The Magic Tower Library, built with space magic, was a world in and of itself that seemed endless the deeper you went.
In that Library, I was on the second floor, where I came by teleportation, reading in an inconspicuous corner.
'System, can you copy the contents of this book and send them to my mind directly?'
[Ding! It will cost 10 UC.]
[Does the user confirm the purchase?]
'Fuck you, bastard!'
The shamelessness of this System made me scream internally, my eyebrows almost twitched.
There were Systems in those novels who do so many things and support their host wholeheartedly, and then there was my System, who, like a penny-pincher, nickels and dimes me for everything.
However, since I couldn't take this book out and didn't have enough time to read and memorize it here, I could only put a stone on my heart and agree.
"Do it."
[UC deducted]
[Transfer Completed]
Right away, a lot of information poured into my brain, and within a second, I understood every single detail of the technique.
'System, change the contents of this book so that one cannot even deduce the original in the future.'
[Warning: There are several skills protecting the book.]
[It will cost 100 UC to change the contents.]
This time, too, I had to agree because I couldn't let this fall into the hands of others, especially the protagonist.
In the novel, he got this through Sylvia and later, without telling her, combined it with another technique to create a heaven-defying technique.
But this time, it would be me who obtained it.
"Do it."
[UC Deducted]
[Task completed]
The System prompt appeared, and I slowly opened the book to check its contents.
As expected, it had already been altered in multiple places, and if someone had not memorized it before, they wouldn't even be able to tell these differences.
"Perfect!"
Without hesitation, I put aside the ruined hidden piece and acted as if I had lost interest after reading it once.
My actions had already gained too much attention, and it was a possibility that Roman was spying on me from somewhere or would be able to check which book I had read later.
'So it's better to be careful.'
Actually, even the Tower Mages knew the advantages of the library to a mage-type player, so I wasn't being suspicious when I requested permission to enter the library.
But as they say. 'Just in case,'
'Precautions are better than cure.'
"Let's see what to read now."
In a flash, several hours had passed while I pretended to study a manual on mana storage.
"It looks like this much should be enough for today."
Following that, I closed the book, returned all of them to their respective shelves, and departed via the same teleportation portal I had used to get there.
* * * * * *
By the time I came out of the Magic Tower branch in New York City and called Charlotte, it was already night.
'Sylvia must have already received some great hospitality from those girls in my absence.'
It wouldn't be long before she finally crumbled.
'Khe Khe Khe.'
That very thought made me laugh sinisterly to myself.
Vroom!
"Master!"
In no time after my call, Charlotte arrived with a big entourage like yesterday, and I finally left in the car with her.
"Charlotte." I called her softly.
"Huh?"
"Stop by the GK showroom when you see one?"
"Are we shopping for clothes?"
"Yes, for you and the other two at home, so help me buy some good ones, alright?"
A surprised look appeared on Charlotte's face, which soon turned into excitement and delight, as if a kid had been promised anything in a candy store.
Then, with one hand on the steering wheel, Charlotte patted her chest with another and spoke proudly with great confidence.
"Don't worry, Master, you won't believe me, but I have the best dressing sense and up-to-date information on fashion."
"Alright, I trust you."
I chose to believe her.
That was my biggest mistake.
...
"I will never go shopping with you again, Charlotte!"
"Master!!! You can't do that, I am your shadow; I cannot be separated from you."
"Look ahead while driving."
"Oops! But master, my clothes—"
"Enough Charlotte, just not a word anymore about clothes if you want to go shopping ever again with me... also stop by at that bakery."
"Then you're taking me next time, right?"
Her sullen, pleading looks instantly became cheerful and energetic as she yelled with joy.
"Hurray!!"
'Sigh! This idiot.'
Honestly, there were times when not even I, her author, understood Charlotte's character.
Nonetheless, one thing was certain: she had no fashion sense.
If one could quantify Charlotte's fashion sense, it would be in fucking negatives.
'I mean, who stretches a designer gown to check if it is strong enough, and after 'accidentally' tearing it apart, scolds the staff for selling fake stuff?'
Sigh!
Eventually, I had to pay for everything and then buy something with my knowledge based on Rachael's character.
Never before had I felt so embarrassed while shopping with a girl.
* * * * *
A couple hours later in the dining room, just after we had finished our meal.
"Everyone, I bought some strawberry pastries for you all."
"Wooho!"
I announced, and with my signal, Charlotte, who cheered, immediately took out the pastry boxes and gave one to both Sharon and Rachael.
"This..."
But as soon as Rachael saw the pastry and the bakery's logo on the box's cover, her eyes widened in surprise, and she instinctively lifted her head to look at me.
When our eyes connected, I gave her a warm smile.
"I knew these were your favorites."
"!!"
Speechless!
Rachael was stupified.
If it were an anime, smoke would already be coming out of Rachael's head by this point.
"Silly."
I couldn't help but tease her, and she began muttering frantically and incoherently.
"... Ah... No that."
Taking advantage of her flustered state, I broke off a small piece of pastry with a fork and brought it towards her mouth.
"Here, try it, and tell me if it's good or not."
Instinctively, at my words, Rachael's mouth opened, and I quickly slipped the pastry inside before she realized what had happened.
In an instant, the pastry's sweetness melted in Rachael's mouth, causing her to suddenly awaken from her trance.
Embarrassed and ashamed of her previous actions, she immediately bowed her head.
Her back of the neck that was visible to me was red with embarrassment, along with her ears.
At that time, I also gave her the dress I had bought for her.
"I also bought these for you." I said this while handling Rachael's big bag.
Rachael looked at the bag like a curious child this time—surprisingly—not as flustered as she had been before—and she mumbled something.
"...Thank you."
However, before I could say anything, she grabbed the bag from my hand and ran away to her room like a missile.
Slam!
The gates slammed shut instantly.
Looking at such a scene, Sharon had a wry smile on her face as she hurriedly reasoned for Rachael.
"She's just shy, Young Master."
"I know."
'How could I not know as her creator?'
I shook my head inwardly.
My eyes flashed with an amusing glint.
Following that, I chatted with Sharon and gave her a dress too.
After she expressed her gratitude, I went back to my room, but this time I was by myself.
Charlotte was moved to another room after I gave her some instructions, including telling her not to bother me in the next few days and to only bring me food on occasion.
"I can now finally use that technique in private. But first, System, would I have the same stats as this body in the future real worlds I visit?"
[No host, only your skills would be carried on to the new body.]
"I see. Then will I be able to bring back the skill I learned in that world?"
[Yes]
"How about the worlds I would visit in the future? Would they be according to my strength?"
[No, but in stronger worlds, the host might have a stronger body with its powerful stats. ]
"That's a relief."
Since this technique would cause me to permanently lose most of my Mana stats, I needed to know if it was best for me to use it right now or at least wait until the end of the next world.
"But now I don't need to hold back anymore."
Not to mention, if I remember correctly, one of the skills provided by [Revered Physique (S)] was "Rapid growth."
Which endowed one with growth power several times greater than that of others.
Though elementary in concept, its application and results were anything but.
In this world, there were many different methods of increasing stats, including training, artifacts, elixirs, free stat points, dungeon crack rewards, etc.
While normal humans had a limitation on their growth by training, an Awakened doesn't, but that doesn't mean that a few push ups per day would increase your stats.
In reality, it required substantially more than that, and it was in this situation that Rapid Growth demonstrated its full potential.
'This will help me tremendously in those worlds where I don't know what situation I will be in.'
Thinking about the future got me even more pumped up, so I stripped down to just my underwear and sat cross-legged on the bed.
It was simple to use the technique.
All you had to do was push your innate mana, deep into the area of your body where you wanted to promote growth.
This sounded simple, but it was anything but that.
Mana was stored inside the heart, from where it was pumped to all parts of the body like blood.
'Normally, if you just push mana into a body part, it stays temporarily, and the moment you withdraw your consciousness, it returns to its original place.'
'That's why it is difficult.'
The mana must be pushed into a very deep place, and that too in a particular form, to enhance that part and change it fundamentally.
"First, the legs."
I chose the legs as the first part to boost because I wanted to get the hang of it first before attempting to use it in places like the head.
Phew~
After taking a deep breath, I slowly pumped magic into my legs.
The mana that flowed there temporarily strengthened the legs, making it much more comfortable to move them.
What I needed, however, was not a short-term boost, but rather a tool for long-term development.
"I need to go deeper."
Under my precise control, the mana that surrounded my legs was forced into every tissue and cell that made up the flesh, bones, and nerves.
The mana was then woven in a particular pattern, like tying a knot that served as an anchor for the mana.
"Whoa!"
It was a slow process, but I continued to do it without being aware of how much time had passed.
"At last."
When the morning sunlight began to sneak into my room through the window sills, the procedure was finally completed as the mana gradually began to settle in my legs.
There wasn't any instant difference, but I felt it with my Mana Affinity (A).
The mana was perfectly assimilated into my legs.
At the same time, a System prompt appeared in front of me.
[Mana has been decreased by 10]
[Revered Physique (S)] (1/5)
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[A/N: Shout out to "Mohamed_Jaleel" for the Cola and Inspiration Capsule.]
Your support means a lot to me. You're the best, guys.