Hallowe'en Eve

The three basic meditation methods obtained this time had nothing special about them; they were all common types found on the market. Senior Matthew had seen people selling them at the exchange meeting hosted by Lady Alsha last time.

These common basic meditation methods had no restrictions against resale when sold, so their price wasn't high. He planned to list them for sale at the next exchange meeting and wait for a buyer with affinity.

After finishing his inventory of spells, Matthew took out the pitch-black shield from his pocket. It stood half a man's height. This wizard tool was bulky, inconvenient for ordinary wizard apprentices without spatial storage type wizard tools to carry, but for Matthew with his Extendable Pockets, that wasn't a concern.

Matthew cast the "Invisible Hand" spell once. An invisible hand grabbed the shield's handle, and the pitch-black shield floated before Matthew. Controlling the invisible hand to circle around him, the pitch-black shield also floated and rotated around Matthew.

The "Invisible Hand" could manipulate the shield wizard tool. Matthew felt very satisfied—this way, his defensive options had grown considerably. A shield this large would be extremely useful in chaotic multi-person battles.

Finally, those Kingdom Gold Coin Notes and the property deed were hard to liquidate for now. Jack was a noble wizard; his death would certainly draw attention. Plus, with the missing persons case in Whitestone Town now involving Old White, caution was best. He'd wait until the heat died down before dealing with those notes and the deed.

But those eight magic stones had no such concerns. They were also a considerable fortune. At the next exchange meeting, he could buy even more things.

Security Station, morgue.

Old White's body lay on a long table there. All the faces on him had their eyes closed now, silent.

His corpse had been dissected, the long table in disarray.

Two figures in hooded robes stood in the room. One, a black-robed wizard, was busy at the table with a scalpel. The other, a gray-robed wizard, stood farther off, not joining in.

The black-robed wizard said with certainty, "This mutant's condition is different this time."

The dissection was nearing its end. The black-robed wizard put down the scalpel, pulled off his lizard skin gloves, and tossed them into a basin nearby.

The gray-robed wizard asked unhurriedly, "Is this mutant stronger than the previous ones?"

The black-robed wizard reached into a washbasin to scrub his hands. "It is indeed stronger, but this time we couldn't extract 'Divine Brew' from the corpse."

The gray-robed wizard pondered for a moment. "In that case, did the mutant fully absorb the 'Divine Brew'?"

The black-robed wizard picked up a cloth to dry his hands.

"That's possible, but I don't think 'Divine Brew' is that easy to absorb.

In the previous experiments, we could always extract 'Divine Brew' from the mutants.

I didn't find anything special about Old White.

This time, Old White's mutant evolved to be stronger only because he absorbed more flesh and blood sacrifices."

The gray-robed wizard had no insights either. "Record the data and report to headquarters."

The black-robed wizard nodded and tossed the cloth into the basin. "The problem now is how to deal with Jack the Waste. Old White shouldn't have been exposed this early. Jack was too impatient, making Old White hunt sacrifices so frequently."

The gray-robed wizard said softly, "Jack is missing. The White ancestral home was also burned down—by a fire that water couldn't extinguish."

The black-robed wizard was startled. "You moved that fast?"

The gray-robed wizard shook his head. "Not me. But I know Jack well. He doesn't have the ability to release that kind of flame. Chances are, he died at someone else's hands."

The black-robed wizard curled his lip in dissatisfaction. "Jack just dies so inexplicably? You've been in Whitestone Town for a while now. How is there still such a gap in your intelligence?"

The gray-robed wizard said gravely, "You know as well as I do that Link is like a burr. Ever since he came to Whitestone Town, he's been investigating our affairs."

"Can't we just eliminate him? He's too much of a nuisance!" the black-robed wizard asked. "But he's the captain of the Investigator Squad. Acting rashly would draw the attention of the Court Wizards."

The gray-robed wizard said slowly, "I'm making arrangements. I won't leave any loose ends."

Tomorrow is Halloween. Hogwarts will hold a Halloween Eve Banquet tonight.

To attend the banquet, Matthew ended his meditation practice early today.

During this time, Matthew had mostly learned the spells he'd picked up from Jack White's house last time.

But recently, his meditation progress had been slow. He lacked a potion to assist his meditation practice.

Breaking through to Level 3 Wizard Apprentice with the "Aemon Basic Meditation Method" required a potion that could temporarily boost magic vitality—the Magic Vitality Potion.

But Matthew hadn't found that potion recipe in Whitestone Town. He could only rely on steady accumulation to break through to Level 3 Wizard Apprentice.

However, the ongoing Halloween Eve Banquet reminded Matthew of a potion—the Potent Vitality Potion.

The main ingredient of Potent Vitality Potion was troll blood. Drinking it restored stamina and had the added effect of increasing magic vitality.

Matthew's Extendable Pockets didn't have troll blood stored either, so he couldn't brew Potent Vitality Potion yet. But there was a live troll in Hogwarts right now. Based on his memories from his previous life, the troll would be released tonight during the banquet. This would be a good chance to collect troll blood.

Matthew came out of the Room of Requirement and headed downstairs to the Great Hall. Young wizards he met on the way were also rushing excitedly to the hall.

At the entrance to the hall, he unexpectedly ran into the trio. He asked in surprise, "Aren't you three fighting?"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked completely bewildered and said in unison, "Huh?"

Matthew rubbed his chin. Had his butterfly effect changed things?

He'd been busy learning new spells and practicing meditation lately, not paying much attention to them. The timing of their falling out had actually shifted.

"Good. Then no one will bother me when I go deal with the troll later," Matthew thought to himself.

Matthew smiled and said, "Nothing. I was just greeting you."

The three exchanged glances before replying to Matthew, "Good evening, Senior Matthew."

Matthew asked, "Where's Neville? Why isn't he with you?"

Ron made a helpless face. "Trevor's gone missing again. Neville went to look for him. He was afraid he'd miss out on food, so he told us to save some for him and came to the hall first."

Matthew raised an eyebrow. He suddenly remembered he'd promised to teach them the Summon Familiar spell before, but he'd been so busy lately he'd almost forgotten.

"Next time for sure," Matthew silently thought to himself.

The group walked into the Great Hall together. The hall was already decorated with Halloween ornaments. Bats were flying back and forth across the ceiling, and many pumpkin lanterns floated in the air.