The purple reward lustre on the Patronus tree seed suddenly became unprecedentedly intense, completely covering Ciel's vision. This scene made his heartbeat accelerate.
Had the Patronus tree seed completely reached Epic-level reward tier? That would make this the second Epic-level plant he knew of, and the one most likely to mature successfully in a short time.
The first was the Whomping Willow branch. Though he had possessed it for over half a year and made some progress by chance, this project's difficulty was so high it could stump even herbology masters. He was still probably miles away from successfully cultivating the Whomping Willow to maturity.
But this Patronus tree seed was already at its most vigorous activity level, greatly reducing cultivation difficulty. After all, whether ancient plants or extremely rare plants, most operations during cultivation were to reawaken their vitality. The Patronus tree seed eliminated these complex steps.
Moreover, it was essentially still a Patronus tree, just influenced by his mythical-level Patronus Charm. Though cultivation difficulty would certainly increase, at least previous experience with Patronus trees should still be applicable. Success probability was much higher than with Whomping Willow branches.
As he felt elated, the intense purple light finally receded. When he looked again, the reward lustre flowing on the seed had changed from three colours to just Epic and Legendary levels.
Moreover, he discovered that much of the previously blurry reward information had become clear. He hurriedly looked to see what changes this strange Patronus tree seed had undergone and what rewards its successful cultivation could bring.
The scene that met his eyes made even him, who had weathered countless storms, gasp in shock:
"This—what is this?!"
Before him appeared these lines of text:
[Your Patronus tree seed, influenced by the Mythical-level Patronus Charm, has undergone unknown mutation.]
[Your Patronus tree seed has annihilated sufficient dark magic, partially awakening its potential.]
[Cultivating this Patronus tree seed to maturity will grant rewards:]
[Sacred Magic Enhancement (Epic Level)]
[Sacred Magic Protection (Epic Level)]
[Sacred Annihilation (Epic Level)]
[...]
[Ancient Sacred Magic Insight (Platinum Level)]
He could almost hear his heartbeat thundering in his chest. Three Epic-level magical ability rewards, plus one Platinum-level ancient magic insight?!
Rich—unquestionably rich. Most importantly, these rewarded abilities were all related to sacred properties and complemented each other in offence and defence.
Without exaggeration, even if he knew nothing about sacred magic, just cultivating this Patronus tree seed to maturity would immediately make him a master-level figure in sacred magic!
Unless facing Dark Lords like Voldemort or Grindelwald, that little dark magic would be instantly annihilated before his Epic-level sacred magic abilities. And using Mythical-level Patronus Charm with such foundation—he couldn't imagine what that scene would be.
It might be even more powerful than Dumbledore's phoenix Patronus from the original story!
Taking a deep breath, he gradually calmed his surging emotions. But when his gaze fell on the still-blurry text in the seed's reward information, his barely-settled feelings surged again, making his hands tighten.
Though he couldn't read the text clearly, he could see the remaining two lines of text faintly flickered with Legendary radiance.
"The specific reward information should only fully appear when the Patronus tree seed advances to Legendary level. But now it seems this seed can reward at least two Legendary abilities!"
His eyes showed unprecedented burning intensity. One seed with two Legendary-level rewards, three Epic-level rewards, plus Platinum-level ancient magic insight—this reward magnitude was absolutely unprecedented!
Moreover, he could continue using Mythical-level Patronus Charm to create such seeds.
At this moment, he felt tempted to catalyse all remaining Patronus tree seeds this way.
But moments later, the calmed Ciel shook his head lightly: "Sacred Tree Potion production is insufficient. The number of dark magical items needed would be astronomical. Even counting all Horcruxes plus all remaining dark magical items in the magical world probably couldn't supply so many Patronus tree seeds."
"Just advancing this one seed to Legendary level would probably exhaust all remaining dark magical items from pure-blood families. One seed reaching Legendary level is still distant—what about all those other seeds? Better focus on this one seed first."
Then he gently caressed this newly Epic-level seed, his eyes suddenly flickering strangely. He could feel stronger protective power from this seed enveloping him.
In his perception, brilliant silver magical particles surrounded him.
"This is... sacred magic?"
Perhaps because this Patronus tree seed was created by his Patronus Charm, and in a sense, Patronuses symbolised wizards with very close connections between them, he felt quite intimate with these sacred magical particles surrounding him.
With every movement, sacred magic would affectionately encircle him. This immediately gave him an idea—since so, could these sacred magical particles also attach to his spells? Like the shadow erosion ability from his Shadow Thorn tree, letting every spell carry sacred magic properties?
He immediately began experimenting. He waved his wand: "Lumos!"
A Lumos charm immediately emerged from his wand tip. Simultaneously, with his mental command, surrounding sacred magical particles obediently attached to the Lumos charm's light.
The originally flickering Lumos light not only became brighter but also emanated stern sacred aura. In dark forests, this would create a safe area that dark creatures would instinctively avoid.
Seeing the Lumos charm's changes after the sacred magic attachment, his eyes brightened further. He waved his wand again as Sectumsempra's blade whistled through the air.
But this time, though he similarly tried invoking sacred magical particles to attach to Sectumsempra, compared to Lumos, the attached sacred magic was minimal. Besides leaving a thin white trace in the air, there were no substantial changes.
Seeing this, he showed a thoughtful expression: "Is it because Sectumsempra is dark magic? Sacred magic seems naturally incompatible with dark magic, unable to provide enhancement."
"Even for Sectumsempra, which isn't too twisted as dark magic goes, sacred magic performs this way. If it were Unforgivable Curses, using sacred magic enhancement would probably reduce the spell's own power or even cause casting failure."
"This differs completely from shadow magic enhancement from the Shadow Thorn tree. But this is good—shadow magic's and sacred magic's different properties correspond to different scenarios."
"Against dark wizards and dark creatures, use sacred magic enhancement. Against most other enemies, shadow magic's erosion effect would be more obvious."
He felt satisfied: "Overall, whether Shadow Thorn tree's shadow erosion or the Patronus tree seed's sacred magic, both substantially improved my magical strength without fundamental growth in magical mastery or talent."
"No wonder wizards seek better, more powerful wands when their magical mastery hits bottlenecks. External enhancement really works!"
Then he showed anticipation. What the pure-blood families had sent so far should be test items. Next, they might bring out some treasures.
Though probably insufficient to advance the Patronus tree seed further, at least it could awaken more of the seed's potential, thereby increasing the surrounding sacred magic quantity—indirectly boosting his strength.
And what if some family, like the ancient Gaunts, really preserved something remarkable and sent it for processing? Or if Borgin still wouldn't give up and sent another wave?
"People must have dreams, right?" He licked his lips, left the room, and had Lucius continue collecting more dark magical items from pure-blood families.
Meanwhile, Borgin in Knockturn Alley had received news from Malfoy Manor: "Malfoy family is still collecting more dark magical items? My chain trap didn't work?"
This made Borgin's expression undoubtedly serious: "Damn. Seems like a somewhat capable dark wizard."
But immediately, deep malice and cold light flashed in Borgin's eyes: "But you shouldn't have competed with my business at this time. Three years from now is when Moser Club holds the early duelling championship. The items I must submit have increased significantly."
"Without Moser Club's rewards, I don't have many years left to live. Normally, I might spare you. But now, you must die."
Borgin took a deep breath, returned to his shop, and with fanatical expression caressed that black cloth-covered statue.
Then he rummaged in a cabinet, took out a still-bloody human arm, and threw it into the pitch-black shadow cast by the statue.
Immediately, the shadow seemed to come alive, like a gaping maw that tore the blood-reeking human arm to shreds in moments.
Seeing this, Borgin nodded satisfactorily, chanted ancient incantations, and pointed toward Malfoy Manor:
"Respected Shadow Envoy, kill that dark wizard who dares oppose me and steal my business. You may freely enjoy his flesh and blood. After success, I'll offer three fresh corpses."
The next moment, the black cloth covering the statue fell, revealing its appearance—a strange creature entirely made of black obsidian, somewhat like a gargoyle.
Moments later, this black obsidian gargoyle burrowed into shadows, vanishing from this world. Only a shadow mass could be seen spreading rapidly outward.
Seeing this, Borgin showed a supremely confident smile. This mysterious black obsidian gargoyle had cost him enormously to obtain, but its effectiveness hadn't disappointed him.
It naturally controlled strange, powerful magic that Borgin believed was lost ancient magic—ancient shadow magic! Moving through shadows, attacking with darkness, even dragging enemies into worlds of pure shadow.
Over the years, Borgin had faced many Auror inspections, but each time he used the black obsidian gargoyle to transfer all contraband in his shop to the shadow world. No matter how capable Aurors were, even Mad-Eye Moody couldn't see into the shadow world.
Moreover, wizards who dared oppose Borgin were made to disappear without trace using the black obsidian gargoyle's ancient shadow magic. No matter how powerful dark wizards were, who would guard against mere shadows when unfamiliar with ancient shadow magic?
So far, Borgin's method had never failed. But as fewer people opposed him, even the stupidest wizards realised the danger of competing with Borgin's business.
Even in Knockturn Alley, Borgin could occupy the best location, monopolising nearly all of Britain's dark magic trade. He hadn't used this black obsidian gargoyle in a long time.
"Ah, fool who doesn't know death approaches. Today you'll learn how terrifying ancient shadow magic is. Dragged into a world filled with shadow magic, watching yourself slowly eroded by shadows while unable to cast even a simple Lumos—despair and terror are the fate of opposing me!"