That evening, Maurise learned the basic details and location of the underground market from Kyle.
The market was located in Somerset, in South West England, hidden deep underground within Cheddar Gorge. It was a place far more secretive and concealed than Knockturn Alley.
Wizards from all over the world gathered there to conduct less-than-reputable transactions, and everyone went to great lengths to conceal their identities. The local wizards referred to it as the "Cheese Market," an incredibly strange name. Was it because the cheese there was famous?
Maurise intended to find the time to check it out. He had always fancied unregulated places like that.
---
Time flew by, and soon it was late September.
On a Saturday morning inside the Ship in a Bottle in the middle of the Black Lake, Maurise was in his room, meticulously adjusting the Door Between Worlds.
For the past while, he had been racking his brain to modify the teleportation circle.
Currently, his workbench was covered in a thick layer of parchment, densely packed with various modification plans and runic equations. He had to admit, the complexity of this magic vastly exceeded his initial expectations. However, after pulling several consecutive all-nighters, he had finally achieved some promising results.
"Let us give it a try."
Maurise looked at the magic circle on the floor and took two steps back.
It was obvious that the current Door Between Worlds was completely different from its predecessor. Half of the central runes had been replaced, and its overall size had been reduced to a quarter of its original diameter.
Once his preparations were complete, Maurise began to channel his magic.
The circle slowly lit up. A pitch-black void, no larger than half a human head, opened directly in the center.
Immediately afterward, white mist slowly began to billow out from it.
It worked!
Maurise instantly squatted down, leaned close to the void, and extended his hand. "Energy Convergence!"
The white mist spiraled toward his palm, eventually condensing into a Gap Energy Crystal.
Looking at the small bead in his hand, Maurise let out a long, immensely relaxed laugh. His laughter echoed throughout the room, prompting Tin to poke his head out from under the bed with a bewildered look.
'Meow? What happened?'
Maurise walked over, squatted down, and gave the cat an affectionate pat on the head.
With this newly improved magic circle, he no longer needed to physically enter the Gap World to harvest energy crystals. Most importantly, he would never again have to worry about being hunted down by "Death."
While the efficiency was a bit slow right now, he was confident that with continuous upgrades to the circle, this issue would eventually be resolved.
Now, he needed to consider how best to utilize his hoarded supply of energy crystals.
"Cinder!"
Maurise called out as he sat back at his workbench, tapping his quill against the wood.
A second later, the room door swung open, and Cinder flew in, carrying a blank envelope and a sheet of parchment in its beak. Maurise took them, spread the parchment flat, and immediately began writing.
'I require a large quantity of magical creature skeletons, either partial or complete. I will accept any species. If possible, please send me an itemized list.'
This letter was naturally addressed to Frick.
Once finished, he folded the parchment, stuffed it into the envelope, sealed it with a simple wax stamp, and handed it to Cinder.
The owl took the envelope in its beak, gave its wings a powerful flap, and flew out the door.
Maurise leaned back in his chair, his eyes crinkling in a highly satisfied smile.
His Undead Army Project was finally ready to commence.
---
October proved to be an incredibly busy month for Maurise.
In the early days of the month, just a few days after Maurise had sent his letter, Frick replied with a detailed manifest. The list cataloged all the magical creature skeletons currently sitting in his warehouse, along with their respective prices.
He also included a brief note: 'Please tick the boxes next to the items you require.'
To this, Maurise's response was simple: 'I will take them all.'
That's right, he intended to buy out Frick's entire stock of skeletal goods. He was no longer the broke student he once was.
The Phantom had earned him a massive fortune. He could easily pull out ten thousand Galleons on the spot—a sum he wouldn't have even dared to dream of a year ago. Naturally, the total value of the goods in Frick's warehouse didn't even come close to that amount.
Maurise did some quick mental math. The total cost came to 9,800 Galleons, 13 Sickles, and 7 Knuts. Perfectly acceptable.
A few days after mailing the list back, an owl delivered a large wooden crate that had been heavily enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm. Inside were all the animal skeletons Maurise had purchased.
Maurise immediately unpacked them all and transported them to his own storage room. Hundreds of skeletons were neatly arranged on the shelves, looking like a macabre, secret museum exhibition.
"Excellent." Maurise stood in the center of the storage room, nodding in deep satisfaction.
His reason for buying all these skeletons was simple: to transform enough undead creatures.
However, he did not intend to use the skeletons in their original forms. Instead, he planned to shatter them completely and reconstruct them, exactly as he had done with Champion.
Once finished, he would have an entire army of undead skeleton warriors. Unlike the temporary skeletons summoned by the Bone Calling spell, these undead creatures would establish a permanent magical link with him, providing him with a massive, constant influx of mana.
Just thinking about it made him a little excited.
The only thing he needed to worry about was his supply of Gap Energy Crystals. Evolving so many undead creatures would undoubtedly require an astronomical number of crystals. His current stash would likely not be enough.
Therefore, he still needed to solve the problem of his Gap Energy Crystal production efficiency as quickly as possible.
---
For the next while, aside from attending classes, Maurise spent all his time transforming undead creatures.
Soon, an entire month had passed.
Thanks to his tireless efforts, the various skeletons Frick had sent him had been successfully transformed into fifty undead creatures.
They looked quite similar to Champion: completely pitch-black and standing at a standard height of 1.8 meters. However, they were slightly smaller in build and lacked the bone armor that Champion possessed.
Furthermore, as Tier 1 undead creatures, they possessed no special abilities, and the amount of mana they provided through their magical links was predictably pitiful. The combined mana of all fifty roughly equaled the output of a single Champion.
It was time to begin their evolution rituals.
Before that could happen, however, the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang arrived.
---
October 30th.
When Maurise arrived at the Great Hall that morning, he found the decorations completely refreshed, looking much like they had during the Start-of-Term Feast.
Massive silk banners hung from the ceiling, embroidered with the giant Hogwarts crest. The ceiling itself had been enchanted to look like a clear sky, though without the stars of nighttime. Even the long wooden tables had been polished until they were reflective.
In this electric atmosphere, the students clearly could not eat their breakfast in peace.
The moment Maurise sat down, Cho Chang excitedly struck up a conversation from across the table.
"Beauxbatons and Durmstrang are arriving tonight! Maurise, how do you think they will choose the champions?"
Maurise answered calmly, "We will find out tonight."
Regardless of the method, as long as it was a fair competition, he was completely confident he could become a champion.