The door shimmered, its surface rippling as if responding to an unseen force.
It didn't disappear but instead shifted, its structure warping and compressing.
The once-flat stone twisted, folding inward as cracks formed along its surface.
The chamber trembled. Then, the stone pulled together.
What had been a door was now a towering golem, its form carved from the same ancient rock.
Runes glowed faintly across its massive limbs, pulsing with embedded enchantments. Its gemstone eyes locked onto Nero, gleaming like molten gold, filled with silent intent.
Nero exhaled slowly, his grip firm on his wand.
The golem's arm moved fast, far quicker than something so massive had any right to be.
A boulder-sized fist swung downward, aiming to crush him in a single blow.
But Nero was already moving. He sidestepped, the force of the impact shaking the ground as the stone fist shattered part of the floor. Brute force wasn't the answer.
This wasn't a battle of strength.
It was a battle of change.
Transfiguration was more than simple alteration, it was about understanding the very nature of what something was and guiding it into something else.
Nero flicked his wand, weaving his magic into the construct. He didn't try to destroy it. Instead, he directed the transformation.
Stone turned to wood.
The golem's rough, rocky form darkened, its rigid stone softening into solid oak. The shift was slow but deliberate, its body now covered in fibrous grain.
The weight changed, the structure adjusted, but the guardian did not stop. The magic sustaining it adapted, reinforcing the new material just as it had strengthened the stone before.
Nero expected that.
He took it further.
With another flick of his wand, the dense wood hollowed from within.
Layers peeled away, the once-massive limbs losing their weight. The guardian slowed, its body now fragile in places where it had once been solid. It creaked, unsteady, but still it endured.
It was resisting.
Nero's lips curled into a smirk. Good.
This was the true nature of transfiguration. Not just altering an object, but guiding it to its logical conclusion.
A wooden guardian could still stand. But something hollow? Something fragile?
He raised his wand once more.
The golem's surface splintered, its form breaking down further, no longer solid but woven into thin, delicate fibers. The once-imposing figure now looked like a marionette barely holding itself together. Its movements became sluggish, unnatural, its arms struggling to stay intact.
And then, with a final shift, Nero unraveled its form entirely.
The wooden fibers disintegrated into dust, scattering like fine ash. The guardian, once a being of solid stone, was now nothing but empty dust.
Silence followed.
Then, a deep, resonant voice echoed through the chamber:
"Trial of Transfiguration has been passed."
Nero let out a slow breath, lowering his wand.
He wasn't just changing materials. He was reshaping reality.
And this was only the beginning.
Nero barely had a moment to recover before the next test emerged.
A shimmering field stretched before him. an invisible force, one that distorted the very air.
He recognized part of the magic immediately.
"Is this an anti-apparition barrier? No, it feels a bit off. A gravity space? No… it seems deeper and stronger than both of those."
After pondering for a while, he concluded that this was some sort of restricting space. Probably made to hamper him from advancing, as soon as he entered it.
Step inside, and one could be caught in an endless loop, walking forever yet going nowhere.
Yet, he had no choice if he wanted the approval of the vault.
Nero braced himself. This trial would demand precision, control over his perception of reality. He prepared for resistance, for the warping of distance, for the disorienting pull of spatial magic.
And then, he took a step forward.
Nothing happened.
Another step.
Still nothing.
His brow furrowed. Had he bypassed it already? That wasn't possible.
He moved again, faster, then slower, altering his angles, expecting to feel something, any sign of magic attempting to warp his path.
But there was no challenge.
He wasn't stuck. He wasn't looping. He was just… walking.
The test was over before it had begun.
A quiet voice echoed through the chamber:
"Trial of Spatial Perception has been passed."
Nero froze. That was it?
He looked around, half-expecting some hidden trick, a deception he had missed. But no, there was nothing. The realization sent a ripple of unease through him.
Had the test malfunctioned?
Or had the magic simply… recognized him?
A chill ran down his spine, but there was no time to dwell on it.
The next trial was already unfolding.
The final barrier was unlike the others.
It did not shift. It did not attack.
It waited.
The enchantment pulsed with an ancient rhythm, steady as a heartbeat.
This was a lock that could not be forced, could not be deceived.
It required legacy.
Nero stepped forward. He knew what to do.
He muttered "I see, only a Ravenclaw could have any hope of opening this legacy".
He raised his hand, drawing a single cut along his palm.
He reached out, pressing his bleeding hand against the ancient sigil carved into the door.
The moment his blood met the markings, the symbols flared to life.
They twisted and coiled, shifting like living ink, reading him, recognizing him.
The air thrummed.
And then, A deep, resounding click.
The vault stirred. Stone scraped against stone as the great doors parted, revealing the depths beyond.
And then, a voice.
Warm, rich with wisdom.
"Congratulations, Nero."
"I have been waiting for you."
The final test was complete.
The vault had accepted him.
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2nd chapter of the day! (2/2)
75 chapters ahead on Patreon (Suiijin): Chapter 119: Letters