Obstacle Charm

"Strange—after using a wand, I can't seem to find that old feeling anymore," Anduin mused. "Could it be that a wand isn't just a tool for casting spells, but also does something else to magic? Like channeling it?"

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

Anduin pondered the possibilities, picked up the wand again, and cast the Levitation Charm a few more times, repeating the sensation of casting with a wand while sensing the flow of power within. Then he set the wand down.

He stood up, bent his legs slightly, and gradually relaxed his muscles. Instead of recalling the feeling of channeling magic without a wand, he focused on tracing the magical trajectory he'd felt while casting with one.

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

"Casting with a wand guides and uses magic more efficiently. My old method was too crude, so once I found a better way, it stopped working." Anduin summarized the differences between his current and past approaches to channeling magic, trying to reach a conclusion.

No one could have guessed that while practicing this simplest of charms, Anduin had unknowingly grasped the secret of Silent Wandless Spellcasting.

Years of training his own mental energy hadn't just increased his proficiency with the Levitation Charm—it had also made him more sensitive to magic itself.

At the same time, his Total Magic Power and its intensity, honed through years of practice, far surpassed that of any other kid his age.

Once he'd found the feeling, the key was to solidify it. Anduin spent nearly all his time casting the Levitation Charm—sometimes with a wand, sometimes without, sometimes chanting, sometimes not.

Soon, he felt a sense of Integrated Mastery over the spell creeping in.

He wanted to keep practicing, but his stomach started growling. Checking the time, he realized it was already evening—he'd even missed lunch. Knowing the importance of balancing work and rest, he calmed himself down and headed downstairs for dinner.

"Kid, don't just laze around in your room all day sleeping. You even skipped lunch." Tom, reading a newspaper at the bar, saw Anduin coming downstairs and assumed he'd slept from morning till night.

"Haha, you're not complaining that I didn't come down to cook for you, are you?" Ever since Anduin had shown off his cooking skills at lunch yesterday, he'd handled dinner and this morning's breakfast himself. In a good mood, he couldn't help teasing the owner.

"I'm just worried you'll starve to death in that room!" Tom snapped, seeing Anduin was still in the mood to joke.

"Alright, my bad. I'll make it up to you at dinner—you'll be satisfied." Anduin grinned back at Tom and walked into the kitchen.

Dinner was lavish, and Tom poured Anduin a glass of Butterbeer. Anduin found this strange drink from the magical world fascinating—it smelled like butter but wasn't greasy at all.

"Saw you reading the paper earlier. Any news?"

"It's getting more chaotic by the day. That Dark Lord and the Death Eaters clashed with the Ministry of Magic again. An Auror from the Ministry was seriously injured. I don't know when this will end." Tom clearly worried about the current situation.

Death Eaters? Followers of Voldemort? Anduin learned another new term. He'd have to start gathering information about this world from scratch.

After dinner with Tom, Anduin waved his hand, and the empty dishes on the table flew to the kitchen sink under his direction.

Tom's eyes went wide. Such a smooth wandless cast—even just a simple Levitation Charm—was something few Adult Wizards could pull off.

"You—that's!"

"Heh, that's what skipping lunch got me." Anduin grinned, leaving Tom stunned as he headed back to his room.

Over the next few days, Anduin learned many new spells—functional ones like the Unlock Charm, Luminous Charm, Scouring Charm, Waterproofing Charm, and Water-Making Spell, as well as defensive Dark Magic spells like the Impediment Jinx, Leg-Locker Curse, and Repelling Charm.

Some spells he could cast just by following the incantations and techniques in the textbooks; for others, where he couldn't figure out the pronunciation from reading, he went downstairs to ask Tom. With Tom's enthusiastic guidance, he managed to grasp most of them.

But the only spell he could cast smoothly without a wand was still the Levitation Charm. Anduin figured he just wasn't proficient enough with the others yet, and he also started noticing patterns in spellcasting.

First, the same spell cast by different people had different effects. For example, Tom's Luminous Charm was much brighter than Anduin's, because Tom was more skilled and had a deeper understanding of it.

Second, willpower and emotion affected a spell's strength. Anduin learned this from Tom: for attack-type magic, the stronger your resolve and determination, the more powerful the effect. When Anduin cast the Luminous Charm after building up some emotion, it was noticeably better than a plain cast.

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

So Anduin concluded that willpower, emotion, and proficiency all affected a spell's strength, while intensity and Total Magic Power determined a spell's upper limit.

With that, Anduin quickly adjusted his study plan.

He figured the top priority was self-defense, and the fastest way to achieve that was to master one specialized spell.

First, it had to be easy to learn—nothing he couldn't handle now. Second, it should be versatile, with a high ceiling if possible.

He reviewed the Defensive Spells he'd learned so far and decided to pick one from the Impediment Jinx, Disarming Charm, and Repelling Charm to specialize in.

Back in his Previous Life, when playing games, Anduin had always liked going for a "limit build"—pouring all his points into one stat or skill until he couldn't anymore. In short, if you couldn't win, it meant your power wasn't enough.

After much deliberation, Anduin decided to start with the Impediment Jinx. First, he'd picked it up quickly while learning, which made him feel the spell suited him. Second, he thought it had high potential for development—if it worked out the way he hoped, the Impediment Jinx would be a spell that balanced offense and defense.