Before heading home, James took Luke to the local veterinary clinic.
Garfield received a full checkup, his vaccinations, and a clean bill of health.
They also bought plenty of kitten supplies before finally driving back.
Seeing that Garfield was perfectly healthy, Luke let out a sigh of relief.
“Mom, we’re back!”
“A kitten!” Anna’s sharp eyes immediately spotted Garfield.
“Mommy, Luke brought home a kitten!”
“His name is Garfield.”
“Meow~”
“What an adorable kitten! Is he a gift for me?”
Luke smiled.
“You’re still too young. We’ll raise Garfield together for now. When you’re older, we’ll get you your own pet. You can play with him, but don’t feed him anything without asking us first.”
“Okay! Garfield, come play with me!”
“Meow~”
Garfield, however, showed no intention of leaving Luke’s arms.
Anna could only stand beside him, happily petting the little orange kitten.
“Why are you two home so late?” Helen asked.
“Was the book signing that busy?”
James chuckled.
“If we’d stayed any longer, we might have brought another child home with us.”
“Dad…” Luke said helplessly.
“Mom, don’t listen to him. Hermione and I are just friends.”
“Hermione?” Helen asked curiously.
“Who’s that?”
“A friend I met today.”
Luke carried Garfield upstairs, with Anna following close behind.
As they walked away, James added with a grin,
“You’ll know who she is after you watch the video. Your son even invited her to his birthday party.”
Back in his room, Anna carefully placed Garfield on the bed.
“You play with Garfield. I’ll help clean your room.”
Luke walked over to his desk and gathered every page of the unfinished Harry Potter manuscript.
After making sure nothing had been left behind, he stacked them together, intending to burn them.
Just then, Helen called from downstairs.
“Luke! Bring Anna down for dinner!”
“Come on, Anna.”
Luke picked up the manuscript.
“You can bring Garfield downstairs too, but remember to wash your hands before we eat.”
“I know!” Anna pouted.
“I’m not a little kid anymore.”
The two of them headed downstairs.
As soon as they entered the dining room, Luke heard James say,
“Let’s eat first. Then your son has something he needs to explain.”
“Okay, Dad.”
Luke knew James was referring to everything that had happened that day.
Helen looked between the two of them.
“What haven’t you told me?”
“We’ll talk after dinner, Mom.”
After they finished eating, Luke turned to Anna.
“Anna, why don’t you take Garfield upstairs and show him your toys?”
He didn’t want his three-year-old sister hearing the conversation that was about to follow.
“Oh, right!”
“I have a little tiger and a little lion!”
“Garfield, you can be friends with them!”
She happily scooped Garfield into her arms and ran upstairs.
Once Anna was gone, James and Helen sat down on the sofa.
Helen looked at Luke.
“So…”
“What is it that Anna isn’t supposed to hear?”
Instead of answering immediately, Luke raised a hand.
The stack of manuscript pages on the table slowly floated into the air.
One by one, they drifted toward the fireplace.
Then Luke opened his palm.
A small fireball appeared above it.
With a gentle wave of his hand, the fireball flew into the fireplace.
Whoosh!
The manuscript burst into flames.
Helen stared blankly at the scene before her.
“…Is this magic?”
Luke shook his head.
“No, Mom.”
“This is magic.”
James finally asked the question that had been bothering him ever since they left the Grangers’ house.
“Luke, there’s something I still don’t understand.”
“You said Hermione has the talent to become a witch and that she’ll attend a magic school one day.”
“You also said the people at the London Sanctum use a different kind of magic.”
“And then you said you’re something else entirely.”
“So…”
“What exactly are you?”
Luke answered calmly.
“I’m a cultivator.”
“If everything goes well, I’ll eventually become an immortal.”
“An immortal?” James repeated in surprise.
“In Eastern mythology, aren’t immortals basically gods?”
Helen understood the concept even better than James.
But to her, immortals only existed in myths and legends.
“You could think of gods as incredibly powerful beings,” Luke replied.
“Some are even aliens.”
“Aliens…”
Helen rubbed her forehead.
“Honey… is Luke sick, or am I?”
“Mom.” Luke smiled helplessly.
“Neither of us is sick.”
“The world is much stranger than you think.”
“One day, if I get the chance, I’ll even introduce you to a few gods.”
“My God…”
James stared at him.
“You actually know gods?”
“Well…”
Luke scratched his head awkwardly.
“Not yet.”
“But I probably will in the future.”
At the moment, there was no way he could simply invite Thor over.
James nodded slowly before asking another question.
“Then what about the magic school… and the people at the London Sanctum?”
“The magic school is for children with magical talent. They receive their admission letters when they turn eleven. Hermione will definitely go there, but I’m not sure whether I’ll receive a letter myself.”
“As for the people on Baker Street, they’re a group of powerful sorcerers who have been protecting Earth from threats beyond our world for generations.”
James remained silent for a moment before asking one final question.
“You’ve been living with us your whole life. How do you know all of this?”
The events of the day had shaken him so much that he couldn’t help wondering whether the boy before him was truly his son.
Luke answered without hesitation.
“Dad, I learned all of this from my teacher.”
“The way I was taught was… a little special.”
“The person I was looking for on Baker Street is connected to my teacher, but unfortunately, I didn’t get to meet them today.”
Naturally, it was a lie.
Luke doubted the Ancient One would ever bother exposing such a harmless fabrication.
James accepted the explanation and chose not to ask any further questions.
Just then, Helen suddenly spoke.
“The magic school…”
“I remember your grandfather mentioning something like that when I was little.”
“I’ll call him later and ask.”
Luke was caught off guard.
Could Grandpa actually know about the wizarding world?
He had never noticed anything unusual about his grandfather growing up.
Luke’s maternal grandfather, Chang Hong, was a music professor at the Manhattan School of Music in New York.
Helen had inherited much of her musical talent from him.
James glanced toward Helen as she walked away to make the phone call before turning back to Luke.
“Don’t tell Anna about any of this yet.”
“She’s still too young.”
“Don’t worry, Dad.”
“I know.”
Back in his bedroom, Luke immediately opened the system interface.
Host: Luke Kirk
Realm: Beginner (Next Realm: Qi Refining)
Spiritual Root: Holy Spirit Root
Bloodline: Vermilion Bird Bloodline (Bound, Unique)
Cultivation Technique: Vermilion Bird Burning Technique (Bound, Unique)
Abilities: Intermediate Mental Training Method, Natural Affinity, Perfect Image Recall, Beginner Flame Spell (Upgradeable)
Equipment: None
Magic Artifact: None
Spirit Beast: None
Items: None
Current Mission: [Become Famous Early]
[Series Mission (I): Publish an outstanding work. Reward: Two lottery draws.]
Luke asked,
“System, what happens if I fail a mission?”
The system replied,
[Mission failure carries no direct punishment. However, the host’s growth rate will be significantly reduced, making it difficult to survive future crises.]
Luke nodded thoughtfully.
“That makes sense.”
“With both the Marvel Universe and the Wizarding World existing together, things are only going to become more dangerous.”
“And who knows what other worlds might appear in the future?”
He couldn’t help laughing to himself.
“So my current mission is basically… becoming a successful plagiarist.”
Luke continued browsing the system’s functions.
Personal Storage: 1 cubic meter (Upgrade conditions unknown.)
Lottery: Possible rewards include cultivation techniques, spells, equipment, magical artifacts, pills, heavenly treasures, spirit beasts, and consumable items.
Missions: Randomly triggered.
“System, can I give lottery rewards to other people?”
“All lottery rewards belong to the host and may be transferred freely.”
“Can I teach my cultivation techniques and spells to others?”
“Attribute-based cultivation techniques may only be taught once and require the recipient to possess a compatible spiritual root.”
“Body-refining techniques may be taught to any number of people and require no spiritual root.”
“There are no restrictions on teaching spells.”
“Both cultivation techniques and spells can be directly transmitted into the recipient’s consciousness, allowing them to cultivate independently.”
Luke’s eyes lit up.
“So I can teach Hermione cultivation…”
“And maybe even accept disciples in the future.”
Before he could become too excited, the system added another sentence.
“Because cultivation systems differ, basic elemental spells are relatively easy to teach.”
“However, supernatural abilities granted directly by the system cannot be taught or learned.”
“The only exceptions are self-created supernatural abilities and self-created spells.”
Luke’s excitement immediately faded.
“So, my priorities are clear.”
“I need to cultivate the Vermilion Bird Burning Technique and continue practicing the Flame Spell.”
“I also can’t neglect my Mental Training Method.”
“It may still surprise me in the future.”
“And, of course…”
“I need to complete more missions.”