"Voldemort really is something! By the age of twenty, he'd already mastered the Three Unforgivable Curses to an unparalleled level!"
Devero stared in amazement at the Horcrux panel before him.
He couldn't help clicking his tongue in wonder.
Previously, he'd only seen unparalleled mastery of a spell in Snape.
Occlumency.
Even the original story had named him as the greatest master of Occlumency.
And yet one fragment of Voldemort's soul had mastered three spells of such a high caliber.
This undoubtedly showed just how powerful Voldemort himself was.
Devero moved his gaze away from the Spell Library.
He continued browsing downward.
Devero carefully examined each of the Horcrux's traits.
There wasn't much to say about the [Horcrux] trait.
The main difference between it and Harry's was that Harry had been created by accident by Voldemort.
So its influence on Harry was relatively minor.
But just one look at this one showed that it was nothing good.
It practically reeked of evil!
When he saw the [Dark Lord] trait, however,
his brows furrowed slightly.
"Damaged? Does that mean every Horcrux is part of the Dark Lord trait?"
If even a damaged trait was gold-level,
then putting all the traits together
would make it red at the very least!
Devero nodded slightly.
After all, Voldemort was a powerful wizard who could face Dumbledore head-on.
So it made sense that he possessed a red trait.
Devero couldn't even imagine Voldemort with his soul intact.
What kind of charisma and magical power would he have?
The remaining two purple traits were also fairly easy to understand.
[Born Heartless] was practically the essence of Voldemort himself.
He'd grown up in an orphanage.
Then he'd gone to Hogwarts.
Dumbledore had treated him in the wrong way.
There might also have been the influence of his bloodline.
His ancestors had probably spent generations marrying close relatives, and so on.
All sorts of factors had piled up,
eventually causing him to retain his antisocial personality even as an adult.
The [Decay] trait probably just meant that the Diadem had been left in the Room of Requirement for too long.
If he calculated correctly,
it had been there for about fifty years, right?
"I wonder if this Horcrux of Voldemort's has a consciousness. Wouldn't being alone for all these years drive it mad with boredom?"
Devero grumbled inwardly.
Then,
Devero's gaze grew more serious.
[Wilderness of Knowledge]
This was the first Unique-Level Trait he'd encountered on someone other than himself.
Although a Horcrux probably couldn't be considered a person,
the trait's origin probably wasn't some Dark Magic Voldemort had performed.
It was more likely an effect inherent to Ravenclaw's Diadem.
Considering Ravenclaw's reverence for wisdom,
could this so-called [Wilderness of Knowledge] originally have been Ravenclaw's trait, later enshrined in the Diadem?
The more Devero thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
After all, she was a founder of a Hogwarts house.
It wasn't strange for her to have a Unique-Level Trait.
But the description was incredibly vague.
It was abstract.
What did "you are knowledge itself" even mean?
Devero had no idea what the trait did.
It was quite different from his own Unique-Level Traits.
His [Magic Prodigy] trait could be called the pinnacle of the magical-talent branch of traits.
It could even be considered a kind of rule.
So far, Devero hadn't encountered a spell he couldn't learn at a glance.
The only difference was how proficient he became.
As for the [Transmigrator] trait, that came from his special identity.
Or perhaps...
It had been bestowed by the Great Existence that protected him.
Then this [Wilderness of Knowledge]
had to involve something rule-like, at the very least.
Its effect probably wouldn't be bad.
Devero frowned deeply.
"System, is there really no further explanation of this trait?"
Devero asked the system in his mind.
[Answer, host.] [There is no additional information.] [However, Unique-Level Traits generally follow one basic principle.] [The simpler, the more complex.]
Huh...
Devero felt that his system was becoming more and more cryptic.
What did "the simpler, the more complex" mean?
Devero propped his chin up and began to think.
Did it mean that the simpler the description,
the more complex the actual effect?
Devero shook his head.
No, no.
It couldn't be that simple.
Neither of his own traits
had short descriptions.
But even now,
Devero still didn't fully understand all the effects of either trait.
Still,
the [Wilderness of Knowledge] was the most concisely worded Unique-Level Trait Devero had encountered.
So it probably fit this so-called "the simpler, the more complex" principle.
Its effect might be stronger than either of his own traits or... more bizarre?
"Could it let me possess all the knowledge in the world?"
Devero indulged in the thought for a moment.
Of course, even if he was a Magic Prodigy,
he'd probably absorb so much knowledge that his brain would explode and kill him.
After weighing it carefully,
Devero decided to load the trait and see what happened.
It was just a trait.
What danger could there be?
It wasn't like the Horcrux, whose trait would directly turn him into part of someone else.
So Devero began loading the trait.
Suddenly!
A sharp voice rang out.
Devero's face twisted.
[Warning!] [Copying the current trait will cause a fundamental change in the nature of the host's existence!] [Please choose carefully!] [Would the host still like to load the trait?]
Devero was stunned.
This was the first time the system had ever warned him about copying a trait!
A fundamental change in the nature of his existence?
It sounded like he'd be turned into something else.
In other words, something other than a human!
Like a Diadem!
At that thought,
Devero immediately abandoned the idea of loading the trait.
It was too dangerous.
It seemed there were some traits he couldn't just load indiscriminately.
Like this Horcrux.
If he loaded it, he might become an object and lose his humanity.
Devero stood up
and brushed the dust off himself.
What had happened to him in the Room of Requirement today had served as a warning.
In the future, when dealing with dangerous magical objects,
it would be better to use indirect methods whenever possible.
Just as Devero was about to cast the Levitation Charm
and hide the Plaster Statue deep in the room again,
a voice broke the silence.
"Hello there, young wizard."
Devero whipped out his wand
and quickly looked around.
As soon as he'd entered the Room of Requirement, he'd checked for anyone nearby.
He'd made sure the place was completely safe before searching for the Horcrux.
So why was there another voice now?!
"Little fellow, I'm over here."
Devero's head jerked down.
The Plaster Statue was staring at him with glowing green eyes
and greeting him.
"Looks like Slytherin has another talented wizard."
Before you continue