The fog before him faded layer by layer, as if space itself were collapsing. Ian suddenly opened his eyes. On the cramped little bed, he shifted uncomfortably, and the bright moonlight outside cast a silver haze over the room. A clock hung on the wall. The hands pointed to 12:07, and the seconds ticked steadily. He had entered a dream that felt both real and surreal, only to realize that in reality, just seven minutes had passed.
“Ha...” Ian took a deep breath, reaching up to wipe away the nonexistent sweat on his forehead. He felt a bit dazed; it was a mental sensation. He thought about the events that had occurred in the dreamlike realm and subconsciously glanced at the back of his hand, noticing a faint white mark. The small room, illuminated only by moonlight, still felt somewhat dim.
Ian sat up and walked to the desk, opening the drawer. He pulled out a small flashlight from among various handmade tools. After turning it on, he illuminated his arm to examine it closely. “What is this?” he wondered as he curiously inspected the gift from his friend. The faint mark shimmered and disappeared, fully blending into his skin.
In the dream, he could bring real things into it and take things back from the dream, just like the chocolate he had given to Arianna. But what was the purpose of this mark? Ian didn’t know. He tried to check his skill panel.
Name: Ian Prince
Occupation: Bloodline Sorcerer
Magic Level: Level 4
Skills:
- Language Proficiency (Level 3): 23/400
- Biological Anatomy (Level 4): 796/800
- Free Fighting (Level 3): 85/400
- Psychology (Level 6): 42/3200
【Extraordinary Attribute of Psychology: Thought Perception.】
He felt a sense of anticipation in his heart. However, there was no display regarding the mark on the panel. After all, this gift from a friend clearly wouldn’t be a skill, just like Ian’s ability to enter the dreamlike realm wouldn’t show up on the panel either. Perhaps he needed to check the Hogwarts library to see if there were any similar cases? That place was said to be the most comprehensive repository of knowledge in the magical world—Ian thought to himself, rubbing his arm on the desk. Soon, drowsiness overtook him, and he returned to bed, falling into a deep sleep.
Time flew by. The next morning, when the sun rose, Ian was already at his desk, having read a language book for quite a while.
【Successfully read French words, Language Proficiency +1】
【Successfully read Roman words, Language Proficiency +1】
【Successfully read Roman words, Language Proficiency +1】
“Ha...” Ian exhaled and rubbed his eyes. Learning languages was not easy; every word required phonetic pronunciation, and he needed to firmly remember the meaning of each word. Of course, hard work ultimately yielded results.
Language Proficiency (Level 3): 35/400 (+12)
After just a morning of practice, he had already increased his proficiency by 12 points. The day when this skill would reach Level 5 and unlock its extraordinary attribute was not far off. Without any spells to learn that day, the practical skills he could choose from were ultimately limited. He wondered what the extraordinary attribute of this language skill would be.
With expectations for the future, Ian began his day. After lunch, he pushed a small cart to a familiar place, starting his usual routine of fortune-telling. To say this was a scam might be a bit harsh, but this method of making money certainly depended on the audience.
Ian seemed to be fiddling with the divination tools on the table, the tarot cards. In reality, he relied entirely on self-taught psychology and his psychological attributes to guess what others were thinking. To be honest, even if he could genuinely tell fortunes, from a money-making perspective, it might not be as effective as his current method—sometimes, people were not always eager to hear the truth.
As Ian shouted loudly, soon another woman was drawn to him and curiously decided to try. Ian observed her clothing, the pauses in her speech, and her facial expressions. He had a good sense of her thoughts and blurted out, “Madam, you’ve been feeling a lot of pressure lately.”
His words, resembling those of a charlatan, made the woman nod calmly. It wasn’t a difficult conclusion to draw. Ian smiled, “Is it about your further education?” The woman seemed surprised. “Oh, you’re right.” Ian nodded again, “Yes, your mentor has been causing you some trouble. You’re about to graduate, but clearly, your mentor won’t let you graduate smoothly if this continues.”
The woman’s mouth dropped open as she stared in shock for a moment before coming back to her senses. After this, her voice trembled, and she spoke to Ian with newfound respect, “Little fortune-teller, yes, you’re right. So, what should I do?”
【Successfully observed psychology, Psychology Proficiency +1】
Ian’s attribute panel updated. However, he remained calm; at that moment, the customer had completely entered his “hunting” range. With his mind-reading ability, he could psychologically dominate the girl entirely. Yet, Ian was a principled person. “Miss, you might need to spend some money to ask the headmaster to smooth things over, but that’s difficult. If you had a talisman, you would surely be favored by the goddess of luck.”
The woman had already begun to trust Ian, looking at the various dazzling talismans he recommended. She asked, “How much is one? Can I buy them all?”
Seeing she had money, Ian thought, what a lucky sheep! He immediately replied, “Of course, each talisman is only 5 pounds.” Ian took out 20 talismans and placed them on the table for her to choose from. “I’ll take them all! Twenty times the luck!”
After watching the woman buy all 20 talismans and pay a total of 100 pounds, Ian felt he had made quite a profit. Those twenty handmade talismans were essentially foreign versions of talismans. On yellow paper, the word “luck” was drawn in a scribbled manner in English; that was all.
Still, Ian pretended to say to the woman, “May the goddess of luck bless you.” “Thank you!” the girl said, joining her hands together in a gesture of loyalty. Soon, as she left, Ian finally smiled. “Looks like my luck has changed; I completed my task in just one outing. I might as well head back early today!”
One hundred pounds was quite a large sum, equivalent to about 1,000 RMB, especially considering it was 1990 RMB. The purchasing power was immense, nearly equal to Ian’s living expenses for two months. “I’ll finish up early today…”
After putting away the money and tidying up the fortune-telling stall, Ian pushed his cart, passing by a restaurant where he decided to buy several pots of soup. Just like that, he returned to the orphanage with his cart.
“Wow, Ian, what’s this?” Upon returning to the orphanage, the children saw him bring back so much food and were drooling at the sight of Ian’s cart. Not just the little kids, but even the slightly older ones rushed over. “Hey, Ian!”
After greeting him, they stared eagerly at the soup pots, trying to curb their desire to eat. Ian smiled, lifted the soup pot, placed it on the table, and said to the children, “Alright everyone, go find some utensils and wipe off your drool!”
Hearing Ian’s announcement, everyone burst into laughter. Soon, following Ian’s instructions, the children brought utensils and began to devour the food like a whirlwind. While eating, someone said, “Ian, I really envy you. You’re going to a noble school! I heard from Miss Elena that it was the headmaster himself who invited you!”
“Wow, I want to go too.”
“Tom, you can forget about it! Even in the orphanage, Ian studies various books every day! Can you study?”
“Nobles must be interested in Ian because of his intelligence!”
Listening to the group’s conversation, Ian was initially a bit stunned—what noble school? But he quickly realized this was the power of the Confundus Charm. So, he smiled and listened to their chatter, only occasionally responding.
At that moment, a girl’s voice suddenly rang out beside him. “Ian, I know you’re not going to a noble school; you’re going to Hogwarts. That old man with the white beard said it’s the school for wizards who can turn things into candy.”
Ian was momentarily thrown off by the sudden voice, feeling dazed. He turned to look at the blonde little girl, whose expression was conflicted. Taking advantage of the others not paying attention, she spoke to Ian in a pleading tone.
Looking into the girl’s eager eyes, Ian suddenly felt as if he had activated a skill; he experienced a ringing in his ears, and amidst this noise, he seemed to hear the girl’s desperate shout. “I want to go to Hogwarts! I want to learn the magic that turns things into candy! That way, I’ll definitely be the candy princess!”
Ian shook his head. The suddenly ringing voice faded away. This was the effect of 【Thought Perception】; occasionally, he could directly hear the most urgent thoughts of others.
At this moment, everyone was happily playing and eating from the soup pots, while the little girl in front of him still looked at him with longing. Ian looked at the girl and quickly realized that she might possess magical talent, and the Confundus Charm had no effect on her.
This had to be the case; otherwise, Dumbledore’s magic wouldn’t allow a Muggle to hear such oversights and mistakes. “Can I?” the little girl asked, looking at Ian with eager anticipation.
Ian finally snapped out of his astonishment and calmly smiled. “Of course, Catherine, but you need to be obedient and keep this a secret for now. Hogwarts only accepts well-behaved children.”
The blonde little girl named Catherine was overjoyed and wanted to celebrate. Ian quickly stopped her, saying, “Catherine, remember, this needs to be kept confidential.”
Catherine immediately covered her mouth. “I’m a good kid; I won’t say anything! Even if they break my legs, I won’t tell!”
Ian: “……”
As night fell, in the kitchen of the orphanage, Ian wielded a knife, slaughtering chickens, ducks, and other livestock. Two chefs beside him continuously praised Ian. “We must thank you for your help every time, Ian. With you here, we save so much time.”
The children needed to supplement their nutrition, so they had to eat some meat. Every night, Ian would come to the kitchen to help. Because of this,
【Successfully slaughtered a chicken, Biological Anatomy Proficiency +1】
【Successfully slaughtered a duck, Biological Anatomy Proficiency +1】
【Successfully slaughtered a duck, Biological Anatomy Proficiency +1】
He gained the attribute of Biological Anatomy. However, that night, suddenly,
【Ding! Congratulations, Biological Anatomy Proficiency has reached its limit and successfully upgraded.】
【Biological Anatomy (Level 5): 1/1600】
【Congratulations, your skill has surpassed Level 5 and gained an extraordinary attribute…】