The long corridor was pitch dark, not a trace of light in sight.
When Tom followed behind Wade into the passage, the door behind them slammed shut.
Clatter!
Startled, Tom quickly turned around.
Thanks to the effect of the Eagle Eye Potion, he could still see clearly even without lighting his wand.
The door behind them had vanished completely, leaving only a cold, smooth wall.
Tom anxiously examined the wall, hoping to find even the faintest trace of a snake pattern.
Only then might he be able to use Parseltongue to open the door again.
But… there was nothing.
Tom's heart immediately tightened.
"Wade! The door won't open!" Tom said quickly.
No matter what achievements Tom might have in the future, for now, he was just a twelve-year-old boy.
In a situation like this, fear was only natural.
So now, Tom actually felt a bit relieved that he wasn't exploring this place alone.
"Don't panic, Tom," Wade said calmly while examining their surroundings. "This door can only be opened with Parseltongue. And throughout wizarding history, any wizard who could speak Parseltongue had some connection to Slytherin's bloodline. So this must be a place Slytherin left for his descendants! There's no doubt about it. I don't think Slytherin was mad enough to create something that would harm his own bloodline."
In a situation like this, aside from adults with strong mental fortitude, only someone like Wade—whose real age was far older than his physical one—could stay calm enough to think clearly.
Of course, Wade might have been calm, but he was also a bit frustrated.
Why hadn't he finished that game he'd spent hundreds on?
If he had, he wouldn't be going into this "dungeon" completely blind!
Still, since the Senior had managed to clear it once, most of the traps and such had probably already been taken care of… That was at least some good news.
But then… why had she emphasized that it had to be two people exploring this place together?
Wade didn't dwell on it for long. He gave his wand a slight flick, and a wisp of white smoke appeared, drifting silently deeper into the passage.
In situations like this, where scouting ahead was necessary, Nightmare Magic truly had a great advantage.
Seeing Wade perform that spell, Tom suddenly asked, "That spell… can you teach me?"
"This one?" Wade flicked his wand, and white mist coiled gently around him.
"Yes," Tom replied.
Most of Slytherin's inheritance would probably end up in Wade's hands anyway. So he figured that if he could at least learn something from Wade tonight, it wouldn't be a total loss.
"This is Dark Magic… are you sure you want to learn it?" Wade asked. "Didn't you say you weren't going to study Dark Magic anymore?"
Wade wasn't bluffing this time—Nightmare Magic was indeed genuine Dark Magic.
"Dark Magic?" Tom looked doubtful. "What kind of Dark Magic? Is it difficult to learn?"
"It's functional. As for how difficult…" Wade counted on his fingers for a moment. "Let's see… I've studied it for over a year now, and I've only just reached the beginner level."
Tom immediately fell silent. Whether Wade was telling the truth or not, this probably wasn't something he could learn.
If Wade was telling the truth, then a spell that even someone like him had to spend over a year mastering was definitely beyond Tom's reach right now.
After all, one of the main reasons Tom had temporarily decided to stop studying Dark Magic was that most of it was too hard to learn or master for someone his age. It would be better to wait until he was older and his magic stronger.
And if Wade was lying… then there was even less point. If he really wanted to teach him, why would he bother making excuses?
"Then I won't learn it. I already said, I don't plan on touching Dark Magic for the next few years. Besides… becoming powerful doesn't necessarily depend on Dark Magic," Tom said, shaking his head.
Wade gave a thumbs up and said cheerfully, "Good for you, Tom!"
Even though the system was still malfunctioning and he couldn't see the increase in Merit Points, there was no doubt that Tom's decision would earn him a huge amount of them.
Of course, Merit Points right now were secondary.
Tom's change of heart—even if it only delayed his study of Dark Magic by a year—would have an enormous impact on the world's future. That was what truly mattered... To gain more merit points! Muhaha!
"As for Slytherin's inheritance…" Tom looked at Wade with hopeful eyes.
"I'll keep it safe for you first!" Wade said, patting his chest with confidence.
"You… how do you even have the nerve to say that!" Tom almost laughed from sheer anger.
"Tom, think about it! Who was Slytherin? Besides his well-known obsession with pure-blood ideology, what else was he famous for? His mastery of Dark Magic! Do you really think the legacy he left behind would have nothing to do with Dark Magic? But just now, you said you wouldn't touch Dark Magic for the time being. So, as your dear friend, I'll safeguard it for you for now. What's wrong with that?"
Tom's expression stiffened. "So… you really don't intend to share my ancestor's inheritance with me, huh…"
"Exactly! I'm not that kind of person!" Wade declared righteously.
"…You just plan to keep it all for yourself!" Tom ground out through clenched teeth.
"Tom, you really underestimate me," Wade said with a smile, shaking his head. "What he left behind might not be as valuable to me as you think… Besides, we just got here. We don't even know if there's any inheritance at all. What's the point of talking about it now?"
Though the system's performance had been somewhat unreliable lately, it still occasionally produced some very useful magical materials.
For example, that early "Beginner's Gift Pack," which had been sold at a clearance price for just 50 Merit Points—the Complete Guide to Basic Spells—was already an incredible treasure! Not to mention the later materials on Transfiguration and potion recipes…
So, in Wade's mind, this so-called "Slytherin inheritance" really wasn't that important.
Saying he'd "keep it safe for Tom" wasn't exactly a lie.
The only reason he'd brought Tom along tonight was because of his Senior's warning—he wanted to find some information about the Blood-Cursed Werewolves in Slytherin's study.
…
As for Wade's final words, Tom actually believed him—at least, to some extent.
After all, he had always mistakenly assumed Wade came from a powerful and well-established family…
Of course, the main reason was still his own lack of strength.
It was only when one's power was insufficient that one was constantly held back by others.
"Forget it. I can't beat you anyway. Whether what you said is true or not, I can't do anything about it… But I still hope you meant it," Tom said quietly.
By this point, Tom had come to terms with it. Though this place truly was something Slytherin had left behind, without Wade, he never would have been able to find it on his own anyway.
Thinking of that, Tom's mood lightened considerably.
…
The two of them had been walking forward while talking.
Thanks to the Nightmare Magic leading the way, the maze-like corridor posed no obstacle to their progress.
Perhaps the Senior really had disabled many of the mechanisms and traps back then, because Wade and Tom had gone quite far without encountering any danger.
Along the way, they even found several iron doors that had already been opened.
"I get the feeling someone's been here before," Tom couldn't help but remark.
"That's not strange, Tom. It's been over a thousand years—surely some of Slytherin's descendants have come here before."
"Well, that does make things easier for us. We haven't run into any obstacles so far… I just hope they didn't take whatever was at the deepest part. Otherwise, we'll have come all this way for nothing," Tom said helplessly.
Still, despite what he said, from the traces along the way, Tom could tell just how difficult it must have been to navigate this place originally.
Even setting aside the puzzles and traps that had already been solved—just this labyrinthine passage alone would have required enormous effort to get through if not for Wade's scouting spell.
Hearing Tom's words, Wade replied casually, "Who knows?"
Since the Senior had told him to come here, it meant she hadn't taken those materials back then. Of course, it was also possible she had taken them and later returned them.
As they passed another open iron gate, Wade and Tom suddenly noticed, beneath an old lantern that hadn't been lit in years, a piece of yellowed parchment lying on the floor.
They exchanged a glance and quickly stepped forward.
After scanning the writing, both of them fell silent.
The parchment had been left by someone named Nokto Gaunt.
Judging by the name, this person was indeed a descendant of Slytherin.
And what was written on it was quite interesting.
In short, this member of the Gaunt family seemed to have been an outcast among them.
She believed the Gaunts didn't need Dark Magic, nor did they need to cling to the idea of pure-blood supremacy.
The worship of pure-bloods and the obsession with studying Dark Magic, she claimed, were nothing but distorted interpretations of Slytherin's original ideals passed down through generations.
She believed Slytherin was far from the one-dimensional figure people imagined him to be.
She had come to find "Slytherin's study" in order to prove that the Gaunt family had gravely misunderstood their ancestor's ideology through the generations. She firmly believed that Slytherin was not such an obsessive man.
Wade set the parchment down and turned to ask, "Tom, what do you think?"
Tom said coldly, "I think this Gaunt woman is foolishly naive. To prove that her family's obsession with pure-blood supremacy and Dark Magic was wrong, she came here to find the truth in Slytherin's study? Truth… does that even matter? Even if Slytherin wasn't as fanatical as people think, could she really change how pure-blood families think? I've seen firsthand just how stubborn and idiotic pure-bloods can be."
From the flash of anger in his eyes, Wade could tell he was thinking of Morfin Gaunt—the pure-blood who nearly wiped out the Riddle family.
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