After a month of research, Kyle realized that this mutated Patronus Charm was far more important to him than he had imagined—its significance was no less than the cheat he carried with him!
At its highest level, the Patronus Charm could actually absorb inert energy at a slow pace, converting it into soul elements and soul energy to nourish the growth of the soul seed!
This meant Kyle could completely reabsorb the grown soul seed to expand his own soul, and then split off a new primitive soul seed to absorb inert energy and grow again!
This utterly upended Kyle’s understanding of magic.
As far as Kyle knew, the wizarding world had only a handful of methods to replenish soul consumption or repair soul damage.
These techniques were either extraordinarily profound and arcane, or required materials that were extremely rare or even extinct.
Typically, only a few individuals in any given era could master such means.
As for methods to expand the soul, Kyle had never even heard of one.
Perhaps certain ancient wizarding families possessed such secrets, but they would certainly guard them as closely held heirlooms, keeping them strictly confidential.
Moreover, Kyle was certain that executing such a method would be immensely difficult.
A powerful soul manifested in the physical world through immense magic power, mental sharpness, heightened magic resistance, and more.
One could say that the strength of a wizard’s soul almost entirely determined their upper limit.
Although the Charm absorbed inert energy at a slow rate—yielding a soul growth of only three to five percent per year for Kyle—one had to remember that his soul was originally formed from the fusion of a fully grown adult soul from his past life and a young wizard’s soul from this life.
What’s more, his soul was still in a growth phase.
This meant that even under normal circumstances, his soul energy upon reaching adulthood would far exceed that of an ordinary wizard.
Compounded by an annual growth rate of 3–5%, reaching the level of Dumbledore and the Dark Lord—or even surpassing them—no longer seemed out of reach.
Having roughly grasped the Patronus Charm’s functions, he did not lower his guard, continuing to carefully record any psychological changes within himself.
Even though his soul had not been forcefully split and bore no wounds, the Patronus Charm was a spell composed entirely of positive energy.
Kyle feared that integrating soul power converted from such positive energy into his own soul might exert strange, unpredictable influences on him.
For instance, suddenly developing a devout faith in the light, rejecting lies, or abhorring darker methods.
Since such changes stemmed from the soul itself, they wouldn’t happen overnight, nor would they trigger his internal alarm bells.
Instead, Kyle would simply feel that his own perspective was shifting and wholeheartedly embrace the change.
That was the most terrifying part.
It was like an adult with a mature worldview being brainwashed into sincerely accepting the new ideology—he would practically cease to be himself.
Fortunately, right up until the start of his fourth year, Kyle compared his tracked charts and found no significant anomalies, allowing him to finally set his mind at ease.
In the first year after the Patronus Charm leveled up, all the energy absorbed by the soul seed was drawn in by Kyle to replenish the deficit caused by splitting off the seed in the first place.
As a result, the Charm could not function as a research cheat during that first year.
By the second year, once Kyle had fully restored his soul energy and no longer felt constantly exhausted or lethargic, the Patronus Charm was officially put to work in his research.
The expanded soul seed possessed far greater sentience.
After Kyle used Legilimency to inject his memories and insights on magic into the Charm, the burden of studying and researching basic magical theory fell entirely upon the Patronus.
Thanks to the Patronus working twenty-four hours a day without pause and with intense focus, Kyle’s grasp of magical theory advanced at a breakneck pace over the course of a year.
He established a comprehensive network of basic magic theory in his mind, and several subjects he prioritized had already been thoroughly explored.
Ever since Kyle left the large silver dog in his dormitory to conduct autonomous research, he had cast countless protective charms over his room.
White magic, Dark magic, magic arrays, magic rituals—anything Kyle could find or learn, he cast over the room.
He was confident that any intruder stepping into his dormitory would leave with memories that lasted a lifetime.
Even so, Kyle was not completely at ease.
He had been looking for a way to carry the Patronus Charm with him without hindering its research capabilities.
Kyle had considered carrying an item with him and applying an Undetectable Extension Charm to create a sufficiently large space inside it.
However, he could hardly guarantee that the container holding the Extension Charm wouldn’t get destroyed.
Accidents were everywhere, especially now that the storyline had begun.
Kyle couldn’t guarantee that the school was completely safe anymore.
In the end, the problem remained unresolved, and he could only leave the large silver dog in the dormitory for the time being.