Chapter 16: The Perfect Failure
A middle-aged man stood there with a bloodstained bandage wrapped around his forearm and an old iron sword strapped across his back. Most of the teeth along its blade had already been chipped away.
"You are..."
It was the Mercenary who had purchased Elliott's two packets of Blood-Staunching Powder from the market a few days earlier.
The man's eyes were filled with unexpected delight.
"It really is you! I never thought I'd meet you here."
He approached Elliott with a broad and cheerful smile.
"My name is Dusk. The medicine I bought from you last time saved my life."
Dusk lightly tapped the bandage around his forearm.
"I mean that cloudy packet you gave me for free. I wasn't sure about it at first, but an Arcane Beast poisoned me and I was barely conscious. I poured the powder over the wound because I had nothing else, and the bleeding stopped immediately. Without it, this arm would have rotted away. I truly owe you my thanks."
Elliott secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
For a moment, he had worried that the man had suffered some side effect and come to complain. Instead, Dusk was treating him like the person who had saved his life.
Elliott nodded politely.
"I'm glad it helped. The quality was rather poor, so I was concerned. I'm relieved to hear that it worked."
"Poor quality? Excessive humility can become a fault of its own."
Dusk laughed heartily, then looked at the worn manual in Elliott's hands.
"What brings you here?"
"I need a useful Spell Manual."
"I see. Tell me what you're looking for. I've been visiting this place for more than ten years, so I know the titles of nearly every book on these shelves."
Elliott considered the offer for a moment.
There was no particular reason to hide his purpose.
Someone familiar with the shop might help him find what he wanted among the thousands of manuals much faster.
"I'm looking for an offensive Arcane Spell."
"An offensive spell? Do you want something powerful, or perhaps a complete edition?"
"Neither the power nor the condition of the book matters. However..."
Elliott's eyes sharpened as he added his requirements.
"I want something with few side effects. Even if I fail during training, the Mana should merely become tangled and disperse. It must not damage my body."
"Something safe? Techniques like that are usually..."
"I don't mind if it is difficult. In fact, the harder it is to learn, the better. A technique so difficult that no one has ever succeeded would be ideal."
Dusk's eyes widened.
Most people searched for secret arts that were easy to learn and powerful.
Side effects were usually considered a problem for later. After all, even a dangerous technique was better than one that could not be learned at all.
"That is certainly an unusual preference. Most people would consider such manuals a waste of time."
"I have my own method of training."
Elliott answered calmly.
Dusk tilted his head, but soon shrugged.
"Everyone has their peculiarities. Very well. Something difficult but safe."
He stroked his beard and strode between the shelves.
Elliott quietly followed him.
After searching through three shelves in the corners of the shop, Dusk returned with three manuals covered in a thick layer of dust.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Dust rose as he placed them on the floor.
"Here they are. Of everything I have seen during the past ten years, these three match your conditions best. Each one is troublesome in its own special way."
Elliott looked down at the manuals.
[Finger Bolt, Incomplete Edition]
[Iron Palm Art, Beginner Volume]
[Intangible Sword]
"This first one gathers Mana at the tip of the finger and fires it outward."
"Is that so?"
It did not sound bad.
It was a ranged technique capable of striking an enemy from a distance. If he could master it, it should prove useful for defending himself.
Dusk noticed the interest in Elliott's eyes and chuckled.
"The opening section contains some decent training insights, and it looks convincing enough. Unfortunately, the most important part is missing. It teaches you how to gather Mana, but not how to release it."
Dusk tapped his own finger.
"All it does is leave your finger numb and cramped. No one wants a Spell Manual without the method required to actually cast the spell."
"I see. That is unfortunate."
Elliott deliberately made a disappointed expression.
Inside, however, his mood brightened.
'It cannot be fired.'
Without the Release Formula, no matter how much Mana he gathered, it would be impossible to launch it.
That meant the system should judge every attempt as a failure.
'A perfect machine for producing failures.'
Even if the system did not classify it as a complete failure, it would still be useful. Learning how to condense Mana at the tip of his finger would become valuable experience on its own.
While Elliott examined the manual with growing satisfaction, Dusk tapped the second book.