Mirage hesitated for a moment before he opened his mouth to ask.
"That... how do I address you?"
The little boy's golden eyes flickered slightly before they immediately disappeared, he replied to his question in a mild tone.
"You can just call me Shopkeeper Chan. My assistance only includes answering some of your questions and guiding you throughout your stay in the shop."
He paused and continued.
"You can ask me your question."
Mirage relaxed and unceremoniously asked the thing that bothers him the most right now.
"What are the use and purpose of the stars and skills?"
Mirage's emerald green eyes shone with anticipation while looking at Chan.
Chan did not have any reactions to his question and he just went to open his mouth and said emotionlessly.
"The stars on the class cards and skills are their rankings given by the game system itself."
Mirage looked thoughtful and curiously asked.
"I see... what is the maximum amount of stars that a class or skill could get then?"
Chan immediately replied.
"The maximum stars they could is 10-stars at most with the lowest being the 1-star."
Mirage was silent for a moment before he asked Chan again.
"Does that mean that the stars that I have on my class and skill are fixed?"
Chan's golden eyes flickered with a bit of surprise but he nevertheless patiently answered the question.
"They aren't fixed. You would be able to upgrade their star ranks as long as you have met their specific conditions."
Chan paused for a moment before he continued.
"These stars also had the function to categorize the potential of the said class or skill."
"The higher the stars that they get means the higher their potential power and capabilities."
Mirage was too immersed by the influx of information to the point that he could only nod his head repeatedly to let Chan know that he understood.
Then Mirage suddenly asked him.
"That... what are the requirements for the star upgrade?"
Chan deeply looked at him before answering.
"You can check those requirements at the end of the skill details, as for the class star upgrade it will automatically be upgraded after you've completed the class advancement."
Mirage was enlightened thus he thanked him and carefully asked.
"Thank you for answering all of my questions Chan, I still have few questions to ask, would that be okay with you?"
Chan did not react and just replied in a deadpan manner.
"Yes. Go ahead and ask."
Mirage went silent for a moment and thought to himself.
'Why is this little boy so cold...'
Nevertheless, he still went on to ask.
"That... I had received the skill < Sonar Tracker > from killing the Water Snakes earlier but it did not a star on it, I wonder why is it like this?"
He went on to proudly explain to Chan the details of how he got the skill.
After he finished his explanation Chan was still silent, but he saw that his lips were twitching violently before he mockingly answered.
"That's because the skill you receive could be commonly learned by even normal people, so how...pfft... could it possibly have a rank?"
His face was beet red from holding back his laughter while he was explaining.
Chan saw Mirage's confused expression suddenly become relaxed as if he had gained enlightenment, he could not take it anymore and immediately turned around.
Mirage was surprised to see him turning around and was about to show some concern to at least thank him for his help, but then he saw his back was trembling and heaving incessantly, he could even hear his vague suppressed snorts.
It was obvious from the movements of his back that he was holding back his laughter, he felt angry and speechless at the same time.
He wanted to smack the little boy's head but did not have the guts to do so, he's afraid that he might receive a penalty from the system.
He forced himself to calm down by breathing deeply in and out before he smilingly asked in a cold voice.
"Oho... what is wrong with you Shopkeeper? Why are you heaving like a wild beast? Are you feeling sick perhaps?"
The shaking of Chan suddenly froze, he slowly turned around to face him and only turned pale after he saw Mirage creepily smiling at him.
He avoided his gaze while scratching his chubby cheeks and meekly asked.
"That... do you have more questions to ask?"
His voice sounded completely different from earlier, Mirage didn't want to tease him lest he gets angry thus he went on to ask Chan the questions that muddled him.
***
A whole five minutes passed by and all of his questions were answered by Chan except for a few things such as the reason behind his inability to log out, the mysterious black tower, etc...
Chan also remained silent when he asked him if was his body really transported from Earth to this game world.
Nevertheless, some of his questions were still answered by him.
He asked him the reason for the stars not appearing on the skill that he received from Undine.
Chan answered that it was because it wasn't a skill that he had learned by himself but was granted by another person instead.
He also explained that the skills he received from another would be capped at skill level 10 and would not be upgraded any further.
He also asked him the maximum level a skill could get and Chan answered that all 1-star skills are capped at LV10.
He would have to upgrade the star rank first before he would be able to advance his skill level further.
He did not ask questions any longer and he focused his attention on his newly learned skill instead.
He closed his eyes and willed his mind to control the mana around him only to belatedly realize that his mind had been inside the player shop all this time.
He was speechless but still went to temporarily close the player shop and then opened his eyes again to see what was happening in his surroundings.
He sighed in relief upon seeing that there were no major changes that had happened while he was busy 'comprehending' inside the player shop.
He did not wait any longer and relaxed his state of mind, he was about to control the mana when he yet this time, he also realized that he could not sense any mana in his surroundings at all!
He could not even feel a sliver of the said mana much less manipulate it, he was dumbfounded by this angering yet sad realization.
How could he not sense the mana when he had already become a spell caster?
His face crumpled as if he had eaten something that made him sour. He sighed bitterly and said to himself.
'Is this a game error again? Haa, how could it be like this? How can I not sense the mana around when I have already become a spell caster?'
He had initially assumed that it would be a natural thing to sense mana after he changed class to become a spell caster.
He thought like this based on the games that he had played before, most of them did not bother about these complicated details and would instead avoid them.
He did not know if they had purposely done this to make the game simple or they were simply too lazy to bother about it.
Nonetheless, he was affected because of his wrong assumption right now and he met someone that did their jobs properly, well, he didn't even know if this is merely a game anymore because of the various circumstances that he had experienced that ultimately led him to believe the unbelievable.
He was helpless of him not being able to sense the mana so he went to tap the shop icon that had a 50-minute timer below it, then he was back inside the golden tower again.
He immediately looked for Chan and was about to shout his name when he found him floating silently in an unassuming corner.
He walked towards him with large strides, his footsteps hurried and vigorous yet he wore a worried and anxious face.
Chan looked at him from the corner of his eye but did not greet or say anything.
Mirage opened his mouth and asked.
"That... Chan? Do you know of a skillbook that could help someone sense the mana around them?" he said this with a bit of anticipation.
He anticipated for Chan to answer "YES." as his fate might largely depend on this skill, whether he could become a certified mage or not, it now all depended on what would Chan answered.
Chan was silent for a moment seemingly thinking about something, he opened his mouth not long later and said.
"There is... there is one in fact, but do you know about the talents that a spell user should have?" he looked at him with hesitation.
Mirage did not know a thing about their talents whatnot so he hurriedly shook his head.