Dueling Practice and Ron's Letter

"[Protego]"

"Aguamenti"

Loren used the Shield Charm to block the oncoming green magical light, leaving a puddle of water in his wake. He then dodged the white light of the Petrificus Totalus.

Flamel, disguised as Loren, waved his wand incessantly, using rhythm to suppress Loren, forcing him to dodge and defend, with no chance to retaliate.

Petrificus Totalus, Repelling Charm, and Stunning Spell —being hit by any of these spells will instantly render you unable to fight.

"[Protego]"

An Shield Charm deflected the white light of the Petrificus Totalus, and taking advantage of Flamel's sidestep, Loren used Transfiguration to turn the water into a white mist.

Flamel instantly lost track of Loren and dared not make any rash moves, for he would lose face if he were caught off guard.

If Loren hadn't been there, he could have used Whizbangs to instantly clear away the fog, but there would have been a slight stiffness at the connection between the spells, and the Shield Charm would have revealed a gap.

He is currently fighting at the level of Loren's magic and cannot use abilities beyond Loren's own.

Despite numerous restrictions, the situation has reached a stalemate.

Flamel, wand in hand, slowly backed away in the approximate direction where Loren had disappeared, and said loudly, "I know you can now cover your entire body with the Shield Charm, so I can use the full-body Shield Charm too, right?"

He was just bluffing Loren. In his actual combat during the holidays, Loren always preferred to use the Shield Charm, which could control the direction of the mirror, rather than applying armor to his entire body.

Flamel didn't understand why Loren had such a strange obsession with parrying, nor did he know what the so-called "persistence of Souls-like players" was.

But from needing three to five seconds to prepare before releasing the Shield Charm, to now being able to summon the Mirror with a simple wave of his hand, he was certain that Loren's mastery of the Shield Charm was absolutely sufficient to protect his entire body.

But the fog continued to linger silently, and Loren did not answer.

Flamel pretended to cast an Shield Charm on himself, then quickly blew away the fog, but his attention remained focused on the fog.

"[armor--"

Before the incantation was finished, a white shadow suddenly shot out from the mist to the left, aiming straight for his brow. Flamel had anticipated this and instantly stopped his feigned incantation. He twisted his foot and slid a few steps to the right, dodging the approaching white shadow.

Whoosh!

A jet of water splashed onto the ground, wetting it.

Oh no!

Flamel's expression changed, but due to inertia, he couldn't fully control his body, and his steps continued to the right.

"[Sectumsempra] "

An invisible force shot towards him, and Flamel needed to take a small step to stop himself. That small step felt as if he had deliberately run into the Sectumsempra.

The energy passed through his left chest, between his third and fourth ribs. Flamel stopped in his tracks, his body shimmering with light, and he transformed back into his silver-haired, silver-eyed form.

He recalled the carefully planned, deceptive, and interconnected battle, and a gratified smile appeared on his face as he exclaimed, "In terms of combat thinking, you've already surpassed me."

Loren dispelled the Disillusionment Charm, stepped out of the white mist, raised his wand and pointed it behind his head to dispel the mist.

He complained, "Your defeat animation is so perfunctory. There's no sense of satisfaction from defeating a boss at all."

Flamel was used to the strange things that always came out of his mouth, so he just ignored them and paid no attention to them.

"Now, let's talk about your shortcomings and mistakes in this battle." Flamel changed the subject, projecting the image of the battle into the air.

Damn, it's true naked-eye 3D... Loren watched the battle carefully and said with great pride, "Positioning, parrying, not a single mistake, full health clear, Sekiro would say it's good."

Flamel zoomed in on the scene where Loren left water stains and white mist rose. "The Disillusionment Charm combined with the white mist to hide myself and interrupt my spellcasting rhythm is a good idea. Leaving a column of water to attract my attention is also brilliant."

"I think so too!" Loren said smugly.

Flamel glanced at him and said calmly, "But this also exposes your weakness of insufficient spell reserves. These complicated steps can be easily replaced with a Weather Charm. Change the white mist to cloud mist, and change the attack method from water columns to lightning from the Weather Charm. Then, whether I dodge or not, it will not affect the outcome of the battle."

If Flamel hadn't dodged the water jet and had let it drench him while he finished deploying the Shield Charm, the outcome might have been different.

Loren's smile faded, and he accepted it.

"Next is the last one."

The scene then shifts to Loren's body being pierced through the heart by the Sectumsempra.

Although he had just been complaining that the defeat animation wasn't enough, Loren saw the astonished expression on his face and thought that it would be even more unpleasant to have his own image used to finish the defeat animation.

Flamel pointed to the wound. "Why be so fixated on the heart? A bigger spot would have been better."

Loren grinned. "I've been reading a lot of anatomy books lately, and the description of the heart being located between the second and fifth ribs just popped into my head, so I aimed for that spot."

After he had mastered a few second-year spells, Hermione stopped tutoring him and strictly forbade him from disturbing her. Loren could only take walks with Hermione after dinner and exchange some spell-related insights.

With some free time, Loren began to study anatomy again, learning about the structure of the human body and the functions of its various parts.

He wasn't sure about the progress of the Sorcerer's Stone, but whenever he sparred with Flamel, he always made a habit of attacking those areas.

"Don't fixate on hitting a specific point; do whatever is most convenient. If the spell is powerful enough, hitting the target will end the battle." Flamel didn't delve too deeply into this point.

He then switched the screen, and as he swiped his finger, the screen froze.

In the video, Loren is using his wand to flick back a Petrificus Totalus. He is bent over, his feet shoulder-width apart, one in front of the other. As he casts the Shield Charm, he is already preparing to dodge the next spell.

"Here, you could have dodged directly, and in the time it took to cast the Shield Charm, you could have attacked me with other spells and disrupted my rhythm. This kind of mistake happened four times in the battle."

The video continued playing, showing Loren bending down and catching a dimly lit Repelling Charm with Shield Charm, much like catching Hairball shuttlecock, and bouncing it back.

Flamel took the dimly lit Repelling Charm head-on with his body, only frowning slightly without any further reaction.

"And here, this Repelling Charm is too low; you can dodge it by taking a step back. Moreover, this spell was hastily cast to maintain control, so its light is dim and its power is insufficient. Even if it hits your foot, it will only hurt slightly and won't affect your combat ability."

At this point, Flamel showed a headache, "Why are you so fixated on parrying? Because these parries extend the combat time by at least half."

Loren looked around, refusing to look up at the mistake on the screen, and began to change the subject. "I have already defeated the version of you that I have become. How shall we practice from now on?"

He can't possibly say that he does all these unnecessary actions in order to achieve a full health clear, and his obsession with parrying is also an example.

Flamel's breath hitched. So you're not planning to change?

He laughed in exasperation and said in a gruff voice, "Fine, fine, it seems I'll have to teach you a lesson in real combat before you'll change your ways."

The image in mid-air in the dueling practice room flickered and disappeared, Flamel also vanished from his spot, and Loren's consciousness was ejected from the Fantasy Book.

"In future practice, I will select some despicable dark wizard images from the database. If you continue with this fighting habit, you will be met with the Cruciatus Curse!" Flamel's voice came from the book, tinged with hidden anger.

"I'll change it. I only dare to fight like this in practice. If it were a real duel, I'd definitely fight as fast as possible..." Loren muttered, slowly drifting off to sleep.

On the morning of August 6th, a bright and sunny day, Loren was awakened by the sound of an owl tapping on his windowpane.

This is an owl with withered feathers and droopy eyelids; it is very old. Its yellowed claws carry a package, and its beak keeps tapping against the window.

Thump!

Knock knock!

Loren thought that if he kept hitting it, the owl's beak might break from its age. He quickly opened the window, let the owl in, and grabbed a handful of nuts from the Hānhan snack bin, scattering them on the table.

The old owl placed the package on the table, turned to look at Nuts, then turned back to look at Loren, his expression sorrowful and helpless.

Loren hesitated for a moment, then gave it a softer piece of bread, which the old owl slowly pecked at.

Upon opening the package, one finds a cardboard box and a letter. Even without reading the contents, the flamboyant handwriting on the envelope indicates that it is a letter from Ron.

Loren:

Happy Birthday! George and Fred (a big ink stain) asked me to give you their greetings. Birthday presents are enclosed.

Just in case, I deliberately sent the letter a day early. I hope Errol didn't arrive early or miss your birthday, because eccentric Percy uses his owl all holiday, and I had to Errol; he's too old, and I don't know if he can deliver the letter. Don't reply immediately; let Errol rest.

We cordially invite you to our the Burrow. My parents want to thank you properly, and George and Fred even want to give you a belated birthday celebration; they claim to have learned how to make a cake from Mom's cookbook. But I must remind you: do not eat anything they offer you.

I haven't received a reply to the letters I wrote to Harry. If you can get in touch with Harry, could you please check if he's having any problems?

Your best friend: Ron

Loren silently folded the letter, making a bet with Bronze Knut that Ron's quill pen must be too old to work, otherwise there wouldn't be such a large ink stain on the letter.

Let's talk about replying tonight; this old owl Errol really deserves a good rest.

Not eating George's and Fred's food—isn't that one of the unspoken rules of Hogwarts that young wizards should know before even entering the school?

Loren wasn't in a hurry about Harry; the Weasley Twins should be picking him up in their Flying Car and taking Harry to the Burrow in the next few days.

As for Ron's invitation, although he was very interested in the Burrow, Loren decided to decline it because he thought about how bored Grandpa Bates was, who spent his time cultivating land in his backyard and learning to bake from TV.

Grandpa Bates is so bored, yet he still patiently spends his summer vacation with him. We can't just abandon Grandpa Bates and let him become an empty nester.

He placed an apple next to Errol to keep him from getting thirsty. Loren tucked the letter under a well-worn book, Loren turned to change and wash, beginning his birthday day.

Morning light streamed through the window and shone on the cover, the words "Gray's Anatomy" covered by plastic film reflecting a faint glow.

"Happy birthday, Loren! Come and try my cake!" Bates had been up for a while and was busy in the Kitchen. As soon as he saw Loren come downstairs, he called out to Loren, his face full of joy.

Because he was so bored, Bates first started planning to green his backyard, happily planning what trees and flowers to plant, and even asking Loren what he wanted to see, promising that he could grow it.

After he repeatedly plowed and loosened the hardened clods of earth in the courtyard behind the house, Loren finally understood the scribbles on his drawings, which represented France, chestnut trees, and cherry trees.

"The best month to transplant most of these trees is November." This statement delayed Bates's garden dream by three months.

After giving up houseplants, Bates started learning baking from cooking shows on TV. But sometimes, baking is like a quantum experiment, and the oven is Schrödinger's black box; you'll never know what you'll make until you open it.

Loren stared at the dark mass in front of him, lost in thought.

"Is this... a chocolate cake?" he asked hesitantly.

"No, this is Mulberry Cake," Bates said with a smile. "If you want a chocolate one, I can make that too."

"It's mulberries..." Loren nodded. Mulberries are purplish-red, so it's normal for them to turn a little black if too many are added.

"Try it quickly, today's breakfast is cake and milk!" Bates couldn't wait to taste the fruits of his labor.

When Loren came out of the bathroom after washing up, Bates had already cut the cake and put it on a plate.

"Hurry up and try it! I got up early this morning to make this cake. I checked the recipe repeatedly, and it's perfect. The oven time is the same as the one shown on TV, and it turned out just like the ones on TV..." Bates said with a smile, explaining the cake-making process.

Loren cut a small piece of cake, the cake scraping against the knife with a crackling sound. Something felt off about the texture; Loren's heart sank, but he calmly put the cake in his mouth.

"How was it? No problems this time, right?" Bates waited expectantly for his evaluation.

"Mmm, the aroma of mulberries is coming out, it tastes delicious!" Loren kept chewing, but he just couldn't swallow it.

"Really? I tried a piece, and it seems a bit burnt. So you like it a little burnt? I guess that's how you like roasted meat too." Bates said thoughtfully, looking at the cake on the plate.

"Pooh!"

Loren's attempt to trick Bates into eating it failed, and he spat out the cake with a bitter expression. "You tasted it! Why didn't you say so sooner?"

"Ha ha ha ha..."