With Cheats, Could He Rival Fire God Paves the Way?

On the way to Diagon Alley, such thoughts flickered through Hermione's mind.

There was certainly nothing to criticize about Rhine's literary accomplishments. Hermione could never catch up to him even in several lifetimes, and she admitted that.

But in other subjects, she had never heard of Rhine possessing any particular expertise.

Hermione might lose in depth, but she won in breadth.

And perhaps, when it came to magic, her talent was even greater than Rhine's?

Besides, Hermione had arrived in Diagon Alley a few days before Rhine and had already begun learning magic. That was another advantage she had.

Thus, when a thought surfaced in her mind—

"Can I win?"

Hermione gave herself a firm answer.

"I will win."

The proud Miss Know-It-All would not easily admit defeat when it came to studying.

An hour later, Hermione entered Diagon Alley.

Before heading to the place Rhine had mentioned, Hermione briefly tidied her hair in the reflection of a shop window by the street.

Only then did she realize that she had apparently not taken proper care of her hair before coming out. It was far too bushy.

"Maybe I should use some conditioner?"

Hermione also recalled her mother's smiling words.

"Perhaps I should dress up properly too, and wear a pretty dress?"

But that thought was quickly suppressed by an even stronger competitive spirit.

Hermione hurried into the dessert shop beside Flourish and Blotts, where she saw Rhine flipping through a book on magical history.

As she walked in, she spoke with confidence.

"Rhine, you're reading magical history?"

"I like that too. There are plenty of interesting things in the history of the magical world, and sometimes you can even see major events from the Muggle world."

"For example..."

Rhine nodded in deep agreement.

"For example, I only learned from magical history that the guillotine used to execute Louis XVI was actually made for him by an alchemist."

"They say that guillotine was an alchemical creation with a zero percent negative review rate."

"And..."

Rhine enthusiastically discussed several events from magical history.

Hermione's expression gradually turned bewildered.

"Huh?"

"Which chapters are those from?"

Rhine thought for a moment.

"Some are in Section Four of Chapter Five, and some are in Section Three of Chapter Six. The exact pages should be around page seven hundred and twenty."

Hermione stared blankly at Rhine.

"?"

Rhine revealed a slightly strange smile.

It could not be helped. The Seven Orifices Exquisite Heart Talent was practically cheating when it came to studying.

Never forgetting anything he saw, reciting it flawlessly after one glance, understanding it at incredible speed...

Hermione might be Hogwarts' greatest future academic genius, but unfortunately, she was facing Rhine, who possessed the Seven Orifices Exquisite Heart.

She still needed more practice!

Half an hour later.

Hermione's initial lofty ambitions had turned into utter despair.

"I'm so stupid. Truly."

"How did I ever think I could beat Rhine?"

After personally witnessing Rhine casually flip through a new book before reciting the entire first chapter word for word, Hermione had worn exactly that expression.

What shocked her even more was that Rhine's memory was not merely strong enough to remember everything at a glance. He was not simply memorizing it by rote; he truly understood the principles thoroughly.

Much of what still left Hermione lost in a fog became crystal clear after Rhine casually explained it in a few sentences.

That display completely extinguished Hermione's desire to compete with Rhine in magic.

He had cheats. How was she supposed to fight that?

Though she was deeply unwilling to concede, Hermione was not a petty person. She seized the time to ask Rhine about the things she had only half understood while reading earlier.

Appreciation appeared in Rhine's eyes.

This was what made Hermione admirable: her powerful drive, her thirst for knowledge, and her broad-mindedness.

It was only natural that she would become Minister for Magic in the future. Even if she did not enter politics, Rhine was certain that Hermione would achieve remarkable results in academia.

He did not mind giving Hermione a helping hand and seeing whether she might achieve even greater things in the future.

In the blink of an eye, it was evening three days later.

Hermione said goodbye to Rhine familiarly at the street corner.

Rhine smiled.

"Are you really not getting in my car? I can take you home."

Hermione shook her head awkwardly.

"No, that would trouble you too much."

"And besides..."

"Never mind. It's nothing."

A blush appeared on her face.

These past few days, whenever she went home, her mother would look at her with a half-smiling expression and occasionally tease her by asking how far their relationship had progressed.

Each time, Hermione would declare with embarrassed annoyance that they really were not dating and were only studying together.

If Rhine took her home again, those foolish adults would have no idea what they might start imagining.

Hermione waved to Rhine.

"Thank you, Rhine. I feel like my magic has improved so much compared to before."

"Oh, right. Are you sure you don't want to go to Mr. Ollivander and get another wand?"

Over the past few days, Hermione had become utterly convinced of Rhine's learning ability.

No matter the spell, as long as it did not require too much magical power, Rhine could practically master every key point of its casting perfectly after seeing it once.

Under Rhine's guidance, Hermione had already mastered several spells that she would only learn after starting school.

At this rate, she had hopes of mastering most of the entire first-year curriculum before enrollment.

But what Hermione found regrettable was that Rhine's own spellcasting was not quite as smooth.

That Ancient Staff was too long and too heavy, making it difficult to apply modern casting gestures with it.

Although Rhine's exceptional control over magic still allowed him to cast spells, Hermione felt that if Rhine switched to a more suitable wand, his magical prowess would definitely soar by a huge margin.

However, Rhine merely smiled and shook his head at Hermione's suggestion.

Only after watching Hermione board the bus and vanish from sight did Rhine chuckle again.

How could a girl like Hermione know that magic was merely the icing on the cake for Rhine?

A staff combined with Bronze Skin and Iron Bones and Skilled in Martial Arts—that was Rhine's true greatest strength. It was far more useful than magic. Those fragile wands could not do that.

Moreover, Rhine had discovered that although this Ancient Staff worked well with modern spells and produced great power, the older the spell, the better its effects became.

This gave him a theory. Perhaps this staff had originally been made specifically to enhance Ancient Magic.

If he could find traces of Ancient Magic, this staff would truly find its proper use.

Of course, it did not matter if he could not find Ancient Magic.

Simply by relying on the Seven Orifices Exquisite Heart to improve casting gestures, incantations, and the like, it was only a matter of time before Rhine could cast spells smoothly with this staff.

And over these past few days, Rhine had made another discovery.

His Talents could also enhance spells, and the effects were outstanding!

For example...

Rhine returned home and gave his staff a light wave as he recited the incantation.

"Scouring Charm."

A faint whirlwind immediately appeared, sweeping the dust from the bookshelf he was looking at.

Then Rhine's thoughts stirred. He activated his Wind Riding Talent and cast the cleaning spell once more.

This time, a whirlwind countless times fiercer than before howled forth.

In terms of force, this Scouring Charm could probably scrub a dragon clean, even scouring the grime off its scales!

Light gleamed in Rhine's eyes.

"If I obtain the Control Fire at Will Talent as well, the enhancement to Incendio should be even greater."

"Then, if Wind Riding Talent works together with Control Fire at Will, and the Scouring Charm and Incendio are cast together, with wind fanning the flames and fire strengthening the wind, what kind of sight would that be?"

"Could it possess even a trace of the power of Fire God Paves the Way?"

Rhine looked forward greatly to that day.

Time passed swiftly, and soon it was one month later.