A lot of time passed and a lot of monsters fell in my hands. The system kept giving me a quest for every unique and strong creature I met during my travels, so I killed them all and got rewards.
The reward was always an essence sap from these magical creatures. However, not all creatures were on the level of the dragon when it came to rewards. Creatures that give you 2 traits are quite rare apparently. Everyone, except for dragon and manticore gave me only one trait.
So far, I've killed more than 8 types of magical creatures, 5 of which were targets of the quests. Sometimes, there was more than 1 creature in the quest so overall, I was able to hoard a ton of alchemical ingredients, that upon selling will make me one of the richest wizards alive.
Speaking of hoarding, I knew that dragons in this world don't hoard treasures, but still there was that childish hope in me, that I can find artifacts or some old forgotten relics.
Reality: 'Let's slap that boy, hard. What'd you say?'
Common sense: 'Agreed.'
So, from my inner double monologue, you can see that dragon treasures were a pipe dream. Nonetheless, ingredients are still a valid source of money.
Okay, back to quests.
After dragons, it was surprisingly a graphorn! The one I've made my armor from. I knew they inhabited the mountains of Europe, but meeting one is close to impossible. In the 1920ies, their population was close to extinction. Only thanks to Newt Scamander and other kind wizards, were the creatures saved. Nonetheless, they are very rare creatures to meet in the wild.
Killing it was an easy process, especially with "Kinetic strike". There were these stray thoughts about "saving the species" and "unreasonable slaughter", but I am a heartless being and hate hard decisions. I need something dead, it dies. Long ago, I decided to walk the path of loneliness, so I kinda stopped caring about creatures around me. Especially, if they are not human.
Although, heartless doesn't mean cruel or insensitive. I still know about morality and kindness, but I won't bother myself with useless questions like "Is it wrong?".
Anyway, I start brooding over topics that have nothing to do with my story here. Back to our dead graphorn.
Compared to a dragon, he cannot fly, moves slowly, has bad senses and doesn't breathe fire. Basically, his skin is his only notable feature.
I acquired a "Thick Skin" and "Tentacle Mandibles" traits from these creatures. Having dragon scales due to acquiring a "Dragonskin" trait should make the acquirement of "Thick Skin" theoretically impossible. However, I have a system that can do the impossible, while rendering me with an insane amount of pain in the process.
Then there was a griffin that came with a trait called "Lightweight". Griffin is a mix between a lion and an eagle. Hind legs, tail and back part of the griffin looks like a lion, while his head, wings and second pair of legs look like an eagle. This beast despite its size flies insanely fast.
Killing it was one hell of a bother, due to its speed. However, I had armor and protection charms on me, so he couldn't do much against me. Plus, this creature has little to no resistance when it comes to magic. So, after landing a "Stunning spell" on that stupid bird-lion, I easily won. Then I just cut his throat with "Diffindo". To make sure everything nothing is wasted, I put a bucket under its head to collect all the blood.
That was also concerning the fight. I can't say it was hard, but it was sure as hell annoying. It surely knew how to evade and escape. I and Bucky were flying after it for nearly 2 hours. And I didn't want to use shadow eagle form, because it's not created for controlling power. In it, I either crush my enemies, pierce them through or cut into pieces. But I need this hippo's body intact to sell it later.
Now for the trait. "Light Body" was a perfect trait for my Animagi form because weight forces me to grow wings to insane proportions every time I grow in size. If I grow to dragon size, then I need wingspan of at least 35 meters and that's a lot. But with this trait in combination with my shadow control, I can better manage my weight. This will help to both make me faster, bigger, and scarier.
Just imagine, huge black eagle the size of the small house flying at you.
'Although, after all these traits, my form looks less and less like an eagle.'
Anyway, to the next quest.
A sphinx, which came with a trait called "Mind for Riddles". These creatures are highly intelligent, furthermore, they love to create and solve puzzles. The only reason, why the Ministry enforced the label of "Magical creature" on them is their "violent tendencies". As for the looks, it's basically a lion with the head of a human. Nothing special there.
Killing it was by far the easiest quest I had. While it was giving me its riddle, all rilled up about an opportunity to feast on new prey, I just charged close-quarter "Kinetic strike" and blasted sphinx's face.
Although, I got the body without the head... and neck... and... half the torso... well honestly there was not much left from the body intact after the shot...
'Hey, no judging! I didn't expect to be ambushed by a sphinx, so at that time I wasn't very considerate of body end-quality.'
The next encounter was a wild breed of winged horse and its trait was "Lightweight" as well. So the system after consuming the essence of the creature(a.k.a. trait) turned it into the experience.
*Flashback*
[Quest is complete]
[Unknown neighing creature was found and put to the blade! Congratulations!]
[Rewards will be given out based on accomplishments.]
[Rewards are being affected by the system upgrade. Rewards are being converted.]
[Animagi form has been discovered.]
[Lightweight was already applied to the form]
[Start conversion.]
[Conversion is finished. Experience is appointed.]
'Experience? System, you never told me I can get experience from killing!'
[Not exactly true. The system can drain the essence of strong creatures if they submit or die at your hand. That essence can be used to strengthen the system. In other words - leveling up. However levels have gaps between them, so to better understand it, there is "Experience" that serves as a progress bar from one level to the next one.]
'Oh? Wait a second... Then what my first upgrade to the system did? The one which turns all rewards to magical nature.'
[It allows the system to change your magical source with the essence that being drained. However, without Animagi form, it would be a waste to do so. You have no necessary skills to properly use that essence while saving it for a long time degrades it in quality.]
'But you kept the essence of the basilisk for more than 2 months, so what's the matter with other creatures essence?'
[Keeping it for a few months until you acquire the Animagi form is acceptable. But currently, there is a 0% probability of you learning the necessary techniques to use the essence in the next 6 months. So, unless it can be applied to your vessel, it's logical to use energy in a better way.]
'To improve the system.'
[Exactly.]
'I noticed you became smarter and more responsive once more. I assume level 30 is a big jump for you.'
[Indeed.]
'Also, are you truly limited to my body?'
[Clarify.]
'I mean, can you work on a computer?'
[System is a part of your body and can work only via organical machines, with a sufficient amount of energy. A computer doesn't fit neither of these requirements.]
'Organical machines?'
[Your level is insufficient to request this information.]
'Okay, but then what is your energy source?'
[Your level is insufficient to request this information.]
'Whatever...'
[Tsundere...]
'Huh?'
*End of flashback*
The sixth and final creature was the very reason I was in Greece currently.
Manticore.
A ferocious, yet sentient creature capable of speech, with a poisonous scorpion tail, lion's body, and a human head. Its poison can kill anyone and deadlines inferior only to basilisk poison. Its skin repels all known charms. It's close to impossible to subdue it with magic, unless you cast 30 charms at the same time, to overpower that repelling effect with quantity. Also, it's quite a singer!
It took me over 3 weeks of relentless search over mountains, forests, and plains of Greece to find... nothing. But I am not complaining, don't get me wrong! In the first place, my goal was to travel and gain new skills or improve the old ones.
Oh, and by the way, I learned a new skill, which is Drawing. But it started at 0 like Dancing and all my magical skills. Apparently, even from the system's perspective, I am artistically dumb.
Moreover, I got to level 26 and was steadily going for level 27, now.
But again, I digress...
To the manticore business.
Finding a manticore is a real challenge and so far I was clearly unsuccessful. So, I visited a city nearby to check on the date and what's happening around the world. And guess what?! Middle of August. Damn, time flies fast!
I decided to return to London, for a few weeks. Reasons being to make money from selling ingredients and visit the trio to make sure everything goes as planned. They should be going to the Quidditch Cup soon. I know that my leave was abrupt, but hey, I left letters.
'Should be okay... I think.'
I also decided to leave Bucky in Greece. Thanks to my advancement in Enchantment, I can craft some very cool stuff. One such example was a tracking artifact. I made it in the form of a small medallion and tied it around his leg. He wasn't exactly happy about the new addition, but he is an understanding hors... *Cough* I mean hippogriff.
After finishing with my glorious ride, I let it roam free. Then I concentrated in preparation for the longest apparition I had, yet.
***
*Place unknown - Time unknown - POV unknown*
***
There was a squad of people resting outside of the massive castle made of metal and stone. Commander of that squad was a middle-aged human male, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and loose pants. His armor lying neatly near his tent, close to his sword and staff.
Features of his face were giving a vibe of a strict and a military type of person, especially because he just shaved his beard and hair.
He was standing there, enjoying the warm weather and light wind caressing his face.
"Commander Markus!"
The man slowly opened his eyes and looked towards a person that just arrived via teleportation.
"Ah, rookie. Nice seeing you here. Something happened?"
"Well, you see I was looking through the sector assigned to us, and apparently there was a "Big Change" in the main Universe timeline."
Markus wasn't surprised. Just another task for him.
"Okay. How big is the change and what is the Universe?"
"Um. I sent the change to the Inspectors just a minute ago and the Universe is the Potteriana."
*Sigh*Markus sighed.
"I am still confused, why such a big Universe is called with the name of such a small character, but whatever," after that Markus looked at his squad and continued, "If Inspectors didn't send a reply, why are you here?"
"Well, sir, I noticed something peculiar."
Markus looked at him once more and judged it to be something important, based on the look, the rookie was giving him.
"Okay."
"You see, I think there was a big mistake with somebody accidentally dying. You know we are constant clients of the "Trucks of Destiny" company and they delivered a soul, but I see no connection to any hero or villain deed we had scheduled in that world."
"Trucks...? What?"
""Trucks of Destiny"! It's a famous company. Their competitors, "Bus for a hero" or "Gutters" are nothing compared to them. Especially their advertisements and the PR campaign. Don't you remember that ad, with the driver Alpha? And their drivers are all mysteries, because..."
Markus decided to stop useless rambling and interrupted him:
"Rookie! Back to topic!"
"Oh, yes! So, I researched that Universe and surprisingly found out that there was a mistake, and Fixers accidentally sent them an extra file. And a person was moved to that Universe."
"So?"
The rookie was a little bit surprised by the calm reaction of the Captain.
"Um... shouldn't we report it?"
"We should and now you are tasked to do this. As for the mistake, don't get surprised. Mistakes like this happen. However, most of the time, people are happy with their new situation. They get gifts, skills, abilities or some systems. But on the grand scale, it's rare for them to escape their Multiverse or Universe. They are stranded there, so nothing to worry about."
"Oh okay."
"Just report his name and whatever the thing he got."
As Markus was saying this he was going towards his tent to have a little nap.
"He got the system, called Skills..."
Markus started yawning and mostly ignored whatever rookie was saying at this moment, but then rookie finished.
"... Overlord"
*Cough**Cough**Cough*
Markus got a scare of his life, and yawn went the wrong way, so he started violently coughing. With a rasping voice he asked:
"Which system you said?"
"Skills Overlord!"
"How many days is he living with this system already?" - Markus hurriedly asked
"Days?"
"Should be maxed at 2 to 3 weeks. Check this person thoroughly and inform me. We need to get him or his corpse at least, while we can. We can't let anyone get this system."
The rookie was looking at his nervous and mumbling captain in fascination. It was the first time, he saw his captain so spooked.
"Um... sir..."
"What? No way... Did he survive for a month? This system has literally no help for survival. Plus due to its save system, people tend to become extremely reckless and change timelines. Moreover, it gives out suicidal quest with no help to speak of. And that I am only scratching the surface here. Hosts don't live over a few weeks. If this man survived for a month..."
"Um... Three years, sir."
"...?" Markus stared blankly, before recollecting his thoughts, "Connect with HQ... We need some Dovahkin or True God level of help here..."
"But why sir? What should I tell HQ?"
"Tell them, that Athena's progeny lives."
****
[System sneezes...?]
****
*Progress*
Level
『 Alchemy 38 ➔ 39 | Sneak 27 ➔ 28 』
『 Speech 36 | Studying 46 ➔ 47 』
『 Wand Making 32 | Herbology 38 ➔ 39 』
『 Magic Channeling 61 | Magic Chanting 40 ➔ 42 』
『 Magic Gesturing 40 ➔ 42 | Magic Theory 58 』
『 Astronomy 35 | Riding Expertise 18 ➔ 20 』
『 Crafting 31 ➔ 32 | Playing Games 15 』
『 Enchanting 38 ➔ 40 | Cooking 25 ➔ 26 』
『 Training 25 ➔ 26 | Physical Activities 18 』
『 Programming 25 | Dancing 0 』
『 Legilimency 26 ➔ 29 | Occlumency 32 ➔ 34 』
『 ❃Drawing 10 』