To avoid being robbed and attracting unnecessary trouble, Andrews drove the Thestral carriage at full speed for an entire morning.
After all, his boss's actions in the town that morning had been rather high-profile.
Having spent so many years as a thug and troublemaker, he understood those people's way of thinking far too well.
Even if his boss clearly came from an extraordinary background, desperate criminals would not care about that.
All they would see was that the boy was carrying a great deal of money.
By nearly two in the afternoon, Andrews noticed that even the Thestrals were beginning to tire out, so he finally chose a secluded place to land.
The Thestral carriage touched down, and Andrews removed the Disillusionment Charm covering it.
"Boss, we can get down and rest for a while," Andrews said, knocking on the carriage door.
"Alright, let's take a break."
Wade sensed Slytherin's location and found that it was not far away anymore, so he agreed.
He jumped down from the carriage and surveyed the surroundings, discovering that the location was quite good.
The ground was elevated, and dense shrubs covered the area below.
That meant the people in the camp could easily observe the outside, while those outside would have difficulty spotting the hidden campsite.
It was enough to show that, when sober, this brute Andrews was actually rather careful.
"I'll make something to eat first, then we'll continue on our way. Your nutrient potion is remarkable. The Thestrals should recover their strength quickly."
Andrews seemed to understand that Wade's business was urgent, so he had no intention of lingering.
Afterward, he climbed into the carriage, preparing to take out ingredients and cook something.
The moment he stepped inside, Andrews froze in shock.
He went in and out of the carriage twice before finally confirming that he had not entered the wrong one.
"This is what you call 'a few small modifications'?" Andrews said helplessly.
"It's just an Undetectable Extension Charm and a little Transfiguration. Doesn't that count as a few small modifications? Come down, no need to busy yourself. I already have food." Wade drew his Beech wand and tapped a nearby tree stump.
The stump instantly transformed into a smooth table. At the same time, the roots buried deep underground stretched upward and became two elegant wicker chairs.
"Your Transfiguration is incredible… are you really only thirteen?" Andrews stared at Wade in shock.
"That only has to do with talent, not age… Mr. Ivanov. Weren't you called a genius because you could easily accomplish things your peers couldn't?"
"You said peers, boss… your level is already beyond most adult wizards…" Andrews sat down in the wicker chair and leaned back comfortably.
Wade swept his left hand lightly across the tabletop, and two steaming plates of steak appeared before them.
"Where did you even take that out from?" Andrews asked in astonishment again.
"Magic allows our lives to be more comfortable and more elegant… at the small cost of putting some thought into storage. Mr. Paul made this breakfast earlier. It tastes quite good. Honestly, for a wizard as capable as you… I really can't understand how you ended up living so poorly…"
"I just… lost too much. I completely lost the motivation to keep living…" Andrews said dejectedly. "Do you have anything to drink?"
"You can only drink this." Wade placed a cup of coffee in front of him.
"Uh… alright. No alcohol during work hours, I understand." Andrews picked up the bitter coffee and drank it in one go, as though swallowing the bitterness of his own life.
"You said you lost too much, so your life no longer has any goals or motivation?" Wade cut into his steak leisurely.
"Yeah…"
"That's the behavior of a coward. How could you possibly have no goals or motivation? If it were me, I'd never let myself rot into a useless wreck. I'd personally reclaim everything I lost, piece by piece. Even if it took the rest of my life, even if I died along the way!"
Hearing this, Andrews stared blankly at the empty coffee cup in his hand, his emotions in turmoil.
Compared to himself, the boy before him seemed far more like a true man.
"Alright, don't overthink it. I already promised that I'd help you reclaim what you lost… hurry up and eat. Afterward, I still need your help with an experiment."
The two ate in silence, quickly finishing their meal.
Wade stood in the clearing and handed Andrews an exquisitely crafted watch.
"Put it on," Wade ordered.
Looking at the watch, Andrews hesitated, though he also felt a sudden sense of realization.
How could someone from a great family like Wade possibly trust a drifter picked up halfway down the road without reservation?
If he guessed correctly, once he put on this watch, he might lose his freedom forever.
He had heard of such things before. Some pure-blood families liked to use certain methods to control wizards and turn them into loyal enforcers.
Andrews looked at Wade staring at him from across the clearing. In the end, he gritted his teeth and put the watch on.
Without Wade, the rest of his life would probably rot away in that nameless little town anyway.
Since he had already chosen to follow Wade out of there, then so be it if he was controlled. As long as he could reclaim what he had lost.
However, after putting on the watch, Andrews felt nothing unusual, which left him puzzled.
Just as he was still confused, Wade suddenly drew his wand at incredible speed. A Stunning Spell was already flying toward Andrews.
Andrews was shocked, but Wade's casting speed was far too fast, and it had come as a sneak attack while he was completely unguarded.
So aside from taking the Stunning Spell head-on, Andrews had no other choice.
He simply could not understand why this was happening.
Just as he braced himself to be struck by the spell, the watch on his wrist suddenly let out a crisp click.
A silver light burst forth from the watch.
Clang!
Wade's unavoidable spell had actually been blocked by the silver light.
Only then did Andrews realize that the silver light emerging from the watch was a small silver metal plate.
At that moment, the metal plate was slowly circling around Andrews's body.
From across the clearing, Wade said, "Don't just stand there! Try dodging my spells!"
The moment he finished speaking, several more Stunning Spells shot out.
As the spells approached again, the silver plate, which had been rotating slowly, suddenly accelerated and precisely blocked Wade's Stunning Spells.
By now, Andrews had finally reacted. The watch was actually some kind of extraordinary alchemical device.
Its effect was to automatically block spells for him?
He remembered Wade mentioning during lunch that he needed Andrews to help with an experiment. So this was the experiment.
Andrews reacted quickly. The instant he understood, he sprinted sideways, following the instincts of real combat.
Even with his speed, several spells still slipped past his dodges. Wade's casting speed was simply too fast.
Without that metal plate, Andrews would already have collapsed.
Wade's attacks became faster and faster. Andrews went from calmly evading at first to eventually giving up on dodging entirely.
He could no longer avoid them at all.
All he could do was watch helplessly as the metal plate frantically blocked the incoming spells for him.
Finally, Wade stopped attacking, and the metal plate, which had nearly spun itself into sparks, returned to the watch.
"What… what exactly is this thing?" Andrews stared at the watch in shock.
This thing was simply incredible. It was hard to imagine how difficult combat would become if every enemy possessed a watch like this.
"This is a reactive protection device I made using the sensing component removed from a broom. Judging from the results, it works fairly well." Wade removed the metal plate from Andrews's watch.
The once smooth metal plate was now dented and battered.
Clearly, after enduring Wade's relentless barrage, even ordinary Stunning Spells had been enough to deform it.
"Goblin-forged metal really does have extremely high resistance to magic! Ordinary spells can't pierce it at all. It seems only spells like the Blasting Curse could break through this little thing's defense!" Wade said excitedly.
He then took out a hammer and used a nearby stump to flatten the battered Goblin metal plate back into shape.
"This is yours now," Wade said after reinstalling the metal plate into the watch.
"You… you're really giving this to me?" Andrews was overjoyed.
So the watch Wade had made him wear was not some device used to enslave people, but instead an incredibly useful alchemical item.
"Of course. I've already mastered the blueprint for this thing. I can mass-produce it anytime." Wade stroked his chin with a smile. "In the future, every one of my companions will have one."
"Boss… this invention is truly incredible. If this metal plate were just a bit sturdier, perhaps even the Killing Curse wouldn't be able to do anything to me!"
"Exactly! The Killing Curse can't penetrate physical defenses. So as long as we improve this metal plate further, we won't have to fear the Killing Curse anymore." Wade looked at the watch happily.
Although watches modified from sensing components were rather expensive to produce, compared to human lives, a few Galleons meant nothing.
This thing would undoubtedly become one of his strongest trump cards in the future. He absolutely could not allow it to fall into others' hands.
"Get back in the carriage, we're setting off again! Oh, and hand me the watch. I want to study it some more and see if I can add more metal plates… having them only for defense still feels lacking. If they could attack as well…"
Andrews handed the watch over and said sincerely, "Boss, you really are a genius among geniuses…"
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