Chapter 69: The Last Days of Summer Vacation
Chapter 69: The Last Days of Summer Vacation
After returning to the Multiverse General Store, Liam received a message from the System:
— Further altering the fate of a world, earned 30 Deviation Points this stage.
— Acquired Medium Plant Farm.
— Plants vs. Zombies world reputation has reached the required level. You can now open a Portal outside the store for a certain cost, with no cooldown time required.
— You can now conduct remote trades with designated friendly individuals in non-combat situations. Current trade partners: Dave, Kenvi.
Following this, the Laptop and External Hard Drive in Liam's hand flew to the shelves and transformed into two Black Leather Books. One was titled "Crazy Dave's Advanced Plant Cultivation Guide", and the other was "Crazy Dave's Ultimate Plant Cultivation Guide."
To learn these books, Liam needed to pay 5 and 9 Deviation Points, respectively. He chose to learn them immediately. This time, he noticed that besides the knowledge being imparted, the process also altered his demeanor, making him more attuned to plants. No wonder the ultimate guide was so expensive.
Due to the infusion of certain supernatural powers, the ultimate guide significantly enhanced Liam's skills and efficiency in plant cultivation. With 41 Deviation Points remaining, he could handle various challenges that might arise in the future.
The last items in the bag were some seeds: Torchwood Stakes, Power Beans, Pumpkins, Spore Shrubs, and Ice Peas. These additions to Liam's Plant Army would help him deal with a wider range of situations.
After checking his loot, Liam nodded in satisfaction and opened a Portal to return to his world.
Back in his bedroom, Liam felt as if he had stepped into another world. After such an intense battle, he returned home to find that only an hour had passed. The strange feeling was somewhat disorienting.
So, Liam chose to go straight to bed and sleep it off, hoping that a good night's rest would help him adjust. Fortunately, he slept soundly through the night without any dreams. He was relieved to confirm that he hadn't developed Ptsd (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), which could have led to sudden outbursts of violence. This was indeed a fortunate turn of events.
The next morning, Liam woke up early and headed to the Multiverse General Store to experiment. He discovered that his magical abilities had significantly improved. However, after inheriting Dave's knowledge of plants, he realized that the plants he had previously cultivated had many flaws. He spent a considerable amount of time applying various remedies to correct these issues. Liam estimated that the new plant would be fully grown by the time school started, and he was eagerly looking forward to its birth.
The greatest gain from this experience was the complete absorption and mastery of the Assassin Legacy and the Ancient Viking Wizard Legacy he had obtained from Iceland. Now, he could skillfully use all the abilities within his current power level. The rest would come with time and practice, giving him a sense of empowerment and confidence.
However, the thought of his next opponent—a Basilisk with a head larger than a door—quickly tempered his newfound pride. He realized that his Life Magic, which was effective against naturally resistant creatures like Colossal Zombies, would be much less potent against a living dark creature like the Basilisk.
Moreover, the Basilisk was Slytherin's pet, and Liam was certain it would have countless professional magical defenses. Not to mention, the creature had been alive for over a thousand years, and the power it had accumulated over that time would not be easy to overcome.
Using assassination techniques to engage in close combat with a Basilisk was out of the question. Liam seriously doubted that the Hidden Blade could even pierce that thick skin. Not to mention the Basilisk's size; attacking it with the Hidden Blade would be like trying to stab an elephant with a needle.
So Liam decided he needed to take some time to come up with a reliable plan to deal with the Basilisk.
Due to the stress from the war, Liam resolved to spend the rest of his holiday as a regular student enjoying his summer vacation, giving his nerves a much-needed break.
Fortunately, his soul's age wasn't that of a true child, or he might have suffered permanent psychological damage. Liam couldn't help but feel relieved. However, the prospect of studying and discussing with Hermione three or four times a week, as well as previewing the next year's curriculum, was quite daunting. Pretending to be a top student and then encountering a genuine one was a feeling he found hard to describe.
This forced Liam to start self-studying in advance to avoid slipping up in front of the real top student, Hermione. Although Liam felt that his combat skills could handle three Hermiones at once, being a sharpshooter didn't mean he was an expert in the theory of firearm manufacturing.
More than a week before the start of the school term, Liam and the others still hadn't heard from Harry, which made them a bit worried. One day, while Liam and Hermione were reading in the library, there was a sudden thud. It sounded like a gray feather duster had hit the window and then slid to the ground.
"Damn", Liam recognized it as Ron's owl. He and Hermione quickly ran outside. When they reached the window, they found it was indeed Errol, who had passed out with a letter in his beak.
"Poor thing", Hermione sighed, handing the owl to Liam while she unfolded the letter to read it. Ron had written that they were going to check on Harry and see if they could bring him out.
"I hope they don't do anything illegal", Hermione said. She then walked over to a bench in Central Park and sat down, taking out a piece of paper to write a reply to Ron. By this time, Errol had woken up. Liam hid him in his backpack and then bought a skewer of plain chicken and a cup of water from a nearby street restaurant.
When Liam returned to Central Park, Hermione had almost finished her letter. Liam took Errol out of his backpack, tore the chicken into pieces, and fed it to him with water. After finishing the skewer, Errol seemed to have recovered enough. Hermione finished her letter and handed it to Errol, instructing him to deliver it to Ron.
Liam watched as Errol, gripping the letter, wobbled into the sky. He silently prayed for the owl's safe return home.
Two days later, Liam received the school's letter. The parchment was filled with a School Book List written in cursive, which at first glance made Liam think Hogwarts was requiring them to buy all the books for several years at once.
Most of the professors' required books were fine, but the number of books Professor Lockhart required was more than the total of all the others combined.
Lockhart was indeed a celebrity, especially in this incredibly dull magical world. His adventure novels were one of the few forms of entertainment for wizards.
What was even more impressive was that to make his novels seem more authentic, he continuously risked his life to obtain first-hand information from the adventurers of the Wizarding World. (These adventurers were all highly skilled, and the fact that Lockhart could successfully obliviate them without fail suggested that he had his own set of skills.)
While Liam understood that Lockhart was working hard to become an idol, the thought of having to buy all the expensive, bulky novels and knowing that they would become worthless after the year was over filled him with resentment toward Lockhart, the fraud.
(End of Chapter)
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