As they finished off a monsterized squirrel, possibly their 18th of the day, though he wasn't sure, as he had lost track a long time ago, a ring materialized, motes of energy bundling together out of thin air to form the object.
Ron picked it up and then handed it to Clover. "What does it do?" he said. As an afterthought, he tacked on, "I'm out of mana." It was clear he was interested in the ring more than anything else.
Clover used [Appraisal].
Congratulations! Appraisal has reached Level 11. +1 Skill Point.
Walnut Ring
A minorly magical accessory that bestows some of the defensive properties of the walnut tree to the user's skin as long as they are wearing the ring.
Clover tossed back the ring after explaining its function - Ron could make better use of it than him. Plus, it was only fair; he was the only one who hadn’t received an item so far.
“If you’re out, there’s no point in sticking around here. It’s starting to stink,” Claire said.
Clover inconspicuously sniffed his shoulder. Surprisingly, he didn't smell terrible - maybe he had gone blind to his own scent, or maybe it was just covered up by the scent of rotting squirrels.
Carefully, they retraced their path to the Monster Nest’s entrance. There, reaching into the tunnel of twisting trees, Claire retrieved three of the glowing crystalline fruits that she had made mana potions out of. “Why are you dragging that thing with you,” she asked as she turned back to the group with a slight wrinkling of her eyebrows.
Ron hefted the body of a mid-sized Two-tailed Squirrel. “I’m going to cook it.”
Clover sent his glow-in-the-dark Golem in front of them to illuminate the path ahead. "I've never had squirrel before. Does it taste good?" Clover asked as they followed the beacon of light, occasionally shining their flashlights at it to recharge its luster.
“I’ve heard it tastes like chicken,” Ron said.
“Everything tastes like chicken,” Claire said.
Clover kept his eyes peeled for danger while listening to them talk back and forth. "How would you know?" he added unseriously.
“Alligator tastes like chicken,” she said definitively. “Chicken tastes like chicken.”
They continued bickering back and forth, distracting themselves from the dark as they retraced their steps to the museum's entrance. After a quick stop at the gift shop, where Ron and Claire respectively gathered some supplies for their upcoming projects, and Clover retrieved his bag of goodies, they exited the building.
Outside, under a slight overhang, they set up camp. Well, there wasn’t much to set up. Claire sat down on the ground and poured a bottle of water into a stone bowl, and Ron wandered off into the parking lot.
Using his enhanced Strength, he tore down a small tree - the skinny kind that looked like it couldn’t have been planted more than a month ago - in a combination of strikes and yanks.
He repeated the process, committing flagrant acts of ecological vandalism and thievery across the parking lot that even the most hardened criminals would never have considered doing.
He returned carrying armfuls of wood that took three trips to fully transport.
“I think you chopped down the whole parking lot,” Clover said. “Did you really need that much wood?”
"It's always better to have too much than too little," Ron said as he fiddled with a portion of the wood, forming a pile - Clover had seen something resembling the configuration on TV before. "Also, it was fun. When you're fighting monsters, it's hard to notice how strong a couple of Points in Strength actually makes you. If I walked into a gym, I'd probably be the strongest guy there despite never working out before."
Clover wondered how many pounds a single Point of Strength would allow someone to lift. There probably wasn't an exact way to measure, even assuming that each subsequent Point made the same exact impact.
“Can you give me a light?” Ron asked.
Claire looked up from the fruit that she had been slicing into small cubes. A quick cast of [Ember] later, the pile of wood went up in flames.
Clover wheeled a bit backward, away from a plume of smoke, then turned his gaze to the sky. The sun hadn't reached its peak yet - they could spend an hour or two recovering their SP and plain old stamina out here and still be fine. There was still a lot of daylight left to burn.
With that in mind, Clover busied himself, searching for ways to spend the break productively. Quite quickly, he landed on his Skill Points. With his latest excursion, he had gathered quite a few.
He opened his Skill Paths screen and scrolled through it.
With the amount he had in reserve and with the amount he was generating, he didn't have to be stingy with his Points, but he found he had a mental hangup about spending them too quickly. A worry always rested in the back of his mind that the second he spent his Points, a new, better Path would open up, or he'd stumble upon some nugget of information that would change everything.
Equally matching that concern was his desire and excitement to gain new powers. After a moment of deliberation, he decided to invest 5 Skill Points into the [Appraisal I] Path. Knowledge was power, and the System had the unfortunate habit of not giving out enough of it. If he boosted up the Skill, he’d likely be able to overcome that insufficiency in the System.
Available: Durability (Minor), Ignition (Minor), Sprout (Minor)
Recommended: Plant (Minor), Stone (Inferior), Traits (Inferior)
While it was fun to think about how his Available Aspects would interact with [Appraisal], he didn’t give them much consideration. Those valuable Aspects he had saved up would be better spent on other, more impactful Skills.
The System's Recommended Aspects, on the other hand, were on the table. The Plant Aspect, from a quality standpoint, was better than all the other recommended options, only the second time a System-given Aspect had been that good. He guessed it made sense; he had used [Appraisal] on a bunch of different magical plants. The one by his hospital alone would probably have been enough to shoot up its Rarity with how weird it was.
Clover theorized the Trait would allow the Skill to give him more information when he used it on a Plant - a useful ability, but one he’d most likely not be able to take full advantage of.
His attention wandered, and a stray thought crossed his mind: was it possible to make a Golem out of something other than stone and clay. He couldn't see any reason why not. His imagination ran away from him as he envisioned Golems made out of wood and other, more exotic materials like fire.
He shook his head. It was fun to think about, and he'd definitely attempt to innovate the design of his Golems in the future, but today wasn't that day. He was just now getting down the basics of golem making. There was no point in jumping ahead fifty steps and trying to make a Golem out of pure shadows.
Moving on to the next Aspect, he figured that Stone would have a similar effect as Plant, except it would be slightly weaker. He could see how that could be useful for different crafter types, but it didn't interest Clover much, at least not when compared to the last option.
The Trait Aspect would if it did what he thought it would, allow him to gain more insight into what his Golem's Traits actually did. Even though the Aspect was a lower Quality than the others, the decision was a no-brainer.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Appraisal is the search for truth in a confounding world. It is a seemingly endless search that, from its beginning, there lies no way to glimpse what is hidden at its end, if there even is one. But fear not; you are not the first to embark on the journey for truth, nor will you be the last. Clue by clue, you must follow the winding road ahead, uncovering what has been uncovered before.
Congratulations! Appraisal will now reveal the details of your Golems’s Traits.
Unlike the other Paths of its type that he had finished, it didn't unlock new Paths for him to pursue, but he didn't mind. It had done exactly what he had wanted it to do, nothing more, nothing less.
Curious, Clover picked up his small cat Golem and used [Appraisal] on it.
Lesser Golem: Mr. Cat
Durability: 22/50
Mana: 19/25
Bones Break So They Can Mend: 100/100
Traits: [Named Golem], [Red Carpet I], [The First].
A number of surprises jumped out from the screen at him. First, the least surprising of the bunch, Mr. Cat had taken a significant amount of damage, more than he had realized. Secondly, a new bar had appeared, confirming what he already knew - if Mr. Cat was destroyed, he could rebuild him stronger.
On to more surprising news, the Golem had much more Mana left than he had thought it would have.
He wasn't sure what could have explained the gap in his perception - while using it throughout the day, he could feel its reserves steadily ticking down. Maybe Mr. Cat had passively regenerated a bit of energy while he had slept. Or, maybe his Golems were more efficient than he had thought they were. He wasn't sure.
In the Trait section, where a question mark had been before, a new Trait had appeared, possibly revealing itself due to [Appraisal]’s increased power. [The First] had an imposing name, one that he couldn’t help but assume held immense power.
For a moment, he floundered, wondering what he had done to award the Golem with such an impressive title, but then, he remembered Mr. Cat had actually been the first Golem he had ever made.
Further, he found that if he focused on a specific Trait, he could open up a new screen containing more information at no extra cost.
Warning, Appraisal Level too low; increase Skill Level for further details.
Named Golem - Common
This Golem’s name has bound it, twisting its physical form to match its History and Identity.
The System didn't bother to explain what History or identity were, but he felt they were two major hints as to the principles of golem making. The System wouldn't have mentioned them if they weren't important.
Additionally, the warning above the box made it clear that, once again, the description the System had provided didn't show the whole picture. It was likely that there were other secondary effects that [Appraisal] was too weak to reveal.
Red Carpet I - Inferior
Mr. Cat lives for the spotlight. Upon striking the killing blow on an enemy, Mr. Cat steals a sliver of their energy, using it to moderately empower their next strike. If an attack is not executed within ten seconds, the energy will fade away. The amount of energy the Golem is able to steal is modified by how stylishly it dispatches its enemy and how big of an audience watches it do so.
Ah. Clover scratched his head. Now, [Appraisal] was showing its real use; he'd have never guessed all the details that went into [Red Carpet I] without it. Going forward, he'd have to start taking advantage of the quirks of the Trait. As of now, he wasn't using it anywhere near optimally.
The First - Unique
?
Even fewer details were revealed about Mr. Cat's last Trait. All the Skill was able to show him was the Trait's Rarity. For 5 Skill Points, he couldn't reasonably expect it to do more than that - not when [Appraisal] was Level 11.
He made a note of the new Rarity - Unique - and moved on to inspecting his dinosaur Golem.
As a stray thought, he wished that he had been able to use the new and improved version of [Appraisal] on his first prehistoric Golem, the triceratops, but there was nothing he could do about it now unless he somehow recreated the Trait, he'd never find out what [Wind-Swept I] actually did.
Clover used [Appraisal] on the damaged velociraptor skeleton.
Lesser Golem:
Durability: 13/40
Mana: 23/25
Bones Break So They Can Mend: 64/100
Traits: [Phosphorescent I].
Clover was surprised by how far the Golem's Durability had fallen. At least from the outside, it looked like it was in fine condition. Well, he wasn't sure if fine was the right word. The Golem was missing two ribs and part of its tail; it looked bad but certainly not on the edge of falling apart as the System made it seem.
After thinking it over for a few moments, Clover came to the conclusion that, like HP, Durability could have been somewhat disjointed from physical reality. It made sense that the magic animating the Golem would break before its physical form was completely turned to dust.
Also, he couldn't help but notice that even when compared to Mr. Cat, the dinosaur Golem had a rather low overall Durability - part of that could have been blamed on the somewhat disconnected nature of the Skeleton.
Some Golems just weren’t cut out for direct combat; maybe that’d change after he remade it, but that was the case for now. The Golem was excellent as a lighthouse, not so much as a fighter.
He opened an expanded screen, detailing what its Traits did.
Phosphorescent I - Inferior
From its bones, this golem can reflect back the light it has stored.
Clover wasn’t surprised by the System’s glum view of the Trait; the image he had used to construct the Golem’s core was rather shoddy, made in a rush. Still, even though the System didn't explicitly say so, he felt there was more to the dinosaur than what the screen showed.
Moving on, he used [Appraisal] on the many-handed Golem.
Congratulations! Appraisal has reached Level 12. +1 Skill Point.
Lesser Golem:
Durability: 34/35
Mana: 24/25
Bones Break So They Can Mend: 1/100
Traits: [Altered Clay], [The Hand That Stretches Toward The Stars I]
The many-handed Golem, the prototype of his current wheelchair, hadn't seen as much use as he wished it had. Though it couldn't be helped, with his current limit of three Golems, he couldn't justify swapping it out for another.
He pulled up a more detailed view of its Traits.
Altered Clay - Minor
At the moment of its creation, a deep desire echoed within the Golem’s core, altering the clay that enwrapped it, making it more flexible and better able to accommodate its other Traits.
Clover made note of the Trait. Something about its description was different from all the other Traits he had seen, though he couldn’t put his finger on what exactly was different.
The Hand That Stretches Toward The Stars I - Common
Forever reaching - forever stretching toward a goal that's impossibly far away- this Golem can intuitively grasp the barest sliver of Space-attuned mana, allowing it to increase the range of its grasp. As it reaches farther and farther, further progress will become slower and more difficult, but additional effects may also begin to manifest.
[The Hand That Stretches Toward The Stars I] was powerful - tied for the best he had consciously created, and it seemed that so far, he hadn't scratched the limits of its power. He had stopped when the arms had increased in length to four times their original size, deeming it not worth the effort to push forward.
Later in the day, when he returned to the factory, he'd further test out the Golem and try to elicit the additional effects the screen spoke of. He had a feeling that it wouldn't be easy, but his curiosity was piqued; it was worth a try.
Clover thought back, trying to remember what he had done differently while making the many-handed Golem. He came to an answer: instead of just focusing on visuals while making the Golem's core, he had infused it with a deep longing - an emotion that bordered on a memory.
His jaw tensed as his mind raced, parsing through cause and effect, remembering the exact steps he had taken to make the Golem.
“Clover, how do you like your squirrel cooked?” Ron asked.
Clover blinked, coming back to reality. "I don't know. Medium Rare? Is that normally how squirrels are cooked?" To his side, Ron had built up the fire and amateurishly prepared the meat, skewering it through with two pieces of wood. "Not raw? I'd prefer that," he added.
"I'm with Clover. As long as it isn't completely raw, I'll eat it," Claire said briefly, looking up from the bowl in which she was currently making a potion. As she stirred it and added in bits of the crystal fruit, the water would flash blue, glowing slightly.
“Ok, I’ll cook the hell out of it,” Ron said as he put the meat close to the fire - tongues of flame licked at its underside.
Clover smiled, unsure why Ron was so obsessed with cooking a squirrel. At this point, he thought it’d be best not to ask.
Clover stared into the sizzling flames for a moment, doing his best to etch the scene into his memory. He never wanted to forget what had happened today. It was weird to say, but despite the danger and the constant stress, today was one of the happiest days of his life.
If he could freeze time and frame the moment on the wall, he would, but of course, he couldn't; the idyllic scene was shattered as one of the sticks propping up the meat toppled over, causing the skewer as a whole to shift precariously.
“Oh, shit,” Ron said, lunging to catch the meat before it crashed to the ground.
Clover laughed.