Exploring Treatment Options…

Watching Anne fall into sleep… or rather, a coma after her first treatment, Adam frowned.

"Her soul is far too weak… It’s recovering even slower than I expected."

Adam had purified an extremely tiny portion of the curse. A soul injury of that degree should only put someone into a coma, and normally, they would recover naturally after one night’s sleep.

But Anne had slept from last night until noon today, and when Adam checked, her recovery was only just past halfway.

"What do we do?"

Sebastian sat anxiously by the bed, watching Anne’s sleeping face.

"It looks like we can’t use such a simple and crude treatment method. I need to study that curse further, as well as matters concerning the soul…"

Adam rubbed his chin. Since he was going to do research, focusing on Anne alone would be too wasteful. He might as well establish a broader project: eradicating Dark magic curses and treating soul injuries.

Thinking about it carefully, while Adam himself had no use for it, everyone besides him seemed capable of benefiting from it. Who knew? Someone important to him might have an accident someday.

Before this, wizards’ research into the soul had been quite shallow. Basically, once the soul was injured, there was no other solution besides resting properly and hoping the person recovered through the soul’s own healing ability.

Professor Longbottom’s parents were probably an example. They had lain in St. Mungo’s for so many years without showing any improvement.

Yes, Neville was now Hogwarts’ Herbology professor.

Not only had he become a full professor directly through his exceptional professional skill, but he had also applied for a new greenhouse specifically for cultivating magical plants usable in battle. Neville and his Venomous Tentacula had opened the door to a whole new world for countless young Hogwarts wizards.

While letting his thoughts wander, Adam temporarily left Sebastian’s home.

Following the magical mark he had left behind, he found Rookwood. Without another word, he cast Petrificus Totalus, then raised a hand and forced a bottle of improved Veritaserum down Rookwood’s throat. From him, Adam obtained that Dark magic, along with a great deal of other Dark magic knowledge.

"I remember this guy is descended from Professor Rookwood, right? So much advanced Dark magic… Maybe it runs in the family."

As he spoke, Adam had already learned the Living Corpse Curse—the Dark magic Anne had been struck with.

Come to think of it, this was actually the prerequisite for another kind of Dark magic. The Living Corpse Curse was used to create corpses that had died in agony after enduring endless torment, then transform and control them with another Dark spell.

So Adam’s earlier deduction about the curse’s ultimate effect had been half right. It could not create an emotionless living dead. The pain caused by the curse would grow increasingly severe as the victim’s threshold dropped, and before becoming a living corpse, the cursed person would die in agony.

With Adam’s abilities, once he had mastered this Dark magic, he had also mastered its counter-curse.

But as for the exact effects of that counter-curse… Adam would need to test it on a lab rat before he could be certain. After all, the only Dark magic counter-curse he had tried before was Sectumsempra’s.

Dot dot dot dot, sesame…

You’re the one! Little Barty Number Thirteen!

Little Barty Number Thirteen: Why is it always me?!

"Ah—"

"Urgh—"

Watching the test subject twitch continuously on the operating table, Adam stroked his chin.

"As expected, the counter-curses for spells related to the soul are different from ordinary ones. They can’t heal soul damage the way Sectumsempra’s wounds can be healed…"

As for the ability to remove the curse, this counter-curse did have that, but Adam’s Purify Card could do the same.

"So I really need to research another method for healing souls… Maybe I can find a solution through the Clow Cards?"

Adam turned his attention to the Clow Cards again. After all, their essence was a research and learning shortcut Clow Reed had left for him. In theory, he could use them to develop any magic and then learn it himself.

But that was only in theory. For the fundamental world laws within the Clow Cards to evolve magic that met his requirements, conditions had to be met. At the very least, Adam needed sufficient understanding of the soul—just like how, when he knew nothing about time magic, he had been unable to get started with the Time Card and Return Card.

The Clow Cards could not conjure magic arrays out of thin air. They merely spared Adam the process of exhaustive testing and directly generated magic suited to his requirements based on his magical knowledge.

For example, with Adam’s current magical knowledge…

"Hmm. Drawing power from the Spirituality Dimension during sleep to speed up soul recovery… This might be worth trying."

Adam looked at the magic array evolved by the Sleep Card. After deducing the spell’s effects from the array, he nodded. This seemed quite suitable for Anne.

"Using darkness as a cocoon, fully merging into the darkness until the soul recovers, then breaking out of the cocoon? Uh, this also seems feasible? The benefit is complete recovery of both body and soul, and no aging within the cocoon. But the process can’t be controlled. All recovery must be completed in one go inside the cocoon, and there’s no telling when she’ll wake up."

Looking at the magic array evolved by the Dark Card, Adam considered it. Its effects did seem stronger than the Sleep Card’s magic, but it might not necessarily suit Anne.

However, if it were made into a magical item that activated passively, it seemed perfect for saving the lives of family and friends. Once someone entered a near-death state, they could immediately enter a cocoon of darkness. It might need to be paired with some protective magic as well…

With that thought in mind, and encouraged by the promising start from the first two Cards, Adam began other attempts.

However, Adam had not expected that what he thought was the beginning was actually already the peak.

"Uh… Repairing one’s soul by devouring shadows? Forget it. It doesn’t seem suitable for Anne, and the side effects aren’t small either."

With black lines all over his face, Adam put down the Shadow Card and tried the Dream Card. The effect was roughly the same, except this time it devoured dreams.

What was going on? How did these spells meet his requirements? When had his requirements ever been that brutal?

Moreover, while both shadows and dreams were connected to a person’s spirituality, neither was pure. The indigestible impurities left behind after devouring them would contaminate the soul. Doing this too often would, at best, turn one’s appearance into a two-prong outlet, and at worst, cause mental problems.

If he truly wanted to take this path, he should complete it in stages: extract, purify, then absorb. Only then could that spiritual power be rendered harmless, but that would require further research…

Adam shook his head, glanced at the remaining Clow Cards that were hard to connect with souls at all, and decided to stop trying.

Actually, the Clow Cards should now be called Adam Cards. As Adam fully comprehended the gift Clow Reed had left him—gritting his teeth—all the Clow Cards could be converted by him with ease.

As for why he still called them Clow Cards, it was simply out of habit.