Chapter 253: A Winter Without Letters Sent

The dungeon was always filled with the "ping-pong" collision sounds of young wizards stirring, and occasionally a cold voice would sound. But more often, it was the rustling sound of materials being put into the cauldron, and the bubbling sound of the cauldron boiling.

Sineipu hid in the shadows; long-term observation told him—except for some specific aspects, that fool's talent was no different from all the mediocre wizards he had ever seen.

In the cauldron where white smoke drifted, he couldn't distinguish the wonderful reactions between materials at all, nor could he know the subtle rustling produced by the flames licking the cauldron, let alone judge the key timing points when brewing potions.

In this regard, the only thing he could manage was rigor.

Heh—if it weren't for rigor, he should have been lying in the hospital wing bed by now.

【You brewed a pot of Draught of Peace at the apprentice level, proficiency +1】

Having lost the reliance on ritual magic, Sien could at most brew 【Apprentice】 level Draught of Peace, which was a significant progress brought by more than a week of time.

You know, he had difficulty even succeeding at the beginning.

【You brewed a pot of Draught of Peace at the apprentice level, proficiency +1】

It was another pot of apprentice Draught of Peace; Sien had to stop and rest for a while after brewing several pots.

Although he was only one proficiency point away from unlocking the beginner-level Draught of Peace, Sien was very sure that his spiritual power couldn't support it; he took out a bottle of potion and drank it under Professor Sineipu's thoughtful gaze.

A bit of heat flowed through his body, and Sien's exhausted spirit was recovering.

He put the crystal bottle away—hmm, it was apple-flavored.

For three whole months, with the help of his flight training and Professor Sineipu's potions, his magic power had recovered to—the level of a young wizard before enrollment!

Compared to when he would exhaust himself just by practicing the Levitation Charm, now he could cast silent spells many times without blinking and not feel tired.

More importantly, Sien felt he had reached the edge of a node.

Before this, his body would only produce trace amounts of magic power, which seemed far from reaching the normal level of a young wizard, and now if he crossed the node, what would recover would not only be his body, but also his normal magic power development level.

He only needed...

A bottle of potion came from nowhere and fell into Sien's hand; he looked up, Professor Sineipu's face was covered by parchment.

So Sien looked down at the potion, it was still a crystal bottle reflecting light, the potion inside seemed deeper in color than before, and there was only one word on it: Drink.

Sien didn't hesitate; the potion, let's call it Mysterious Potion No. 2, had an effect more than ten times better than the previous potion.

The taste also turned into a rich... apple flavor.

Sien felt his body was slightly hot; he seemed to have crossed the node of a normal young wizard; when he flicked his wand to use Lumos, Professor Sineipu's roar could be heard outside the dungeon:

"Fool! Retract your magic power!"

Sien silently retracted his wand, the corners of his mouth curling into an imperceptible arc.

There was more than one piece of good news.

【You brewed a pot of Draught of Peace at the beginner level, proficiency +3】

Magic power level would indeed significantly affect a wizard's performance in various branches of magic...

【A new Potion domain title has been unlocked, please check】

Sien looked down with expectation:

【Title: Potion Familiar】

【Greatly increases perception of potions, greatly improves potion talent】

【Wizard Sean, Potion Talent: Blue (Potion Familiar title has been added, original talent was white). Note: Average wizard is green】

【Advanced: Six expert-level potion brewing, six skilled-level potion brewing, can unlock the expert-level title in the Potion domain】

Talent—improved!

Sien knew that those days of desperately searching for inspiration, those days of being so cautious that he didn't dare to have any deviation, those days of worrying about heat and stirring intensity were one step further away from him.

He now... should be called half a potion genius, right?

Sineipu's gaze had been on Sien; he of course felt the magic power that had increased in a short time—that fool almost installed a hundred magic lanterns in the dungeon, and some materials must be stored in darkness.

At the same time, some details surged repeatedly in Sineipu's mind, finally turning into a moment of astonishment.

At the end of November in the dungeon, the chill also seeped into the depths of the stone walls, and snow fell on the edge of the castle, making a slight and soothing rustling sound.

Sien skillfully lit the cauldron, processed materials, put in materials, and stirred them, waiting for fusion.

He followed his unique intuition, constantly adjusting his skills when brewing potions, and for a while, his quill was also recording non-stop in the notebook on the side.

He now understood why Professor Sineipu would be so anxious and angry...

Looking back, his previous brewing could be counted as drawing a tiger by imitating a cat, and still had errors from time to time.

【You brewed a pot of Draught of Peace at the skilled level, proficiency +10】

Maybe it was accumulation, maybe it was good luck, Sien's face was filled with joy.

The skilled-level Draught of Peace, even at the recycling price, reached a staggering twenty Jin Jialong.

This also meant that he already had the level to brew advanced potions alone.

Compared to when he had difficulty brewing Boil-Cure Potion when he first enrolled, it was more than a hundred times stronger.

When the chill in the dungeon was at its peak. Severus Sineipu looked away, standing by the window, his gaze sinking into the frozen Heihu.

In the cauldron in front of Sien, the last cluster of red flames sank into the ashes, making a slight, sigh-like sound.

Professor Sineipu didn't move. Just watching his breath condense into white mist in front of him, and then dissipate in the stagnant air of the dungeon.

As if waiting for something, or having long forgotten the waiting itself. In this corner that even ghosts avoided, only memories and potion residues sealed some never-healing wounds in the weather below zero.

He thought it was just low talent, but his potion talent had already been gradually showing; in a trance, he only thought of one possibility:

Suffering gave him a barren body, destroyed his due talent, and froze his magic power on the passing line...

Compared to Sien's slight excitement, Professor Sineipu was expressionless; he asked in a rare, flat tone:

"Why... no resentment?"

Hogwarts snow was falling silently toward the Heihu, toward the Forbidden Forest, toward a long winter where no letters were sent.

So the snow fell thicker and thicker. The flames in the cauldron rose, occasionally making slight sounds. This winter, the heavy snow seemed to fall on Sineipu's rusty trachea and lungs.

His voice was like a train being stopped, the name in his throat lingering in the long winter.

The timing was set wrong! Sorry! The deer has been corrected! ===== CHAPTER 254 =====