2: Physical and Mental

"You want me to do what?!" I asked the System with sheer disbelief in my voice.

< Message Repeat >

< New Daily Quest Unlocked: The Body Grind of the World's Strongest Hero >

< Condition(s): Do 100 Push-Ups, 100 Sit-Ups, 100 Squats, and Run 10 Kilometers in One Day >

< Rewards: The Potential for Saitama-Level Gains… (In All Seriousness, +1 to Body for Each Completion) >

"You know I'm a Wizard, right? We're not exactly known for our physical prowess. I'm not even sure I can do 50 push-ups, let alone 100! And who the hell is Saitama?!"

The was no response. The System was cold and indifferent to my protests against the physical Grind. Give me a magical or even social Skill and I'd jump to it. But physical exercise? This was going to be difficult.

Still, I wasn't going to abandon the Grind before I even started. I didn't have anything better to do while I waited for Dumbledore to respond to my letter. With a sigh and a wave of my wand, I transfigured a spare set of robes into exercise clothes and changed into them. Then a strange text box intruded into my vision.

< Observe >

< Atlas White's Wand: 12 Inches of Black Walnut Wood With a Hebridean Black Dragon Heartstring Core, Surprisingly Rigid, +2 to Soul and +5 to Wanded Magic for its Chosen Wielder >

"Huh… neat," I said, instinctively twirling my wand, my most faithful tool when it came to magic, in my hand.

I'd always felt like my wand was an extension of my body. It was one of the main reasons I was so drawn to intensely studying magic. Using my wand just felt so natural that I couldn't resist casting as many spells as I could get my hands on. My wand might as well have been a third lung with how I used it as easily as breathing.

A sudden possibility breached my mind as I prepared to begin the daily quest. Before, I would have thought it an impossibility and dismissed it as so far beyond my level that it wasn't even funny. But now with the System on my side, was it really so farfetched? Could I learn to use Wandless Magic?

The thought stayed in my mind as I pushed my body into motion. It served as a perfect distraction from the way my arms started to shake with only 20 push-ups. I pushed through the pain even as I started to pant.

Skillful Wandless Magic was the mark of legends. It was widely accepted as possible to learn. Dumbledore and even Wizards below his skill level had demonstrated it with varying proficiencies. But by no means did that make it easy. Wizards and Witches — at least in Britain — were just too used to channeling and focusing magic through their wands and most didn't possess the willpower, focus, or creativity to truly discard that crutch.

I wasn't much better than the masses in that regard. Perhaps worse because I relied on my wand so much that it was more of a prosthetic limb than a mere crutch. But children readily and commonly exhibited Wandless Magic… Probably because they had no preconceptions about how magic could or should be used. For what was accidental magic if not unintentional, unfocused, and unpredictable bursts of wandless power?

By the time I finished the required push-ups, sit-ups, and squats, determination had settled in my heart. Mastering Wandless Magic would be my first major goal for the Grind. I had the will and I could only hope the System would provide me a way.

< New Quest Unlocked: Look, Ma, No Hands! >

< Condition(s): Raise Your Magic Theory Discipline by Five (5) Levels, Bring Your Magical Core Into Balance? >

< Rewards: Wandless Magic Discipline Unlocked and +10 Levels >

And there it was. I nodded. I think I was beginning to understand how this System worked. Well… not completely. So far, it had given me quests based on desire, necessity, and now, determination. What triggered the System wasn't entirely clear yet but it seemed to respond to initiative. The Grind waits for no man, I guess…

I gave Shadow a little scratch on the noggin as I left my rented room to complete the last portion of the daily quest. She dismissed me imperiously with the flick of her ear, as high and mighty as ever. She probably hadn't even noticed the changes that had overtaken me within the last hour.

My quest for 10 kilometers took me out of Diagon Alley and into London proper. There weren't a lot of open spaces to run in Diagon Alley and I wasn't about to be caught dead running up and down the alley itself. Although… that might be a good way to train Notoriety…

I didn't want to be running in downtown London so with a twist and a pop, I apparated. I appeared in a secluded alley by Regent's Park and set off. By no means was I used to running long distances, but trekking up and down the stairs at Hogwarts had made it so I wasn't completely hopeless.

The slow, jogging pace I set gave me plenty of time to think and try to figure out what the System meant by 'bring my magical core into balance'. My best guess was Occlumency. It had aspects of meditation to it and that seemed important to my stumped brain for some reason.

Occlumency wasn't my best Discipline, mostly due to a lack of material to go off of. The Hogwarts library had basically nothing on the subject — only passing mentions of the mind art's existence. I had to mail order a book to even get started.

I'd sorted my memories, forming a mindscape that looked like the video/rec room back at the orphanage, but my progress toward the next step — forming mental shields — was lackluster. I suspected my bottleneck was due to being self-taught and only using a single source of information at that. But with the increased recall and mental speed from sorting my memories, I never felt the need to go any farther with the Discipline until now.

As I jogged, I tried to work on my Occlumency. Since it was a purely mental Discipline, I figured I might as well multitask. It also gave my mind something to focus on other than the pain in my muscles and the tightness in my lungs.

I sunk into a half-meditative state. My only focus on the physical world was putting one foot in front of the other. The rest of my mind was inside my mindscape, trying to feel around for my magic.

It was just about the vaguest thing I've ever done. Trying to feel my magic, that is. I had no instructions, no teachers, and not a hint of an idea as to what I was supposed to do. I was working purely off of instinct, hoping to rely on the System to see me through no matter how many times I failed.

By the time I finished my 10 kilometers, I'd made only the barest hint of progress. Hell, I wasn't even sure it was progress. I thought I felt something that could be my magic. It was ancient, powerful, and dark, overwhelmingly regal but twisted by generations of inbreeding. Which fit with my mental picture of what a Pure-Blood's magic would feel like.

Yet it also felt so undeniably familiar that I literally couldn't reject the sensation. It didn't last long but the feeling burned itself into my brain. I'd never felt anything like it, never delved that deeply into myself to the point that it felt like I was contacting the very core of my being. And even then, it felt like I had only brushed the surface of my magic.

Then the daily quest ticked off the final requirement and the feeling slipped through my mental fingers like grains of sand. The notification from the System pulled me out of my semi-meditative state and back into the physical world. I was panting, only kept from doubling over by the vague recollection that you were supposed to stay upright after exerting yourself.

With the completion of the quest, the reward set in almost instantly. The ethereal wind cared my fatigue away and suddenly, I'd never felt better. A quick check of my status showed my Body stat at 10/100. It wasn't much but having tangible evidence of my progress gave me one hell of a rush of satisfaction.

< Body 9+1=10/100+ >

< Quest Updated: The Body Grind of the World's Strongest Hero >

< Condition(s): Do 100 Push-Ups, 100 Sit-Ups, 100 Squats, and Run 10 Kilometers in (X)One Day(X) Once Per Day For One (1) Full Week >

< Rewards: The Potential for Saitama-Level Gains… (In All Seriousness, +1 to Body for Each Completion) >

< +7 to Occlumency for Touching Your Magic >

< Occlumency 20+7=27/100 >

My mind lingered — as ever — on more esoteric things than the slight increase in my Body stat. I'd succeeded. For some brief moment in my mind, I touched my magic. Was that a normal thing for Pure-Bloods? Something so routine that it was just never shared with the less fortunate of us like Occlumency or most of Wizarding culture, to be honest?

Or was it some unspoken secret that the powerful kept from the public consciousness? A rare occurrence even for magical monsters like Dumbledore that I'd just stumbled into thanks to some cosmic miracle? Had I just done the borderline impossible? Something only made possible now that I had the System to catch me every time I failed?

How many times did I fail during a simple hour-long run? I'd been working purely off of instinct, twisting my awareness this way and that in pursuit of fleeting glimpses of my magic, without thought to the consequences. Who knows how many times I did something actually dangerous by accident, saved only by the System's propensity for hard work and determination…

I shook off those thoughts. They were ultimately fruitless, a waste of mental effort on something that didn't happen. Instead, as I apparated back into my rented room with a muffled crack, I turned my focus to the reason I was searching for my magical core in the first place.

According to the System, I had to bring it into balance. Whatever that meant… It didn't feel all that unbalanced to me. Dark, sure. Twisted, even. But I didn't know what the System wanted me to do here.

The darkness had felt natural… Like my magic was supposed to be that way. It wasn't the corruptive darkness that so many books preached about accompanying the Dark Arts. It felt more like the darkness of the night, lit partially by placid moonlight.

The twisted ancestral nature of my magical core was more likely the source of what the System saw as an imbalance. I don't know what I was supposed to do about centuries of inbreeding though…

< Quest Updated: Look, Ma, No Hands! >

< Condition(s): Raise Your Magic Theory Discipline by Five (5) Levels, (X)Bring Your Magical Core Into Balance?(X) Be Able to Easily Access and Control Your Magic Without Your Wand (Better?) >

< Rewards: Wandless Magic Discipline Unlocked and +10 Levels >

I honestly breathed a sigh of relief. Much more manageable… That was still suitably difficult but not seemingly impossible like fixing inbred magic. While achieving Wandless Magic should be a challenge, I still wanted to be able to actually accomplish it.

The Magic Theory levels would take care of themselves. I figured they would come naturally during my daily routine. I already spent an unholy amount of time reading up on and studying magic after all. And if the gap between levels proved to be taking too long, I could always spend even more time focusing on Magic Theory. I'd always been curious as to how rituals worked and researching that should be good XP…

So instead of worrying about that just yet, I sat myself down next to Her Highness Shadow. I made sure to pay the typical head-scratch toll before I started what I was about to do. Then I closed my eyes and tried to capture lightning in a bottle for the second time in as many hours.

Trying to touch my magical core again was slow-going. Several times, I brushed up against it only to lose the sensation between one moment and the next. But I didn't let my repeated failure discourage me. Over and over again, I delved into myself. Over and over again, I tasted success on the tip of my tongue and could only grasp at thin air as it slipped away.

I felt like I was so close to a breakthrough of some kind or another. I was consistently touching my core but then I kept overreaching in my excitement. It was as if my magic was skittishly dancing away from my greedy hands.

After another failure — the sixth in a row — I took a moment to reassess my methods. My awareness sat in the center of my mindscape, wracking my brain for another way. Was I forcing this?

As I thought, a strange, recently familiar sensation washed over me. Like moonlight creeping into a dark room, I felt my magic come to me of its own initiative. I was stunned silent, not even able to do anything even if I wanted to, as my magic swirled around me and my mindscape, infusing everything as if it was only natural this way.

< +3 to Occlumency for Repeating the Improbable >

< Occlumency 27+3=30/100 >

A wave of intensely familiar energy flooded me and I was thrown gently out of my mindscape. Still, the sensation of my core suffusing my whole being didn't fade. Unlike before, my magic seemed content to sit right on the edge of my consciousness, surrounding me and no longer fleeing when I reached for it.

It was as if I was constantly casting a powerful spell. The same feeling — like icy heat but somehow even more paradoxical — that I usually felt through my wand filled my whole body. I could feel my magic dancing along pathways I'd never noticed before. It was as if it was exploring me just as much as I was exploring it.

I waved a hand, marveling at the sparks that appeared in the wake of my movement. It was like I was back at Ollivander's shop for the first time, getting my wand all over again. Actually… I think they were the same sparks… All that was missing was the chaos that came with a 13-year-old trying dozens of wands.

As if on cue, the magic suffusing my whole body fluctuated. Some of it poured outward like a wave, turning the pretty sparks into colorful needles that pierced straight through the window above Shadow's head. Of course, Shadow just blinked and looked at me with reproach, utterly unbothered by the chaos. If anything, she seemed to enjoy the sudden slight breeze coming through the pinprick holes in the glass.

Surprisingly, the window didn't break any further. The little needles of magic also seemed to have disappeared before they could do any more damage. My magic retreated into my body slightly but the sensation of it waiting at the edge of my consciousness to be used didn't go away.

I looked down at my hand with no small amount of shock. What happened set in not long after and I sighed. The window was fixed with a point of my wand and a mumbled 'Reparo'.

"Don't look at me like that, Miss Shadow," I said, admonishing my familiar in return for her bored, reproachful look. "You try learning Wandless Magic from scratch and we'll see how many windows you break."

Shadow, the sassy cat that she was, just meowed.

"You shouldn't be trying to break the windows," I grumbled.

If Shadow had eyebrows she would have raised one at me as if to say "Watch me." Instead, she just gazed at me with eyes full of spite, sloth, and chaos. Her message was still conveyed loud and clear.

"And then you'll come to me to fix your mess like always?"

Shadow gave me the cat equivalent of a condescending nod. Her amber eyes slowly blinked closed and opened again as if to say "Duh".

"You're such a little gremlin."

As always, Shadow didn't seem to mind my light insult. She simply got up from her windowsill perch and stretched languidly like the cat she was. She hopped from the window to my shoulders, forcing me to hunch and show the proper deference to my familiar/feline liege. She rubbed herself against the back of my head before hopping down to the ground and sitting on her haunches, cleaning her paws smugly.

"Yeah, yeah, you've made your point," I said, rolling my eyes. "You're obviously perfect and I should be thankful for being able to clean up your mess."

Shadow purred, content that I knew 'my place' in our relationship. She followed me like her namesake when I went to feed her. With Her Highness appeased with Friskies, I turned my attention to my trunk, rummaging through it for a book to read.

There was a tapping at the recently repaired window while I had my head inside my trunk. I looked over and saw the same owl I'd commissioned to send my letter earlier this morning. My heart instantly jumped into my throat when I saw the reply tied to its leg.

I let the owl in, relieving it of its package and conjuring a small dish of water for it to drink out of. It cooed appreciatively and soon left the same way it came. I barely noticed its departure. I'd slumped into the chair by the window, just looking at the letter that represented my future.

The System didn't magically make it so I was flush with future prospects. I was still relying on someone else's generosity to not end up homeless at the end of the week. If Dumbledore refused my request, I was still shit out of luck. How sad would it be for someone with a miracle System to be relegated to a cardboard box on the street?

The envelope felt so heavy in my hands… My name was written across the front in grandiose, sweeping strokes of ink. I spent more than a minute just staring at it before finally deciding to bite the bullet. I was surprised my hands didn't shake as I opened the envelope and unfolded the letter inside.

"Mr. White," I read aloud in a breathless whisper. "I must thank you for showing the initiative to reach out to me on this subject. So many of your peers do not even consider furthering their education, let alone requesting aid that I am all too happy to give. Why, I cannot remember the last time I received a letter from a fresh graduate such as yourself. Everyone seems to think I am rather unapproachable for some reason…

"Nevertheless, I am more than happy to provide you with lodgings for the duration of your Masteries. As for the assistant professor position, I am tentatively agreeable to the idea. There will have to be an interview but if what I recall about you over your years at Hogwarts is true, I do not see it being an issue.

"With Summer break upon us, there is no immediate hurry to schedule said interview. Of course, if you are in urgent need of a place to stay, I would be amenable to speeding up the process. As such, this letter is enchanted with a portkey that will take you directly to my office at Hogwarts. Simply say the phrase 'Whiskered Whoppers' to activate it.

"I look forward to your reply. Please do not feel as if you must be a stranger. With many of the professors away for the break, it does get ever-so lonely in the castle.

"Albus P. W. B. Dumbledore, Order of Merlin First Class, Chief Warlock, Blah, Blah, Blah, You get the idea…"

I didn't even get the chance to snort with laughter at Dumbledore's eccentric shortening of his titles. Since I was reading aloud, the portkey phrase activated and the room began to spin. I just barely finished reading the entire letter before, with nary a pop, I was gone.

In the sudden silence of my rented room, Shadow looked up from her bowl. She practically rolled her eyes at her Human's silliness before going right back to what was really important… Friskies…