novelraw Chapter 232 Rivers and Flames
Chapter 232 Rivers and Flames
Chapter 232 Rivers and Flames
The roar of the Flame Wolf still seemed to echo in his ears, and the lingering fear from its violent, destructive impact had not yet completely subsided. Karen sat cross-legged on the floor of his room, meditating with his eyes closed. The "river of thought" formed by the Occlumency Technique flowed slowly through his consciousness, washing away the fatigue from practice and the burning sensation in his mind.
He reviewed the process of controlling the Flame Wolf. The immense energy expenditure and backlash from forcibly tightening the "reins" contrasted sharply with the feeling of being significantly more efficient, albeit still difficult, when he tried to channel his destructive will. Although Karen understood that channeling was more effective, he still felt something was missing.
"Draining—" Karen murmured to himself. Wasn't this just another application of the "flow of thought" concept of the brain-sealing technique? When facing external mental intrusion, he used a torrent of harmless distracting thoughts to dilute and wash away the invading intent. So, when facing the raging, chaotic, destructive will within the Fiery Blaze, which belonged to the "external," could a similar method be used?
This idea sparked a flame in his mind. He immediately got up and walked back to the stone platform behind him. The night was deeper, and the starlight seemed even colder.
"Teacher, I want to try again," Karen said to Castor, who was waiting there, her tone filled with excitement at trying a new method.
Castor didn't ask any further questions, but simply nodded slightly.
Karen focused her mind and waved her wand.
The eerie blue flames rose again, quickly coalescing into a fire wolf half the height of a person. That familiar, ferocious will, like boiling asphalt, surged forth once more!
This time, Karen didn't immediately try to "restrain" it. He instantly activated his Brain Obstruction Technique to its maximum, and the "river of thoughts" in his consciousness surged and roared. But this time, the river wasn't just used for self-defense. He extended his Mind Control Technique like a river explorer, precisely "touching" the most turbulent and core destructive impulse within the torrent of the Flame Wolf's consciousness.
Immediately afterwards, he did something extremely bold—he tried to carefully and skillfully guide a "tributary" of his own "river of thought" out to "connect" with that destructive torrent!
This is not integration, but the construction of a temporary "guiding channel" dominated by his will!
boom!
The Flame Wolf's torrent of consciousness found an outlet, and a portion of its ferocious destructive will surged into a tributary of the "River of Thought" through the "guiding channel" constructed by Karen! Karen trembled violently, feeling as if magma had been poured into his consciousness! The main channel of the Brain Occupation Technique surged wildly, countless harmless waves of distracting thoughts crashing in, frantically washing over...
It dilutes and cools this invading, destructive heat!
At the same time, Karen's main will, through this "guiding channel," clearly sensed the "flow" and "strength" of the Flame Wolf's core will. He was no longer fighting against the consciousness of the entire chaos, but rather like an engineer who had mastered the sluice gates!
"Left!" Karen's command was clearly conveyed through the "guide channel".
That destructive will, drawn into the "tributary" and being frantically washed away and diluted, seemed to be given a definite push. The fire wolf outside suddenly pounced to the left, its movements much smoother than before, and its struggles noticeably less intense!
The command changed again: "Rotate!"
The Flame Wolf's turn was no longer so abrupt, and the arc it drew was close to a standard semicircle!
Karen's eyes flashed with a sharp light! Effective! Although constructing and maintaining this "guiding channel" also requires mental energy to resist the impact of the will to destroy, the efficiency is more than doubled compared to the previous method of directly resisting the entire torrent of chaotic consciousness! Moreover, the control is much more precise!
He constantly adjusted the size and access points of the "guiding channel," trying to guide only the most critical and influential destructive impulses. Under his command, the Flame Wolf began to perform more complex movements: sprinting, sudden stops, leaps, and...
He even tried to "slap" a rock designated by Castor with claws made of flames (the destructive power was restrained by Karen in time before contact, leaving only scorch marks).
The entire process remained challenging, and the mental strain was still immense. However, compared to the previous sense of impending "disconnection," Karen appeared much more composed. He seemed to be standing in the middle of a rushing river, using sophisticated diversion techniques to guide the most destructive flood peak in a designated direction, rather than trying to block the entire river.
When Karen finally dispelled the flame wolves, although he was still exhausted, his face showed a sense of relief and exhilaration.
"I didn't expect you to find a solution so quickly," Castor praised. "By integrating the concepts of defensive magic into the control of offensive magic, you've achieved a breakthrough. Your 'River' is beginning to show its true value. Keep going in this direction."
With his teacher's affirmation, Karen felt reassured. This "guiding channel" approach wasn't just applicable to Li Huo; he vaguely sensed that in Soul Weapon research, when facing the onslaught of chaotic memory fragments, he might also find a similar "guiding" method to reduce mental burden and improve the efficiency of information capture.
Back in his room, Karen picked up his pen and wrote back to his roommates. He first wrote to Wesley:
Wesley, hopefully your new tactics will work! We're counting on you to take down Slytherin! As for courses, Protecting Magical Creatures sounds like a good fit for you. Dragons probably won't work, but a hippogriff might be an option. Divination—if you don't want to hear Professor Trelawney predict your "early death hidden in your teacup," then forget it. Arithmetic Divination requires strong logic, and it's probably quite theoretical. Are you sure you want to choose this?
I'm still unsure about selecting all options. I still believe it's better to focus our limited energy on truly core areas than to try to do too much at once. However, selecting all options might bring some unexpected surprises, who knows?
The letter also included a small cartoon figure drawn by Wesley, being chased by a walking ball.
Reply to Fabian:
Fabian, your idea is excellent! Muggle studies are a great window. Perhaps ancient runes can also provide runic theoretical support for precise spell control? These courses combined have enormous potential. However, I must tell you that your own preferences should be the top priority, and don't forget that the courses can conflict with each other unless you're prepared to take them all!
I probably won't choose too many; I need to focus on certain core areas. Looking forward to seeing your moonlight water lilies bloom.
To Ernesto:
Ernesto, the aurora nebula photos are spectacular! It seems your grandfather's "torture" was worth it. I know you've always been interested in alchemy, so ancient runes are the foundation, definitely a good choice. Arithmetic is easier to understand than staring at a crystal ball.
As for the rest, that's up to you to arrange.
Then he explained his choice.
Sending a reply made Karen feel a little relieved. Sharing her thoughts with her friend also helped her clarify her thinking.
Blindly selecting all courses in pursuit of the Time Converter doesn't seem to be the optimal solution, because Karen has a lot of her own things to do, and among these courses, Muggle studies and occupancy are basically useless.
In the days that followed, Karen's training on the stone platform entered a new phase. He continuously optimized the "guiding channel" between the "river of thought" and the torrent of fiery consciousness. From initially only being able to guide a portion of the torrent, he could now more accurately locate the core impact point; from being flustered when constructing "tributaries," he could now more stably maintain the "riverbed" and control the speed of dilution and erosion. The fire wolf he controlled gradually increased in size, yet its movements became increasingly fluid and stable, even capable of performing some simple mimicry attack maneuvers.
Meanwhile, he attempted to apply the concepts of "guidance" and "precise guidance" he had gleaned from controlling the Fiendfire to his Horcrux research. When he once again used his Mind Control to probe the edge of the Horcrux and capture those scattered fragments of memory, facing the surging torrent of negative emotions (hatred, arrogance, fear), he no longer tried to withstand it or use his "stream of thought" to wash it away from all sides as before. Instead, he tried to construct smaller "guidance channels," carefully guiding only the most crucial "information flow" carrying the memory information, while allowing most of the purely negative emotions to be quickly diluted and washed away by harmless distractions through the constructed "river." Although he still couldn't completely avoid the impact, the mental pressure was significantly reduced, and the captured memory fragments seemed to become a little clearer. This progress earned Nico's nod of approval.