At the same time!
Plop!
William Li felt as if his body had been completely drained. His face turned pale, his body weakened, and he instantly collapsed to the ground.
"It really takes a lot to turn a person into an animal!" he said weakly.
The more complex the Transfiguration, the higher the magical cost.
And turning a person into an animal was undoubtedly the most complex level.
So!
All of his magic power was drained in an instant!
It was only because his Transfiguration skill had reached LV2—a fairly proficient level—that the energy consumption was even less than it would be for a regular wizard. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to pull it off at all.
Thinking this, he resisted his fatigue, stood up, and picked up a fist-sized stone from the ground before advancing on the transformed chicken.
Once!
Twice!
Three times!
He smashed the chicken dozens of times until it was reduced to a bloody mess, only then did he sigh in relief and stop.
Although a person who has been transfigured will not return to their original form without the use of a restoration spell—and they will lose all memories and thoughts of their time as a human—William Li didn't want to take any chances.
There's an old saying: "Cut the grass at the roots."
It was basically impossible for the transformed person to revert, but what if?
William Li did not want to leave any room for trouble.
After making sure of it, feeling a wave of exhaustion, he sat back down on the ground.
A moment ago, he had fought through his fatigue to deal with the problem, but now the exhaustion came back even stronger, making him feel as though he could barely stay upright.
While resting, his gaze wandered to the tree he had hidden behind and to the surrounding area.
Suddenly!
His eyes locked onto something beside the tree.
After staring for a moment, a wry smile appeared on his face. "So that's how I got found out!"
It turned out there was a low bush right next to the tree.
He had walked through this bush earlier.
Although he had hidden himself well, he had left some telltale signs on the bush while moving through it.
That was how Jamie knew where he was hiding!
After a while!
Once he felt he had regained some strength, William Li stood up.
First thing!
He noticed the scene in front of him—a bloody chicken, scattered clothes, and a revolver!
"A gun is a good thing, better keep it," he murmured.
He picked up the gun, checked it, and put it away after confirming there were still three bullets left.
Currently, other than Transfiguration, William Li had no other means of protection.
Having a revolver could serve as a backup.
Then!
He turned his attention to the remaining two items.
"Leaving these things here as they are is too risky. If someone sees them, they might call the police. Although I'm a child and not likely to be suspected, it could still cause a lot of trouble. Better to bury them," William Li said, thinking aloud.
The bloody chicken and the scattered clothes—leaving those two items in the wild, let alone together, would certainly raise suspicions.
If someone happened to pass by and spot them, it was highly likely they'd call the authorities.
If the police arrived, they would probably discover the body that Jamie had just buried.
After all, the burial was fresh, with obvious signs left behind.
Once a murder case was reported, the police would conduct a thorough search of the area and look for any traces left behind. This could lead them to discover William Li's presence in the woods.
Even though the police wouldn't likely suspect that a six-year-old was involved, they might think he had seen something, and that would still bring a lot of unwanted trouble.
So!
William Li simply decided to bury everything to avoid unnecessary issues.
After surveying the area, William Li found a suitable branch and began digging a hole in the ground.
From the sound of Jamie digging earlier, it was clear he had brought a shovel with him.
However!
When William Li had quickly glanced around before, he hadn't found anything resembling a shovel.
It was likely that Jamie had buried it with the body.
Therefore, William Li had to make do with a branch as a digging tool!
Fortunately!
The chicken wasn't big, and there weren't many clothes either. Even with a branch as his only tool, it took about ten or twenty minutes to dig a hole deep enough.
After tossing the chicken in, William Li picked up the clothes, preparing to throw them in as well.
Suddenly!
He noticed something odd.
"Is there something inside these clothes?"
The thought flashed through his mind, and he instinctively reached into the pile of clothes.
Soon!
He had pulled out a few items.
Besides some documents, there was also a stack of Sakura pounds and a small bag of Baibulaci—a substance that could make you very high if smoked.
"I almost forgot. They were here for an illegal deal!" William Li smacked his forehead, suddenly realizing.
Yes, Jamie and his victim were there to conduct some illegal transactions. Of course, they had cash and Baibulaci with them.
Without hesitation, William Li pocketed the money.
After counting it—
8,132 Sakura pounds!
A bit less than he expected.
It didn't seem like the type of cash one would bring for a major illegal deal.
But after thinking about it, it made sense.
If it had been a large-scale deal, there wouldn't have just been two people in a secluded park.
Most likely, this was just a transaction between an individual buyer and an individual seller.
"All in smaller denominations—probably some of Jamie's own cash mixed in," William Li murmured before keeping the money without much thought.
Regardless of whose money it was, it belonged to him now.
Just in time, too!
He had been tight on money lately.
His weekly allowance was only five pounds, after all—he was just six years old.
And he had already spent most of it buying cakes to farm value, which had depleted his funds further. Plus, he needed to buy batteries for Hermione, which left him even more strapped.
Without this windfall, he'd soon need to think of a way to make more money.
Now the money had come just when he needed it.
More than 8,000 pounds—enough to buy batteries for Hermione to farm value for a long time to come.
As for the documents and the Baibulaci—
After glancing at them, William Li threw them and the clothes into the hole.
The documents weren't his, and they were of no use.
And as for the Baibulaci—he didn't think of himself as a particularly good person, but even he had limits.
Soon!
After burying everything, William Li tidied up the scene a bit before leaving.
——
Back home!
After placing the batteries he bought on the way back on the table, William Li couldn't help but recall everything that had happened that day.
"The first time using magic, the first time killing someone. I didn't expect so much to happen today!"
After sighing, William Li added, "But thinking about it, today was an important lesson."
"Don't wander into remote areas without caution. After all, this is Sakura Country in the 1980s, not Dragon Country thirty years from now. Public security isn't great."
"Also, if I ever need to hide again, I need to be extra careful about my surroundings—clean up all traces!"
Of course!
The ultimate reason behind all these precautions was his lack of power.
If he were powerful enough—
What did it matter if a place was secluded?
And hiding from danger wouldn't be necessary.
"So, I need to work harder to make Hermione farm value. Only with farming value can I improve my skills. Only with high-level skills can I have the freedom to do whatever I want."
William Li's eyes gleamed as he murmured, "No, there's also the issue of magic power. If there's no magic power, no matter how high-level the skill is, it won't be usable."
"Just like today, when casting the Transfiguration spell completely drained me! Fortunately, there was only one enemy. Otherwise, I'd have been done for!"
Talking to himself, his brows furrowed.
Magic power was a real problem.
In the original series, there was no solution to increasing magical power.
There was no cultivation process at all.
The magic power of wizards depended entirely on natural growth.
Under such circumstances, if he wanted to increase his magical power, he had no choice but to wait until he grew older and let his magic power naturally increase.
"Wait, that's it! There may be no way in the original story, but I have a system! I can figure it out myself!" A sudden realization sparked in William Li's mind—a bold idea took form.
Yes, there might be no way to increase magic power in the original story.
But he could create one himself!
Of course, this didn't mean he thought he was smarter than every wizard out there or could come up with something that hadn't existed in the original plot.
It was because he had the system!
He didn't need to create something immensely powerful; as long as it could slightly increase magic power, it didn't even matter how long it took or if there were side effects.
As long as there was a method, the system could enhance it—no matter how rudimentary, it would become incredibly potent!
Thinking of this...
William Li had an idea!
"So, in addition to farming value, the next step is to find an opportunity to go to Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley, look for books about magic, and try to develop a skill that can increase magic power!" William Li's eyes flickered as he murmured to himself.
The farming value was, of course, a must—his foundation in this world!
As for the skill he intended to develop, it didn't need to be extremely powerful—it just needed to be created.
But without relevant magical knowledge as a foundation, he wouldn't even be able to create the most basic of skills!