Back in the lounge, Harry suddenly remembered—
He still had a Philosopher's Stone in his pocket.
"I need to return this to Dumbledore."
Just as he tried to get up, Arthur pressed him back down.
"Come off it. You really think that's the Philosopher's Stone?"
"It's… fake?" Harry asked in disbelief.
"What else? If it were real, he would've already taken it back from you. This thing is just a regular ruby. Keep it, it's worth a bit at least."
Hermione, who had been both shocked and angry, was fuming.
She had risked her life fighting Voldemort, nearly dying in the process—
all for a useless rock?
Now she understood why every time she brought up Dumbledore, her cousin would look so disdainful.
That old fraud tricked people and then made them thank him for it.
Absolutely vile!
Arthur found the whole thing amusing.
It wasn't that Dumbledore didn't want to put the real Stone there.
The issue was—he didn't even have it.
The genuine Stone had already been taken away by him and used up.
"Harry, here. Drink this."
Arthur fished out a small bottle of red potion from his pocket and handed it to Harry.
It was a life potion brewed from a Life Stone.
"What is this?" Harry asked, taking the bottle.
"For healing. You too, Hermione."
He handed her another vial.
Hermione hadn't really been injured in her fight with Voldemort.
Even if she had, the Life Stone embedded in her dragonhide armor would've mended her.
This was more for restoring her stamina.
After all, wizard battles weren't just about standing in place trading spells like some turn-based game.
Dodging curses and swinging wands consumed stamina.
And believe it or not, some spells even had recoil.
Take Voldemort's signature spell—Avada Kedavra.
Casting it caused violent vibrations in the wand, demanding the wizard have excellent control and accuracy.
Otherwise, the curse would simply miss.
In other words, you had to control the recoil.
When Arthur had read about this in the library's Restricted Section, he immediately blacklisted the curse.
Why bother when Glintstone Pebble could auto-track?
Not to mention its upgraded forms—Glintstone Pebble and Meteorite of Astel.
But back to reality.
Harry downed the potion, and the injuries from the explosion quickly healed.
Funny thing—of the three of them who went on the adventure, only Harry got hurt.
And that was by friendly fire.
"So, can you explain to me why you ditched me to play dungeon crawler without me?"
Arthur, meanwhile, was still debating whether to erase Voldemort's fragment of soul.
After all, another one would show up next semester.
While he was busy chatting with his brother-in-law, they had already cleared the first-year dungeon.
And Voldemort's soul fragment had still escaped.
Oh well. All the better—he could toy with him again during the Goblet of Fire.
"You've got some nerve saying that. We searched the entire castle for you," Hermione snapped.
All he ever did was hole up in the Zen Garden tinkering with alchemy.
But then she remembered—without his alchemy gear, she never could've fended off Voldemort.
So she swallowed the rest of her complaints.
"Alright, it's late. Let's get some rest."
Seeing no one felt like talking anymore, Arthur suggested they all head to bed.
They'd been running around all night—
especially Hermione, who had gone through an intense battle. She was utterly exhausted.
Back in his dorm, Arthur was about to take out the Enhanced Philosopher's Stone when suddenly the familiar system voice rang in his mind.
[Ding! Would you like to consume one materialization attempt?]
Arthur: ?
"Are you kidding me, System? This is something I made!"
He hadn't expected that after all this silence, the system would pop up just to tax him.
[Detected: Item "Enhanced Philosopher's Stone" contains a soul imprint from the Lands Between. Extracting it into reality requires consuming a materialization attempt.]
"…So why does my brother-in-law's soul imprint count as part of my item?"
[Host jests. Back when you materialized game characters and inventory items, you didn't complain.]
"…So by that logic, if I store my wife Ranni in the system space, I can materialize her into reality too?"
System: ... Here we go again.
[Yes, provided she gives her consent.]
"And once here, could she return?"
[Yes, provided host consents. She may freely travel between reality and the Lands Between.]
To Arthur, this was perfect.
He had been racking his brain for a safe place to revive Ranni.
The Lands Between hardly had any secure spots.
Now it was simple.
He could carry out the resurrection in his Zen Garden, where he controlled everything.
"Materialize."
[Materialization successful.]
The Enhanced Philosopher's Stone reappeared in his hand.
Arthur rubbed it, thoughts racing.
Since his brother-in-law's soul imprint remained,
could he arrange a resurrection for him too?
He had even pulled a method from Voldemort's body that might suit General Radahn.
The father's bones—sooner or later he'd have to smash Radagon's skull anyway.
The enemy's blood—did Malenia, the Blade of Miquella, count as Radahn's enemy?
The servant's flesh—sorry, Castle Redmane's commander, but your arm is on reserve.
Would the three ingredients together be enough to bring Radahn back?
That was for later.
The priority now was obtaining Ranni's body.
With the Enhanced Philosopher's Stone ready, all he needed was her soul and vessel.
"Sleep? Sleep my ass! For my wife—back to grinding!"
"Log in."
System: This host… definitely has a screw loose.
Back in Nokron, Eternal City, Arthur summoned his Nimbus 2000+8 and began searching for the location of the Finger Slayer Blade.
Yes, he had reinforced his broom to +8.
And with each upgrade, its flying speed improved.
The blacksmith was Hewg, not Kalé—so what was there to hesitate about?
Max it out!
Exploring castle ruins from the air was far more efficient.
Otherwise, he'd always get lost wandering inside, spending hours finding the right path.
"If I remember right, it should be here…"
He arrived at a chamber beneath a massive statue.
Inside the temple-like hall, a half-meter-high chest sat at the center.
Opening it, he found a peculiar blade—and a luminous white flower glowing faintly within.
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