"Well, now we know he has what it takes," Mimir said while licking her paw.

"Indeed, but he shouldn't have to," Vincent sighed.

"Now is not the time to get sentimental."

"You're right. Go put the Minor Clairvoyance Charm on the third level," Vincent said.

"Are you sure? Even if he's talented, he might not have the affinity to cast the spell," Mimir said.

"Let him try," Vincent replied. The spell was the best way to deal with Christian's terrible sense of direction, but it would depend on his luck and whether he had the talent for that charm.

"Very well," Mimir nodded before jumping off the table and walking out.

…

The night passed without incident, and Kallista was the most reassured. During her watch, she had a terrifying feeling that something might happen and was paranoid for the entire night. Meanwhile, Christian woke up in bad shape. Despite his calmness, it was unnerving that he had killed someone for the first time. On top of that, he had a nightmare, rolled out of his bed, and dirtied his hair.

So, the first thing he did when he woke up was shower and wash his hair, but he still felt it was dirty. He missed the lavender shampoo from the resting zone. Christian sighed to himself before conjuring hot water for the others to wash.

"I can't believe your team has such luxury," Kallista said as she happily skipped to wash. Meanwhile, Christian waited for everyone to be ready before pointing in the distance, "What's this?"

"A snow mountain," Kallista replied. "Wait, there wasn't a mountain here last night, was there?"

"There wasn't," Christian answered. "And this is not the only change to the surrounding landscape." Despite his poor sense of direction, he had an eidetic memory, so he remembered that the path behind him was a small forest. However, now it was a plain with a river not far away.

"What's going on?" Kallista asked.

"Xin'er?" Christian replied.

"I don't know," she replied.

"Then, we can only take things slowly. It seems we have to travel through the mountain to reach the golden light. If only I could see that far, maybe I could better prepare for the journey ahead," Christian said with a frown.

"I can help with that," Kallista said before singing. Christian felt a slight tinge in his eyes before his pupils began to turn yellow. "What's this?" The mountain was more than 20 kilometers from their location, but he saw it as if he were standing next to it.

"The Hawk Eye Hymn," Kallista explained.

"Fascinating," Christian muttered, rapidly gaining control of his newfound vision. He zoomed in and out, looking in the surrounding 20-kilometer radius. "Cast one on Lucretia as well." His words elicited an intense stare from the Metallus descendant and a quiet stare from the beautiful Veela.

"You're still this group's vanguard, so it will be in our best interest for you to understand the layout of our voyage," Christian replied. His words made sense, meaning she could not argue, so she snorted softly. Meanwhile, Kallista looked at him and, after nodding, she cast the charm on Lucretia, who immediately started to observe the surroundings.

"I meant to ask you: can you cast two hymns simultaneously?" Christian asked.

"Uh, I —"

"It's alright if you can't," Christian reassured.

"I can, but it only lasts 5 seconds," Kallista replied, her face slightly red.

"I don't know much about Hymn Magic, but I bet five seconds is impressive for your age," Christian said.

"It is," Xin'er added. "She would need to sing at almost the perfect frequency when singing the second hymn for it even to work, let alone last for even 1 second."

"It seems I underestimated how impressive your abilities were," Christian said. Although he could play instruments, singing was not his forte.

"Hmph, Veelas are bird-humans, so isn't it normal for them to be good at singing?" Lucretia muttered under her breath, but no one said anything. It's unclear whether they heard and pretended not to, or her voice was too low.

"One more thing. Can you cast the Strength Hymn on me one more time? I want to verify something."

"No problem."

Christian felt that rush of strength and closed his eyes to sense the changes in his body. He raised his left hand, put his index and ring fingers together, and rotated them clockwise. A small flame spark materialized above his palm, and Christian excitedly opened his eyes. He holstered his wand on his side before silently casting the Aguamenti Charm with his right hand.

'The Strength Hymn has cured my Corpus Aequilibrium,' Christian thought excitedly, which meant he could cast spells without the Elder Wand. More importantly, he can double cast by silently casting with his left hand. 'It's probably temporary, but that's good news.' Now that he was at his peak, Christian felt more reassured to tackle this last layer of the test.

"Alright, let's eat before we depart," Christian ordered. The team ate, Christian checked on Menes, gave Xin'er a new dagger, and the team took a new formation. Lucretia and Xin'er were still in the front and middle, but now, Christian was in the back next to Kallista.

"Strengthen everyone, and I'll take care of our stamina," Christian ordered, and Kallista obliged. With their newly acquired superhuman strength and Christian constantly refreshing their endurance, the team walked the 20 kilometers in record time, reaching the foot of the mountain.

Christian then bewitched their clothes with a cold-resistance charm before they started their climb. Midway through their climb, Christian noticed that everyone was breathing harder, despite their top-of-the-line endurance, and immediately knew this was the effect of the low-oxygen environment. So, he cast a Bubble Charm around everybody's mouth and nose before conjuring oxygen inside the bubble.

With plenty of oxygen, the team reached the mountain's top in about an hour. Christian used his hawk eyes to look down, but all he saw was a fog that blocked everything. Without any other choice, he descended the mountain, slowly approaching the fog. As soon as they entered, the cold climate turned warm, and everyone found themselves in a plain with green grass.

However, the beautiful sight was marred by the sound of galloping, so they sought out the source. The team's faces went pale as their sight was covered by a herd of black creatures heading directly for them. "Run back to the mountain," Christian yelled. The last thing he wanted was to die in an animal stampede.

However, as soon as they turned around, the snowy mountain was gone, replaced by an endless plain. Christian's face was ugly, but he acted swiftly: "Kallista, speed." He hoped he could outrun this herd with her speed blessing and his Stamina Charm.

"No, we can't run," Xin'er said. Christian turned around and saw she was still looking at the herd. "What do you mean by this?" Xin'er did not immediately answer but asked Kallista for a hawk eye.

"I was right. This is a herd of the Trampling Ironbull."

"And?" Christian asked.

"Their entire body is composed of iron, granting them high magical and physical defense. However, that's not the scariest part about them. They have the ability to gather momentum."

"Momentum?"

"The herd forms a magical cohesion with their leader, the bull in the front, sharing their power with them. On top of that, the more they run, the faster and stronger they become."

"In other words, we cannot outrun them," Christian said with gritted teeth. The sound of metallic hooves galloping toward them was unnerving, but he had to remain calm. "In that case, let's hide underground and let them pass."

"That won't work," Xin'er shook her head. "The books said the Trampling Ironbull has survived for so long because they work together and kill anyone who intrudes on their territory as a warning. We are now their target, and they will do everything in their power to kill us."

"These bulls should have no problem digging to find us," Christian snorted coldly, thinking of a solution. "Since they are gathering momentum, we must stop them. The key is their leader. I must get to him and control him. However, the issue is how to get to him as fast as possible."

He looked in the distance, and this herd was still a few minutes away from them, maybe less, since their speed is exponentially increasing. However, they still had plenty of time.

'I could transform myself into a bird and fly there. No, that's too risky,' Christian thought. Transforming into an animal without being an Animagus was possible, but extremely dangerous, as the wizard would lose their human consciousness and forget they were a wizard, and thus would be unable to wield magic. Christian has been trained in this transformation with Professor McGonagall, and she would be the one to transform him back into a human.

According to her, it takes years of training for a wizard to train to the level of retaining their human consciousness. Headmaster Dumbledore, who used to teach Transfiguration, is the only one capable of such a feat in the school. McGonagall said she once tried to learn but gave up and instead focused on becoming an Animagus. Christian was ambitious and wanted both, so McGonagall told her she would prepare and teach him next year.

"Lucretia, you can control your swords, correct?" Christian suddenly asked.