I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 354 Ionia's Underground Warehouse

"Could that Extis be a member of the Favored Ones, concealing the true Divine Tower and building Azkaban Castle on the outer layer?"

Irving has reason to be suspicious.

In fact, the gods are not fools; they would not openly erect the divinely bestowed tower in the wilderness.

The Tower of Gods does not exist in this world. For example, the last location, the Tower of Gods that Owen discovered in the cave where Voldemort buried Horcruxes.

It requires ancient magic to open the door, and then the tower's own magic will 'teleport' the wizard into the tower.

As for the obelisk in the whirlpool, it was probably an accident. It was likely caused by the intervention of an Outer God, since no wizard had ever found any tower in the whirlpool before.

Irving even had reason to suspect that the divinely inspired tower had already "fallen".

"Phew!" He took a deep breath.

These are truly tough times; everything seems to be leaking!

The thought of that giant whirlpool gave him a headache.

Below the globe model is a huge spiral staircase.

He stepped onto the stone steps and slowly walked down.

The stairs were deep; Irving felt it had taken him at least three or four minutes to walk up.

"Fluorescent lights!"

A few fireflies drifted down from Irving's fingertips.

He saw a platform with more than a dozen alchemical golems on its walls, but Owen did not sense any magic. It was unclear how long this place had been abandoned, and the golems must have long since lost their power.

Further on, he found himself seemingly inside a huge cavern. Above him were enormous stalactites, and in front of him was a ten-foot-wide bridge connecting to a gate carved into the mountainside.

A tremendous rush of water surged past under the bridge, suggesting that the waterfall in the square and the water here must be from the same river.

Cross the bridge and enter the courtyard.

"Ultimate Fluorescent Flash"

A few fireflies cast their glow.

The underground space, shrouded in darkness, suddenly unveiled its mystery.

This is a huge library!

Countless platforms, stacked downwards in a stepped fashion.

Stone steps lead down into the underground, and on both sides of the steps, the carved-out mountainside is filled with books.

The firefly floated downwards for a full minute, but the bottom was still nowhere to be seen.

One can imagine just how enormous this underground library must be.

Irving guessed that almost the entire mountain had been hollowed out to create a library—no, not just books.

He then threw out a dozen or so clusters of fireflies, with the area illuminated by the light increasing.

Irving felt that this place should be considered a warehouse.

Besides books, there were just as many other miscellaneous items as books; his magic radar was about to explode.

Countless powerful magical fluctuations were like twinkling stars in the night sky; Owen couldn't even count how many there were.

"I would call this place Miss Granger's Happy House."

As I descended the stone steps, I picked up a book from the side—"Listening to the Favored Ones."

I flipped through a few pages.

The text, filled with a strong religious atmosphere, made Owen frown repeatedly, but he still endured it and quickly flipped through the entire book.

In general, this is a religious book about how gods enlighten mortals, granting them magical powers and distinguishing between evil and justice. Of course, the book also features the identity of heirs, but they are clearly classified as demons of hell.

In addition, this is also a book introducing the history of the city called "Ionia" and its traditional culture.

Its function is similar to that of the "Lishi Fun Garden" and "Waterfront Residence" distributed by Muggles on the street.

Its main focus is on IQ testing.

However, this book wasn't entirely without merit. At least Owen understood the purpose of the golden disc in the square and the meaning behind the ritual.

In ancient times, at least several hundred years ago, the offering of a disc was a reward, representing sacredness.

The implication is that the spirit enters the Kingdom of God, but the body is still driven by God.

At that time, only those who made significant contributions to the order were granted this ceremony.

It's completely different from the current enemy spawners.

Okay—Irving really couldn't help but complain.

Look at this spirit!

Even if you're alive, your body will still have to work for the gods after you die!

As for the soul—it was probably chewed up by the Outer God in one bite. (His guess)

Where can you find employees like this!

Such working-class people are role models and benchmarks for ordinary people.

After leaving the book behind.

He picked up another book.

This book is indeed a magic book.

It contained a few decent spells, but—to Owen—they were of little use; he already knew enough ancient spells. Unless they were exceptionally sophisticated, he didn't care much for the others.

Then throw it away.

Pick up another book.

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And so it became a warehouse that resembled a maze beneath.

Irving wandered around aimlessly for several days.

During this process, he also encountered some good things, but most of them were useless to him.

Times are always progressing, although the progress of magic is comparable to the green stocks in the stock market, the progress is not so obvious.

But overall, it's a spiral upward process.

This has led to the fact that many of the spells in this library have found excellent alternatives in modern times.

Aside from some powerful dark magic spells, the other conventional magic spells are not very useful, but they are valuable as a reference book for the history of magic.

Of course, besides the value of the written words, these books also have intrinsic value, a value known as foundation. For some magic schools, these books are treasures, stepping stones for students' progress.

For example, emerging magic schools like Iphamoni.

Time passed little by little.

Irving couldn't remember exactly how long he had been there; he just slept when he was tired and ate when he was hungry.

It seemed that the underground warehouse was tempting him.

One day, I don’t know if it was day or night.

Irving wandered into a corner untouched for centuries and discovered a desiccated corpse next to a pile of collapsed books.

Because the dryness of the warehouse slows down the rate of decay, Owen couldn't determine whether the mummified corpse in front of him had been dead for two hundred or four hundred years.

The corpse was dressed in the standard uniform of the chosen ones recorded in the book. Although it was already decomposed, the milky white fabric and the runes woven with gold thread could still be vaguely seen.

Irving was naturally uninterested in their clothing, but he was very interested in the corrosive, freckled stone wrapped around the neck of the corpse.

A century has passed, and this magic stone still exudes its magic.

But not its magic.

Owen picked up the magic stone, easily crushed it, and revealed a white stone inside.

He recognized it as a 'keystone' at a glance.

It is the same type of magical item as the path stone that opens the holy mist.

He had mentioned these two things in the books he had been browsing over the past few days.

A 'Keystone' is a unique key that opens a specific magical gate, and it is usually held by the members of the Council of Seven Chosen by God.

Then the identity of this mummified corpse is clear: a councilor of Ionia City.

Through the lens of time, Irving seemed to see the lofty figure behind the sacred veil, wondering how such a person could have died so inexplicably here.

After a thorough search of the body.

He found a book beneath its rotten robe.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't a book, but more like a manuscript—a precise and detailed architectural drawing that recorded the core secrets hidden deep within the underground warehouse of Ionia.

Located deep beneath the city of Ionia, in a large hall, lies a mineral vein known as the "Canopy".

It produces something called "Source Crystal".

"Source Crystal?" Owen immediately grasped the crux of the matter.

Ancient magic, also known as primordial magic, exists in places where ancient magic is extremely concentrated, where magic power exists in the form of flowing water. Could this crystal be the crystallization of ancient magic?

"No wonder a city was built here; there's a treasure buried underground!" he exclaimed, then glanced at the dried-up corpse on the ground.

He turned around and left.

---------------------------

Meanwhile, Sirius Black was nowhere to be found in the square of Ionia City.

Along with them, there were also a dozen or so Muggles.

The remaining people have been trapped here for five or six days.

Although Sirius left enough food and they didn't do anything that challenged the bottom line of humanity, being trapped here was still not a solution.

They had tried to find a way out, but Ionia was built in a valley surrounded by several mountains. Some Muggles tried to cross those mountains, but were scared back by the bottomless cliffs behind them.

These days, the Muggles have been living in the city. Fortunately, there are plenty of places to stay, and each of them has more than enough housing. So, no chaos has arisen.

"This can't go on any longer."

The older Muggles have signaled a crisis.

This cannot continue, because food is ultimately limited. No matter how much they save and scrimp, in two more days, they will have eaten all the remaining food.

"The one who left before—that wizard," the old man seemed reluctant to utter the name, "He said if he couldn't come back, he would send us to find another one."

"Find another one?" Everyone fell silent.

Four days ago, they would have vehemently objected; everyone had seen how that young man tortured the livestock.

Three days ago, they would probably have objected, since no one wants to be in danger, especially unknown danger.

If it were two days ago, a day before, they would only say a couple of words, which would be enough to honor the souls of the dead.

Now—haha—some people have already turned their attention to the French mother holding the girl.

"Why me?" the woman said irritably, her eyes filled with fear and anger.

"Because your daughter is also a witch, those two said it themselves," someone in the crowd shouted.

"That's right, that's right. Your daughter caused the earthquake before. Do you think we're all blind?"

"Exactly! We're all the same kind of people, he definitely wouldn't want to kill your daughter."

The noise from the crowd grew louder and louder.

The woman glared at those opportunists. Before, when her daughter suddenly unleashed her mysterious power, these people had treated her like the Virgin Mary, as if she were performing a miracle.

But now it's like a used mop; you dislike it, complain about it, and just want it out of your sight.

"You can't be so selfish."

"That's right, think about us too."

The cacophony of sounds resonated with the woman's heart. She couldn't understand everything, but she knew a little English, enough for everyday conversation.

As for Spanish and Italian, he doesn't understand them at all.

But not understanding didn't matter; the hateful expressions on those people's faces and the few people translating in French were enough for her to understand what was happening.

"Mommy~" (in French)

"I feel so bad."

Just then, a girl's weak voice rang out from inside her arms.

She was in very bad condition; her face was deathly pale, and a thin layer of black mist emanated from her body.

The black mist seemed to be composed of many tiny particles, and it was spreading throughout the girl's body.

"It's alright, Mom's here, Mom's here!" The woman transformed into a fierce lion protecting her cub, glaring at the people around her.

These men made eye contact with the woman.

Then his expression became unnatural.

It was somewhat awkward, but also showed that my conscience wasn't completely gone.

As a mother, she had an intuition that she needed to calm her child down and prevent her from becoming emotionally unstable.

These are the experiences I've summarized over the past few days.

So—she immediately left the square, heading towards a deserted place, towards—the most magnificent building in the distance.

Meanwhile, Owen, who continued to wander around the underground warehouse of Ionia, finally found the passage to the mineral crystal mine with the help of the blueprints in his hand.

In that spiderweb-like passageway, Owen discovered the corpses of many of the chosen ones.

They appeared to have been in a fight here, but Owen didn't see any wounds on them.

That's normal; wizards have many different methods, so Avada Kedavra won't leave any wounds on the body.

However, being able to fight the Chosen Ones here—this is their stronghold!

Could it be that there was internal strife?

Irving was baffled; the past was like a quagmire, and he had no ability to find a thread in it.

More and more mummified corpses appeared around them.

Like a horde of zombies.

They were all facing the direction of the deeper part of the passage.

After continuing for more than ten minutes, he finally saw a large glass gate.

The door has grooves on it into which a keystone can be inserted.

The dried corpses on the ground piled up, layer upon layer, and stuck to the gate. The withered arms, like kindling, pounded on the glass doors. Their faces, with no eyeballs, had wide-open pupils, and their mouths were screaming, like abandoned children of the world. From their posture and movements, it was clear that they wanted to go through the gate, and desperately wanted to go through.

Owen drew his wand, intending to move the dried-up corpses to another location.

Just then, a chilling magical power suddenly emanated from behind him.

"Ultimate Defense!"

"Torn apart!"

Instinctively, he turned around and cast a defensive spell, and in the gap, he also unleashed a splitting spell.

The gray magic struck the black, mist-like shadow.

With a "bang," the black mist exploded like particles.

"Um—MoMoRan?"

The black, ribbon-like substance that arrived was actually a silent creature.

"What happened up there?"

When the little girl was rescued, she seemed to be in a normal state. The silent one only becomes silent when they lose control of their emotions.

So something must have happened up there that caused the girl to lose control of her emotions.

"Tsk—what a hassle."

Irving whispered something.

Then, with a flick of the wand, the tip of the crystal wand suddenly emitted a lot of white mist.

The mist drifted slowly, but at an eerie speed that appeared slow yet was actually very fast, it quickly enveloped the silent mass.

"Quiet down!"

The fog began to contract, and the silent mass then let out a terrifying, inhuman roar, followed by a frenzied surge.

But this didn't do any good.

Owen is experimenting with a new technique for using ancient magic.

In mid-air, the silent struggle grew smaller and smaller until it finally landed steadily on the ground, twitching, and then coalescing back into the little girl.

"As expected—the Guardian Angel Spell can be used like this!" The boy's lips slowly curled up.

As we all know, magic is the power of emotions.

Most spells are related to emotions, and Obscurials are no exception. The parasitic magical power residing within them is called Obscurial. This power originates from their intense emotional pain.

The Guardian Charm is the most powerful spell in magic that outputs positive emotions. He had just used the Guardian Charm to comfort Obscurus, allowing Obscurus to return to human form.

The theory sounds simple, but in reality, there are almost no magical beings who can use Guardian Deities in this way; perhaps only an heir with the blessing of ancient magic can do it.

On the other side, a panicked little girl stared at Owen with her gray eyes wide open.

"Mom—Help!" (French)

That little face of hers was so pitiful, it's a pity she met Owen.

"Now that he knows to call for his mother, it's no use telling him!" (French)

Irving rushed over and grabbed the girl's cheek, grinning menacingly.

After ravaging it for a while, he pulled a bottle of magic potion out of his pocket.

"Drink it, or I'll beat you up!"

Faced with the intimidation of this humanoid demon, the little girl was terrified and helpless. She could only tremblingly accept the potion, then hold it in both hands, sobbing as she tried to break the cork.

What to do! What to do! I can't pry it open!

The increasingly anxious girl was on the verge of tears.

Even with all her strength, the cork didn't budge an inch.

And so it went on for a full two minutes.

Finally, she lost all her strength, held the dark green potion bottle in both hands, raised her head, and stared at him longingly.

"You can't even open this!"

"How stupid!" Owen snatched the potion bottle from her hand.

"This isn't something you can just pull out!" he said. "You have to turn it around!"

As he spoke, Irving gripped the bottle neck with his left hand and the stopper with his right, then twisted it hard. It wouldn't open.

"???"

No, no—you must be doing it wrong, try it from a different angle.

It's still not open.

"Um--"

Irving was instantly thwarted. Enraged, he used all his strength, veins bulging on his arms and eyes wide open, but the cork remained firmly in place.

"Holy shit—"

There's an Arabic proverb that goes something like this: "You shouldn't get angry easily, because once you get angry, you'll use your true abilities, and others will know that your true abilities are terrible!"

Kyrie Irving is currently in roughly this state.

(End of this chapter)