"Lady Yaga," Murphy said, "according to my feeling, you, the two great Shamans, and several other powerful individuals I know seem to be not much different in strength. Does this mean that you and they are at the same level of magic?"
Lady Yaga chuckled, "What they? It's us. You've already been at this level for a long time."
"It's just that everyone has different spells they master and specialize in different aspects of magic, which leads to differences in strength. But on the ladder of magic, the difference is negligible."
Murphy understood.
To put it in a way that's easier to understand, Murphy, along with the great Shamans, Dumbledore, and other ceiling-level wizards, are at the same "realm."
There's no gap in realm between them, but their methods and ways of fighting lead to different combat strengths.
"Does this mean, then, that Maria is in a layer above us?" Murphy frowned. "Have you ever met a person from that layer?"
Lady Yaga shook her head, "No, it's unlikely that such individuals exist in this world."
"Wizards can only reach up to our position," said Lady Yaga. "You don't understand now, but if you continue to ascend, you will encounter an invisible wall."
"Magic only allows humans to reach this height."
Murphy was stunned; this was the first time he had heard of such a thing.
"Are you saying there's a ceiling to a wizard's strength and realm?"
Lady Yaga nodded, "Yes. You will eventually encounter that 'ceiling.' When you do, you'll find that everything comes at a price. Magic and life cannot coexist; powerful magic will inevitably lead to a shorter lifespan, while a long life will cost the growth of magical power. It's as if magic has set a quota for each of us, and the amount you can draw from it is limited."
"The cost of trying to forcefully break through this limit might be death or loss of sanity... but, it seems no one has ever succeeded."
Murphy frowned, "Then... what about this psychic coordinate?"
...
In the end, Murphy did not get an answer. After an examination, Lady Yaga could not find the "psychic coordinate" in his mind.
Either the psychic coordinate does not exist, and it was just Ragnar's nonsense, or the person who set the psychic coordinate on Murphy indeed exceeds the "realm" of Murphy and Lady Yaga.
Lady Yaga had no solution for this.
"Perhaps, only by breaking through that 'ceiling' might it be possible."
As for how to "break through," Lady Yaga did not know.
Fortunately, the only consolation was that even if the psychic coordinate truly existed, it had not shown any direct threat, and Murphy still had time to slowly solve this problem.
Thus, Murphy had to temporarily put aside the psychic coordinate.
He still had countless matters to deal with.
Ragnar's mess, he must clean up.
...
"Emergency Report! Gringotts Goblins Plot Rebellion!"
"Inhuman! The Brin Family's Bloody Sacrifice, Black Magic to Resurrect Ancestors!"
"Justice Served! Aurors React Timely to Suppress the Rebellion!"
"Rooting Out! Watchers Destroy Goblins' Cult Lair!"
"Full Disclosure! Goblin Rebels to Face Public Trial!"
Wizards in Britain woke up to a bombardment of sensational news from The Daily Prophet.
Rita Skeeter, with her provocative writing, described a terrifying truth: Goblins were preparing for a bloody rebellion again, conducting large underground gatherings multiple times to discuss a military coup, intending to overthrow wizard rule.
They even had several assassination lists ready and could strike at any important department of the Ministry of Magic at any time.
They were also planning to cut off the economic lifeline of wizards and claim the wealth in wizard vaults as their own.
On the other hand, to realize this terrible plan, they intended to resurrect Ragnar, the king of the ancient Goblin Kingdom from a thousand years ago, by sacrificing their own people in a bloody ritual.
Once resurrected, Ragnar would lead all Goblins in a full-scale attack on wizards.
This terrible plan had been underway in secret for who knows how long, and ordinary wizards had no clue about it.
Thankfully, the Aurors and Watchers discovered the Goblins' conspiracy in time, capturing the rebels before the bloody rebellion could occur, nipping it in the bud.
Hail the Aurors! Hail the Watchers! For such a heinous event, the Ministry planned to conduct a public trial for some key criminals to expose the vile deeds of these Goblin scoundrels.
Wizards across Britain were stunned by these reports. So, when the Goblin Rebellion trial began a few days later, the Wizengamot court specially added thousands of spectator seats for those wizards concerned about the matter.
The trial proceeded smoothly, with ample evidence of the Goblin rebellion, whether from wands, armor, documents found in Wilbur Longhand's castle, or some Goblins' confessions, all unequivocally proving the Goblins' intent to rebel.
The bloody sacrifice was further confirmed by the bodies of dozens of Goblins, undeniable proof.
During the trial, the wizards were enraged, demanding the beheading of all participating Goblins, but the Wizengamot, adhering to humanitarian principles, threw them into Azkaban instead.
The Ministry also confiscated the assets of the participants and announced that Gringotts would henceforth be managed by the Ministry.
The Ministry renamed it the British Wizarding Central Bank. From now on, the Ministry would conduct loyalty tests on all Gringotts Goblins, removing any Goblins dissatisfied with wizards.
After the trial, wizards' perception of Goblins hit rock bottom. The Ministry's decisions not only didn't cause dissatisfaction among wizards but were fully supported. Some wizards even thought the Ministry was too lenient and suggested exterminating all Goblins within Britain.
Of course, that was unrealistic. First, ethnic cleansing is inhumane and would leave evidence. Second, Goblins are a global species, and killing British Goblins would incur the hatred of Goblins from other countries, bringing unnecessary trouble.
Anyway, without Gringotts and restricted from using wands, they could hardly cause much trouble. Just have the Aurors keep a closer eye on them in the future.
The confiscation of the Brin family assets brought the Ministry a large sum of money and even two mines.
But what interested Murphy the most wasn't these things—he already controlled the Central Bank, and money was just a matter of speaking.
What he cared about were several secret Goblin smelting techniques found in Wilbur's castle, mentioning a way to smelt Goblin metal using magic, creating Goblin metal with excellent magical affinity.
Goblins could use this metal to make magical items, easily imbued with various magics.
The Sword of Gryffindor was the culmination of this metal.
The moment he obtained this smelting method, Murphy realized that the biggest obstacle in his path to combining science and magic might have a solution.
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