The old man barely withstood the first probing attack, gritting his teeth. "The death of the body is not the end. If you truly wish to kill me, you must also defeat me in will." He shook his head.

"Mm, you're right—fuck you!" In the next instant, the simplest wither skeleton skull shot straight into the old man's chest. A moment later, this nameless old geezer slowly withered away, crumbling into ash.

"Professor, I think you acted a bit fast," Harry said bitterly, raising his wrist. The silver mark was still sitting there, stubbornly unchanged.

"Oi, take your wand out, let me see what kind of thing this is." Kasen crouched down to inspect it.

Harry nodded, and with just a thought, his wand was expelled, the end still connected to a vein-like tube.

"Holy fucking shit! That's bloody cool!" Sirius had somehow appeared behind them, exclaiming in admiration at the wand connected to a vein full of curry-colored blood.

"...You finished clearing the ones outside, and you're wandering around in here?!" Kasen said, his scalp twitching.

"Uh… all done. Lupin and the French Aurors are outside counting bodies. They don't need me." Sirius spoke with mock grievance, then glanced back at Harry. "Still—this thing really is cool!"

"Yeah, but it hurts like hell. I can't even cast a simple Unlocking Charm without feeling like I'm dying," Harry said through gritted teeth.

"Then we'd better figure out a way to get rid of it," Sirius said, instantly switching to a serious tone.

"The godfather's love runs deep," Kasen sighed, then began examining the vein on Harry's wrist. "Any survivors outside?"

"Emmm… if there aren't any stragglers hiding out there, then this old coot was the last one to die," Sirius said helplessly.

"Ah..."

The three of them fell into a strange silence—until Lupin walked in from outside, breaking the mood. "We can head back now. From here, it's Dumbledore and the French Ministry's problem."

"Any survivors?" Kasen asked.

"Nope." Lupin shook his head.

"..."

"Alright…" Kasen sighed, but quickly patted Harry on the shoulder. "Trust me."

The moment the words left his mouth, a field of magic enveloped them, and in almost an instant, they reappeared back at the hotel.

"What's wrong with Harry?" Lupin's instincts were sharp; he immediately picked up on the faint I want to die aura radiating from Harry.

"It's probably some kind of special magical modification from the Templar Brotherhood. Harry's basically fused with his wand now," Kasen explained.

After hearing that, Lupin leaned over out of curiosity to get a closer look. And the moment he saw the wand still connected to Harry's vein, he couldn't help blurting out—

"Holy fucking shit! That's bloody cool!"

"You two sound almost exactly the same," Harry said helplessly.

"Yeah…" Kasen peered through his monocle, carefully studying where Harry's wand connected to the vein. "With my expertise in human-body alchemy, I've got two pieces of news for you. First—the bad one: this kind of human-body alchemy is irreversible. From now on, be very careful if anyone tries to disarm you, because when the wand flies out, it's highly likely your vein will come out with it… and then snap back in."

Harry imagined the scene in his mind and shuddered. "And... And the good news?"

Kasen raised an eyebrow. "The good news is, back in school, I sat in on some medical courses. I'd say my technique is decent—I can help you cut off the pain nerves in that section."

"…Huh?" Harry froze. "Professor, how many classes did you attend?"

"Well, when the med students were dissecting cadavers, I was there installing cabinets. Had some free time, so I watched a bit. They just happened to be covering pain nerves."

"..."

"..."

"Professor, respectfully.. Shut the fuc—"

Kasen waved his hand casually, and small blocks appeared one after another, locking Harry's arm firmly in place.

"Sorry about this, Harry—time for a little nap."

Before Kasen could even pull out an anvil, Lupin, quick on the draw, had already hit Harry with a Stunner.

"Oh? Looks like we've got good teamwork," Kasen said, pulling out a small diamond sword.

Lupin leaned in. "You know medicine?"

Kasen shook his head. "That was just me messing with Harry. I don't know medicine—but I do know alchemy. All I'm really doing is reconfiguring his already-modified wrist and adding a few… tiny little details."

"Then why are you using that blue little knife?" Sirius asked, leaning over.

"Flesh is weak; alchemy ascends. Ever heard that? I can't exactly let Harry get killed just because someone hits him with a Disarming Charm. I've gotta give him some countermeasures."

Sirius listened to Kasen speak in perfectly reasonable-sounding words while watching his increasingly unhinged methods—until he finally couldn't take it anymore and turned away.

"Too freaky!" he exclaimed.

"This really is just 'tiny little details'?" said Lupin, who had turned away even earlier, echoing the sentiment.

And so the two of them stood there for half an hour, trapped in that contradictory state—wanting to leave, but too worried to go; wanting to look, but too squeamish to watch—while listening to the horrifying noises that sounded more like home renovation than surgery.

Half an hour later, Harry finally woke up groggily. He glanced at the silvery mark on his wrist…

"Ugh... um.. Why does it feel like it's gotten bigger?"

"Because now it has two modes—Mode One, Mode Two—and one passive mode," Kasen explained.

Harry stared blankly at him. "Don't get it."

"You can just think it in your head—'Mode One' or 'Mode Two.'"

Harry nodded, and the next moment his wand quickly slid out from his wrist. That part was normal. But he could also feel something slightly different in either the wand or his wrist. He casually cast a spell and exclaimed in surprise, "Hey—it doesn't hurt anymore!"

Sirius nodded. "Good. No pain is good."

Harry didn't respond, instead following Kasen's instructions to activate Mode Two.

The next instant, his wand was suddenly coated and fixed in place by a layer of silvery-white scales, turning into a pure white hidden blade.

"Holy fucking shit! That's awesome! Kasen, I want one too!" Sirius shouted, completely abandoning the composure he had a second ago.

Unlike Sirius and Lupin, Harry just stared in confusion at the hidden blade on his wrist. "What's the point of this?"

"When you can't win a fight with magic, you might consider getting in close and trading one-for-one… of course, only if the enemy is very close to you," Kasen said, stroking his chin and making up the explanation on the spot. After all, he couldn't exactly say it was just for looking cool, could he?

"Alright." With a thought, Harry retracted the hidden blade. "So… what about the passive mode?"

"Sirius, hit Harry with a Disarming Charm," Kasen said.

Sirius temporarily set aside his burning desire to beg Kasen for a hidden blade of his own. Pulling out his wand, he cast a light Disarming Charm.

As the red light of the spell struck Harry, the next moment his arm moved on its own, aiming straight at Sirius. Then, with a sudden snap, a streak of silver shot from his wrist, launching directly at Sirius.

_________

(～￣▽￣)～Read 12 Chapters ahead:

Patreon: Dragonel