Hermes Under Stress

In the afternoon, on the Castle Seventh Floor, at the Room of Requirement.

Regulus walked back and forth three times along the empty wall opposite the Barnabas Tapestry before emerging from the door.

Pushing open the door, the familiar Training Ground automatically unfolded before me: dark wooden floors, Rune embedded in the stone walls that absorbed Magic Power, and several Training Dummy wrapped in thick leather standing in the corner.

Avery, Alex, Hermes came together.

Alex leaned closer and reported on the important matter first.

Lina and Samuel were making good progress, having been practicing Magic Manipulation and Magic Perception with him in the Abandoned Classroom. "Lina wants to practice combat," he said, looking at Regulus with a relaxed tone. "I didn't mention this place or this house to them; they don't know anything about it. I was thinking of asking you first."

Regulus nodded. "Bring it."

Alex, having received confirmation, turned and left.

He didn't care about two more people. The Room of Requirement wasn't some big secret; those who knew, knew; those who didn't, didn't. The group only had a few people. Lina and Samuel had been with them for a while; they'd been locked up together, fought together, and he'd even taught them Magic Perception in the Forbidden Forest.

There's nothing to hide. Besides, the Room of Requirement operates on a per-slot basis, with no limit on the number of people. Just come and join us.

Regulus understood this perfectly well.

Lina's little schemes started when she was confined in the Forbidden Forest; she began to gravitate towards Alex.

The desire to practice real combat is genuine, and the desire to use this practice to get closer to Alex is even more genuine.

Two Half-bloods, if they want to go up, there are two directions.

Lina made the right choice. She recognized that Alex had a clear role and would not have a low status in the future. By getting in touch with him, she could secure her position in the team.

Samuel chose to follow the rules, not to steal the limelight, not to squeeze into the core, and to quietly understand the system thoroughly. Later, when the team grew, those who secured their positions first would naturally be at the forefront of the rules.

Neither approach is inherently more effective. Honestly, with such a small team, focusing on the people is more direct and effective than focusing on the system. If Lina can truly win over Alex, it will be a case of internal integration, perfectly fulfilling Alex's role as a unifying, Half-bloods individual. Whether Alex has grasped Lina's intentions is hard to say.

He's observant and should have noticed, but this guy is only thirteen. Boys his age are usually a bit less perceptive than girls of the same age, so it's normal that he didn't see it. But it doesn't matter; we'll observe him slowly.

Just like Sirius's specialization in plucking Eleanor's leaves, let the young people do what they want.

Avery raised an eyebrow, about to speak.

Regulus glanced at it, then shut his mouth.

Avery, of course, also realized that when Alex reported, he only mentioned Lina and not Samuel, which was Lina's idea, and Samuel just followed along.

This guy is cunning, and in terms of Pure-bloods manners, he's far superior to Alex.

Alex is on the edge of Pure-bloods, Avery is at the core of Pure-bloods.

In this small group, he usually acts like he's not going to do anything, because if he's too serious, nobody will notice.

Who is it for, Regulus?

But in another setting, he looks quite presentable.

Hermes remained silent throughout, shrinking into a corner as soon as he entered, his back pressed against the stone wall, his usual lazy and gloomy expression gone.

He was a little nervous at that moment, frozen in place, like a dog that knew the stick was going to fall but didn't know when.

Regulus has been targeting him lately. He comes to the Room of Requirement, but no one else will do it; they only target him.

The people in the room didn't understand why Regulus had been targeting Hermes so relentlessly lately.

Hermes remained silent, enduring the pain each time until he could no longer get up.

Not long after, the door reopened, and Alex led Lina and Samuel in.

The two stepped inside, slowing their pace and looking around nervously.

Lina was the first to react, and greeted Regulus politely, "Black."

Samuel followed suit, bowing his head. "Black."

Regulus nodded in response.

A light slowly lit up in Lina's eyes; she knew what being able to enter this place meant.

This was a further step in acceptance; a secret base, a place known only to their own people, and she had entered.

She couldn't resist strolling around. The dark wooden floor beneath her feet had a slight springy feel, and the smooth stone walls revealed Rune carved into them when she got closer.

In one corner were several Training Dummy covered in thick leather, and in another corner was a wooden table with several books and training gear on it.

They were all ordinary things, but she got excited just looking at them, and couldn't suppress the urge to smile.

Samuel was more reserved, following behind Lina. He wasn't as outgoing, but he was only thirteen after all, and his eyes darted around, looking here and there. The two of them walked with Alex to the edge of the Training Ground, talking in hushed tones as they went.

Regulus turned to Hermes: "Come here."

Hermes ' face twitched, and he straightened up instantly, slowly inching his way from the base of the wall, his steps unsteady.

Regulus stared at him expressionlessly.

Hermes tensed up at that look.

This guy is the tough guy in the group; he doesn't think things through, he's good at fighting, and he didn't even flinch after being hit by Dark Arts.

I felt a little unwell, my legs were trembling, but I stubbornly walked over.

But he was somewhat nervous when facing Regulus.

When he was about ten meters away, he took a deep breath, raised his wand to his chest, and assumed the standard dueling stance.

Regulus raised his wand.

At the edge of the Training Ground, Lina was squatting next to a mannequin, touching the leather texture. Samuel stood two steps behind her, while Alex explained things to them.

The three men's attention was still scattered until the first explosion drew their gaze to the center of the field.

A thin, white beam of light, fast and straight, shot from the tip of Regulus's staff— Piercing Curse.

Hermes didn't dare to catch it and dodged to the side. The white light grazed his shoulder, struck the stone wall, and carved a hole the size of a fist, with stone chips falling down with a clatter.

Before he could even regain his footing, Regulus twirled his wand, and several spinning Stone Spike, radiating intense heat, rose from beneath his feet. Hermes dodged them with a somersault, the Stone Spike scraping against his robes and emitting a burnt smell.

Hermes braced himself with the Shield Charm, trying to catch his breath.

There was absolutely no chance.

Regulus stood still, simply waving his wand – Cutting Curse.

An arc of Silver Light slashed down diagonally. Hermes raised his Shield Charm to block it, but it didn't work, and the barrier shattered.

Hermes leaned back, and a Silver Light swept across his chest, severing a few strands of hair that hadn't yet fallen.

Lina stood up from beside the mannequin, her mouth slightly agape, her eyes filled with shock.

Samuel took a few steps forward, then stopped in his tracks, his eyes unblinking.

Hermes abandoned his defense and turned to run.

Completely unstoppable, his Shield Charm was practically made of paper in front of Regulus.

He already knew that when it came to Regulus's curse, one should only block it if there was absolutely no way to avoid it, and one should definitely try to dodge it if possible.

But he wanted to try again, and after trying, he found that he was right.

Counterattacking is useless; we can only run.

He ran frantically around the field, changing direction, stopping abruptly, flipping over, and using his wand to shoot spells at the ground to bounce himself up and keep running.

The wooden floorboards creaked underfoot, the hem of his robe swung behind him, and his hair, damp with sweat, clung to his forehead.

Regulus's spells chased after him, Exploding Charm around his feet, the shockwave sending him flying forward.

The Reducto struck the dummy behind him, the thick leather exploding into a pile of shreds, startling Lina so much that she quickly crouched down and covered her head.

A line of high-temperature fireballs shot towards us, a dozen or so white fireballs the size of heads, trailing a foot-long tail of flame.

Hermes ducked between the two fireballs, his shoulder brushing against the edge of one of them, and his robe hissed and scorched.

Regulus let him run for a while, and after running a distance, he suddenly swung his wand to the side, and the Flame Whip was thrown out.

It's not the Fiendfyre Huo version, it's just the regular one, I'm not really going to beat him up.

The whip lashed out in an arc through the air, its tip tearing through the air with a loud crack.

Hearing the commotion, Hermes jumped in surprise and lunged to the side.

The whip didn't actually hit him, but its power was no less. The tip of the whip swept past his back, and if he had slowed down even half a step or relaxed even slightly, the whip would have landed squarely on him.

Hermes knew Regulus wouldn't really kill him, but the moment the spell and fire whip came down, he still had to dodge. His body was more honest than his mind; he had no choice but to dodge.

He ran around the field with great enthusiasm, never giving up.

Hermes wasn't mindless; he was trying to find patterns.

The order in which Regulus casts his spells, the direction the tip of his staff points, and the trajectory of the spells.

That's how normal wizard duels work. If you have good eyesight, you watch the tip of your opponent's staff, and wherever the staff tip points, that's where the spell will fly.

He finally managed to spot the tip of Regulus's staff amidst the chaos, and seeing it slightly to the left, he immediately dodged to the right.

The spell didn't come from the left; it appeared out of thin air on the right, blocking the direction he was hiding.

Hermes was caught off guard and was hit on the shoulder, leaving half of his body numb.

He was momentarily stunned, then quickly adjusted himself, this time not looking at the tip of the cane, but dodging by instinct.

The more he tried to think, the harder he was beaten. Just when he figured out a trick, Regulus would change his approach.

The spell points east but hits west; what was clearly coming this way is instantly transported to the other side.

Once, he watched in horror as a Cutting Curse emerged from the tip of his staff, heading straight for his face. He veered to the left, and the spell vanished mid-air. The next moment, it reappeared right next to his left ear, in the direction he had veered.

A cold sweat instantly broke out on his back. If that movement had been any bigger, it would have hit him squarely, and he would have gotten a hole in his head.

All of Hermes' judgments and predictions came to nothing.

The more he tried to devise a way to evade, the more he ended up in a position where he would be attacked.

He knew this was Regulus's spatial manipulation technique.

Before I could think any further, another spell came.

Hermes had just dodged that attack when his foot sank again.

Regulus cast a Transfiguration, turning the floor beneath his feet into quicksand, and half of his leg sank in, unable to pull it out.

There was no time to Spellcasting; he directly used Magic Manipulation the speed increase without thinking much, purely out of desperation. He poured all the Magic Power into his legs and forcefully pulled them out of the sand.

This time, the Magic Manipulation has been tested; it works, not bad.

But just as he pulled his leg out, a Pressure Charm came crashing down on him.

The Dark Arts, invisible and intangible, pressed down, causing Hermes to hunch over, his knees buckling, and he nearly collapsed to his knees.

He gritted his teeth and held on, channeling his Magic Power to push back the pressure.

He was panting heavily, his chest heaving, and he also had to be wary of Regulus's Legilimency at any moment.

That's the most uncomfortable thing; you're running, and suddenly someone bumps into your brain.

Regulus didn't look inside, he just stirred it, causing Regulus's vision to blur, his mind to go blank, and even his legs to give way. He quickly activated his Legilimency, following the three steps he had learned, and forcefully blocked the intrusion from the outside.

The effectiveness of the sealing technique was also tested in this way.

This is exactly what Regulus wanted.

The spell forced Hermes to fight with all his might, then suddenly stirred things up in his brain to see if he could withstand it.

If you held on, it means all that training wasn't for nothing.

Hermes held on, but that was all; his entire focus was on minimizing the number of blows he took.

Whether he can suffer less is not up to him; it's up to Regulus.

Regulus decided to let him take a few more hits.

Avery was staring at the wall, his teeth aching from looking at it.

He felt sorry for Hermes and couldn't understand why Regulus was so cruel.

He huddled against the wall, speaking in a low voice, afraid that Regulus would hear him and drag him out. "This is a matter of life and death."

Alex covered his face, unable to bear to look.

Lina and Samuel had never seen anything like this before, and they stood there dumbfounded.

So this is how the core members of the small group train for duels?

One by one, let Regulus take them all out and deal with them like this?

Upon thinking about it, both of them started to tremble.

Lina moved closer to Alex, and as she did so, her hand tugged at his sleeve.

I was genuinely scared, but there was something else going on too. Holding onto his sleeve, being closer made me feel a little more at ease.

Samuel was different; his whole body stiffened, and he didn't want to blink.

More intriguing than the scene itself was the way Regulus stood there without moving an inch, yet still managed to send Hermes running all over the place. But both of them were ultimately tense and afraid.

They weren't mindless people. Looking at Hermes on the field and putting themselves in his shoes, they knew that if they were in his shoes, they probably wouldn't be able to withstand it even once.

Forget about carrying him, their sheer presence alone wouldn't give them the guts to stand opposite Black.

They were unaware that Regulus had held back; had he not, Hermes would have been finished in an instant as well.

But as you can see, Hermes, though in a sorry state, hasn't been knocked down all at once; he's still running and still blocking.

This made the two newcomers even more frightened; if they hadn't fallen after being hit so hard, they must be incredibly sturdy.

The house was badly damaged, as if it had been bombed. The ground was cratered, the walls were cracked in several places, and the mannequins in the corner were either leaning or overturned.

Fortunately, the Room of Requirement of Requirement can fix itself.

Hermes scrambled through the chaos, long since giving up any thought of fighting back. He still held his wand, but it was utterly useless. All he could do was hide and run, and if he couldn't run, he would try to block, but he couldn't stop at all, ending up in a sorry state.

Regulus stood still the entire time, only raising his hand to wave his wand.

After fighting for a while longer, Regulus stopped.

The last incantation dissipated in mid-air, and the room fell silent, with only Hermes' heavy breathing remaining.

He slumped to the ground, leaning against a cracked wall, looking as if he'd been shaken inside and out, and it took him a long time to recover. Regulus looked at him, his breathing steady and expressionless, and said, "I didn't even move myself."

Hermes knew what Regulus meant by the matter of transformation.

He knew it from the first time Regulus tried to kill him.

Regulus was telling him, "I haven't even touched myself, dealing with you is child's play for me."

The answer lies in wanting to take shortcuts, wanting others to do the work, and refusing to put in the effort yourself.

He understood, but he didn't say it, because Regulus didn't give him a chance to speak.

They didn't give them a chance to admit their mistakes or express their opinions.

Fight! Fight! Fight!

This is the third time in just one week.

Hermes was unusually calm at this moment.

He slid down from the wall, lay on the ground, looked at the crumbling ceiling, and exhaled his last breath, a long, drawn-out gasp.