Chapter 160. Core Strengthening. Part 2. The Attack.
For the next two and a half days, Severus continued his relentless assault on his magical core without pause. It grew larger and stronger with slow, steady progress. The pain never fully disappeared, though it eased somewhat as the sharpest spikes became less frequent and his body adjusted. The only exceptions occurred during those specific moments when he crossed the threshold of a new rank. At those times, the urge to scream was undeniable. Deep down, he swore that if he ever met the person who invented this method, he would beat them half to death, regardless of how well it worked.
He was now approaching the peak of the Magister rank. Almost all the crystals that had once blazed with the purest magical energy had gone dull. Only a small handful remained, in stark contrast to the crystal-filled cave that had surrounded him at the start. Those too were fading steadily, giving up the last of their magic.
To his own surprise, everything was going almost too well, and he was genuinely grateful. The book had listed the probability of a perfect outcome at eighty percent. Usually, this method resulted in one or two hairline fractures in the core. He had to heal them, as they could spread across the entire core and shatter it if left alone.
In his case, none of that happened. He was also relieved that the Heart of the Ent King had not been needed after all. He had plans for one of them, for the Eternal Life Potion, which he intended to give to Bella eventually. He did not worry about Nagini; after her evolution she would live a thousand years without assistance. He intended to use the second Heart when the time came to reach the Archimagus rank, without any side effects.
Half a day later, the faint, hazy shimmer that had been gathering around his figure thickened, and in the next instant a near-invisible crimson wave burst from his body and swept through the entire cave in a single heartbeat. Every crystal on the floor turned to dust. The walls of the cave flared red for a few seconds, then gradually faded back to their normal state.
The mist dissolved to reveal Severus completely unharmed. He had grown slightly leaner over the three days, and his clothes and body gave off a smell so thoroughly unpleasant that no creature, rational or otherwise, could have come near him. Not surprisingly, the pressure of the first day had left him drenched in sweat, especially during one particular moment when he had pushed too much magic into his core and very nearly damaged his core.
Beyond that, his appearance had changed in one notable way. His aristocratic pallor had become barely noticeable, and a second lock of hair had appeared, this one red, mirroring the white one on the other side. No other external changes were visible.
He let out a long, deep breath, and a satisfied smile settled onto his face as he opened his eyes.
"I am never putting myself through that kind of masochism again..." He glanced down at the Heart of the Ent King in his hand, and his smile deepened. "Still, it's good it wasn't needed after all." He looked toward a large boulder at the far end of the cave, roughly two meters tall by four meters long, raised his palm toward it, and the stone began to tremble and slowly rise.
But an instant later, his expression twisted, and the boulder dropped back to the ground with a crash.
"Nearly killed myself..." he muttered with a wry smirk. The moment he lifted the boulder with telekinesis, his magical core clenched sharply, sending a wave of pain through his entire body as intense as anything he had felt in the past two days.
It was not surprising. After that kind of strain, the magical core needed at least a week to recover, and he knew it. Yet he still wanted to test how much stronger he had become, especially with a material core at the peak of the Magister rank, and the result did not disappoint him in the slightest.
For now, he could only use a small fraction of his total strength while the core recovered, but even that fraction was enough to lift an enormous boulder weighing no less than forty tons. For a mage whose primary discipline was not earth magic, that was an excellent result. And that was merely ten percent of his power. At present, thanks to his material core, Severus could fight on equal footing with Pseudo-Archimagi at the initial rank: mages who had not yet formed a material core of their own and could not rightly call themselves true Archimagi.
A true Archimagus was a being whose body, soul, and magical core had merged into a single, unified whole. With that kind of power, one could obliterate a horde of peak Magisters with a mere flick of the wrist.
Moreover, Severus could now trade blows with the Serpent King dwelling in the forbidden depths of the Magic Jungles and emerge victorious, assuming he pushed himself to his absolute limit. He had absolutely no desire to confront even the weakest of the Devils, however. Those creatures were far too perilous.
He stared at his open palm and began to channel magic. Energy flooded in from the air around him, circulated through his body and magical core, and finally emerged tinged with crimson. He let out a quiet breath of satisfaction.
"Finally, it has attuned to the fire element. There is no longer any need to worry about my talent for mind magic pulling the magical core in that direction." While he had not been overly concerned, he was relieved it had not come to pass. Mind magic was powerful in its own right, but fire felt far more natural to him.
Once he had regained his composure and taken a deep breath, his face twisted with distaste. With a sharp gesture, he cast a Cleansing Charm on himself and the entirety of the cave, instantly eradicating every trace of odor, grime, and sweat.
"Right then. Time to get out of here and go home." He stretched, muttering to himself, and raised his palm toward the exit. The stone began to open slowly, and in the next instant a green streak shot through the gap, halted directly in front of him, and began circling him with an anxious expression, her slitted pupils scanning him up and down.
"I'm fine. I'm sorry for making you worry."
When Nagini finally stilled, a long breath of relief escaped her.
"I'm glad... so glad..." He crouched, ran his hand gently along her cheek, and smiled softly, brushing tears away with his thumb while he held her gaze.
"I've told you many times: don't worry about me. I'm a hard man to kill."
"Don't say things like that..."
"All right, all right. But you need to stop comparing me to others. I'm not so weak that I need someone constantly fretting over me. Understood?" He smirked and tapped her lightly on the nose. Nagini snorted with displeasure.
"But you are constantly doing reckless things! How am I supposed to stop worrying?!"
"When I say I have everything under control, I mean it. Have I made myself clear?"
"..."
"I don't hear an answer, my Lamia."
"Yes..." She nodded, lowering her eyes, and looked almost weary.
"You have to understand. This means a great deal to me. It truly does. But when it keeps happening..."
"And you need to stop giving me reasons over and over!" Nagini shot back, glaring at him.
"And we're right back where we started..." He exhaled. "All right, let's drop it. I don't want to quarrel with you over something like this." He glanced toward the exit, frowning. "By the way, where's Lucky?"
At that, Nagini flinched as if struck by a sudden memory. Her eyes went wide with alarm, and she scrambled over to him.
"I completely forgot! We have to go back right now! The house and the shop were attacked yesterday! Shafiq, José, and Nestor got out in time, but Toby was badly hurt, and the Macmillans..."
The moment he heard the beginning of it, he was startled that anyone would dare try something like this, but with every new detail, his expression grew darker, especially when he heard that a house-elf had been harmed and that the family who had helped him from the very start had been dragged into it. He cut her off.
"Enough." He swept his hand through the air, dissolving every charm he'd placed on the location, and in the next instant, his mind began filling with information. His core was linked to the core of the house, and every action that occurred within the territory of the House as an artifact was recorded automatically. He could review it at any moment. For these three days, he had cut himself off from it to avoid distraction.
The first thing that surprised him was that the intruders had managed to break through the house's enchantments. When he saw exactly how they had done it, his expression darkened further.
It was one of the artifacts referenced in Rowena's book, called the Rule Breaker. The object could dismantle enchantments outright, or, if the enchantments were stronger than it, create a gap through which anyone could pass freely. This artifact was from his world.
Once the intruders were inside, they immediately encountered the wolf, who howled to warn the others, and the slaughter began. The people moved with extraordinary coordination, covering each other's backs without hesitation. The magical creatures could not overcome them, and casualties among the animals steadily mounted, until at last the territory's dominant creature arrived: the Dark Hound, who lost all composure the moment she saw her fallen kin lying on the ground.
The wizards had not been prepared for that. Two of them were lost almost immediately. The rest regrouped quickly and shifted to defending against the Hound's attacks, but even she struggled against five opponents at once, particularly their leader. Judging by her voice, the leader was a woman who single-handedly deflected nearly eighty percent of the attacks while also landing several strikes on the animal with wind magic, leaving a few wounds.
But the moment the intruders heard a tiger's roar, accompanied by dark clouds rolling across the sky, the sound growing louder with every second, they chose to retreat rather than risk what was coming. Their leader made several attempts to destroy the bodies of the fallen, but the Dark Hound was far faster and had already dragged them off. A house-elf then moved them to the cellar and placed them under a Stasis Charm so they would not decay before the master returned.
Severus processed the influx of information in exactly ten seconds. His mind had sharpened considerably since the fortification of his magical core, but he had no time to dwell on the change. He vanished from the cave and Apparated home.
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