A moment later—
Clang.
Clang.
Metal striking stone echoed repeatedly across the barren clearing.
A young wizard wearing dusty robes was currently digging at the ground with terrifying determination.
Logan genuinely never imagined that one day he would accidentally develop the talents of a professional grave robber.
Even more ridiculous was the fact that the shovel he had Transfigured from a tree branch worked absurdly well. Digging through the hardened soil felt strangely effortless.
At this point, if he accidentally unearthed an ancient tomb, would that officially make him a master treasure hunter?
While Logan was busy entertaining increasingly questionable thoughts, the shovel suddenly struck something solid beneath the dirt.
Bang!
Logan immediately froze.
Did I find it?
He quickly crouched down and brushed away the surrounding dirt excitedly.
Then his expression stiffened.
It wasn't a silver cup.
It was a stone.
"…Why is there a rock here?"
Still, his instincts immediately told him this thing was probably connected to Hufflepuff's Silver Cup somehow.
So naturally, Logan started digging even harder.
Ten minutes later, he finally uncovered the object completely.
Then he stared at it blankly.
"…A well?"
Embedded beneath the soil was a circular stone structure completely sealed by compacted dirt and mud.
Logan slowly rubbed his forehead.
Don't tell me…
Is the Silver Cup hidden at the bottom of this thing?
The mission timer was already ticking away rapidly.
Now that he had confirmed the cup was somewhere beneath the buried well, the problem became painfully obvious.
There was no way he could manually dig all this mud out in time.
Was the mission doomed already?
Logan immediately began reviewing every spell he currently knew.
The recently learned fire spell?
Impossible.
Burning the mud away was unrealistic.
After thinking for a while, the only remotely usable option seemed to be Wingardium Leviosa.
But using the Levitation Charm alone to remove this ridiculous amount of mud also sounded absurd.
Which meant…
There was only one option left.
The Grimoire.
Logan sighed heavily.
"Guess I'm getting drained dry again."
Without hesitation, he summoned the purple Grimoire into his hand.
Dark violet light immediately surged from its pages.
Logan stared toward the buried well and slowly raised his wand.
"Wingardium Leviosa."
The moment the spell activated, an enormous amount of magic instantly poured from Logan's body into the Grimoire.
The book acted as a terrifying magical amplifier.
A violent magical vortex rapidly formed above the well, causing the surrounding air pressure to become incredibly heavy.
The buried mud inside the well immediately began trembling violently.
Logan's face paled at visible speed.
His magic reserves were draining far too quickly.
While enduring the overwhelming exhaustion, he stared desperately at the well.
"Come on already…"
"Move!"
At first, Logan always assumed that becoming an Obscurial meant his magical reserves greatly surpassed ordinary wizards.
But every single time the Grimoire absorbed his magic, reality brutally reminded him otherwise.
The difference was basically this:
Normally, he felt like an unstoppable magical monster.
The second the Grimoire started feeding on his power, he transformed into a dying patient on life support.
A genuinely tragic experience.
Then finally—
BOOM!
The packed mud inside the well suddenly erupted upward under the overwhelming suction force.
Mud blasted into the sky like a giant fountain.
A disgusting brown fountain.
Logan instantly cancelled the spell and sprinted backward before becoming a human mud sculpture.
Moments later, thick wet dirt splattered across the surrounding clearing while the magical vortex slowly faded away.
Panting heavily, Logan staggered back toward the now-cleared well opening.
His entire body felt weak.
Peering downward cautiously, he tried to examine the inside.
Then he frowned.
"…Why is it completely black?"
Even though it was broad daylight, the inside of the well remained unnaturally dark.
Not ordinary darkness.
Absolute darkness.
It looked less like a real shadow and more like someone had drawn a perfect black circle onto reality itself.
As though the interior had been painted over using pure void.
Cold sweat instantly appeared on Logan's forehead.
No.
That's wrong.
Even a deep well should still reflect some amount of light during daytime.
This wasn't normal at all.
The moment he realized something was terribly wrong, Logan immediately stepped backward.
Then—
Crunch.
Crunch.
A horrifying grinding sound suddenly echoed from inside the well.
Something moved.
The next second, a black clay-like mass exploded upward from the darkness.
"What the hell is that?!"
Logan stared in shock as the thing landed heavily on the ground.
The black substance immediately began writhing violently.
Long strip-like appendages stretched outward from its body while its shape continuously twisted and deformed.
Logan didn't hesitate even slightly.
"Incendio!"
A burst of flames instantly struck the transforming creature.
BOOM!
Fire engulfed the black mass immediately.
Logan didn't care whether it worked or not.
Any experienced person knew one thing:
If you see a monster transforming, you attack first.
You don't politely wait for it to finish evolving.
Unfortunately, reality quickly slapped him in the face.
The flames slowly dissipated.
Completely ineffective.
The black clay-like creature continued transforming until it finally stabilized into a humanoid shape roughly five feet tall.
Its body was pitch black and unnaturally smooth.
No skin.
No hair.
No proper facial features.
Then suddenly—
Crunch.
Rows of crescent-shaped fangs burst from its back like jagged blades.
A grotesque face slowly emerged across its previously smooth head.
Logan genuinely couldn't describe the thing properly.
It was disgusting.
Worse still, the creature's arms twisted violently before reshaping into two massive curved blades resembling sickles.
The final result looked horrifyingly similar to a humanoid praying mantis.
Logan's scalp went numb.
What is this thing?!
Where's Hufflepuff's Silver Cup?!
Why did I summon some nightmare creature instead?!
Most importantly—
How am I supposed to fight this?!
Logan was already severely weakened after using the Grimoire to cast Wingardium Leviosa.
Then he wasted another spell trying to burn the creature.
At this point, his magic reserves were nearly empty.
Honestly, he was beginning to wonder whether he should permanently carry strengthening potions just to survive using the Grimoire.
There was no way he could win this fight.
Logan's survival instincts immediately screamed at him to run.
Mission failure suddenly seemed far preferable to dying horribly inside the Forbidden Forest.
Meanwhile, the creature itself finally stabilized completely.
Its newly born consciousness contained almost nothing.
Only emptiness.
Vast, endless emptiness.
And one instinct.
Kill every living thing nearby.
Especially…
The creature that attacked it with fire.
The next second, the black monster lunged toward Logan at terrifying speed.
Logan's pupils contracted violently.
It's over.
His exhausted body couldn't escape.
He lacked enough magic to cast another proper spell.
Death suddenly felt unbelievably close.
As expected…
A mission worth eight Legend Points could never possibly be simple.
Just as despair overwhelmed him completely—
A silver light suddenly burst upward from inside the well.
A dazzling silver object shot out from the darkness and flew directly toward Logan.
.....
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