HP 12

"I still don't understand why you can't call while you're there." Olivia mumbles for the fifth time row.

"I already told you, because it's a security risk. A lot of rich kids go there, and there would be a lot of trouble if one of the accidentally went missing."

"I still don't like it." She grumbles with a pout. "I want to hear your voice before I go to bed."

"Haa... I'll talk with the headmaster, and see what I can do, alright? If nothing else, I'll try to come home on Tuesdays." She looks at me with wide eyes, and squeals happily while hugging me tightly. My confused expression makes her smile even wider and she happily says.

"You called my apartment your home!" She exclaims and follows it up with a giggle. That's when I realized that I did actually call it home, and I didn't even realize I felt that way. Thinking about it now, the soothing sensation I felt when near her calmed and made my mind collected while I was with her. My thoughts didn't wander towards world domination so often, and I did feel happier while she was around. It was strange, she was like my little counterbalance, keeping my reality in check.

"Hmm... I think I did." I answer while bending to the side giving her a quick smooch. "Wanna go out today? Let's have some fun, go to the amusement park, aquarium, or something." I knew those places weren't in her comfort zone, per se, but I had to pull her out of it.

"Sure, anywhere you're going I'm coming with." I chuckle and slap her bare behind. She gives me a heated gaze and wiggles her eyebrows. "But first..." She says before she attacks me like a wild beast in heat.

After our early morning exercise, we dressed up and took the bus to the nearby amusement park. As soon as we entered it, the sound of laughter and screams from the thrill-seekers filled the air, adding to the already excited atmosphere.

We started the journey by taking a few spins on the gentle rides for Olivia's sake, but soon her adventurous side took over and we found ourselves plunging down steep drops and soaring through the air on the more daring attractions. One of her favorite experiences however was the lover's tunnel, where we shared a romantic moment in the dimly lit tunnel, surrounded by beautiful lights.

But the highlight of our day was definitely the house of horrors. As we made our way through the dark and eerie corridors, she clung to me in fear and anticipation, while her heart was racing as we encountered creepy creatures and unexpected scares around every corner. For my heightened senses, the place wasn't as scary or thrilling experience, but I played along for her sake. Ultimately, I had to thank [Mind Arts], without its help I wouldn't remember Olivia's screams and sheiks for the rest of my life.

After our adrenaline-filled experience, we headed to a nearby café to relax and recharge. As we sipped our drinks and chatted about our favorite rides and moments. However, we decided to go all out today, and not end it on that note. We walked around town until we noticed an out-of-way theater, playing an unknown movie for both of us. After buying tickets we entered the empty projection room and decided to sit somewhere in the back.

As the movie started, Olivia kept smiling, laughing, and making jokes about how bad the movie was, and I had to agree with her. I wasn't sure if the producer planned it this way, but the movie was so bad, that it actually turned out good. During the movie, I kept stealing glances at Olivia, and it was clear that she was enjoying herself greatly. Even to my own amazement, it made me feel extremely happy to see her like that.

After the movie ended, we decided to walk around the city for a bit and explore some of the nearby shops. We stumbled upon a small bookstore and spent an hour browsing through the shelves, discussing our favorite books and authors. Finally, in addition to the few sciences-related books, I ended up buying the advanced mathematics ones I was planning on getting.

As the day came to a close, we returned home, exhausted but happy. Without the energy for anything else, we shared a shower, grabbed a light dinner, and went straight into bed. As we snuggled up next to each other, it was not long before Olivia's calm breathing and my loud heartbeat was the only thing that could be heard in the room. I just stared at her cute face, snuggled up right next to me, and wondered what to do about her, she was too good for me. If she knew the real me, I felt she would be disgusted. With one final sight, I let the heavy thoughts be the problem of future Andrew and I let myself relax, it was not long before even I entered dreamland.

Sunday came and passed in a blink of an eye. Still exhausted from Saturday's activities, we chose to say at home and laze around all day long. Even then, not a single moment of our time together was spent in boredom.

Monday morning came, and after some passionate time together Olivia reluctantly left for her job with a bit of a delay. I on the other hand teleported right in front of the school ward and reentered the school premise. As our morning has been spent with... activities, I only had a few moments before my one and only class for the day started. With brisk steps, I moved to my classroom and entered it just before the bell rang.

The class went on without a hitch, the kids were attentive and absorbed all the information I was providing. My teaching skill was slowly but surely growing in levels, which actually increased my ability to pass on information at an increased rate and allowed the kids better retain it. The moment I got the skill it became a key element in making my own Dark Lord, or should I say, Dark Lady.

As the day slowly came to the end, I was prepared to have some impact on the future of this story. I cast [Furtim] on myself and left my room, walking around the castle while keeping a track of the movements of the rest of the staff I entered the second-floor girls' lavatory.

The place was a mess but the annoying ghost wasn't there, checking the map I found her watching some kids sleep at the opposite end of the castle.

"Serpensortia" I cast the spell summonsing a snake out of whatever hole it previously was. It hisses loudly, displeased by the cold floor, but its displeasure doesn't last long. Its movements freeze the moment [Imperio] hits it, and I command it to hiss an 'Open', at the nearby sink. I was attempting something I've read in fanfiction, and to my surprise, it actually worked. The moment the snake hissed, the intricately carved sink, raised from the ground and moved out of the way, opening a deep hole in the bathroom ground.

The putrid stench of death and decay assaults my nose, forcing me to cast a bubblehead charm around my head just to prevent myself from puking. To avoid drawing attention I send a [Notice-Me-Not] charm at the bathroom door, making everyone but the caster, ignore its existence. Steeling myself, I take a deep breath and drop into the slimy abyss below.

As I'm about to hit the ground covered with bones, I swiftly wave my hand and cast the [Arresto Momentum] spell, bringing my movement to a sudden halt. That spell is a wonder of physics and magic, ignoring all the G-Forces without the care for the laws of the mundane world. With all of this, I wonder how the wizarding world still didn't discover a flight spell. They already had flight-capable vehicles, but still struggle with a basic flight spell. I'm not counting the gaseous form of dark wizards, as that cannot be considered real flight.

As I redirect my attention to the mission at hand, I grimace at the slime and grime covering my outfit, the first wave of my hand cast [Tergeo], the cleaning charm, and removes all the dirt covering my body. While the second one, removes the bones obstructing my path toward the grand and exquisitely carved stone vault door that grants access to the Chamber of Secrets. Seven snakes, each unique in shape and size, function as a complex lock mechanism, denying entry to anyone who lacks the ability to speak Parseltongue, the language of serpents.

My little summoned helper, slithers away from my neck and arrives at my palm, she rises her head and with a commanding hiss that reverberates throughout the room, she orders the door to open. And the door does. A loud rumble, seven slithers later, and an audible click of the locking mechanism and the massive door swings open, granting access to visitors to the chamber for the first time in fifty years.

The moment the door swings open; I'm hit with the stale and humid air of the chamber, thankfully the bubblehead charm keeps the vile odors away. As I take my first step into the dark chamber, the blazers all around me light up, lighting up the room to their fullest. The wet, slimy floor, seldom covered in moss makes my balance unstable, but I power through it.

The path leading to a head of Salazar Slytherin himself etched into the very wall of the chamber itself was lined with twelve intricately carved snake heads, each one crafted with such care and precision that they seem almost lifelike. These heads served as a warning to any who would dare enter the chamber, as they are said to come to life and attack any unworthy intruders. Under the head, a knee-deep pool filled with green centuries-old water stood.

Ignoring all the superstition about the place, I leisurely walked in knee-deep water, up to the massive head on the wall, and moved to the side. My unwilling helper, trembled with excitement when the command to open resounded in the chamber.

The jaw of the massive head unhinged, creating a large opening in the wall. Not planning on dying or getting petrified, I close my eyes and focus all my attention on my hearing. Even covered with [Furtim], I'd rather it not leave it up to the chance, that the monster had some kind of ability to see magic.

My heightened senses pick up a low, but still audible slither, glowing louder as time passes. The moment I hear the water splatter, my already raised hand fired off a killing curse straight at the beast whose breath I could almost feel on my skin.

"SHaaa!" A loud hiss resounds in the chamber, followed by a loud splash that soaked me to the bone, then ended with o so familiar ding of the system notification. The chamber of secrets descends into an eerie silence. The only sound that could still be heard was the occasional water droplets hitting the surface of the pool, and the already calming waves formed by the serpent's fall, splashing against the edge of this pool.

Ignoring the notifications for now, I keep my eyes closed and move forward, trying to locate the body of the beast laying before me. As my fingertips graze the frigid, razor-edged scales of the serpent, I recoil in fear, my heart pounding in my chest. A brief, self-deprecating chuckle escapes my lips as I gather my composure and take a deep breath, steadying my nerves. Then extend my hand again, and try to feel my way around the beast's body.

I tentatively open my eyes, the moment I feel that its head is out of sight, and spot the palm sizes gray scales right in front of my face. The knife, that has been sitting in my inventory for the last three months appears in my hand and stabs into the flesh of the already dead creature. The flesh bends, providing enough resistance against the dull knife, that it doesn't get cut it apart. I grimace then focus on the knife, transfigurate it into a sharp spike then successfully stab it into the serpent's flesh. Pulling it out, now, becomes a new challenge, telekinesis grabs onto the end of the spike and with a sudden jerk dislodges it from the body of the snake.

Green blood travels down the length of the spike and as I touch it I attempt to form a race skill from it, and to my surprise, the system responds. Giving the notifications a quick glance I'm surprised by their content.

[Quest: [Basilisk in the Toilet] Completed 750 WP Received]

[Basilisk x1 slain 3,000 XP Received]

[Race: [Basilisk] gained.]

[Non-Humanoid races are not supported till Tier 3.]

[Race: [Basilisk] locked.]

[Basilisk] [HP]

+10 STR, +10 VIT, -5 DEX, -5 INT per Global Level

- Gain the skill [Basilisk Venom], allowing you to secret a venom strong enough to erode souls.

- Gain the skill [Petrification], granting you the ability to petrify anything that your sight lands on.

- Gain the skill [Deadly Gaze], granting you the ability to instantly kill anything lower-tiered than you, when you make eye contact with them.

That was an overpowered race and even granted three deadly abilities. Sadly, it was locked behind the third tier. Sad from the revelation, I close my eyes and release the full potential of my telekinesis. Each of its strands makes contact with the beast's body, mapping it out and finally finding its fangs.

Multiple tethers of telekinesis grab onto the fangs of the legendary creature and with a casual yank, it tears them out of the beast's body. The fangs the length of an arm, levitate before me dripping the most poisonous substance this world has to offer and with thought are deposited right inside of my inventory. The remainder of the snake's body is useless to me, so with a thought, I coat the whole thing in cursed flames and watch as it turns into nothingness. Satisfied with what I achieved I give glance at my status screen.

Status

[Global LVL: 46 XP: 77,790/79,180]

[Class: Wizard LVL: 9/50 XP: 5,400/ 5,432]

[Titles: [Zombie Slayer] | Race: [Human Wizard] | Tier: 1]

[WP: 2,661] [UC: 2,060.11]

STR: 4

VIT: 10

DEX: 58>67

AGI: 29

PER: 34

INT: 47>65

WIS: 49>67

Skills:

Defence:

[Sneak 16] [Muted Steps 18] [Dodge 44>46] [Pain Tolerance 9] [Counter 13] *[Acrobatics 1>3]

Offence:

[Small Blade Mastery 32] [Large Blade Mastery 16] [Gun Mastery 5] [Dual-wielding 7]

Magic:

[Mana Manipulation 17>39] [Charms 71>95] [Transfiguration 74>78] [Mind Arts 51>67] *[Alchemy 1>40] *[Runic Language 1>47] *[Enchanting 1>40] *[Spellcode 1>29]

Misc.:

[Deception 19>27] [Drawing 4] [Writing 2>20] [Reading 19>59] [Seduction 17>24] [Acting 12>34] *[Cooking 1>50] *[Mathematics 1> 35] *[Herbology 1>42] *[Teaching 1>28]

My stats have gone through a change that only increased slightly thanks to the level-up process, but the major change, however, were my skill levels. My most often used skill have soared in levels, some almost reaching their current maximum potential. The glance at my status screen also made me realize that I'm starting to lag behind in some aspects of magic and to remedy that I'll have to start focusing on them in the following week.

I extract myself from the knee-deep pool of murky water, then with wet pants, shoes, and soggy socks move back to the hole in the ceiling and sigh in annoyance. There was a clear and easy way into the chamber, but no one thought of an easily accessible way out.

Transfigurating a bone fragment, I create a disk that could support my weight and while standing on it I levitate myself through the hole. Dragging my body through the pipe, the other way around, wasn't a pleasant experience, by the end of the journey, my face and my hair were both covered in that slimy greenish-brown substance, one of which the origin I'd rather not know.

The moment I spot the light at the end of the tunnel, I fire off an [Ascendio]. Leaving the floating disk to its demise, I shoot out of the hole and land feet first on the bathroom floor, then take a deep breath. I don't have a fear of small places, but that was an extremely claustrophobic experience. Giving my helper a command to close the chamber, she does so with an excited hiss, and when it closes up I thank her for her help and unceremoniously desummon her.

Spotting a reflection in the bathroom mirror I almost scare myself to death. Reflected before me stands the most generic marsh monster, I've ever seen, covered in grayish-green slime, with moss and different kind of roots poking out of his hair. I chuckle as I see my own state, then cast a cleaning charm on myself which without any visible effort makes me sparkling clean. Finally, I remove the almost translucent bubble, courtesy of bubblehead charm, covering my head and while still donning [Furtim] I head back to my personal quarters.

This night was eventful and at the same time a productive one, not only did I clear a world quest, gained a few levels, and found a nice crafting material, but also acquired a powerful race that will serve me nicely in the future. But now it was time for sleep, as tomorrow I had plans to start the play with Emily.