— — — — — —
Even at his level, Tom didn't dare skip McGonagall's class.
He was practically buzzing with anticipation for the gacha, but the period after History of Magic was Transfiguration. If it had been Potions, he would've ditched without a second thought—but McGonagall…
Yeah. Forget it. In Hogwarts, she was one of those people you absolutely did not mess with.
So no matter how impatient he was, Tom forced himself to wait until noon before using his rewards.
The bell finally rang. At record speed, Tom turned the white ferret on his desk back into a pen holder, tossed Daphne a quick "Don't wait for me for lunch," and bolted out of the castle.
No one knew what the pull would give him, so he stuck to the usual routine: Forbidden Forest first, then the small world.
[Host: Tom Riddle]
[Identity: Third-year student at Hogwarts]
[Credits: 11,330]
[Achievement Points: 2,829]
[Pending Rewards: 1 Legendary Pull, 2 Intermediate Pulls]
The Legendary Pull was the reward he'd just earned. The two Intermediate Pulls came from the New World progress rewards.
With the little Lubans working diligently every day and a steady supply of raw materials, production bottlenecks were a thing of the past. That also meant influence growth had slowed to a crawl. It wasn't until the Lume-Lens came online that things finally broke past the 40% mark, netting Tom achievement points and two gacha chances.
One Legendary. Two Intermediate.
This time, Tom decided, he couldn't afford to be casual about it. This deserved some respect.
...
Half an hour later
In the living room of the villa in his small world, Tom wore a solemn expression as he planted three lit cigars into the table—Cohibas, no less—and bowed three times with great seriousness.
And the portrait he was bowing to…
Was himself.
Tom figured that in this world, there were very few people worthy of bows from him. Nicolas Flamel qualified. After all, he was Tom's teacher, had held nothing back when teaching alchemy, and had even postponed retirement and death to run around handling Tom's affairs. Bowing once to him would've been perfectly reasonable.
But the problem was, the old man just wasn't much help when it came to blessings.
As for anyone else… Merlin? Please. Who would be stupid enough to think that?
Gods? Things that probably didn't even exist. Even if he bowed, there was no guarantee they'd care.
So after thinking it over, the most reliable option was to bow to himself.
Not his current self, obviously. His future self—however far down the road that might be.
"Tom," the boy murmured, "if you're somehow aware in the heavens—no, wait, scrap that. If you can catch my thoughts drifting through the power of time, then please, bless me with the thing I need from this pull…"
He watched in silence as the three cigars burned down to nothing. The moment they did, he immediately activated the two Intermediate Pulls, as fast as he could, eager to see whether his future self was actually dependable.
Hm?
When he saw the two identical rewards, the boy fell into deep thought.
This thing…Did it count as dependable?
[Designation Voucher Fragment (1/3): Collect three fragments to exchange for any high-tier item, including but not limited to real-world items, pets, learning-space buildings, upgrade coupons, and more.]
[Designation Voucher Fragment (2/3): Collect three fragments to exchange for any high-tier item, including but not limited to real-world items, pets, study-space buildings, upgrade coupons, and more.]
Both rewards were the same. Which meant he was now just one fragment away from redeeming any high-level reward he wanted.
And among those rewards were quite a few things he could use right now. Antonidas's Arcane Magic Circuit, for example. Or another upgrade for the Meditation Room.
Still, his future self was...
With a slightly complicated mood, Tom finally used the main event of the day—the Legendary gacha.
A flash of blue light erupted. His consciousness blurred for an instant, and suddenly the magic inside the room surged to life. No, not just the room. The entire small world reacted, and even the outside world, sealed away by the suitcase, began to change.
Magical creatures were far more sensitive to fluctuations in magic than wizards. In an instant, the Forbidden Forest exploded with activity. Birds took flight, beasts roared, and Hagrid—who was inside the forest gathering herbs for the professors—was startled into a frantic search for the source of the disturbance, running around like a headless chicken.
...
Inside the small world, Tom came back to his senses and saw the reward he'd received.
A staff glowing with golden light, its tip carved into a smiling sun.
Right on cue, the system provided an explanation.
[Hakuna Matata: (Sealed) — May your future life be carefree and free of troubles.]
[Note: Host's current strength does not match the item's tier. The item has been automatically sealed. No manual unsealing conditions. It will gradually unseal in accordance with the host's growth.]
'Hakuna matata, what a wonderful phrase.'
For some reason, Tom could practically hear the voice in his head.
He reached out. The floating Hakuna Matata sensed his call, happily looping once through the air before dropping into his hand.
It was clearly a strange-looking staff, yet somehow it radiated a lively, carefree vibe. Staring at the smiling sun carved into its tip, Tom felt the mood rub off on him and couldn't help smiling back.
The moment he gripped it, the activity of his magic surged severalfold. At the same time, knowledge about Hakuna Matata flowed straight into his mind.
Every spell cast with it could trigger unexpected effects.
First, spell power would be boosted by a random amount. As for how much, Tom would have to test it himself.
Second, there were random bonus effects: faster reactions, healing, or even the sudden formation of a powerful protective barrier.
Most importantly, as the wielder of Hakuna Matata, his luck would quietly improve. It was practically a buff at the level of rules themselves.
"What a wonderful treasure…"
Tom admired the staff in his hand. It trembled twice, as if proudly showing off how alive it was.
"The design's a bit too flashy, though. Let's tone it down."
After rubbing it a few times, the smiling sun at the top shrank and sank into the shaft, turning into a simple emblem. Tom nodded in satisfaction.
Much better.
It wasn't the arcane notes he'd wanted most, but a new wand was just as urgent. His old wand simply couldn't handle his current magical output and had basically become decorative, only useful for delicate casting.
He'd been planning to gather materials and ask Ollivander to make him a stronger one. Now there was no need.
What mattered now was finding someone to test Hakuna Matata on.
"Rowena! Come taste the power of my brand-new staff!"
In the sea of flowers, the woman reading frowned slightly. At once, the entire field seemed to dim with her expression.
"Has this brat lost his mind?"
Everyone in the study space knew Tom's true colors. Well, everyone except Jeanne, who'd been tricked into saintly sincerity. Grindelwald and Andros, in particular, had learned that lesson the hard way. Of course, they all knew this brat was always joking.
He usually only teased Ravenclaw once in a while. But today he was being this bold. What kind of backing had he picked up now?
Curious, Ravenclaw floated over to him.
Tom immediately put on a look of disgust. "Why are you wearing a dress? Go change. Otherwise, when you lose, you'll blame it on your outfit. I'll be waiting in the arena."
Ravenclaw was so irritated she laughed. Without another word, she turned and went back to the villa to change.
She could use magic, but sometimes she just didn't feel like using it.
...
A few minutes later, Ravenclaw arrived at the arena to find Tom had already gathered Grindelwald, Andros, Jeanne, and Ariana as spectators.
"Don't blame me when you embarrass yourself in front of that little idiot," Ravenclaw said, shooting Jeanne a sideways glance.
Jeanne shook her head seriously. "The Holy Child is only fourteen. The fact that he can even challenge you already proves his unmatched talent. How could that be embarrassing?"
"Besides, at his age, you were far inferior to him."
Ravenclaw's smile froze.
Was this girl her natural nemesis or what? She couldn't even tell when someone was joking?
"Who wins isn't decided yet."
Gripping Hakuna Matata, Tom felt absurdly inflated with confidence. The staff was like a sword drawn from its sheath as he raised it high.
Under the stunned gazes of everyone present, a blazing sun came crashing straight down toward the wide-eyed Ravenclaw.
.
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