You Actually Fooled Me for Two Years

Aaron opened the System Mall with excitement.

The mall interface was fairly simple: three rows, with five item slots in each row, divided into the Magic Category, Material Category, and Item Category.

The items varied in rank, some high and some low. One Magic Point could refresh a single slot, a row, or the entire selection. What you got depended on your luck.

When he had first opened the mall, one of the five items in the Magic Category had been a Resurrection Spell.

At the time, Aaron had thought his luck had exploded—that the goddess of fortune had smiled upon him, that God had given him special attention, that green smoke was rising from the ancestral graves of the Gaius Family.

But after reading the detailed description, he realized he had been overthinking it.

There were three casting requirements. First, his Magical Energy had to reach the level of a Grand Archmage, meaning over ten thousand points of Magical Energy.

Second, every use would reduce his Magical Energy by twenty percent, requiring him to cultivate it again.

Third, the person to be resurrected could not have been dead for more than twenty years, and a certain amount of their bodily tissue was required.

Other than the third condition, which he could accept, the other two were harsher than the last.

According to the System's classification of mages, the ranks were Mage Apprentice (Magical Energy 1–100), Beginner Mage (Magical Energy 100–500),

Intermediate Mage (Magical Energy 500–1000), High-level Mage (Magical Energy 1000–3000), Magus (Magical Energy 3000–5000), Archmage (Magical Energy 5000–10000), Grand Archmage (Magical Energy 10000–30000), Holy Magus (Magical Energy 30000–50000), and the legendary God of Magic.

A Grand Archmage! Or rather, the Archmage Peak. Such people definitely existed in this Magical World, but they were exceedingly rare.

Yet even Grand Archmages probably would not be willing to bear the cost of casting it.

With Aaron's current three-digit Magical Energy, learning this spell would likely take at least eight to ten years. Besides, he had no one he wanted to resurrect right now, so learning it would be useless.

Most importantly, the spell's price was outrageously high: thirty thousand Magic Points.

For Aaron, saving up that many points would take an eternity. There was no way he could accept that.

So, the moment he saw the spell, Aaron decisively used the one Magic Point he had received from that day's Sign-in to refresh the selection. That was how he found his first purchase target.

Cerebral Sealing Technique; Price: 1,000 Magic Points; (Once learned, the host can perfectly resist mental intrusion from the outside world. No one can probe the host's memories.)

"A system, I want to buy this," Aaron said inwardly.

"Deducting 1,000 Magic Points. Congratulations, host, you have learned the Cerebral Sealing Technique. Current remaining Magic Points: 1."

The next moment, Aaron felt all the knowledge concerning the Cerebral Sealing Technique appear in his mind, deeply etched into it as though carved by hammer and chisel.

At that moment, boundless pride surged in Aaron's chest. He dared say that even if Dumbledore personally used Mind Extraction on him, he would be unable to pry into his memories—unless Aaron wanted him to see them.

Just as he was about to close the System, the familiar voice rang out in his mind again.

"Congratulations to the host on making your first purchase in the System Mall.

Upon spending 1 Magic Point, the host is rewarded with one bottle of the special potion 'Moon Drop,' which can dispel any negative magical curse;

Upon spending 10 Magic Points, the host is rewarded with one bottle of the special potion 'Resurrection Potion,' which can resurrect any living creature that died within the past hour;

Upon spending 100 Magic Points, the host is rewarded with the Wandless Casting skill, which can be used to handle unexpected situations without a Wand;

Upon spending 1,000 Magic Points, the host is rewarded with one Mysterious Egg, which can hatch a magical creature one hundred percent loyal to the host. It will become the host's most trustworthy companion in the future."

Aaron blinked blankly, then slapped his cheeks. He seriously suspected that he had heard wrong.

Then he took a magenta potion, an emerald-green potion, and a pet egg thirty centimeters long and twenty centimeters wide from the System Space.

The eggshell was pure white, patterned with cloud-like markings that gave it a holy and noble air.

Uh...

After a brief daze came endless indignation. "Damn it! You lousy System, you actually fooled me for two years.

Why didn't you tell me such important information sooner?"

"First, the host did not ask.

Second, what difference would it make whether these rewards were given sooner or later?"

"..." Aaron looked at the two potions in his hands. There really did not seem to be any difference. He neither needed to dispel a curse nor resurrect anyone.

The two potions were incredibly precious, but they truly were of no use to him right now.

Wait, wasn't there also an egg?

"System, if you'd told me sooner, this egg might have hatched by now.

I wouldn't be as lonely as I am now, without even a single friend I can confide in. You have to compensate me for that, right?" Aaron said unhappily.

Though he lived in luxury and lacked for nothing at home, it was far too quiet.

Other than his parents and Jeans, everyone looked at him with awe and reverence. It was an unavoidable gap brought about by his status.

It was not as though guests never came to the house, but these so-called guests were far too obsessed with tedious formalities, each one acting as if they were better than everyone else.

Even when they brought children Aaron's age along, they could barely play together for half a day.

But their next meeting would be months, or even half a year, later. So until now, Aaron had never had any real friends.

Before he turned eight, his parents had still kept him company, and he could still feel a father's and mother's love. But ever since the two of them began living in their own little world, they rarely came home.

Part of the reason Aaron had opened a shop in Diagon Alley was because it was full of people. It allowed him to experience what liveliness felt like. Every day, he could chat with customers as an equal, without differences in status, and learn interesting stories and anecdotes about the Magic World. It was quite enjoyable.

"Host, you are being unreasonable!" the System said disdainfully in Aaron's mind.

"How am I being unreasonable? Do you know how I've spent the last two years?"

"Then please tell this System: at what spending threshold was this Magical Creature Egg awarded?"

"Wasn't it just one thousand... huh?"

"Now you understand. Even if this System had told you earlier, the egg would not have ended up in your hands any sooner.

So the host did not lose out at all.

Under these circumstances, what is demanding compensation if not being unreasonable?"

Aaron: ...

Damn! That actually seemed perfectly logical.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A knock came from the door. "Young Master, Yobi has brought your dinner."

Aaron immediately put the two potions and the pet egg back into the System Space and said calmly, "Come in. The door isn't locked."

The House Elf walked in nervously, followed by a tray floating in midair.

A serving of fruit, a steak, and a bowl of corn soup flew off the tray and landed on Aaron's table.

"That's enough. You can leave now."

"Yes, Young Master."

After Yobi left, Aaron eagerly took out the white egg and stared at it expectantly. As for the exquisite dinner, he selectively ignored it.

"System, what species is this egg? How do I hatch it?"

"Does the host wish to spend 1 Magic Point for an appraisal?"

Aaron silently looked at his sole remaining Magic Point and could not help complaining inwardly, You really don't leave me anything at all, do you?

"Appraise it."

Species: Dragon

Hatching method: Expose it to sunlight for at least three hours every day. The remaining time may be arranged freely. It should hatch in approximately seven days.

"That's it? Nothing else?

At least tell me which branch of dragon it belongs to and what its magical power level is!"

The System fell silent for a moment before replying, "This Dragon Egg has no branch in the current Magic World. Before hatching, it is at the Mage Apprentice level. After hatching, it will rise by one rank and evolve as its magical power level increases.

Its combat power will increase to varying degrees at every stage, and it can freely control the size of its body."

After hearing the introduction, Aaron became even more interested in the Dragon Egg in his hands.

This might be the only dragon in the world. Just looking at the patterns on its shell, he knew its appearance could not possibly be bad. And if it could grow larger and smaller, that meant he could keep it by his side.

As for whether the Ministry of Magic would investigate because of its various peculiarities, Aaron was not worried in the slightest.

Did they really think the Gaius Family's thousands of years of heritage were for show? He could simply make up an excuse and demonstrate how obedient the pet was. Surely the Magic World would give the Gaius Family that much respect.

"Not bad, really not bad. This Young Master is very satisfied with this egg." Aaron nodded in satisfaction, holding the Dragon Egg as though he could not bear to put it down.

"Should I give it a name in advance?" Aaron was conflicted. He did not know whether the dragon that had yet to be born was male or female, what it looked like, what color it was, or whether it would be cute or imposing. Naming it rashly felt a little careless.

With that thought, Aaron suddenly shook his head. Wasn't it only seven days? He could wait.

Just then, a beam of moonlight shone through the window into Aaron's bedroom. He looked at the white Dragon Egg in his hands. "System, if it basks in moonlight for eight hours a day, can that shorten the incubation time?"

"Host, please do not ask such idiotic questions. The System feels as though its intelligence has been lowered."

"Tch, it wasn't all that smart to begin with," Aaron muttered. Then, carefully carrying the Dragon Egg, he placed it under the moonlight. "There's no sun for now, so just make do. Absorb some moon essence to make up for it."

After saying that, Aaron began eating his dinner.

He did not notice that, beneath the bright moonlight, the white Dragon Egg gave a slight shake.