The mist before his eyes receded layer by layer, as if space itself were collapsing.
Ian suddenly opened his eyes.
On the cramped little bed, Ian shifted uncomfortably. Moonlight streamed through the window, cloaking the room in a silvery haze.
A clock hung on the wall.
Its hands pointed to 12:07, while the second hand kept ticking away.
He had entered such a vivid, fantastical dream, yet only seven short minutes had passed in reality.
"Phew."
Ian let out a deep breath and wiped away sweat that wasn't even there.
He just felt a little dazed. It was a mental feeling.
Thinking of what had happened in Limbo, he instinctively glanced at the back of his hand and saw a faint white mark.
The cramped room was still rather dim, lit only by the moonlight.
Ian sat up and went to the desk. He opened a drawer, picked a small flashlight out from among various craft knives, switched it on, and examined his arm carefully.
"What's this?"
Ian studied the gift from his friend with curiosity.
The faint mark shimmered briefly, then vanished beneath his skin.
He could bring things from reality into his dreams, and he could bring things out of his dreams, just like the chocolate he had given Ariana.
But what did this mark do?
Ian had no idea.
He tried checking his skill panel.
Name: Ian Prince
Profession: Bloodline Warlock
Magic Power: Level 4
Skills: Language Mastery (Level 3): 23/400
Biological Dissection (Level 4): 796/800
Free Combat (Level 3): 85/400
Psychology (Level 6): 42/3200
[Psychology Extraordinary Trait: Thought Perception.]
He was hopeful.
However.
There was no mention of the mark on the panel.
It made sense when he thought about it. This gift from a friend clearly wasn't a skill, just as his ability to enter Limbo didn't appear on the panel.
Perhaps he could look into similar cases in the Hogwarts library. It was said to hold the most extensive collection of knowledge in the entire Wizarding World. With that thought, Ian rubbed his arm at the desk. Before long, drowsiness took hold, and he returned to bed and fell asleep.
Time flew by.
Early the next morning.
By the time the sun rose, Ian had already spent a good while at his desk reading language books.
[Successfully learned a French word, Language Proficiency +1]
[Successfully learned Latin, Language Proficiency +1]
[Successfully learned Latin, Language Proficiency +1]
"Phew."
Ian exhaled and rubbed his eyes.
Learning languages wasn't easy for him. He had to sound out every word using phonetic guides, and he also had to rely on his memory to firmly learn what each word meant.
Of course.
Hard work always paid off.
Language Mastery (Level 3): 35/400 (+12)
After a morning of practice,
he had already gained 12 proficiency points.
The day when this skill reached Level 5 and unlocked its extraordinary trait wasn't too far off. With no spells to learn, he had few other practical skills to choose from.
He just wondered what this language-related extraordinary trait would be.
Looking forward to the future,
Ian began his day.
After lunch,
he hauled his little cart to his usual spot and started his daily fortune-telling routine. Calling it a scam might have been a little harsh, but this way of making money ultimately came down to telling people what they wanted to hear.
Ian appeared to be fiddling with the fortune-telling tools on the table, the tarot cards. In reality, he relied entirely on the psychology he had learned on his own and its extraordinary trait to guess what his customers were thinking.
To be honest,
even if he really knew Divination, that might still not have been as profitable as his current approach. People weren't always eager to hear the truth.
As Ian called out loudly,
before long,
another woman was drawn to him and curiously gave it a try. Ian studied her clothes and appearance, the pauses in her speech, and the way her eyes moved as she talked.
He had a good idea.
Then, as if he could see into her heart, he blurted out,
"Ma'am, you've been under a lot of pressure lately."
The woman calmly nodded at his fortune-teller-like words.
It wasn't hard to guess.
Ian smiled. "Is it about your studies?"
The woman looked surprised. "Oh, you're right."
Ian nodded. "Your advisor has been giving you trouble. You're about to graduate, but at this rate, it's clear they won't let you graduate smoothly."
The woman's mouth fell open. She stared in shock for a while before finally coming to her senses.
After that, her voice trembled, and she couldn't help but speak to Ian with more respect. "Young fortune-teller, yes, you're right. So what should I do?!"
[Successfully read someone's psychology, Psychology Proficiency +1]
His attributes had improved.
Ian, however, remained unhurried. At that moment, the customer before him had completely entered his "hunting" range.
With his mind-reading ability, he could now control this girl completely on a psychological level.
However, Ian was a man of principle.
"Miss, I'm afraid you'll have to spend a little money and ask the headmaster to help smooth things over. But that'll be difficult. If you had a lucky charm, the Goddess of Fortune would surely look after you..."
The woman already trusted Ian completely. As she looked at the dazzling array of lucky charms he was offering, she asked,
"How much is one? Can I buy them all?"
She looked rich, but he hadn't expected her to be this rich. What a catch.
Ian replied at once, "Of course. A lucky charm is only five pounds each."
Ian laid out twenty lucky charms on the table and let her choose.
"I'll take them all! Twenty times the luck!"
Watching the woman buy all twenty lucky charms and pay a full hundred pounds,
Ian knew he'd made a killing.
The twenty handmade lucky charms were really just the foreign equivalent of talismans.
On yellow paper, he had scrawled the English word "luck" in a mess of lines. That was all.
Still, Ian put on an act and told the woman, "May the Goddess of Fortune bless you."
"Thank you!" The woman clasped her hands together, looking utterly devout.
Soon, as he watched the customer leave,
Ian finally smiled.
"Looks like my luck's turned, too. I finished my task in one trip. I might as well head back early today!"
A hundred pounds was a hefty sum, with tremendous purchasing power. It was worth about a thousand yuan, and this was 1990 yuan, at that.
That gave an idea of its purchasing power: it was almost two months' worth of living expenses for Ian.
"I'll pack up early today..."
After putting away the money and packing up his fortune-telling stall, Ian pushed his little cart past a restaurant. After a moment's thought, he went in and bought several portions of stew.
With that, he pushed the cart back to the orphanage.
"Wow, Ian, what's that?"
As soon as he returned to the orphanage, the children saw him bringing back so much food. When they spotted his little cart, their mouths practically watered.
It wasn't just the little kids. Even the older children couldn't help rushing over.
"Hey, Ian!"
They greeted him, then stared eagerly at the pots of stew, trying to resist the urge to eat.
Ian laughed, picked up the pots, and set them on the table. Then he said to the children,
"All right, everyone. Go find some cutlery, and wipe off your drool while you're at it!"
At Ian's word, they all burst into laughter.
Soon, after following Ian's instructions and fetching cutlery, the children devoured the food like a whirlwind.
As they ate, someone said,
"Ian, I'm so jealous. You're going to a noble school soon. Mrs. Elena said the headmaster himself invited you!"
"Wow, I wish I could go, too."
"Tom, don't even think about it. Even in the orphanage, Ian studies on his own every day and reads all kinds of books! Do you ever study?"
"A noble must have taken an interest in Ian because he's so clever!"
Listening to everyone talk,
Ian was a little confused at first. What noble school? But soon he understood. That was the power of the Confundus Charm.
So he listened to them with a smile, only responding now and then.
Just then, a girl's voice suddenly sounded beside him.
"Ian, I know you're not going to a noble school. You're going to Hogwarts. That white-bearded old man said it's a school for wizards who can turn things into candy."
The unexpected voice derailed Ian's thoughts, leaving him momentarily dazed.
He turned to look at the little blonde girl.
The girl looked conflicted. While the others weren't paying attention, she pleaded with Ian.
Looking at the longing in her eyes,
Ian suddenly felt as if he had activated some kind of skill. His ears rang, and amid the noise, he seemed to hear the girl's urgent cry.
"I want to go to Hogwarts! I want to learn magic that can make candy appear out of thin air! Then I'll definitely be the Candy Princess!"
Ian shook his head.
The voice that had suddenly sounded vanished.
That was how [Thought Perception] worked. Sometimes, he could directly hear the thought that was most urgent in someone's mind.
At that moment,
everyone was happily eating stew and playing around, while the little girl in front of him was still looking at him with longing.
Ian looked at her and quickly realized that she might have magical talent, which meant the Confundus Charm had no effect on her.
That had to be it. Otherwise, Dumbledore's magic wouldn't have made such a slip and let a Muggle hear about it.
"Can I, Ian?"
Seeing how eager the little girl was,
Ian finally recovered from his shock and smiled calmly. "Of course, Catherine. But you have to be good and keep this a secret for now..."
"Hogwarts only accepts well-behaved children."
The little blonde girl named Catherine was so delighted that she was about to celebrate.
Ian hurriedly stopped her. "Catherine, remember, we agreed to keep this a secret."
Catherine immediately covered her mouth. "I'm a good girl. I won't tell, even if the matron breaks my legs!"
Ian: "..."
That night.
In the orphanage kitchen,
Ian wielded a knife, slaughtering chickens, ducks, and other livestock.
The two cooks beside him kept praising him. "We're always grateful for your help, Ian. With you here, we save so much time."
The children needed to build up their strength, so they had to eat meat.
And every night, Ian came to help out in the kitchen.
That was how
[Successfully slaughtered a chicken, Biological Dissection Proficiency +1]
[Successfully slaughtered a duck, Biological Dissection Proficiency +1]
[Successfully slaughtered a duck, Biological Dissection Proficiency +1]
he had gained the Biological Dissection trait.
However, tonight was different.
[Ding! Congratulations! Your Biological Dissection proficiency is full. You have successfully leveled up.]
[Biological Dissection (Level 5): 1/1600]
[Congratulations! Your skill has broken through Level 5. You have gained an extraordinary trait...]