This was a long, dimly lit room.
Many stone pillars carved with coiling, entwined serpents rose high to support a ceiling that vanished into the darkness above, casting long, eerie shadows across the entire chamber, which was suffused with a mysterious green mist.
A statue as tall as the room itself stood pressed against the black wall at the back.
However, the statue had an aged, monkey-like face and a sparse, long beard that nearly trailed down to the hem of its stone-carved wizard's robes.
This gave the man currently standing between the statue's legs, amid fragments of shattered chairs scattered across the floor, a faintly sleazy air as well.
He was clearly well-proportioned and imposing. His black hair, pale skin, and handsome face were enough to make countless girls fall for him.
His gentle, clear voice produced hollow, resonant echoes between the ghostly walls, and even those echoes sounded especially pleasant.
Suddenly, a column of air burning with heat struck from above and to the right behind his head.
At the same time, a clear male voice rang out. "Does this count as a Level Two spell?"
The man's wand automatically swept backward, and a flash of green light shot forth.
Crack! A piercing explosion rang out where the green light met the column of air.
The man lowered his head and smiled. "Very good, my lord. A pseudo-Level Four Alohomora infused with your spiritual power. It has already surpassed a Level Two spell."
Clearly, Basil had unleashed that column of air.
Among the Spell Cards created from Fenrir Wolf echoes, Alohomora was the only one that could even be remotely considered offensive.
Was he supposed to use a Healing Charm to suck blood?
Alohomora, which had originally fired a beam of light to blow apart locks directly, already had the potential to develop into an offensive spell.
Using the Dragon Knight and Grimoire, he imbued this +3 Alohomora with spiritual power.
Treating Riddle as the lock on a door, his intense desire to open it filled the spell with power that seemed capable of breaking through anything.
The man was Riddle.
Youthful Voldemort.
As the first intelligent summon within the Grimoire, he held a unique position.
Born from a Grimoire card, he was not only incomparably loyal to Basil on a subconscious level, but also exceptionally knowledgeable about the Grimoire's power.
He even remembered certain game mechanics with perfect clarity.
Rather than a summon, he was more like a System Sprite.
"My Killing Curse, when converted into card levels, is Level Two."
"At this point in time, I had only just mastered that spell, so I was still quite inexperienced with it."
Basil raised a question. "Even if my spell is pseudo-Level Four, its damage is still on the level of a genuine Level Four spell. It merely lacks the characteristics gained through three transformations. So why?"
Riddle answered, "The gap between spells can be enormous. Level is not the only standard by which strength is judged."
"And you are underestimating characteristics far too much."
"Do you remember the four buffs for Aguamenti in the Golden Forbidden Forest's Deadly Hunt?"
"Clear Water Like a Pillar increases the width of the water column by 50%; Clear Water Like a Waterfall increases the number of water columns released by 100% and raises damage by 20%; Clear Water Like a Spear grants an additional 20% damage increase when hitting the same enemy unit; Clear Water Like a Barrier raises damage by 30 and can knock back the target unit."
Upon hearing those familiar terms, Basil first felt nostalgic, then frowned. "Wait, are you saying characteristics are equivalent to the buffs in those limited-time dungeons? Don't tell me characteristics also come in four rarities—white, blue, purple, and gold? No, perhaps there isn't any purple."
Riddle nodded. "Actually, Aguamenti has another name: the Water-Making Spell. It is just that its incantation is so easy to remember that it replaced the name itself. As its name suggests, the spell's primary purpose is merely to create water. It has almost no offensive power."
"With the very same spell, if you maintain an excited mood and change the final light tap in your wand movement into a straight thrust forward, you will find that what emerges from your wand is no longer a clear spring. It is a jet of water capable of shattering a porcelain cup within five feet."
"That is one of the characteristics gained when the Water-Making Spell advances."
"Depending on one's aptitude, willpower, and magical power, the characteristics that emerge can vary wildly. Even the same characteristic can differ greatly in power."
"Perhaps once your card reaches Level Two and develops a characteristic, its data really will distinguish between white, blue, purple, and gold rarities."
Basil was momentarily speechless, then laughed.
He immediately thought of another possibility.
"Reality isn't a game. I can't spend money to raise the quality of a characteristic. The number of transformations my spells can undergo is relatively limited. If the first characteristic that emerges is only white quality, then when the spell upgrades later, will its transformative power be wasted upgrading that white-quality characteristic?"
"Wouldn't I be better off laying a solid foundation first, like the protagonists of cultivation fantasy novels, before upgrading?"
"In other words, I should rely on learning more spells early on to train my magical power, create cards, and gain the bonuses from leveling up the Grimoire. Then, once I truly can't suppress it any longer, I can upgrade my cards, allowing the characteristics that emerge to directly reach the highest quality?"
"You just said that reality isn't a game," Riddle said with a smile. "Although I do not possess memories from after the original body reached adulthood, I can vaguely sense that after I created Horcruxes, the characteristics of my Killing Curse transformed as well."
"Characteristics are manifestations of a wizard's self. The stronger you become, the stronger they become with you."
"The collapse or corruption of the self can also change characteristics."
"Spells—or rather, magic—come from our beliefs."
"Although Adalbert Wulfing's 'Magical Theory' is accurate, magic is indeed a phenomenon produced through the interaction between the Magic Field and the real-world field, or through their independent operation."
"But the Magic Field originates from wizards, and its operation originates from our hearts. In Muggle terms, it is the fluctuation of electrical signals in the brain."
"In short, you have absolutely no need to suppress a spell's instinct to grow."
"Wait," Basil noticed the blind spot. "Spells are alive? Then what is the difference between a spell and the corresponding Spell Card?"
"I seem to remember explaining this before." Riddle rubbed his forehead in frustration.
"The two are separate. Unless, from now on, you use the cards in the Grimoire every time you cast a spell."
"When casting, your wand and Grimoire are like your two legs when walking."
"But unlike walking while casting, you do not need to use both your left and right legs at the same time. You can walk using only one leg."
"Depending on your habits, the leg you exercise less often will become weaker."
"More importantly, their essences are different."
"Spell Cards—or rather, your cards—would be better understood as magical artifacts from fantasy novels. If you simply use them, they will indeed grow according to their mechanics, but only negligibly. That is why you do not have a single Level Two card yet. However, when you use them, infuse them with spiritual power, and reshape the spell they release, it is like refining a magical artifact with your mind. Naturally, they grow much faster that way."
"Spells are like talismans inscribed upon the soul. That is also why they are called incantations. Once you have honed their intent and form to perfection, they will be engraved in your heart and gradually come alive, absorbing your overflowing spiritual energy to grow. They will then influence you in return—or rather, make you more suited to them. That is why advanced spells, or black and White Magic, can affect the mind."
"A Spell Card that gains characteristics after leveling up merely allows you to use a spell with characteristics without expending Mental Power."
"But that does not mean the spell corresponding to that Spell Card is a Level Two spell."
"Like the less-exercised right leg, it cannot compare to the more-exercised left leg."
"While it will certainly grow rapidly once your card reaches genuine Level Two, it will not immediately reach the corresponding level."
Before you continue