Chapter 75

It looked like a normal but massive granite rock. But the strange thing is that, unlike the rest of the cave system, it emitted no radiation at all, not even the slightest bit. Like some areas in the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy that were specifically warded.

This rock was created by a defensive Spell Formation, meant to protect the laboratory that was hidden behind it. The very laboratory where the Mankestre Snake has escaped from recently, causing a mission to be issued in the academy.

Which meant the Spell Formation was no longer as powerful.

If it was at full power, even Harry, with his strength around Rank 2 to Rank 3, would be very careful. After all, this laboratory didn't just belong to a random Magus.

It belonged to the Great Magus Serholm, a Rank 4 Magus, or rather Bloodline Warlock, possessing the Bloodline of the Great Keyomin Serpent.

But it has been centuries since this laboratory had been abandoned; time had worn down the Spell Formation. Even Leylin Farlier, who had been a Rank 2 acolyte at that time, managed to break it with the help of the AI chip.

Leylin had needed days to completely analyze the formation; Harry, with his far higher mental capacity and stronger soul, was far faster. He quickly found the weaknesses in the formation that had formed as time eroded its power away and precisely targeted them simultaniously with a few blasting spells.

Booom The granite boulder changed, forming a black hole, a tunnel.

Without hestiation, he walked inside, facing the first line of defense. As childish loughter resounded around him, the stone slates below his feet twisted, revealing a mout filled with razor-sharp teeth, snapping at Harry.

This was an enchanted object called a Gnawing Slate, a popular defense for hidden laboratories amongst Magi. Before it could even reach him, it stopped midway, a golden glow surrouning it.

"Not so fast." Harry said his hand stretched out as he made a movement as if he were squeezing something.

It was a spell that he created out different telekinetic wizarding charms, like Arresto Momentum or Wingardium Leviosa, allowing him to immobilize and move a target or even put pressure on it.

The Slate began screaming as it grew two small legs and tried to reach the ground and run away. But it was no use; Harry directly pressed hard enough to destroy it, putting the remains into his inventory for later research.

These defenses were not really powerful; even Leylin, before becoming a Magus, had managed to bypass them. The goal of them was more concealing the existence of this lab instead of keeping away powerful enemies.

For Harry, it was like a walk in the park, allowing him to collect some materials that were originally meant to attack him and keep him out, like Devil Vines and Bone Eating Flowers.

Along the way, he even carefully collected a black diary belonging to an acolyte that had found this place and a simple-looking yellow bronze ring.

He smirked as he stored it inside of his inventory.

He arrived at the end of the tunnel, a villa. A full villa is magically concealed in this cave system.

Unfortunately, the villa itself was mostly empty since the Great Magus Serholm abandoned this place during his lifetime.

The most valuable things were the actual defenses.

Besides some notes left behind by another Acolyte that had found this place, there was nothing noteworthy.

And he already knew roughly what was inside that diary.

Luckily, there was still the lab itself.

The entrance to it was located in a wardrobe on the first floor of the villa. It should be stuck to the wall, but probably the escape of the Mankestre Snake had caused a small crack that revealed a passage behind it.

It led below the villa and was probably around 3 to 4 times as big as the area above.

His light spell revealed an incubator area filled with broken glass domes and many rotten eggs. All these eggs belong to snake-type creatures, and the escape of the Mankestre snake had destroyed them.

Which was too bad; they were mostly rotten eggs now, being unusable for any experiments.

The whole laboratory was filled with tools and machines related to biological experimentation, but time and the Mankestre snake didn't leave them in a good state. Still, he made sure to record all of them with the AI chip.

He also took everything with him that was just broken. Reparo for the win!

But it wasn't much. Serholm had really taken everything of Value with him.

Once he reached the final area, it was as if he had triggered some kind of chain reaction. A gust of wind turned into a whirlwind and grew larger and larger until a translucent human figure formed in its center.

"How many years... how many years has it been already? Finally, I catch the scent of a living human!" The translucent figure seemed to gasp, revealing a faint, elderly visage.

A ghost, similar to the ones he knew from the Wizarding World. Though it resmbled more peeves, the Poltergeist gave a stronger presence, being able to affect the world around it.

"A few centuries more or less." Harry replied to the Ghosts Question while observing it closely, analyzing its presence with different analysis spells he had created.

This ghost was more than an imprint of a soul; like in the Wizarding World, it was actually a real spiritual body powered by a soul. It had a full soul, not just an imprint.

To learn the real difference between a ghost in the wizarding world and this one, he would have to return to it in the future.

"Yes, it was a long time." The ghost moaned, "You are quite polite, young one."

"Oh, thank you. Proper decorum is quite important to me. You see, I am kind of a noble and a ruler; it wouldn't fit for me to seem impolite. Especially to someone like you who is no threat to me." Harry smiled.

"What? How dare you? I am a great Mag-"

"An Acolyte. Precisely the owner of this diary." He pulled the Black Diary out he had found on the dead body at the entrance. "I must say you look much nicer as a ghost than a skeleton, Roman!"

Not even bothering with trying to trick him or questioning how Harry knew his name, the Ghost of this Acolyte attacked him in Rage.

But if there was one topic Harry had a deep understanding of, then it was souls. The Abyssal Bone Forest Academy's main area of research was necromancy and souls.

And more importantly, he had paid a heavy price for all the knowledge of the FMA world, including a deep understanding of souls and philosopher stones.

Using one of the Philosopher Stones in his possession, he directly trapped the enraged ghost inside. Once inside of a philosopher stone, a soul could only get free with the help of someone using the stone, even a highly independent ghost.

"Huh… That's new." Harry muttered as he looked at the Philosopher Stone in his hand.

It had changed slightly; instead of just the blood red color, there was now a blueish white dot on it.

"No, time for that now. Here I am boasting about my knowledge of souls, and my first interaction with one in another world leaves already a question for me. I will have to take a closer look later." He muttered before he put the stone back into his inventory.

After making sure he had everything, he left the villa. Leylin was right, and most of the things in the villa were worthless.

Harry hadn't wanted to believe it and took a detailed look at it himself, but found nothing of interest.

Well, he had what he needed with Roman's Spirit, his diary, and the Bronze Ring. Time to return to Endless Night City.

———

Viscount Jackson POV

A tall and burly man sitting behind a desk in a luxuriously designed office sighed deeply as he read through the most recent reports.

This is Viscount Jackson, the Ruler of Extreme Night City in the Eastern Province.

Ruling in this world was an extremely tiresome task. A truth he had been aware of since he was a child, and his father had shared with him the facts about the true powers of the world, like his father did with him before him.

Even as Noble Rulers as Viscounts of the Poolfield Kingdom, they were at the Bottom of the Pole. Like for them, it was no different for the Royal Family.

The True Powers in the Poolfield Kingdom—no, the whole world—were the Magus.

In fact, the Royal Family was just a discarded branch from one of the Magus Families that belonged to the organization that ruled over the territory that the Kingdom belonged to.

A few talentless descendants had gained another duty.

His own personal strength, being a full-blown Grand Knight, was worth it in the face of beings that could manipulate Nature himself.

But still, as long as they performed their duty and paid their taxes while ruling well over their territory, they had no danger to fear from the more powerful Magus Organizations in the South Coast.

They usually left the normal humans alone. After all, they still needed them for new recruits.

And they even help with troubles in the Kingdom. Like his most recent troubles, the withering woods around Extreme Night City were destroying a growing part of the city's economy.

He already sent a request for help to the Royal Family, which had contacted the true rulers of the Poolfield Kingdom, the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy. Hopefully they would arrive soon, though he knew they had their own speed.

Still being under the protection of Magi didn't mean they could be careless.

While most of the stronger Magi belonged to an organization that left regular humans alone, there were a lot of the weaker ones, called Acolytes, that roamed these lands freely.

It was rare that they cause trouble, but as long as they don't disrupt the peace in the Kingdom, they hadn't to fear anything from the organization protecting the Kingdom.

They didn't care about the humans themselves, just the steady supply of recruits and taxes.

That's why every noble had to be careful and monitor their territories carefully.

Knock, Knock

"Come in." The Viscount called out his head-raising from the report in his hands.

The door opened, and a gray-robed person entered the room. His face was half hidden by a hood that he lifted, revealing the face of a half-beastman. One of the people Jackson had spent quite a bit of effort recruiting.

He was not only a half-beast with a higher natural strength than humans but also a wandering acolyte. A Rank 2 acolyte.

"You are back! How is it? Did you manage to find out who these newcomers are and what they want in Extreme Night City?" Jackson asked directly, coming to the point.

Today a relative Big Group of Necomers entered the city and set up in one of the inns. They had quite a few armed men with them, but were led by a girl.

"According to the innkeeper, they follow someone called 'Lord Potter' who hasn't arrived yet. I still felt prudent to report to you. While I couldn't figure out their intentions, they are strong. All of them are at least on the Knight Level. Two of them are not weaker than yourself. That Girl is also an Acolyte." He explained gravely, "There is no way; this Lord Potter is just an ordinary human with such a followership."

This could become troublesome. If they were just passing through or even here to live peacefully, it would be no problem, even welcome in making Extreme Night City safer, by adding additional strength to suppressing the criminals in the city.

But if they were here to cause trouble, it would be troublesome. These numbers and their strength made it already the strongest individual faction in the city.

Knights were rare; he himself had only a handful in his employ. Grand Knights were usually only found in larger noble families, and Acolytes were hard to recruit.

Suddenly he was pulled out of his thoughts as a voice that shouldn't be here talked, "Ah, both of you are here. How convienient."

It belonged to a well-dressed boy with dark hair, a strangely beautiful otherworldly look, and green eyes. Everything about this person screamed danger in Viscount Jackson's head.

Still, he was a noble and asked calmly, "Who are you? How did you get in here?"

"You were just talking about me. I am Harry Potter from the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy. I came here for two things. Firstly, I have taken care of the cause for the Withering Woods." The boy said with a smile, while the half-beastman stood protectively besides Jackson already.

"This is a relief. Do you need something from me as proof that you completed the mission before you return?" Jackson asked as one headache had solved itself.

"Oh, I won't be returning for a while. The academy is in the middle of a war, and I am one of its talents they want to protect. I will remain here for a while."

"Ah, I see. You want my help with accommodations!" Jackson realized relieved that it wasn't a fight he wanted.

"Hmm, you could say that. A nice place you have here." The boy Harry said cryptically as his eyes glowed in their emerald color, "Sorry, about that. It's nothing personal. But I won't stay in a villa if I can have a palace. And I will need control over the city too."

Before Jackson comprehended what the boy just said, his companion had already moved, attacking the boy, who only said, "Imperio!"

A red glowing light hit the half-beastman as strange red symbols appeared all over his body. But Jackson had no time to think and moved himself, only to be hit by the very same light, and the world began to feel strange.

"Imperio!"

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