Chapter 89: The Hand of the Sorcerer

A few days later, the price of low-level manuals in the capital's extraordinary market had already dropped to around fifty magic stones. Yet Andy’s books on auxiliary cultivation maintained their original price and continued to sell briskly. This finally allowed Andy’s purse to swell once more. He began, as planned, to use the magic mirror to inquire about certain witchcraft specialties.

The knowledge of witchcraft specialties was far more profound than the basic principles Andy had studied days earlier, roughly matching the difficulty of constructing a level-two witchcraft model. After gathering information on the specialties he desired, Andy realized that his current understanding of these matters was no longer as muddled as it had been in Dallas City. After careful comparison, Andy decided to prioritize learning three specialties: Witchcraft Empowerment, Witchcraft Extension, and Focused Casting. This would enable him to carry out his sniping witchcraft experiments as soon as possible.

For the next two days, flush with money, Andy indulged himself and skipped setting up his stall, staying in his dormitory to concentrate on studying witchcraft specialties. He swiftly completed his study of Witchcraft Empowerment. Testing it in the academy’s witchcraft practice room, Andy found that activating the specialty amplified his spells’ power by about fifty percent. For example, his current master-level “Arrow of Fire” normally possessed a power range of sixty to one hundred and twenty degrees; with the specialty, it surged to ninety to one hundred and eighty.

Naturally, activating a specialty consumed extra mana—according to the sources, it required double the usual amount. But Andy, blessed with limitless firepower, felt no impact whatsoever. These days, apart from studying, Andy still devoted himself daily to meditation. Yet the effects of his meditation had become negligible, and he had nearly lost hope that natural meditation would significantly strengthen his mental power. He would have to find a way to rely on resources to boost his spirit.

He purchased several more doses of the Wakefulness Potion. Using them to assist his meditation, Andy noticed that although his spiritual power continued to grow, the potion’s effectiveness was now a shadow of what it had been on first use, and with each dose, its effects waned further. Andy was convinced that soon the Wakefulness Potion would become entirely useless. He needed to seek out more potent aids.

Compared to his spending on study materials, the cost of meditation aids was the real drain on his magic stones. Andy quietly calculated that if he wanted to reach the promotion standard for a Bronze Witch, the magic stones needed to buy the requisite potions were astronomical. Thus, his journey to wealth was far from over.

With this in mind, Andy could no longer afford to indulge himself. He resolved to resume his stall the next day.

When Andy set up his stall the following day, he was accompanied by Oliver. Oliver appeared to have endless leisure, and today, for reasons unknown, he was keen to join Andy in the market.

Andy, obliging, prepared a small stool for him, and together they casually chose a spot in the market and began their day.

Andy had grown immune to the cacophony of complaints in the market these days—cries of “Barton is a scoundrel, give me back my hard-earned money!” and the like. In truth, he no longer relied on such tactics to attract customers. His stall had built a reputation, and his auxiliary books sold without trouble.

Today, because Oliver kept urging him, they arrived at the market early. There were only a few scattered stalls, and hardly any passersby. With no business yet, Andy and Oliver each sat on their little stools beside the stall and chatted idly.

Andy asked Oliver why, after completing his task of delivering congratulatory gifts, he hadn’t returned to Finland City but lingered in the capital. Oliver explained that the elders in his family forbade him from leaving the capital at this crucial time, for Her Majesty the Queen was currently selecting a consort. As an outstanding member of the Four Great Families, Oliver Barov was one of the candidates.

Oliver complained that not only was he barred from leaving the capital, but he was also forbidden from visiting places of pleasure. Even dating noble ladies was not allowed by the family. So, stifled by boredom these days, he had come to join Andy at his stall.

Andy found this amusing, and mischievously told Oliver that it was fortunate he was only a candidate. If he were chosen as the First Prince, he’d suffer even more. Then the whole country would watch his every move, and he’d never be able to touch another woman for life. Perhaps the Queen would have a harem of three thousand, and to get close to his wife he’d have to queue up and draw lots—only when his number came up would he have his turn...

Oliver was so horrified by Andy’s words that he broke out in cold sweat, resolving to keep a low profile so as not to be selected.

At that moment, a customer arrived, and Andy quickly made a sale with just a few words. Oliver, abandoning their earlier conversation, picked up one of Andy’s auxiliary books and leafed through it. Andy knew that with Oliver’s background, he would hardly lack such books; indeed, after glancing for a moment, Oliver lost interest and put it down. He then asked Andy, “You have the original copies of these books and transcribe them yourself, right?”

“Yes, so what?” Andy replied in the Dallas dialect.

“It’s nothing. I just can’t understand why you don’t use Copy Spell when transcribing—why insist on handwriting? Are you going for nostalgia?” Oliver looked genuinely puzzled.

“What, Copy Spell?”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t learned Copy Spell—it’s one of the famous Magician’s Trio spells!”

“What, Magician’s Trio?”

Seeing Andy’s clueless expression, Oliver—who had no talent for spiritual power himself—began to enlighten him on witchcraft basics. Andy learned that the so-called Magician’s Trio consisted of Level 0 Cleanse Spell, Level 1 Copy Spell, and Level 2 Mage’s Hand. These spells were known as the trio because they helped wizards avoid physical labor, subtly setting them apart from ordinary people and raising their prestige.

Copy Spell was essential for wizards transcribing documents, while Mage’s Hand was a crucial aid in daily life and experiments, summoning a phantom hand within the wizard’s spiritual range to assist in experiments, casting, and handling objects.

Since coming to Grim Outer Academy, Andy had focused entirely on fundamentals, always mingling with the younger students and rarely interacting with peers. Thus, many bits of common knowledge among wizards still confused him. But he was confident that, given his current foundation, learning these spells would not be difficult.

At this point, Oliver confided mysteriously to Andy that while the other spells didn’t matter, Mage’s Hand was one he must master thoroughly, ideally to master level or above.

Andy asked why he should take it so seriously, only to see Oliver’s mischievous grin: “You know, once your control over Mage’s Hand gets high, the phantom hand becomes many times more dexterous than a real hand, and as your mastery grows, you can control more hands at once—as if you suddenly have several extra hands. If you use them with women…”

Oliver then made a meaningful gesture. According to him, Mage’s Hand was nicknamed “Dirty Mage’s Hand” by some, and those with high mastery were popular among noble ladies and gentlewomen in the capital.

Oliver then bemoaned his lack of spiritual power talent.

Andy, seeing Oliver’s expression, knew he wouldn’t say anything decent. Sure enough, after his explanation, Andy solemnly declared that his research into Mage’s Hand was purely driven by his thirst for witchcraft knowledge, and he had no sordid intentions whatsoever.

He’d already decided: when he returned, he would learn this spell first—and train it to grandmaster level!