Chapter 8: The Failed Immortal
There was a very famous shop, but most people who mentioned it gave it a poor review. This was because the shop's owner was stingy and greedy; stolen goods sold there were often appraised at a very low price, pushed right to the absolute bottom line of what the seller would accept.
Borgin and Burkes was the largest shop in Knockturn Alley. They had a terrible reputation in the wizarding world, but no one was willing to provoke them. Every person who had tried to cause them trouble had never seen the sunrise the next day.
However, many people were quite fond of the shop, because Borgin and Burkes bought anything. Even if you brought in a pocket watch still stained with warm, fresh blood, they would wipe the surface clean and give you a price. Whether or not you accepted was your business.
Their business philosophy of maintaining strict client confidentiality was key to the shop's longevity. Thieves, burglars, and even Dark Wizards had a love-hate relationship with the place.
The Aurors felt the same way. After all, it was a shop that openly sold Dark Magic artifacts and items to the public. Unfortunately for them, they didn't dare touch it. To touch it was to die. Furthermore, on certain matters, the Ministry of Magic's Aurors had to hold their noses and deal with them to acquire inconvenient items or information.
The lights Inside the shop were still on. After Ezio pushed open the door, an old man sitting at the counter gently pushed up his glasses and shifted his gaze over.
There was no "welcome" greeting. Mr. Borgin simply gave Ezio a cold glance. "Buying or selling?"
As the number one power in Knockturn Alley, dealing in both legitimate and illicit goods, Borgin and Burkes naturally sold information in addition to Dark artifacts.
However, Ezio didn't dare reveal his interest in the "twelve moons" just yet. What if the man turned around and sold him out?
Ezio had dared to tell Snape because he knew what kind of person Snape was. Having committed himself to Dumbledore, Snape had no other path to walk. Telling him was also a way of passing the message on to Dumbledore.
Unfortunately, Dumbledore was not entirely pleased with him and even remained wary. Ezio could only bide his time and look for another opportunity to inquire later.
The reason he had come to Borgin and Burkes was that they sold some other very interesting things.
Ezio wasn't interested in the Dark artifacts for now, but he was very interested in books on the Dark Arts.
A large portion of these books carried a certain 'malice', designed to bewitch the reader and even influence their inner emotions.
But as long as they didn't contain active hexes or curses, Ezio wasn't the least bit worried. As a precaution, he had already bought a pair of dragon-hide gloves with curse-resistant properties. Dragon hide itself had excellent magical resistance, and wearing these gloves while handling dangerous books would prevent most troubles.
If these books wanted to lure him into darkness, Ezio wanted to ask them: "Do all the letters and symbols in your pages combined outnumber the people who have died by my hand?" Though, he didn't really consider the NPCs in his training dimension to be people.
"Buying books."
A high-pitched voice emerged from behind the face mask, making it impossible to distinguish the gender. It sounded rather like a Gringotts goblin. Ezio's current height wasn't tall, and by adult standards, he did look a bit like a grown wizard with some goblin or other short magical creature blood.
"The shelf over there. You can look, but don't touch. Tell me when you've chosen," Borgin said flatly. His attitude improved slightly upon learning the visitor was a customer.
Ezio walked over to a large, ancient bookshelf. As he scanned the titles, he was inwardly surprised.
'As expected of a shop specializing in Dark artifacts. They have quite a collection.'
Many fallen wizarding families chose to liquidate their assets here. Dark artifacts couldn't just be sold anywhere. While Borgin was a stingy haggler, selling to him meant you didn't have to worry about repercussions.
Many profligate sons of wizarding families would steal heirlooms and bring them here to exchange for cash. Selling here was the safest option.
The bookshelf should have had a sign hanging in front of it: If you do not wish to die a violent death, please do not touch the books.
The books, whose very titles screamed evil, emanated a visible dark aura. One book titled 'Flesh Ritual: The Ladder to Godhood' wasn't even made of paper. The book itself, made of flesh with small, writhing tentacles, was slowly pulsating. A strange pus flowed through its worm-like veins, giving off a strong Cthulhu-esque vibe.
Ezio ignored the books that were of no use to him. He needed things that could increase his own strength.
The Dark Arts were a forbidden subject of study in the wizarding world, but it was undeniable that they were very effective. Compared to 'white magic', Dark spells were cruder, more primal, and closer to how magic was in its earliest discovered form. In terms of pure destructive power, the Dark Arts were stronger and more efficient.
After deciding on the books he wanted, Ezio began to wander around the shop. Borgin and Burkes wasn't very large, about two hundred square meters. The area near the display window was filled with all sorts of Dark artifacts.
There were shrunken heads, moving eyeballs, blood-stained masks, ritual tools made of human bone, and bloody sacrificial instruments. Among them were necklaces containing fatal curses and a blood-red noose that would automatically tighten around a person's neck.
Just as Ezio finished admiring these strange curiosities and was about to pay for his books, the sudden appearance of a new mission caught him completely off guard.
[New Mission Activated]
[The Failed Immortal: You have explored a key location in the pursuit of immortality for the legendary figure: Tom Marvolo Riddle (Lord Voldemort)]
[Mission Objective: Completely kill the failed pursuer of immortality]
[Mission Difficulty: ★★★★★ (Legendary Figure bonus +★)]
[Mission Reward: Piece of Eden · Staff · The Staff of Hermes Trismegistus]
'Legendary figure? Voldemort?' Ezio was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and sighed internally. 'When it comes to actively seeking his own death, this guy is certainly legendary.'
Although he had some objections, he had to admit that if he, the one accepting the mission, hadn't read Harry Potter, the base difficulty was fair. Without knowledge of the original story, finding Voldemort's Horcruxes was indeed incredibly difficult. Besides Dumbledore, there probably wasn't another person in the wizarding world who could find them all.
But with his foreknowledge, the mission's difficulty plummeted instantly. For Ezio, the greatest challenge of this mission was how to kill Harry Potter—or rather, the piece of Voldemort's soul inside Harry Potter—while the boy was under Dumbledore's protection.
Ezio knew a little about the reward, the Piece of Eden. The staff, which could change its shape, could erase the effects of time on its wielder and possessed considerable healing abilities. Under normal circumstances, the holder of the staff could truly achieve a certain degree of immortality.
But no one could truly live as long as the sun and moon, because people die when they are killed. The same was true for all the past wielders of the staff.
Temporarily ignoring the new mission, Ezio walked to the counter, ready to purchase the interesting books he had just selected.