The whole flying broomstick affair had finally come to an end, and Maurise found his summer vacation returning to a leisurely pace. The Quidditch World Cup was scheduled for late August, and he planned to join the festivities when the time came.
So, what should he do in the meantime?
On an early August evening inside the Ship in a Bottle, Maurise was busy in his room setting up the Door Between Worlds, the gateway to the Gap World. His last exploration hadn't yielded any substantial progress, and various events had delayed his return for quite some time.
"This should just about do it," Maurise muttered. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at the teleportation magic circle, which he had enlarged to nearly twice its original size. He nodded in satisfaction.
This was the absolute limit of his optimization skills. If he still could not uncover anything new in the Void, it simply meant that the location was currently beyond his capabilities.
Standing before the magic circle, Maurise gave it one final inspection. He then stepped into the center, lay down, and closed his eyes.
---
When he opened them again, he was standing on that familiar, pale gray wasteland. Even though the teleportation circle was set up in the Ship in a Bottle, he had still returned to the "Hogwarts" of the Void.
Looking at the familiar silhouette of the castle beside him, Maurise fell deep into thought. He was no longer the magical novice he once was. He could now sense that the circle's default landing point was anchored right here. Sometimes the location varied slightly, but it never strayed too far.
Maurise chose the same direction as last time and set off, hoping for a bit of luck on this run.
After walking for quite a while, that peculiar signpost reappeared. The sign hadn't changed, and the words on it remained the same: "I Was here" and "I was also here." The latter was the message he had left during his previous visit, confirming he was heading in the right direction.
This time, however, the teleportation circle's energy reserves were still abundant. Maurise did not linger and continued moving forward.
Keeping track of the time in his head, he walked for nearly two more hours. The surrounding scenery remained monotonous, but the white mist began to thicken, resembling the heavy smog of a polluted industrial city.
Maurise slowed his pace and attempted to gather ambient energy. The process went smoothly, and a Gap Energy Crystal materialized in his palm. If he could maintain this level of efficiency, he would never have to worry about running out of energy crystals again.
Just then, a black silhouette abruptly appeared in the distance.
'Something is out there!'
Startled, Maurise pocketed the newly formed energy crystal and quickly approached the figure. At last, a new discovery.
The shadow grew clearer. It was a person!
The figure stood more than half a head taller than Maurise. Draped in a simple grayish-black robe, the person stood with their back to him, as motionless as a statue.
Maurise stopped about ten paces away and tentatively called out, "Hello?"
There was no response. Was it a corpse?
Maurise circled around to the front of the figure and finally got a good look at the face. It was a very old man with shriveled skin and a haggard face. His eyes were tightly shut.
"Hello, sir?" Maurise asked again, reaching out to tap the man's shoulder.
Just as he assumed there would be no reaction, the man's tightly shut eyes snapped open.
Maurise jumped back, startled. "You're alive?"
It was an obvious question, but he could not help himself.
The man's gaze slowly cleared, as if he were waking from an incredibly long nightmare. He stared intently at Maurise and asked in a strange accent, "Who are you?"
Maurise thought for a moment and gave a relatively safe answer. "Just an adventurer. You can call me Maurise. Who are you?"
"A guard," the man replied, his face expressionless and his speech drawn out. "The living are forbidden to enter here. Turn back, adventurer."
Maurise raised an eyebrow. "You are not among the living?"
To his surprise, the man slowly nodded. "You may call me Death," he said.
Maurise stared at him for a few seconds. He was fairly certain this self-proclaimed Death was pulling his leg.
The man offered no further explanation. He simply repeated his warning. "Leave now, adventurer. Go back to where you came from."
Maurise stayed firmly planted. "And if I do not go back?"
The man fell silent for a moment before speaking. "That is fine, as long as you do not proceed any further. If you do not cross this line, I will not stop you."
He raised a stiff arm and pointed into the depths of the fog. "Ahead lies the realm of the dead."
Maurise looked in the direction he was pointing. The mist was too thick to see anything but a vast expanse of pale gray.
"And what if I keep walking forward?" Maurise asked, his curiosity piqued.
"You will die," the man answered flatly.
Well, that was certainly intimidating. Maurise muttered to himself before asking another question. "Are you really Death? Can you answer a few questions for me? Just to satisfy my curiosity."
The man's expression did not change. "I can."
'He is actually quite agreeable,' Maurise thought. He immediately asked the question he cared about most at that moment.
"What is your true name?"
"...Sclep."
The name sounded completely made up.
"Why are you here?"
"To guard this place."
"Guard? Guard what exactly?"
"No comment."
"How long have you been here?"
"No comment."
"Who assigned you this task?"
"No comment."
"What is your gender?"
"..."
Sclep stopped talking and just stood there silently. No matter what Maurise asked after that, he received zero reaction.
Maurise found himself utterly speechless. It seemed he wasn't going to get any useful information out of this bizarre fellow. He stroked his chin, weighing whether he should press forward. Just ahead lay the place where Sclep claimed he would die. The question was, how credible was that threat?
Maurise felt his curiosity swelling. He knew curiosity killed the cat, but he was a wizard, not a feline. He would certainly be disappointed if he just turned around and went home now.
Making up his mind, Maurise bypassed Sclep and stepped forward. He wanted to see exactly how he was supposed to die.
One step.
Two steps.
Three steps.
Suddenly, Sclep appeared directly in front of him, blocking his path. Maurise stopped in his tracks. The man's movements were impossibly fast, and Maurise felt a surge of powerful magical energy. It was clearly some form of advanced Apparition.
"There is still time to leave," Sclep said sternly. He now held a wand in his hand, looking ready to strike at a moment's notice.
Maurise had no desire to start a fight. "Alright," he said, slowly backing away. He had other ways to get past the man and saw no need to resort to brute force.
Sclep lowered his wand.
At that moment, Maurise confirmed one thing: this man was a wizard. Judging by the spell he had just used, his magical prowess was not low; in fact, it was exceptionally high.
Retreating to a safe distance, Maurise turned to leave. At the same time, he extended his mental senses outward, probing toward the man. He hoped to glean some hidden information, much like how he probed for an Animagus form.
However, it was this very probing action that caused the situation to rapidly escalate into tension.