All the black magic items that Dante possessed contained a strange chaotic energy covering them.

If he tried to check them in his inn room, Elizabeth might notice them, or even worse, the people in the Mercenary Guild might notice them.

It was safer to go into a forest to check these things. There, no one would notice the chaotic energy and he could do whatever he wanted in peace.

'Let's start with the arm.'

With a flick of his hand, a giant green arm appeared in front of Dante. The hard, spiky skin was in a good condition, damaged only at the fingers where Dante had shot the first Ether Bolt.

As for the flesh, blood, and bones, they were in miserable conditions. There was barely any blood left after Dante's attacks, the bones were almost turned into a kind of powder, and most of the flesh was minced.

'Still, it might be considered a Grade 2 or Grade 3 material!'

From reading, Dante had learnt that the bodies of the beasts could contain mana even after death, turning them into materials following the Grade system.

Obviously, all the races were included in that rule. Some people with special classes could be considered living magical materials, and some races didn't even need classes for that rule to apply.

…Of course, the dragons were one of these races. Ashton Kingdom specifically was famous for having several artifacts made from dragon parts.

'Now, let's see what grade this thing is.'

Dante raised his arm and channeled his silver Ether.

Silver Ether Spell — Appraisal!

"...."

Nothing happened.

Silver Ether Spell — Appraisal!

"...."

Still, nothing worked.

Dante frowned, looking at his hand in confusion: 'What's wrong now?'

He clearly consumed some Ether, which meant he used the spell successfully. So why wasn't it working?

'Doesn't this arm contain mana?'

Dante thought for a few moments before slapping his forehead: 'Why would it contain mana? It isn't from this world!'

As far as he knew, Appraisal worked only on things that contained mana. Dante, as a transmigrator from modern Earth, knew that mana didn't exist everywhere.

If it existed in his past world, then what would have stopped him from knowing about his misfortune?

Whatever energy the arm contained clearly wasn't affected by a spell that targeted mana.

Although the silver Ether was supposed to be beyond all the other energies and not limited to mana, the spell Appraisal itself was made for Dante specifically to see his own runes.

Maybe if Dante modified it, he'd be able to see the runes of that arm. But to do that, he'd need to understand that otherworldly energy first.

'Yeah, seems a bit impossible. Unless I decide to give that other world a visit.'

Dante stored the arm back in his ring and brought one of the glowing plants. It looked like a sunflower, but the petals were blue and slimy to the touch.

He immediately used Appraisal, and thankfully, it worked.

[Grade: 2]

[Type: Herb]

[Name: Vomiting Blossom]

[Effects: Sensory Rewiring]

[Potency: Low]

[Freshness: 99%]

'Oh, so that's how the runes of herbs look like. I understand the freshness, and the potency is something that's related to the efficiency of the effect. As for the effect itself, I think it's the effect of eating it?'

Dante squinted his eyes, focusing on the effect. Immediately, more runes appeared.

⟨Sensory Rewiring⟩

⤷ You will smell colors, hear feelings, see sounds, feel flavours, taste light.

"...."

Dante's face twitched in confusion: 'Does this thing make me drunk?'

That description looked like how an addict would describe the feeling of using drugs.

It was a strange herb. Of course, no one would eat it with such an effect.

'It's likely used to make potions and poisons, or for rituals like the one Beth tried to perform. It might be helpful if I wanted to capture something without killing it.'

Dante used Appraisal on all the other herbs. Some of them were Grade 1. Others had medium potency. But they all shared the same effect, type, and name.

'Now, for the last thing.'

Dante immediately retrieved the black magic book and used Appraisal on it. It didn't show any runes, suggesting that it had only that chaotic energy

'Should I read it now or not?'

It was a simple act out of curiosity. Although the ritual that Beth was trying to perform seemed dangerous and drove her crazy, Dante only wanted to try and find any safe magic in the book.

Besides, he had a trait with resistance to all kinds of mind magic, which would help if the book was able to attack Dante mentally.

Plus, he didn't care whether black magic was considered evil or not. If he used it for the same purposes as normal magic and didn't harm innocent people like Beth did, then there was nothing evil about it.

An obsidian-black coin materialized in Dante's hand. Immediately, he tossed it into the air.

Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting

Three crowns, only a single skull. It contained some danger.

'Well, let's start with one page and see if I feel anything. I'll read it carefully.'

Before opening the book, Dante read the cover first.

[BASICS OF CHAOS MAGIC]

{Written By Dr. Sarah Michael}

'Chaos magic?'

It seemed to be the real name of that black magic, at least according to the writer. And judging by the effects Dante had seen so far, "Chaos" looked accurate in describing it.

Dante immediately opened the first page, but before his eyes could read a single word…

BAM!

…He closed the book brutally.

"...."

Dante blinked, then read the cover again.

[BASICS OF CHAOS MAGIC]

{Written By Dr. Sarah Michael}

'Am I hallucinating? Did the glowing plant affect me by smell?'

Dante took off his blindfold and rubbed his eyes violently, but nothing changed.

'Fafnir, can you confirm if I'm reading this right?'

Fafnir materialized in a physical form instantly and nodded with the same puzzled expression that Dante had.

Thump! Thump!

Dante suddenly began to hear his own heartbeats accelerating, but he didn't pay it any mind. He decided to focus on the problem that was presented before him now.

'These words…'

'Why… are they in English?'

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