? What the heck kinda wacky legendary class is that? Sigh... Also, no title for getting a legendary class? Maybe only for the first person who got one got a title...'

'And what's with the class skill? Aren't all level 10 Class Skills supposed to be passive skills that give you familiarity with a weapon? This just replaced my [Appraise] which had taken me thousands of years to up to level 10!'

'Anyway... let's see what it does.'

I offhandedly commanded The System mentally to show me the description.

Grand Appraisal: The absolute best appraisal skill. Works on everything; people, monsters, objects and even abstract concepts under the right circumstances. At level one it gives the same information as a level 10 [Apraise] for living beings, but it also gives extensive information on objects of all types. More efficient in terms of soul strain than all other similar skills.

'Not bad, I suppose, but it still leaves me with no offensive skills... will I be able to get any of those anymore? It's a legendary class, I will at least get one eventually right?'

I sighed, but eventually lifted myself from the ground and stood up, stretching my creaking joints and walking out of the small crater I had created.

'I guess I'll go pick up my bag and do my best to reach the Orichalk Empire just north of Fairland. I still need to get my left arm installed, and who knows, that Tonnas man may have some connections that will allow me to get a couple Amulets of Soul Resonation.'

I started walking south, not too fast as I didn't want to waste mana.

'I mean, they're dead for sure, but... maybe I just need some closure. Maybe then, I'll be able to fully let go of my past and find happiness in this strange world.'

I rubbed the blackened top of my head.

'Also, maybe if it's him, he would be able to fix me up a little.'

The journey soon got boring, and the scant amount of weak monsters that barely made a dent in the experience required to level up didn't help all that much. I tested [Grand Appraisal] on them, but nothing had changed in comparison to when I used level 10 [Appraise].

'It did say it worked on everything now though, so maybe...'

I looked at a tree and activated [Grand Appraisal].

Madorian Tree

The most common tree throughout the continent, it absorbs, along with its nutrients, minute amounts of residual earth and water mana from its roots and air and fire mana from its leaves, somehow fusing them into pure mana to increase its hardness and resistance to elements, especially fire magic, while also making it significantly heavier. Its wood is one of the most widely used materials for construction due to its low price and significant sturdiness.

'Wow... that's a lot of info... maybe since it's all common knowledge?'

My theory was proven right when I [Grand Appraisal]'d the soil, and a huge screen explaining how the uniform amounts of Earth mana mixed with streams of water mana significantly improved its density and stability, while slightly aiding the growth of plantlife, appeared.

Knowing that, I used the skill on my arm, focusing on the material itself rather than the construct.

Mythril-coated inferior adamantium

These metals can't be alloyed, but this alternative is nearly as effective. It provides both the bonus to enchantments of mythril and the supernatural hardness of a mythical metal, even if it is of the lowest quality.

Immediately after casting the skill, I felt a pang of... tiredness (?) hit my soul, something I hadn't felt ever since I last fought a dragon.

It wasn't too uncomfortable, and it would probably be gone in a few hours, but it meant that using the skill to acquire higher-tier information would increase the strain on my soul by quite a lot.

'Still, it was worth it for such precious information. So I'm made of a mythical metal, huh...'

'Now that I think about it, only the searing light and the empowered arrows penetrated the external layer, which I now know is mythril. Unfortunately, some enchantments have to be carved in the exterior, so they're left unprotected and on a relatively weak metal... nothing I can do about it, though. At least my chest area is fully made of adamantine, as far as I can tell.'

The rest of the journey back was made less boring by my constant use of my new skill on several plants, rocks, and parts of my own body. I even managed to discover what the explosive enchantment on my arm did in detail without having to use it, although it strained my soul quite a bit.

In any case, I travelled through the night and eventually a yellow dot popped into my [Map] range, and at dawn, I had arrived at my bag.

I used my skill on all of the contents inside, since the descriptions were more detailed than those the alchemist had left behind. My soul was pretty tired at that point, but I had a lot of new info.

Unfortunately my skill didn't get to level 2, but I couldn't expect to level up a highest-tier skill with a day of dicking around.

And so, I once again headed north, making sure to give a wide berth to Illisium since they would probably be looking for me with more than a few squads right now. Luckily I hadn't shown them my metallic face.

Monsters were scant in Fairland, but it was impossible to prevent at least some from reaching high levels, and I finally encountered a worthy opponent in the second day of my travels.

It was a 7th Rank, with stats over level 50 humans (monsters generally had higher stats than humans of the same level), but it was no more than a large toad with very quick regeneration and quite a bit of jumping power. Its pores constantly secreted a poisonous gas, that covered the creature's surroundings like a mist, but once again my metallic nature allowed me to mercilessly slaughter the creature since poison was useless on me.

After harvesting the beast's poising glands and some other valuable bits according to [Grand Appraisal], I checked my gains.

Level up! Level up! Level up! Level up!

'Only 4 levels? Well, I can't really complain. [Status]'

Damuel Adams (2182)

Level 14

Class: Grandmaster Appraiser

Achievements: System Explorer, Soul Pioneer, Soul Spearhead, It’s over 9000!, Soul Master, Slayer of the Powerful, First Dragonslayer, Millenium, Million Mile Journey

Strength

197 [Locked]

Agility

112 [Locked]

Endurance

331 [Locked]

Vitality

0 [Locked]

Intelligence

93 (77 x 1.2)

Capacity

130 (108 x 1.2)

Soul Strength

9999 (6293 x 1.7)

Perception

85 [Locked]

Stat points:

80

Skills:

Passive [OFF] - Ice Dragon’s Bloodline (MAX)

Olden Knowledge (MAX)

Map (Level 5)

Grand Appraisal (Level 1)

'Wow... it hadn't really sunk in before, but I really do gain 20 stat points every level, with the extra 5 I now get due to my class. along with one to each mental stat. Adding that to the bonuses from my titles... it's kinda disgustingly OP. Well, I'm not complaining.'

After a quick mental debate, I chucked 40 points to each of the mental stats and closed my Status. I immediately gained even more keen awareness of the mana flow inside and around me, and of the mana rushing into me to fill the space that had just been enlarged inside my soul.

I even felt like I could almost touch the mana next to me, with my mind... but I couldn't. It didn't feel like I was lacking Intelligence or Capacity to do it, but rather... it was like I didn't understand mana well enough... like I was unqualified.

'Oh well'

I also tinkered a bit with what I wanted [Great Appraisal] to show when I used it on someone, mainly with the skills bit. I separated it into class skills and others, since many people picked up common skills like farming or sewing after doing it for a few years, and made it so that non-class skills would only show if they were geared towards combat or over level 5, which would mean the person was every proficient at something. I also shortened the part that showed the level of the skill.

Finally, I rearranged the skills to appear one after another with commas in between, just like stats, so they would take up less space.

I did something similar to screens for monsters, except there was no distinction for skills, since they didn't really have classes but picked up skills when they evolved.

And, just as I was looking for some monster to test the changes on, I found a rosy red, smooth, round bump in the middle of a small clearing. It had a strong, strangely sweet smell. I didn't touch it out of caution, since something didn't sit right with me, but stayed a meter away and cast [Grand Appraisal].

Vortex Lure Earthworm - 5th Rank - Level 3

Element: Earth

Attributes: 547 STR, 329 AGI, 273 END, 431 VIT, 341 INT, 275 CPT, 83 SPW, 1 CHA, 6 PER, 2 WIL

Skills: Alluring Lure (3), Earth Concealment (4), Soil Voiding (5), Vibration Sense (2), Flesh Rending (3), Earth Spikes (1)

Description: A predator that hides below ground and sets a lure with potent pheromones to attract prey, and once they touch it or enter its range, which it detects by vibrations, with its innate earth magic it removes the soil above itself and makes its prey fall into its barbed mouth.

Just as I finished reading it and started trying to scamper away from the fruit, a circle of a good three meters of radius of earth disappeared below me, revealing a void-like maw underneath, with a long, thin mouth that ended in a red, fragrant sphere.

'Shit.'