In the magnificent and grandiose spellcasting practice room, Ivy held his Grimoire of Destruction, striking a confident pose filled with the air of a skilled practitioner.
With a swift motion, the Grimoire of Destruction "flipped open" with a whoosh. The pages turned on their own, without wind, and a deep, azure, arcane light began to gather above the pages, forming an intricate and profound magical circle.
Ivy raised an empty hand and hovered it above the glowing arcane light. In an instant, the blue arcane energy transformed into a crackling and dazzling bolt of lightning.
"Destructive Thunderbolt Arrow!" Ivy pointed, and the lightning gathered into an electric arrow, which shot forward and struck its target—an old, rusted set of metal armor.
The metal armor was instantly shattered by the force of the Thunderbolt Arrow, its pieces scattering in all directions.
Of course, the destructive power of the Thunderbolt Arrow didn't end there. A few seconds later, the scattered pieces of the armor glowed with lightning once again, and even the rust that had clung to the metal faded noticeably. Anyone with a keen eye could immediately tell—this was the secondary effect of the Destructive Thunderbolt Arrow!
Ivy nodded with satisfaction, pleased by the results of his spell.
Through his relentless efforts, his Grimoire of Sorcerers level had now reached level three, meaning he could successfully cast 2nd-circle spells.
Among these second-circle spells, the one he appreciated the most was Maevith's Acid Arrow.
However, in the vast catalog of useful spells from the D&D universe, there were many other high-value combat spells to consider.
For example, Misty Step, which could be understood as a 30-foot teleportation, was cast with such speed that it was nearly impossible to interrupt. In a school like Hogwarts, where teleportation was otherwise forbidden, it held immense potential.
But then again, Ivy was a fan of casting fireballs, a destructive force from the Evocation school. Even in his past life, when he played an MMORPG, the class he preferred could unleash powerful fire spells like Fireball.
As a Dark Magic Master, Ivy could wield incredible spells: strong explosions, cutting through steel with cutting curses, dismantling hunters with powerful destruction spells, or even summoning lightning from the heavens with ancient magic.
But casting a Fireball—one that would explode with visual and auditory effects—was still a challenge for him.
"Fire God's Path" and "Blazing Flame" could summon or control flames, while "Fiery Heat" could even make black magic flames form into sentient fire creatures, but to form the flames into a perfect sphere was beyond most wizards' specialty.
Now that Ivy had learned magic from the D&D world, Fireball was no longer out of reach—it was a 3rd-circle spell. He only needed to level up his Grimoire of Sorcerers twice more to make it a reality.
However, as his level increased, the tasks at the Potion Classroom were no longer providing a significant amount of experience. With Snape being a solitary figure, and the number of potion ingredients in need of preparation dwindling, Ivy had mostly resorted to using his invisible servant to handle these menial tasks, leaving him to read magic books borrowed from the library or browse through his spellbook for new perks.
Now that Ivy had earned the ability to cast 2nd-circle spells, he immediately made his way to the Room of Requirement, located on the eighth floor of the castle.
After wandering down the hall with the large troll tapestry three times, Ivy was granted a room where he could freely cast magic.
The room was richly decorated, and every corner had tools ready for use.
There were cushioned mats to prevent injury, target dummies, rusty armor, and even soft couches where one could rest and take a tea break.
And the Destructive Thunderbolt Arrow was the first 2nd-circle spell Ivy cast in the room.
It was, in fact, a spell Ivy had modified from Maevith's Acid Arrow through his Grimoire of Destruction.
Simply put, Ivy turned the acidic liquid in the original spell into lightning. He also gave it a new name—Destructive Thunderbolt Arrow.
The word "Destructive" came from his last name, "Doom," so this spell could also be referred to as Doom's Thunderbolt Arrow.
Many of the common spells in the D&D universe were named after famous, powerful wizards—Maevith's Acid Arrow, Tasha's Hideous Laughter, Duncan's Disintegration, and so on.
These wizards, whose names were attached to their spells, were all renowned and immensely powerful. Ivy named his spell Destructive Thunderbolt Arrow in imitation of them.
Ivy had long planned to one day make his name known through his magic, not in this self-indulgent way, but in a way that was widely recognized.
In fact, besides the Destructive Thunderbolt Arrow, Ivy had designed multiple versions of this spell, but due to his current level as a 3rd-level Grimoire of Sorcerers, he could only select two from the available spells.
It was infuriating!
It was like making a starving person look at a plate of roasted meat through glass!
Luckily, Ivy could spend experience points to gain magical knowledge from the Grimoire of Destruction, but turning that knowledge into usable spells required long-term learning and mastery.
Thus, the factors limiting Ivy's growth were twofold: experience points and the length of his life.
At the moment, there happened to be a magical stone in the castle that was said to grant immortality. Though Ivy wasn't planning to use it for prolonging his life, it couldn't hurt to study it, right? Not to mention it could turn things into gold!
While Ivy's little savings in the Grimoire of Destruction were still bottomless, if he only ever added to it and never took anything out, there would eventually come a time when it would run dry.
It's always good to plan.
After enjoying an afternoon tea on the soft couch in the spellcasting room, Ivy left the eighth floor and headed to the library.
But as he was heading down the spiral staircase, he encountered someone he didn't particularly like—Professor Quirrell, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
"Du... Duum, Mr. Doom!" The large, smelly scarf-wearing figure called out to Ivy.
Ivy, forced to feign surprise, replied, "Oh, sorry. I didn't see you, Professor Quirrell."
"No... no problem." Professor Quirrell responded with a tone full of understanding, "I just wanted to ask… Why haven't I seen you in the Dark Arts classroom for so long?"
"Hmm." Ivy paused for a moment before deciding to tell the truth. "Because I feel it's better to focus my limited energy on more worthwhile matters."