As bronze-lustrous reward orbs flooded in, Ciel's system panel continuously refreshed like a waterfall.
[You cultivated Alihotsy to maturity]
[You obtained reward: Mental Enhancement (Bronze Level)]
Accompanying this came cool currents surging into his mind, making him feel like his spirit was immersed in refreshing mountain spring water—clear and sharp beyond anything he'd experienced before.
Simultaneously, at his brow, the mental eye seemed to rapidly expand, its presence growing increasingly intense—making him even suspect whether his forehead had truly split open, revealing such an eye. Fortunately, when he touched his brow, it remained smooth and flat with no such change.
This must be an illusion from rapidly strengthening mental power—like after sudden physical growth, when you feel like you could lift the world. Similar phenomenon—
He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. Occlumency activated, helping him endure the increasingly severe itching and pain at his brow. Time passed second by second. Minutes later, finally, the last reward orb merged into his body. The swelling, itching sensation at his brow gradually dissipated.
He exhaled softly, slowly opening his eyes. The next moment, his expression showed astonishment, "The world before me—something seems different?"
He carefully observed his surroundings. Sea breezes swept past—he seemed able to see the wind's traces. Wildflowers bloomed on the field ridges—their colours appeared more vivid than before. Even the entire world seemed slower, clearer.
Did my reaction speed increase? Or did my vision change?
Moments later, understanding dawned on him. No, neither. It's my thinking. My thinking speed has gotten faster. This lets me process far more information simultaneously than before. Wind speed and humidity, roadside flowers' colours and textures—normally so much information gets subconsciously filtered out because the mind can't process it all. But now, even while receiving all this information simultaneously, I'm not struggling. It's effortless. Like switching from a single-core CPU processing a game to dual-core or even quad-core. Naturally the whole world becomes more vivid and smooth.
After experiencing this wonderful sensation for a while, he gradually adapted, nodding with satisfaction. With his accelerated thinking, the benefits were obvious—faster learning speed, more thinking time during complex situations to find better solutions, and even greatly reduced chances of being ambushed or surprised. By constantly analysing his surroundings, he could possibly detect movements from traces ordinary people barely noticed.
This was just one supplementary effect from mental enhancement. Mental enhancement itself would be incredibly useful.
Then his gaze fell on the system panel. The first thing that appeared was naturally the newly emerged [Mental Enhancement (Diamond Level)] text. This clear diamond radiance surprised him. After all, Alihotsy's reward orbs were merely Bronze level. From his previous magical experience, Bronze-level rewards, however numerous, had drastically reduced effects on Platinum-plus abilities.
He'd expected this harvest would reach Platinum level at most, maybe approaching Diamond-level advancement—but not jump straight to Diamond.
He felt a spark of interest. Could it be because my mental talent is quite good, making mental-related ability Diamond-level advancement much easier?
The idea seemed plausible. After all, compared to his struggles with magic-related abilities, his mental-related ability progress was undoubtedly much smoother.
Perhaps because I've lived two lives, or perhaps I've always been tempering my willpower—is that why? But regardless, this is good for me. Mental enhancement reaching Diamond level meant that during extremely mentally exhausting scenarios, he won't suffer splitting headaches or near-fainting like before. This way, continuing to improve Severus's Potion Transfiguration or other profound magics would be much more efficient, no longer delayed by mental insufficiency.
Not only that—it seems other magical abilities were affected as well.
Looking down at the panel, he saw diamond radiance appearing on his Occlumency text. Silently, Occlumency had crossed the Platinum-to-Diamond bottleneck—much faster than he'd expected. Obviously, the explosive mental power growth greatly benefited this art that specialised in controlling one's own spirit.
He couldn't help but smile with delight. Before his second year, possessing Diamond-level Occlumency mastery was likely unprecedented in magical history. He'd already experienced this art's benefits. Diamond-level mastery combined with greatly increased mental power would likely give him a better chance of entering extremely high-level flow states, and maintaining them longer. His magical knowledge learning and runic exploration speed would increase substantially.
Moreover, with Occlumency's improvement, [Sixth Sense Enhancement] was also covered by interweaving Platinum and Diamond radiance. This brought him even more delight than Occlumency's advancement—after all, his sixth sense truly saved lives during critical moments. When previously exploring the shadow world, without sixth sense warnings, the consequences were truly unpredictable.
For survival-related abilities, naturally the higher the better. Moreover, his sixth sense seemed to have other functions, especially regarding receiving oracles. Olympian-era temple priests were reportedly specially selected for naturally possessing a strong sixth sense—making receiving oracles easier. Some very famous temple priests could even receive oracles without ceremonies.
Of course, his current sixth sense strength couldn't compare to those priests, but it already far exceeded ordinary people. He could probably qualify for minor Olympian-era temple priest positions.
Scanning the system panel, he discovered Demeter's Ritual Magic's derived Demeter's Oracle—originally an extremely ethereal, blurred text—had suddenly solidified considerably, meaning the next oracle's arrival would come earlier than he'd expected.
This made him nod slightly. Only now did he thoroughly understand this Alihotsy harvest's gains—except for the final, most crucial matter: God-King Authority!
Thinking of his second mythical-level ability, excitement flickered in his eyes. Mythical-level abilities far exceeded Legendary level. Just from the mythical-level Patronus Charm's slight manifestation, creating Patronus tree seeds with Legendary-level upper limits—this was evident.
Similarly, mythical-level God-King Authority shouldn't only cultivate Divine Joy Flowers. Previously his mental power was too weak to trigger it. But now, perhaps he could try. Even slight manifestations might bring enormous benefits.
Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, concentrating on that mental eye at his brow. Compared to before, the mental eye shimmered with deeper lustre. The world seen through the mental eye was obviously more complex—various intricate lines and chaotic colours fragmenting his familiar reality. But there seemed to be some pattern—reminding him of mythology's three Fates weaving destiny threads.
After the mythical age collapsed, did that legendary loom deciding all living beings' fates continue weaving threads? My brow's mental eye might very well be what prophets and diviners highly revered—the so-called celestial eye capable of seeing fate. Perhaps these lines I see are destiny threads?
Such thoughts flashed through his mind but were quickly suppressed. After all, destiny was truly mysterious and unfathomable. Voldemort and Dumbledore were the most powerful wizards of the modern age, who had mastered nearly every branch of magic, yet regarding destiny, remained completely ignorant, needing Trelawney's prophecies to know.
But this action itself was within destiny. Every move Voldemort made after glimpsing the prophecy pushed him towards that prophesied end. Even mythical-era God-Kings—Ouranos, Zeus—all had to respect prophecy and destiny's power.
Trying to explore destiny's secrets now would be foolish. Better to focus on more practical benefits.
His eyes focused on that lightning-shaped brand in his mental eye. Just looking at it, he could sense God-King Authority's unparalleled majesty.
God-King Authority—
His mind raced. Mythical God-Kings weren't self-proclaimed—almost all were destined. Each God-King possessed power to command the gods. I wonder if my traces of God-King Authority have similar functions, or what purpose God-King Authority serves in this myth-collapsed modern era.
Let's try.
His Occlumency activated at full power. His explosively increased mental power, driven by advanced Occlumency, made him immediately feel God-King Authority's pressure lighten. At least merely observing didn't burden him much.
The next moment, he squinted, stepping towards God-King Authority in his mental world. That instant, the lightning-shaped brand released an explosive surge of pressure—as if God-King Authority were demonstrating its majesty, refusing easy contact.
In the mental world, as the pressure hit him, he paused, his body slightly bowing. But moments later, he straightened again, directly facing God-King Authority.
Indeed, after mental enhancement, God-King Authority's pressure on me is much lighter. Previously just one step made progress extremely difficult. But now, though not effortless, at least I can advance.
Dismissing distracting thoughts, he stepped forward again. God-King Authority's pressure immediately multiplied several times compared to the first step. Prepared for this, he paused slightly before determinedly continuing forward for the third step.
The pressure surged again, intensifying explosively, making his body sink even in the mental world. But just then, on the system panel, beneath God-King Authority's mythical-level ability text, another blurred line extended.
Seeing this, he felt a surge of excitement. A reaction? Though I don't know what this text represents, when it becomes clear, I'll at least obtain more information about God-King Authority.
Three steps aren't enough—
He assessed his current state calmly. Still within bearable range, not exceeding my limits. I'll continue.
While he still had some margin, he adjusted his condition and continued stepping forward towards God-King Authority's mark.
Simultaneously, in the real world, Ciel with tightly closed eyes emanated an overwhelming majesty, shrouding all of Sprout Island. Trolls stopped their work in confusion, turning towards his direction. Their bloodline instinct made them want to kneel and bow.
Initially the trolls were somewhat unwilling, resolutely resisting this instinct—they had their King; how could they kneel to other beings? But soon, upon realising this majesty originated from Ciel, the trolls one by one cheerfully knelt down, "Groonk! Groonk!"
Then Troll Priest Siris also emerged from the cavern. For it, the bloodline instinct to kneel was thousands of times stronger than for the other trolls. Only through sheer willpower and strength could it struggle out of the cavern. Upon seeing Ciel emitting this majesty, Siris relaxed, then knelt down, its eyes filled with awe.
Not only Siris—even the North Sea Giant Kraken sleeping in nearby sea trenches felt its Titan Giant bloodline urging it to surface and pay homage to that noble existence. After discovering this intense pressure originated from Ciel, the Kraken went from ninety percent certainty that God-King bloodline flowed through Ciel's veins to absolute conviction.
Though this pressure is still immature, it can make my inherited Titan Giant bloodline tremble in worship. This young wizard is absolutely fate's destined next-generation God-King!
As Ciel advanced towards God-King Authority, not only Sprout Island's vicinity showed such reactions—other locations in the wizarding world also displayed strange signs.
Within Hogwarts, Dumbledore had been worried about the Knockturn Alley incidents from two days prior. Suddenly, an inexplicable feeling washed over him—he'd experienced this when hearing Trelawney's prophecy about defeating Voldemort. Facts proved Trelawney's prophecy correct. Even after Voldemort learnt the prophecy's content, he was still defeated by destiny's power.
This was why Dumbledore had sheltered Trelawney, regarded as a fraud, for so many years, letting her serve as Divination professor at Hogwarts. Now, Dumbledore's feeling was even stronger than before—making his heart sink. Has something more important than defeating Voldemort occurred?
Without time to think, he hurriedly rushed towards Trelawney. But while still en route, he saw an even more horrifying scene—lightning bolts striking the tower. The tower was collapsing!
Dumbledore immediately wielded the Elder Wand, deflecting the lightning striking the tower. Fortunately, when he finally, exhaustedly, reached the tower, amidst the ruins, Trelawney still lived, completely unharmed. She sat in her chair, urgently speaking her final prophecy:
"Old King's throne shall fall. New King shall ascend. Order shall be reforged. But before this—hidden in shadows, hidden in destiny."
After this cryptic prophecy, Trelawney collapsed unconscious, her hair visibly whitening—clearly this prophecy had cost her dearly.
Dumbledore's expression became troubled and confused. Though renowned as Hogwarts' master of secrets and riddles, even he struggled to decipher Trelawney's words.
Old King, New King, Order—
He frowned, truly not knowing what this could mean.
In the Forbidden Forest, meanwhile, centaurs looked up in shock, watching the celestial phenomena. As one of the most gifted races in the wizarding world at mastering divination and astrology, prophecy was as instinctive as breathing for every centaur. Like Trelawney's prophecy, they'd also sensed it. But they saw more.
Gazing up at the sky, the centaurs' eyes filled with pure terror, all lowering their heads as if something terribly frightening existed above.
On Sprout Island, in Ciel's mental world: Seven steps. I've walked seven steps.
He gritted his teeth hard, feeling like a mountain was pressing down on him. The crushing pressure made advancing extremely difficult. That near-limit feeling was gradually approaching, but hadn't yet caused mental collapse. After all, his current mental power and Occlumency mastery were incomparable to before.
I should barely manage to persist briefly at the eighth step.
The thought of continuing one more step formed in his mind. But the instant this thought emerged, his sixth sense transmitted warnings countless times stronger than in the shadow world. An overwhelming shadow of death shrouded him—as if just walking forward one more step meant death was the destined conclusion. Nothing could save him.
Even if his Legendary Life sublimated twice more, absolutely no survival possibility existed. This dangerous feeling was countless times more intense than directly facing an enraged Dumbledore or full-strength Voldemort.
What?! Why does approaching God-King Authority bring such intense danger?
His confusion lasted only an instant. Then he didn't hesitate, immediately distancing himself from God-King Authority in his mental world. To be safe, he even donned the Invisibility Cloak, ready to hide in shadows at any moment.
Fortunately, following these actions, that heart-pounding premonition rapidly receded. A long while later, he finally emerged from beneath the Invisibility Cloak, exhaling deeply. In just those brief moments, his back had been nearly soaked with cold sweat.
God-King Authority—of course. How could something like this be completely risk-free? Even mythical God-King Authority transitions were accompanied by life-or-death struggles between old and new God-Kings. In Olympian mythology, the old God-King Ouranos unhesitatingly devoured his children to prevent the next God-King's birth. Yet the destined next God-King Zeus still defeated him, even castrating him.
Mastering God-King Authority definitely involves unimaginable risks. The wizarding world is far more dangerous than I thought. Besides the unfathomable Nicolas Flamel, there's the Blood Soul Thorns that appeared in Knockturn Alley and who knows what else. There could be other mythical-level entities still slumbering out there.
With this realisation, he took a deep breath, warning himself. Before understanding the true risks, I must never step closer to God-King Authority. For a long time ahead, I need to avoid anything related to the mythical age.
What's that saying? When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back. I have a premonition—if I continue making contact with mythical-age-related things, learning more secrets from that era, my troubles will only multiply.
He grew solemn, warning himself once more. Mythical age matters aren't something I'm ready to deal with yet. Moreover, even if I knew those secrets, what good would it do? The more you know, the more trouble follows.
As for mythical-level abilities and items—World Tree, Fire God seeds—I'm not qualified to explore them. The Patronus Charm condensed from World Tree, plus God-King Authority—I can't actually control or use these properly. One misstep could bring more trouble than benefit. I should use these two abilities sparingly.
What I should truly focus on now is this: while Dumbledore still lives, while the wizarding world maintains basic peace, keep a low profile and build my foundation. When multiple abilities reach Legendary level or even undergo secondary or tertiary sublimation—that's when I should explore mythical levels. Until then, steady development is the wisest path.
After making this decision, he felt his tension ease. Even that prickling sensation at his back subsided considerably.
Only then did he look at the system panel, finally able to see what God-King Authority—which had brought him such immense risk—had derived. The next moment, beneath God-King Authority, a line that was still somewhat blurred but now readable appeared before his eyes:
"[Divine Authority Deprivation]?!"