At the checkout counter of Flourish and Blotts, a long queue had formed, mostly young wizards buying textbooks for the new term. Leo was almost at the front of the line.
Hermione, standing behind him, bit her lip and asked: "Le... Leonardo, can you really finish reading all these books you're buying?"
Leo turned his head and shrugged: "More or less. Anyway, I'll finish these around the time school starts. Then I can go straight to Hogwarts' library."
Hermione's eyes widened slightly. She had wanted to ask if Leo could finish all these books within a year. Did he actually plan to read them all before school started? There was only a month left now.
Looking at Leo's handsome profile, Hermione felt his expression was serious... he didn't seem to be boasting.
Just as Hermione was about to say something, it was Leo's turn to pay. Leo directly pulled out a handful of gold Galleons and handed them to the cashier.
Glancing at "The Guide to Caring for Magical Creatures" on top of his book pile, Leo added: "If you want to read it, I can lend it to you once school starts."
"Ah, thank you." Hermione nodded repeatedly. As long as she could read books, she didn't mind.
The cashier quickly counted the change, and Leo picked up his books and left. He didn't wait for Hermione to finish paying so they could chat or anything. Leo was already eager to return home and absorb the knowledge from the books.
Of course, he was even more anxious to check out his pet... the divine beast Qilin.
Grafton Manor. Leo looked at an egg on his bed and couldn't help but fall into deep thought. The egg was about half a metre tall, just the right size for Leo to embrace.
"System, what is this? Where's my Qilin?"
[Host, this is a Qilin… egg.]
Leo's mouth twitched. "Uh, System, are you sure Qilins are born from eggs?"
[...This way is more convenient (0v0)]
Ignoring the system's attempt at being cute with its voice, Leo moved closer to observe the Qilin egg. "How long until it hatches?"
[Three]
After waiting a few seconds, there was no follow-up from the system. Leo was speechless and didn't really want to play along with the system's joke.
"Two, one?"
Crack crack crack... A fissure appeared on the eggshell surface. Then numerous cracks spread across the entire shell, accompanied by rustling sounds.
The upper half of the shell cracked open, and a small head peeked out. A pair of large golden-red eyes looked at Leo. Those eyes were clear and bright, as if looking at the most beloved existence.
The little Qilin was covered in fine pale gold scales, with small horns on its head that hadn't fully grown yet.
"Hungry..." A childish voice appeared directly in Leo's mind.
Leo looked at the little Qilin in surprise. Mental communication? Was this the Qilin's talent, or the system's doing?
"I'm hungry..." Another voice transmitted into Leo's mind. At the same time, the little Qilin's mouth opened and closed.
Leo directly asked the system: "What does a Qilin eat?"
[Pure dew, essence of plants and trees]
Dew was literal... but it was already night, and Leo had no way to get any.
"What does the essence of plants and trees include? Regular vegetables and fruits? Herbs?"
[All are included. The longer a plant has lived and the higher its quality, the richer the essence of plants and trees it contains.]
Leo immediately left his bedroom and instructed a maid: "Lucia, prepare some fruits and vegetables and bring them to my room. Also bring some of the herbs stored at home."
After giving instructions, Leo returned to his room, looked at the young Qilin, and said gently: "Just wait a little longer."
Hearing Leo's comfort, the little Qilin surprisingly nodded in a very human-like manner. Leo was somewhat surprised.
"You can understand what I'm saying?"
"A little bit..."
Again, that childish voice echoed directly in Leo's mind. After communicating with the little Qilin for a while, Leo discovered its intelligence was equivalent to a five or six-year-old human child. It could simply express its needs, but having just been born, it still lacked understanding of the world.
In less than ten minutes, maid Lucia knocked on Leo's door. Leo went out and took two trays from her hands. One held common fruits and vegetables like tomatoes, carrots, and apples. The other plate contained several herbs.
He brought them before the little Qilin. The little Qilin stretched out its body and sniffed each item. With a forceful inhale, thin wisps of blue-green aura emerged from the fruits and herbs, successively entering the little Qilin's nose and mouth.
While observing the little Qilin's peculiar feeding method, Leo asked the system: "What abilities does a Qilin have?"
[Control flames]
[Ride clouds and mist]
[Mental communication]
[Sense the goodwill and malice of other beings]
[Strong magic resistance. Very few spells can harm a Qilin.]
[Qilin blood has disease-curing and life-extending effects, making it excellent material for brewing potions.]
[Born with the ability to use Apparition and can also lock down space within a certain range, making Apparition ineffective within that area]
Leo stroked his chin, clicking his tongue in amazement. Truly worthy of being a divine beast... not only were its abilities diverse, but they were all extremely powerful.
Being able to sense malice from beings and having strong magic resistance meant Qilins could naturally avoid many disasters. Having built-in Apparition made escaping very convenient. If used for delivering messages or such, it would definitely be much faster than those owls.
Moreover, as a divine beast, once fully grown, its combat power would surely be formidable. Combined with its space-locking ability, in future battles, it could directly cut off enemy escape routes.
As for the Qilin blood that could cure diseases and extend life, that made Leo pensive. From the system's description, his Qilin was quite different from the native Qilins of this world.
He didn't know if, in the understanding of wizards here, native Qilin blood had similar miraculous effects. If this world's Qilins also had such properties, then until his own strength grew or the little Qilin matured, he couldn't casually reveal its existence to avoid unwanted covetousness.
"I still need to read books and master more knowledge."
Leo rubbed his forehead. Turning his head to look at the pile of books on his desk, Leo raised his wand.
Pointing at "The Guide to Caring for Magical Creatures".
"Accio Book!"