A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

"A defensive magic circle? I didn't expect it to be able to activate!"

"Of course it can be activated. As long as there is a supply of magic power, these magic circles can keep running."

"Let's not talk about that now." Aaron gave a fawning smile. "Ancestor, how was my performance just now?"

"Not very good. You're taking some time to even complete a basic magic circle. That's quite different from what I expected!" Vihert patted Aaron on the shoulder and smiled meaningfully. "Or do you think you can fool me with this level of skill?"

"You figured it out!" Aaron showed no embarrassment whatsoever, slowly extending his right hand towards the wall.

It was the same magic circle, but this time it was cast instantly, and the power of the flames was several times greater than before.

"how about this?"

"It's barely passable!" Vicht clicked his tongue. "Your talent in magic circles is quite excellent. If you can't even cast a basic magic circle instantly after a year, I'll be very disappointed."

Aaron's lips twitched; he hadn't expected this teacher to have such high standards.

"Well... I still have to attend classes, take exams, and do homework at Hogwarts. Especially this year, something big happened at the school. Salazar Slytherin's basilisk was released by his successor, causing widespread panic."

So...it's not that I didn't try; achieving this much in this environment is already quite an accomplishment.

Do you think I didn't take these things into account?

"Besides, you are Gaius's heir in this life." Vihert, exasperated by his lack of ambition, said disdainfully, "A mere descendant of Salazar Slytherin isn't worth your time and energy."

“Ancestor, you may not know much about this, but actually that heir is particularly troublesome.”

"It's understandable that you look down on him, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have the ability to threaten me." Aaron still felt lingering fear as he recalled what happened in the secret chamber. "His descendant is sixteen years old, and I was only thirteen. It's lucky I survived."

"Sigh!" Vihert sighed. "You didn't understand what I meant. I'm just annoyed by your meddling in other people's business."

"I didn't want this either!" Aaron said with a wry smile. "The problem is... those teammates were just too terrifying. Everything could have been easily resolved."

Sensing the frustration in Aaron's voice, Wicht smiled and shook his head. "That's your problem, excellent junior."

Keep going! Your presentation isn't finished yet!

Aaron nodded, gently waving his wand and drawing a more complex green magic circle.

A fierce gust of wind blew against the wall, but as expected, it was blocked by the defensive magic array inside.

"Barely satisfactory." Vicht crossed his arms and gave an objective and fair assessment, "However, being able to draw an intermediate magic circle in ten seconds proves that you haven't been slacking off this year, so you barely pass."

"Just passing!" Aaron said unhappily, feeling that his efforts had been undervalued.

"Otherwise what? In the magic world today, spells are the mainstream."

The ten seconds it takes to draw a magic circle is enough for your enemy to kill you several times over.

Even if you can cast it instantly, an intermediate-level magic circle won't offer you much help; at most, it will give you a slight advantage in battles against opponents of higher levels.

Aaron rolled his eyes, speechless.

"Ancestor, don't speak so lightly!"

I'm confident I can easily defeat a wizard my own age, but to fight someone much stronger and still manage a draw is already quite an achievement; to win would probably require paying a price.

Upon hearing this, Vicht frowned. "Isn't this basic procedure?"

"When I was alive, I loved challenging those stronger than me. My greatest pleasure before adulthood was slapping them in the face with magic circles they looked down upon. I wouldn't even deign to bully someone of my own level."

Aaron: ......

I'm sorry, your descendants have disgraced you.

After a long silence, feeling dejected, Aaron squatted on the ground and started drawing circles.

Abe flew over quite consciously, first glaring at Vicht, then jumping in front of Aaron, trying his best to comfort his master's wounded heart.

Although Vihert was somewhat confused, he could sense the overwhelming negative energy surrounding Aaron.

"Cough cough! Cheer up, and don't think too much."

I've basically put all my talent points into magic circles, which makes me a tiny bit stronger than others of the same level in terms of combat power.

But other aspects can't be compared; you should understand what I mean by that!

Upon hearing this, Aaron's eyes regained some light.

That seems to make sense; there's no need to compare someone who's well-rounded with someone who's severely unbalanced in their studies.

It's normal to lose when you try to use your weaknesses to attack the opponent's strengths!

Seeing this, Wicht breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

Even within the Gaius family, few can inherit magic arrays, and even fewer can reach Aaron's level within a year. He didn't want to see such a promising talent given up so carelessly.

“Ancestor, I actually have some experience with advanced magic arrays,” Aaron suddenly said.

"Oh!" Vicht was somewhat surprised. "Why didn't you say so earlier? I thought you were still working on instant casting of intermediate magic circles! I didn't expect you to be investing in advanced magic circles as well."

Aaron shrugged and drew a purple magic circle in mid-air, with fine purple lightning flashing around the circle.

The moment the magic circle was completed, a burst of lightning erupted, illuminating the entire secret room.

boom!

A white defensive magic circle appeared on the wall, blocking the raging lightning and lasting for several seconds before annihilating the power.

“Not bad, very good, excellent.” Vicht laughed loudly. “To be able to do this in half a minute, you truly are worthy of being my descendant.”

"Didn't you pass this time?" Aaron said, pursing his lips.

“If the maximum score is 100, you would give yourself 80,” Wichter remarked. “Don’t think this is a low rating; among the people I know, you would be in the top ten.”

"Only in the top ten?" Aaron was somewhat unconvinced. "Who's number one?"

“Of course it’s me,” Vicht said matter-of-factly. “I’m not exaggerating; I’m at the forefront of magic circles to date.”

"Um... I guessed so." Aaron thought to himself that the ancestors in the secret chamber were probably at least in the top three in their respective fields of expertise.

"Do you still have any left to use?"

Don't hold back from me. Only by truly understanding your progress can I provide you with professional guidance.

Aaron remained silent for a while, then nodded slightly.

Vicht understood his meaning and his face was full of satisfaction. "I take back what I just said. At the age of thirteen, you can be ranked second only to me in being able to inscribe an ultimate magic circle."

"Don't just stand there," Vicht quickly gestured, "I'm really looking forward to your performance!"

“But ancestor, the power of the ultimate magic circle is too great. This secret chamber... may not be able to withstand it,” Aaron said with some concern.

He spent a great deal of effort in his battle with Tom Riddle to create an ultimate magic circle, and he had a deep understanding of its destructive power, which was akin to a natural disaster.

"Don't worry, the defense of this secret room is even stronger than the defensive array of Gaius Castle. It can even withstand the destruction of forbidden and even abyssal magic. The ultimate magic array can't even make it shake."

Furthermore, only archmages and above can truly unleash the power of ultimate magic circles. You are currently only a mid-level mage; even if you were to inscribe an ultimate magic circle, its power would be greatly diminished.

Aaron frowned slightly. "Does only a Grand Magister be able to unleash the power of an ultimate magic circle? Can't a Magister do it?"

"Of course not, unless the amount of magical energy reserves is close to that of a Grand Magus."

Let me give you a very simple example. If a magic apprentice were to inscribe a forbidden magic circle or even an abyss magic circle, do you think he could unleash even one-tenth of its power?

"One-tenth is already quite remarkable."

"What are you thinking about?" Vihert flicked Aaron's head. "This idea is dangerous. Different levels of wizards consume different amounts of magic energy when inscribing magic circles."

A magic apprentice attempting to activate these two magic circles, which are only usable by Saint Magisters and above, on his own would likely have his magic energy drained and pass out the moment he began.

"Is it that serious?"

“It’s that serious. Last year, I was going to remind you to take it step by step before school started, but I never expected you to skip class.” Vicht chuckled with interest. “I bet Genes’ face was absolutely ashen back then. Why didn’t I think of skipping class before!”

“Um…maybe you haven’t been pushed to this point,” Aaron said.

"No, no, no, I was in a similar situation to you back then, surrounded by all sorts of courses."

Perhaps, just maybe, it's because I'm a rather honest person.

Aaron: ......

The Gaius family may have honest people, but their numbers are extremely small, and this one in front of them is definitely not one of them.

"Enough talk, let's get started."

"Then prepare to be surprised!" Aaron's lips curled up slightly as he raised his wand and focused intently on drawing a crimson elemental magic circle in mid-air.

About seven minutes later, the magic circle was about to take shape, and fire elements quickly gathered, forming high-temperature flames around the magic circle.

A ferocious fire dragon suddenly lunged forward and slammed into the defensive magic circle.

Rumble!

The fire dragon knew no fear and kept pushing forward.

The area covered by the flames continued to increase, but more magic circles were also activated to resist and extinguish the flames, making the secret room colorful for a time.

Soon, everything returned to normal.

The defending side won a complete victory; only the smell of burning in the air proved that a fierce collision had just taken place.

Aaron was breathing heavily, somewhat incredulous that his all-out attack had only produced a few sparks.

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!

"Not bad," Vicht clapped. "How does it feel?"

“I feel like you’re not lying to me.” Aaron silently compared the scene of his battle with Riddle in his mind. The power of the ultimate magic circle drawn by the mage was indeed somewhat inferior to that of the archmage. “Using the ultimate magic circle with my current magic energy is a bit of a stretch.”

"Good to know, all you need to do this holiday is very simple."

"Just focus on mastering intermediate and advanced magic circles."

Chapter 211 People are indeed different.

"Just elemental skills?" Aaron said somewhat unconvinced. "Actually, I can learn other things too, preferably something that can improve my combat power."

Snapped!

Before he could finish speaking, he was slapped on the head.

"Do you know the saying 'haste makes waste'?" Vicht said seriously. "I admire your attitude towards learning, but you can't be too greedy. You can't bite off more than you can chew!"

"But I've spent the past year learning elemental magic circles; I've almost mastered water, fire, earth, wind, and lightning."