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Weeks passed on without much hassle for Alex and Erebus during their time at Hogwarts. Alex continued filling out as much of his Field Guide as he could during the time between classes--sometimes even getting pranked by Peeves--but neither Alex nor Sebastian saw much of Erebus' presence during these times.

This was mainly due to him staying in his Voidship to cultivate a bit more since he had taken more than a month off from cultivating Qi energy to help mend his soul. Ever since reaching Gold tier and staying within the castle for a month--which happened to be about twice as long as him staying on Korriban--he could feel the ambient Ancient Magic attempt to strengthen his already godly prowess in Arcanism, but there was always something attempting to reject it from going further.

Erebus didn't know why this was so, but it made him curious. Sadly, before any further investigation could be made on that front, he could feel the ambient Qi in the cultivation chamber ween once more to minimal levels--thereby ending his cultivation session. He teleported out of the cultivation chamber and went back in the Control Deck of the ship where Arch was waiting for him.

As for Kreia herself, she was taking this time to rest.

For the last few weeks, Erebus had been doing this routine where he cultivated and did more research on the changes of the timeline. So far that he knew, his presence in the Wizarding World hasn't done too much alteration to the future--making Erebus sigh in relief. He was worried that things would become more difficult for him to plan out for the future events he'd have to deal with--especially since he knew that Voldemort and his cronies would make Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts into a living nightmare for him.

He could feel the dark side of the Force thrum in pleasure upon sensing his intense desire to torture that pink toad who hadn't yet been born alongside the moldy eggman himself. Erebus knew that his abnormally high resistance to the Dark Side--despite his over 120,000 midi-chlorian count--was not complete immunity like in some fanfiction. Not even the Light Side could overpower this innate resistance, but his Shadow affinity is surely helping him keep both in check within his body.

During these moments where he wasn't cultivating or researching the changes in the timeline, Erebus had been simulating the aspects of the Unforgivable Curses alongside Arch. Some of those times, Kreia had joined in and was even more enthusiastic when she learned that magic--at least in this world--was loosely based in science.

The Cruciatus Curse--aka Torture Curse--utilized a magical array which targeted the nervous system within the body. Erebus had realized that long ago--as far back as when he started to compare certain Force abilities with the effects of the Unforgivables--but Kreia was the one to inform him that there were subtle differences.

For instance, the {Force Lightning} ability relies on the innate strength of their dark side connection whereas the Cruciatus Curse derives its strength from the caster's desire to cause pain to the target. Both of them have their subtle differences while they are also essentially the same albeit under different power systems.

"It doesn't appear that you've made much progress in cultivation, sir," Arch commented as he could still sense the density and quality of the Qi within Erebus' meridians. "Even though you are at Gold tier, you should have gotten to at least the next major realm."

Erebus looked at Arch with a slightly disappointed gaze along with a vague desire to grow stronger.

"I think it is because this quest requires me to reach level 40 as a quest requirement," Erebus sighed, "yet it's clear that I'll need the foundation for when we return to Korriban."

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Arch raised his holographic eyebrow at Erebus. "What do you mean by that?"

"I had a vision," Erebus explained. "I could see two versions of myself. One was me in my current state and the other was me at level 40. We were on a red sandy planet, but the version of myself currently was cracking up like shattered glass while the other version of myself was growing stronger. If I returned to Korriban as I am currently, I won't survive."

The [Cyber Monarch] heard this and his face turned cold. "Even though the Force is notorious in giving vague visions to the Jedi that are nearly impossible to interpret right, I can understand that with you being an Outworlder, the clarity of your visions are going to be impeccably sharp. Very well, we will need to powerlevel your level from 20 to 40 before the end of the year. For this, I'd recommend maybe running a few dungeons from the System designed to do that while I keep an eye on Alex and Professor Fig's movements. Even in the late 19th century Wizarding World, I can do it."

"Which one should I do?" Erebus asked as he pulled up the list of available dungeons he could complete as Arch looked at a copy of the same list.

"I recommend the highest difficulty on dungeons like 'Lightning Thief - Attack on Camp Half-Blood' or 'Kingdom Hearts 1 - Twilight Town' to get a decent amount of experience points. These could yield tens of thousands of experience, but this will also force you to push your current skillset to greater heights," Arch responded. "These kinds of instances are from places that you are most likely to not visit in the near future on your quest to mend your remnant soul and are made to be isolated incidents that are used to farm experience points."

Erebus didn't bother to ask for more as he quickly chose his first dungeon of many in this first dungeon run.

==+==

Meanwhile...

Alex had solved the riddles of Richard Jackdaw and found the missing pages from the tome he found. As he defeated the pensieve guardians and passed through the threshold, he had unknowingly discovered the Map Chamber.

(A/N: For the Hogwarts Legacy gameplay, if you chose the Ravenclaw house for your character, you have to find a special Ollivander wand and solve a puzzle to meet with Richard Jackdaw. Regardless of what house you choose though, you will meet Richard Jackdaw's ghost and he'll lead you to his final resting place which is where you--as the Player--find the Map Chamber.)

It is here where Alex talked to Percival Rackham's portrait for the first time, but after a few moments of talking, Alex learned that he needed the book that Professor Fig had with him to continue on further. After that, he unlocked the passage in his Field Guide and returned to school to await for Professor Fig's return.

==+==

Back in the Galaxy...

Everything had been thrown into a chaotic spin. Save for a few people within both the Republic and Empire, everyone who vaguely knew about him forgot about Erebus and returned to their normal lives.

Only Darths Marr and Vowrawn, Keeper of Intelligence and Cipher Nine, Satele and Theron Shan, and the Sith Emperor could remember Erebus' presence--however little it was. Considering how they were the only ones in the entire Galaxy who could remember, it had become a strong theory that this event was meant to safeguard Erebus and prevent the unimportant characters from seeking him out--despite none of them knowing anything about travelling through the Variant Timelines.

However, it would only be Satele Shan that would receive clarification in this situation.

While on Tython to guide the prospective padawans in the ways of the Force alongside other Council members, Satele felt a small--yet localized--disturbance in the Force. Opening her eyes, she saw a holocron in front of her and--as if sensing her awareness--activated itself to reveal a holographic recording.

"By this point, Master Satele, you would be among the scant few people in the Galaxy chosen to remember about the existence of Outworlders. You know about Erebus Axus and so too does your son, but trust me when I say that this is intentional. In due time, he will learn the ways of the Jedi, but for the time being, he must first learn the ways of the Sith. It is only when one walks in darkness that they will gain greater understanding of the light..."

==+==

Erebus Axus' Progress:

》Completed 3 dungeons with a SSS+ rating.《

》He is now Level 31 (0/298,910)《

》Cultivation has been increased to Early Nascent Soul Realm.《

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