Nurmengard.
Grindelwald put down the notebook in his hand.
"Wade managed to deduce several locations just from a few manuscripts… and those locations match exactly with what's recorded in this notebook… which means, the goblins weren't lying after all!"
He turned to Vinda and said, "Have them speed up the exploration. I refuse to believe nothing is left at all! Also, tell the goblins to send their own people."
"If their other useless lot won't do, then at least have them send their goblin craftsmen! Those instruments they gave us haven't proven useful in the slightest so far!"
"Even if they can't find that magical power, they'd better at least uncover some clues! Otherwise… they know the consequences."
Vinda nodded slightly. "Understood. I'll inform them right away."
Watching Vinda's departing figure, Grindelwald furrowed his brow.
Ever since Wade discovered traces of that magical force—and, worse yet, managed to pinpoint exact locations using only a few fragmented manuscripts—he'd been haunted by a vague, indescribable unease.
As if something bad was about to happen…
Grindelwald knew this was a warning granted by his prophetic talent.
It wasn't that he didn't want to perform another divination, but…
Even though his prophetic talent had grown strong, it still couldn't rival that of Nicolas Flamel.
He wasn't yet capable of selectively and accurately predicting the exact part of the future he wished to see…
However, he could guess that this ominous feeling most likely came from Wade!
…
Inside the Somnolen wizard tower.
Wade raised his hand and swept it across a temporary wooden wall.
In the spot where his hand passed, the wood suddenly caught fire.
Wade let out a sigh of relief. At last, the trigger-sensitive trap was successfully created…
This kind of trap functioned like a magical landmine—it would activate instantly whenever someone passed by.
Given Wade's current spellcasting level and the limited alchemy knowledge he'd gleaned from books, managing to create something like this was already pushing his limits.
"Next…" Wade removed a bowl-shaped metal device from the wall and carefully inserted a small orb into it.
After reinstalling the trigger trap back onto the wooden wall, Wade quickly put on a mask and stepped far away.
"Begin!"
With a flick of his wand, a small cage beside the wooden wall—covered by a black cloth—swung open.
A blur of blue-gray darted out from the cage!
However, as that blur of motion shot out, it just happened to pass by the wooden wall.
Immediately—
Puff!
The trap was triggered again! A cloud of reddish-brown mist burst from the trap in an instant.
Thud!
The nimble creature collapsed to the ground on the spot, completely motionless.
It was a kneazle with blue fur and gray spots…
Wade had casually caught it from the Forbidden Forest using a nightmare spell.
But now, it had completely lost consciousness.
Wade nodded in satisfaction. This newly crafted tranquilizer-dung bomb worked quite well—even magical creatures could be knocked out instantly.
And the trigger was fast—so fast that even the kneazle's speed and reflexes couldn't escape it.
"I wonder if there are any dragons in the Forbidden Forest… If I could test this on a dragon, that'd be perfect…"
If this potion could put an adult dragon to sleep, then it would definitely work on wizards too!
...
After finishing the experiment, Wade immediately tidied up the lab.
These tranquilizer dung bombs were quite potent. If they accidentally all went off, he might end up sleeping in the wizard tower for a century...
After carefully packing up the tranquilizer dung bombs, Wade looked at the kneazle, intending to release it back into the Forbidden Forest.
"Hmm... thank you for your contribution to my experiment. In that case, I'll give you a sweet dream as a reward."
As he spoke, Wade gently tapped the kneazle's head with his wand.
The next second, the kneazle's previously tightly furrowed brow relaxed completely.
"Kyuu~~"
Even the corners of its mouth curled up in a vaguely human-like smile.
This had become a habit for Wade.
Whether he was taking something from magical creatures or using them for experiments, he always gave them a sweet dream afterward as compensation.
It not only helped him practice his nightmare magic but also eased the guilt on his already dwindling conscience. In this way, he could also reduce some of the negative effects brought on by dark magic.
Thinking of it that way, Wade felt it was quite worthwhile.
He let the kneazle sleep peacefully where it was, then shifted his focus back to studying the "residue."
"This really is a kind of magic that's both lovable and loathsome…" Wade murmured.
After the duel with Anne, Wade had already obtained a rough estimate of the enhancement data.
He compared the current data with Anne's previous state.
Her magical power had increased by about 1 percent.
But that one percent increase in magical strength couldn't be underestimated!
This was a direct enhancement to a wizard's base stats!
Any additional boosts from emotions, focus, and the like were all built on top of this foundation!
After thoroughly thrashing Tom and many pure-blooded young wizards, Wade had already collected enough data.
Though Tom was stronger than other wizards his age, even with his excellent natural talent, when it came purely to magical power measurements, his base magical strength was only about one to two percent stronger than that of an average pure-blood wizard.
A one percent increase in strength, when combined with enhancements from emotion, focus, and skill proficiency, could be magnified several times over.
The moment Tom was pushed into a desperate situation and suddenly managed to cast a full Shield Charm with ease—this was the most compelling proof that emotion and concentration provided additional boosts to magical strength.
That was why Anne's power saw such a dramatic change after just a one percent increase in her magical strength.
Moreover, upon sensing her own improvement, Anne's growing confidence further boosted her spellcasting strength.
As a result, she was even able to fully cast high-level spells like Exploding Curse…
Wade suddenly recalled something: when Tom eventually became Voldemort, his appearance became utterly unrecognizable.
That was a side effect of repeated failed attempts at black magic transformation rituals.
Undoubtedly, although those transformation rituals had failed, they still brought a massive increase to his base attributes.
Otherwise, his magical strength wouldn't have surged so dramatically.
Under normal development, for Tom to reach the level of Dumbledore's magical strength, it would have taken him several more decades of accumulation.
And yet, by his fifties or sixties, Tom was already able to fight Dumbledore evenly.
In the battle at the Ministry of Magic, if Voldemort hadn't been so cautious and unwilling to go all out, it really would've been hard to say who would've won.
"It's a pity this kind of 'residue' comes from negative emotions. It's harmful to the human body..." Wade said again, with regret.
Suddenly, Wade frowned—he'd discovered a blind spot!
At first, Professor Morganach discovered this "residue" while trying to help her father rid himself of grief.
Later, she became addicted to the power this "residue" brought her, and that's when she began indiscriminately collecting negative emotions throughout Hogwarts...
In other words… what if I didn't extract residue from negative emotions to begin with, but instead from happiness?
"Hiss…" Wade grew excited, immediately pulling out a mass of "residue" to begin experimenting.
But after a while, disappointment was written all over Wade's face.
After Morganach lost control, she hadn't limited herself to just extracting negative emotions—she had drawn out all emotions entirely!
Whether sorrow, joy, or anger…
Those whose emotions were taken away turned into hollow shells, temporarily void of all emotional fluctuation.
Back then, many of the students at Hogwarts became like puppets... devoid of happiness, anger, sorrow, or joy.
Because of this, the professors at Hogwarts were able to quickly discover Morganach's plan at the time.
"Sigh… what a pity!" Wade Reynolds sighed regretfully.
"Kyuuu~~" At that moment, the kneazle nearby rolled over in its sleep, the smile on its face still present.
The sweet dream Wade had gifted it filled its heart with joy...
"Wait…" Wade suddenly widened his eyes again, having discovered another blind spot.
A normal person—especially a student stuck in the grind of school life—would naturally accumulate mostly negative emotions.
In other words, the "residue" Morganach extracted from students back then must have primarily come from negative emotions!
That matched the results Wade had just tested.
Which meant…
If I only extract joyful emotions, and then craft them into "residue," what would happen?
Without the influence of negative emotion, would this type of "residue" still cause personality distortion and side effects?
_________
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