Louis gritted his teeth, picked up a sharp wooden splinter from the ground, and stabbed his left index finger without hesitation.
A drop of bright red blood welled up.
Suppressing his tension, he once again brought that "invisible" hand close to the edge of the broken glass.
This time, he was incredibly careful, not making a single sound.
The smell of blood, even just a hint, was enough to drive Walkers into a frenzy.
However, the Walkers outside the door still had no reaction.
Some were spinning in place, others were gnawing on the mangled corpse on the ground; none noticed the fresh human blood so close at hand.
Louis's heart beat faster and faster. He applied a little more pressure, letting more blood seep from the wound.
The result was still the same!
This was truly a pleasant surprise!
Previously, his belief that the invisibility cloak could block a Walker's sense of smell was just a hope. After all, he vaguely remembered that in the original works, the cloak couldn't block scents, but what if?
He hadn't expected this invisibility cloak to actually work against a Walker's sense of smell! Could it be because it was a custom version?
He couldn't figure out the reason for now, but as long as the result was good, that was all that mattered!
Looking at the confused Walker in front of him, a bold idea rose in Louis's mind.
He directly reached out his hand covered by the invisibility cloak, clenched it into a fist, and punched the Walker hard through that small broken opening.
The Walker looked down at where it had been hit in confusion, then dazed for a moment, it wandered aimlessly toward another direction.
It worked!
Louis let out a silent cry of ecstasy in his heart! He could finally confirm that this invisibility cloak, at least at this stage, could perfectly block a Walker's perception! Whether it was sight, hearing, or smell!
Of course, he wasn't sure what would happen if he were covered in a large amount of blood. But for now, this was enough!
He returned to the Managers Office on the second floor with satisfaction, used the heavy sofa to block the door firmly from the inside, and then lay down on the sofa with peace of mind, falling into a deep sleep... After an unknown amount of time, Louis was awakened by a faint knocking on the door.
"Louis? It's me, Sean."
Louis sat up with a start, quickly moved the sofa, and opened the door.
Sean had returned covered in dust, his backpack bulging, clearly a significant haul, but his expression was somewhat solemn.
"How's the situation?" Louis asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Not great." Sean put down the backpack and took out a few cans and two bottles of water. "I scouted several exits nearby; those things are everywhere, and there are even more than yesterday. We're trapped."
He looked at Louis and said in a low voice, "The good news is, the things downstairs seem to have lost interest in banging on the door."
"The bad news is, we probably won't be able to get out for a while. We'll have to stay here for now and wait for the Walkers outside to be lured away by something else or disperse on their own."
That afternoon, the two didn't just sit around; instead, they worked together to explore the entire office building.
During this time, they encountered two more Walkers trapped in the pantry, which were easily dealt with through their tacit cooperation. They also found some scattered food and bottled water as a result.
Night fell again.
At Louis's repeated insistence, Sean went to rest first while he took the night watch.
Sitting under that cold manager's desk once again, Louis's state of mind was completely different from the night before. The success of the invisibility cloak gave him immense confidence and assurance.
He was no longer impatient or anxious. He cleared his mind, letting his spirit settle completely, focusing all his attention on that pen and the wand in his hand.
He recalled every detail from the books, feeling that faint, almost imperceptible ripple of magic coming from the wand.
Time passed unknowingly.
Just as he had practiced an unknown number of times and felt like his arm was about to give out, a miracle happened.
He casually pointed his wand at the thick book on the ground, The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1.
"wingardium... Leviosa."
He spoke the incantation softly, gave his wrist an elegant swish, and then a flick.
Buzz—
A strange, electric-like tingling sensation instantly flowed from his palm throughout his entire body!
Immediately after, the magic book in front of him seemed to be held up by an invisible hand. The pages trembled slightly, and then... slowly, with a hint of instability, it just floated up!
It was a full three inches off the ground!
It worked!
Louis's eyes widened, his heart pounding violently with ecstasy!
He almost couldn't stop himself from cheering out loud! The exhaustion, oppression, fear, and frustration of the past two days were swept away in this moment by a huge sense of joy and achievement!
He had really... learned magic!
Louis really wanted to jump up and celebrate loudly, but reality didn't allow him to do such a thing, so he just silently pumped his fist and whispered, "Yes!"
After the brief excitement, his adult soul allowed him to calm down quickly and put his energy into more practical thinking.
Simply "learning" the Levitation Charm was far from enough.
He had to achieve "mastery," and even work toward higher goals like "instant casting," "silent casting," and "wandless magic."
Only by making magic a part of his body's instinct could it truly play a role in the ever-changing heat of battle.
Furthermore, there was another more important issue—he needed to experiment repeatedly to evaluate where his current casting limit actually was.
In the world of Harry Potter, there was no explicit setting like a "mana bar." But that didn't mean magic could be used indefinitely.
Just as Harry would be exhausted to the point of collapse and need chocolate to replenish his energy when practicing the Patronus Charm, casting spells—especially high-intensity ones—was a huge drain on a Wizard's mental and physical strength.
Louis needed to find that critical point.
He had to know clearly how long he could maintain his combat effectiveness in his current state before his mental energy was exhausted, and dizziness or blurred vision led to a failed spell.
This was like a gunman needing to know how many bullets were in his magazine; a mage also had to know how many times they could cast a spell.
Otherwise, when deep in a desperate situation, failing to cast a spell because of a splitting headache or mental distraction would be the stupidest way to die in the world.
The former couldn't be achieved overnight, but the latter could be roughly evaluated through the following practice.
So, Louis cleared his mind of distractions and once again entered a state of focused practice.
First, he directed that magic book to perform various complex movements in the air, from being shaky at the beginning to smooth and steady later on. He could feel his control over magic becoming more proficient at a visible speed.
Next, he began to try items of different weights and materials.
A metal stapler, a heavy glass ashtray, the half-full water bottle next to his backpack... Louis took a deep breath and pointed the wand at himself.
In the next second, something unexpected happened.
If controlling the book before was like lifting a feather, then trying to lift his own body with magic was like forcefully pulling a heavy truck in his mind!
He felt his body suddenly become light, and his feet seemed to truly have a tendency to leave the ground, but a strong sense of dizziness also swept through his brain.
At the same time, he didn't rise vertically in a cool way as he had imagined; instead, it was as if someone had suddenly grabbed his ankles and pulled him up. His center of gravity instantly shifted, his feet shot straight up, and his head plunged uncontrollably toward the ground!
Before his face could have an intimate encounter with the concrete floor, he hurriedly interrupted the spell. His body swayed, and he sat down on the ground with a thud.
"No... still a long way to go."
Louis panted heavily, his face somewhat pale.
Just trying it for that brief moment, the immense sense of exhaustion made him feel as tired as if he had stayed up for three nights straight. It seemed that relying on the Levitation Charm to "fly and move through the earth" was still just a dream at his current level.
Over the next hour or so, he practiced desperately until his head began to spin in waves, and he finally gave up the idea of continuing.
After all, the current environment was still unsafe; he couldn't actually practice until he collapsed from exhaustion.
"Finally... I have some means of self-preservation... My current level should be considered 'Great Perfection of Hermione,' right? Well, even if it's only the Levitation Charm."
Louis leaned against the table leg and sighed wearily.
Although he hadn't mastered it proficiently, a Levitation Charm that could move objects from a distance, create obstacles, or even attack undoubtedly greatly increased his chances of survival in this apocalypse.
He felt his eyelids getting heavier and heavier, knowing he really couldn't hold on any longer. So he didn't persist, moved to the sofa, and gently nudged Sean.
"Officer, wake up. It's time to switch shifts."