"Is… is that so?" Tom felt his mind growing muddled.
"Many years ago, back when I still enjoyed hunting, I had quite a few friends. Some of them had excellent equipment—beautiful, precise hunting rifles of all sorts. And me? I only had an old, worn-out Springfield M1903. But every time we went out together, I always brought down more game than they did. Do you know why?"
"Why?" Tom asked curiously.
Old Tom said proudly, "Because their marksmanship was never as accurate as mine!"
A look of realization appeared on Tom's face.
Old Tom smiled. "As long as your aim is good, it doesn't matter what gun you use. But if your aim is poor, then even the newest, most precise rifle is useless. Because in the end, the one using the gun is still the person."
"That's right…" Tom muttered. "If a wizard's own skill and magical power aren't strong enough, then even if he's mastered the most powerful spells, he might still be defeated by an opponent's Disarming Charm…"
(HARRY: Expelliarmus!! LoL)
At that moment, Tom thought back to his sparring sessions with Wade.
The flashy spells he had spent countless effort learning never managed to land on Wade.
Yet Wade's simple Disarming Charm always hit him at just the right moment…
At the time, Wade had said they were switching from dueling mode to sparring mode, which must have meant he gave up using more dangerous, damaging spells.
To avoid sending Tom straight to St Mungo's.
Which meant, for Wade, no matter what spell he used, he could defeat him…
As frustrating as that thought was, it also strongly proved one thing.
That honing a wizard's own skill and ability was far more important than just practicing more and more powerful spells!
"No wonder… when Wade practiced dueling with me, he never commented on how well I cast a spell. He always criticized my casting rhythm, my footwork, things like that…"
Tom looked up at the ceiling in despair. "So all this time, the direction of my efforts has been wrong… I should've focused on improving my fundamentals, not wasting energy on all sorts of flashy spells… Trying to run before I even learned to walk… biting off more than I can chew…"
Dark magic might be powerful, but it was extremely difficult to learn.
And at Tom's current age, his casting still had a long buildup.
Once in a real fight, that left him with huge openings.
If that was the case, it was better to start with quick-casting defensive spells—like the Disarming Charm—as a stepping stone.
Then put effort into honing his technique. Even if he couldn't immediately boost his magical power, his combat ability would still be far stronger than it was now!
In a duel, casting speed and reaction time were crucial.
Spells that were too complicated only dragged down overall efficiency!
Thinking back, Wade had often pointed this out when they trained together.
But back then, Tom assumed Wade was just worried that if he learned too many spells too quickly, he'd surpass him—so he always brushed off Wade's words as nothing.
Now that he thought about it, he realized he'd been ungrateful…
So back then, the look Wade gave him wasn't wariness at all—it was… the look you give an idiot.
At that thought, Tom's face immediately flushed red.
Damn it, how could I be so stupid!
Once he sorted this out, Tom suddenly had a flood of new ideas!
"After lunch, could you practice spells with me?" Tom asked urgently.
"Huh? Me? I can't use magic!" Old Tom said in astonishment.
"That's fine… as long as you can throw stones! Even though stones fly much slower than spells, they can still simulate real combat and help me improve my fighting style!"
"I see… well then, sure. After lunch it'll be good to stretch a bit anyway." Old Tom eventually agreed to his son's request.
He figured, he could just treat it like playing a game with his boy.
…
Dorset.
Early in the morning, Newt and Wade quietly slipped out of the house.
Then, in the woods beside the house, they released a massive magical creature from Newt's suitcase!
It was a huge cat with iridescent patterns all over its body, and a tail even longer than its torso.
It was the very same Zouwu Newt had once rescued.
Originally, Newt had planned to release it back into the wild, but the Zouwu had grown attached to him and refused to leave no matter what.
So Newt had no choice but to keep raising it, even to this day.
"Don't be nervous. The Zouwu may look fierce, but it's actually a very gentle creature. Of course, you still need to be careful—don't say or do anything that might make it think you're hostile—"
Before Newt could finish speaking, he saw Wade pull a cat teaser stick out of his pocket.
Newt: "…"
Wade had already exchanged for a Magical Creature Affinity talent from the system's shop.
So, the moment the Zouwu laid eyes on him, it only felt a sense of closeness. There was no way it would attack him.
And with Wade pulling out a cat teaser stick…
In just a few minutes, the giant cat had completely taken a liking to Wade.
Wade's speed in bonding with the magical creature was so fast it even left Newt stunned…
He hadn't even told Wade how to deal with the Zouwu yet!And he had never seen a Zouwu warm up to someone else this quickly!
The speed was so fast that even Newt felt a twinge of jealousy.
"How did you know…" Newt pointed at Wade's cat teaser stick.
"Huh? You told me," Wade said with a smile.
"Me? I never told you…" Newt looked a little confused.
"Pfft~ Did you forget your own book? Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I bought the latest edition and memorized it cover to cover. In it, you describe in detail how to handle all kinds of magical creatures… I admire you so much! No one but you could have written a book like Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them!"
Wade laid the praise on thick, and though Newt tried to hide it, the upward curl of his lips betrayed the pride swelling inside him.
"Well… it's not quite as good as you say…"
"No shit, your book is incredible! Just imagine how many people escaped with their lives from the claws of dangerous magical creatures thanks to it! That's a boundless good deed! If only I could write a book like that! Just think how many people it could help…" Wade said this last part with genuine envy.
If Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them had been written by him, his merit points would definitely be pouring in every day!
Of course, St Mungo's was already providing him with plenty of merit points, but the growth rate still felt a bit slow—likely because those Healers hadn't fully mastered some of his new treatment methods yet.
"You can definitely do it too! Your talent in magizoology really surprised me!" Newt said happily.
"Really? But I feel like I'm just average…"
After the two of them exchanged another round of mutual flattery, they finally remembered why they were there.
Climbing onto the Zouwu's back, they rode toward the depths of the forest.
That depressed dragon had been hidden away deep inside by Newt.
Honestly, Wade thought Newt was really bold—keeping a fire-breathing creature in the middle of a forest?
Before long, the Zouwu carried them to the heart of the woods, stopping atop a low hill.
"The dragon's over there," Newt said, pointing into the distance.
Truthfully, even without Newt pointing, Wade had already spotted the massive shape of the dragon.
However, once Wade saw the dragon, he finally understood why Newt wasn't worried about it setting the forest on fire.
It was because… the dragon looked utterly despondent.
It lay there without moving, not to mention breathing fire—it didn't even bother to lift its head…
"Poor guy… eh? wait a second… isn't there someone next to the dragon?" Wade suddenly asked.
"Hm?" Newt immediately looked over, and sure enough, squatting right in front of the dragon's snout was a person…
"What? That's far too dangerous! Even if this dragon is depressed, no one knows when it might breathe fire!" Newt panicked.
He completely forgot what he'd said earlier about only observing the dragon from a distance, and hurriedly urged the Zouwu to rush toward it.
_________
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