Chapter 126: Shadow, Nourishment, Nature

Looking at the stone that had been torn to fragments under the shadow, Ciel felt a slight shock in his heart. This shadow-related magical power of the Shadow Thorns was quite formidable indeed. What was particularly special was that this process only left traces of shadows on the ground. And the shadow's trajectory could change, enabling it to circle around to attack enemies from behind. If an enemy faced such a peculiar attack, they would probably find it difficult to react. From this point alone, Shadow Thorns were an extremely practical magical plant for combat. They could be directly used to help him fight! Ciel's eyes lit up. He gave another command to the Shadow Thorns. "Use all your abilities. Continue attacking." Immediately after, the Shadow Thorns suddenly sank downward. Silently merging into its own shadow. The shadows on the ground spread like a spider web. When it had spread to about five or six meters in diameter, the Shadow Thorns suddenly emerged from another part of the shadow. The spikes on its body effortlessly riddled another stone with holes. Ciel also noticed that at the wounds left by the Shadow Thorns, some strange magical power remained, continuously corroding the wounds. These various discoveries made his expression increasingly fervent. Compared to regular Shadow Thorns, this variant before him had gained additional magical abilities to control shadows. It could also use shadows to lurk and suddenly emerge for attacks. The threat was much greater. And this was just the beginning of cultivation. If it matured, probably even battle-hardened Aurors or Death Eaters would suffer greatly when first encountering Shadow Thorns unprepared! What about ten plants, or a hundred? Imagining that scene, Ciel's face also showed anticipation. At this moment, the Shadow Thorns' shadow also began swaying. As if expecting his praise. A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. "Well done. Grow up well. In another year or two, when you're grown up, Father will have to rely on you for protection." Hearing this, Shadow's shadow swayed even more vigorously. The shadow seemed to be calculating there. Numbers emerged one by one. "That's great. In another, in one-two-three-four-five years... I can protect Father." Hearing this, Ciel was about to nod with gratification. But his head suddenly froze. "Hm? How many? How many years did you say?!" He clearly remembered that the reference books mentioned Shadow Thorns belonged to the category of relatively fast-growing magical plants. Generally speaking, from planting to maturity, it took just over a year, at most two years, to fully mature. Under good conditions, there were even records of maturation in just over half a year. The greenhouse conditions at Hogwarts were probably unmatched throughout the magical world. And what he used to cultivate Shadow Thorns wasn't even the Disillusionment Charm, but the Deathly Hallow Invisibility Cloak. How did the maturation time increase instead of decrease? Faced with Ciel's question, Shadow also felt wronged, stammering to piece together words on the ground. "Shadow needs food. There isn't any here." Its shadow extended toward underground in the little greenhouse. "Here, underground, there's only a little bit. Must eat sparingly." Seeing this, his eyes showed uncertainty. It seemed that after Shadow was induced into this mutation, its nutritional needs had also become special. Nutrients that only existed deep in the little greenhouse? Ciel recalled the legend Professor Sprout had mentioned. The soil of the little greenhouse had once been irrigated with nectar brewed from Hufflepuff's Cup. The miraculous effects of that soil on cultivation were unimaginable now. It could be called divine. Could it be that after Shadow gained power related to Ancient Shadow Magic, it needed the nectar produced from the Cup to develop rapidly? Otherwise, its maturation speed would be greatly delayed? Even its current maturation speed relied on the slight nectar nutrients remaining deep in the little greenhouse soil? His brow furrowed tightly. If so, mass cultivation of Shadow Thorns like Shadow would be impossible. The remaining nutrients were simply not enough to share. But obtaining the Cup... Ciel had calculated this before. The difficulty was too high. It couldn't be resolved in the short term. After a long while, he let out a light breath. "It seems that in the short term, I can only use the Deathly Hallow Invisibility Cloak to cultivate ordinary Shadow Thorns. Variants like Shadow that can bring Ancient Shadow Magic rewards temporarily don't have the conditions for cultivation." He consoled himself mentally. "Forget it. Being able to mass-cultivate ordinary Shadow Thorns is already good news. Even without Ancient Shadow Magic rewards. Just Shadow Enhancement and Tearing Wounds... these two abilities are already very practical. Can't be too greedy." But despite saying this, passing by Ancient Magic that was so close at hand still left Ciel with some regret. Shadow seemed to sense the emotions he was emitting. Its shadow carefully extended over, wrapping around his foot. Like a pitiful little cat or dog worried about being abandoned. Ciel paused. He suddenly felt his attitude toward Shadow might have been somewhat inappropriate. Until just now, he hadn't really grasped the reality of a plant with emotions. Only when Shadow came to nuzzle him with some "pleasing" behavior did he truly feel this sensation. He carefully extended his hand and touched Shadow. "It's okay. I'll try hard to find you more good food. Until then, please bear with it and make do with what's here." Only then did Shadow happily dance its shadow again. Witnessing this scene, a smile appeared at the corner of Ciel's mouth. Then he suddenly paused. He slapped his forehead hard. A completely new idea emerged. Harvesting Ancient Shadow Magic insights from Shadow Thorns was indeed a shortcut to obtaining Ancient Shadow Magic. As long as the planting scale was large enough, even with minimal insights, he could accumulate Ancient Shadow Magic through sheer numbers. But that didn't mean there was no other way to obtain Ancient Shadow Magic. The Shadow before him was a genuine possessor of Ancient Shadow Magic, wasn't it? And it had consciousness, even basic writing skills. Couldn't he just ask it to teach him? At least it was one path. Thinking this, Ciel hurriedly asked Shadow. "Shadow, can you teach me Ancient Shadow Magic? This ability you have to control shadows?" Shadow's shadow swayed, appearing somewhat confused. To it, this was an innate ability. How to teach this... it didn't know. He quickly realized this point too. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Control the shadow in front of me. Don't make it too complex; slow down the whole process, slower. Let me see it clearly." Then Shadow tentatively followed his instructions. A small mass of shadow moved slowly on the ground. Ciel stared intently at this shadow, concentrating to sense the magical power within it. Fortunately, Platinum-tier night vision also worked on shadows. This allowed him to vaguely sense the magical changes within the shadow. It was a type of magic he had never seen before. Under Platinum-tier night vision, such magical light points appeared black. As for where this magic came from, Ciel observed that it seemed common magical particles from the air entered Shadow's body. Then they collided with each other, exchanging some components. Part of the magical particles was expelled. The remaining magical particles became the black light points in his vision. "Whether the expelled magical particles or the black magical particles used by Shadow. Compared to the magic that initially flowed into Shadow's body, their nature has changed. This is like a chemical reaction?" He caught some inspiration. "Wait. I think I've seen similar operations before." He thought of Severus's Potion Transfiguration that Snape had demonstrated. Though he couldn't understand the details at all, there seemed to be similarities in appearance. Magic underwent changes in nature there too. Snape's transformation concept came from combining Potions and Transfiguration. Then what was the source of this change in Shadow Thorns? Ciel took a deep breath. "Perhaps this is also an advanced application of Transfiguration. At the microscopic level, transforming magic. Making it produce more special properties according to one's will." In the original story, Professor McGonagall, as a Transfiguration master, seemed more inclined toward living transfiguration. She excelled at transforming armor and sculptures into living beings for combat. There wasn't much demonstration in this area. But in the battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort, they didn't use conventional magic at all. Every spell in their hands, whether fire or lightning, far exceeded ordinary wizards' limits in power. "Perhaps it's because they've also reached the pinnacle in Transfiguration. Every spell underwent a similar transformation, with magical nature changes, giving spells earth-shattering power." His eyes burst with unprecedented bright light. "Magical form transformation might be Professor McGonagall's specialty in Transfiguration. Taking this direction to the extreme, one can be called a Transfiguration master. While Voldemort and Dumbledore went further, able to freely change magical nature too. Form transformation, nature transformation..." For a moment, Ciel felt his understanding of Transfiguration levels had become much clearer than before. Of course, he didn't dare say his insights from observing Shadow Thorns were definitely correct. But there was a way to judge. His gaze fell on the system panel. Then he saw changes that delighted him. The [Transfiguration (Black Iron Tier)] ability he had just obtained now had a much richer iron luster. You must know Ciel had attended a semester of Transfiguration classes before finally reaching the system-recognized Black Iron tier in Transfiguration mastery just recently. But now, by observing Shadow's magical changes and clarifying the framework of Transfiguration's form and the nature of the transformation of magic, his Transfiguration mastery had improved so much. This was truly "one conversation with a wise person is worth ten years of study"! Rich joy appeared on his face. When several spells were stuck at the Platinum tier, magical perception was still far from the Platinum tier, and magical strength had to wait for the next Marguerite harvest to improve, his strength growth had hit a bottleneck. But if he could make progress in Transfiguration, undoubtedly, whether for his strength or magical mastery, there would be breakthrough improvements. Additionally, if he could further learn Ancient Shadow Magic from Shadow, that would be even better. After a moment, Ciel suppressed his excited emotions. These ideas and prospects were all very promising. But empty thinking was useless. Only through arduous practice. He stared intently at the shadow controlled by Shadow, sensing the subtle magical changes within. While observing and sensing, Ciel also continuously waved his wand. Trying hard to imitate Shadow's operations. Starting with imitation and reproduction was the approach to tackling all difficult problems. This was experience he had accumulated from his past life. When understanding nothing, learning from others' achievements was the fastest way to master a skill. He temporarily didn't think about shadow magic or anything like that. He just wanted to understand as much as possible about the concepts of magical change. He had a feeling that even understanding just a trace would greatly benefit his Transfiguration. Of course, this process was very mentally taxing for Ciel. His magical perception hadn't reached the Platinum tier yet. Even with Platinum-tier night vision assistance and entering the Underwater Enhancement state, sensing such subtle magical changes for long periods was like someone with severe myopia trying to make out words on a blackboard. He had to widen his eyes and tense his nerves. After a long time, veins bulged on his temples. His mind ached with the throbbing pain of excessive mental strain. He paid no attention to this. He was even somewhat familiar with it. Tackling problems, studying... how could it not be tiring? This was the real feeling. No one was born loving study; studying was accompanied by fatigue and pain. Ciel certainly had choices. He could be less diligent. Just wait slowly, simply waiting for various plants to mature, then harvest them. That would be much more relaxed than now. But he didn't want to regret it in some future moment when he found himself unable to handle something. Regret why he hadn't worked harder before? If he had worked a bit harder, could he have changed the outcome of that situation? He had experienced such regret in his past life. So now, he didn't want to taste that feeling again. Sweat dropped onto the shadow drop by drop. His spirit grew increasingly weary. But on the system panel, the Transfiguration text was faintly glowing. The iron luster was becoming richer at an extremely slow pace. Unknowingly, another night passed. A new dawn arrived. The iron luster had reached its peak richness. Until Ciel tensed his spirit once more, meticulously waving his wand one last time. Within the iron luster, an extremely faint but genuinely present bronze color slowly spread out. [Chapter Complete] *** Want more? Check out my Patreon for: ✓ Advanced chapters of all my stories ✓ Exclusive novels & fanfics ✓ Early access content [email protected]/meowthtl ???? Community Goal: 500 Power Stones unlocks a bonus chapter! Thanks for reading and supporting the story!