"Crash!" The plate was thrown to the ground by Winnie, who furiously glared at Dark. "I told you I don''t like peas in my soup! Why can''t you understand that?!"

    "Sorry, young master, truly sorry, I..." Dark repeatedly apologized.

    "Tomorrow, you don''t need to come." Winnie coldly glanced at Dark, then turned and left. "Don’t ever let me see you again."

    "Young Master Winnie, you...?" Dark was clearly caught off guard by Winnie''s words. Although Winnie would sometimes pick fights during meals when in a bad mood, he never thought Winnie would actually fire him.

    After all, where else could he find a servant this cheap?

    "One thing, don’t make me say it twice." Winnie coldly added. "You better pack up tonight and leave, and if I see you in this house tomorrow, don’t blame me for being rude."

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

    Once upstairs, Winnie''s expression changed instantly, and he glanced meaningfully at the stairs.

    This was the most legitimate and simplest way he could think of to remove the eyes and ears around him, using the persona of a villain.

    He returned to his room and opened the window.

    His room had a broad view, and opening the window revealed the entire yard, so anyone passing through the courtyard could be clearly seen.

    However, there was no hurry. Dark wouldn''t act so quickly, even if he thought Winnie was an incompetent fool.

    He lightly shut the window and began studying the crystal bottle and the grayish-white Soul Art inside it.

    He had already finished reading the Soul Art absorption manual. Compared to high-star Soul Arts, the process of absorbing a one-star Soul Art was much simpler.

    He opened the stopper of the crystal bottle, hesitated for a moment, and followed the instructions in the manual, pouring the Soul Art from the bottle into his mouth.

    Surprisingly, as soon as the stopper was opened, the grayish-white Soul Art began to jump restlessly, almost as if it wanted to leap out of the bottle and rush straight toward Winnie.

    Winnie was somewhat surprised. This was not a phenomenon mentioned in the manual, but soon, he realized the reason.

    His compatibility with this Soul Art was 100%.

    Perhaps this Soul Art was attracted to him?

    On a whim, Winnie swallowed the Soul Art.

    Swallowing something resembling a flame was difficult for him to accept, but after swallowing the grayish-white flame, he didn’t feel any burning sensation.

    This... This is...

    This is simply...

    Simply too cool!

    At this moment, Winnie could only see himself in the mirror, completely clad in the closed armor. The scales of the armor glimmered under the light, perfectly matching his ideal of fantasy armor.

    It was fantastic! This armor would last him five years! ...No, ten years!

    Indeed, armor is a man''s romance! Women just get in the way.

    Besides, this was Soul Art armor—no maintenance needed, no worrying about damage, and no need for repairs. It would automatically repair itself once removed.

    Was there anything more perfect than this Soul Art?

    Soon, Winnie remembered the introduction to [Armor] from the panel.

    ‘Created by an unknown powerful court mage from the ancient Terrellian Empire.’

    This Soul Art was created by the ancient empire, but that empire had long fallen. If [Armor], a one-star Soul Art, still had practical use, it shouldn’t have been lost to history. But why was it only found in royal collections, not in general Soul Art archives?

    Winnie walked around in the armor for a few steps, feeling the weight. It was heavy, but the actual weight seemed reduced, because if it was the full weight, his small frame would have been crushed under it.

    Staring at himself in the mirror, Winnie grew more and more satisfied, realizing his judgment was correct.

    But he had no choice, after all.

    And since his compatibility with Armor was 100%, all its potential would be unleashed, so there must be many powers he had yet to discover.

    However, after thinking for a moment, Winnie felt something strange.

    Why had he never heard of such a low-requirement Soul Art before? Why had he never seen anyone use it?

    Could it be because its creation method was lost and it’s extremely rare?

    No, it shouldn''t be that way.

    Armor-type Soul Arts were always a weak type of Soul Art—those with high aptitude wouldn’t use it, and those with low aptitude wouldn’t need it. Moreover, with current Soul Art crafting techniques, reproducing such an ancient one-star Soul Art shouldn’t be difficult.

    But why had he never seen anyone use [Armor]?