<h4>Chapter 48: The Master</h4>


    Lake watched as Lucas walked over to a pile of various cores. "Come over here and appraise all of these. This should be enough to get you to level ten." Doing what Lucas had said Lake spent the next few hours appraising the different cores. He found that most of the cores here held skills but only two held Legendary skills.


    "Are you almost done?" Lucas had spent this time organizing things Lake didn''t really understand. Lake guessed they were all things that had very specific uses when it came to alchemy. "Yes I''m half way through level 9. Lake was excited this was going to be his first job that hit 10, and he had been curious what would happen for a while.


    He had also noticed as he increased his perception the amount of details he could see was slowly increasing. When he first started he could only see what the name of the core was now he could see what level the monster that had dropped it had been and even its exact weight.


    Lake wasn''t sure why he needed to know the monster''s weight but he wouldn''t say no to more information. Getting back to trying to max out his job it wasn''t too long before he picked up thest core he was going to need to inspect to max out his job. [Level max] Seeing that Lake pulled up his stats, and his two new skills.


    Race: Human Lv.5 ( 4/10 )


    Job: Appraiser Lv.10 (Max)


    Special: The Insider Lv.0 ( 3/5 )


    Stats


    Health 50


    Stamina 50


    Mana 50


    Strength 10


    Endurance 10


    Agility 19


    Dexterity 36


    Perception 75


    Intelligence 100


    Charisma 6


    Free stat points: 2


    Skills


    Decrypt (L) Lv.1


    Spend mana to reveal the effects of any magic attached to an item.


    (The stronger the effect the more mana it costs. Can result in failure.)


    Verify (E) Lv.1


    Reveal facts about the items past and origins.


    "Hey I just got another Legendary skill, how high are the odds for epic jobs?" Lake wanted to know if this was considered beating the odds or the fact he only got one out of four was bad. "As far as I know the odds are about 20% for epic jobs. That numberes from a few different sources so it''s not just a guess either."


    With the odds being 20% he was about as normal as it could get but this made him think of a new question. "What about Legendary jobs, are the odds 100%?" This would make sense to Lake He would feel kind of bummed if this wasn''t the case. "For randomized skills but most Legendary jobs have a few skills that aren''t random."


    "And how rare are Legendary jobs?" Up until this point Lake had yet to hear anyone mention any so he was guessing they were much rarer than Legendary skills. "Most of the time they are directly given to someone that a god has chosen as their champion, or someone they want to help ascend. Most of the time theye with some divinity attached, so the person in question instantly bes a Demigod."


    Lake could see why they were so rare now. He bet most gods didn''t go around handing out divinity for nothing; it sounded like it was a gamble and therefore wouldn''t happen very often. "Are they treated like rewards for devoted followers?" Lake could see them using it like an incentive to make people work harder for them.


    "It depends on which god you''re asking about." Lake could hear a small amount of annoyance in Lucas''s voice when he said this, and it made Lake wonder if Lucas happened to be a devout man. Maybe Lake had just struck a nerve in some way; he hadn''t even thought what god might be behind the Alchemist job because it didn''t really corrte with an element.


    Not wanting to spoil his rtionship with Lucas, Lake said. "Sorry, I didn''t mean to offend you." This was a sweet apology and Lake knew Lucas would appreciate it. "Don''t worry I wasn''t offended by what you said, because you hit the nail on the head." Lake thought back to what else could have caused the annoyance in Lucas''s voice.


    The only thing Lake could think of was Lake''s question had made Lucas think of a bad memory and that had caused the anger. Trying to guess what it could be, Lake remembered he had thought it seemed like Lucas had known the Dark Goddess when she had still been Amanda, maybe they had been friends, and Lucas had assumed he was going to get some handouts and they never came.


    Lake guessed Lucas was bitter that he never received a Legendary job from the Dark Goddess. That was about the best he could do on assumptions. For a better theory he would probably have to know what he was talking about, but Lake knew better than to ask. "Ok, now that we''re done with this I would like to get back downstairs."


    Lake sort of implied that he was going back to work with this statement but the truth was he was hungry. "Ok let''s go then You should get back to practicing anyway. Once you reach Level ten you shoulde and see me so I can show you how to unlock Enchanter. You''ll only be qualified once you max out a production job and Alchemist counts."


    "So is it possible to fail to unlock a job or do you just have requirements you have to meet?" Lake was starting to think the rarity in jobs just told you how good they were. "It is possible for people to fail to unlock a job they meet the requirements for and it gets more likely the rarer the job."


    "Do you know what causes it?" Lake knew it probably had something to do with gods; he had noticed that rules seemed to be broken whenever divinity got involved. It made sense, why would you have to follow rules when you were the one making them. "Some people just don''t make the cut it seems, but the mostmon cause is during wars that involve gods, sometimes the god''s cut off the other side from using their jobs."


    "Tactical spite huh." Lucas chuckled after Lake said this. "That''s a good way to put it. Alright, that''s enough talking, let''s go." After Lucas said this, Lake looked around for a door. They had arrived in the middle of the room so he wasn''t sure how they were supposed to leave. About to ask, Lake looked back to see Lucas was already gone from where he had been standing.


    Lake guessed the way to leave had nothing to do with a door so he tried to think how this should work. The only information he had was it seemed to be possible to leave no matter where you were standing, and it was probably magic. So far Lake had noticed most magic was voice activated so he just said. "Exit."


    Lake felt himself start to flip again so he knew he had solved the puzzle. Landing Lake saw he was standing inside the Master Lab. He also noticed that unlike when he had entered the vault this time he wasn''t disoriented in any way he was able to walk just fine. Lake guessed it had something to do with this not being an artificial space like the vault was.


    "I was starting to think I needed to go back in to get you." Lake couldn''t tell if this was Lucas''s way of saying he had done this on purpose like it was some sort of test or something, but it didn''t really matter because he had passed if it was. "Sorry about that I didn''t see you disappear so I looked around for a second."


    If Lake had seen Lucas leave he would have been a lot faster in getting out of the vault. "Alright no more talking, we''re in theb." Lake saw Lucas motion for him to follow him but they weren''t going the way the door to the staircase was. Lake guessed this was the meeting part Lucas had mentioned earlier.


    Lake had thought he had gotten out of meeting anyone the first time they had walked through and no one said anything, but maybe they had been waiting for him in a different room the whole time. Seeing there was a part of the room that traded the vats for bookshelves, Lake guessed whoever he was meeting was more hands off when it came to actually brewing potions.


    A few bookshelves in Lake finally saw someone, she was sitting at a desk writing inside a book. Lake guessed she was probably a little younger than Lucas and she was also the youngest person he had seen since he had entered the Master Lab. "Master Donna, this is Lake, the newest resident of Legend spire."


    Lake thought she looked like a Donna, so it almost made himugh when Lucas said her name. "Why are you smiling like that?" Lake wasn''t too sure if telling the truth would count as an insult so he came up with a lie. "I''m not smiling." It wasn''t actually a lie when he said it because he had already stopped.


    Lake felt Lucas elbow him a little but this didn''t really give him an idea on what to say because he really didn''t even know why he was meeting her. Lucas had already told her his name and that was the only thing that would have made sense for him to say, but not seeing another option he just went for it and resaid it. "Hello I''m Lake. It''s nice to meet you."