Harry Potter: The Mage's Path Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the intellectual property associated with Harry Potter.

Hi all,

Here's the bonus chapter. Harry encounters someone unexpected in the dungeon.

Harry continued down the narrow passageway. A few minutes had passed, but he had not seen an exit or other routes yet. His familiars wanted to assure themselves that he was okay, so they kept in constant contact with him. They kept him informed about what was going on outside. The mundane-born wizards were constantly arguing about whether they should enter the dungeon. As of yet, no one from Harry's group had escaped the dungeon, but since the gate had shifted locations, it was no surprise.

Due to the darkness, he had to move slowly to avoid tripping over anything. He could only be sure he wasn't missing anything because of his mini-map. As he was still outmatched by the dungeon level, he didn't use magic to light his way since he wanted to remain hidden. If he is discovered by a monster, it might be game over for him.

On the mini-map, it revealed a bend in the passage ahead, heading east. As Harry turned the corner, he spotted a light far off in the distance. Checking to make sure his cloak completely covered him, he walked forward slowly, trying not to make noise. His cloak may have obscured his sight, but it did not obscure his other senses.

As he got closer, he saw that the light was produced by a torch brazier set into the wall. Beyond that, the path began climbing upwards.

Harry was surprised to find some signs of habitation down here as the ground evened out a couple of minutes later. A passageway opened into a square room that looked like a primitive dining area. It had two rectangular tables in the centre and some chairs placed around them. On one side of the room, there was a stone fireplace with a big pot hanging from a hook. When he stepped closer and peered inside, he was immediately hit by a rancid smell. The soup had been left here for years, judging by how it coagulated at the bottom of the pot.

There were two doorways leading elsewhere, so Harry stepped through each one to explore them. After looking through them, it was confirmed that someone lived here at some point. He discovered a small bedroom, a storage area, and a small laboratory of some kind. The last one triggered a certain familiarity, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He determined that no one had lived here recently, as there were no personal effects, and everything was covered in a layer of dust.

Harry stepped back into the dining area and stopped in his tracks. Sitting down at one of the tables was an old man dressed in an old-fashioned suit with a white coat over the top.

"Hello there," that man said, looking straight at Harry. "Why don't you get rid of that cloak and join me for a chat?"

"Who are you?" Harry asked after removing his invisibility cloak.

"Sit down," the old man gestured to the chair opposite him. He had a wild mane of white hair and a thin curly moustache over his upper lip. It looked like he hadn't groomed himself in a long time.

"I'm not going to come any closer," Harry said, summoning his wand.

"How rude," he said. "I went through all the trouble to get you here, and you won't give me a moment of your time?"

"What do you mean you brought me here?"

"Sit down and find out," the man replied. "I mean no harm. Besides, you can leave here at any time if you so desire."

Who was this man? And how did he know so much about him?

Harry stepped forward cautiously and sat down. The man examined him so thoroughly that it made him uncomfortable. He had piercing green eyes behind a pair of round glasses and seemed to be able to see through him. Harry tried examining him to get some information on the man, but all he got were question marks.

'What is going on, Harry?' Celeste asked over the bond.

'I just met someone. Hang on.'

"You may call me Frank," the man said. He rummaged beneath his clothes and brought out two glasses and a small square-shaped bottle, filled with dark liquid.

"What is this place?" Harry asked, watching him curiously.

"I used to live here a long time ago. It is not the most welcoming of places, but it served its purpose at the time."

Frank poured a small portion into both glasses and pushed one across to Harry. "I can only give you a small taste since it might be too overwhelming for you to handle at your age."

"What is it?" Harry asked, looking at the drink warily.

"Why don't you try it first?" The man smirked.

Harry examined it rather than taking his word for it.

=====

Sacred Nascent Elixir | Consumable | Legendary | Grade: 1

Description: An extremely rare and wondrous elixir with an exquisite taste that may unlock the hidden potential in an individual. It is made up of dozens of rare ingredients and takes over half a century to make it. Be aware that it is very potent, and if consumed excessively, an individual may become poisoned.

• Unlocks hidden potential in the player.

=====

Because it was only a small portion, and it had such a miraculous effect, he threw caution to the wind. A chance like this shouldn't be missed. Harry lifted the cup to his lips and drank it down. He coughed, and he felt like his mouth and throat were on fire from the burning sensation he was experiencing. The fire spread throughout his body, and sweat trickled down his forehead and into his eyes. There was a moment when Harry was about to fall out of his seat because the heat made him feel dizzy. However, Frank reached out and grabbed him by the arm, preventing him from falling.

For what felt like hours, Harry had to endure the sensation. Although he could not describe it as pain, it was an uncomfortable feeling, like sitting in the hottest sauna you could ever imagine. After a while, it subsided, and he sighed in relief. He took off his glasses so he could wipe the sweat off his brow. Harry could feel something had changed, even without the affirmation of the blinking notification icon waiting for his perusal.

"You could have warned me that would happen," Harry said, rubbing his throat.

"If I did, would you have drunk it?" Frank asked, tipping his own glass and downing it in one gulp. The man showed no visible reaction as if it were an ordinary glass of water.

"Why would you give me something so valuable?" Harry asked suspiciously. "I already feel something is different about me."

"It may be valuable to you," Frank shrugged, pushing the bottle over to him. "But it has no use for me besides the taste. But I can't drink it in large quantities, so it's not really worth it."

Harry grabbed the bottle and stored it in his Mokeskin pouch. He wouldn't say no to it. There is a possibility that his familiars could benefit from the elixir, as maybe some others as well.

"What do you mean you brought me here?" Harry asked, getting back to the point.

"Are you familiar with how these dungeons operate?"

"Operate? I don't know anything beyond the basics. As for what they are and how they could exist, I don't have the slightest clue."

"Neither do I," Frank admitted. "But I made a very significant discovery. I learned that every dungeon has its own dungeon core. This powers the entire thing and dictates everything regarding the dungeon itself. The size, the monsters, the setting, and most importantly, the specific rules pertaining to every dungeon."

That was definitely a revelation and raised some interesting possibilities for the future. However, he had not seen anything like a dungeon core in the Wandering Aspen Horror dungeon, but he didn’t imagine it would be easy to find if it were so vital to its function. Maybe his Perception would have to reach a certain threshold before he could see it.

"So that's how I got here?"

"That's right. Although the dungeon core technology is complex and advanced beyond belief, I devised a few ways to use it for my own ends. For example, I can enter and exit a dungeon from anywhere, at any time, like an enhanced version of your ability. As well as that, I am able to change some rules in certain dungeons to make them behave differently.

"In your case, I changed the dungeon to have a second cycle, which allowed me to introduce a new set of directives. It tickled my funny bone when I saw the expressions on your group's faces when the Thunderbird appeared."

Harry looked at him angrily. "You killed two people."

"Well, indirectly," Frank waved his hand dismissively. "I added the directive for a random monster to appear so it could distract the rest of your group while I whisked you away. The thunderbird was just a stroke of bad luck. As for changing the gate location, that was for my amusement as well."

His apparent lack of concern for people's lives put Harry on high alert. His demeanour before suggested he was a genial old man; however, the way he disregarded human life was indicative of someone far more sinister than that. There was no sign that Frank was threatening him yet, but that could change in a heartbeat.

"Why did you bring me here?" Harry asked.

"Because I had to meet you," Frank leaned forward with gleaming eyes. "You are special. I could tell that the first time I laid eyes on you. Your entire body is brimming with potential. I haven't been this excited in a long time."

Harry leaned back in his chair, trying to maintain his space. The man was definitely creepy. "Well, now that you meet me, what do you want?"

"Nothing at the moment. You are still weak. You possess the oddest collection of abilities I have ever seen. Your body shows traces of fire and shadow elements, but I suppose that can be credited to your status as a Mage. I can’t explain the energy field that surrounds your body, though. And there is also your ability to escape from dungeons at will. Fascinating."

He wouldn't meet Frank again if he could help it. "Is that all you want? Where am I, and how do I get out of this place?"

Frank clapped his hands, and a small section of the west wall slid away, revealing a passageway.

"Follow that up to the surface," Frank said. "Although, why don't you just use your ability to escape?"

"None of your business," Harry said, standing up. He entered the passageway and put his cloak on again.

"Say hello to Celeste for me. It has been a long time since we last saw each other," Frank called, causing Harry to freeze momentarily. What the hell?

Before speaking with Celeste, he decided to gain some distance, so he moved quickly through the ascending passageway. After walking for a while, he got in touch with the fairy.

'Celeste, are you there?'

'What is it, Harry?'

'The person I met seemed to know you. Have you met someone named Frank before?'

'No. What does he look like?'

Harry described the man in as much detail as he could, which sent the fairy into a panic.

'Harry, you need to get out of there now! I'm pretty sure that you just met Victor!'

'What?!' Harry stopped and looked behind him as if expecting the man to appear.

'Harry?'

'I'm fine. I don't think he will try anything now; otherwise, why would he let me go? From what you said before, he is powerful. There is no reason I could escape him on my own. He was curious about me, though.'

'That's not a good thing. You will not escape him once he sets his sights on you. In the future, he will be able to locate you. Oh, this is a disaster.'

'We will just have to be ready for him. However, his ability to access and manipulate the dungeons so easily is worrisome.'

Harry spotted the exit five minutes later. He emerged from an underground cave onto a small beach. There was a wide river ahead of him that flowed out into the sea just to the east.

Amelia had shown him a map of the golf course and its surrounding areas in Dumbledore's office, so he knew where he was located. This was the River Don in the real world. This meant he was now in the northernmost part of the dungeon, just past the actual golf course with a main road in between.

In order to find out what effect the elixir had on him, he opened his notifications.

=====

As a result of the Sacred Nascent Elixir, the player unlocked his hidden perk.

Abyss Walker: + 1 to Vitality per level; Unaffected by the Abyss' mental degradation effects.

=====

Quest: To the Victor, goes the spoils.

Current Objective: Find information on Victor.

Time Limit: 4 months

The quest is now mandatory.

As a result of meeting Victor, the quest conditions has changed.

=====

The new perk was interesting, but he wondered how he had received such an ability. The fact that he was interested in traversing the Abyss one day, and was given the ability to do so, seemed too convenient. There must be something else going on. The quest update felt vaguely threatening, but there was nothing he could do about it at the moment.

Harry looked at his mini-map. It was now time to search for the survivors and leave this place. He would explore as much of the dungeon as he could, but that depended on whether he could remain undetected by the monsters. Additionally, he would search for any of his group that remained inside, as well as any treasure chests. Since the dungeon was so massive, he would be hard-pressed to explore the entire thing.

Harry considered his options for a moment. His Perception had not levelled naturally in a long time, so it must have reached its threshold already. Since he gained quite a few AP from levelling up a few times, he might as well put some points into it. He brought his Perception up to twenty-five, and he immediately noticed a huge change.

His vision was now blurry. Confused, he reached up and removed his glasses and looked around in amazement. His vision was crystal clear, and he could see everything in extreme detail without the aid of his glasses. He accessed his notifications to see what was occurring.

=====

Congratulations!

Due to the player raising his Perception to Twenty-five, he has earned a new perk!

Perception: 20/20 vision.

Description: The player can now see the world clearly without the need for glasses. This eliminates a potential vulnerability if his glasses were ever taken away from him.

+ 5 to Charisma.

=====

His new perk explained why his glasses were not needed anymore. While it wasn't as amazing as the other perks he gained from raising his attributes, he still liked it immensely. In spite of the fact that he could have thrown away the glasses, he placed them in his inventory. It was still something he received from Gaia, after all.

After climbing up a shallow sand dune, Harry stepped onto a slatted wood footpath. It led straight through a grassy area and up onto the road. As he walked, he spotted a dozen Nuckelavee off to his left, huddled together in a group. His attention was caught by a pair of smaller Nuckelavee that appeared to be foals. They did not appear to be less evil-looking than their older counterparts.

As he walked slowly past, he held his breath, incredibly nervous that he would be noticed. Fortunately, they didn't glance in his direction once. Harry breathed a sigh of relief after passing them unscathed. When he reached the road, he checked both directions out of habit, but it would have been strange if there were vehicles in the dungeon.

He crossed the road and pushed through a hedge that obstructed his way back onto the golf course. Ahead of him was a green at the end of a fairway. The points he added to his perception were already paying dividends. The map was updated in a radius of twelve metres around him, so he checked it constantly to get an overall view of the surroundings.

Harry stepped onto the green, and something caught his attention. In the far distance, he spotted a huge herd of Nuckelavee patrolling the fairway. What caught his attention was the massive Nuckelavee located in the middle. It looked to be almost twice the size of the others surrounding it. Was this the Nuckelavee Stallion? Since there was no way in hell he was going to get near that thing; he decided to turn west so he could take a different route to circle around them.

An hour later, Harry had explored the northeast corner of the map but hadn't found anything of interest yet. He encountered a lot of monsters along the way but managed to remain concealed. Honestly, the Cloak of Invisibility was completely broken. He had to constantly remind himself not to get complacent, or else he would be in for a nasty surprise.

So far, he had not seen any monster besides the Nuckelavee, and the Thunderbird didn't count. It was not too surprising, as he didn't see any other monsters surviving with their strength and numbers. Although, he didn't know how the monsters behaved towards each other. Would they act like most predators in the wild and be extremely hostile and territorial towards other species?

Ten minutes ago, he had encountered the western border of the dungeon. Harry literally ran into an invisible wall, so anything beyond that, like the buildings in the distance, was merely window dressing. He turned south and waded through some rough terrain to the west of the nearest fairway.

Harry ducked instinctively when he heard thunder rumble. He quickly concealed himself in a dense shrubbery patch and looked up at the sky. The thunderbird appeared, with a dark cloud following in its wake. It was headed toward the fairway where the Stallion and its herd were located.

The Thunderbird screeched as it descended further, and lightning bolts emerged from its body and struck downwards. Harry was too far away to see the fairway, but he could hear the Nucklavees' inhuman sounds. A battle was about to go down. While Harry was eager to move closer and observe the spectacle, he also recognized that it would be best to keep moving while the Thunderbird was distracted.

Harry rushed out and continued travelling south. He came across a group of trees well-spaced apart. As he passed the first tree, he heard Celeste speak over the bond.

'Harry, the group has escaped the dungeon. They found the gate on the eastern side, towards the middle.'

'Okay, that's good to hear. How many made it out?'

'One more of the hit-wizards died. That idiot, Isaac. But Dumbledore led the rest away unscathed.'

'Okay. Did they find the survivors?'

'No. they were focused on escaping. They haven't found the boss either.'

'I think I have found it. It's in the northeastern part of the dungeon, on a fairway. However, it's currently in a showdown with the Thunderbird.'

The sounds of battle hadn't stopped yet. He didn't know who would come out victorious since he didn't know the parameters of the Stallion and the Thunderbird. However, his bet was that it would be the former. It has a lot of helpers, after all. Although, the Thunderbird had an advantage in the air, so it could play out either way.

'Okay, I will tell them. They probably will send a team back in to take advantage of the situation and get rid of the boss. Don't get too close to the battle. You are seriously outmatched.'

'As if. Besides, I still need to find the survivors.'

Celeste went silent, probably relaying the information to the others. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything because it meant there was now a limited amount of time before they confronted the boss. However, if it was true that the dungeon remained open until they left through the gate, they could search for survivors before they left. In any case, he was still on borrowed time. If it weren't him that helped the survivors, then he would miss out on the skill points.

Harry continued through the group of trees, stepping carefully to avoid making any noise. He paused when his mini-map showed the icon of a treasure chest. Looking around, he determined that it was located somewhere in the vicinity of a tree, off to his right. Should he grab it, though? He needed to hurry, and it wasn't like he couldn't return and grab it at some point. Ultimately, greed won out, and he decided to go for it.

As he approached the tree, he was able to easily spot the treasure chest high in the canopy on a web of branches, thanks to his keen perception. He carefully observed everything around him, looking for potential traps, but didn't see anything.

Harry climbed the tree, using the low-hanging branches to get to the chest. Bracing himself on a branch, he reached out for the lid and attempted to lift it open. It didn't budge. Frowning, he examined it. The thing needed a bloody key!

Disappointed, he was about to climb back down when he remembered he had a charm spell for just the occasion. He used the Unlocking Charm on it.

The treasure chest cannot be opened without the silver chest key.

"Bloody useless charm," Harry muttered. He climbed back down and jumped back onto the ground. That had been a waste of time. So much for getting some amazing loot. Where could the key be located? If he was unlucky, it was probably a loot drop from the boss. There was no way he was going near that thing anytime soon.

'Harry, Dumbledore wants you to leave the dungeon. They will search for survivors after defeating the boss.'

'Tell them that I am fine. As long as my invisibility cloak is in place, I am not visible to normal enemies. There is no way I'm giving up on a chance to grab some skill points. You just need to tell them that the survivors might be on their last breath. Show a reasonable amount of concern and sympathy, and they will eat it up.'

'Excuse me? How am I supposed to fake sympathy? My face will probably get muscle spasms if I even try. Why should I care about people I have never met?'

'Just try your best. If you can pull it off, I will give you a cookie.'

'Are you messing with me?'

Harry grinned but didn't answer, and Celeste fell silent.

Ten minutes later, he had just passed through the group of trees when he heard a commotion nearby. There was a natural barrier of dense foliage up ahead of him, so he couldn't see the other side. He crept up silently and got on his hands and knees to crawl underneath the bulk of it. His progress was slow, as he had to be careful that his cloak wasn't snagged on anything. It took him five minutes to poke his head out the other side.

Harry's jaw dropped when he saw the scene in front of him. On the other side of the foliage was another fairway with a huge pool of water. There was a wooden boat floating in the middle of it, with people on it. Surrounding the entire pool was at least a few dozen Nuckelavees, watching the people with hungry expressions.

Judging by their robes, he figured that he had found the missing survivors. He counted them, and there were six men and two women, and they looked like they were at the end of their tether. Considering that they had been trapped in here for three months at least, factoring in the time difference, he could not blame them. He wondered if there was some piece of magic they knew that could have saved them, but didn't think of it. Well, he could ask when he rescued them.

Observing the Nuckelavee, it didn't look like that would be easy. Of course, that was if you didn't have a completely broken skill like Warp in your arsenal. At its current level, he could warp up to eight metres in any direction. He just needed to get close enough to ensure he landed in the water. Then he could whisk them out of the dungeon. It wasn't a problem at all.

Harry crept forward, keeping an eye on the circling group of Nuckelavee. Honestly, his instincts were telling him to run in the opposite direction. It was so nerve-wracking to be this close to them, and all that protected you was a flimsy bit of cloth.

He was over halfway to the spot he had targeted as a warping point when he felt his insides freeze over. A Nuckelavee had stopped and was now staring directly at him. The Nuckelavee's colouring was different, with a silver metallic sheen coating his body in contrast to the others' normal fleshy colour. It was some kind of variant or elite monster.

Harry sprinted forward and ripped off his cloak as the Nuckelavee screamed, alerting the others. Thankfully, Harry reached his destination before they could react properly, and he warped straight into the air above the pool of water.

He fell and hit the water, sinking for a brief moment before swimming up and breaking through the surface. He was greeted by a cacophony of sounds coming from the people and the deafening screams of the Nuckelavee as they realised their prey had escaped.

"Hey, kid, what the hell are you doing here?" One of the men shouted.

Harry ignored him, swimming over to the raft, and a hand reached out to haul him out of the water. Everyone started talking at once, trying to understand what was going on, and Harry held up a hand.

"Quiet," Harry shouted, and they stopped, staring at him speechlessly. "I am here to get you out of here. Madam Bones has brought a team in here to search for you."

"I knew she wouldn't give up on us," one of the women exclaimed, glaring at one of the men. "I told you so, Bryan."

"What I want to know is why she sent a kid to rescue us," an older man said. He looked around and stared fiercely at them. He seemed to have the most authority in the group as they stopped bickering and waited for him to continue. "What's your name, kid?"

"Harry." He wasn't sure if the Thunderbird was still out there, so it would be better if they left sooner rather than later. "Let me sit in the middle, and then grab a hold of me."

"Why?" the older man asked, but they made room for him in the middle of the raft.

"I'm getting us out of here," Harry replied.

"Does that have something to do with that trick you pulled by appearing out of nowhere?"

"Yes." No need to explain further.

The eight adults grabbed a hold of him, and Harry called Celeste over the bond to warn her that he would appear outside the gate. Before he used ID Escape, he added the Dungeon to his list so he could enter again with ID Creation. Also, he observed the unique-looking Nuckelavee and discovered it was an Elite monster. The information will come in handy when he returns to finish the dungeon someday.

They appeared in the clearing outside the gate, and the adults cried out in relief after getting over their initial surprise. The Auror guards ran over and fussed over them, and Harry moved to the side. His familiars flew over and landed on his shoulder.

"Is everyone else inside the dungeon?" Harry asked.

"Yep. They decided to go out in force to finish off the boss. They don't want to lose anyone else," Celeste said.

'Who will tell them that the survivors have been rescued?' Hedwig asked.

"Who really cares?" Celeste giggled. "I can picture the looks on their faces when they finally leave the dungeon after searching the entire thing and failing to find any survivors. They will have such hopeless expressions on their faces before discovering that the people have already been rescued. Can you imagine the hilarity?"

The older man stepped up to Harry. "Your companion has such a twisted sense of humour."

"Tell me about it," Harry said dryly. "It looks like I will have to return inside to tell them."

"You're not scared at all," the old man shook his head in disbelief. "Anyway, my name is Adrian Proudfoot. I would like to thank you for rescuing me and the others. My wife will be happy I am still alive. Well, at least I think she will be happy. She may have already moved on with that scumbag Duffy."

"Right," Harry said dumbly. That was too much information. He needed to change the subject quickly. "Come to think of it, why don't the Aurors use brooms to get around in the dungeon and avoid the Nuckelavees altogether?"

"Nuckelavees? Is that what they are called?" Proudfoot asked. "Anyway, brooms don't work. We have tried it in other dungeons. They disappear as soon as we try to mount them. It seems the dungeons want us to explore them on foot."

Was that another restriction? No broomsticks or vehicles in general? In any case, he would need to find a way to get a hold of a dungeon core to see if he could find a way to utilise it as Victor did.

He checked his notifications and was happy to discover that he had received the twenty-four skill points as a reward. Harry donned his cloak again and reentered the dungeon. He just hoped he didn't encounter another one of those elite monsters.

So, what do you think? What plans does Victor have for Harry? Can he escape the sinister old man's clutches?

Thanks for reading.