Birth Of The Crafts-God

"I need an appraisal done on this."

Ronny handed the ring to Lucas.@@novelbin@@

Typically, appraisal services were divided into two: a basic appraisal which was usually free and wouldn't reveal much information about the item, and a detailed appraisal which was the opposite of the former.

What Ronny wanted was a basic appraisal, so as to know whether Lucas could identify the item.

"That will cost twenty federal coins." Lucas said.

"..."

Ronny glanced at Lucas, surprised by this.

"Don't basic appraisals go for free?" Explore stories on empire

"We don't offer basic appraisals in this store. So, twenty federal coins." Lucas nonchalantly replied as he sat down behind the checkout counter and took a dish from the tray.

The food was made using somewhat common ingredients from a nearby desolate beast domain and it was garnished with desolate beast meat.

During the launch of the Legacy Crafts dealership, the dishes for the event were cooked using special ingredients and desolate beast meat. The taste caught Lucas' interest and ever since then, he had always wanted to try making something similar. In Belfargos city-state, there was no lack of desolate beast domains and so, many businesses depending on resources from the domains came to be. This included meat shops that sold desolate beast meat.

After hearing his response, Ronny, as well as his colleagues, were left dumbfounded. Ronny even began to think that Lucas was a scammer.

Since the store didn't offer basic appraisals, customers would be left with no option than to pay for one. However, who was to say that the results of the appraisal was correct?

One reason for the concept of basic appraisals was for vestige-smiths to showcase their ability. It could also tempt more customers to their store since no one hated free services.

However, Lucas, or to be specific, the system didn't care about that. The appraisal service was a new service listed by the system after Lucas had opened the branch in Trundel City. Since it was listed by the system, Lucas had to follow the price arrangement for it.

"And what happens if you're wrong?" Ronny frowned.

"We don't make errors in this store. However, if we're unable to appraise your item, your money will be refunded." Lucas calmly replied.

How could he make an error with an appraisal? Even though the majority of his skill and knowledge came from his previous toe lives, Lucas doubted that there was a vestige or magic weapon he could not identify its functions.

One should recall that Lucas is a Grandmaster forger. Being able to reach the rank of Grandmaster in his first life wasn't simply a testament to his skills, but also his knowledge and ability. Unlike the other ranks beneath it, the rank of Grandmaster implied that the holder was skilled in various types of techniques and mystical energy. After all, Lucas' first world had more than two types of mystical energy.

It was thanks to his skill and abilities as a Grandmaster that Lucas didn't face significant challenges making a vestige in this world, even with the absence of mana.

But it wasn't like he could just tell Ronny that.

Ronny, on the other hand, was slightly incensed by the response as he couldn't believe there was a store confident to claim that they would never make appraisal errors.

Although most vestige-smiths were properly trained and had an abundance of experience, none would dare to say that their appraisals were always accurate. Usually, their success rate was around ninety seven percent (97%) for vestiges, and forty to seventy percent (50%-70%) for artefacts, and this was when using modern technology. This was because the technology and techniques used for crafting artefacts were entirely different from vestiges. Some of these artefacts even utilised a different power source and inscriptions, which made it difficult for vestige-smiths to figure out how they worked or what they were used for.

Since the ring was an artefact, the success rate for appraisals was low. This was why six of the stores he had been to had given Ronny different results. Maybe one might be accurate, but there was no saying so unless they could fix it.

"Why don't you give it a shot?" Ando suggested.

Since they were already here and the appraisal only cost twenty federal coins, it wasn't a problem. Previously, Ronny had been to seventeen stores and only six managed to identify the ring as an artefact after a basic appraisal. Right after that, Ronny had paid for a detailed appraisal which cost him six hundred federal coins.

Compared to the total six hundred federal coins he spent across six stores —averaging one hundred federal coins per store— the Heavenly Demonic Shop's twenty federal coins fee didn't seem like much.

Ronny eventually decided to go with the suggestion and handed Lucas his card.

"Go ahead."

Having received a request, Lucas dropped his plate to get to work. He handed the card to Melissa, who similarly abandoned her food and scurried to the desktop with the card in hand. Lucas had already taught her what she needed to do to assist him in the store, so he wasn't worried about it.

Meanwhile, Lucas picked up the ring and walked towards the work-station. Truth be told, he could identify the item on the spot, but no one would find it believable since he was a human. In that case, he might as well just fake a scene.

When he got to the work-station, Lucas took out a piece of equipment from his system inventory. It was a set of glasses that had a magnification rune engraved on them. The pair of glasses was a new vestige he made back in Baylands City to help with inscriptions on stellar processors. Stellar processors were very small, with some being just the size of a fingernail. To make an inscription on one was very difficult and a magnifying equipment was necessary.

Using the glasses, Lucas gazed at the ring to study the inscriptions on it.

'This...!'

Lucas was immediately astounded by his discovery.

At first, he couldn't believe what he was seeing and immediately took out a block of metal from his inventory. Using the Materialization Technique, Lucas drew out the stellar energy within the block of metal and applied a bit of it to the ring. Although the ring's inscriptions were damaged, part of it remained usable. However, those parts could be counted on one hand and wouldn't generate an effect, which was why other vestige-smiths had failed to appraise the ring.

Nonetheless, Lucas wasn't interested in any of that. His goal was to see the flow of stellar energy through those functional inscriptions.

As he sensed this, Lucas' eyes widened even more until he finally let out a strange sigh.

The ring wasn't a vestige; it was an artefact just as the previous vestige-smiths had figured out. However, it wasn't just an ordinary artefact, it was a magic artefact. That's right; the ring was most likely a product of the world from Lucas' first life.

This was an incredible discovery.

Initially, Lucas had presumed that all the worlds were different but possibly related. He had thought this way while on Earth, presuming that one of the solar systems or even the nearby Andromeda Galaxy in space was his original world. There was no way to have confirmed this as it was impossible for him to get stronger on Earth, and the technology there was lacking.

Nonetheless, upon reaching Eretre, Lucas had his original presumption challenged.

The hyumankin ruled an entire galaxy, which when compared to humans on Earth, the difference was clear. Their technology was also far ahead of Earth and capable of communicating light-years away and exploring new galaxies.

Apart from the Niera galaxy, there were a few other galaxies discovered by the hyumankin but none like the Milky Way galaxy. This made Lucas begin to wonder whether Earth was even in the same universe as he was. Although a plausible explanation was that the Milky Way galaxy was too far, Lucas didn't want to hold onto false hope.

Lucas began to wonder whether he would ever return to his previous world or even find Earth. It was possible that the three worlds might not be in the same universe. However, seeing this ring gave him hope.

'No use thinking about it for now.'

Lucas kept his ideas behind his head and focused on the ring.

Since it was a product of the magical world, it was even easier for Lucas to analyse it and give a proper evaluation. In a short while, Lucas figured out the ring's function, its features, and even the restoration process for the inscriptions on it.

However, during his scrutiny, Lucas discovered that the runes used on the ring were intended for a different mystical energy than mana or even stellar energy. Although it would still work using either of the two, it wouldn't be as a efficient as when using the intended mystical energy. This could only mean that the rising was made by someone below the Grandmaster rank.

This in turn made Lucas question his original suspicion that the ring was from his world. Although the manufacturing technique was similar, it was quite possible that it wasn't from his world but a mere coincidence. However, Lucas lacked the time and resources to investigate further.

Done with the appraisal, Lucas gathered his thoughts and left the work-station to meet with his client.