Chapter 154: Magical Power Transformation

In the laboratory, an Orc with a terrified expression was bound in place by a Petrification Charm, watching Kael approach. Kael covered his nose with some disgust. These Orcs were like uncivilized beasts, dirty and foul-smelling all over. He quickly cast several Cleaning Charms to remove the Orc's odor before daring to get close. Then he raised his wand, aimed at the Orc, and cast a Human Transfiguration spell. The Orc's body uncontrollably expanded and transformed rapidly, becoming a small dragon resembling Smaug. Though called a small dragon, it was still dozens of meters long, many times larger than Kael standing before it. The dragon-transformed Orc regained movement. Though initially panicked, seeing the tiny Kael before it filled the creature with evil courage, and it lunged forward to bite him. "Crucio!" Kael expressionlessly raised his hand with a Cruciatus Curse. The dragon-transformed Orc simultaneously collapsed to the ground in agony, letting out painful roars. Kael had no interest in torturing his opponent. After teaching it a lesson, he disappointedly transformed the dragon back into an Orc. Though he knew Transfiguration couldn't truly transform one creature into another, the result before him was still somewhat disappointing. Although the Orc had transformed into dragon form, this dragon was merely superficial. It had neither a dragon's fire-breathing ability nor a dragon's strength. Essentially, it was still an Orc with a dragon's appearance. However, Kael had already prepared himself mentally, so he wasn't too disappointed. After all, if he could use Transfiguration to turn an Orc into a real dragon, he probably wouldn't be far from godhood. Then he once again cast Human Transfiguration on the Orc. But this time, when casting, he not only wanted to transform the Orc's appearance but also attempted to forcibly break the magic circulation within the Orc's body, changing it toward Beorn's magic circulation pattern. However, as soon as he broke the magic circulation within the Orc, the magic became chaotic and violent. The next second, the Orc was instantly torn to pieces by the violent magic within its body, blood and flesh splattering everywhere. Kael quickly cast a Shield Charm to avoid getting covered in the Orc's gore. Seeing the first test subject gone like this, Kael frowned and waved his hand to clear the sticky mess from the floor. Then he went to the Orc prison and brought two more Orcs. After petrifying one and leaving it aside, Kael again cast Transfiguration on an Orc. But this time, he didn't rashly break the magic circulation within the Orc. Instead, he selected a small circulatory system and attempted to transform it into part of Beorn's circulation. This time the magic within the Orc didn't go chaotic, and that transformed part of the magic circulation was replaced by Beorn's magic circulation pattern. Kael was delighted and continued to gradually change the magic circuits within the Orc's body bit by bit. This was very delicate and physically demanding work. Kael not only had to concentrate fully without any distraction, but also maintain constant magic input to prevent the magic balance within the Orc from being disrupted. Otherwise, the outcome would probably be like the previous Orc, direct body explosion and death. As time passed little by little, sweat appeared on Kael's forehead. But with just a moment of distraction, the magic circulation within the Orc suddenly became unbalanced. The Orc's own magic circulation and Beorn's magic circulation coexisted within one body, creating conflict. Kael sensed trouble and immediately cast a shield in front of himself. The Orc became extremely pained, its body constantly twisting and deforming, becoming utterly miserable. However, contrary to Kael's expectations, the Orc didn't explode but underwent transformation. Its body arched, limbs twisted to crouch on the ground, claws grew out, and its ugly face protruded outward with tusks growing. It finally became a deformed, very ugly monster that was half-Orc, half-bear. If the previous Orc could still be called a humanoid creature, the current Orc could truly be called a half-Orc. Kael tried casting a Transfiguration Reversal spell, but it had no effect. The Orc had completely become its current form. Even the magic circulation within its body had become a hybrid mutation of skin-changer and Orc magic circulation. Kael shook his head and waved his wand to immobilize the Orc that had lost its reason and was roaring at him like a wild beast. Another wave sent it to the giant spider breeding room as food for the newly hatched giant spiders. Then he looked at another Orc with terrified, despairing eyes, summoned it over, and continued the next round of experiments. In the following days, he spent most of his time in the laboratory. Under the modification of Transfiguration spells, various grotesquely shaped Orcs appeared. Some covered in bear fur, some with bear heads and Orc bodies, some half-bear half-Orc, some with bear-transformed limbs, even some with bear bodies and Orc skin... all kinds of monsters. These failed products were, without exception, all sent to feed the giant spiders. Until this day, when Kael selected Orc leader Sarzog as a test subject. Sarzog looked at the wizard before him with terror and fear. He knew that during these days, all the Orcs taken away had been used for experiments, and without exception, none had reappeared. Their fate was self-evident. He wanted to beg for mercy, even willing to become a slave, but the other party didn't give him this chance, directly immobilizing him so he couldn't make a sound. This wizard before him seemed even more terrifying than his former master, the Dark Lord. If there were medicine for regret, he would have left Gram Mountain early and hidden somewhere far away. Kael didn't care what Sarzog thought. After these days of experiments, having consumed over fifty Orcs, he had gained some mastery over magical transformation. So he was confident about this experiment. Then he skillfully cast Transfiguration again, his gaze concentrated and focused. He very patiently changed the magic circulation within Sarzog's body bit by bit. Even with his face covered in sweat and mentally exhausted, he still didn't dare relax in the slightest. Until finally, Beorn's magic circulation completely replaced the magic circulation within the Orc's body, and Kael finally breathed a sigh of relief. The Orc leader Sarzog showed pain on his face, his body rapidly expanding and twisting. Under Kael's expectant gaze, he transformed into an ugly, fierce giant bear. The giant bear was a size smaller than Beorn's form, but still towered over normal creatures. Its powerful paws could easily crush an Orc to death. The giant bear emanated dark aura throughout, like a demonic bear! Kael's face showed a smile. He sensed magic power from this giant bear. Though it leaned toward darkness rather than Beorn's natural attributes, it was no longer an ordinary bear. "Diffindo!" Kael shot a spell at the giant bear. The giant bear cried out in pain. Controlled by its wild nature, it instinctively roared at its attacker. The spell that could originally kill an Orc now only left a wound on the giant bear, and this wound was healing at a visible rate. "Crucio!" Seeing the giant bear attacking him, Kael directly cast a Cruciatus Curse. After making the giant bear lose its resistance in pain, he used the Imperius Curse to control it. "Now, try to change back to your original form," Kael commanded the giant bear. The giant bear's eyes were vacant as it instinctively obeyed Kael's command, trying hard to return to its original form. The giant bear's body continuously shrank, its bones reorganized, and it finally changed back to Orc appearance. Thus, the world's first Orc "skin-changer" appeared. In the following days, Kael devoted himself entirely to studying this perfect test subject, researching the changes in magic circulation when it switched forms and the switching points that controlled the changes. When he had thoroughly researched it and could learn nothing more from Sarzog, Kael directly sent him to the afterlife with a spell and threw him to the giant spiders. After mastering Beorn's transformation secrets, Kael didn't immediately begin testing on himself. After all, what he wanted was to upgrade his Animagus, not to become able to transform into a giant bear like Beorn. Next, he studied the magic circulation systems of dragon Smaug, basilisk Herpo, and great eagle Thorondor, researching the differences between them. He tried transforming the magic within an Orc's body into a dragon's magic circulation pattern. But the small amount of magic within the Orc obviously couldn't support dragon form. Before completing the magical transformation, the Orc was directly drained of magic and even life force, instantly becoming a mummified corpse. Afterward, he tried transforming Orcs one by one into basilisks and great eagles through magical transformation. The laboratory was filled with grotesque chimeras: Orcs covered in snake scales, creatures bearing snake heads on human torsos, abominations with Orc heads writhing atop serpentine bodies, eagle-headed humanoids, winged Orcs, and the disturbing sight of Orc heads grafted onto eagle bodies. Moreover, with the magic within Orcs' bodies, they couldn't support transformation into complete basilisk and great eagle forms at all. However, Kael also discovered that whether dragons, basilisks, or great eagles, their magic circulation operation methods were basically similar, with the only differences being in subtle details. Seeing this, Kael specifically went to the Trollshaws to capture several trolls, and to the Misty Mountains to capture several wargs, to increase sample numbers. He summarized all samples' magic circulation systems and began attempting to create new magic circulation methods. In the following days, the number of Orcs decreased rapidly. They either died from direct body explosion or became various monsters. Just when Orcs were running low and Kael was thinking about whether he needed to capture more Orcs, whether by luck or design, he had a sudden inspiration during a new magical transformation. Incorporating a runic symbol representing fire, the Orc actually transformed into a giant firebird! The firebird was half the size of an adult great eagle, with feathers showing a reddish-black color, and could breathe fire! Kael looked at the firebird before him with surprised, wide eyes. This was an unexpected change produced by fusing dragon and great eagle magic circulation systems, plus adding a fire runic symbol. Though the firebird before him was still far from the phoenix in his memory, it had exceeded his original expectations. He quickly recorded the magic circulation system within this firebird. His future Animagus advancement would depend on it!