"I'll, uh, I'll take 60% of the loot now. I need to process this before I can give you the verification for completing the quest," the guide whose name Lone still didn't know said.

"Help her, Sarah?" Lone requested, using her fake name, to which the teen nodded.

As Breena began pulling things out of her three adventurer's pouches, Lone sat on the grassy ground and asked Soph, "How'd it go? Did it feel any different having so much more MP to mess around with?"

"Kinda?" Soph nodded in an uncertain manner as she took her helmet off and wiped her sweat covered brow. "Stupid armour... I swear, when Armour Creation gets unsealed, I'm making... what did you call it? Air conditioned? I'm making air conditioned armour!"

"Hah. Temperature magic is a thing so I'm sure an enchantment of some sort from that school would achieve the same effect. Anyway, spill," Lone replied. "Actually, describe your status for me, please? I could use some perspective on what you've been working with for the past two weeks."

Soph smiled and obliged, listing out all of the details of her status for him. With ease, Lone mentally pictured what the status screen would have looked like were he to be the one looking at it.

Status Name: Soph Vladimirovich Sex: Female Age: 972 Level: 403 [+3] Species Human Rank: B HP: 3,500/3,500 [+1,180] SP: 2,453/4,640 [+1,750] MP: 3,600,431/5,123,590 [+1,434,530] Basic Stats Strength: 422 [+121] Vigour: 464 [+175] Dexterity: 454 [+177] Agility: 555 [+203] Vitality: 350 [+118] Luck: 263,700 [+89,000] Secret Stats Charm: 40 [+12] Magic Power: 512,359 [+143,453]

"When's your birthday again?" Lone asked.

"In, uh, two months, I think?" Soph replied, unsure as she titled her head. "Why?"

"'Cause I'm almost 26 so I figured your age level-up, so to speak, was coming up soon," Lone answered.

Soph pouted. "That's all? No other thoughts about my status?"

"Nah, I have other thoughts," Lone laughed. "It's cute that the status differentiates between you and Sophie in the name section. Your SP almost doubling is great too. Can never have too much stamina. Your HP is still too low to be meaningful in any way really but improvements are improvements. I can see Sophie's efforts to train your body shining through. You usually get decent improvements from the levels themselves but this just from training? Very impressive indeed."

The pout expanded which Lone found to be adorable. "Really? That's it?"

"Well... Soon you'll have enough Charm for me to get Charm Resistance. Shame I think you're perfect no matter what so it's really hard to tell you have that stat..." Lone stroked his chin thoughtfully.

The pout deflated and Soph's cheeks burned red. "This is why I have Charm Resistance and you don't... No thoughts about my MP and Luck?"

"I would be surprised if your low HP will ever matter considering how absurdly lucky you continue to grow to be. I don't think you've ever been hit by an attack. I'm hoping you don't suddenly get any urges to bury a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow or something. It's going to be crazy if you even learn how to apply that stat... And don't even get me started on your MP. No wonder Yulia was in awe of you. Over five mil MP? Really? A mana sun indeed. No wonder your maelstrom earlier felt so much stronger."

Soph beamed. "Was it that hard to compliment me?"

"No, there's nothing easier, but where's the fun if I can't tease you, huh?" Lone replied and laughed as the short woman whom his heart belonged punched him in the arm to no effect.

"Sickening," their Crimson Foxkin guide muttered before turning back to Breena. "Are they always like that? And what kind of nonsense are they talking about?"

"Huh? Um, em, well, t-they do l-love each other... so... Um... A-Are we done? That was the, em, last of the loot..." Breena replied in a panicked flurry, clearly not wanting to give a proper answer.

"Almost. Immortus?" the guide called to which Lone gave her his full attention. "Do you want your 40% of the loot to be in items or cash? If it's items, you guys will have to pick what you want until it totals 40% of the value. Otherwise, I can give you a clan-sanctioned note that can be turned in to the Pavilion of Treasurers for 40% of the monetary value of everything here based on my estimation."

"Just give us whatever looks weird and hard to determine what its use might be without using a skill. I trust your judgement to give us 40% worth of the stuff with that condition," Lone shrugged.

The guide furrowed her brow. "Are you two okay with that?"

Soph mimicked Lone's shrug and replied, "He's the leader."

"I-I don't care about the loot personally..." Breena stated.

The guide sighed. "Well, okay, but don't complain if you don't like what you get. You sure you don't want that note for money? This is more loot than what's normal for Eltoro's Grave. 40% of this in cash will be quite a lot."

"Nah, I'm good. I'll get more out of random shit anyway," Lone answered, not really choosing to explain that he just wanted stuff to practice his Item Examination skill on.

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The skill [Item Examination] has been used. The host has selected MP as the energy source for the skill. 10,000 MP base cost. An additional 3,250 MP has been charged to examinate the selected item.

Lone's MP pool was over three times larger than his SP pool so it just made sense to use that resource even if he could regenerate SP incredibly quickly with a simple Blood Clone fortress shield. A higher cap meant less room for failure in case one of these items needed an insanely pricey cost to be examined for whatever reason.

Magical Hair Pick The item is a hair pick originating from the renewing dungeon Eltoro's Grave. It dropped from a lesser fox spirit (dungeon variety). It has an unknown magical effect.

Congratulations! The host's active skill [Item Examination] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 2.

Congratulations! The host's active skill [Item Examination] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 3.

Congratulations! The host's active skill [Item Examination] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 4.

"Wow that is so undescriptive. No monetary value estimation either. Mason's version of the skill must have a subskill or additional effect for that. Maybe it's a natural bonus from intermediate rank? Well, I have four more items to check so may as well blast through 'em all," Lone thought.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

He looked at the four other items spread out in front of him on the floor of his, Soph, and Breena's assigned living space and nodded. "Fan next, then the hat, then the dagger, then the paper with the weird rune on it."

The skill [Item Examination] has been used. The host has selected MP as the energy source for the skill. 10,000 MP base cost. An additional 100 MP has been charged to examinate the selected item.

Decorated Fan The item is a hand fan originating from the renewing dungeon Eltoro's Grave. It dropped from a lesser fox spirit (dungeon variety). It is exquisitely decorated and likely worth quite a lot though it has no magical properties or any specific peculiarities.

Congratulations! The host's active skill [Item Examination] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 5.

Congratulations! The host's active skill [Item Examination] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 6.

"Huh. Does it really have nothing unique to it, or is my knowledge so lacking that the skill thinks there's nothing to it since it works off of my knowledge base?" Lone asked himself.

"It's normal," Soph commented from across the room as she focused on a few dozen barriers she was doing tricks with to refine her acute control over them. "That and the dagger have next to no magic in them."

"Well, that's disappointing. At least the hat and paper should be interesting like the comb though," Lone replied before using the skill again on the aforementioned hat.

The skill [Item Examination] has been used. The host has selected MP as the energy source for the skill. 10,000 MP base cost. An additional 4,320 MP has been charged to examinate the selected item.

Mysterious Guan The item is a traditionally-styled hat originating from the renewing dungeon Eltoro's Grave. It dropped from a greater fox spirit (dungeon variety). It has an unknown hidden function that is applied when worn.

Congratulations! The host's active skill [Item Examination] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 7.

Congratulations! The host's active skill [Item Examination] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 8.

Congratulations! The host's active skill [Item Examination] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 9.

"Yup. Not wearing this until I know exactly what it does, especially since it's green. Maybe I should find a random monster to test it on?" Lone wondered aloud as he turned his eyes towards the dagger Soph claimed was lacking in magic.

The skill [Item Examination] has been used. The host has selected MP as the energy source for the skill. 10,000 MP base cost. An additional 150 MP has been charged to examinate the selected item.

Dragon Jade Dagger The item is a dagger of pure jade originating from the renewing dungeon Eltoro's Grave. It dropped from a lesser fox spirit (dungeon variety). It is surprisingly robust despite its intricate dragon design handle and despite being made entirely from jade.

Congratulations! The host's active skill [Item Examination] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 10.

Congratulations! The host's active skill [Item Examination] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 1.

Active Skill: Item Examination

An incredibly specialised skill designed to mimic the racial skill of the dwarven species, Stone's Vision.

Allows the host to glean some [up from minute] details about any object it is used on, though the level of detail will be heavily [down from entirely] dependant on the host's known information and the history behind the item.

Cost: 8,000 SP or MP minimum [-2,000 MP or SP minimum]. More intricate items with more history behind them may require a higher cost. Mastery: Intermediate Level 1

"Oh? Some instead of minute and heavily instead of entirely? Well, I'd be a fool to not test that immediately," Lone said before immediately using the skill on the dagger once again.

The skill [Item Examination] has been used. The host has selected MP as the energy source for the skill. 8,000 MP base cost. An additional 150 MP has been charged to examinate the selected item.

Dragon Jade Dagger The item is a dagger of pure jade originating from the renewing dungeon Eltoro's Grave. It dropped from a lesser fox spirit (dungeon variety). It is surprisingly robust despite its intricate dragon design handle and despite being made entirely from jade. It is valuable but near-useless in actual combat. A strike to the blade equal to the power an average I-ranker would shatter it in its totality.

"No new levels so it works like Full Body Diagnostics in that regard. Still, that's definitely more info... What about the magical items thus far?" Lone asked himself, earning an endearing roll of the eyes from Soph who seemed to be enjoying watching him geek out over his new skill while she practiced her barrier magic.

The skill [Item Examination] has been used. The host has selected MP as the energy source for the skill. 8,000 MP base cost. An additional 3,250 MP has been charged to examinate the selected item.

Magical Hair Pick The item is a hair pick originating from the renewing dungeon Eltoro's Grave. It dropped from a lesser fox spirit (dungeon variety). It is made from an unknown bone. It has an unknown magical effect that is activated when a certain key phrase is uttered. The hair pick must be equipped for this effect to trigger even with the key phrase.

"Ohh that's way more informative. Made of bones, it needs a key phrase, and it needs to be worn. Fun. And the hat?" Lone asked himself.

The skill [Item Examination] has been used. The host has selected MP as the energy source for the skill. 8,000 MP base cost. An additional 4,320 MP has been charged to examinate the selected item.

Mysterious Guan The item is a traditionally-styled hat originating from the renewing dungeon Eltoro's Grave. It dropped from a greater fox spirit (dungeon variety). It is made from an unknown cloth. It has an unknown hidden function that is applied when worn. The hidden function is not harmful to the wearer.

"Still not putting it on but that's cool. What do I have laying around that I could use this skill on for levelling? Well, let's examine the last dungeon item first, I suppose," Lone decided before invoking the skill on rune-inscribed sheet of paper.

The skill [Item Examination] has been used. The host has selected MP as the energy source for the skill. 8,000 MP base cost. An additional 16,530 MP has been charged to examinate the selected item.

Rune Paper The item is a piece of parchment with a rune drawn on it originating from the renewing dungeon Eltoro's Grave. It dropped from a random treasure chest. It is made from an unknown bark. It has an unknown magical use that actives if it is charged with MP. The rune on the parchment is written in an unknown magical language.

Congratulations! The host's active skill [Item Examination] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 2.

Congratulations! The host's active skill [Item Examination] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 3.

Congratulations! The host's active skill [Item Examination] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 4.

"So many unknowns. I gotta rank up this skill more and I gotta learn more. Soph, reckon I'd get permission to peruse the archives here if I asked nicely?" Lone asked.

Soph tilted her head in consideration. "Maybe? I'd give you permission."

"I know you would. Well, I still have to scour the libraries and book stores in Golden Pass City. Now, onto what I have in Dimensional Storage that I could use this skill on..." Lone began mentally sifting through his unique skill to see what he wasn't really familiar with in there to feed his new favourite skill.