Cassius sat on the floor for a long while, his breathing ragged but steadying.
The silence after the storm was maddening.
He licked dry lips.
"Alright… if this is what I think it is—then the command should be simple enough."
Every light novel, every web novel he'd devoured back in the other world, had one universal trick.
He took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and spoke firmly into the quiet of his mind.
"Status."
For a heartbeat, nothing happened.
Then—
Ding.
The same mechanical voice echoed within him.
[Status Window Opening]
A sheet of glowing script unfolded before his eyes.
It wasn't physical—he could still see the dim condo around him—but it layered over reality, translucent yet legible.
Name: Cassius Snape
Magic: 107
Skills:
Charms Lv. 0 (1/10,000 EXP)
└ Lumos Lv. 0 (1/100 EXP)
Cassius stared, jaw slack.
"Bloody hell. It actually worked."
Before he could study the details, another tone rang out, harsher this time.
DING—
[Host has no innate Talent. Commencing Talent Draw.]
His eyes widened.
"Wait, what?"
The silence shattered with a cacophony of mechanical sounds, like thousands of lottery balls rattling inside a colossal drum.
The noise reverberated in his skull, spinning, spinning, until it made his teeth ache.
And then—
[Talent Drawn: Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu.]
Cassius blinked.
Then his lips moved before his brain could catch up.
"…This isn't Naruto!"
The condo walls swallowed his incredulous shout.
Noctis gave him a sharp glare from the curtain rod, feathers ruffled at the noise.
The system, however, was unbothered.
[Talent confirmed.]
[World Incompatibility Detected.]
[Converting…]
The text shimmered, twisting into new lines.
[Talent Converted: Idle Shadow]
Description:User can create idle shadow slots at the cost of 100 Magic per slot.
Each idle slot acts as a passive training clone, allowing growth of a designated spell/skill allowing for passive growth over time for the host.
Cassius stared at the description, breath caught in his throat.
"So… it really is Naruto logic. But cleaner. No popping clones, no battlefield distractions… just passive growth. Idle training."
The grin that spread across his face was sharp and hungry.
"Ha! I don't even need a Time-Turner anymore. With this, I'll outpace everyone."
The system chimed again, pulling his eyes back to the floating window.
Name: Cassius SnapeMagic: 107
Skills:
Charms Lv. 0 (1/10,000 EXP)
└ Lumos Lv. 0 (1/100 EXP)
Talent: Idle Shadow
└ Idle Slots Available: 0
"Magic cost: 100 per slot."
Cassius tapped his chin, eyes narrowing.
"So with 107 magic, I can only afford one. Barely. And then I'd be useless if I drained myself completely."
'Although... before the age of 11 i cannot get my own wand, and the training wand doesnt use my own magic so perhaps this is instead a true godsend.'
A training method that condensed months into days.
Years into months.
If he could make even one slot, and keep it running while he practiced normally…
He exhaled, shuddering at the thought.
This isn't just a cheat.
This is acceleration.
He clenched his wand tight.
"Let's test it."
The system didn't require words this time.
The moment he thought create slot, the answer came.
Magic 107 -> 7 - Idle Slots 0 -> 1
"Yes."
The air trembled.
A ripple passed over the room, like heat distortion.
The system chimed again.
[Idle Slot Active: 1]
[Assign Training Focus]
Tapping on the assignment button, he was presented with only two choices, Charms, or Lumos.
He could train his overal command over Charms, or he could specialize on Lumos which would also slowly tick up his command over charms the parent skill of the spell.
Since he had time to experiment he chose Lumos, mostly because if both the idle slot and he were training Lumos it shouldnt take to long before it reached Level 1, what difference would that make?
What was the upper limit of a spell... of a skill?
Were their achievements for reaching the peak of a magic skill?
Could he even in this modern age resurrect ancient magic rising to tower above even great wizards like Voldemort or Dumbledore treating them as nothing more than mere children?
Choosing Lumos for the idle slot, before once more taking up his own wand.
For the next hour he simply recast the spell, sometime failing other times succeeding, when the alarm clock finally rang declaring a break for lunch he stopped.
Making up a simple sandwich for himself and giving Noctis some deli meats, he pulled up his status to review the results of his training.
He brought the status window back up, eyes hungry.
Charms Lv. 0 (7/10,000 EXP)
└ Lumos Lv. 0 (22/100 EXP)
He barked out a laugh. "Oh this is broken. Absolutely broken."
It seemed he only gained experience when successfully casting the spell, a partial cast did not count, while his idle slot seemed to gain him a single exp point every five minutes or so.
Even without continuing to practice himself he would reach level 1 in Lumos by the days end.
Cassius leaned back against the chair, heart racing.
He had expected something.
A system, maybe a stat page.
But not this.
Not a way to compress time itself, to multiply his training beyond natural limits.
Revenge won't take decades anymore.
It'll take years.
Maybe even less.
The thought pulsed through him like fire.
Eventually, the adrenaline ebbed, and the exhaustion crept in.
Sadly his training wand was limited in what i could do, but the books gave him the ability to gain theoretical knowledge at the very least.
As with all things age would increase his magic power, but perhaps there was a way to forcibly grow his mana without needing to wait for his core to stabilize further with his own growth.
First things first, Cassius would use his training wand to its fullest today, to learn all the spells it could cast to unlock their entries on his status screen, after that, what comes next would be to find a suitable tutor to help him grow beyond the results of the system itself.