Chapter 388 The Shortest Time Required for Development, Talisman Series
Coming out of Professor Snape's private storeroom, Aaronwas still a little dazed.
Lord Voldemort was about to make a comeback. He had prepared himself mentally for this, but as the day drew nearer, he realized his preparations seemed insufficient.
Returning to his dormitory, Aaron transferred his memories to his Thought Body, then sat quietly on his bed. "System, open the personal panel."
"Understood."
[Host: Aaron Gaius]
[magic Power: Main Body 5934, Elementary Archmage; Thought Body 5934, Elementary Archmage; Total 11868 (Elementary Grand Archmage, a rare existence in the magicworld)]
[Talent: Once In A Thousand Years (magic Power increases by 4 points daily, Main Body increases by 2 points, Thought Body increases by 2 points)]
[Items: Drop of the Moon (2/3, can dispel any negative curse), Resurrection Potion (can resurrect any creature that died within one hour)]
[magic Points: 1090]
"Still just an Elementary Grand Archmage!" Aaron sighed helplessly. Once one reached the Grand Archmage level, making significant further improvements was extremely difficult.
Based on the normal rate of growth, it would take him at least ten years to gain the ability to directly contend with Lord Voldemort at his peak.
Even if he put all the magic Points gained from daily sign-ins into magic Power, it would still take at least four years.
Adding the rewards obtained from system quests, the four years might be reduced to two years.
However, current signs indicated that Lord Voldemort's return to his peak strength was imminent. Since Lord Voldemort had been eyeing him for a long time, trying to hide and develop for two years was nearly impossible.
Creak!
The secret passage suddenly opened, and the Thought Body walked out. Seeing Aaron's troubled expression, he couldn't help but click his tongue. "I was going to boast about tricking everyone today, but looking at you now, I guess you wouldn't listen to anything I say!"
"Lord Voldemort is about to be resurrected. The two of us combined are only an Elementary Grand Archmage. Facing a peak Grand Archmage gives me absolutely no sense of security!" Aaron was glum, telling the Thought Body the shortest time he had calculated they needed to fully develop their strength.
"When did the Main Body become so pessimistic?" the Thought Body teased. "You only considered our disadvantage in strength, but you forgot our advantages."
"Are you referring to...?" Aaron seemed to realize something, and most of the worry instantly disappeared from his face.
"Harry Potter, and Albus Dumbledore," the Thought Body listed on his fingers. "As long as one of them is alive, Lord Voldemort won't focus too much attention on us. After all, in his eyes, we are just extremely talented Slytherins worth cultivating."
"In other words, he wants to recruit Aaron Gaius, not simply kill him."
"These are our advantages. As long as we don't stir up trouble within the next three years, there shouldn't be too much danger."
Aaron nodded in agreement. The actual situation was not as bad as he had thought.
If he threw out all his trump cards now, he could barely manage to escape from the Dark Lord at his peak, but three years later, he was confident enough to directly confront Lord Voldemort and not lose.
Taking a step back, even if Lord Voldemort was truly determined to kill him, he could hide in Gaius Castle. Not only Lord Voldemort, but even his ancestor Salazar Slytherin, if resurrected, wouldn't be able to break into his home.
Even if something truly unexpected happened, he still had a bottle of Resurrection Potion; that was a second life.
Thinking this, his mood improved considerably. Since the situation wasn't dire, there was no need for him to put all his magic Points into magic Power. Simultaneous improvement of both software and hardware was the best path.
"System, open the shop interface."
"With a thousand magic Points, I can try buying something."
[magic Category:
@ Levitation (100 magic Points, flying speed depends on personal strength); @ Sub-Eye (1000 magic Points, sees through disguise, sees through souls); @ Astral Projection (300 magic Points); @ Seraph's Shield (500 magic Points, comprehensive three-dimensional defense); @ Killing Curse (300 magic Points)]
[Materials Category:
@ Deep Sea Octopus Tentacles (5 magic Points); @ Seaweed (1 magic Point); @ Fire Elemental Crystal (200 magic Points); @ Acromantula Venom (10 magic Points); @ Heavy Silver (200 magic Points)]
[Items Category:
@ Razo Mask (2500 magic Points, wearer can summon the Shadowkhan Razor Gang; Note: Collecting ten masks grants control of the Shadow Realm); @ Veritaserum (70 magicPoints); @ Firebolt (50 magic Points); @ Tiger Talisman (1000 magic Points, Yin and Yang balance); @ Extra Large Bowl of Instant Noodles (5 magic Points, definitely too much for one person)]
"Sub-Eye, or the Tiger Talisman?" Aaron clicked his tongue. After agonizing for a long time, he chose the Tiger Talisman.
The Sub-Eye was indeed a divine skill, offering much better value for money than the Tiger Talisman, but it was useless to him at this stage.
As for the Tiger Talisman, balancing Yin and Yang sounded impressive, but it was also useless to him right now.
Perhaps when his strength grew later, this Talisman could help him balance the energy within his body.
However, buying the Tiger Talisman meant the Talisman series was unlocked, and the remaining eleven Talismans represented eleven different abilities.
If he could manage to get the Dog Talisman, he would have the capital to repeatedly dance along the edge of death.
Looking at the now empty item slot, Aaron decisively initiated a targeted refresh, spending a few magic Points. A Talisman printed with a yellow dog pattern appeared in his sight.
"Three thousand magic Points? Isn't that damn expensive?" Aaron said, slightly displeased.
"Eternal life, and perpetual youth."
"The holder is also immune to death and all fatal attacks," the System's voice was flat, as if it had sized up its Host. "If you listed the abilities of the twelve Talismans, 99.99 percent of people would choose the Dog Talisman."
"Of course, if you think it's too expensive, the Host doesn't have to buy it."
"How could I not?" Aaron gave a dry laugh. "Three thousand is three thousand. It is definitely worth that price."
The rewards for the two system quests this school year happened to total exactly three thousand magic Points. It felt like he was working for free, but thinking about the ability of eternal life, three thousand magic Points was well worth it.
"System, can I absorb the Tiger Talisman's ability?"
"Of course. The method is the same as the Ninja Mask."
"The Tiger Talisman's ability will be permanently bound to the Host, and no one can take it away."
Receiving the affirmative answer, Aaron didn't hesitate. Looking at the two intertwined tigers on the Talisman, he silently willed 'Absorb'.
The Tiger Talisman immediately split in two, and the pattern on the Talisman transformed into two identical white tigers, which roared and pounced toward Aaron.
A strong white light flashed, and the image of the tiger briefly flashed in his pupils before disappearing.
"It feels... pretty good."
"That's the first one, there are eleven more," the Thought Body reminded him. "That's a massive amount of magicPoints!"
"It doesn't matter. Once these two system quests are completed, I can buy the Dog Talisman."
"At that point, we will have infinite time, and collecting all twelve Talismans is only a matter of time."
"That's true."
"What do you plan to do with the Tiger Talisman? Are you going to leave it on the storage shelf?"
"Of course," Aaron said with an amused smile. He then looked at the Tiger Talisman, which was devoid of any divine power, and a white tiger appeared in his pupils, injecting a trace of power into it.
"Good and evil duality. It's a pretty good tool for setting people up."
"However, it can only be used once. The two separated personalities will merge back together after three days."
"We might never need to use it."
"I know," Aaron said indifferently. "A trace of the tiger's divine power is nothing to me, but suppose the Shrine of the Gods is discovered, and this item eventually falls into the hands of people like Lord Voldemort or Dumbledore?
"A spectacular and chaotic scene is perfect for fishing in troubled waters. Perhaps there will be unexpected gains then."
"Should we prepare an instruction manual, then?" the Thought Body suggested. "It would be a pity if it was triggered by some unknown nobody."
Aaron immediately burst into laughter, silently giving himself a thumbs up.
"Instructions are definitely necessary. We also need to prepare a high-end, classy box so people can immediately tell how extraordinary this treasure is."
"It's better to be low-key. Anyone who can break into the Shrine of the Gods is certainly no fool; they might be able to see through the trap."
"Well... alright! Then we'll prepare a low-key, luxurious, and meaningful box for it, and put it next to the Ninja Mask. That will definitely highlight its value."
... The next day, Aaron woke up early.
With the successful completion of the second task, two-thirds of both the System's quest and his sister's quest were finished.
There were still four months until the final competition task. Taking a break before then was perfectly fine.
However, what bothered him was that the way his classmates looked at him had changed even more. This was true not only for Slytherin but also for the other three Houses.
He had experienced what it was like for Krum to be a celebrity, but it was genuinely uncomfortable.
This uncomfortable feeling slowly faded only two weeks later, as the focus of attention gradually shifted from him to The Daily Prophet.
During Potion Class, seeing that every Slytherin had a copy of the "Witch Weekly," Aaron couldn't help but feel grateful to Rita Skeeter. Only an unscrupulous journalist like her, who loved to stir up trouble and feared nothing more than peace, could have such influence.
"Can I borrow it?" Aaron asked Draco.
"Uh... personally, I think it's better if you don't know."
Aaron frowned slightly, his heart sinking.
Did Rita Skeeter write about him in the paper?
That shouldn't be possible. His enchantment magic was not something a mere reporter could break.
"What does the paper say about me?"
"It doesn't mention you, but..."
"Then I'm not worried." Before Draco could finish speaking, Aaron took the newspaper from his hands.
'Harry Potter's Secret Heartache'
"Hiss..."
After reading just the title, Aaron couldn't help but gasp, his curiosity instantly piqued.
There was a reason The Daily Prophet sold so well; this title alone was worth the price of the paper.