A few hours later - Acacia Market.
Inside the Ruen Bookshop.
At the counter, an apprentice mage was examining the handwritten summary of the sword art Lynn had copied.
"A type of extraordinary knowledge focused on physical enhancement. Two tiers, five sections in total.
"The second tier and the final section of the first tier are missing…
"Hmm… appears to be from another world, but its power is mediocre.
"Even if complete, mastering it to its peak would still leave its defense weaker than the Steel Armor spell commonly used by Second-Rank Apprentices. Its attack range and versatility are far inferior to the standard Fireball spell. And most importantly, it has virtually no mental resistance.
"Its compatibility with the Guern race is average at best. Training in it would require significant adjustments and modifications…"
"So… will your shop buy this knowledge?" Lynn asked calmly, though his heart was a little tense.
The apprentice thought for a moment, then gave a price with a look of mild distaste:
"It has some research value… I can offer you 4 lesser magic stones for a full sale, or 5 gold dragons if it's a standard sale. Which will it be?"
A full sale meant handing over all rights to the knowledge; Lynn would keep the right to use it, but could never sell it again.
"Full sale." Lynn didn't hesitate.
The White Crow Swordsmanship was crude, incomplete, and most critically, poorly suited for people of the Guern race.
Hardly any shop would even consider buying it.
He had already been to several markets, paying dozens of silver wolves in entry fees before finally finding this store willing to take it.
Four lesser magic stones for a full sale was already a generous price; there was nothing to hesitate over.
After signing the contract and handing over the complete manuscript, Lynn took the magic stones, finally feeling the weight lift from his chest.
He had almost resigned himself to peddling the sword art bit by bit from a street stall… a method both risky and time-consuming.
Fortunately, he had found a willing buyer in the end.
Looking back, Bajin's decision had indeed been wise; if he had spent a magic stone to appraise that broken sword, he likely would have lost money.
But for Lynn, who had skipped the appraisal cost entirely, this was pure profit no matter how you looked at it.
Stepping out of the shop, he felt the satisfying weight of his coin pouch against his chest, and the corners of his lips rose unconsciously.
This single lucky find had earned him as much as several months of selling spell chips.
Maybe… using my Insight to hunt for hidden treasures is my best way to make money?
With that thought, Lynn continued wandering around Acacia Market, hoping to stumble upon another stroke of luck.
Unfortunately, the Insight required him to see specific knowledge before it could trigger.
And when knowledge was already visibly displayed, the chance of it being overlooked by others was slim.
He searched carefully through the stalls several times, but by the time the sky began to darken, the results were just like the other markets: nothing of value.
Finds like that broken sword were rare, after all.
As dusk approached, Lynn began heading back toward his shack.
Passing the banks of the Greenwater River, not far from home, he once again spotted that group of men lounging in small clusters of three or five.
They seemed to gather there every evening before sunset, arms slung around each other's shoulders, smoking and chatting, occasionally bursting into sharp, grating laughter.
If passersby avoided them, or if someone happened to catch their eye in the wrong way, they would sometimes drag the person over to mess with them.
From the obvious tattoos on their bodies, it was clear these weren't petty street punks like Kiddie and Bartoli; they were real gang members.
…If he had run into them earlier instead, things likely wouldn't have gone as smoothly as they had.
The thought flashed through his mind in an instant.
Lynn gave them only a glance before turning away, quickening his pace to take a detour as usual.
"Hey! Why're you running?"
A rough voice suddenly called out from the side!
Lynn's chest tightened. He turned his head without a change in expression, his right hand sliding toward the short sword at his waist.
A moment later, he saw the source: just two children chasing and shoving each other in play.
He let out a quiet breath of relief.
That kid's voice was ridiculously mature for his age…
Shaking his head, Lynn quickened his pace again, almost jogging the rest of the way until his shack came into sight.
As he passed by the shack shared by Leona and Giggs, his hand brushed the magic stones in his pouch, and his steps slowed slightly.
I wonder how many stones they're still short…
He instinctively stepped closer, only to notice that the doors of both their shacks were still locked from the outside.
That meant they still hadn't returned.
A frown creased his brow.
The sun's already set… are they still on their way back?
He stood there for a few moments, then exhaled, resting a hand on the cold, hard, broken sword at his waist before silently returning to his shack.
...
The dim glow of an oil lamp lit the small room.
Lynn sat calmly on the edge of his bed, a piece of rye bread in his left hand and the silver broken sword in his right.
Before his eyes, two lines of white text shimmered faintly:
[White Crow Swordsmanship (Incomplete)]
[Consume Mixed Source Energy to Analyze.]
He raised his left hand and took a bite of bread, then set down the sword and focused on his palm.
A moment later, specks of golden light surfaced.
Name: Lynn Kent
Age: 16
Skills: Crystal Spell Plate Crafting – Mind Shock (Proficient)
Source Energy: 0.1 (Self); 0 (World)
His self-sourced energy had recovered far faster than he had expected.
In just five days, it was back to full.
I can use my Insight again…
Strictly speaking, as long as he had mixed source energy, he could activate the insight.
But in practice, there was always a short startup phase before entering the insight state.
Though brief, this phase yielded no results.
Meaning, if he tried to activate the insight with too little source energy, he might exit the state before even beginning the analysis.
In other words, only when his energy was at its maximum could he get the best return, avoiding multiple costly startups and wasted energy.
Lynn turned his gaze back to the sword, fingers gently tracing the tiny, fly-sized characters etched into its surface.
The sword art was incomplete and poorly suited to people of the Guern race…
But with his Insight, perhaps he could overcome those flaws.
He hesitated, wondering if he should first improve his crystal spell plate crafting instead.
If he boosted his earning ability, his wealth would snowball rapidly.
Then he could afford better extraordinary knowledge, maybe even enough magic stones to improve his meditation method and advance to an apprentice wizard, joining the true privileged class of this world.
But after a moment's thought, he shook his head, picking up the broken sword. Tonight, he would analyze the White Crow Swordsmanship.
Today, he'd met two cowardly thugs. But what if tomorrow he ran into a few reckless ones? Or worse, members of a gang like the one by the Greenwater River?
Right now, what he needed most was power to protect himself while he developed.
As for why he wasn't using his insight on the Hossens Apprentice Meditation Method…
That was simple: he only had four lesser magic stones.
Both logic and intuition told him that a meditation method would take far more than four insight attempts to yield results.
And buying other extraordinary knowledge? For an ordinary person, even with money, access was severely restricted.
Besides, four lesser magic stones wouldn't buy anything worthwhile.
If he wanted strength in the short term, the White Crow Swordsmanship was his only option.
One by one, the magic stones in his hand dimmed, crumbling into ordinary pebbles.
On the light-screen before him, the world-source energy surged rapidly, finally fixing at 1.
Then, along with his self-sourced energy, it drained swiftly away.
Lynn entered the insight state, expression blank, unfocused eyes, trembling slightly.
The world around him silently dissolved into darkness and stillness.
The silver-white blade before him rippled like a water's surface, the tiny characters on it rising into the air, shifting and weaving…
Like swordsmen dancing upon a mirrored lake.
Another mysterious world slowly unfolded in Lynn's mind.
He didn't know how long had passed before he finally drew a deep breath and returned to himself.
Looking at his palm again, the familiar display appeared.
But under the Skills section, a new entry had been added:
[White Crow Swordsmanship – Incomplete (Beginner)]