Chapter 36: Evaluation and Labels

Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Evaluation and Labels

Hesia clutched the Money Bag, a smile he couldn’t quite suppress still on his face.

The sight of him was finally more than Annis could stand.

Her beautiful almond-shaped eyes were filled with disgust and confusion.

"I mean, are you really a Mage? You look like you’ve never seen money before."

’I really haven’t seen much money,’ Hesia thought.

’Of course, it’s also possible this young miss has just seen way too much money in her life.’

He put the Money Bag away and replied, feigning calmness, "Right now, I suppose I can only be considered an apprentice? I was just lucky enough to master one spell, but I haven’t passed the Association’s certification, so I don’t count as a true Entry Level Mage."

"An apprentice?" Annis found it hard to believe that the stunning spell from moments ago had been cast by a mere Mage Apprentice.

"So, what level are you?"

"I just told you. I’m just an apprentice."

Annis rolled her eyes at him. "Idiot! Of course I know you’re an apprentice. I’m asking for your specific Digital Level! Level 10? 15? Or are you already level 20?"

The expression on Hesia’s face froze.

’Hold on.’

’How does she know the word "level"?’

’As far as I remember, shouldn’t the power ranking system in this world go from apprentice to Entry Level, and then in order: beginner, advanced, Master, and so on?’

’Don’t tell me... she has a Golden Finger too?’

’No way. Is she a Transmigrator too?’

The thought put him on guard.

Suppressing the turmoil in his heart, he asked tentatively,

"What Digital Level? I’m not sure... Aren’t Mage levels divided by ranks?"

Annis’s gaze instantly turned suspicious. "You don’t know the Assessment Skill?"

Hesia shook his head firmly. "What’s the Assessment Skill?"

"Then you don’t know the Labeling Skill either?"

Hesia answered honestly, "No. I’ve never heard of them."

Annis: "..."

She looked as if she were choking on a piece of bread, her pretty face etched with disbelief.

She muttered to herself, "That can’t be right... I remember that in Horder City, lots of Adventurers have been using these two spells since last year. They were even hailed by the Jade Federation Weekly as ’the greatest invention of the past decade’! How could you have completely missed them?"

The moment she finished speaking, she suddenly leaned in close to Hesia, her face almost touching his. Her eyes bored into him, as if trying to find any trace of a lie on his face.

"By the way... are you really from Houlder?"

Their proximity made Hesia a little flustered.

Her clean, elegant scent, mixed with the warmth of her youthful body, drifted straight to him, sending his thoughts into disarray.

He instinctively shrank back and forced himself to remain calm as he continued the lie.

"I... I’ve been at home, focusing on my Magic studies. I rarely pay attention to what’s going on outside. Houlder... is a big place."

’It really does take a thousand lies to cover up just one,’ he thought.

"So, you’re saying," Annis said, realization dawning on her, "you’ve never even registered as an Adventurer, right?"

Hesia seized the opportunity and nodded, then turned the tables by asking, "Could you tell me about them? The Assessment Skill and the Labeling Skill?"

Annis gave him a few suspicious glances before retreating to her seat.

The thought that this future Mage actually needed her to teach him common knowledge was a huge boost to her ego.

She once again lifted her chin proudly and said,

"Since you asked so sincerely, I’ll do you the favor of explaining. It’ll keep you from embarrassing yourself in front of real Adventurers when you get to Rose Town."

"In the early days, when a new recruit registered with the Adventurer Association, an Evaluator would give them a vague rating like ’apprentice’ or ’Entry Level’ based on a general assessment of their Power, agility, and other abilities. But that kind of judgment was very subjective and had a huge margin for error."

"Later, the Association realized that while it’s hard to quantify someone’s actual mission-completing ability, their basic Attributes—like how strong they are, how fast they can run, how tough their body is, how sharp their mind is, and how strong their will is—could be roughly measured. So, they designed a more intuitive ’Digital Level’ system."

"At the lower levels, you typically gain one level for every five Attribute Points."

She paused, then added, "Without learning any skills, an average adult male’s Power, Agility, and Physique are all generally around 10 points.

However, their Wisdom and Will usually hover around 7 points, which is why Casters are so rare."

’The reason those two attributes are so low,’ Hesia complained silently, ’is probably because they never went through nine years of compulsory education... They’ve just been working out their whole lives without cracking a book.’

He noticed Annis hadn’t mentioned Charm, so he took the opportunity to ask, "Then what about Charm? What’s the average person’s Charm Attribute? It’s not included in the level calculation?"

Annis waved her hand dismissively, her expression saying, ’That’s not important.’ "Charm? That thing’s too intangible. You can’t use it to fight or for Spellcasting, so the Association doesn’t bother including it in the level calculation."

Hesia understood.

The formula was identical to the one on the system panel in his mind.

He instinctively "looked" at his Attributes:

[Name: Hesia Atmesia]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 9]

[Profession: None]

[Physique: 10]

[Power: 6]

[Agility: 7]

[Wisdom: 12]

[Will: 10]

[Charm: 16]

His Physique, Power, Agility, Wisdom, and Will—the first five basic Attributes—totaled 45 points.

divided by 5 equals 9, so he was currently level 9. It was a perfect match.

He continued, "So what does that have to do with those two spells you mentioned... the Assessment Skill and the Labeling Skill?"

A look of reverence appeared on Annis’s face.

"The Assessment Skill! It’s a magnificent spell created by the Legendary Mage—Master Bernhard!"

"I heard that Master Bernhard has a granddaughter he adores, who dreams of becoming a great Adventurer."

"Although the Master prepared countless powerful pieces of Enchanted Equipment for her, he was still worried that she would encounter dangers she couldn’t perceive while she was out on her adventures."

"So, this powerful Mage, with his supreme Wisdom, eliminated the Adventurer Association’s reliance on complex magical instruments for their evaluations,"

"and simplified the principles of Attribute assessment and level determination into a... um, to use the newspaper’s words, a ’foolproof’ spell!"

"Although the simplified spell can’t precisely measure the exact value of each Attribute, it can roughly determine a person’s overall level!"

"More importantly, you can even gauge the difference in power between you and a Demon based on the color above its head. It’s an absolutely essential, god-tier skill for any Adventurer."

Hesia understood. An identification skill with no Profession restrictions that anyone could learn—that was nothing short of revolutionary.

It was no exaggeration to call it the greatest invention in recent years.