Obstacle Charm

"Strange. Why can't I find that feeling I had before after using a wand?" Anduin mused. "Could a wand do more than just help cast spells? Does it have some other effect on magic? Does it help guide it?

"Could it be that my magic used to be active and unstable, which made it easier to use without a wand, while a wand makes casting simpler by stabilizing the flow of magic?"

As he considered the possibilities, Anduin picked up his wand and cast the Levitation Charm several times, once again focusing on how it felt to cast with a wand and sensing the power moving through him. Then he set the wand down.

He stood up straight, knees slightly bent, and gradually relaxed every muscle in his body. Instead of thinking about how he had once summoned magic without a wand, he tried to capture the path his magic took when he cast a spell with one.

Before long, Anduin slowly opened his eyes. The book he had been using to practice spells was now floating in front of him.

"Using a wand to cast spells lets me guide and use magic more efficiently. My old method was too crude, so once I found a better way, it stopped working." Anduin compared the way he had once summoned magic with how he did it now, trying to draw a conclusion.

What no one could have imagined was that, while practicing the simplest Levitation Charm, Anduin had unwittingly mastered the knack of Silent Wandless Spellcasting ahead of time.

Years of practicing his own telekinetic abilities had done more than improve his skill with the Levitation Charm; they had also made him more sensitive to magic.

And years of training had given him a level of total magic power and strength that other people his age couldn't match.

Once he had found the right feeling, the most important thing was to make it stick. Anduin spent nearly all his remaining time casting the Levitation Charm—sometimes with his wand, sometimes without; sometimes speaking the incantation, sometimes not.

Soon, he felt as if he were beginning to master the spell completely.

Anduin wanted to practice a little longer, but his stomach started rumbling. When he checked the time, he realized it was already evening. He had missed lunch. Knowing the importance of balancing work and rest, he quickly settled himself and went downstairs to eat.

"Hey, kid, young people shouldn't spend all day lazing around in their rooms. You didn't even come down for lunch." Tom was reading a newspaper behind the bar when he saw Anduin come downstairs. He assumed Anduin had slept from morning until evening.

"Haha, you're not complaining that I didn't come down to cook for you at lunchtime, are you?" After Anduin had shown off his cooking skills the previous afternoon, he had made dinner and breakfast that morning himself. In a good mood, he couldn't resist teasing the innkeeper.

"I'm just worried about you. I thought you might starve to death in your room!" Seeing that Anduin still had the nerve to joke, Tom's irritation flared.

"All right, it's my fault. I'll show off my cooking skills tonight, and I promise you'll be satisfied." Anduin grinned at Tom, then headed into the kitchen.

Anduin made an elaborate dinner, and Tom poured him a glass of Butterbeer. Anduin found the strange drink from the wizarding world fascinating. It had a buttery aroma, but didn't taste greasy.

"I saw you reading the newspaper just now. Any news?"

"Things have been getting more and more chaotic lately. The Dark Lord and the Death Eaters have clashed with the Ministry of Magic again, and one of the Ministry's Aurors was badly injured. Who knows when this will all end?" Tom was clearly very worried about the situation.

Death Eaters? So they were Voldemort's followers? Anduin had learned another new term. From now on, he would have to start gathering information about this world all over again.

After dinner with Tom, Anduin waved his hand, and the empty dishes on the table flew toward the kitchen sink at his command.

Tom stared at the sight, his eyes wide. Even among Adult Wizards, few could perform Wandless Spellcasting so skillfully, even with a simple Levitation Charm.

"You—you did that!"

"Hehe, that's what happens when you skip lunch." Grinning, Anduin left Tom staring in shock and returned to his room.

Over the next few days, Anduin learned quite a few new spells, such as the Unlock Charm, Luminous Charm, Scouring Charm, Waterproofing Charm, and Water-Making Spell, as well as defensive spells such as the Impediment Jinx, Leg-Locker Curse, and Repelling Charm.

Some spells could be cast just by following the incantations and wand movements in the textbook. For others, the books didn't explain how to pronounce the incantation, so he went downstairs to ask Tom. With Tom's enthusiastic guidance, he was able to master most of them.

But the only spell he could use proficiently without a wand was still the Levitation Charm. Anduin thought he simply hadn't mastered the other spells well enough yet. He had also figured out a few general principles.

First, the strength and effect of the same spell varied from one person to another. Tom's Luminous Charm, for example, shone much brighter than Anduin's because Tom was more practiced and understood the spell better.

Second, a person's will and emotions could affect a spell's strength. Anduin had learned this from Tom: with attack spells, the more resolute one's will and the stronger one's determination, the more powerful the effect. When Anduin worked himself up before casting the Luminous Charm, it worked much better than when he simply cast it without feeling.

Many Dark Wizards were experts in Dark Magic, and spells could also influence a wizard's emotions in turn.

Anduin concluded that a spell's strength was affected by will, emotion, and proficiency, while its power ceiling was determined by its strength and the caster's total magic power.

So Anduin quickly adjusted what he planned to study next.

Anduin thought his top priority was self-preservation, and the quickest way to protect himself was to master one spell in particular as soon as possible.

It had to be simple and easy to learn; there was no point in choosing something he couldn't handle yet. It also needed to be versatile, and ideally have a high ceiling.

He considered the defensive spells he had learned so far and decided to specialize in one of the Impediment Jinx, the Disarming Charm, or the Repelling Charm.

Back in his previous life, when playing games, Anduin had always liked extreme builds: he would pour all his points into one stat or skill until he couldn't raise it any further. In short, if you couldn't win, you just weren't strong enough.

After much deliberation, Anduin decided to practice the Impediment Jinx first. He had picked it up quickly, which made him feel that the spell suited him. He also thought it had plenty of room for development. If things went as he hoped, the Impediment Jinx could be both an offensive and a defensive spell.