From Hogwarts to Sturhaven

If this were in a tabletop RPG, the DM (Dungeon Master, i.e., the host of a tabletop RPG) would be grinding their teeth in hatred and desperately trying to find a way to tear up this card.

But this is the real world, and there is no DM controlling everything, so Ivy's power will expand at a visible rate in the near future.

Returning to the feat to be chosen, Ivy set her sights on a feat called creating magic tattoos.

The effect of this feat is to use pre-mixed magical ink and metal needles to directly pierce the arcane formula of a spell onto the target's skin, thus preserving it in this way. It's equivalent to carrying a reusable spell scroll through the skin.

Ivy chose to specialize in creating magic tattoos, certainly not for her own use.

Cassandra, as his sorcerer, has never obtained a class rank or traits because her patriarch, Ivy, is an incompetent fellow.

Ever since Ivy left the dark magic mark on Cassandra's shoulder, she had this idea. Although as an unqualified sect leader, Ivy could not give Cassandra the professional abilities that a sorcerer should have, she could find another way to give her something else.

From the knowledge base of the Grimoire of Destruction, Ivy learned that some mages from the wilderness would use their skin as spellbooks, directly recording the spells they learned on them, which gave Ivy an idea.

Now that a new skill slot was available, Ivy could finally test his ideas. After some searching, he indeed found a suitable skill.

Creating a magical tattoo first requires a magic tattoo needle, and with his expertise in creating wondrous items, Ivy quickly obtained this using fairy magic silver.

He crafted a tattoo needle, a rare magical item that grants spell tattoos made with it a +2 resistance to difficulty and halves the crafting time and cost.

The first magical tattoo that Ivy prepared was just a trick, the kind of tattoo that every mage can do – the Mage's Hand.

As a mage's third hand, the versatility of this zero-ring trick is self-evident. Anything a human hand can do, a mage's hand can do too, and it won't make any silly mistakes due to shaky hands. Now, Ivy uses the mage's hand to brew potions instead of her own hands.

“Cassandra, come to the House of Requirement.”

Ivy calmly sat in his chair, enjoying the food brought to him by his house-elves, having sent a message to his sorcerer using a third-circle short message spell.

The House of Requirement is great in every way, except for the risk of being hacked. However, Ivy will soon reach level 13, and among the 7th-ring spells is one called Mana Duncan's Mansion, which can create a mansion in another dimension within one minute.

As the spellcaster, one can freely alter the furnishings of the mansion as one pleases, just like in the House of Requirement. Furthermore, the mansion is equipped with a nine-course banquet capable of serving up to one hundred people, and one hundred invisible servants. These invisible servants can handle all the chores within the mansion, and can even massage you with arms formed from force fields.

The Magic Duncan's Mansion spell is great in every way; it's practically a mage version of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The only downside is that it consumes a 7th-level spell slot every day, which isn't ideal.

If possible, Ivy would like to create a portable demiplane as her home, so she can also bring the basilisk from beneath Hogwarts to guard it. If she encounters an enemy she can't defeat, she can leave the basilisk behind to draw attention while she hides in her demiplane. This is the ideal dwelling for a modern-day wizard.

The doorknob of the Room of Requirement was turned, and Cassandra, dressed in a green nightgown, pushed the door open and entered.

Upon seeing Ivy sitting at the dining table, she bowed her head and greeted her, "Good evening, Lord Doom."

"Sit down." Ivy didn't get up, and said loudly with a smile, "Want some late-night snacks?"

Cassandra obediently sat down at the table, and Ivy noticed that only a third of her buttocks were on the stool, and her whole body was tense.

Ever since Ivy made her her sorcerer, this clever girl has always maintained a good distance between them, neither too distant nor too close.

But Ivy still misses the arrogance she had when she first enrolled.

"I asked you to come here today because I have a new idea." Ivy began to introduce herself. As soon as the idea struck, Cassandra quickly swallowed the pudding she had just taken a bite of and put her knife and fork back on the plate.

“I’ll talk while you eat, it’s fine.” Ivy used her mage hand to grab a napkin and handed it to Cassandra, watching her wipe her mouth clean and resume enjoying the house-elf’s cooking.

“I plan to tattoo this spell that can form a magical arm onto your skin, so you can bypass its prerequisites and use it harmlessly. If things go well, perhaps I can try to tattoo some practical spells onto you.” Ivy revealed a tattoo needle made of fairy silver, its tip gleaming coldly in the light of the Room of Requirement.

The gleaming needle made Cassandra flinch, but she quickly regained her composure and said in a calm voice, "Thank you for your gift, Lord Doom."

Cassandra quickened her pace and soon finished the crème brûlée.

Ivy waved her wand and conjured a workbench, allowing Cassandra to sit in the chair in front of it.

"The design for the Yunfa tattoo won't be very big. Have you decided where you want it tattooed?" Ivy asked softly, holding the tattoo needle in her hand.

"My arm, my arm is fine." Cassandra deliberately avoided the direction of the silver needles and said with a slightly nervous expression.

Ivy looked at Cassandra's arm, which was as white as a lotus root, and smiled slightly: "Don't worry, it won't hurt much."

Before Cassandra could answer, Ivy plunged the silver needles into the girl's arm.

"Ah!" Cassandra let out a short cry of pain, then pressed her lips tightly together.

Ivy moved the needle with lightning speed, completing the 0-ring Trickster's Hand pattern in about 5 minutes.

He looked up and saw Cassandra trying to tilt her head back to keep her tears from falling.

“You’re lying! It really hurts…” Cassandra glanced at Ivy resentfully and said in a low voice.

Chapter 172 A Small Step for the Contract Master

"Clap."

Ivy snapped her fingers, and a ghostly blue arm suddenly appeared, gently wiping away the tears on Cassandra's face.

“Try it out. The Mage's Hand can help with many things, such as stirring potions in the cauldron, turning pages in a book, or holding your textbooks for you.” Ivy put away the tattoo needles and placed her palm on the glittering tattoo design. “When you activate this tattoo, describe to me in detail how it feels.”

"Don't you need any spells or gestures?" Cassandra asked.

“Logically, you only need to use your mind to stimulate it, but if you’re willing to add some suggestive actions or words to yourself, you can just say whatever you want.” Ivy thought for a moment and answered lightly, “Or you can snap your fingers like I did.”

So Cassandra raised her free right hand, pinched her ring finger and thumb together, and snapped her fingers crisply.

The spell pattern tattooed on her arm suddenly lit up, emitting a faint blue light, the same color as the mage's hand that Ivy had summoned earlier.

A faint flash of light appeared, and a second ghostly arm materialized in the air.

"Very good, that's it. Now try to control it. The magic connects you to this arm; you should have noticed..."

“It feels just like my own arm…” Cassandra continued, lost in thought. She had always been more drawn to powerful spells, but the magical mage's hand was giving her an unusual magical sense, as if it had rekindled the excitement of casting a spell for the first time.

Cassandra manipulated her dark blue arm to clench and swing it, even making it pick up a fork, pluck a piece of bacon from the table, and put it in its mouth, having a great time.

A minute later, the mage's hand disappeared, and the fork it had been holding fell to the ground.

"How do you feel?" Ivy asked.

Cassandra thought about it carefully and said, "When I activated the tattoo, it felt warm at first, but it quickly subsided, as if I had never activated it."

"Okay, next try continuous activation. You've already discovered that this spell lasts for one minute, but it's a very simple 0-ring trick. You should be able to use it repeatedly every day."

In fact, Magic Blast is a zero-ring trick, but because Ivy is not a qualified sect leader, Cassandra also has a daily limit on the use of Magic Blast.

Cassandra nodded, then snapped her fingers again. The moment the azure mage's hand appeared, Ivy called out, "One more time! Quickly!"

"Ahhhhh! It's so hot!" Cassandra hugged her arm; the tattoo that had been glowing blue had turned red and was radiating a scorching heat.

Ivy stepped forward and placed her hand on the tattoo design again, silently counting in her mind.

"Two, three, four..." Ivy had just counted to six when the color of the tattoo returned to normal.

"Try again." Ivy nodded, already having a guess in mind.

As expected, Cassandra's third spellcasting succeeded. The mage hand summoned by the first spell disappeared, and in its place, another mage hand reappeared.

Six seconds is an action in the D&D universe. Without class traits, special items, or feats, a normal spellcaster cannot cast two spells within six seconds, not even tricks.

This rule must be followed even in the magical world of Harry Potter, but wizards rely entirely on their speed of speech to cast spells, and it is possible to cast multiple spells within six seconds.

“None of the spells I’ve given you can be cast twice within six seconds, otherwise you’ll overload like you did just now,” Ivy explained. “Considering that Mage’s Hand only lasts for one minute, this greatly reduces its practicality. I’ll make some modifications for you to turn it into a focus spell. As long as you don’t break the magical link with the tattoo, you can maintain the form of Mage’s Hand.”

Seeing Cassandra take several deep breaths with a fearful expression before finally nodding, Ivy smiled and pulled out his silver tattoo needle.

The original Mage's Hand tattoo was like a voice-activated light, lighting up for a minute with a snap of the fingers. After Ivy's modification, the voice-activated light became a switch-controlled light; inputting magic is equivalent to turning on the switch, and the Mage's Hand will remain constantly lit.

Wiping away the tears that welled up from the pain, Cassandra asked, "When will I be able to learn these spells on my own without your help?"

“I’m not sure.” Ivy recalled the Fireball spell she taught to the seventh-year students last semester. That spell was based on part of the D&D Fireball spell model. Ivy also intended to emulate the teaching methods of D&D wizards. Although everyone was eventually able to use the spell, they still cast it in a wizarding way, rather than casting an arcane spell on their own.

While mages are indeed arcane spellcasters, they don't actually acquire their spellcasting abilities through studying magical knowledge; rather, they receive them as gifts from their patriarch. Ivy wonders if Cassandra, as a mage, could possibly learn more D&D spells through studying arcane magic.

“Even if it were possible, it’s too early for you now.” Ivy considered for a moment. “The wizards’ magic is enough for you to study. Perhaps I can help speed up the process, but you should be prepared that there is a certain risk of failure, and even if it succeeds, it may be a burden for you.”

“I’m willing to give it a try!” Cassandra said without hesitation, giving a heavy nod.

“Alright.” Ivy showed the tattoo needle for the third time. “It’s still done through tattooing. This spell is called Scholar’s ​​Touch. It can help you read a book in 6 seconds. Even if you can only use it once a day, it can save a lot of time.”

Although they are arcane spellcasters, the spell slots of spellcasters are different from those of other arcane spellcasting classes. All of their spell slots belong to the same ring, and they need to consume spell slots to cast arcane spells, regardless of the ring level.

The highest level spell slot a spellcaster can obtain is level 5, but this doesn't mean they can't cast spells of higher levels. Through the class trait of Mystic Arts, the sect leader can grant a spellcaster a high-level spell that doesn't consume a spell slot. At level 11, this is a level 6 spell, and then one more every two levels until level 17, which is a level 9 spell.

Overall, the Mage is still a class that is strong in the early game but slightly weaker in the late game. However, Cassandra serves as a supplement to the Wizard, which should prevent this situation from occurring.

The arcane formula for Scholar's Touch is much more complex than that for Mage's Hand. Even though Ivy had a tattoo needle that could halve the drawing time, it still took her half an hour.

Although Cassandra, who was afraid of pain, kept shedding tears, she didn't make a sound. She just stubbornly tilted her head back, trying her best not to let the tears fall.

Ivy conjured a piece of cotton cloth and gently wiped away the blood that had seeped out during the tattooing process. She then took out a copy of "Hogwarts: A History" from the Book of Destruction and handed it to Cassandra, saying, "It's finished. Now try it out."

The Scholar's Touch tattoo occupies a considerable area. In its inactive state, it resembles the Mage's Hand tattoo, displaying a shimmering silver color. Once Cassandra activates it, it transforms into a blue hue imbued with magical light.

Cassandra didn't turn to a single page of the book, yet she felt her mind being brutally filled with knowledge.

She pressed her hand against her head and let out a muffled groan of pain.

"Not feeling well?" Ivy immediately realized that the Scholar's Touch had been successfully triggered, so she shared her experience, "It is indeed difficult to get used to this process at first. I suggest you try a thinner collection of poems or a novel that is not too technical. However, once you get used to the feeling brought by the Scholar's Touch, you may even feel a sense of comfort from having your mind filled with knowledge."

“Hogwarts…is indeed a school with a rich history…” Cassandra rubbed her temples, savoring the contents of the book.

The successful scholar's touch tattoo turned into a scalding red. A minute later, it seemed to cool down, but it was no longer the silver it was at the beginning. Instead, it turned into a grayish brown, like a scar left after a burn.

"It shouldn't take more than a day for it to return to its initial state, at which point you can use it to read a book again," Ivy concluded after examining it for a while.

Among all the classes that can cast spells, spellcasters are notoriously short on spell slots. Even at level 20, they only have a paltry 4 spell slots, not to mention that these slots are all limited to the 5th ring.

Cassandra's ability to use Scholar's Touch proves she possesses at least one 1st-level spell slot, which matches the spell slots a 1st-level Conjurer possesses. The only reason she hasn't yet achieved a class rank is because Ivy, as the sect leader, is holding her back.

“There are 365 days in a year. You have less than six years left until you graduate from Hogwarts in your seventh year. Even if you only read one book a day, the Scholar's Touch spell can help you digest more than two thousand large books. Although it is still far from the total collection in the library, it will create a huge gap between you and other students. Make good use of this spell, Cassandra.”