Chapter Ninety-Seven: The Four Great Families’ Unique Skills

After returning to the dormitory, Andy immediately wanted to ask around about the sharpshooter from the Charles family that the instructor had mentioned. From the way the man had spoken, this secret art seemed to truly solve the problem of aiming at targets a thousand meters away. And since the matter involved the Charles family, Andy was all the more interested.

He could have looked into it through the magic mirror, of course, but over these past few days he had discovered another trait of the mirror: the more specific the query, the less magical stone it consumed. A vague description cost far more. For example, if he already knew the name of the secret art and searched for that directly, it would use less than half the magical stones required by a broad inquiry such as asking about some kind of aiming aid used by the Charles family.

Andy quickly decided whom to ask. It was naturally Oliver of the Barov family. Since they were both members of the Four Great Families, Oliver was bound to know something about the Charles family.

The Barov family did not reside in the royal capital itself, but in a satellite city not far away, a city that was simply called Barov City. It seemed that all four great families had such satellite cities arranged around the capital of Prondra.

Barov City was about half a day’s journey from the royal capital. Andy hired a coachman and rode in a carriage, meditating along the way. By afternoon, he had arrived.

He was waiting before the imposing gate of the Barov family while the guards at the entrance went to inform Oliver, when he suddenly spotted a familiar figure. A girl riding a tiny crimson pony came charging straight out of the gate, then galloped away into the distance. If Andy had not dodged quickly, the dust she kicked up would have left him covered head to toe.

Andy cursed under his breath, watching the girl on the red pony ride off, and thought hard: who was she, and why did she look so familiar?

With his powerful memory, he soon remembered. She was the long-legged girl he had once met in the square before the wizard tower in Dallas, the one who had later claimed in a letter to Edward that she was the Barov family’s second daughter.

“What are you staring at?”

Oliver had already come out by then and slapped Andy on the shoulder.

“A girl,” Andy said honestly.

Oliver followed his gaze, then said in a strange tone, “Oh, her. She’s our family’s little firecracker, the patriarch’s second daughter. She’s my cousin, actually.”

Then he grinned at Andy and asked, “So? What do you think?”

“Pretty good. Especially those legs. I could probably play with them for at least—” Andy cut himself off midway, realizing that this was Oliver’s cousin and that the joke had gone a bit too far.

“For a year, right?” Oliver finished for him without caring in the least. “Heh, if you two ever really meet, then who’s playing whom is anyone’s guess.”

Then he added, “Still, no matter what, she’s my cousin and therefore my sister in spirit. I’m not about to introduce her to a veteran like you.” After spending so much time with Andy, Oliver had picked up even this made-up expression with ease.

Andy was speechless. He could only say, “I’m not a veteran. I’m actually still a virgin...”

Oliver gave no comment on Andy’s claim. After a brief silence, he suddenly asked, “How far have you trained Wizard’s Hand?”

“Expert level,” Andy replied reflexively.

Oliver stared at him as though he had seen a ghost. He had thought Andy might have pushed the spell only as far as advanced level at most. He had never expected such a result. Did this guy practice skills without even needing to meditate and recover mana?

Then Oliver remembered that Andy had recently made quite a few magical stones at the market. He immediately understood.

So this kid must have been burning through magical stones to replenish his mana just to train Wizard’s Hand to that degree. As for why he was in such a hurry to train it, Oliver now thought he understood perfectly. And you still say you’re not a veteran? Save that for the graveyard!

“Big brother, please accept my kneeling respect. I now see that you were right. You’re not merely a veteran. You’re the model of veterans!” Oliver said with exaggerated reverence.

Andy knew at once that things had gone badly. The brat had, as expected, drawn the wrong conclusion. But there was no way to explain the advantage of his endless-firepower method of skill training, so he decided to let Oliver think what he wanted.

He quickly changed the subject and mentioned that he had some questions about the Charles family.

The two of them went to a teahouse not far away. As soon as they sat down, Oliver began asking again whether Andy wanted to meet his cousin, Flora Barov.

Andy was a little allergic to the name Flora. It reminded him of the former girlfriend of that Stein whom Martin had mentioned, who was also called Flora. Though they had the same first name and different surnames, the coincidence still felt awkward, so he hurriedly refused Oliver.

Then Andy asked whether Oliver knew anything about the Charles family’s sharpshooters and the secret art they possessed.

Oliver had long suspected that the name Andy Charles had some connection to the Charles family of the Four Great Families. He had asked Andy about it before, and Andy had denied any link, saying it was merely a coincidence that they shared the same surname.

Oliver had not been entirely convinced at the time. But now, seeing Andy ask a question that most people in the royal capital would already know, it was clear that he knew nothing about the Charles family at all. So Oliver believed him.

He began to explain the affairs of this great family that shared Andy’s surname. The Charles family was best known for its sharpshooters, because they controlled a unique secret art known as Eagle Eye. It was said that once Eagle Eye was activated, one not only gained vision far beyond normal range, but could also unleash attacks of astonishing accuracy, along with a considerable boost to long-range attack power.

Thus, although the Charles family generally lacked talent in magic and found it difficult to become high-level wizards, no one dared underestimate them. Their sharpshooters could even stand against wizards of the same level and would not necessarily be at a disadvantage.

One must know that the common rule in this world was that, between knights and wizards of the same level, knights were slightly inferior to wizards. Whether in support methods or actual combat effectiveness, that was generally the case once one reached Bronze rank and above.

But in the royal capital, two of the great families had broken this iron law by relying on their family secret arts. One was the Charles family, whose members were, to some extent, the bane of wizards at extreme range. The other was the Bar family, whose Body of Steel secret art granted resistance that could greatly weaken the effects of many spells.

At this point Andy curiously asked whether, since two of the Four Great Families possessed such distinctive secret arts, then the equally renowned Clark family and Barov family must also have unique specializations of their own.

These were not secrets, so Oliver patiently explained.

Unlike the Bar and Charles families, whose special arts belonged to knights, the Clark family and the Barov family generally had excellent talent for magic.

Among them, the Clark family, thanks to the meditation method known as Storm Spirit, had wizards who were called Storm Wizards. The Barov family was also a wizarding family, but in the royal capital of Eland they were most famous for healing magic.

As Oliver spoke, Andy noticed that his smile had grown a little forlorn. Only then did he realize that Oliver, lacking any talent in spiritual power, was probably something of an oddity even within the Barov family, which was famous for magic.

If not for the fact that his father held some power, his treatment in the family would likely have been far worse.

Thinking of that, Andy could not help but sigh inwardly: others laugh at me for being wild and mad, while I laugh that they cannot see through me.

Unaware that Andy had already begun trying to analyze his inner world, Oliver listened in confusion, but still clapped twice and grinned shamelessly in support. “What excellent verse! What excellent verse!”