“Today, I was looking some things up while you were in the dungeon. All the reports about practical tests concerning your skills. But then I remembered one that caught my eye in particular.”
Maki is checking something on her tablet, but she just said ‘all the reports’ like it was nothing. Just how many did she check in just half a day?
“Here it is. It’s about Appraisal Obstruction. You know about it, right Aki? The difference between the skill Appraisal Obstruction and Appraisal Obstruction as an item?”
Item?
“Yes. Basically Shouta, sometimes there are accessories with the Appraisal Obstruction skill in treasure chests found in dungeons. People who wear them activate the Appraisal Obstruction skill.
Of course, since it’s equipment, it stops working once you remove the accessory.”
“Yes yes.”
Treasure chests?
I forgot all about them, because there was no such thing in Unlucky Hall, but does this dungeon have them?
“But Appraisal Obstruction in skill form is always working once you get it. You can’t forget skills, so the higher the skill level gets, the less people can see your stats.
Also, it’s a really rare skill. Do you know how much it goes for?”
“No, I don’t.”
“It’s a hundred million.”
“…A-and by the way, magic?”
“You use fire and water, right? I’m pretty sure it was thirty and fifteen million. Most of them are reported to have been found in treasure chests, but they’re uncommon and useful, so adventurers tend to take them for themselves when they find them. That’s why the price has gone up, but relatively speaking, they’re not all that hard to find.”
“I see…”
Apparently I shouldn’t have taken the gacha ranks at face value. I figured SR was cheap, and SSR was expensive.
“We’re getting off track. Basically, the Appraisal Obstruction skill is tricky. It’s like a cursed item you can’t take off. Although it’s also necessary for people that want to keep secrets. And well, the downside is that no one’s going to believe the skills you have.”
“About that. This report I found says that the skill can be used to pick what it obstructs.”
“Really!?”
“Yes. According to the author, people who have this skill tend to be secretive, so they have a hard time finding people willing to cooperate.”
“That makes sense.”
Even the main branch has trouble finding volunteers.
“What should we do, Maki?”
“First, open your stats board. Then try strongly thinking that you don’t mind making skills public.”
I do as Maki says, and pick Appraisal Lv2, Appraisal Obstruction Lv4, Super Strength II, and Swift.
I don’t feel like anything’s changed, but is this fine?
“I guess you’re done. Maki, can you do it?”
“Okay… Ooh!? Look! Appraisal Lv2, Appraisal Obstruction Lv4, Super Strength II, and Swift. Actually seeing them instead of just reading about it on a piece of paper really hits differently.”
“So it worked. And the opposite should also work, if you think about not making them public.”
“Let’s try it… Aki.”
“Yes. Uwa, I’m getting completely blocked!”
Says Aki with a reaction that looks exaggerated on purpose.
“There is also a report about what happens when there’s a difference between Appraisal Obstruction and Appraisal. Firstly, if Appraisal Obstruction has a higher level, Appraisal doesn’t show anything. Conversely, if Appraisal is higher, it shows more depending on how big the difference is. But even if Appraisal Obstruction is at level one, it’s enough to at least block some of the information.
What gets prioritized is not clear, but apparently it tends to lean towards rarer skills.”
So basically, even if someone with Appraisal that’s a higher level than my Appraisal Obstruction shows up, there’s a good chance it will still hide what I want to keep secret the most. Maybe that bad feeling I got from the branch manager was her using Appraisal.
If Aki has a high Appraisal level, there’s a good chance the branch manager has too. Maybe she took a peek at my skills and thought I showed promise. Well, that’s all just conjecture.
I’m glad I already had Appraisal Obstruction when I met her.
“So we are able to confirm the existence of Super Strength II thanks to Maki. I wonder if the main branch will believe it when we report to them…”
“Aki, if you need my help, tell me. I was the one who started it, and I don’t want you to be seen as a liar.”
“Shouta… Thank you, I will do what I can. By the way, did you actually use it? If there were any differences, please tell me.”
“Of course I did. It feels like the disadvantages were softened.”
The normal skill allowed me to double my power, lasted for a minute, and had a ten minute cooldown.
When it became II, it made it so my power can become two point two times greater for a minute and a half, with a nine minute cooldown.
“Wait, no way!? It didn’t change your power?”
“That’s just what I feel. Maybe it would produce a more noticeable change if it went up to III.”
“I see. If that’s what your instinct tells you, I can believe it.”
“You didn’t earlier.”
“T-that’s different. Hmph, pat my head.”
“Ah… All right.”
I don’t argue and do just that, and her mood improves immediately.
“Hnfufu.”
“I worked hard, Shouta.”
“Yes, thank you Maki.”
She really did, so I pat her head gently.
“Hehehe.”
Both look like they feel good.
…Ahh, I got a nice meal, and a good dose of motivation.
Let’s start the second half of the day!
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