“Crash!”

At the dining table, Winnie slammed his plate onto the floor, glaring furiously at Dak as he shouted, “I’ve told you I don’t like peas in my soup, why can’t you get that through your head??”

“I’m sorry, young master, I truly am, I…” Dak repeatedly apologized.

“Tomorrow, you don’t need to come anymore,” Winnie said coldly, glancing at Dak before turning away.

“Don’t let me see you again.”

“Young Master Winnie, you??” Dak was clearly taken aback by Winnie’s words.

Although Winnie had often picked on him at the dining table when in a bad mood, he had never worried about being fired.

After all, where else could you find such a cheap servant?

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” Winnie said coldly.

“You’d better pack up and leave tonight. If I see you in this house tomorrow, don’t blame me for being rude.”

With that, Winnie turned and went upstairs, leaving Dak alone in the dining room.

Once upstairs, Winnie’s expression changed instantly, and he glanced meaningfully at the staircase.

This was the most straightforward and simplest method he had thought of to rid himself of the spy around him, by playing the role of the villain.

He returned to his room and opened the window.

His room offered a broad view, and as soon as the window was opened, he could see the entire courtyard, so anyone passing through would be clearly visible.

However, there was no rush, Dak probably wouldn’t act so soon, even if he thought Winnie was a clueless fool.

Leaving the window slightly ajar, Winnie began to study the crystal bottle and the gray-white Soul Art on the table.

He had already read through the Soul Art Absorption Manual, and compared to high-star Soul Arts, the process for a one-star Soul Art was quite simple.

After hesitating for a moment, Winnie opened the stopper of the crystal bottle and, following the instructions in the manual, poured the Soul Art into his mouth.

Surprisingly, as soon as the stopper was removed, the gray-white Soul Art became restless, jumping as if it wanted to leap out of the crystal bottle and rush towards Winnie.

Winnie was somewhat astonished; this phenomenon was not mentioned in the manual, but he quickly thought of a reason.

His compatibility with this Soul Art was 100%.

Perhaps, this Soul Art was drawn to him??

With this thought, Winnie poured the art into his mouth.

The act of swallowing something art-like was quite unsettling, but after ingesting the gray-white thing, Winnie didn’t feel anything.

Moments later, he felt a fire ignite in his chest, but it didn’t cause any discomfort or burning sensation.

Instead, it felt like his soul had undergone some kind of sublimation.

It was as if his previously dim soul had found its essence and ignited a light.

None of the negative side effects mentioned in the books about absorbing Soul Arts occurred; the entire process was smooth, as if this gray-white art had always been a part of his body.

The book also said that after absorbing a Soul Art, even a one-star one, one would feel so unwell that they couldn’t eat for a day and could hardly move.

Is this the benefit of full compatibility?

Winnie glanced out the window.

The duel with the knight’s squire apprentice was set for three days later.

If he won, he could temporarily not worry about financial issues, and if he lost, he had nothing to lose.

As for the blow to his reputation? Humiliation?

He was already so notorious, what did it matter if it got worse?

Charon just couldn’t understand that.

Winnie took a deep breath; he felt that his soul seemed brighter than before, and the effortlessly accessible power of the Soul Art felt as if it had always been a part of his body, just unnoticed until now.

Is this the power of Soul Art??

Winnie walked to the mirror and swallowed hard.

The most exciting moment had arrived.

The magic of another world that he had always yearned for.

[Armor Fortress], an armor-shaped Soul Art, right?

Come on, let me see what you can do.

Winnie closed his eyes, and with a thought, countless threads of light began to weave and construct around his body, forming pieces of silver armor.

When he opened his eyes again, the mirror no longer reflected the unremarkable, freckled, blue-haired boy, but a figure entirely encased in metal, a ‘steel heap’.

A fully enclosed helmet with golden embellishments around the eye slit, topped with a red plume, the face completely protected by chainmail, leaving only a slit for the eyes.

Riveted silver full-body scale armor and brass shoulder plates shimmered dazzlingly under the light, a belt cinched at the waist with extended tassets protecting the legs, and his feet clad in exquisite silver plate boots with golden patterns.

The figure in the mirror was wrapped in steel from head to toe, with only a slit for the eyes, yet it surprisingly did not affect his vision.

Armed to the teeth, the Armor Fortress, living up to its name.

This, this… this is just.

Just too cool!

At this moment, Winnie’s eyes were filled only with the image of himself in the mirror, clad in the fully enclosed armor, the shimmering scale armor perfectly matching all his beautiful fantasies.

Amazing!

He could play with this suit of armor for five years!… No, ten years!

Indeed, armor is the romance of men!

Women, they just get in the way.

Moreover, this is armor summoned by a Soul Art, requiring no maintenance or care, and there’s no need to worry about damage as it will slowly repair itself after the armor is dismissed.

Is there any Soul Art more perfect than this??

Soon, Winnie recalled the description of Armor Fortress] from the previous panel.

‘Created by an unknown powerful court mage of the ancient Terraria Empire.’

This Soul Art was developed by the ancient empire, which has now fallen.

Logically, if [Armor Fortress], a one-star Soul Art, still had its uses, it shouldn’t have been lost.

Yet why is it only found in the royal collection, completely absent from ordinary Soul Art repositories??

Winnie took a few steps in the armor, feeling its substantial heaviness.

However, it seemed that the actual weight had been somewhat reduced.

After all, if he were to walk in this suit of armor at its original weight, given Winnie’s slight build, he would likely have been crushed by now.

Gazing at his fully armed reflection in the mirror, Winnie grew more and more pleased, increasingly convinced of the correctness of his choice.

Though, it wasn’t as if he had much of a choice to begin with.

Moreover, since his compatibility with [Armor Fortress] was 100%, all the potential of [Armor Fortress] would be unleashed by him.

Presumably, there were many powers he had yet to discover?

But then, upon further reflection, Winnie found it strange.

Why had he never heard of [Armor Fortress], a Soul Art with such low qualification requirements, nor seen anyone use it??

Could it be because the method of its creation was lost, leaving too few in existence?

No, that shouldn’t be the case.

Armor-type Soul Arts are inherently a weaker category of Soul Arts; those with high qualifications look down on them, and those with low qualifications have no use for them.

Besides, with today’s Soul Art crafting techniques, replicating such an ancient one-star Soul Art shouldn’t be difficult.

So why, then, had he never seen anyone use the [Armor Fortress] Soul Art??