Chapter 26: Today Was For Fun

Chapter 26: Today Was For Fun

Louis woke up the next morning feeling refreshed.

He thought back, last night after chatting with Stuart about the Storybook, he had gone home to sleep himself, and hadn’t heard any fairy tales—Louis forcefully ignored that part.

Later, he had a special dream—he brought Stuart into his dream, where Stuart showed off its power.

It was very exciting and fun.

Many people fear nightmares, but with enough knowledge of the occult and a few tricks, you could enjoy the fun while still keeping a clear head.

This immersive horror movie, besides some excitement and joy, also helped Louis understand fear and evil spirits better.

If he could find a suitable fear-type Magic Spell now, he would surely master it completely very quickly.

He checked his personal status:

【Louis Lv5 (35/100)】

【Strength: 6.28 Dexterity: 4.1 Mana: 10.93】

【Storybook Energy: 1】

Louis found that his Mana had increased by 0.04. This was what he gained after absorbing the power of a Nightmare he defeated in his dream last night. This was demonology knowledge learned from Stuart.

Additionally, after consuming Louis’s Dream, Stuart also recovered a little Mana. And the Mana it recovered also fed back to Louis.

‘Perfect nesting doll. But unfortunately, the effect is best only the first time a person encounters a Nightmare.’

Louis planned to find some food for Stuart tonight. If they wandered in the Dreams of Dark Wizards, both their Mana would increase.

Also, feeding Stuart souls would make him stronger.

Although both methods didn’t increase Mana much, it added up over time.

Louis also found that every time he completely exhausted his Mana, his Mana would increase by one percent, and his Mana recovery speed would also increase significantly.

‘I’ll keep the Storybook energy for now.’ Louis planned to later choose a pure attack Magic Spell, comprehend it to tier 4 himself, and then use the energy to comprehend it to a tier 5 Magic.

After getting dressed, while washing up, he glanced at the Magic Spell studies in his personal info in the Storybook.

【Taboo. Nightmare Curse Lv2 (8/30)】

This was an enhanced Fear Spell + Sleep Spell learned from Stuart, a type of Curse technique that could pull people into a Cycle of Reincarnation within Dreams, killing them imperceptibly.

What he experienced in the dream last night was this very thing. In that dream, Louis tried out various aspects of this Magic Spell. It seemed the night’s effect was very good. Not only did it give him deep insights into the spell, but he also learned a lot about Nightmares and fear.

Now Louis could silently cast this Curse on others. And as his understanding of fear and dreams grew, this Magic Spell would become more and more proficient.

【Taboo. Marionette Lv2 (66/100)】 This Magic Spell, through continuous effort last night, had been comprehended to tier 2.

Unlike other Magic Spells, comprehending it required not the number of uses, but the time spent playing with puppets. Roughly 1 minute increased it by one point, and controlling a person also consumed about 1 Magic Power per minute.

Regardless of tier, the minimum cost for any Magic Spell was 1 Magic Power. The tier of a Magic Spell represented the degree of ‘using a small force to defeat a much greater one’ and the spell’s effect. So, a tier 1 spell injected with 10 Magic Power might not be as powerful or strange as a tier 5 spell injected with just 1 Magic Power.

After washing up, Louis went to the Living Room and saw a breakfast and a small note.

It seemed Helen had gone to Ocris’s Laboratory early in the morning. She was preparing to brew some stone fairy water. Just in case they encountered the terrifying evil spirit recently appearing in the West District.

Louis simply ignored this note.

He used Apparition to go to the office, disguised himself as ‘Keanu Reeves’, using the alias ‘Reeves’.

Then, following the information Stuart had mentioned, he went to the ‘Pepper Bar’ in the Southern District.

Behind this bar, there was a mysterious alleyway. Heard it was very interesting.

Louis first went to the bar’s toilet. In the Mirror there, Louis recited a Magic Spell. Then, Louis in the Mirror suddenly turned his head, took off his hat, and gave a noble bow to the Louis outside the Mirror.

This Mirror Man was exactly the same as Louis. The only slight difference was that the Mirror Man’s waist had an extra pretty little money pouch compared to the person outside—Stuart had taken care of a small matter last night, and this money was the reward.

The Dark Domain was a subplane sealed by the Sacred Oak Wizards, like a Dream World. It was connected to every region of this world.

When Arbiter Wizards of Sacred Oak were on official business outside, they would often communicate with the Dark Domain through Mirrors and such, asking the Wardens of the Dark Domain for help.

However, normally, such an operation required approval, and then using a special ‘key’ granted through approval to perform it.

But the current Stuart didn’t need such a key anymore.

As long as there was someone near a Mirror who had seen it in a Dream, it could ignore the Seal of the Dark Domain and appear in that Mirror.

And it could also be summoned by Louis to anywhere at any time.

As for the Magic Spell Louis just used, it was essentially a summoning spell, a Magic seen within Stuart’s body. With a little modification, it could also summon Demons.

[Master.] The Mirror Man bowed respectfully: [Miss Lilith has accepted my apology, her worry is gone.]

Louis nodded with satisfaction and looked at the Narration before him:

【Task Completed: Fight Fire with Fire】

【Mana +1】

【Experience +50】

This small task had triggered after Louis saw that complaint letter. Compared to Mr. Barriff’s task, this one was much more interesting.

Stuart continued: [You know, recently the Agents of the Ministry of Magic haven’t been going out to work much. The Black Prison hasn’t had any new inmates for a long time, which makes life a bit dull. So whenever I occasionally meet interesting people outside, I always want to chat with them. Hehehehe.]

“Stuart, you’ll have more chances to come out and find people to chat with in the future—don’t look at me like that, I’m not interested in chatting with you for no reason. I’m talking about others,” Louis said.

Stuart revealed a smile—I knew it, this master can’t stay idle, following him is bound to be fun.

[Sir, being your shadow is truly the greatest honor of my life—I know a young lady, her name is Ocris, unmarried, you…]

Louis waved his hand, and the person in the Mirror suddenly returned to normal—Stuart was dismissed.

Clearly, Stuart still remembered its old master. And believed its new master was an admirer of the old master.

Unfortunately, its flattery missed the mark.

That whole messy history between the Witch Queen and Ocris, he really didn’t want to hear it again.

Today was for fun.

Thinking this, Louis smiled and felt for his waist—earlier, the Louis in the Mirror had an extra pouch on his waist.

After looking in the Mirror, this pouch appeared on Louis’s waist.

This money pouch was clearly for a girl, very delicate and pretty, and it even had some pleasant perfume scent. It contained 20 Gold Galleons. That was quite generous.

There was also a thank-you letter.

Although Miss Lilith didn’t know who helped her solve this problem, it seemed that ‘Mysterious Man’ was very powerful and gave that terrible devil a good lesson for her.

[…a Wizard that even demons and evil spirits fear is truly hard to imagine…]

[Thank goodness, the Ministry of Magic finally sent someone to deal with that terrible demon! You must be a senior employee of the Ministry, right? Or a powerful Yordle Wizard? I hear evil spirits are afraid of them… But regardless, thank you…]

[…I know you might not care for this money, and this money cannot express my gratitude, but it’s my sentiment. I am endlessly grateful for what you did…]

“26 Gold Galleons now.” Louis took out the gold coins: “Plus those Ancient Gold Coins, it should be quite a sum.”

Now, regarding many things in the Sacred Oak Academy City, Louis had learned about them through Stuart. He knew about an interesting place—Blackhorn Alley.

This was a famous Wizard Market. Those addicted to gambling, or professors of Dark Arts Defense, as long as they had some money in their pockets, would choose to go to ‘Blackhorn Alley’ to find some good stuff not seen on the regular market.

People euphemistically called it the ‘Duty-Free Shopping Alley’. But the things inside weren’t just smuggled or black-market goods.

Occasionally, people also did some ‘zero-dollar shopping’ here.

Besides items, there were also ‘people’ for sale here.

Most of the missing foreign population from various countries and regions each year could be found there.

Louis planned to spend the money in his pocket here. He knew a good place—Red Fox Cottage. It had everything.

Thinking this, Louis felt excited. He stepped forward, ordered a special cocktail at the bar, then chatted with the bartender for a while and spoke the passphrase.

A moment later, the bartender confirmed the visitor was not a student, nor an Agent of the Ministry of Magic. He then guided Louis to the Fireplace in a certain room on the second floor, and using a Magic Spell and Floo powder, sent this guest to ‘Blackhorn Alley’.