Chapter Sixty-Four: The Dominant Physique

Andy spent quite some time soothing Catherine, who was sulking because she wasn't considered the most beautiful woman in the world. Once Catherine was appeased, Andy found himself uninterested in Charlotte Augustus, this so-called most beautiful woman. What truly captured his attention was the mirror that had revealed such unusual phenomena.

“The activation spell is ‘Mirror, mirror, tell me’—how melodramatic!” Andy muttered as he recited, “Mirror, mirror, tell me…”

His first question for the magic mirror was, “What exactly are you?”

The mirror seemed unable to comprehend the deeper meaning of the question; instead, it simply displayed the words, “Five magic stones.”

Knowing now was not the time to be frugal, Andy quickly tossed five magic stones for the mirror to absorb, and then received his answer.

The mirror proclaimed itself as the “Historical Magic Mirror, Hystery.” Through it, one could inquire about events that occurred within a hundred-mile radius—dating from three days ago all the way back ten thousand years. Andy calculated the mirror’s range and realized it encompassed almost precisely the size of Dallas’s inner city.

He proceeded to ask several more questions and learned that the mirror could be upgraded once certain conditions were met, enabling it to scan a broader area. However, the mirror offered no clues as to what those upgrade conditions were.

Even so, Andy was thrilled. Despite its many restrictions and the cost of magic stones, this was the first truly valuable artifact he’d acquired since crossing over, and he cherished it, fiddling with the mirror as if unwilling to let it go.

He began to ask the mirror questions one after another, ignoring it whenever it displayed the number of magic stones required, then immediately posing a new query.

Soon, Andy discovered some patterns in the mirror’s consumption of magic stones. Generally, the older the event, the more magic stones were needed. Querying about living individuals consumed more stones than querying about the dead.

Even among the living, the amount of magic stones required to investigate their historical events varied. For the same person, the cost differed depending on the event being queried.

Out of curiosity, Andy selected a few individuals and asked about the color of their underwear three days ago.

He found that querying Gerald and Bill cost an astronomical amount of magic stones, while querying Captain Barton required half as many, and Grand Knight Allen even less.

For Grand Knight Allen, asking what he had for dinner three days ago required far fewer stones than inquiring about the breathing technique he used while practicing martial skills.

Andy even paid to ask the mirror why there was such a discrepancy in the cost of different queries. The mirror responded that the fee was determined by the influence coefficient of the event on the realm.

Hearing this, Andy decided to query some events about himself to see how much he’d be charged, to gauge his own influence. The result left him baffled.

No charge!

It turned out that for events already known to the user, the mirror required no payment.

Having gained a preliminary understanding of the magic mirror, Andy resolved to study it further in the future and unlock its more potent uses. But for now, he had a crucial task: to inquire about Grand Knight Allen’s martial skills and breathing technique.

The fee was over a thousand magic stones. Andy had previously learned that while martial skills and breathing techniques were closely guarded secrets in some families, a fair number circulated in the market. They were nowhere near as precious as sorcery models, let alone a wizard’s meditation methods.

It was said that in the Royal Capital, a good set of martial skills and breathing techniques would fetch at most five hundred magic stones. Andy hadn’t expected that pilfering them through the magic mirror would require more than a thousand stones, making him feel the mirror was somewhat of a scam.

Yet he also knew how difficult it would be to acquire such skills in a remote place like Dallas, and that it would take him at least half a year to reach the capital. There was no sense in saving five hundred stones and delaying his advancement.

So Andy decisively handed over most of his possessions for the mirror to absorb.

At last, words appeared on the mirror’s surface, and Andy made use of his innate talent to memorize them swiftly.

He was unaware that the breathing technique Allen possessed was a carefully refined legacy, improved over several generations by the Ball family. Its value far exceeded anything commonly available on the market.

Having obtained the martial skills and breathing technique, Andy disregarded the fact it was already deep into the night. He rushed outside into the courtyard, eager to begin his practice.

Thanks to his exceptional gift for physical cultivation—and having already reached the bodily strength of a Grand Knight—his progress was smooth. Moreover, he hadn’t ceased undergoing “Flame Baptism” these past days. With each ritual, the impurities within his body diminished, and the channels between his muscles and bones grew ever more unobstructed.

Thus, his advancement to the Grand Knight level proceeded without a hitch. As Andy adjusted his breathing technique, he soon felt the seed of power within him begin to grow, transforming into a warm current that flowed through the channels of his muscles and bones.

Andy knew that with continued practice, this current would swell ever larger, until one day it filled every channel in his body and burst forth, marking the formation of battle energy and his ascension to Silver Knight.

Moreover, the internal circulation of energy that formed upon reaching Grand Knight not only flowed within him but gradually strengthened his body as well.

Although its effects couldn’t compare to the gains from Flame Baptism, over time, Andy’s strength would steadily increase.

After his promotion to Grand Knight, Andy began to study Grand Knight-level martial skills.

He was immediately overjoyed.

Andy discovered that besides the basic Grand Knight skills—such as Magic Break, Parry, Cleaving Strike, Armor Break—Allen also possessed an extraordinary technique.

It was called “Dominant Body.”

Once activated, not only would his strength and speed greatly increase, but he would also become immune to most negative sorcery effects, such as freezing, sleep, weakness, petrification, and slow.

After practicing for a while, Andy suddenly felt his muscles swell, his entire form growing as if inflated. A layer of earthy yellow light emanated from his body.

Andy felt power surging through him, his strength increased by at least thirty percent. Seizing the moment before Dominant Body wore off, Andy drew the “Sword of Judgment” he’d acquired from Viscount Collin and began practicing other martial skills in the courtyard.

With Dominant Body active, Andy’s movements became much faster. The Sword of Judgment in his hand began to leave afterimages.

Feeling his power surge, Andy couldn’t help but let out a triumphant howl.

Suddenly, he felt his foot slip and nearly stumbled, but his newfound agility as a Grand Knight kept him from falling.

Once he steadied himself, Andy saw Catherine standing at the doorway, drawing circles on the ground.

“Catherine! What are you doing?” Andy called out in frustration.

“You looked so fierce just now—I wanted to see if you could resist a curse,” Catherine replied with a mischievous smile.

“The answer is: you can’t,” she answered herself, then returned to the house, her voice lingering in the courtyard.

“Hmph! Who told you to shout and howl in the middle of the night, disturbing my sleep!”