What did it take to create a miracle?
Ian had answered that question with a pen and dozens of hours.
The Potions textbooks for all seven years contained a staggering amount of text, but thanks to the skills he'd retained from his compulsory education, he'd managed to copy them down in full, without missing a single word.
He'd even had time to check for typos.
"Still got it!"
Ian shook out his aching arm and set down the Quill, whose tip was nearly split. Looking up, he saw that the sun hadn't even reached the horizon yet.
There was still plenty of time before he could enter Limbo again that night.
[Potions Mastery (Level 2): 23/200]
His hard work had not only let him finish early; it had also brought a nice boost to his abilities. He'd built up a solid foundation in potion theory.
At least, he was now better than most first- and second-year wizards. His only weakness was his lack of practical experience. If he tried brewing Potions, he would surely be a little rusty at first.
"I hope I can practice brewing Potions in the Limbo Dream, too."
Ian looked forward to this trip into the dream. At the same time, he was a little worried about his two friends who'd gone exploring. Could souls that had already died really die a second time?
"Crunch, crunch, crunch~"
After writing at high intensity for so long, Ian was hungry. He grabbed a few pieces of leftover bread from the day before and wolfed them down like biscuits.
The taste was hard to describe.
The Great Ying Empire was a wasteland when it came to food, as everyone knew, and the wizarding world was no exception. Fortunately, Ian wasn't too fussy about what he ate.
Young people had strong teeth.
He could chew on a hard brick and call it a tooth workout.
"By my count, Hogwarts should be starting in four or five days."
Taking a bite of brick-hard bread and a sip of spring water that wasn't radioactive yet, Ian sat outside the little wooden house and gazed at the castle, barely visible in the distance. He even felt like he had something to look forward to.
As the sun sank lower,
its golden light grew softer and deeper.
"Lumos!"
Since Lumos was close to leveling up, Ian didn't waste the time he had before bed. He lit his wand and started grinding skill proficiency.
[Lumos (Level 2): 3/200]
Compared with more unusual magic and the boost to [Potions Mastery], ordinary White Magic like [Lumos] leveled up rather slowly.
Of course,
that was only when Ian compared himself to himself. With each leap in skill level, he could clearly feel a moment of insight. His understanding of [Lumos] immediately deepened.
"So it can be done like this!"
With his newfound understanding, Ian waved his wand, whose light had already grown much brighter. The glow at its tip began changing color.
Red.
Blue.
Green-blue.
And a ghastly green... If he could get even better at Nonverbal Spellcasting, perhaps he could use this most basic [Lumos] to imitate the [Killing Curse] and scare people?
Hmm.
Not a bad idea.
"But I already know the Killing Curse. That'd be kind of pointless..." Ian controlled the flow of magic through the spell's circuit, trying to create a light source that could briefly detach from the tip of his wand.
As expected,
he failed.
The moment the light left the wand's tip, the magical circuit collapsed. Even though the magic was still flowing through it, the circuit couldn't stay stable without the wand.
"I'm still not skilled enough. Maybe I could try engraving this circuit onto something wand-like. That should help with the stability."
Ian paused, struck by the thought.
The idea felt oddly familiar.
After mulling it over,
he suddenly realized—wasn't this exactly how Alchemy worked?
"How frustrating! I almost founded a whole new school of magic!"
Ian realized he'd missed his chance to land on a Chocolate Frog Card.
Unwilling to give up, he hurried back inside and flipped through his books.
Sure enough,
no miracle happened.
Alchemy really had first emerged from a similar line of thinking. What's more, the wizarding world had invented long-lasting magical lights centuries ago.
Even today,
the family that had invented those magical lights still monopolized the wizarding world's lighting market, much like how all the shampoo on the market came from the Potter Family.
"Damn patent monopolies!"
More than missing the chance to invent Alchemy, what really upset Ian was that he couldn't make a fortune from a flash of inspiration after leveling up his skill.
So many Galleons.
All gone just because he'd been born a few centuries too late!
Was there anything more infuriating to a broke guy?
No!
"If I learn any lost Potions recipes or spells from Professor Mara, I'm patenting them too. Then I'll lie around in my Gringotts vault and count money all day!"
Back inside,
just before he fell asleep with a pile of notebooks in his arms,
Ian realized that he was still just a vulgar man at heart.
He didn't just love money.
Besides,
he didn't really hate patent monopolies. He just hated that he wasn't the one monopolizing the patents.
"I'm really so enlightened!"
When Ian opened his eyes again,
the magnificent hall looked no different from the last time he'd entered Limbo.
The witch seemed to have been waiting for him.
As always, she was cool and haughty, sitting on the same unchanging bench and regarding Ian with an indescribably strange look... at the big pile of notebooks in his arms.
"You didn't disappoint me."
The witch sounded a little impressed.
"Ha, I really did bring them in."
This was actually Ian's first time trying to bring so many things into Limbo. Luckily, it had worked. All the notebooks in his arms had come with him.
"Professor Mara, look how amazing I am!"
Grinning, Ian set all the notebooks on the long table. This time, the tables and chairs in the hall hadn't run away. Only a few teacups had opened their eyes and were curiously watching him.
"Yes, very impressive."
The witch didn't hold back her praise.
However,
she'd clearly misunderstood what Ian was showing off. She thought he was bragging about being able to copy so much text, and assumed he was showing off his talent for bringing so many objects across the boundary between life and death.
So,
"Still, you're clearly capable of something even more impressive. You may simply not have realized it yet." The witch offered Ian a cryptic hint.
"Huh?"
Ian paused, then caught on.
"What sort of thing are you talking about?"
Ian asked, curious.
"You'll have to discover it for yourself."
The witch was being cryptic again.
"If you just tell me, I can still think of it as something I discovered myself."
Ian blinked.
"..."
The witch fell silent for a moment.
Perhaps Ian's steady gaze had made her a little uncomfortable.
She sighed.
"I've only glimpsed a few possibilities. I'm not truly omniscient... How you proceed is your path. You're the only one walking it."
The witch's quiet words gave Ian something to think about.
He looked at the books on the long table.
Slowly, some... bold ideas began to form in his mind.