Chapter 3:
My Appraisal Gained a Bonus Feature!
“NO NEED TO CALL ME ‘MASTER’ OR ANYTHING like that, okay?” Ana said, laughing. Despite that, she agreed to teach me her skills.
The evening after the dinner party, Ana summoned Marcus over once the shop began to settle down. He returned with a cart full of several old Alchemy books and tools, including a cauldron. He helped me arrange everything in the workshop where there was plenty of space.
That night, when I got into bed and was about to pull the covers over me to sleep, the room was suddenly bathed in green light.
“It’s been a while, Daisy,” came a voice.
Leaf had crawled under the covers to sleep beside me, but that voice made him sit straight up. I looked up and saw the Nature Spirit King.
“I see you’ve found yourself a good teacher, Daisy.” He reached out and gently caressed my cheek. I closed my eyes for a moment at his comforting touch.
“Yes, I’ve started learning metal synthesis from someone named Anastacia,” I said. I slowly opened my eyes again and saw the Nature Spirit King smiling down at me warmly in a way that reminded me of my father.
“This is a great turning point in your life, Daisy, so I’d like to give you a gift as my blessing,” he said. “Hold out your hands.”
I did as he said, holding out both palms. He placed three round objects into them, each one glowing softly with a gentle light.
“I will expand your Appraisal skill as well, to help you on your path.” He covered my eyes with his large hand. “Farewell.”
And then the Nature Spirit King vanished.
What was that all about? I thought.
I tried using my Appraisal skill on the objects he’d given me and… What in the world?
Nature Spirit King’s Guardian Stone
Classification: Gemstone, Material
Quality: Supreme
Status: A gemstone containing every form of protective power. Cannot be activated in its current state. Gains enhanced corrosion resistance when fused with metal. Splitting it does not diminish its power.
Feeling: I want to combine with metal and become an accessory.
Huh? What’s a guardian stone? And how could an item have “feelings”?
My Appraisal skill had gained a very strange new feature.
The next day, I went to Ana’s shop. “Ana, are you here?” I asked.
“Oh, my! Daisy, I’m so happy to see you. Is something the matter?” Ana said, poking her head out from the back of the shop and walking up to the counter.
Well, I suppose you could say that…
“I think I might’ve gotten my hands on something valuable, and I’d like to ask how to use it,” I told her.
Ana nodded thoughtfully. “All right, then. Why don’t we go into the back?” She led me to the little break room behind the counter.
“Here it is.” I pulled the Nature Spirit King’s guardian stone from my bag and showed it to her.
“Goodness, I’ve never seen such a gem! It has such a gentle yet powerful aura.”
“It’s called the Nature Spirit King’s guardian stone. Apparently, it holds incredible protective power, but it can’t be used as is,” I explained. “It seems like it wants to be turned into an accessory by being combined with metal.”
At that point, Ana raised a hand to stop me, looking baffled. “Hang on, Daisy. How are you already so sure of this stone’s name, properties, and even its feelings?”
Oh, right. I’ve never told Ana I can Appraise things. It would be silly to ask her to teach me her trade without explaining my own abilities. I told her about my Appraisal skill, and that as a new bonus, I could now see what things the items wanted to become.
“Appraisal alone is a skill that can earn you a place in the royal service. You can count the number of people in this kingdom who have it on one hand!” Ana looked shocked that I had such an ability. “And an Alchemist with Appraisal? That’s an incredible combination! And now that you can somehow sense an item’s wish to be processed… That’s an astonishing ability.”
She seemed overwhelmed, mumbling something about needing a drink. She went to get a pitcher and a glass and took a long sip of water.
“This is wonderful. If I could have you work with her, I’m sure you’d create something quite interesting indeed…” Ana muttered to herself.
I wondered who she was talking about.
“Ana?” I called softly.
“Oh, forgive me,” she said. “I was just talking to myself. Don’t worry about it. Now, about sensing the feelings of items. Does it always say the same thing when you look at them?”
“No, I’m not sure it’s always the same yet,” I said.
“Shall we try it and see?” She let out a thoughtful little hum and beckoned me over. “Come here,” she said, leading me into her workshop.
Unlocking a cupboard near her feet, she rummaged around, pulling out several metal ingots and lining them up on the workbench.
“I have a hunch that if we put the gem near different metals, its feelings might change. Would you like to try it?” Ana asked. “My ability is that when I put compatible materials next to each other, I can feel their aura becoming stronger. I bet you’ll get even more information with your Appraisal.”
There were people other than me who could sense compatibility between materials! That was amazing.
“Let’s start with gold,” Ana said.
“It’s saying, ‘This isn’t bad, but it doesn’t feel quite right,’” I stated. What did that mean, though?
“Hm, that seems promising. Let’s try silver next.”
“It says, ‘I feel like you’d have such a gentle embrace. I love you!’” Was this stone some kind of lovesick girl?!
“Oh, that sounds like a very good match! Let’s try platinum next.”
Ana continued swapping out the metals and asking me about their “feelings.”
“‘I’m not into the cool, beautiful type.’” What was this, a matchmaking service?
Ana didn’t seem particularly surprised, ready to accept whatever the gem felt. She was very flexible and easygoing about the whole thing. “All right,” she was saying. “Now, this isn’t usually the metal I’d use for an accessory, but let’s just see what it says. It’s iron.”
“‘Absolutely not!’”
“Mythril?”
“‘I said, I want to be an accessory!’”
“Adamantite.”
“‘No, no, no!’”
“Orichalcum.”
“‘What are you trying to do to me?! Waaah!’”
Oh, great. I’d somehow managed to make the gemstone cry.
“Hmm, maybe since it’s a protective gem, it feels drawn to the purifying properties of silver?” Ana speculated.
After going through each of the options, we decided to combine the gem with silver.
“All right. We’ll need the cauldron to combine the silver and the gem, so why don’t we head over to your workshop?” Ana suggested. She hung a little sign on the door that said, “I’m at Atelier Daisy. If you need anything, please stop by.” She handed me the silver ingot and locked everything up, and we set out together.
She already had the sign written…
Knowing she’d prepared something like that ahead of time for when she would be working with me warmed my heart; I felt like she truly saw me as her student.
We crossed the street and went back into my workshop. Next door, the bakery was bustling with customers since it was around lunchtime. There were some people sitting inside, enjoying their food with glasses of iced tea—the day was too hot to sit anywhere else.
“Welcome back, Miss Daisy, Ms. Ana,” Miina and Marcus called out to us from their places in the bakery.
“Hi, Daisy! Long time no see!” Letia and Mark—the pair of adventurers who’d bravely fought the behemoth that attacked the capital—were here buying some bread.
Mark gave me a friendly wave, but Letia seemed a bit cold, as usual. It seemed she wasn’t someone who smiled easily. Besides, she was more focused on perusing the menu than greeting me.
“Letia, Mark! It’s nice to see you again,” I said.
“Hello there, Letia, Mark,” Ana chimed in. “How’s work going?”
Hm, so they know Ana too. The capital felt so big, but sometimes it was a small world after all.
Mark hummed, scratching his head. “It’s going all right. There’s a quest we want to take on, but it’s to slay a monster that deals some nasty status effects. Unless we have a plan for those, it’s a no-go.”
“Well, if you wait a little longer, Daisy here and that Blacksmith girl might be able to make you something useful,” Ana said with a playful wink.
Hm, Ana mentioned some girl again. Who is she, anyway?
“Oh yeah?” Mark replied. “Well, maybe we’ll stick around for a while, then. Here’s where we’re staying, Ana.” He handed her a little slip of paper with something written on it. “Let me know if you have good news for me. We’ve got plenty of funding right now, so call us first if you come up with something good!”
Letia made her purchases and the two of them disappeared back into the busy streets.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Daisy,” said Ana. “Let’s get started on the alloy.”
“Okay.” I unlocked the door to my workshop and held it open for her. We went back into the lab area where Marcus had set up the cauldron.
“Have you ever used a cauldron before?” Ana asked.
I shook my head.
“All right, well here’s the basic process,” she began. “First, you put in your materials, then channel a great amount of mana into your stirring rod. That’ll heat everything until it’s all hot enough to melt. Keep stirring evenly as it does, and be sure to focus on the intention of the process, which is to fuse the materials together as firmly as possible. Oh, and don’t forget these!” She picked up a thick apron and a pair of sturdy gloves from nearby and handed them to me.
I put everything on, took the stirring rod, and stepped up to the cauldron.
“Now, put the Nature Spirit King’s guardian stone and the silver inside,” Ana instructed.
I carefully put both materials into the cauldron. Ana gave me an encouraging pat on the back, and I nodded.
I began to channel my mana through the stirring rod. Come on, heat up…
Gripping the rod, I focused, and before long the cauldron began to glow with heat. The silver melted and the air in the workshop grew warm. Sweat beaded on my forehead from both the heat and my nerves.