— — — — — —
The timing couldn't have been worse. Lady Greengrass arrived at that exact moment and saw everything. Her vision nearly went dark.
Tom: "⊙_⊙"
The sudden appearance of the future mother-in-law was obviously not part of the plan.
But Tom had already been tempered by the universe itself. Putting everything else aside, his shamelessness alone had leveled up by at least ten SSS-tiers. Not only was he not embarrassed, he even smiled politely at Lady Greengrass.
"..."
Lady Greengrass froze for a moment, then pointed toward the study upstairs and slipped away without a sound.
"Mm… Tom, it's so stuffy."
Daphne lifted her head, cheeks flushed. Not from shyness, but because he had been holding her too tightly.
"Huh? Astoria, why is your face so red too?"
Daphne felt the temperature in the living room. It was cool enough. Had Astoria suddenly stopped being sensitive to heat and cold?
"I... I'm worried about Tom," the silver-haired girl said obediently, blinking. "He hasn't slept for almost ten days. He must be exhausted, right?"
"That's true!"
Daphne suddenly realized it and immediately jumped down, pushing Tom toward the stairs to make him sleep.
"Hey, don't rush. Auntie told me to go to the study first. Maybe she has something to talk about."
"Mom really is something. Ignore her, we'll go talk to her for you."
People say daughters grow closer to outsiders, and that saying works both at home and abroad. If you don't feel it, that just means they don't love you enough.
Tom definitely felt it now, as he went back to Daphne's room to catch up on sleep.
Lady Greengrass felt it too. Double the impact.
…
The next afternoon, Lady Greengrass finally got her wish and saw Tom.
"These two daughters of mine…" She shook her head. "Tom, I almost regret you meeting them so early. If it had been a few years later, I could've kept them by my side longer. But now…"
Tom gave an awkward smile. "Meeting early is good too. More stable, you know."
A wizard's dating pool was painfully small. In Britain, if you didn't want to marry a Muggle, your only real option was Hogwarts.
"So, what did you want to see me about?" Lady Greengrass's resentment was palpable, and Tom quickly changed the subject.
"Crouch is about to drop dead from exhaustion," she said bluntly. "The upcoming Tournament, the World Cup, and whatever it was you had him tinkering with. In short, there's too much. I took over part of the workload."
"Arrange for more people to help. These past few days have nearly worked me to death."
Tom could clearly read the words 'I want to give up' written all over her face. His future mother-in-law had never been particularly career-driven. Her greatest wish was simply to lift the family blood curse and see her two daughters grow up safely.
Instead, she had been dragged into handling all this mess. No wonder her resentment was sky-high.
But she couldn't refuse either. Otherwise, the resentful looks from her daughters alone would make her miserable. So the only solution was to deal with the problem at its source, the damn Tom Riddle.
Tom, who was usually the one passing the buck, hadn't expected to end up holding it this time.
"Give me a bit more time," Tom said, blinking. "Ten days at most. Crouch will get a perfect assistant."
"You said ten days," Lady Greengrass nodded. "If it goes over, you're taking my place."
"No problem." The boy patted his chest and agreed.
---
Inside the study space
Tom frowned. He had just finished a series of tests, feeling out the changes brought by this latest physical evolution.
He could clearly feel that he was stronger, but exactly how much stronger, and in what areas, there were still improvements he hadn't fully noticed.
"Trash system. Don't you even have a status panel or something?"
Tom cursed under his breath. This time, the system didn't play dead.
[Detected host demand. Emergency system update in progress…]
[Update complete. Personal attribute panel added.]
(Click to view details.)
➙Host: Tom Riddle
➙Profession: Wizard
➙Life Essence: 15.5 (Body 5, Soul 3.1)
➙Talents: Fire Dragon Bloodline, Phoenix Bloodline, Divine Power, Freak Body, Magical Sight, Mystic Eyes, Power of Time, Poison Affinity, Harmony of Yin and Yang, ....
➙Magic: Large number of standard spells, Astral Magic, Ice/Fire arcane circuits
➙Magical Item: Hakuna Matata (Sealed)
➙Overall Evaluation: The GOAT among Kings of the Century. At full output, you have already touched the legend tier, but your magical insight still has vast room for growth.
[Please keep working hard and become the strongest top student.]
Tom read through the panel several times, carefully, before finally nodding in satisfaction.
It wasn't extremely detailed, but it gave him a clear understanding of where he stood.
That was the real value of a status panel. Knowing your position, seeing your progress at all times, and getting constant positive feedback.
Life was basically a game. If high school seniors were given a visible progress bar for studying, even without any other talents, their grades would absolutely be better than when they were studying blind.
"What do you mean, 'vast room for growth'… You're basically saying I still suck."
Tom snorted at the final evaluation.
But he knew exactly where his current power came from. Half of it was the wand's amplification. The other half came from those dazzling talents and bloodlines.
Cheating was one thing, but cheating this hard and still not being strong would really be against the laws of nature.
"You're different somehow."
Half an hour later, Ravenclaw appeared. She spotted the change in Tom at a glance. She tried to find a more precise description, but it was a subtle, almost mystical feeling, impossible to put into words.
"Can the moon really change someone that much?"
"It's a kind of shock and loneliness you can't imagine," Tom said with a smile. "After you're revived, I can take you to space myself. If you haven't woken up after seven days, I'll come get you."
"Okay."
Ravenclaw's curiosity deepened. Wizards had been gazing at the stars and moon since ancient times, and long before Muggles they had known they lived on a massive sphere.
But actually going into space?
Maybe someone had tried, but no one had ever succeeded. There were no records at all, at least none Ravenclaw knew of.
And Tom didn't just plan to send Ravenclaw skyward. Andros, Grindelwald, none of them were getting out of it either. He'd been soaked by the rain himself. How could he let others stay dry?
Besides, it was good for them. Plenty of people wanted a chance to temper their will like this and never got it. Yeah… that's it. He was doing it for their own good.
"Help me check this spell. See if there are any hidden risks."
Tom took out a piece of parchment. Ravenclaw accepted it, and the two of them fell into a serious discussion.
It was the modified resurrection spell, containing a good portion of the Regeneration Potion ritual.
But ritual was far too crude, far too brutal. So what Tom had learned from Voldemort was the way of thinking, not a slavish copy of the Regeneration potion ritual itself. The spell had already been changed beyond recognition. And just to be safe, he still needed Ravenclaw's input.
"As long as you strengthen the link between the soul here and the real world, there shouldn't be any major problems," Ravenclaw said after reading it.
"It's worth a try. There's nothing to lose anyway."
Ravenclaw then drifted into a daze. "Tom..."
"Do you think… Helena could be revived?"
"I'm sorry, Rowena, but that's impossible." Tom shook his head without hesitation.
"Ghosts aren't souls. They're just lingering images and memories. They have no physical existence. They're like a hollow film. On what basis do you think they can be revived?"
"What if I just use Helena's memories?" Ravenclaw asked, a calm madness seeping into her voice. "And then create a pure soul to hold those memories?"
"Then it wouldn't be Helena. It would just be a puppet carrying her memories."
Tom felt a headache coming on. Everyone in this space was a problem child in their own way, but Ravenclaw was the worst. She was quiet most of the time, but when she did stir up trouble, it was always heart-stopping.
Creating a brand-new soul… had she forgotten how she'd been injured back then?
'Fortunately, Jeanne is here—a cute and obedient girl. I guess there's at least one other good person besides me in this place.'
Tom silently added a hundred points to the Maid of Orléans. Ever since she'd been summoned, Jeanne had never once given him a headache. She was far too well-behaved.
...
In the end, the topic fizzled out. Tom made an excuse to leave and headed for Ariana's house.
When the little witch learned that she really could be revived, she clung to Tom like an overexcited koala, showering him with frantic kisses. Luckily, Ariana didn't have a habit of wearing lipstick, or Tom would have been covered in marks by now.
"Don't get too excited just yet," Tom said, pinning down the girl as she kept squirming. "The first time is only a test. If there's any problem with the process, I won't let you take the risk."
"I know. But I believe you'll succeed."
Every girl has a hero in her heart. For Ariana, Tom was that hero. Everything she had now—and everything she would ever have—had been given to her by him.
Her belief in him was absolute.
.
.
.