As Asher followed Ms. Clarissa, he could hear Lyra and Ethan constantly talking about doing dungeons together. He quickly tuned them out, having no interest in joining their plans. Asher didn't want to risk exposing his powers, even though some of his skills were common.
Noticing the path they were taking, Asher realized they were headed towards the principal's office. After a short walk, they arrived. Upon entering, they were greeted by Alistair Crowe, who smiled warmly at them.
"Good morning, everyone. I see that you have all made excellent progress in just two days," he said, standing up.
"I presume you have made a choice on what type of item you will be choosing. If not, you can take your time looking through our school inventory," Principal Alistair Crowe said. Seeing them nod, he continued, "Clarissa, can you show them to the inventory? I have some work to do." With that, he started moving toward the door.
"Yes, Principal," Ms. Clarissa replied. "Come on, you lot," she gestured, pressing a runic pattern near a bookshelf. When the pattern lit up, the bookshelf vanished, replaced by a black void. Before Asher could see through it, the void transformed into an exquisite door with no keyholes.
Ms. Clarissa took out a key and inserted it into a specific spot on the door and the key phased through door. The door slid to the side. Noticing Asher's curiosity, she laughed faintly and explained, "It's a space concealment rune, which connects this room to another place. Most things are protected like this." With that, she entered the room.
They all followed her inside. As they entered, the room lit up, revealing rows of shelves with various items. Each item was placed in a display case, shrunk using special techniques, along with their descriptions.
"So, I assume you all have an idea of what to choose, as your families are likely familiar with some of the items here," Ms. Clarissa said to the group. Seeing the three of them nod, she continued, "You can go ahead and make your selections. If you need any help, just call me."
"Yes, Ma'am," they replied in unison and began exploring the shelves.
Ms. Clarissa then turned to Asher, who was looking around the room with curiosity. "I know you might not be familiar with most of the items here, so let me start with the skill that Principal Crowe promised," she said.
Asher nodded, ready to learn more.
Ms. Clarissa led Asher towards a specific row, revealing shelves dedicated to skill books and skill stones. "Here are the illusion attack type skills. You can choose any one from here, but if you pick a low-grade one, the principal asked me to give you another low-grade skill as well."
Asher was surprised by this generosity, recalling that he had mentioned he would be content with a low-grade skill when he disclosed some information. He felt grateful to the principal.
He approached the shelf and began examining the items. Each skill had a detailed description, so he didn't bother using his insight ability. Besides, he wasn't sure if there were any mechanisms in place to detect appraisal-related spells.
Mirage Veil, Echo Image, Shadow Flicker, Phantom Whisper, Glimmering Decoy, Spectral Army, Hall of Mirrors, Veil of Invisibility, …
As he looked through the descriptions, Asher saw that illusion-type attack spells were rare. In the end, he chose Echoing Blades .
Echoing Blades: Summons several ghostly swords that follow the user's movements, striking at enemies with each swing and creating the illusion of multiple hits.
Seeing him make his choice, Ms. Clarissa glanced at the description and said, "It's a good spell. In the future, when you learn more area illusion spells, you can combine both and attack with invisible blades."
Asher curiously asked, "Can you recommend any area illusion skill teachers?"
"Hall of Mirrors or Phantasmal Terrain would be great choices," she answered immediately, as if she had used them before.
He nodded, getting the feeling that Ms. Clarissa was more familiar with illusion skills than she let on.
"Alright, now to choose the promised item," Ms. Clarissa said, looking around. "Do you have anything in mind, like a weapon, accessory, or materials?"
Truthfully, Asher didn't have any idea of what to choose. He decided to rely on his insights and intuition to guide him.
"No, but can you point me to the places where rare items are kept? As you know, due to my Prudence trait, I get a feeling whenever there is something useful for me."
Seeing the confidence in Asher's words, she nodded. "Alright, follow me."
She moved deeper into the inventory. As they walked, Asher felt the space around him change. Ever since he entered the space portal, he felt a growing familiarity with space elements. He guessed they were inside a space that extended beyond its usual capacities.
Ms. Clarissa guided Asher through different sections, showing him various powerful weapons, but nothing seemed to resonate with him. He noticed Ethan holding a sword and, judging by his expression, realized that Ethan had found something he liked.
After nearly an hour of exploring, they arrived at a section with miscellaneous and unidentified items. Asher examined several objects, noting that some were obscured from his view, hinting that they were beyond his current capabilities.
As he continued to sift through the items, he felt a peculiar sensation coming from a pile in a box. Intrigued, he approached the box, sensing that it held something unique and potentially valuable.
He immediately approached the box and began searching through its contents. The box itself was crafted from a hard, dark wood and contained rare materials, including the Eye of Gazzer, a component from a creature known for its immense mental capacities.
Among the items, Asher finally found a stone that emitted the peculiar feeling he had sensed earlier. He tried to examine it more closely but couldn't discern much from it. Deciding to keep it, he continued his search.
After exploring the section thoroughly, he didn't find anything else that piqued his interest. He saw various weapons adorned with runes, rare monster materials for potions, and other intriguing items.
After careful consideration, he realized that he would likely come across these things again as he grew stronger. He also planned to forge his own weapon once he learned more about the process. For now, he decided to take the stone with him, noting the design and descriptions of the weapons in his mind for future reference.
While Asher searched through the rows of shelves, Ms. Clarissa followed behind him. Initially, she thought his mention of a peculiar feeling was just talk, but she grew uncertain as he persisted. She hadn't detected any appraisal skills from him and knew he wasn't using any. If she knew that Asher was concealing his insight skill, she would have been even more surprised.
When he finally selected the stone, she was astonished. She recognized it immediately. The stone had been discovered in the ruins of an ancient cult by a team exploring a secret realm. Although they initially thought it had no value, they had handed it over to their mentor, Alistair Crowe, who was a scholar interested in such research. She hadn't expected to see it here.
Seeing Asher choose the stone from the last section, Ms. Clarissa was taken aback. Concerned he might be wasting his chance, she said, "Are you sure you want to take that, Asher?"
"Yes, Ms. Clarissa. I feel that this is useful to me," he replied.
"Alright, your choice then. Let's go; the others are waiting for you. They finished picking their items half an hour ago," she said, heading towards the exit.
Asher took one last look around the room before following her out.