Eyes closed, then open again.
Night vanished in a heartbeat.
By the time dawn’s first light filtered through the clouds, most children were still lost in dreams.
Soren had already dressed and stood by the window, breathing in the crisp morning air.
Extraordinary Stamina proved as reliable as ever.
Four hours of deep sleep had fully restored him, his mind sharp as a blade.
A moment’s recollection brought yesterday’s lessons flooding back, every detail preserved with near-perfect clarity.
At this rate, he could memorize every textbook before term started, with time to spare for practicing spells and getting ahead of what first-years were expected to know.
Potions was the sole exception.
He lacked ingredients and wouldn’t dare experiment blindly, so he settled for committing the theory to memory.
Review complete.
Back to reality.
Soren spent half an hour reinforcing yesterday’s progress, then headed out to the dining hall for breakfast.
For some reason, he drew far more stares than usual today.
Every child in the room sneaked glances at him.
But his mind still wandered the magical world he’d been reading about, and the attention slipped past unnoticed.
He choked down the tasteless meal that passed for breakfast and hurried out, making his way toward the director’s office.
Not far behind, Ayla had been about to catch up and speak to him.
She was a beat too slow.
She watched his retreating back, and the heart that had just begun to settle twisted tight all over again.
Soren remained oblivious to the shift in how others saw him.
Even if he’d noticed, he probably wouldn’t have cared.
He went straight to the director’s office, gave a brief report, then made a sincere request.
“Before term starts, I’d like to focus entirely on studying in my room.
Director Brent, could you have the staff leave my meals at the door each day?
I promise you, once I’ve learned enough, I’ll repay the orphanage.”
The director studied him in silence, paying close attention to his demeanor.
After confirming he was full of energy and showed no dark circles or other signs of exhaustion, she spoke gently.
“Soren, I know you’re a stubborn boy.
Once you’ve made up your mind, nothing anyone says will change it.
I just hope you’ll remember one thing.
All work and no play makes even the smartest child dull.”
“I understand, Director.
Thank you for the advice.” Soren bowed his head with a genuine smile.
“But I have to say, learning magic is far more interesting than playing anyway.”
A soft chuckle escaped her.
She nodded slowly.
“Very well, have it your way.
And good luck on your journey of knowledge, future Great Wizard~”
“Technically, the proper term is ‘wizard.’ That’s the standard usage, Director.”
That bit of trivia delivered, Soren took his leave and headed back to his room.
Once inside, he quickly checked his makeshift alarm measures, confirming no one had entered.
A small breath of relief escaped him.
This was an orphanage, not a private house.
Sticky fingers and kids who thought pranks were hilarious were both in ample supply.
He’d taught more than a few lessons before, and he wasn’t about to let his guard down.
Check complete.
Door locked, curtains drawn, he dropped into the chair at his desk and eagerly opened the precious magic book he hadn’t finished reading.
As a Muggle-born wizard through and through, he was desperately short on basic magical knowledge.
These weeks before school started had to count.
Only by establishing himself as a top student from day one could many of his plans become feasible.
So, a modest first goal: steal Hermione’s year-rank and know-it-all crown, and keep right on being the academic king at Hogwarts.
[Schedule]
07:00 – Wake up and wash.
07:00–08:00 – Review and breakfast.
08:00–12:00 – Study.
12:00–13:00 – Lunch and a fifteen-minute nap.
13:00–18:00 – Study.
18:00–19:00 – Dinner and indoor exercise.
19:00–02:00 – Study.
02:00–03:00 – Wash up, daily review, sleep.
Sixteen hours of deep study every day.
Even the remaining hours were filled with thoughts of what he’d read.
His life was full to bursting, with a few harmless side effects like losing all sense of day and night and a persistent low-grade headache.
Several days passed in this blur.
He finished Magical Theory cover to cover and walked away feeling genuinely enriched.
Compared to a structured magical education, his old self-taught approach had been like a blind man groping an elephant.
Full of gaps and misunderstandings.
But that didn’t mean self-study had been wasted.
Many of his wild ideas found subtle echoes between the lines of Magical Theory.
Some even seemed to reach beyond the book’s framework.
Take the “psychokinesis” he’d cobbled together on his own.
Wasn’t that essentially an advanced form of wandless, nonverbal casting?
The power output was modest for now, but it had the advantage of being unexpected and unconstrained.
He imagined it would give conventionally trained wizards quite a “surprise.”
Finishing one magic book, Soren didn’t rush to crack open the next.
Instead, he summoned the achievement system, ready to give it a piece of his mind as a form of relaxation.
To his surprise, the system had apparently turned over a new leaf.
A whole series of unlockable achievements had appeared on the magical world achievements page.
His gaze instinctively locked onto the top of the list.
Then the sheer difficulty of the gold-tier achievements registered, and he prudently lowered his expectations, starting from the basics.
Green achievement: I Love Reading.
Hmm?
Was this what passed for magical world achievements?
Starting right at green, skipping gray and white entirely?
Looked impressive at first glance.
He read the details:
[I Love Reading (Locked)]
[Unlock requirement: Carefully study one hundred magical books, mastering their knowledge and information to at least a 70-point standard.]
[Description: A book holds worlds of wealth, wisdom, and wonder.]
[Bonus: Scholar’s Focus.]
[Effect: A true lover of books can enter a focused state the moment they open one.
In this state, thinking becomes sharper, memory grows clearer, and learning ability increases significantly.]
[System evaluation: Study hard and improve every day.
For someone new to the magical world with no foundation, is there any investment with better returns than reading?]
Hmm…
feels…
decent, actually.
Soren glanced at the bookshelf.
The first-year Hogwarts reading list only had eight books, nowhere near enough to unlock this achievement.
The good news: the school library held countless free books.
More than enough to meet the requirement.
And the Scholar’s Focus effect was genuinely powerful, extremely student-friendly.
He looked further up the chain at the next achievement:
[Wise Scholar (Locked)]
“…”
He didn’t even need to read further.
Soren froze.
One thousand.
Ten times the previous requirement!?
This difficulty curve is completely broken!
[Bonus 1: Sage’s Focus.]
[Bonus 2: Cross-Disciplinary Insight.]
[Effect: Omitted…]
“…Wait, two bonuses!”
Soren’s eyes widened.
He read through the effect descriptions carefully, and by the end, the difficulty suddenly felt…
not entirely unreasonable.
One thousand books.
So what?
He’d practically live in the library during his free time.
A few extra semesters and he’d hit the number eventually.
As long as the achievements after that weren’t too…
[Reader of Ten Thousand Volumes (Locked)]
[Unlock requirement: Carefully study ten thousand magical books…]
Oh, come ON.
His scalp tingled.
Soren glared at the system and vented, “What kind of garbage design is this!
Each tier multiplies by ten!
Does the host experience even matter!?
I reject this!
Take it back and redo it!”
[…]
The system said nothing.
Not exactly known for its customer service.
Soren groaned at the ceiling.
Even though Reader of Ten Thousand Volumes came with three powerful bonuses, it wasn’t enough to suppress the frustration gnawing at him.
Ten thousand books!
Even reading one a day, that was ten thousand days.
Roughly twenty-five years.
And no skimming allowed.
The efficiency was terrible.
Brute-force reading wouldn’t work.
He needed a different approach, something only magic could provide.
What could he do?
Think, think.
He recalled the original story.
Hermione had used that thing…
a Time-Turner, wasn’t it?
Could he create a closed temporal loop and just sit inside it, reading until his eyes bled?
Knock knock knock.
A soft tapping at the door interrupted his thoughts.
Soren glanced at the wall clock.
Two in the afternoon.
Who would come looking for him at this hour?
Director Brent?