The mist before him dissolved in yers as if space itself were colpsing.

  Ian jolted awake.

  He shifted unfortably on the narrow bed. Moonlight streamed through the window, casting a silvery haze over the room.

  The clo the wall read 12:07. The sed hand ticked relentlessly.

  Ian hadn't expected only seven mio have passed iy after such a vivid, surreal dream.

  "Ha..."

  He breathed deeply, wiping away ent sweat.

  A sense of disorientation lingered, more mental than physical.

  Thoughts of the Twilight Zone flooded his mind. He instinctively g the back of his hand, notig a faint white mark.

  The small room remained dim, illuminated only by the moonlight.

  Ian sat up, walked to his desk, opehe drawer, arieved a small fshlight. He sho on his arm, examining the mark closely.

  "What is this?"

  Curiosity piqued, he ied the mark, a gift from his friend.

  The faint mark shimmered momentarily before vanishing pletely into his skin.

  In the dream, he could bring real-world objects into the dream and vice versa, like the chocote he had given to Ariana.

  But what was the purpose of this mark?

  Ian didn't know.

  He tried to check his skill panel:

  Name: Ian PrinceCss: Bloodline SorcererMagic Power: Level 4

  Skills:Language Mastery (Level 3): 23/400Biology Disse (Level 4): 796/800Free Fighting (Level 3): 85/400Psychology (Level 6): 42/3200Psychology Extraordinary Traits: Thought Perception

  He had expected to find something.

  However...

  There was ion of the mark on the panel.

  Thinking it over, it made sehis gift from his friend was clearly not a skill, just like the ability to ehe Twilight Zone wouldn't be reflected on his panel.

  Maybe he o check for simir cases in the Hogwarts library.

  'That pce was said to have the most prehensive knowledge reserves iire magical world', Ian mused as he rubbed his arm on the desk.

  Soon, drowsiness overtook him, auro bed, falling into a deep sleep.

  …

  Time flew by.

  The m, Ian was already at his desk, immersed in his nguage books.

  [Successfully read a French word, Language Proficy +1]

  [Successfully read Latin, Language Proficy +1]

  [Successfully read Latin, Language Proficy +1]

  "Ha..."

  Ian exhaled deeply, rubbing his brow.

  Learning nguages wasn't easy. Each word required precise pronunciation aiemorization.

  Of course...

  Hard work alays off.

  'Language Mastery (Level 3): 35/400 (+12)'

  His proficy had already increased after a m of practice.

  The day when this skill reached level 5, unlog Extraordinary Traits, wasn't far off. With no charms to learn, the practical skills avaible to choose from were limited.

  He wondered what the Extraordinary Traits of this nguage skill might be.

  Filled with anticipation for the future, Ian began his day.

  After lunch, he wheeled his small cart to his usual spot, ready to tinue his daily routine of fortuelling. Some might call it a scam, but iy, it relied heavily on his self-taught knowledge of Psychology and his i psychological insights.

  It appeared as if Ian was simply arranging divination tools, Tarot cards, oable. In truth, he relied entirely on his uanding of human psychology to gauge what the other person was thinking.

  To be ho, even if Ian could truly perform divination, from a financial perspective, his currehod might be more profitable – sometimes, people weren't always eager to hear the truth.

  As Ian called out loudly, another woman was drawn to him, curious to try her luck. He observed her clothing, the pauses in her speech, and the expressions on her face.

  He had a clear sense of her thoughts.

  It was as if he could read her mind as he immediately spoke, "Madam, you've been feeling a lot of pressure retly."

  The woman nodded calmly as if it were obvious.

  This wasn't a difficult dedu.

  Ian smiled, "Is it about your school admissions?"

  The woman looked a little surprised. "Oh, you're right."

  Ian nodded. "Yes, your supervisor has been causing some trouble. You're about to graduate, but if this tinues, it's clear that your supervisor won't allow you to graduate smoothly."

  The woman's mouth dropped open in shock.

  After a beat, her voice trembled as she spoke to Ian with a tone of respect, "Young Sir, yes, you're right. So, what should I do?"

  [Successfully observed the psychology, Psychology proficy +1]

  His attribute panel had increased.

  But Ian remained calm, knowing that the er in front of him was now fully within his "hunting" range. With his mind-reading ability, he had already gained plete psychological trol over the woman.

  However, Ian had principles.

  "Miss, I'm afraid you'll o spend some moo ask the headmaster for help in clearing up the situation. But it won't be easy. If you had a talisman, though, the Goddess of Luck might look after you..."

  The woman had already pced her trust in Ian. Looking at the various talismans he had reended, she asked, "How much is eae? I buy them all?"

  Seeing that the woman had money, but not expeg her to be this rich, Ian realized she was a big spender.

  Ian immediately replied, "Of course, you . Each talisman costs just 5 pounds."

  He pced 20 talismans oable, allowio choose.

  "I'll take them all! Twenty times the luck!"

  The urchased all 20 talismans, paying a total of 100 pounds.

  This was indeed a big win.

  The twenty talismans, handmade, were essentially just fn versions of traditional charms. On yelloer, in what looked like random English symbols, were the words for luothing more than that.

  heless, Ian still put on a show and said to the dy, "Goddess of Luck will bless you."

  "Thank you!" The ressed her hands together in gratitude, looking very sincere.

  Soon after, watg the er leave, Ian finally smiled.

  "Looks like my luck has turned around. I pleted my mission by just setting up my stall today. I should head back early!"

  One hundred pounds— this was a signifit amount, with strong purchasing power, equivalent to around a thousand RMB, and sidering this was the 1990s, the value was even higher.

  This purchasing power was substantial, nearly equivalent to two months' worth of Ian's living expenses.

  "Guess I'll pack up early today..."

  After putting away the money and tidying up his fortuelling stall, Ian pushed the small cart past a restaurant. After a moment's thought, he went inside and bought several pots of soup.

  With that, he pushed the cart back to the orphanage.

  "Wow, Ian, what's this?"

  As soon as Iauro the orphahe children saw all the food and couldn't tain their excitement, their mouths watering at the sight of the cart.

  It wasn't just the little ones— even the older kids rao check.

  "Hey, Ian!"

  They greeted him and then stared at the soup pots, their desire to eat showing in their eyes, patiently holding back.

  Ian smiled and pced the soup pots oable, telling the children, "Alright, everyone, go grab some utensils, and wipe off the drool!"

  Hearing Ian's words, everyone burst into ughter.

  Soon, as per Ian's instrus, the children brought utensils and begaing like a whirlwind.

  As they ate, someone said, "Ian, I really envy you. Yoing to a prestigious school. I heard from Miss Helena that even the headmaster personally invited you!"

  "Wow, I want to go too."

  "Tom, stop dreaming. Iaudies on his own here at the orphanage, reading all sorts of books! you study like that?"

  "The only reason a noble would choose Ian is because of his intelligence!"

  Listening to the chatter, Ian was initially a bit stunned. A noble school? But quickly, he realized this must be the effect of the fundus Charm.

  So, he smiled and tinued listening to their versation, only occasionally responding.

  At that moment, a voice suddenly cut through his thoughts.

  "Ian, I know you're not going to a noble school. Yoing to Hogwarts. That old man with the white beard said it's a school fic who turn things into dy."

  The sudden voice startled Ian, making his mind go bnk. He turo look at the blonde-haired little girl in front of him.

  The girl looked flicted, and, taking advantage of the others not paying attention, she spoke to Ian in a pleading tone.

  Seeing the girl's eager expression, Ia a straingliion. A ringing sound echoed in his ears, and amidst it, he distinctly heard the girl's voice, clear and desperate.

  "I want to go to Hogwarts, and I want to learn magic that make dy appear out of nowhere! Then, I will definitely be the dy princess!"

  Ian shook his head, the sudden voice fading away.

  He reized this sensation now. It was a rare occurrence, a fleeting glimpse into the minds of others. He called it "Thought Perception," a peculiar ability he had developed over time.

  Everyone else was happily eating soup, oblivious to the girl's fervent wish. But the little girl, with her longing gaze fixed on him, seemed to radiate a different energy.

  Ian observed her closely. It seemed the fundus Charm, which had affected everyone else, had no effe her. This was intriguing. It could only meahing: she might possess some innate magical ability.

  Dumbledore's powerful magic wouldn't allow such a signifit ht or error to be heard by a Muggle, unless…

  " I go? Ian?"

  Looking at the girl's eager expression, Ian regained his posure. He smiled calmly, "Of course, Catherine, but you o be quiet about this for now... Keep this secret for now."

  "Hogwarts only accepts obedient children."

  The blonde-haired little girl, named Catherine, was overjoyed and almost burst into celebration.

  Ian quickly stopped her, "Catherine, remember, this o be kept a secret."

  Catherine immediately covered her mouth, "I'm a good girl, I won't tell! Even if Grandma breaks my legs, I won't say a word!"

  Ian: "..."

  …

  Later that night.

  In the orpha, Ian expertly swung the knife, expertly sughtering chis, ducks, and other livestock.

  The two cooks beside him praised him, "We owe you again, Ian. With you here, we save so much time."

  The children o supplement their nutrition, so they had to eat meat.

  And every night, Ian would e to the kit to help out.

  Because of this, he honed his skills:

  Successfully sughtered a chi, Biology Disse proficreased.Successfully sughtered a duck, Biology Disse proficreased.Successfully sughtered a duck, Biology Disse proficreased.He had been steadily improving his Biology Disse skills.

  However, tonight...

  gratutions, Biology Disse proficy is maxed out, and you have successfully leveled up.

  Biology Disse (Level 5): 1/1600

  gratutions, your skill has broken through Level 5 and earned araordinary trait...

  (End of chapter)