Celestial Era: The Rise of the Full-Time Enhancer

Needless to say, Vincent doesn't need to take his time appraising the Spirit Stone given to him.

He only needed a moment to know what tier of Spirit Stone this is.

'So it's like this…' Vincent thought after appraising it.

Unfortunately for him, just like the result when he tried appraising the Low-Tier Spirit Stones, he was only given its name.

No descriptions, durability, or other functions in the Appraisal Result.

[ Mid-Tier Spirit Stone ]

It only appears like this and it was followed by a familiar notification.

Ding!

[ Ascension Crystal found. Would you like to use 1 Ascension Crystal to Ascend an item? ]

This is what he got after checking it out.

Currently, he can select his robe, rings, belt, shoes, and other Magic Tools on his body to be Ascended.

Of course, he immediately answered "no" to it since he can't spend Ronan's Spirit Stone.

'Err… Should I pretend that I'm taking time to appraise it?' As Vincent thought of this, he immediately shook his head.

There is no point and he can simply say that he has an Appraisal Mystic Hands or something.

As he was about to tell Ronan about his findings and ask if he has High-Tier Spirit Stones in his possession, Vincent felt the presence of a few beasts watching their carriage. They weren't some form of insects this time and seem to be an ambush of tigers.

There were nine of them and observing them very closely.

Before Vincent could react and notify Ronan, the latter already made his move and controlled two of his Silver Knights to scare off these beasts.

After all, unlike the insects or bug-type Savage Beasts who only know how to attack, the Savage Beasts at this level know how to retreat if they encountered a tough opponent.

Under Ronan's control, the Silver Knights performed a few Sword Techniques destroying the trees and rocks nearby…

Bang! Bang! Bang!

As soon as the tigers saw how the Silver Knights cleanly cut the trees and boulders, they immediately fled and decided to wait for the next people that will use the road.

They may be tough but certainly weren't as tough as those boulders…

"Are you done appraising it?" Ronan asked after noticing that Vincent was watching the Silver Knights…

"Yes… I worked as an Appraiser before so I'm quite used to it." Vincent casually replied.

"Oh… So you also have a talent in appraisal. That's impressive."

"Thank you. Your abilities are more impressive. I didn't expect that Automatons can also perform such complicated Sword Techniques..." Vincent muttered the last part. It seems that he was looking at real knights instead of controlled automatons.

The Sword Techniques that the two Silver Knights used were quite high-level. If he would make a comparison, these Silver Knights appear to be at the level of Archknights when they were using their Sword Arts.

"Yes… But Silver Tier Automatons weren't normally capable of doing that. Think of it as my specialty. I could bring out the hidden potential of Automatons…"

"Wow… So you're really special."

"Haha… You can say so. Anyway, only Gold Tier Automatons were commonly capable of performing high-level Martial Arts since the burden would be too much. If Silver Tier Automatons does martial arts, its life, or perhaps durability, wouldn't last that long… except if it is my automaton."

Ronan explained with a hint of pride in his voice.

Vincent can only praise Ronan's abilities and decided not to ask for the reason why. After all, he already mentioned that his method isn't normal.

If he will make a guess, Ronan probably has a secret method that could increase the durability of his automatons. It's also possible that Ronan has a high-level Mental Technique to make the Silver Knights perform Martial Arts without too much stress on their Silver Bodies.

Anyway, Vincent shifted the topic to the Spirit Stone again.

"Right, this Spirit Stone is a Mid-Tier one… Can you tell me how much it's worth compared to the normal or Low-Tier ones?"

"That's right… It's indeed a genuine Mid-Tier Spirit Stone. You have to be careful since there were fake Mid-Tier Circulating around here. Anyway, Mid-Tier Spirit Stones can be traded with 10 Low-Tier Spirit Stones in normal cases… And although it is technically worth 20,000 gold coins, it can't be traded with gold. No one in their right mind would do so."

"Hmm… Why is that?" Vincent curiously asked.

"It's because Mid-Tier Spirit Stones are quite rare and extremely helpful to Sages. There were cases where Mid-Tier Spirit Stones were sold for 20 or so Low-Tier Spirit Stones because of that. It happens when they needed to breakthrough or advance in their cultivation… The Sages can also use Mid-Tier Spirit Stones in some high-level rituals like worship rites or even divination…"

Ronan slowly explained. He didn't mind Vincent asking many questions. In his mind, the Black Rifle that he received was probably worth over 20,000 gold coins.

"So it was like that…"

Vincent nodded but he was a bit overwhelmed with the information he had just heard. He had to organize his thoughts since he didn't expect that the Star Garden Peak would be so different from other organizations.

First, there were fake Mid-Tier Spirit Stones so he has to always use his Appraisal Skill on these stones and not just on the items he wanted.

Next, these Mid-Tier Spirit Stones are quite special since no one would want to trade them with gold.

In addition to that, they can be used for rituals and divination… Vincent wasn't sure but it feels like something a cult would do. Nevertheless, he knows that he can't ask about these rituals since they're only being done by the Sages.

Since Ronan is a servant of the Sage, it may not be appropriate to ask him.

'Right… I'm already asking about the prices of things around here… Do I even have enough money?' Vincent immediately recalled how he was actually quite poor.

Since he has everything he needs in the city, he wasn't really accumulating any money as all the profits he gets from selling his Enhanced Magic Tools or potions go back to the city.

His real wealth was the high-grade items in his possession and the fact that he could create something very valuable with his system's help.

As soon as Vincent checked his money in his inventory, he only found a pouch of coins that contains 100 silver and 30 gold.

'Not good… I think I should start finding a way to earn money here…' Vincent mused as he wanted to at least purchase some low-tier Spirit Stones for his Ascension Skill.