Promotion

A few days later, in the Room of Requirement.

Matthew "condensed" a "Runic Model" in his Sea of Consciousness, a hint of joy flashing in his eyes.

At this moment, 128 "Runic Models" were already floating in his Sea of Consciousness.

After this period of effort, aided by some potions, he had reached the standard for breakthrough and could now advance to a Level 2 Wizard Apprentice at any time.

Matthew took out Blue Water Flower Juice from his Undetectable Extension Charm pouch and evenly applied the juice to his forehead. This time, he used three times the amount he normally used during practice.

Then he drank the remaining half cup of flower juice in one go.

Soon, a violent chill and tingling sensation shot through his tongue, but not long after, his tongue went numb. It felt as if it had frozen solid, the icy sensation accompanied by a strong medicinal force rushing straight to his crown, making his scalp tingle.

Matthew's brows knitted tightly together, feeling as if he had just drunk a bucket of Fengyoujing, with a box of Camphor Pills added in.

He forced himself to focus and began circulating his Meditation Method.

A few breaths later, the flower juice applied to his forehead began to seep into his skin.

Matthew felt as if he were standing on a small boat adrift in the sea, battered by a violent storm. Surging waves relentlessly pounded the boat, threatening to capsize it at any moment.

He felt as though endless giant waves were crashing against him. With each wave's impact, his Sea of Consciousness was drained, and with every strike, it condensed a little more.

After several quarters of an hour, Matthew was drenched in sweat. His expression was grim, and the Mental Power left in his Sea of Consciousness was meager, nearly depleted.

Just as the last thread of mental energy was exhausted, his Sea of Consciousness suddenly trembled violently. Matthew heard a sound like shattering glass ringing in his ears.

He felt as if he had broken through some kind of shackle. The scope of his Sea of Consciousness rapidly expanded, only stopping when it had grown to 1.5 times its original size.

Immediately after, the magic within him began to boil. The items placed in the Room of Requirement were all affected by an inexplicable force, floating into the air.

A Moment Later, the magic within him gradually calmed, and the floating objects around him fell back down.

He sensed it—his total magic power had increased by Two-tenths compared to before.

His total magic power now surpassed that of an Adult Wizard.

Matthew felt that his current state was better than ever. He had the sensation of experiencing a minor Magic Outburst.

Wizards in this world undergo a process of awakening their magical power during childhood, known as a Magic Outburst. During this period, a Young Wizard's magic grows at an abnormally rapid rate. After the Magic Outburst ends, magic power increases slowly with age.

Thus, the Magic Outburst largely determines a wizard's Magic Talent Cap.

Matthew was ecstatic. If every breakthrough in advancement brought a minor Magic Outburst, then by the time he became a Formal Wizard, he would possess magic power stronger than even a Senior Auror.

Magic power had always been his weakness. After all, he was only 14 years old this year, and his accumulation was far from sufficient. His current strength relied entirely on his extraordinary Casting Skill and rich Combat Experience.

Once this weakness in magic power was addressed, his Sustained Combat Ability would also see a massive improvement.

Calming the joy of his breakthrough, he tidied up the mess caused by the Magic Outburst. He came to this room every day now—it allowed him to Refine Potions and had a bed where he could practice his Meditation Method. It was quite convenient.

It was nearly midnight when he left the Room of Requirement. The castle corridors were very quiet at this hour; even students out for night strolls rarely stayed out this late.

He drew his wand.

"Call Companion!" x2

This was the signal he and Preserved Egg had agreed upon. Releasing "Call Companion" twice in a row in the castle would send Preserved Egg to wait for him at the entrance of the Slytherin Common Room. Preserved Egg couldn't get through the door to the Slytherin Common Room on his own.

When he reached the common room entrance, he saw a Black cat running over from the other end of the corridor.

"Meow~" Preserved Egg quickly leaped into Matthew's arms, rubbing his head against Matthew's hand incessantly.

Preserved Egg was a cat that loved to act spoiled. Based on Matthew's experience across two lives, pets' personalities varied greatly. A pet that knew how to act spoiled naturally earned more favor from its Master.

Matthew carried Preserved Egg back into the common room. It was empty at this hour, so he casually sat down on a sofa.

He scratched under Preserved Egg's chin a few times. Preserved Egg squinted his eyes, looking utterly delighted, a low purr rumbling from his throat.

A Magic Cat with a Spirit Cat Bloodline had another advantage—it didn't shed!

If it were a cat from the Muggle World, Matthew's lap would already be covered in cat hair by now.

Matthew mentally reviewed the information he had looked up over the past few days.

He had spent these days researching many materials from the era of Slytherin and Merlin. These materials had very few descriptions of "meditation," and none mentioned a Meditation Method at all.

He was growing more and more puzzled. Why did this world have runes but no corresponding Casting System? It was as if runes had appeared out of nowhere in the Middle Ages.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Matthew. Why not just ask Merlin directly? Merlin had a portrait left in Hogwarts Castle.

The Slytherin Common Room had a room dedicated to storing portraits of famous figures.

Carrying Preserved Egg, he stood up and walked into a room to the right of the common room.

In the portrait, Merlin's gray-white hair and thick beard were intertwined. He was half-reclining on a bench in the painting, as if dozing off.

Matthew approached the portrait of Merlin and said softly, "Lord Merlin."

Merlin in the painting opened his eyes, stood up, and stretched.

"It's this late and you're not asleep, coming to chat with an Old Man like me." He continued, "You can call me Professor. Hogwarts was short on teachers when it was first founded, so I taught here for a few years after graduating."

Matthew followed suit: "Professor Merlin, I'd like to ask you a question."

"In a manuscript by your teacher, Salazar Slytherin, I came across a line—'Meditation is the key to runes.'" Seeing Merlin nod, he continued, "But in other materials from the same period, I've found almost no descriptions of meditation. I'd like to know what the 'meditation' mentioned here refers to."

Merlin looked at Matthew with deep, penetrating Eyes, as if he had seen through him in an instant.

A sharp glint flashed in his Eyes, and the surfaces of the other portraits in the room were shrouded in a layer of mist.

He said slowly, "Don't you already know the answer? I can see the Traces of a Meditation Method on you."