Extraordinary Trait! Fear Descends!

Time flew like an arrow.

Days passed in a flash.

When someone's life was full enough, time seemed to pass incredibly quickly. Ian was no exception. He felt that compared to just a few days ago, he had changed considerably.

Rune Mastery (Level 1): 3/100

As they said, grinding hard worked miracles.

When Ian temporarily stopped improving and training his other skills and focused entirely on mastering Runes, the combination of his talent and the system panel produced devastating results.

Of course.

His ability to raise a skill with such slow learning progress to Level 1 so quickly was also related to Language Mastery, which had improved alongside his study of Runes.

Language Mastery (Level 5): 4/1600

When this skill, which Ian had placed such high hopes upon, reached the threshold of Level 5, its Extraordinary Trait naturally began to emerge.

Language Mastery Extraordinary Trait—Linguistic Comprehension: You will find it easier to learn unfamiliar scripts and languages.

A very simple description.

Yet the effect of this Extraordinary Trait was anything but weak.

As an Extraordinary Trait born from an ordinary skill, it had not granted Ian the heaven-defying ability to communicate with everything as he had hoped, but it had given him an entirely new talent.

His speed in learning Runes had increased considerably because of it. At the same time, this Extraordinary Trait had given him the unique ability to learn the languages of animals and Fantastic Beasts.

During his spare time.

Ian had tried learning the language of the sparrows outside the house. It was truly something one had to possess to understand. After a few attempts at listening and distinguishing their sounds, he quickly summarized the various tones and subtle syllabic changes the sparrows used to express joy, anger, sorrow, and delight. This was absolutely a talent Ian had not possessed before gaining the Extraordinary Trait.

"Perhaps if I train it to Level 10 and awaken a Legendary Trait, I'll really have a chance to gain the ability to communicate with all things." Ian was filled with boundless anticipation for Legendary Traits, which he had never encountered before.

However.

He also knew.

His most urgent task was to complete the Witch's homework.

After all.

In two days, he would enter the Misty Illusion again. Who knew whether the Witch would inflict some punishment only found in the Middle Ages if his homework failed to satisfy her.

"Luckily, I'm learning Runes faster now. By the next time I return to the Misty Illusion, I should be able to finish interpreting the Magic Text and learning the spell."

Ian quietly planned it out in his heart.

Rune Mastery had successfully gotten him started.

He now possessed the most basic ability to interpret simple Runes—though it was only simple interpretation because the structure of Magic Text composed of Runes was entirely different from most languages.

It was completely unlike the way words linked together in English or the way Chinese characters combined with one another. After all, while it was a language, it was also a medium for communicating with magic.

Simply being able to recognize and pronounce every Rune did not mean one could analyze the magic carried by Runes. Its extraordinary difficulty likely had much to do with this trait.

Even if the same Rune characters were spelled in the same order, different connections between each character could very likely represent entirely different meanings.

If one failed to thoroughly understand the links between each character and rashly interpreted Magic Text according to what one believed was correct before casting magic, then a wizard's most likely fate would be becoming part of the Misty Illusion.

Well.

They might also end up permanently disabled, missing an arm or a leg or something.

No matter what.

Ian had no desire to experience that sort of thing... That was precisely why he was especially cautious when interpreting the "homework" Teacher Mara had left him.

Naturally, this made his progress slow.

At present.

He had only interpreted more than half of the writing on the Gown Fragment.

Fear Descends

It was said that ancient wizards were best at weaving curses with Runes. Based on the Magic Text Ian had already interpreted, the magic Recorded on the Gown Fragment was clearly a curse-type spell.

Its principles even involved certain methods of mental implantation. Its effect was probably to implant an illusion that would plunge the target into fear?

Perhaps it could implant other illusions as well... What Ian found interesting was that this spell was not obscure. It had once been involved in the creation of the Wizarding World's famous Magical Creature, the Boggart.

It was a Magical Creature capable of transforming freely, taking the form of whatever a person feared most.

According to Ian's research in the nameless bookstore in the village, Boggarts had originated from Bio-Alchemy. One of the Runic Magic Text used in their creation was this Fear Curse.

It was a very interesting bit of trivia.

It also made Ian realize that as the Wizarding World's laws had become more comprehensive, development in fields involving Bio-Alchemy seemed to have stalled. It was probably much like research into biological gene editing in the Muggle world.

"After all, it involves Ethics and Morality."

Ian had little interest in Bio-Alchemy itself. He mainly felt regret that spells such as the Fear Curse had disappeared along with the decline of Bio-Alchemy.

Of course.

With Teacher Mara, an ancient Witch, guiding him, Ian might be able to bring many lost spells back into existence. He just wondered whether such "archaeological excavation" could earn him any incentive bonuses.

Well.

Fame was secondary.

Money was what Ian needed most.

"I wonder if the little money I have left is enough to buy potion books for Teacher Mara." Of course Ian worried about money. He had not forgotten what Teacher Mara had mentioned before.

Whether for himself or for some other reason, Ian had to take buying books seriously.

However.

In the Wizarding World.

Knowledge was exceptionally expensive.

Snape's Galleons were indeed not entirely gone yet, but they were definitely not enough to buy every book related to potions. Perhaps buying some secondhand textbooks first would be a reasonable compromise?

"The books may be secondhand, but the knowledge is the same."

With that thought.

Ian tucked the Money Bag into his pocket.

Holding the three Magic Text books that were no longer of much use to him, he briskly followed the cobblestone street toward the nameless bookstore behind the Literati Residence Quill Shop once more.

The plain storefront was as shabby as ever.

Inside the bookstore, where an awning blocked out the sunlight, there was still not a single customer browsing for books. Ian stepped inside and searched around, but he did not find the old bookstore owner.

"What are you looking for?"

Suddenly.

A young, curious voice Sounded out of nowhere.

It startled Ian.

He quickly turned toward the voice.

There.

Behind the counter used for registration and collecting payment.

Sat a girl with delicate, striking features. A book rested on her knees, and beneath her Platinum Blonde hair, a pair of entirely different-colored eyes watched Ian.

"I've seen you before."

It was not Ian who spoke.

The girl had beaten him to it, speaking first in a tone of surprise.

The awning hung half-lowered.

Specks of sunlight scattered across the girl's hair, making its already dazzling Platinum Blonde shine even more brilliantly. Yet even more eye-catching than that head of golden silk were the girl's eyes.

One was blue, and the other was white.

They were distinctive mismatched eyes that seemed impossible to forget once seen. At that moment, the white one appeared to be slowly rotating, though Ian could not tell whether it was merely an illusion caused by the sunlight's refraction.