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There's not much to say, really. Basically, his father offended Fenrir, the werewolf leader.

Lupin clearly didn't want to talk about that, so he steered the conversation to how the four of them practiced Animagus.

After hearing this, Harry excitedly said that he wanted to learn it too.

Previously, Harry had simply found Professor McGonagall's Animagus appearance amazing. Now, knowing that his father was an Animagus, and having witnessed Hermione's Animagus transformation, Harry was filled with longing for this magic.

“Hermione, can you teach me Animagus?” Harry asked.

Hermione shrugged and said, "My Animagus was completed with my cousin's help. You can ask him if you really want to learn. 4.5"

Harry looked at Zicomo again, but Zicomo cruelly shook his head.

"Animagus, you'd better not even think about it. That requires a certain level of Transfiguration, and you're clearly not qualified. Besides, you haven't even fully mastered Patronus yet."

Harry inherited his father James's...

His talent in this area is only average, and he is still a long way from being able to perform Animagus.

Just as Harry was feeling disappointed, Zicomo added, "Of course, if you really want to learn, you can consult Professor McGonagall. She's an expert in this field and knows how to help you quickly reach the standard required to learn Animagus."

Whether Professor McGonagall would help him was beyond Zicomo's consideration.

He's Harry's friend, not his babysitter. Helping him out is fine, but it's impossible for him to solve every problem.

Harry nodded, deciding to ask Professor McGonagall later.

Hopefully, he won't be deterred by Animagus's harsh conditions.

Chapter 146 Finding Seren's True Form, Reuniting with Jeremy

At the border, on the western part of the Sobbing Peninsula, Chicomo is on his way to the fourth church in Marica.

His teacher Serenity's true form was imprisoned beneath the ruins of that church.

By this time, Zicomo had already released Master Luther, who was in a hidden cave near the magic town of Seria.

The hidden cave will only be revealed after the three bonfire mechanisms in the magic town are lit.

Zicomo had first cleared out the area around the hidden cave before entering the magic town of Seria, which is why he hadn't discovered this place beforehand.

After releasing Master Luther, he became as taciturn as Master Yazler.

Zicomo waited for a long time before slowly casting a "Destruction Meteor" spell.

This magic is an advanced version of the Radiant Stone magic "Meteor Shower," which can shoot out more meteors from the tip of the staff while also increasing the speed at which the meteors fly.

Most importantly, this spell is magnificent. Unlike the light blue with a hint of green of other radiant stone spells, the meteor emitted by "Destruction Meteor" is a deep blue with a hint of noble purple, and is wrapped in a thin layer of white light.

It is said that whether you are strong or not is a matter of time, but whether you are handsome or not is a matter of a lifetime.

At Zikomo's level, strength depends on one's own abilities, not on the skills one possesses.

If that's the case, why doesn't he pursue a skill that's both flashy and deals high damage?

This is a magic level 30 spell created by the Origin Magic Master, so it's naturally incomparable to those basic radiant stone spells.

Getting back to the main point, Zicomo arrived at the south side of the Fourth Church of Marica, where the ruins sealing the Cube Witch were located.

After overcoming numerous obstacles and eliminating various guards, Zicomo finally saw the true form of Professor Serenity.

Her hands were sealed to the root-covered wall by pyroxene crystals, and she was kneeling in a corner of the underground ruins.

Zicomo examined it closely and realized that the roots were from a golden tree that had spread from who-knows-where.

Besides the enormous golden tree that can be seen everywhere, there are also some smaller golden trees at the border, which are probably seeds scattered by the enormous golden tree.

Zicomo never expected that the people from the magic academy would be so ruthless, not only sealing Teacher Seren here with the Radiant Crystal, but also letting the roots of the Little Golden Tree absorb Teacher Seren's power.

Sensing someone's arrival, Seren slowly raised his head and saw Zicomo's face.

She said, "My disciple, you must have had a long and arduous journey. It was all because of these so-called restrictions that you wasted so much effort, wasn't it?"

Zicomo shook his head. With his strength, breaking through these restrictions and taking down the monsters guarding this place would be an easy task for him.

Seren continued, "Now that you're here, I'll leave this item in your care. There's something I haven't told you: actually, when the stars began to revolve, my destiny also began to unfold."

"It was alright before the barrier at the cave entrance was broken, but now that it's open, I might be killed. So until that happens, I'll entrust this item to you for safekeeping."

After saying that, a deep blue gem that emitted a few points of starlight appeared on Serian's chest; it was Serian's Source Stone.

After Zicomo accepted the gem, Seren lowered his head and said haltingly, "My disciple... that is my origin... I entrust everything to you."

Zicomo carefully put the gem away, inwardly marveling at the convenience of the Radiant Stone Mage.

Transforming one's soul into Source Stones allows for insertion and use as long as a body is found. This is even more convenient than the various eyes found in the legendary Eyes of the neighboring Ninja Village's Mechanic Battle.

Even the scientist Orochimaru would be impressed and say he was an expert.

Just as Zicomo was thinking about these random things, he heard footsteps behind him.

A knight wearing a strange knight's hat walked in from outside the ruins. Underneath the hat was the mask of an old man with a beard, and he was dressed in battle-hardened knight's armor.

Zicomo had a vague recollection of him; they had met briefly back in Red Lion City. Ratahn had also mentioned him to Zicomo—the knight Jellian.

He was a guest general of Rataen, a subordinate similar to a retainer. It is said that they made a pact to ensure that each other "died with honor."

Jeremy also recognized Zicomo, the faded one who made Rataen "die with honor," or at least that's what he thought.

Jellian said, "I didn't expect to encounter a warrior from the festival here. Could it be that you were the one who broke the seal here?"

The ceremony he was referring to was the ceremony to send Ratahn on his way.

Zicomo nodded and asked, "What are you doing here?"

“I noticed that the restrictions here had been lifted, so I came here to check,” Jellian added. “You don’t know this, do you? Besides being a knight, I am also a witch hunter. I was commissioned by Rea Lucaria to imprison the witch Seren here.”

"But what about you? What are you doing here? Do you have some connection with Seren? If so, I advise you to forget everything about her as soon as possible. She must die no matter what," Jellian continued.

Zicomo shook his head and said, "That won't do. She's my beloved teacher!"

"Oh? I thought you would be a hero, but it turns out you're just like the witch, birds of a feather?" Jellian said in an unfriendly tone.

"It's none of your business to judge who I am. I'm protecting Teacher Seren, and General Ratahn's arrival won't help," Zicomo said coldly.

"In that case, let's solve the problem with force."

Jellian drew his weapons: a knight's longsword in his right hand and a wand about a meter long in his left.

Zicomo didn't rush to draw his weapon, but instead looked at Jellian and sneered, "Ha, a so-called witch hunter, why are you using a mage's weapon? Are you trying to defeat magic with magic?"

“Faded One, I advise you not to be so stubborn and to retreat as soon as possible. That witch is a heretic and must be killed,” Jellian said solemnly.

“Whether someone is a heretic or not is none of your business as a knight,” Zicomo replied.

"Hmph! Since you're so stubborn, then let's do it," Jellian said.

Seeing this, Zicomo drew his weapons: the legendary sword Moonshadow in his left hand and Luther's Radiant Stone Staff in his right.

He doesn't intend to summon the Tear of the Imitation this time. After all, Jellian is a guest general of Rataen, and Zicomo plans to give him an honorable death.

Jellian charged toward Zicomo, brandishing his knight's longsword. His series of slashing movements demonstrated Jellian's extensive combat experience.

On the other hand, Zicomo could only parry repeatedly. In terms of close combat experience, Zicomo was not exactly lacking, but rather almost nonexistent.

He was used to the mage's ranged combat style, usually using the Illusionary Tear to hold off the enemy in front while he himself stayed behind to deal damage.

Zicomo is able to block Jellian's attacks and fight him back and forth entirely by relying on his superhuman physical strength to withstand the attacks.

But as time went on, Zicomo's extraordinary talent began to take effect, and his melee experience grew at a visible rate.

Jellian realized this as well. At first, he was wondering why Zicomo didn't use magic to fight, but he didn't expect that Zicomo had the intention of using him to train his combat skills.

However, he misunderstood Zicomo. Zicomo's intention was simply to give him a dignified death. If he had used magic, he would have blasted Jellian to pieces long ago.

After all, it is very difficult to master the power to step over an ant without killing it.

667 As for improving his melee skills, that was a completely unexpected bonus.

But Jellian was unaware of this; he believed that Zicomo was humiliating him. So he quickened his pace and even used the few spells he knew.

But Zicomo had long since adapted to his attacking rhythm, and now it was just a matter of speeding up the pace. Even those attacks were easily neutralized by Zicomo.

Jeremy grew increasingly desperate as the fight went on, but the spirit of the knights wouldn't allow him to give up; he would fight to the death.

Zicomo granted his wish. As the legendary sword Moonshadow plunged into Jellian's chest, Jellian hunched over, his longsword and wand slipping from his hands. Even so, he refused to kneel.

"Farewell. I prefer to call you Knight Jellian rather than Witch Hunter. May you fight against Rataen again in your next life."

As Zicomo finished speaking, Jellian slowly turned to ashes and returned to the Golden Tree.

The concept of death does not exist in the borderlands. To be precise, the concept of death is materialized as "predestined death" and sealed within the black sword Maricus.

What living beings call death is nothing more than returning to the golden tree and becoming its nourishment.

Those beings blessed by the Golden Tree can be resurrected using its power. Of course, this comes at the cost of some of its power.

But it is clear that Jellian is not within the scope of the blessing; he, like Rataen, was abandoned by the Golden Tree long ago.

So it's obvious that Jeremy won't have a next life, and Zicomo's blessing was just a simple blessing.

This is the cruel reality of border areas; sometimes you have no choice but to turn your back on people you admire or who are connected to you.

But Zicomo did not regret his choice. After all, anyone would know what to choose between his beloved teacher and his brother-in-law's former subordinate, whom he had only met once.