"I can't wait any longer!"
After returning to his office from the laboratory, Carl sat in his chair and reached out to activate the panel.
It had been more than a month — a few days longer than he originally planned. According to the current trend, nearly all of the world's cancer patients had already purchased the Golden Pill. The flow of funds would gradually diminish and stabilize from here on.
Therefore, it was nearly impossible to reach a high level of completion without waiting years — unless new drugs to treat terminal illnesses were developed in the meantime.
But when it came to other terminal illnesses, the number of cases was tiny in comparison.
So he decided to follow his previous plan. He'd enter the new world with an intermediate level of completion, quickly improve his strength, and stop pursuing the highest level of completion immediately.
"Enter Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them!"
Turning toward the new side world, Carl decisively chose to enter.
After a brief dizzy spell, when he opened his eyes again, he was already in a dense forest, and with it came countless memory fragments — like a slideshow — filling his mind.
Tom Foley, born into the Foley family of the Sacred Twenty-Eight Clans, was twenty-six years old this year. He graduated from Hufflepuff at Hogwarts with mediocre grades and average aptitude, but a strong talent for Herbology.
As the last member of the Foley family, Tom Foley used the gold galleons left by his ancestors to open a small herbal medicine shop in Diagon Alley, London, selling various herbs shortly after graduation.
On September 1st, as Hogwarts started its new semester and the annual back-to-school rush in Diagon Alley came to an end, Tom temporarily closed his shop and went to the Albanian forest in search of rare magical herbs.
On September 15th, in the Albanian forest, he crossed paths with a huge, three-headed Runespoor and tragically had his head bitten off by it.
"This forest seems to be the place where Voldemort will practice dark magic in the future and where his soul will reside after his death," Carl whispered, looking around at the giant trees.
The Albanian Forest is a vast, primeval wilderness on the border between Albania and Greece — a place teeming with magical creatures and rare herbs.
Many wizards venture here to collect herbs and study creatures, although the danger is well-known; numerous wizards lose their lives here each year.
"It looks like everything is still here."
Checking his body, Carl found that the clothes he'd been wearing previously had transformed into a wizard's robe, a twelve-inch wand, and a small cloth bag attached to it.
From Tom's memory, he recognized these belongings immediately — the wand, the bag — all belonged to the ill-fated Tom Foley.
Of course, from now on, everyone in this world would know him as Tom Foley.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
Pulling Tom's wand from his robe, Carl recalled all the details of the levitation charm from Tom's memory and recited it carefully.
The green leaf that his wand was pointing at rose slowly into the air under a shimmering glow — but it fell back down after a mere two seconds.
"It seems I'll need more practice to fully master the magic in these memories."
After a few more attempts, he came to realize that although the knowledge was all there in his mind, it would take time and practice to make it his own.
It was akin to watching a cooking video — you might know the recipe, but you'd need to practice it yourself to do it effortlessly.
Of course, there were benefits. All the steps, pitfalls, and mistakes were already clear in his mind. With practice, he'd avoid needless detours and progress much faster.
"Let's get out of this forest and back to London first!"
Putting away his wand, Carl filled his feet with chakra, hopped up the trunk of a nearby giant tree, and darted forward through the branches.
Tom could Apparate and fly on a broomstick, but for now, without those skills, this was the fastest way forward.
The Albanian forest was filled with dangerous creatures, and staying here any longer was not a wise choice.
"What a huge snake!"
Before he could move far, a massive, three-headed snake coiled on a nearby trunk suddenly struck.
It was the very Runespoor that had killed Tom.
Carl nimbly dodged its attack and, with a powerful push of his legs, hopped back and up into the branches of a nearby tree, putting some distance between himself and the monster.
The giant Runespoor was seven or eight meters long and thick enough to crush a human effortlessly. If it managed to entangle him, it would be all over.
As the Runespoor noticed its prey slipping away, all three heads hissed in unison, paused briefly, and then darted forward toward him.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
Fortunately, the experienced Carl had already formed a few hand seals in the moment of his retreat. After landing safely on the trunk, he opened his mouth and exhaled a huge ball of flame directly toward the attacking creature.
The giant fireball struck the Runespoor, sending it crashing downward.
"It's a magical creature… it's quite resistant to fire!"
Carl sighed. If it were a normal python of this size, it would be a charred corpse by now. But this Runespoor seemed to be largely unharmed by the flames — although the impact from its fall injured it somewhat.
Instead of slowing it down, the attack seemed to make it more aggressive.
The heads rose again, hissing in rage, and darted upward toward him once more.
"It seems physical attacks will be more effective against a magical creature with resistance to magic."
Not afraid, Carl drew a spear from his mission space, channeled chakra into his body to enhance his physical prowess, hopped forward from the trunk, and rushed directly toward the giant snake.
"Rain of Pear Blossoms!"
Before the Runespoor could close in, the cold tip of his spear multiplied into countless piercing points, stabbing toward its eyes, its mouth, its weak spot — all in a blinding rush.
Blood flew in all directions, and the massive body fell back to the ground with a heavy thud.
But this time it was more than just a minor wound. The Runespoor was riddled with seven or eight deep holes. It was finished.
"Tom Foley… consider this revenge for you."
Carl was about to move on when he suddenly remembered something from Tom's memory — the Runespoor was quite valuable. So he hopped back down from the trunk and put the creature's body into the small cloth bag attached to his wizard's robe.