Chapter 183: Growing Stronger
Chapter 183: Growing Stronger
As a student, doing homework was a regular part of life.
However, the students of Hogwarts were undoubtedly lucky. With a relaxed academic environment and homework due only every other week, students had ample time to complete their assignments. They could even leave all their homework until the weekend or, in some cases, borrow from a friend and copy it over the night before it was due.
In fact, this scenario wasn't uncommon at all.
Hogwarts, touted as the best magic school, was the only one of its kind in all of Britain, so it naturally took the top spot.
Of course, none of this mattered much to Albert.
After all, Albert was rather self-serving.
As far as he was concerned, as long as he could acquire the knowledge he needed at school, that was enough.
Possessing magic, an extraordinary power, was undoubtedly thrilling.
If Albert had to choose what excited him the most, it wasn't power, nor women, nor injecting himself with strange substances. It was the pursuit of strength and the acquisition of power.
Watching himself grow stronger and more powerful was exhilarating, even addictive.
Those who claimed that the pursuit of power led to corruption were mostly weaklings themselves.
For others, the pursuit of strength might be challenging, but for Albert, it was simple. All he needed to do was learn more skills and upgrade their levels.
One of Albert's secrets to growing stronger: doing homework.
For most people, homework was just a chore to be completed.
But for Albert, it was also a way to gain experience. And with experience came the ability to upgrade his skills and become more formidable.
However, maximizing the experience gained from homework was an art in itself.
Albert would ask himself three questions: What did I write in this assignment? Why did I write this part? What is its purpose?
These three questions helped keep his brain active and improved his memory.
Well, to be honest, that was all nonsense. The main reason was that Albert discovered that thinking while doing homework helped him earn more experience.
The experience gained usually fluctuated between one and three times the normal amount.
Of course, it might take a bit more time, but it was definitely worth the effort.
"What's wrong?" Lee Jordan asked.
Fred and George entered the Great Hall looking glum, plopping down on the chairs to Albert's right.
"It's Filch," George ground out through clenched teeth. "He just gave us trouble because we tracked mud into the castle. On a rainy day like this, how can we not leave water marks when we come in from training? Filch actually made us clean up the mud and water marks on the floor."
"Use a spell," Albert suggested.
"The way you think," Fred couldn't help but quip, "Filch is getting back at us!"
"I know," Albert replied without hesitation. "If Filch insists on making you use a mop, you should blow up his office another day."
Albert, of course, knew what was going on.
Last semester, the twins had filled Filch's office with the smell of garlic, and now the squib was out for revenge.
"Looks like we need to order some more dung bombs," the twins said in unison.
"I still have some left over; I can lend you some as a token of friendship," Lee Jordan said with a grin.
"By the way, what are you doing?" Fred asked, eyeing Albert's wand curiously.
"Practicing how to make a light ball detached from my wand," Albert replied, flipping through his notes. "This morning, when I went to have tea with Professor Flitwick, I specifically asked him about it."
Whenever Albert communicated with others, he took the opportunity to ask about his concerns, and they usually provided him with helpful answers.
"Can you do it?" George asked, his curiosity piqued.
"No! Not yet, at least," Albert replied.
He whispered the incantation, causing the tip of his wand to glow once more. Then, with a gentle flick of his wrist—yes, just a flick—he tried to shake the light off the tip of his wand, as if shaking something loose.
Albert's Lumos spell had unknowingly reached Level 2, and he couldn't pinpoint exactly when that had happened. Nonetheless, there was no doubt that he was now more adept at using it than before.
In fact, it was even beginning to show signs of becoming a nonverbal spell.
And why was that? Well, it had a lot to do with the fact that Albert had recently upgraded his Wizard Bloodline to Level 4.
After the successful completion of Gryffindor's Honor mission last semester, which had earned him one skill point, along with the two points from the rescue mission, Albert had promptly raised his Wizard Bloodline to Level 3.
With this upgrade, Albert noticed a significant change, as his magical power increased considerably. Subsequently, he took on the 'Path of the Wizard' quest, pushing his Wizard Bloodline to Level 4.
Well, to be honest, Albert was concerned that skills might only go up to Level 5.
Based on the fact that Level 3 required ten thousand experience points, he surmised that the skill levels wouldn't go too high, as the amount of experience gained might not keep up with the increasing requirements.
If the experience needed to upgrade a skill doubled with each level, then reaching Level 5 would require a whopping two hundred and fifty thousand experience points—a gap that seemed nearly impossible to bridge.
So, Albert's conclusion was that skills were likely capped at Level 5.
He didn't want to take the risk of waiting until Level 4 to test his theory, for fear that Level 4 might be the maximum, leaving him sorely disappointed.
Of course, there was another reason he chose to upgrade at this time—he wanted to stir up some trouble.
And for that, he needed strength, which bred confidence. Improving his magical power was undoubtedly the fastest way to boost his capabilities.
That was why Albert had exuded confidence when facing Hector Dagworth, and he had even hoped to squeeze some extra quests out of him, although that particular endeavor had left him a little disappointed.
With his enhanced magical power, Albert's spells would become more potent, and learning magic would be faster than before. Moreover, he might even get the chance to venture into the Forbidden Forest to search for the so-called Gryffindor treasure.
As for how much he could gain from that quest, Albert was eagerly anticipating it.
"Stop flicking your wand around; you're going to poke someone's eye out," Sandra complained.
Just then, a faint light ball detached from the tip of his wand and floated into the air like a firefly, only to vanish without a trace moments later.
"Did I just see things?" Sandra rubbed her eyes, bewildered.
"No, I saw it too!" Lee Jordan exclaimed, his eyes wide with surprise as he stared at Albert. "How did you do that?"
"Hmm," Albert recalled the sensation he had felt earlier, "it's like I..."
Then, right before their very eyes, another light ball detached from his wand, but it too disappeared shortly after, fading into nothingness.
"I want it to separate from my wand," Albert murmured, "but the light ball doesn't seem to obey my commands."
According to Smith, once the light ball detached from the wand, he should be able to control it with his thoughts.
While Albert hadn't completely succeeded, this was undoubtedly a step in the right direction. Now, he just needed to keep practicing as Smith had instructed.
"I never knew Lumos could be used like this," Sandra said, giving it a try herself. Unfortunately, she failed to replicate Albert's feat. "Is there some trick to it?" she asked, her curiosity piqued.
Everyone leaned in closer, eager to hear the supposed trick to performing this intriguing spell.
(End of Chapter)
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