The three basic Meditation Methods Damian had acquired were nothing special, all being fairly common ones on the market. Damian had seen people selling them at the exchange meeting hosted by Lady Alsha last time.
Since these basic Meditation Methods had no restrictions on resale, their price wasn't high either. He planned to post a sales notice at the next exchange meeting he attended and wait for the right buyer.
After taking stock of the magic, Damian took the pitch-black shield, half a person tall, out from his pocket. This shield magical artifact was quite large and inconvenient for ordinary Wizard Apprentices without spatial storage-type artifacts to carry. For Damian, who possessed an undetectable extension pouch, this was no concern.
Damian cast the 'Invisible Hand' spell once. An Invisible Hand grasped the shield's handle, and the pitch-black shield floated before him. Controlling the Invisible Hand to circle around him, the dark shield also floated and rotated around his body.
Damian was very satisfied that 'Invisible Hand' could manipulate the shield magical artifact. This significantly enriched his defensive capabilities. A shield of this size would be very effective in large-scale melees.
Finally, those kingdom gold coin notes and property deeds weren't easy to dispose of immediately. Jack was a noble Wizard, and his death would surely attract attention. Coupled with the fact that the White Stone Town disappearance case now involved Old White, it was prudent to wait until the heat died down before handling these fortune.
However, the eight magic stones didn't have these concerns. They also represented a considerable fortune, allowing him to purchase more items at the next exchange meeting.
Security Office, in the morgue.
Old White's body lay on a long table here. All the faces on his body had now closed their eyes, silent.
His body had been dissected, leaving the long table in a mess.
Two hooded, robed figures also stood in the room. One, a Black-Robed Wizard, busied himself with a scalpel beside the long table. The other, in grayish-white robes, stood further away, not participating.
The Black-Robed Wizard said with certainty, "The state of this mutated subject is somewhat different."
The dissection was nearing its end. The Black-Robed Wizard put down the scalpel, removed his lizard-skin gloves, and tossed them into a nearby basin.
The grayish-white-robed Wizard asked unhurriedly, "Is this mutated subject stronger than the previous ones?"
The Black-Robed Wizard reached into a washbasin beside him to scrub his hands. "Indeed stronger. But this time, we cannot extract the 'divine brew' from the corpse."
The grayish-white-robed Wizard pondered for a moment. "In this case, did the mutated subject completely absorb the 'divine brew'?"
The Black-Robed Wizard picked up a cloth to dry his hands.
"That is a possibility. But I don't believe the 'divine brew' is so easily absorbed.
In all previous experiments, we were able to extract the 'divine brew' from the mutated subjects.
I found nothing particularly special about Old White. This Old White mutated subject evolved to be stronger simply because it absorbed more flesh and blood sacrifices."
The grayish-white-robed Wizard also had no leads. "Record the data and report it to headquarters."
The Black-Robed Wizard nodded and threw the cloth into the basin. "The current issue is how to deal with that useless Jack. Old White shouldn't have been exposed so early. Jack was too hasty, having Old White hunt for sacrifices so frequently."
The grayish-white-robed Wizard said softly, "Jack is missing. The White ancestral home was also burned down, destroyed by a fire that couldn't be extinguished with water."
The Black-Robed Wizard was taken aback. "You acted so quickly?"
The grayish-white-robed Wizard shook his head. "Not me. But I know Jack well. He didn't possess the ability to conjure such flames. Most likely, he was killed by someone else."
The Black-Robed Wizard curled his lip, somewhat displeased. "So Jack just died inexplicably. You've been in White Stone Town for a while. How can there still be such gaps in intelligence?"
The grayish-white-robed Wizard said in a low voice, "You know as well as I do, Link is like sticky glue. Ever since he came to White Stone Town, he's been investigating our affairs."
"Can't we just eliminate him? He's too much of a hindrance!" asked the Black-Robed Wizard. "But he's the captain of the Investigator squad. Acting rashly would draw the attention of the Court Wizards."
The grayish-white-robed Wizard said slowly, "I'm making arrangements. I won't leave any tails."
Tomorrow is Halloween. Hogwarts will host a Halloween Eve feast tonight.
To attend the feast, Damian ended his Meditation Method practice early today in the Room of Requirement.
During this period, Damian had nearly mastered the magic he picked up from Jack White's house last time. However, his progress in the Meditation Method had been slow recently. He lacked a Potion to assist in its cultivation.
To break through to Third-Level Wizard Apprentice with the 'Emon Basic Meditation Method', a Potion that temporarily increases magical vitality is required—a magical vitality Potion.
But Damian hadn't found the formula for such a Potion in White Stone Town. He could only rely on gradual effort and accumulation to break through to Third-Level Wizard Apprentice.
However, the ongoing Halloween Eve feast reminded Damian of a certain Potion—the potent vitality potion.
The main ingredient of the potent vitality potion is Troll blood. Drinking it restores physical stamina and has the additional effect of increasing magical vitality.
Damian's undetectable extension pouch didn't contain any stored Troll blood, so he couldn't brew the potent vitality potion yet. But there were live Trolls in Hogwarts right now. Based on memories from his past life, a Troll would be released when the feast started tonight. This would be a good opportunity to obtain Troll blood.
As Damian came out of the Room of Requirement and headed downstairs toward the Great Hall, the young Wizards he encountered on the way were also excitedly rushing to the dining hall.
Near the entrance to the Great Hall, he unexpectedly ran into the trio and asked with great surprise, "You aren't arguing?"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione's faces were full of confusion, uttering in unison, "Huh?"
Damian stroked his chin. Was this the effect of his butterfly's flapping wings? Busy learning new magic and practicing his Meditation Method lately, he hadn't paid them much attention. The timing of their conflict had actually changed.
"Just as well. No one will disturb me when I go deal with the Troll later," Damian thought silently to himself.
Damian smiled smoothly. "It's nothing. I was just greeting you."
After exchanging glances, the three responded to Damian, "Good evening, Senior Damian."
Damian asked, "Where's Neville? Why isn't he with you?"
Ron showed a helpless expression. "Trevor is lost again. Neville went to look for him. He was afraid there'd be no food left later, so he asked us to save him some and told us to come to the hall first."
Damian raised an eyebrow. He suddenly remembered that he had promised to teach them the magic for summoning a familiar before, but he'd been so busy lately he'd almost forgotten.
"Next time for sure," Damian silently thought to himself.
They all walked into the dining hall together. The hall was already decorated for Halloween, with many bats flying around the ceiling and numerous floating Jack-o'-lanterns in the air.
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