A Member of the Order of Phoenix

Morning, November 4

Leaky Cauldron

Kai closed the doors to the pleasant atmosphere of the comfortable room and headed for the pub downstairs. When he looked ahead, he found Petyr staring at him.

"What is it?" Kai asked, his voice heavy and hoarse.

"Nothing, my lord," Petyr said, shaking his head. "But if you were to tell me what you saw in the prophecy, I will give you good counsel based on it."

Kai said nothing. He knew what he had seen, and that was enough for him. He didn't want his mind to go back to that time, not now.

Kai passed by Petyr, and the character followed.

The pub downstairs was dark and shabby even in the morning.

Petyr had made him come down at the busiest hour, but even the heaviest Mana fluctuation failed to make Kai shudder this time. His face and eyes were already ashen from the scream still echoing in his ears. One wrong word, one wrong eye contact, one wrong intention, and someone would die.

"Master," Petyr said in Kai's ears. "You must control yourself. Wizards seem to be sensitive to your bloodlust. Remember, we must solidify our deal. Just follow my lead."

Kai nodded. He knew that only Petyr's presence was making the wizards look favorably at himself. With no Stats of his own, Petyr could either be a common muggle or a powerful wizard, it was impossible to tell. Kai definitely was a squib in their eyes, he had confirmed.

The pair sat down at a table deep in the shadows of a corner.

"There," Petyr said, gesturing with his chin. "That's the wizard I had heard, talking about some trade regarding potions."

Kai looked at the wizard from the corners of his eyes.

Thunder Faction wasn't a major faction, so the records they had were only modest in amount, i.e. they only covered the tip of the iceberg. Still, this little information when compiled about the various worlds could become a matter of life and death.

The data from the Thunder Faction had mentioned quite a few major characters with a detailed description of their appearances, but this man didn't seem one of them.

He seemed drunk as he hastily exchanged words with another hooded person sitting in front of him. Kai and Petyr waited for some 15-20 minutes when the hooded person flicked his hand (-Kai hoped in anger-) and left the drunk wizard's table.

"Wait!" the wizard shouted, but the hooded person left the inn with long strides.

"Now, master," Petyr said, standing up. "Let's go." The wizard in question had his shoulders slumping down as he muttered curses under his breath.

"Hello," Petyr said, taking a seat uninvited.

Kai didn't sit, but stood behind Petyr, almost hiding both Petyr and the wizard from others.

The wizard looked annoyed and furious at this sudden intrusion. He was a short, with ginger hair, his head overlain with bald patches. His eyes were baggy brown, and he smelled of tobacco and alcohol, the same as the bar at Kai's left.

"Do I know you?" the wizard asked, squinting his eyes.

"No, I am afraid," Petyr said, leaning forward. "I chanced upon you mentioning a trade of potions yesterday, and my client here has a tremendous opportunity to offer you."

"Get off!" the wizard almost shouted. "I don't have any…"

But then his eyes fell on Kai. As much as he didn't want to, Kai smiled at the wizard and nodded.

Petyr grabbed the chance masterfully. "Just hear me out," he said, slowly but certainly. "You will become rich overnight, I promise you."

The wizard's eyes moved from Petyr to Kai, then back at Petyr. He finished his drink and for a moment, Kai thought he would stand up and leave. But Petyr suddenly lifted his hand and called out. "Another drink for my friend here." The waiter almost instantly came to them and filled the empty mug.

"No… No…" the wizard protested, but his words lacked spirit.

He took another mouthful of alcohol and finally asked, "Who are you again?"

"I am Petyr the potioneer," Petyr said, smiling. "And he is my sponsor, Arlen. You must have heard of the Silvas, a great magical family from overseas?"

"A squib of the great magical family, you mean?" the wizard said, slyly. "Thrown out of the house, boy? Never mind."

"So?" Petyr inquired.

"Yeah, out with it," the wizard said plainly, but Kai could feel the greed in his eyes. "But make it quick."

"Sure," Petyr nodded. "May I know your name, good sir?" The wizard raised his eyebrows as if he hadn't expected that they didn't know him.

"Blimey! You really are new here," he exclaimed. "Fletcher. Mundungus Fletcher."

The notification followed the name.

…

[

Congratulations Contestant Kai Stormborn…

You have achieved a Milestone

Milestone: Contact one of the original members of the Order of the Phoenix for the first time

Milestone Rewards: Charisma +3

]

…

Kai beamed.

For the first time after last night's events, he permitted himself a genuine smile. Not only the rewards, but the Milestone itself was quite a heavy topic to him.

He had read about the Order of the Phoenix in the data and knew what a monstrous thing it was. Only the top Contestants above the 2nd Set were in direct contact with some of its members. Though Kai couldn't remember reading about this wizard, the System couldn't have lied to him about it.

Also, as apparent from the Milestone itself, Kai confirmed that just passing by an main-storyline Character won't be enough to achieve it. One needed interaction or something similar. There were stricter conditions too, but they differed from Character to Character.

Kai saw Petyr taking out the red HP capsule and Mundungus squinting his eyes at it. "It's a vitality potion, made into a pill," Petyr said. "It can heal any minor wound instantly and can let a man survive even a mortal injury."

"Ridiculous!"

Petyr chuckled. "Not at all," he said. "Why would we proclaim something like that without proof? Arlen…"

Kai knew the time to hammer the nail had come.

An ordinary dagger wouldn't have worked on him. So, he took out the hidden mass-produced dagger, and under the shocked gaze of Mundungus Fletcher, he thrust it into his palm.

Even then, only the tip of the dagger could enter into his flesh. If he were to add more force, the steel would have bent.

The wizard flinched at the sight of the blood.

Kai pulled the dagger out with a jerk and swallowed the HP capsule which Petyr had passed to him. The HP capsule didn't speed his HP regeneration but instantly raised his HP by 50 points. The injury he had just sustained wasn't even near to those points, so the extra points disappeared into the oblivion.

The result was obvious.

The wizard stood up as he saw the wound closing up, and then, in a few seconds, there wasn't even a scar left on Kai's palm.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Petyr asked, also standing up. "So, are you interested?"

"Give me one," the wizard said, a brilliant spark of greed flaming in his eyes.

Petyr took out another capsule and handed it over to the wizard. Mundungus gulped. He put it safely in his pocket and left the table, leaving behind the words.

"Meet me here tomorrow at the same time."