Identify

A knock at the door woke Renato from his sleep.

"Renato, are you feeling unwell? Why are you sleeping in the middle of the day?"

Renato scratched his tousled hair and stepped aside to let Perly in.

"I stayed up late last night and felt a little sleepy, so I took a nap. Did you get the materials?"

"Spell components in Fried City are ridiculously expensive! There aren't any mages in the magic supply shops, just greedy merchants." Perly pouted as she watched Renato gnawing on some bread. "Didn't you eat lunch?"

Renato had no idea why he felt so hungry. He had eaten his fill before going to sleep, and his nap had lasted less than two hours.

He could only give a vague answer.

"I did, but I wasn't quite full, so I'm having a bit of bread."

Perly circled Renato, looking puzzled.

"Why do I feel like you've gotten taller? Did you get new boots?"

Taller? Renato hadn't noticed anything himself, but he trusted that Perly wouldn't say it without reason. Could it be because my constitution increased?

But he couldn't explain the [Adventurer's Guide] to her, so he had to tell a little lie.

"I just put in some thicker insoles. What materials did you buy?"

It was a clumsy change of subject, but fortunately, Perly didn't press him.

"I've got all the components for Identify." Perly took out a small pouch of pearls and showed him. "This little pouch cost two Silver Crowns. They're not even South Sea pearls, just tiny pearls from river mussels, and they're still so expensive..."

"When can we start identifying things?" Renato took out the Crown of Intellect. He really wanted to experience what using a magic item felt like.

"Wait, put it back first." Perly reached out to stop him and tucked the crown back into the Bag of Holding. "I haven't prepared Identify today. Don't take it out yet. There might be a triggered curse on it."

"Then when can we do it?" Renato was a little puzzled. "Isn't an entire afternoon enough to prepare Identify?"

"I won't be able to identify it until tomorrow."

Looking a little embarrassed, Perly added:

"I've never had a chance to cast Identify before, so I'm not very familiar with the spell's structure... But don't worry. My Spellbook has detailed notes on how to construct it. I just need to study it for a little while..."

Fine, so she has to learn it first. Renato was at a loss for words.

Perly seemed a little sheepish and stayed at the table studying Identify. Watching her scribble furiously, Renato rubbed his brow.

He had wanted to suggest that they go out to relax and celebrate, but when he remembered that she was working so hard to identify his items, he swallowed the words.

Opening the Bag of Holding, Renato began taking stock of his recent gains to see what he could sell.

Four captured one-handed swords. To Renato's eye, the weapons the Wolf Gang smuggled weren't particularly good. He guessed their customers probably didn't have much money. They certainly weren't nobles.

Still, even with their mediocre quality, each sword could fetch two Silver Crowns. With the right buyer, three might even be possible.

A flat-topped helmet with a rough surface covered in scratches, no visor, and only a crooked nasal guard. It had been riveted together rather than forged from a single piece of metal. Even including the leather cap inside, Renato thought it was worth two Silver Crowns at most.

A military cleaver, single-edged, with a thick, slightly curved spine. Its tip had been cut flat, improving its chopping power at the cost of making thrusts impossible.

Crude in style but practical, it could fetch more than five silver coins even as stolen goods, but Renato wasn't planning to sell it.

He intended to keep it as a backup weapon in case he needed one.

A copper ring, a dagger with a red cord tied to it... and a potion of unknown use. He could leave those for Perly to identify tomorrow.

His coin purse was stuffed full, holding more money than he had ever possessed since coming to this world.

Five gold coins, 116 silver coins, and 172 copper coins.

Converted, that came to roughly sixteen gold coins, or 167 Silver Crowns.

For a commoner, it was a fortune, enough to buy a dozen or so mu of farmland, build a wooden house, and marry a young village girl.

For a noble, it was merely the price of a suit of full plate armor or a luxurious carriage. Not a small amount, but no more than a necessary everyday expense.

For an adventurer like Renato, it was a lot of money, enough to live comfortably in the city for a year. It was also very little, not even enough to buy a useful magical accessory or a potion with a unique effect.

With this money, according to Renato's original plan, he should have been ready to settle into a comfortable life of eating and drinking.

Away from dangerous adventures, enjoying the safety of city life.

Renato looked down at his hands, those utterly ordinary hands.

-These very hands had slit dozens of throats and hunted countless powerful monsters over the past six months.

The [Adventurer's Guide] let him earn unique abilities by completing quests: seeing at night like a wolf, physical endurance far beyond that of an ordinary person...

And Renato could actually feel his body growing stronger as his points increased: greater strength, faster speed, a sturdier physique...

Beyond the changes in his body, he had also witnessed the miracle of Eldath's Divine Water and the many wondrous spells Perly had cast...

The worldview he had built over more than twenty years, his understanding of what was "normal," had slowly changed with these experiences.

Supernatural power that had once existed only in his imagination was now within reach. How could he give it up and contentedly become an ignorant medieval commoner?

He had crossed into another world and possessed the [Adventurer's Guide]. He ought to pursue extraordinary power.

Not out of curiosity, nor out of interest, but from the most primal, purest survival instinct and ambition.

Among the memories and knowledge of his body's original owner were many Eryl legends about visitors from the Astral Plane. Those figures could travel between worlds through the Astral Plane. Though most were celestial beings in religious stories, they gave Renato hope of returning to Earth.

Returning to Earth would require careful planning, but he could start getting stronger right now. Renato had made up his mind.

He would keep being an adventurer, and he had to keep completing quests.

For now, his only way to grow stronger was by leveling up through the [Adventurer's Guide]. That was far too limiting, and he had no spellcasting abilities at all. He needed to explore other paths.

Renato considered learning how the locals gained power, such as becoming a mage by studying spells...

That's right. Before, I couldn't learn spells because I had no way to obtain the knowledge. But now Perly is a ready-made teacher, and mages cast through the Weave. They don't need any talent inherited through their bloodline. Why shouldn't I learn some spells?

Just like in the webnovels he had read when he was younger, perhaps in a few years he could become a legendary mage who could Alter Reality with a mere gesture and roam the Astral Plane.

As for whether he could learn magic, Renato wasn't worried in the slightest. He was brimming with confidence.

He was an Earthling who had received a higher education. If even these natives could become mages, how could Renato possibly lose to a bunch of Eryl who had never even studied advanced mathematics?