26: Extraordinary Characteristic! The Descent of Fear!

Time flows like a weaver’s shuttle.

Time flies.

When a person’s life is sufficiently fulfilling, they feel time passing in the blink of an eye. This was exactly the case for Ian, who felt he had become quite different compared to just a few days ago.

[Runic Proficiency (Level 1): 3/100]

As the saying goes, hard work works wonders.

Once Ian set aside the improvement and training of other skills to focus exclusively on mastering Runes, the synergy between his natural talent and the system interface produced a crushing, unstoppable momentum.

Of course, being able to raise a skill with such a slow progression rate to the first level so quickly also had to do with [Language Proficiency], which leveled up alongside his study of Runes.

[Language Proficiency (Level 5): 4/1600]

When this skill, in which Ian had placed such high hopes, reached the watershed of level five, its extraordinary trait naturally began to manifest.

[Language Proficiency Extraordinary Trait — Glossolalia: You will find it much easier to learn languages and scripts you have never encountered before.]

It was a simple description, but the effect of the extraordinary trait was by no means weak. As an extraordinary trait born from a common skill, while it did not grant Ian the heaven-defying communication ability he had craved, it did endow him with a brand-new talent.

His speed in learning Runes increased significantly. At the same time, this extraordinary trait granted him the unique ability to learn the languages of animals and magical creatures.

During his spare time, Ian had tried learning the language of the sparrows outside his house. It was truly a sensation that one had to possess to understand; the attempts at listening and distinguishing sounds quickly allowed him to summarize the various tones and subtle syllable changes the sparrows used to express their joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. This was a talent Ian absolutely did not possess before obtaining this extraordinary trait.

"Perhaps if I train it to level ten and awaken a legendary trait, I might truly have a chance to gain the ability to communicate with all things." Ian held infinite expectations for the legendary traits he had yet to encounter.

However, he also knew that his top priority was to complete the homework left by the witch. After all, he would be entering the Ethereal Dreamscape again in two days. Heaven knows what kind of medieval-style punishments the witch might inflict upon him if the work was not to her satisfaction.

"Fortunately, my speed in learning Runes has increased. By the time I return to the Ethereal Dreamscape next, I should be able to complete the deciphering of the magical runes and the learning of the magic," Ian planned to himself.

[Runic Proficiency] had successfully entered the introductory stage. This had already provided Ian with the most basic ability to decipher simple runes—the reason it was only "simple" was that the structure of magical runes composed of runic characters was entirely different from most languages. It was unlike the vocabulary links in English or the character combinations in Chinese; after all, it was a language, but also a medium for channeling magic.

Simply being able to recognize and spell out all the runes did not mean one could parse the magic they carried. The reason they were exceptionally difficult to learn probably had everything to do with this characteristic. Even with the same runic characters arranged in the same order, the different links between each character could represent entirely different meanings.

If one were to rashly cast magic by interpreting the runic script in a way they assumed was correct without thoroughly understanding the links between each character, the most likely outcome for a wizard would be to become a permanent resident of the Ethereal Dreamscape. Or perhaps, end up with a lifelong disability—missing an arm or a leg or something of that nature.

Regardless, Ian had no desire to experience such a fate. For this very reason, he was exceptionally cautious when deciphering the "homework" left by Teacher Mara. This naturally resulted in slow progress. As of now, he had only managed to decipher more than half of the text on the scrap of the gown.

[Fear Manifestation]

It is said that ancient wizards were most adept at weaving curses with runes. Based on the runic information Ian had deciphered so far, the magic recorded on the gown fragment was clearly a curse-type spell. Its principles even involved some methods of mental implantation; the effect was likely the ability to implant a hallucination into the target that would plunge them into fear.

Perhaps it could implant other hallucinations, too. What Ian found interesting was that this magic was not obscure; it had once played a part in the creation of the well-known magical creature, the Boggart.

A Boggart is a shapeshifting magical creature that takes the form of whatever a person fears most. Through Ian’s inquiries at the nameless bookstore in the village, he learned that the birth of the Boggart originated from biological alchemy, and one of the magical runes utilized in the process was this [Fear Spell].

It was an interesting piece of trivia. It also made Ian realize that with the refinement of laws in the Wizarding World, such developments in biological alchemy seemed to have stagnated, much like the state of biological gene-editing research in the Muggle world.

"After all, it involves ethics and morality."

Ian had no particular interest in biological alchemy; he mostly felt a sense of regret for the magic that had disappeared along with the decline of biological alchemy, such as the [Fear Spell]. Of course, with Teacher Mara, a witch from ancient times, to guide him, Ian might be able to bring many lost spells back into existence. He just wondered if such "archaeological excavations" would earn him any incentive bonuses.

Well, fame was secondary. Money was what Ian needed most.

"I wonder if the little money I have left is enough to buy potion books for Teacher Mara." Ian was, of course, worried about money; he had not forgotten what Teacher Mara had mentioned earlier. Regardless of whether it was for himself or some other reason, Ian certainly had to take the book purchase to heart.

However, in the Wizarding World, knowledge is exceptionally expensive. The gold Galleons left by Snape were indeed still somewhat plentiful, but they were definitely not enough to buy all the books related to potions. Perhaps buying some second-hand textbooks could be considered a compromise?

"Even if the books are second-hand, the knowledge is the same."

Thinking of this, Ian tucked his coin purse away. Clutching the three runic books that were no longer of any use to him, he walked briskly along the cobblestone streets and headed once again to the nameless bookstore located behind Scrivenshaft’s Quill Shop.

The humble storefront remained as it always was. Inside the shop, shielded from the sun by blinds, there was still not a single customer to be seen. Ian stepped inside and looked around, but he could not find the old man who owned the shop.

"What are you looking for?"

Suddenly, a youthful and curious voice rang out abruptly.

It gave Ian a fright. He hurriedly followed the sound and looked over. There, behind the counter responsible for registration and collecting money, sat a girl with refined, sculpted features. A book rested on her knees, and beneath her platinum-blonde hair, a pair of eyes of starkly different colors were watching Ian.

"I've seen you before."

This was not Ian’s voice. It was the girl, speaking first with a tone of surprise.

The blinds were half-drawn. Sunlight scattered in tiny specks across the girl’s hair, making the already dazzling platinum gold shine even more brilliantly. And even more captivating than the golden silk atop her head were the girl’s eyes.

One was blue, the other was white.

It was a unique pair of heterochromatic eyes that, once seen, seemed impossible to forget. At this moment, the white one seemed to be slowly rotating, though it was hard to tell if it was just an optical illusion created by the refraction of the sunlight.