Chapter 4

[ Quest Completed ]

[ ~ Are you Sirius? ~

Objective: Find traces of Sirius Black and get out of the cave (completed).

Reward:

 . Whereabouts of Sirius Black

 - 100 Exp

 - New Skill ]

[ New Skills Acquired! ]

[ ID Create (Active) Lv. 1: A Skill Enabling You to Create an Instant Dungeon. A parallel pocket of space. Anything inside doesn't exist in the real world besides the experience itself. A higher level allows the user to create better ones.

Currently Available:

- Empty

- Inferi ]

[ ID Escape (Active) Lv. 1: A Skill Enabling You to Leave Instant Dungeons. ]

[ Quest Added. ]

[ ~ Sirius's Last Will ~

Sirius died years ago. But he left his last will with you and has always been tough on you. You are not the original Harry Potter, but maybe there is something left of him in you. Objective: Find Sirius's descendants and establish a relationship with them. The choice is yours.

Reward:

 - 1,000 Exp

 - ?

Failure: Never Gained Opportunities ]

[ ~ Sirius's Wish ~

Sirius died years ago. But he never forgot you. He wishes for your happiness. Objective: Build yourself a home.

Reward:

 - 5,000 Exp

 - ?

Failure: Remain homeless and alone. ]

Logically speaking, Sirius's letter shouldn't have any effect on him, not only because while he was inhabiting the body of Harry Potter, he wasn't exactly him. Additionally, his gamer's mental skill should suppress any such strains, but for some reason, a tear was running down his cheek as he put the letter away and closed the notifications.

It also gave him some answers, or at least a good guess, as to why this cave was filled with Inferi. At least one of Sirius's descendants must have felt that Inferi were a good way to guard this cave. He could respect the notion; it was a dark and cold place, perfect to keep Inferi.

Honestly, he was just happy that there hadn't been any traps or wards. With his low understanding of magic as a Level 1 gamer, he would have had a hard time surviving it.

The 'ID Create' skill was a massive boon, ensuring the possibility of always having a way to level up and train his skills. Still, it was weaker than the original he remembered from the Manhwa. His skill stated clearly that there were no item drops from it, which was one of the broken effects of the original.

'Magick Moste Evile', he remembers this book. Not from Harry's memories; he had yet to encounter this book. Actually, he did. Coincidentally, it was the book Harry had picked up during his first year as he snuck into the restricted section in order to find information about Nicolas Flamel. It had an alarm charm on it that caused it to shout when picked up unauthorized.

But more importantly, it was the book Hermione had checked in order to find information about Horcruxes. It contained all kinds of dark magic, but only a side note on Horcruxes.

While Harry had no interest in Horcruxes, damaging ones never sounded like a smart idea. The dark arts were useful since they were quite powerful. In his mind, there is no evil, only how you use it. And he was in an unknown world with dragons and ice necromancers; also, the whole multiverse was open to him. So obviously, he would have no problems with 'Dark Arts'.

All of this wasn't important at the moment; he needed to get something in his stomach. He was running out of sweets, and a stable food source was important for his survival. After all, according to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration, food couldn't be created from nothing.

After ensuring there was nothing he had missed in that large cave, he approached the heavy iron door. When he tried to open it, he realized it was locked. Pointing his wand at it, he said, "Alohomora!"

[ New Skill Acquired! ]

[ Unlocking Charm (Active) Lv. 1: A Charm-type Spell allowing the Caster to Unlock Objects like Doors and Windows. A higher level allows unlocking stronger locks. ]

[ The target resisted the Spell. ]

'Of course it resisted the spell. My gut feeling was right.' Harry thought as he summoned the Rusty Key out of his inventory and tried to put it into the lock. It fit.

With a bit of force, he managed to open that ancient-looking iron door and push it open. Sunlight shone onto his face as he breathed the fresh but cold air of the surface. It really looked like he was somewhere with a cold climate, as patches of snow were covering the stony ground.

The area was mountainous and stony, and the plant life was sparse. Still in the distance, on some hills, he could make out some hairy animals. Before he could head out, a prickling feeling on the back of his neck caught his attention.

Turning around, he realized that the feeling came from the iron door he just passed. 'Observe.'

[ An ancient iron door was enchanted with Notice-me-not and Muggle Wards thousands of years ago, hiding its existence from non-magicals. Over time, the magic became more powerful. ]

[ New Skills Acquired! ]

[ Magic Sensitivity (Passive) Lv. 1: The User is able to sense more powerful feats of Magic. ]

[ Warding Mastery (Novice) (Passive) Lv. 1: You are a complete beginner in the art of warding. You are able to create and understand simple wards. Your wards are 0.1% more powerful. Your Wards are 0.01% cheaper to erect. Your control and understanding of Warding Magic have slightly increased. ]

'Okay, that's useful. Unfortunately, I don't know any wards or how to cast them. Hopefully, my schoolbooks have some in them. It's good to know that encountering and studying magic also grants skill.' Harry thought as he read through the notifications, 'Since the cave is hidden from non-magicals, it makes a good hide-out.'

He decided before he headed out into the wilderness.

———

"Who are you, stranger?" shouted a large, hairy man wearing pelts and leather armor with his hand on his axe. His equally hairy companion also had his hand on his weapon.

'Unpopulated, my ass. I should have worn my Invisibility Cloak.' Harry cursed mentally, 'At least my merchant's tongue skill seems to be working. That felt strange, learning a completely new language instantly. I won't need Sirius's spell.' "I mean no harm. Just a traveler exploring this island."

"A traveler on Skagos?" snorted the man with his thick accented voice, a bit of disbelief in his voice. "Who are you fooling, Southerner? Where are your weapons?"

"I am unarmed! I mean no harm!" Harry said, showing his empty hands, "I really want to learn more about your people."

"To learn about our people, you want?" The man questioned with a strange glint in his eyes, his hand still hovering above his axe. He was observing Harry carefully for any sign of a lie.

'Observe.'

[ Name: Beron

Gender: Male

Occupation: Hunter

Level: 21 Age: 36

Race: Human (First Men)

HP: 640 MP: 65

STR: 64 VIT: 63

INT: 12 WIS: 8

DEX: 43 CHA: 10

LCK: 20

Description: A native hunter of Skagos under House Stane. Since their rebellion, the people have become even more isolated from the rest of the world. The lack of trade and their backwardness made practices like cannibalism common even outside of winter. ]

'Great, of course I landed on an island of cannibals.' Harry sighed. This moment of distraction was enough to trigger the two men to grab their axes and sprint at him.

But Harry was ready; in less than a second, he could equip his wand from his inventory. The last few days of fighting in the Cave System of the Veil of Death were enough to make him quite an adept in the art.

"Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus!" He cast quickly, knocking their axes out of their hands and sending them flying behind them onto the ground.

[ New Skills Acquired! ]

[ Disarming Charm (Active) Lv. 1: A Combat Charm type spell allowing the user to disarm the target. ]

[ Combat Magic Mastery (Novice) (Passive) Lv. 1: You are a complete beginner in combat magic, which includes all types of spells, including offensive and defensive applications. Combat spells are 0.1% more powerful. The cost of combat spells is 0.01% cheaper. Your control over combat magic is slightly increased. ]

Harry didn't get distracted; the two men were still a danger to him.

"Sorcerer! Demon!" One of the men cried out in fear as he turned around, ready to flee at the sight of magic.

Unfortunately, Harry had no intention of letting them escape. They were too valuable for him, and he didn't want to alarm the other inhabitants of the island with his presence and strength.

"Sorry, now it's too late for you guys. Petrificus Totalus! Petrificus Totalus!" Two flashes of light later, and the men were paralyzed and stiff like boards on the ground.

[ New Skills Acquired! ]

[ Full Body-Bind Curse (Active) Lv. 1: A Dark Charm that temporarily paralyzes the opponent. ]

[ Dark Magic Mastery (Novice) (Passive) Lv. 1: You are a complete beginner in the dark arts, which includes the different dark charms (Jinxes, Hexes, and Curses) but also a multitude of rituals, potions, poisons, and enchantments. ]

'Dark Magic? The Full Body-Bind?' Harry was in disbelief as he read the notification, 'And another spell that falls into multiple categories of mastery. Do they stack?'

[ Yes. The effects of passive abilities stack. The Full Body-Bind is technically dark magic since it is a curse. It follows the same mechanical principles as other darker curses. Dark Magic is just a broad categorization of spells following similar principles. ]

'Huh, you never learn enough. Well, good for me. It's easier to level up Dark Magic. It was a requirement to learn the skills in 'Magick Moste Evile'.' Harry shrugged his shoulders as he turned his attention towards his fallen foes, checking the other notifications.

[ 400 Exp received. ]

[ Loot Lv. 21 Beron and Lv. 19 Huld? Yes or No ]

'Will they be naked?' Harry wondered.

No, the standard setting for the loot feature is to leave the used clothes on. [Only armor pieces will be stripped. ]

'Right, there was such a setting.' Harry remembered when he experimented with the system the first time a few days ago in the Veil Chamber, as he chose 'Yes'.

[ Lv. 21: Beron looted:

 - 1 x Full Set of Leather Armor

 - 1 x steel axe

 - 1 x steel knife

 - 1 x Hunting Bow

 - 32 x Steel Arrows

 - 13 x dried Auroch Meat

 - 1 x bread

 - 1 x Skin of Ale

Lv. 19 Huld looted:

 - 1 x Full Set of Leather Armor

 - 1 x steel axe

 - 1 x steel knife

 - 1 x Hunting Bow

 - 12 x Steel Arrows

 - 15 x dried Auroch Meat

 - 2 x bread

 - 1 x Skin of Ale ]

'Huh, good enough. That solves my immediate food problem.' The dark-haired boy thought as he saw the food items appear in his inventory, 'The question is, how should I make sure that they don't escape? I don't have any ropes, and the body bind is only temporary. Unfortunately, I am too weak for more powerful spells that could bind them long-term.'

Suddenly, he had an idea. Pulling one of the leather armors out of his inventory and one of the knives, Harry began to cut the shirt of the armor into long, thick strips.

[ Leather Bindings x 4 Crafted. ]

[ New Skill Acquired! ]

[ Crafting Mastery (Novice) (Active / Passive) Lv. 1: You are a complete beginner in all crafts. Your understanding of creating things is superficial. The success rate for all crafts rose by 0.1%. 0.01% chance to create an object of higher quality. Known Recipes: 1

Sub-Skills:

Craft (Active): Create something out of the required items based on the Recipe. ]

Harry bound the arms and feet of the men so they couldn't flee and levitated them to the cave, where he decided to make his hideout.

It was fine that these men were cannibals; that wouldn't cause him any moral conflicts when he was using them to grind his skills after eating something. He realized he was far too weak yet.

Had one of them stayed hidden and used his bow, Harry would have died and probably ended up as a meal. But now that he had food for a few days, he didn't really need to feed them since he didn't expect them to live long.

Their usefulness was to act as living targets to level up and test his magic, as well as a source of information. A look at his status tells him there was a lot he had to do.

[ Name: Harry J. Potter

Class: The Gamer Gender: Male

Level: 20 Next Level: 1.3%

Title: The Boy Who Lived

Age: 15 Species: Human (Magical)

HP: 130 MP: 55

Strength: 10

Vitality: 11

Intelligence: 9

Wisdom: 7

Dexterity: 11

Charisma: 7

Luck: 7

Points: 95 ]

-------

For 20 and more advanced chapters check out https://www.pat*reon.com/senseicaffeine.

For actual news check on my socials: https://linktr.ee/SenseiCaffeine

Please leave your Power Stones it helps!