Chapter 8: Training Montage year 1
Learning occlumency turned out to a lot simpler than the novels made it out to be. It only took me a month to set up my mindscape. I've already had years of practice with meditation, so emptying my mind and looking inward was pretty simple.
Wizards usually just pump loads of magic into their head and hope they can make a connection to their mental world. This actually damages the mana pathways and leaves a wizard slightly brain damaged.
I have a real speculation that since all pure-blooded wizards learn occlumency from a young age, it could be one of the main reasons for stagnation and lack of common sense among the magical population.
According to the tome on mind arts I found in the family library, the correct way to learn occlumency is to first, find the mana core inside your body. This step took me a week to accomplish. A magical persons mana core is not physically in the body, but its more on the spiritual plane.
To reach it, you have to find the feeling of your spirit through meditation, and imagine a hook pulling your consciousness inward. Once you reach your core, you can quickly will a connection to form from your core to your mental world.
Thanks to being half-god, it was a lot simpler to find my core, the tome says it can take years for some. My mana core was a giant spherical crystal filled with a black fog floating in the center that obviously pointed toward my shadow affinity.
Connected to the giant crystal were three smaller crystals about the size of a watermelon each, filled with light blue mist, a pure white mist, and an eerie dark green mist. They were for my minor affinities, magic, space, and death. The three smaller cores hovered below my main one in a triangular pattern and had thin strings connecting them to the main one.
When my father mentioned that gods can steal minor divinities from each other, he was probably referring to breaking off these small spheres and connecting them to their own primary affinities.
Anyway, I willed a new string to form from my central core to my head and got pulled into my mental world. From there, organizing was pretty simple, just tedious. I decided to set up my mind as a giant labyrinth. At the center, I placed a lounge chair, some tv screens, and a laptop.
The tv screens were for me to enjoy watching anyone who enters my mind suffer. I decided my security here will be to cover my entire mind in shadows and release a few dozen Geng*r's to go crazy on intruders.
Meanwhile, the laptop was for me to digitally organize my memories and put in as many digital defenses as possible. I even charmed the laptop to be unbreakable and immovable. It's set to organize new memories into the correct folders automatically.
Once I was done, I felt like my entire world view changed. It wasn't that the world itself changed, but how much I perceived from the world changed.
Sights I never noticed, smells I never paid attention to, sounds I couldn't dream of existing. It felt like my mind was always working at 40% my entire life, and now it reached 100%.
From there, everything became more manageable.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Physical training took me a few months to get going. The beginning always sucks when it comes to working out, but it pays off down the road.
I was still too small to do everything I wanted, so I began small and just practiced my kata for different forms and bladed weapons I found around the mansion.
By the end of the year, my body was already strengthened to the level of an above-average adult. I'm still short and small though.
------------------------------------------------------------
Making a wand was something that destroyed a good chunk of the fantasy image I had for this world. There were plenty of practice wands that were created when past lords were experimenting. I simply took them and tried to take them apart.
Turns out, a wand is what it is because of three things: the wood, which is just shaped into the shape of a stick, the core, the most magically conductive part of a magical beast, and the runes engraved on the inside of the wand.
99% of wands were just mass-produced with different wood, cores, and length of the wood. The runes were all identical.
Ollivander made It seem like the most difficult craft in the world! The bastard just didn't want any competition!
Anyway, It took me around 12 tries to make a functional wand. I used wood from the trees in the courtyard, and my kneazles 'donated' (read as ordered/bribed) loads of shadowy whiskers for the core. Then I just had to get used to copying and pasting the runes (which I don't understand yet) from the older wants and onto the new ones.
Boom, new wands. I didn't want to rely on them anyway.
-------------------------------------------------------------
I don't want any world's version of Dumbledore messing with me for magically legal guardianship, so I picked up books on wizarding laws and tried to find out how to emancipated.
And holy shit, are these wizards messed up. The whole book sounded like something a room full of drunk illiterate children shat out and threw on paper.
At least it made it easier for me.
There are three ways to become emancipated and take up the mantle of lord under the law for purebloods. One, the heir must become of age at seventeen and can immediately take up the position as long as there are no competing heirs, and the previously lord agrees or is missing/dead.
Two, the heir must provide the magical world with a groundbreaking discovery or win a life and death competition to prove his competence.
And three, if the house is without a lord, then no matter the age, the heir may attempt to call on his family lines magic and perform an inheritance test. The final method was mostly not spoken of because wizards are weak-willed children who are afraid of death, and they can't bribe their way through it.
Obviously, I already passed my test, and at the proud age of 5 years old, I am legally the Peverell lord. I'm sure the entire magical population is brain-damaged.
-------------------------------------------------------------
After a few weeks, I noticed that I didn't see much of Gol, Sil, and Bron, so I called them. It took me days to stop laughing at what I saw.
It turns out Tom asked the three of them to go into muggle London and catch up with modern times. I asked Tom to get cookbooks, nutrition books, modern-day spices, and kitchen supplies, some other supplies, and to 'clean out' (read as 'take everything') an office supply store for well... let's just say a long list. (I hate quill's, there are evil. Pen's save lives!)
Turns out that someone tried selling Bron some marijuana, and when Bron asked if it was a cooking spice, the dealer gave his 'guarantee' that it would taste amazing. Bron brought it back to Gol and Sil, and together the three of them tried a few new recipes.
Have you ever wondered what a fully unleashed house elf in the body of 'Sebas Tian' looks like when he is high off his ass? It wasn't pretty, but it was hilarious. Tom even smiled! Then he beat up the other three while smiling!
They started working out after watching me by saying that if the lord does it, then the servants must also be prepared. Tom…he frightens me… Thank god (thank you grandma, it feels safer to think of the ultimate loli before my father), that he is entirely loyal to me.
-------------------------------------------------------------
It took me a few months to get comfortable with using my existing shadow abilities, but by the end of the 6th month, It was natural to me.
I used some complete armor sets we had on display to practice with Shadow Extraction. They didn't have souls, but they were fully functional puppets. Yay! Free grunts!
I used them to get an understanding of my abilities and told them to go to different major cities around the world and stay in shadow form. Then I practiced Shadow Exchange and got the hang of it, it's like diving into a pool of cold water and then rising up to the surface in a new location.
Using it allowed me to get the hang of shadow apparating to any shadow I can physically see. I practiced by moving across the island.
Reanimation was pointless to practice, I had two knights kill each other, and they just collapsed into puddles of shadows and then reformed.
From there, I tried to use my shadows in unique ways that I remembered from different anime. I tried the Nara clan shadow hold technique, and it worked! Unfortunately it had many flaws.
For one, I have to physically be stronger than my opponent to force their body to move as I wish. Then I have to make sure the shadow connecting us is not cut off by a new source of light.
This can be easily managed by getting behind them and standing directly on my opponent's shadow. It would be perfect if it wasn't for the last point. Any magical person or anyone with unique energy can cut off my connection by flooding their body with their energy and pushing me out.
It's similar to the Imperio curse, where someone with a stronger will can resist. In this case, the opponent just has to will a quick burst of mana out to regain control and break the connection.
Using Half of my mana pool, I was able to create a clone, it can't think for itself, it's more of an empty puppet, but I can use it if I don't want to do something directly or if I want to make strategies with it while fighting. I can reabsorb it to get my mana back, but if it gets destroyed, I lose the mana.
I learned how to shroud myself in shadows, lower my presence, and essentially created my own disillusionment charm by becoming something of a chameleon. It silences my steps, erases my smell, and would require someone to focus hard to see any issues.
I had fun sneaking up on my Kneazles. For the first few months, the little bastards kept finding me and pouncing. Seeing as they have a detection skill, it makes sense, but it was great practice. It took me a while to sneak up on them, but it was worth all the effort.
My final attempts were covering my eyes with shadows to see at night, which worked. Night vision is a new sense but extremely useful. And trying to make constructs out of shadows. I tried it until the 8th month, where I gave up. It sounds cool, but it's faster and easier just to hold a blade.
-------------------------------------------------------------
I put up a map of the world in my study and started putting pins in spots where Tom found information that a magical beast habitat exists. I'm having him put together a list of locations and species.
I want to know everything I can while I'm still unknown to the rest of the magical world.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Practicing magic was exceptional and awful. With my minor divinity for magic, I was able to pick up basic spells easily. The problem was the repetitions I forced myself to do to engrain the way the spell works into my body.
I forced myself to practice with and without a wand inside the mansion and outside the mansion. So for every spell, I did I had to do it another 3 times in different ways. Obviously, using a wand inside the mansion was easiest, conversely doing it without a wand outside the mansion was the hardest.
It was slow work, but I could feel myself progressing at a steady and firm pace.
I managed to learn a bunch of basic spells. Oh, and for the record, 'wand movement' or 'flicking' was all complete bullshit. The whole point of verbal spells and wand movements was to give the user a command code in their minds to use their mana in a specific way.
My new processing ability I gained from occlumency allowed me to 'save' the image of how a spell works directly into my brain. I just had to physically practice it to get comfortable and used to the feeling.
It also allowed me to get a deeper understanding of my magic divinity by watching how my mana moves.
The spells I learned this year were:
Fire-Making Spell (Incendio)Levitation Charm (Wingardium Leviosa)Locking Spell (Colloportus)Mending Charm (Reparo)Severing Charm (Diffindo)Softening Charm (Spongify)Unlocking Spell (Alohomora)Curse of the Bogies (Mucus Ad Nauseam)Green Sparks (--)Knockback Jinx (Flipendo)Red Sparks (--)Smokescreen Spell (Fumos)Wand-Extinguishing Charm (Nox)Wand-Lighting Charm (Lumos)Un-Transfiguration spell (Reparifarge)
The first-year spells and charms at Hogwarts. I don't know if I'll ever use most of them, but they seem useful in different situations. A good fallback for unique cases my shadows abilities can't help me in.
-------------------------------------------------------------
I did all this for my first year. I felt pretty accomplished for a six-year-old with an adult's mind. I arrived in this world in April. My birthday was in July, and I had an interesting surprise waiting for me.
Flashback:
August 12th:
I had just woken up and was about to jump up and start my day only to feel something looking at me. You hear about it in novels, but it's actually a real thing, you just have to train your awareness skills.
I looked at my desk to find an owl with black feathers and golden eyes holding a box and giving me an intense stare.
'Why are these guys always so moody? Eh, I guess if I had to deliver mail for a bunch of inbred wizards with brain damage, I would develop a bad attitude too.'
I'm pretty sure there is only one or perhaps I should say one group of people who would send me something so let's accepted the package.
I reached out my hand to take it when the owl pecked me.
"Ow! What the hell!?"
It wasn't that bad, but don't look down on those beaks of theirs. That felt like a warning. I looked up, and the damn thing is just continuing to stare at me!
'What did owls need? Oh, right!'
"Tom!"
"Yes sir, how may I be of service?" He silently appeared right behind me. Thankfully all my occlumency training helps me keep my expressions neutral but seriously! How is he doing that!
"Can you please get this owl a plate of bacon?" I asked while looking at the owl. It nodded its head in approval and pushed the package forward with its wing.
I couldn't help but develop a small twitch on my brow. 'Why do I get the feeling this little shit is looking down on me.'
'Eh whatever, too much effort. It's pretty funny in a way.'
Tom disappeared, and a plate of bacon appeared on the desk. I cautiously took the package and moved back to my bed. Opening it up, I found a few items, but I picked up the letter first.
It said:
Happy Birthday Magus!
We have been periodically checking up on you, and we are incredibly proud of the effort your putting into things, we all love you and wish you a wonderful day.
Here are some gifts from us.
I salvaged the two knives you loved and made with all your effort from your suicide location.
'Is it suicide if you know you're going to die anyway?' I felt like kicking my old man for some reason. I looked down at the box, and right there were my black blades.
(Author note: I do not know knives, this is just something I threw together.)
Made from Tamahagane, the same metal used in traditional samurai swords, were two pitch-black blades. The handle was wrapped in shock-absorbing, specially treated leather. It didn't have a crossguard, but the handle extended into a brass knuckle. The blade was 6' inch long with one smooth side and one serrated side. The overall length was close to 11' inches, and they were very light in my hands.
I was thankful to see them again, I spent a lot of effort into making them. I looked back at the letter to continue reading.
Your grandfather has sent you a premium, one of kind sleeping mask, it's specially designed to give you the best night sleep around!
'Is this a sales pitch!' I couldn't help but mentally retort. I really saw a sleeping mask next to the knives. I just kept reading.
And finally, the best for last! (she is watching me while I'm writing this…). Your Grandmother has sent you a unique owl to make into your summon! I know you tried to make those two owls on the island into summons, but they didn't want to live forever. This one is a rare breed from the shadow owl race, and it will blend great with your abilities! Prove yourself to it, and it will give you its loyalty.
Keep going strong.
Love,
Dad, Grandpa, and Grandma.
It felt good to have a real family. I had friends back home, but it's not the same. I smiled and put everything away before turning back to the owl. It just continued staring at me.
"This…is going to take a while."
Flashback End.
It took me six months after that point, but I eventually got the damn owl. It just wanted bacon every day! It would come in the morning and night, peck me like a goddamn woodpecker, take its bacon and leave. I swear the damn thing was testing my patience.
I had to ignore it for the last two months until it finally approached me. It seemed watching me training had earned its respect, it had absolutely nothing to do with the bacon.
When I read its abilities, I broke down laughing! This is what the Alert looked like:
Alert:
New shadow summons gained!
Race: Shadow Owl
Description: Not much is known of how their species came to be, but Shadow owls are a special breed of an owl with mental abilities.
State: She tolerates your existence and is willing to bond with you after receiving your offerings.
Abilities:
Intangibility: a shadow owl can become intangible to the physical world and move through most obstacles, be they physical or magical. While intangible, it cannot be injured or touched, it will continue to drain your mana as long as it's active. (10 mana per minute)
Natural Legilimens: Shadow owls are born able to read the minds of others. They use the gained information to stay ahead and mock others.
Unique ability: unit summoning: Due to the willing bond of this unit, a unique ability was created. This unit can summon other shadow summonses to its shadow on command from you. (No mana required)
I couldn't stop laughing because I finally realized why my owl kept staring me down every second it was around me. It was trying to read my thoughts!
I took a look at the records in my mind and found recordings of epic showdowns between my owl (the noctur*e) vs. my mental Geng*rs. I had a poke*on battle going on inside my head!
Since that day, whenever I needed a good laugh, I just sat down in my mind and played the recording.
Anyway, with my owl's unique ability, I could send her into warded areas, have her summon my kneazles, and share senses with them! It was the perfect infiltration team.
I can exchange myself with any unit, but my units can't get passed warded zones, and it's safer if my physical body is not there unless necessary.
-------------------------------------------------------------
April rolled around and looking back, it was a full year full of new and exciting things. I plan to step it up a bit and have at least one more year of preparations before making any big moves.