Appraisal and Labeling

He Xi clutched the coin purse, an irrepressible smile still on his face.

Annis finally couldn't stand it any longer.

Her beautiful almond-shaped eyes were full of disdain and confusion:

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

He Xi thought, I really haven't seen much money.

Of course, it was also possible that this young lady had simply seen far too much money.

He tucked the coin purse away and replied with feigned calmness, "Right now, I should probably only be considered an Apprentice Mage? I've merely managed to grasp one spell by chance, but I haven't passed the Guild's certification yet, so I'm not a true beginner Mage."

"Apprentice Mage?" Annis thought that the astonishing spell from just now had come from an Apprentice Mage, and she found it hard to believe.

"Then what's your level now?"

"I just said, I can only be considered an apprentice."

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

The expression on He Xi's face froze.

Wait a minute?

How does she know the word "level"?

In my memory, the power system of this world isn't divided from apprentice to beginner, then successively junior, senior, and master, right?

Could it be... she also has a cheat?

No way? Is she also a transmigrator?

This thought made him wary.

Suppressing the storm in his heart, he probed with a counter-question:

"What numerical level? I'm not quite sure... Aren't Mage levels divided by tiers?"

Annis's eyes immediately became suspicious. "You don't know about the Appraisal Spell?"

He Xi decisively shook his head. "What is Appraisal Spell?"

"Then you don't know about Labeling Spell either?"

He Xi honestly replied, "No. I've never heard of it."

Annis: "..."

She looked as if she were choked by bread, her beautiful face filled with disbelief.

She muttered to herself, "No way... I remember that since last year, many Adventurers on the streets of Holder City have been using these two spells? This was praised by the Emerald Federation Weekly as 'the greatest invention of the past decade'! How can you have never heard of it?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly leaned close to He Xi, her face almost touching his, her eyes staring intently at him as if trying to find traces of lies on his face:

"By the way... are you really from Holder City?"

At such close proximity, He Xi felt a little flustered.

The faint, elegant scent mixed with the warmth of a young girl's body wafted into his nostrils, making his thoughts wander.

He subconsciously recoiled, forcing himself to maintain his lie with a calm demeanor:

"I... I've been at home diligently studying magic and rarely pay attention to outside affairs. Holder City... is very big."

Indeed, one lie requires countless others to cover it.

"So," Annis said with sudden realization, "you haven't even registered as an Adventurer, have you?"

He Xi nodded along, then took the initiative to ask, "Can you tell me about it? About Appraisal Spell and Labeling Spell?"

Annis eyed him suspiciously for a few moments before retreating to her seat.

The thought that the future Mage before her actually needed to ask her for common knowledge immediately satisfied her small vanity.

She once again proudly lifted her chin and said, "Since you've sincerely asked, I'll reluctantly tell you, so you don't embarrass yourself in front of real Adventurers when you go to Rose Town later."

"In the early days, the Adventurer's Guild would usually assess newcomers based on their strength, agility, and other abilities, giving them a vague rating like 'apprentice' or 'beginner.' But this judgment was very subjective and prone to large errors."

"Later, the Guild discovered that although the actual ability to complete tasks was difficult to quantify, a person's basic attributes—such as how strong they are, how fast they run, how sturdy their body is, how intelligent they are, and how determined they are—could be roughly measured. Thus, they designed a more intuitive 'numerical level' system."

"In the low-level stages, it's usually one level increase for every 5 attribute points."

She paused and added, "Without learning any skills, a normal adult male's strength, agility, and physique can generally reach around 10 points.

However, their intelligence and willpower usually hover around 7 points, which is why spellcasters are so rare."

He Xi silently grumbled in his heart, "The reason for the low scores in these two attributes is probably because they haven't gone through nine years of compulsory education... They just exercised without studying their whole lives."

He noticed that Annis hadn't mentioned charisma and took the opportunity to ask, "What about charisma? What's the average charisma attribute for most people? Doesn't it count towards the level?"

Annis waved her hand with an expression of "it doesn't matter," "Charisma? That thing is intangible and can't be used for fighting or casting spells, so the Guild can't be bothered to include it in the level."

He Xi understood.

This algorithm is the same as the system panel in his mind.

He subconsciously "looked" at his own stats:

[Name: He Xi Atmesia]
[Race: Human]
[Level: 8]
[Class: None]
[Physique: 10]
[Strength: 6]
[Agility: 7]
[Intelligence: 11]
[Willpower: 10]
[Charisma: 16]

Physique, Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Willpower – the sum of the first five basic stats is 44 points.

44 divided by 5 equals 8.8, so the current level is 8, almost 9. It matches perfectly.

He continued to ask, "Then what's the connection between this and the two spells you just mentioned... [Appraisal Spell] and [Labeling Spell]?"

Annis's face showed a look of admiration:

"[Appraisal Spell]! This is a great spell created by the legendary Mage--Master Bornhard!"

"I heard Master Bornhard has a granddaughter he dotes on very much, who dreams of becoming a great Adventurer.

Although the Master prepared countless powerful enchanted equipment for her, he was still worried she might encounter dangers he couldn't see through while adventuring outside.

Thus, this powerful Mage, with his supreme wisdom, removed the reliance on complex magical instruments during the Adventurer's Guild's assessment.

He simplified the principles of stat appraisal and level determination into a... hmm, as the newspapers put it, a spell 'even a fool could learn'!"

"After simplification, although this spell cannot accurately measure the specific values of each stat, it can roughly determine the opponent's overall level!

More importantly, it can even identify various monsters, making it an essential divine skill for Adventurers going out.

He Xi understood. A detection skill with no class restrictions that anyone could learn was simply revolutionary.

It truly wasn't an exaggeration to call it the greatest invention in recent years.