Rising to his feet, Lynn exhaled deeply, gripping the broken sword in his hand and moving it through the motions inside the shack.
At first, his movements were stiff and unrefined. But in just the blink of an eye, his swings became smooth, fluid, and even beautiful to watch.
As he continued practicing, Lynn gradually felt a faint coolness spreading through his forearms.
This is… crystal energy, no, magic power strengthening my body?!
His heart gave a sudden jolt, and his stance faltered slightly. The cool sensation quickly faded.
Not rushing it, Lynn stopped his sword practice, stepped onto the bed, and sat cross-legged, carefully sorting through the gains from his latest analysis.
According to the general outline, the White Crow Swordsmanship had two tiers and five parts in total.
The first tier consisted of four parts, each focusing on the arms, legs, waist/abdomen, and chest/back (the last of which was missing).
Each part trained would slightly improve overall physical strength, while greatly enhancing the specific area it targeted.
The second tier, which was also incomplete, marked a qualitative leap.
In this tier, the White Crows would cultivate crystal energy within a crystal plate embedded in their chest.
This cultivated crystal energy would then be linked to the strengthened arms, legs, waist, abdomen, and chest/back, causing those areas to also generate crystal energy.
In the end, the practitioner would have one large and four small crystal energy nodes.
Not only would this further enhance physical strength, but during sword strikes, the crystal energy could be consumed to manipulate airflow, boosting both the power and range of attacks.
The reason this sword art wasn't well-suited to the Guern race came down to two main points:
First, the physical structure of White Crows differed slightly from that of the Guern race.
The Guern were essentially identical to humans from Lynn's previous life on Earth.
The White Crow people, however, were different as the sword art's descriptions made clear.
For example, Guern certainly didn't have a crystal plate embedded in their collarbone.
And that was only the most obvious external difference; the White Crows' internal anatomy was also quite distinct.
Interestingly, their hair appeared to have a crystalline texture.
The second issue was the type of energy used.
In essence, White Crow Swordsmanship was somewhat similar to an old knight's breathing technique from the Guern world, already obsolete.
Through specific movements and meditative methods, it guided a type of energy that the White Crows called crystal energy to strengthen the body.
But here was the key problem: crystal energy did not exist in the Guern world.
In this analysis, aside from adapting the technique to better suit the Guern physique more precisely, the greatest modification to Lynn's own body was replacing crystal energy with magic power.
It sounded improbable, but to Lynn, it was no surprise.
Because
This was the orthodoxy of wizards.
Over the past nine years, the original Lynn had heard his instructor stress one particular truth many times:
There is and has always been only one extraordinary energy in existence, World Source Energy.
It is the fountainhead of all power across all worlds.
Every extraordinary force in every world ultimately derives from it.
Every supernatural feat must be powered by it.
The magic power of the Guern world was, in essence, simply a manifestation of World Source Energy.
From this, wizards had concluded:
Crystal energy, or any other world's variant of source energy, may differ in traits or quality.
But they are all, fundamentally, variants of magic power.
Which, in turn, meant:
Any extraordinary power from any world could be incorporated into the wizard system.
It was this realization that had allowed Guern wizards, during their conquests, to constantly absorb and adapt knowledge from countless worlds, continuously strengthening their kind.
By now, the Guern wizard training system was extremely mature.
Most of the foundational work in wizard training was essentially about building an open, adaptable framework, one that could integrate all kinds of transplanted and modified sorceries.
For example, the ancient knight's breathing technique had long since been merged into modern physical enhancement spells.
So Lynn wasn't surprised the White Crow technique could be altered like this.
What truly surprised him was the sheer power of his Insight.
With just a single analysis, he had successfully improved the technique.
Granted, it was only half of the first tier.
But outside in the real world, such a result could probably only be achieved by a fully-fledged wizard specializing in this field, and even then, rarely in so short a time.
On second thought, he mused, this might also be thanks to the nine full years of wizard education the original me went through.
Body structure, the nature of magic power… all that knowledge wasn't for nothing.
By contrast, crystal spell plate crafting or crystal carving, while technically easier, was an unfamiliar discipline. That's why my insight only took me to "proficient" without any deeper improvement.
So, the effectiveness of Insight depends not only on the energy I spend but also on my own existing knowledge base.
Shame… I only got half a part out of it. Lynn opened his eyes, feeling slightly dissatisfied.
But soon, he couldn't stop the smile creeping onto his face.
After all, in just five more days, he could analyze it again.
With the first round as a foundation, the second should yield even greater progress.
I wonder if I can eventually restore the full White Crow Swordsmanship…
Though without a crystal plate in my chest, I have no idea how the second tier would work…
He didn't dwell on it.
By the time he had to worry about the sword art's second tier, he would likely already be a wizard apprentice, at which point, he would have far better options.
In truth, more than the technique itself, he was curious about what the White Crow people looked like in reality.
Maybe… someday, I'll get the chance to visit the White Crow world myself.
By the time Lynn had finished sorting through the gains from his Insight, the sky outside had grown completely dark.
He hadn't heard any sign of Giggs or the others returning, and an uneasy feeling began to creep into his heart.
After a moment's hesitation, he pushed the door open and, guided by the moonlight, walked over to the shack next door where Giggs and Leona lived.
It was already late at night, yet their shack was still locked from the outside.
Unwilling to give up, Lynn stepped to Giggs's door and peered through a narrow gap.
Inside, it was pitch-black; nothing at all could be seen.
Did they go stay over at Ant's place?
He straightened, his face hidden in shadow.
Or… did something happen?
The thugs he'd run into earlier didn't seem to have had the time to trouble Giggs and his friends.
But that didn't mean trouble wouldn't find them anyway.
Who could say how many eyes in Emeraldwood City were fixed on these washed-out apprentice candidates?
Lynn's brows furrowed deeply, a creeping sense of danger tightening in his chest, dimming even the joy he'd felt from his earlier lucky find.
The moonlight shone cold and clear as he paced back and forth on the muddy ground outside the shack, each step heavy.
Behind him, his long shadow followed like a clinging specter, an unease that had dogged him ever since he crossed into this world, impossible to shake.
After a while, Lynn reached down to his waist, gripping his short sword.
The cold, solid weight in his palm gave him a small measure of comfort.
If I want to live steadily in this world, money alone won't cut it… I need strength as well.
Tap, tap, tap
Out of the darkness, faint footsteps suddenly reached his ears.
Lynn's heart tensed as he turned toward the sound.
"Who's standing there?" A short figure stopped in place, calling out warily.
"It's me, Mrs. Carter."
In the moonlight, Lynn recognized the newcomer and replied in a calm voice.
"Lynn?"
Hearing his voice, Mrs. Carter walked closer, her heavy basket strapped to her back, giving him a once-over.
"My eyes aren't so good once night falls… But Lynn, what are you doing standing here instead of sleeping?"
"I came to check if Giggs and the others have returned," Lynn answered.
Now that she was closer, he could smell the foul odor wafting from her basket.
He kept his expression neutral; he knew it was horse manure the old woman had collected today.
Years ago, Carter had been a maid.
After the master she served died unexpectedly over a decade ago, she had scraped by on odd jobs, earning very little. To make ends meet, she had to gather horse manure from the streets every day just to survive.
Leaving early and coming home late was the norm for her, and rest days were almost nonexistent.
In Emeraldwood City, most people at the very bottom lived lives much like hers.
"Your friends aren't back yet?" Carter paused, looking a little worried. "But it's already dark… No one bothers an old woman carrying manure, but you lot shouldn't be walking at night, it's far too dangerous."
Lynn was silent for a moment before asking, "Mrs. Carter, have you seen them around lately?"
These past days, he had been buried in making crystal spell plates and had rarely seen Giggs and the others.
And ever since he'd turned down their invitation, they hadn't sought him out again.
He knew nothing about their recent movements.
"Lately…" Carter thought for a moment, then said,
"I remember seeing them just last night. The young fellow named Ant was with them, too."